Spectrum of the Seas Review: Day 9 – Embarkationfeatured

By the time we were stepping foot onboard the Spectrum of the Seas, it’d been over a year since our last cruise. Needless to say, we were chomping at the bit to get the cruise part of this vacation started!

We were a little out of sorts, though, and it felt like we were just about a half step behind on everything. When we woke up, it was fine by our trip standards, but a little late for embarkation – we always like to be there super early — especially given that we had left just about everything to do for the morning! We both had to finish packing, we both had to shower and get ready, have breakfast and get going. Stephanie got an earlier start than I did, but it just felt like we were almost where we needed to be, just not quite there.

By the time we were packed, showered and ready to go, it was nearly 9:30 AM. We had one last breakfast down at and stuffed ourselves silly with gluten free brownies and fresh omelets.

We took one last moment in the room to admire that beautiful Singapore skyline before gathering our bags and heading downstairs to check out, officially marking the end to four wonderful days in Singapore.

Every time we were coming or going with our luggage, we struggled to decide what kind of Grab car to get. We were two people with four suitcases, but a four-seat car seemed small given the luggage, but a six seat was often too large. The price difference was fairly nominal, so Stephanie requested a premium six-seater just to be safe (some of those four-seater cars are pretty small!) and we were picked up in style by a Mercedes van with a super nice driver who told us all about his experience living in Singapore on the short fifteen-minute ride to the cruise terminal.

Royal Caribbean uses the Marina Bay Cruise Center in Singapore, not far from the Marina Bay Sands Resort. We passed an MRT station on our drive in so I suppose you could take public transit if you wanted, but you’d have a bit of a hike ahead of you. Since it’d been awhile since our last cruise, we kind of forgot what our optimal check in time was to minimize time spent idling in the terminal, but we arrived just before 11 AM and found ourselves knee deep in everything.

We rolled our bags over to check in, headed inside and began the process of going through security. We were handed our Hong Kong visas to filled out and pulled to the side to write our info in. As we started to go through check in, the agent asked us if we had our Vietnam visas. Jigga wah? When I Googled visas for the various places we’d be visiting, our understanding was we didn’t need one. Apparently, it was not something to worry about – it seemed no one around us got one, either, and we could get one onboard, but I really wished Royal Caribbean had sent us a checklist of things we needed before we left given the exotic nature of our itinerary because we felt a little ill-prepared as we were checking in and this was, like, our 25^th cruise or something like that. We’re not newbies and we still felt a little out of sorts.

Once we had our boarding passes, passed passport check and processed the paperwork for our transit visa in Shanghai, we were given a card with boarding group 13 and directed to a seating area to the side of the second floor. Boarding group 13. It’s been awhile since we’ve even had to wait to board!

Apparently there weren’t actually 13 boarding groups (which was bizarre, but we went with it), so we were only waiting a half hour or so before it was our time to get on the ship. Before we could board, though, we had to clear immigration as we left Singapore, and that part was a little bit of a cluster. The port uses automated lanes to process visitors out and many of the people couldn’t figure out the instructions, did it wrong or were assigned to a malfunctioning lane. This created some back ups and delays, but we made it through in the end. No use getting frustrated – the day was young and we were on vacation! Immediately after Immigration, our passports were collected. We’d get them back later in the cruise, but definitely take photo copies with you (while I’m on my soapbox, do that in general as a best practice) so you have something if you need it.

That walk onto the ship…it’s one of my favorite parts. It’s like that walk through a boarding tunnel for an airplane. If you take a moment, you realize your adventure is only beginning and that’s just such an exciting feeling! We stepped foot onto this brand new ship (complete with new ship smell) and we just took it in. A new adventure, a new ship, so much was ahead of us.

We couldn’t linger long – there were a ton of people in front of us, behind us, really all around us, all moving in different directions at different paces. It was frenetic for sure. We boarded through the Royal Esplanade and were immediately surrounded by people. We’re not used to that – on Carnival (where we sail the most), we’re Platinum and so not only do we board first, but our room is ready right when we board. Not so here – we have, like, the lowest level status possible on Royal Caribbean, which meant we had an hour and a half to burn before we could go to our room.

The ship was stunning. That was my immediate first thought. Like, visually, this ship was beautiful. Like a really beautiful, high class shopping mall (I mean that with all of the good intent in the world – I love shopping malls!). We weren’t really hungry because we had such a robust breakfast at the hotel, so we set out to explore the ship!

We first walked through the upper decks, exploring the Solarium, the pools, the water parks and the attractions. Things like the rock climbing wall, you can do on your own time whenever you want, but the North Star, Flow Rider and iFly indoor skydiving need separate reservations. I couldn’t get my Wi-Fi figured out, but as soon as Stephanie did, she got us reservations on the North Star at 5:30 PM, right as we were sailing out of Singapore. Perfect timing, huh?!

Next, we went to the Windjammer to see what the layout and offerings were like. Before we could even get into the Windjammer, we were directed to a hand washing station. Immediately past the station was Sorrentos, the onboard pizzeria and beyond that was the Windjammmer Marketplace. I had mixed feelings about the Windjammer on this ship. On one hand, the stations were plentiful and robust with options – fresh fruits and veggies, a big giant bowl of shrimp cocktail (a big hit, it seems, with our fellow cruisers!), stations with Indian food, with rotisserie food, a Noodle Bar. There was a salad bar, a grill with hot dogs and burgers, a BYO taco bar and a bakery. So many options. And it was packed. You couldn’t move one way or the other, you couldn’t get food without someone standing on top of you trying to go the other way. There was no real logical flow for people to follow. It got a little frustrating very fast. We weren’t hungry, though, so we just mostly observed with a couple of glasses of the strawberry kiwi drink we’d forgotten we enjoyed so much.

All cabins were supposed to be ready at 1:00 PM, so we optimistically set out at 12:50 PM, hoping our room would be ready. After all, they weren’t turning over an entire ship – many cruisers had come over from the Barcelona and Dubai itineraries that came before ours. No dice, though, the rooms weren’t ready. So we waited. And we waited. And then we gave up around 1:15 PM and went off to figure out our dining reservations.

The Spectrum had a ton of dining options and we had pre-purchased a five-night dining plan for $99 on the Royal Caribbean web site. It seemed like a good deal – that breaks out to about $20 a meal. There was also a three-night package that I want to say was $75, and an unlimited dining package for about $260 that also included lunch at specialty restaurants. We’d seen it earlier in our cruise planner for $150 and at that point it would have been a steal, but we were too slow on the trigger, so we just went with a five night. With these dining packages, you can’t pre-book your reservations and have to make them once you’re onboard, so we found our way to the reservation desk inside the main dining room, where a wonderfully helpful woman walked us through our options and showed us menus. We made reservations for our first three nights, but we were told we could change them at any time if we wanted to through the Royal Caribbean app (which was super convenient!).

We headed back to the room around 1:30 PM and found the doors open to all cabins, figuring they were all ready. Our Sea Pass cards were waiting for us in our mail box and as we entered the room, it looked a little…disheveled. The pillows were haphazardly thrown onto a corner of the bed, there were piles of hair and debris on the carpet. The door was open, but our room was clearly not ready. We snapped some pictures and headed out, hoping that our room wasn’t forgotten by our cabin steward, to give him a bit more time. On the room, though, we had booked a standard balcony room and it was plenty of spacious for the three of us. I thought the dresser was a nice touch – it definitely expanded the storage of the room for us, in addition to the two closets we had. There was also an electric kettle with tea and coffee, a desk with USB and US chargers, as well as one charger next to the bed. The couch was large and our balcony, while on the small side, fit two chairs, two ottomans and a table. Oh, and the TV was a flatscreen and was pretty big, too, but had no real good programming. We didn’t even have CNN International, which is our go-to when there’s nothing else. There was literally nothing watchable on the television.

Since our room needed some more time, we headed out to explore The Via, an area with shops, cafes and entertainment venues. There was a Bulgari shop and a Tiffany and Co. (my fave jewelry store!!!!), a Vintages for wine and tapas and Café @ Two70, which was kind of like the Park Café on the Allure, where they had sandwiches, salads and pastries. The set up was really nice and we grabbed a couple of sandwiches and salads to take out to the Two70, a multi-function entertainment area at the far aft of the ship, with a fantastic view of the Singapore skyline from it’s expansive floor to ceiling windows. The ship’s dancers were rehearsing for The Silk Road, one of their production shows, and since it was an open rehearsal, we grabbed some seats and enjoyed the performance with our lunch.

We strolled back through the Via to the Royal Esplanade and it really felt like we were in a shopping mall. I know some people are sensitive to that comparison when it comes to Royal Caribbean ships, but I love shopping malls, so I mean it as a good thing! The only thing lacking was the sea views. There were outdoor verandahs, sure, and if you wanted to see the water, there were certainly places for you to do so, but it was also really easy to lose sight of the fact that you were on a ship and if you didn’t go looking for places to see the water, you’d never see it and I didn’t love that, because one of the best parts of cruising for me is being able to see the water. The sight of these large bodies of water outside the window bring me so much peace and joy – it’s why I love cruising so much – and thankfully we had a balcony that allowed me to see water whenever I was in the room because the opportunities to see the sea elsewhere on the ship were a bit more limited.

Around 2:30 PM, we headed back to our room. It was finally ready and, plus, our luggage had arrived! Our cabin steward, Alex, came by to introduce himself and tell us he’d grab our water bottles later – he had run out of time to get them as he was preparing our room. He seemed incredibly nice, but stressed, and I had to wonder if the cabin to steward ratio was higher on this ship than on others.

As we were unpacking, though, Stephanie couldn’t seem to find her backpack and I couldn’t even remember seeing her with it. We turned the room upside down – her camera, her foreign currency, her iPad, her glasses – all in the backpack. She frantically called guest services while I kept searching around the room. This was the worst possible way for us to start our trip off and I knew if she didn’t find it, the entire trip would be lost for her in some form or another. Guest services wasn’t picking up so she ran downstairs while I kept looking through the room. We were approaching muster drill time and they were trying to shut off the lines downstairs. As she tells it to me, she was talking to an agent as the line was getting cut off and the agent had said they had not seen anything but would keep an eye out, when another agent heard the word backpack and came running from behind the counter with her backpack! I don’t know if someone had turned it in or if a staff member found it. I wish I knew so we could have properly thanked them because someone could have easily made away with tons of valuables and instead, they turned it in. It was a nice reminder that there are good, decent people and it’s not always a lost cause. And a reminder that Stephanie needs to tag her stuff!

Our cabin steward, Alex, knocked on our door as we were unpacking to remind us that muster drill was coming up in 15 minutes. I never like to be early to muster drill because the first one in is almost always the last one out. This time, it kind of bit us in the bum – our muster station was Jamie’s Italian restaurant and it was packed by the time we got there. We found a corner in the back, grabbed some space to park on the ground and waited it out. Muster drills are a formality we sit through – we’ve been on enough cruises to know the drill at this point. Royal Caribbean did change it up, though – there was a kitschy video to go along with the drill, kind of like their version of those fun flight safety videos that all the airline started doing after Virgin America released their safety video years back.

It was a mad rush out of the drill so we held back – we wouldn’t have gotten an elevator anyways. We strolled around on the outer deck for a bit until the crowds died down and then made our way to deck 15 to watch the sailaway party.

The party wasn’t as active as some of the other ships we’ve sailed off on, but I think that was a byproduct of the people onboard and not as much the staff, who were leading a fun dance party by the pool!

We watched Singapore fade off into the distance, catching our last views of the Marina Bay Sands and the distinctive skyline we’d spent the better part of the past week appreciating. Apparently we weren’t the only ones wanting to catch one last glimpse – the aft of the ship was packed! So we snapped our pics and headed off to the North Star.

One of the more distinctive attractions Royal Caribbean has added to their new ships in recent years has been the North Star, a pod that takes you 300 feet above sea level, swinging you (gently!) from side to center to the other side, giving you some pretty incredible views of the ship. Stephanie snagged us reservations on the app, and we were pretty excited to try out something new! Unfortunately, we took a little too long staring at Singapore, and we were the last people to board in our group, which meant we didn’t get to choose a primo spot front and center. That was okay, though – everyone tended to move around once we got up and the views were just as great as advertised!

After our ride to the top, we headed all the way back down for dinner. We had made reservations at Jamie’s Italian Restaurant, another new one for us. Our server, Amit, was wonderfully attentive, giving his recommendations and favorites. The meat plank was insanely delish, but the star of the meal for me was the penne carbonara and the pavlova dessert. Oh my god, so so good! I had the burger for my main and I thought it was a little dry and heavy. Stephanie seemed to enjoy the chicken, but the mains didn’t pack the same wow as the appetizers and desserts.

I needed a walk after all that heavy food, so we headed over to Two70 and enjoyed some live Beatles music by the live band. One of my favorite parts of cruising is the live music at night. Carnival does it really well and we were so glad to see it onboard here – it’s been a few years since our last Royal Caribbean cruise!

We decided to browse some of the shops and didn’t buy anything, but the window shopping was fascinating. There was this Chinese pharmacy shop on board and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you what anything was, but it all looked really interesting! We popped into the Leaf and Bean café, too, which reminded me more of an Instagram coffee shop than a cruise ship one, with wicker furniture, jade plants and shades of millennial pink and pale green.

We FaceTime’d Mom from the Via, giving her a mini tour, and then headed upstairs to the Windjammer for a cup of coffee before heading back to the room. I know. Who drinks coffee at 10:00 at night? Me. I do. I wish it would have kept me up longer, but I was wiped out!

There was note on our bed that the clocks would turn back an hour during our sea day tomorrow, which meant we’d get an extra hour of sleep and I sorely needed it. I got in a little bit of balcony time and made myself finish unpacking before surrendering to the zzz’s. There was so much more I wanted to do and see instead of surrendering to an early bed time, but you know – if the sleep wants you, it gets you!