Cruise Trip (Feb 2018)

How's the new year coming along?

Well for myself it's pretty much busy at work. It's back to the crazy and hectic year ahead again. Only in December that I managed to get a mini breather and finally clear some backlogs. Now it seems it's starting to pile up again :(

Work is never-ending they say. We also need to take a break sometimes. Here's to my very much awaited Royal Carribbean cruise trip to get away from work and just chill and enjoy the sea breeze <3

My last cruise trip aka Star Cruise was when I was young, I think.... 

Day 1

The ship will depart Singapore at 4.30pm but boarding time is in the morning at 11.30am. 

The view while having the buffet lunch after checking-in.

Our room. No window to enjoy the sea view though. 
But wells, there's always the top deck of the cruise ship.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

And next was dinner time. Fine dining style. 

Starters dish: Bay Scallop Gratin
with melted garlic-herb butter, olive breadstick

Initially, when we asked which starter dish they would recommend, the waiter suggested the above starter dish. I did not choose the above. Instead, I chose a fruit dish as I felt that I might not like the dish with the scallops. That was before I saw other tables having that dish. Then regret a bit since it looks not bad. 

But guess what, when the waiter served us our starters, he actually had an extra Bay Scallop Gratin just for me. He said that he had brought one for me also, since this dish is really good. And he's right! I love it a lot! :)

Entrees dish: Slow Roasted Prime Rib
garden vegetables, mash potatoes, onion gravy

Next up, the Entrees dish. 
Since this is fine dining and I do not usually have beef steak outside, might as well give the Prime Rib a try. Also another recommended dish by our waiter.

And of course, not forgetting desserts!
Like they say, there's always space for desserts, isn't it? HAHA

Overall, not bad the food! Yummy Yum Yum! 

Thereafter, we went to explore other activities inside the cruise ship, such as the movie screenings and the ice-skating performance. The ice-skaters were so pro that they wow-ed the audience! We kinda end the night enjoying the sea breeze at the top deck (the wind was super strong and cold!) and having supper snacks. 

Day 2

Starting off our morning with buffet style breakfast. 

My breakfast platter

After breakfast, just randomly walking around and we happened to stumble upon the Raffle game that the luxury boutique is hosting. So since we are there, we got a ticket each to try our luck in the draw. 

The encounter was pretty much quite hilarious. After the draw for the plush was over, and the speaker announced that the next draw prize is a bag and a scarf, I actually put away my phone into my bag and was preparing to take out my room card (since they will need to verify if we win). At the same time telling my friend that this prize will be mine so I need to prepare my room card. And just as I said finish, the speaker announces the winner - which is our room number! Cannot describe the shock/ happiness/ unexpected feeling we experience in that mere few seconds. 

Unexpected luck and coincidence!

The prize

Lunch time~ 

I opt for Chicken instead of beef steak this time round.

Dessert

And today is the day we have the half day stopover at Penang. We arrived at 4.30pm and the ship will depart at midnight. 

See how huge the cruise ship is, as compared to the other one :P

Cafe hopping to Cafe 55
We chose this cafe because the 3D art drinks looks interesting. But then it's only when we are there, that we know that they no longer offer that as they recently had a change of management.

Ice Mocha

Original Penang Layer Cake

Mango Cheese Cake

And thereafter we went to those shops that sell traditional Chinese biscuits (just in time for the new year), and also shopping and walking around. 

Penang Laksa

Seafood Popiah

Dinner before heading back to the cruise

Look what we came back to. Specially by the crew.
Creative much?

Day 3

Day 3 morning and afternoon was pretty much spent chilling around, staying in the room watching drama, playing games and taking a nap.  

Breakfast at Fine Dining Restaurant

And then it's lunch..

And finally it's time for the formal night dinner where everyone kinda wore a dress/ formal wear to have their dinner at the fine dining restaurant. 

Steamed NZ Mussels
with light white wine cream sauce and shallots served with garlic bread

Same thing this time round. I do not eat mussels but then giving this a try since it's what our waiter recommends. And it's real good! The taste was not too bad due to the cream sauce.

Garlic Shrimp
with mash potato, seasonal vegetables, herb butter

Tiramisu
creamy mascarpone cheese, espresso-macerated lady fingers, hint of Kahlua liquor

Picture of all the waiters.
After which they actually sang the 月亮代表我的心, and also a few of them did the Gundam Style dance. 

And here's another, which we found when we are back to our room

Room service for supper after enjoying the last night at top deck, enjoying the sea breeze.
We actually ordered 2 cookies. But look at how many they delivered over. HAHA

Overall I enjoyed the cruise trip. Just forgetting about everything for a while and just chill and relax - enjoying the sea breeze and view. We pretty much spent every night at the top deck enjoying the breeze. You can also look up at the night skies at the many little sparkling stars above <3 Nice view. Just too bad that the camera will not be able to snap that view down. 

And furthermore, we do not have any data connection during most of the cruise trip! We only managed to have half a day of data when we stopped over at Penang (using our Malaysia sim card). That was pretty much the hardest part since we are already so used to having data connection anytime and anywhere. But we managed to survive it. Nice to just chill without any distractions/ worries :)