Singapore-On to the Mariner of the Seas

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Singapore-On to the Mariner of the Seas



Such a peaceful morning. We found a Coffee Bean Shop around the corner from our hotel on Orchard Road. We read the paper, had great coffee and watched people. ;-) It is early Monday morning, so not much traffic-just people going to work. After all our travels in Asia we find we are way more interested in what’s going on in this part of the world so devour Singapore paper about life, the economy, and their take on what is happening in the US and the rest of Asia.



After a leisurely stroll in the rain back to the hotel we finish packing (takes 3 minutes since we only have one rolling bag between us) and take a cab to the cruise ship terminal. Our cab driver was great, spoke English, but was a man of few words and had us to the terminal in just 15 minutes.



As we spotted our ship, the Mariner of the Seas, we gasped as we had forgotten just what a mega-ship this is. So much bigger than the Princess ship we got off of just 4 days ago and the Amsterdam of weeks ago could have been a lifeboat for this ship. We will have 3100 passengers and 1200 crew and staff!



Craziness is the only way to describe checking in for this cruise ;-) It was a chaotic mob scene at the cruise terminal. We showed up at 11:30 and never have we seen so many people waiting in line to get on a ship! There was some attempt at organization…different lines for different decks on the ship, but there was so many people, that the lines were backed up across the terminal in the back and forth lines that make Disney lines look like a picnic. We waited for about an hour just to get to the check in desk.



I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised, but we were, at the astounding number of extended families traveling together and the multitude of cultures. On our first ship, the Amsterdam out of Seattle there were 1150 passengers, 1100 of which were Americans. On the Diamond Princess we had about 2100 people and less than 400 were American. On the Victoria Katerina on the Yangtze, of 225 passengers maybe 35 Americans. Now on the Mariner of the Seas we have 3100 passengers and the majority are from Singapore and China then, not in order Russians, Germans, Italians, French, Brits, Aussies, Americans and someone said 31 countries are represented. Americans as far as we can guess total maybe 50-75 at most.



Kids, kids, kids as far as the eye can see ;-)! As we were chatting with people in line, we discovered the reason for all the families and the “hordes of children”. Schools in Singapore are on winter break. So, everyone is traveling. On the flip side of the coin, we met a lady traveling alone from New Jersey who flew all the way here just for this 5 day cruise. We visited with a couple from Perth, Australia, who were taking there first cruise and were completely overwhelmed by the chaos and people. Many people from Perth and Australia come to this part of the world to vacation as it is a relatively short flight. Because of all the nationalities, it is a really interesting cruise. We have made friends with a very nice family from India who are living in New Zealand ;-). Grandparents, parents and two small boys.



We found our cabin on the deck 7 and our interior room was as about as expected, but somehow seemed a little familiar. Since we carried our luggage onboard and did not have to wait for it to be delivered, we unpacked (again in 3 minutes ;-) Lots of room for everything-lots of storage. We then headed off to our first stop, which on a cruise ship is ALWAYS the library! Lots of books-both passenger book exchanges and regular library books to be checked out. Then to the internet café to sign up for internet time so we could get an “early sign up” discount.



Lunch at the buffet was good-lots of selections-but oh my gosh, the number of people was just overwhelming… this was the only restaurant open on boarding day…..so crowded it was difficult to find a place to sit-kids running around everywhere, which was fun because of all the energy they brought but also crazy ;-)



We walked around this beautiful ship, checking out the atrium promenade which is 6 stories tall and the entire mid-length of the ship… with lots of shops and trees and cabins overlooking the open shopping area like being in Paris. As we continued to explore, the more we spotted features that were very familiar, it was driving us crazy… when had we been on this ship before? It finally dawned on us that we have been on this ship before. We think Becky and Efrain got married on it!! Yes, that’s it!



Off to early seating at dinner. Had some very nice tablemates-one couple from Singapore and another form Perth, Australia. Food was good, but not exceptional. After dinner, we decided to do something different-go to the evening show. In our experience, the “shows”, “extravaganzas”, are better on the larger ships, and this was certainly no exception. The performance was a couple from the Ukraine doing acrobatics and dancing routines, and they were absolutely spell-binding. They showed a clip of them winning an “American’s Got Talent” kind of show from Eastern Europe.



Next Stop: Penang, Georgetown, Malaysia.

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Photos

Stateroom
Mariner of the Seas

Library
Mariner of the Seas

Atrium/Promenade
Mariner of the Seas

Comments

[Rafael]

The ship . . .
Sounds like a lot of fun!