All aboard.

Royal Carribean: Voyager of the sea.

The itinerary:

Day 1 - Cruising.
Day 2 - Kuala Lumpur.
Day 3 - Penang.
Day 4 - Langkawi.
Day 5 - Penang.
Day 6 - Penang.
Day 7 - Cruising.
Day 8 - Home sweet home.

So it has been eons since my last cruise. In fact, my last cruise was about 19 years ago with Uncle Pat. my mother & Alan, before they got married. And the cruise before that was when I was 12 ?

Back then, I didn't suffer from motion sickness, so I was dreading the trip this whole time. We even went and got some seasick pills for standby.

Day 1.

Booked us a grab just after lunch. Of all the times we got nice big cars, today when we needed it the most, a Volkswagen golf came to greet us. After about 5 minutes of trying to arrange the suitcases, he finally managed to fit it in and off we went to the cruise center. For all you friends who are planning to go on a cruise, make sure you are at the correct location. Our driver was planning to drop us off at the museum, but of course he sincerely didn't know that, but luckily for us, a security guard came out and told him that the cruise center was further down. The cruise center was visible from where we were, but with our suitcases, my grand-mother and the scorching hot sun, it would not have been fun.

Security and check-in was a breeze. The entire process was done in under 30 minutes and we went on board. Just before you enter the ship, all guests are to surrender their passports. It felt extremely weird not holding on to your own passports to be honest.

So yes, with all that done, on board the ship we went.

We wanted a higher floor, but as we booked only 2 months before the departure date, the only floor remaining for the balcony rooms were 6F. But it was still good if you ask me. It's quite amusing how people book 1-2 years in advance for a cruise.

So yes, there are 3 of us and only one visible bed. We were thinking that the sofa, which you can see a hint of on the bottom right. was a sofa bed. You'll find out in a bit.

Shortly after, we were all called to participate on the emergency drill. We were one of the first few there and we had to just continue waiting for all the guest to arrive at their given posts. This took about another 30 minutes. Sigh, I wish people would be more considerate.

After that was done, we went back to our room, settled in, and then decided to go to the Promenade to explore, and have some quick munchies, which I think was a big mistake to be honest. This was at 4pm and our dinner slot was the earlier one at 530pm. You get to chose this whilst making your booking. It was either 530pm or 8pm and my dinner time is 6pm, so it made more sense to go with the 530pm time slot.

530pm - seated, order.
6pm - food is served.

You see that. Perfect timing.

So as I was saying, munchies. The cafe at the Promenade is completely free of charge and they offer sandwiches, cookies, cakes and pizza as well as free tea and coffee. And you know what's even better ? It's open 24/7.

Headed back to our room to have a quick rest and a change of clothes, before going for dinner. I think choosing the balcony room was the right choice, my granny love it !

Dinner time.

Pretty lush huh ?

Dinner was good, except, I didn't know that we would have to share a table with other guests, and for the entire cruise in fact. I guess it's good for people who enjoy socializing. For me, I kind of would have preferred my own table. Anti social much ?

So dinner was a 3 course one, entree, main and a dessert. And the menu had a quite a wide variety for each course. Except, because of that pizza that I snacked on earlier, and the fact that I only have one meal a day now, I just stared at the menu blankly as I wasn't hungry at the slightest.

But, I finally decided and here's what I had.

For my entree, I decided to go for the scallops cooked in garlic butter. And you know what ? It was to die for ! I have just recently found love for scallops, so this was the perfect entree for me.

As for my main, I went with the steak.

And as for dessert, I had mango pudding.

Even though I was full before having dinner, I actually quite enjoyed dinner, especially the escargots and the mango pudding.

And remember what I said about sharing tables ? Well, we had a nice lovely chat with Uncle Ismail and Aunty Siti whom we will be having dinner with for the next 7 days.

After dinner, we went back to our room, but not before getting lost briefly. I mean, cmon', the ship's huge, and we've barely been on for a day, I need some time to get my bearings right.

So yes, when we finally made it back to our room, I finally saw my sleeping space.

Awesome isn't it ?

I just hope my granny and mother don't hit their heads. Teehee.

As it was only day 1 and the fact that we overate, we decided to go for a walk on the observation deck. It's not like we had anything better to do anyways.