Earlier this year, I embarked on a 4-day cruise (Penang – Phuket – Krabi) with two of my girlfriends as you may have known from the posts here. It’s not really my first time to go on a cruise so I thought I’d share in this “outfit post” with a little (?!) text on what to expect onboard. Please don’t expect a comprehensive list as I just gathered here what I thought are relevant:
First of all, it’s pretty much like checking-in to the hotel, they assign you a room after which a mandatory safety drill (boring part) will be conducted prior to the ship’s departure. After that the fun begins at the top deck for the…
Sail-away party. There are flowing drinks, live music, some dancing and people spotting (aka getting to know other cruisers). It’s festive - the place to be at right after the ship started sailing for your last look at the port. Coz it’s gonna be sometime when you see land again. Hehe. After the party’s over, now what?
Entertainments Onboard. In your assigned cabin, newsletter are sent to your door for the schedule of activities per day. There are karaoke bars, casinos, theatres, pool deck, gym and a lot of other things provided onboard for the cruiser’s entertainment. Tour the ship to find where they are located and get your bearings. Most of the time, you’ve to take advantage of these after going back from a day trip to the other country/destinations but there are also daytime activities for those who opt to stay in and not explore their stopovers.
Buffet Everyday. Atleast for the two cruises I’ve tried (Royal Caribbean and Star Cruise), buffet meals were provided in the many restaurants they have on board (your preferred cuisine to choose based on what’s available). So, expect a little weight gain after the voyage. Hehe. Another thing to expect?
Sea Sickness. Mal de debarquement (disembarkation syndrome) is common to occur even if you don’t have any sea sickness problem onboard. You can also never tell the weather, seas can be rough sometimes or you might be sensitive when you’re assigned at a lower deck so do prepare your meds (not that there aren’t clinics in the ship).
Formal dinner. Every cruise has a gala night (usually on the last night) where there would be a program and dinner with the captain. Some restaurants have dress codes as well so check with your cruise ship. For this cruise though, we were luckily chosen to dine with the Captain at his table. Getting a little close to the captain has its benefits, we get to explore the bridge (aka the ship’s command) after dinner and see this dude’s room. All 6 of the girls had a photo with him in the room just to pretend to his friends that he’s having fun. Lol.
Bridge Tour. This is one of those things that I didn’t know about during my first cruise. But then again, we were supposed to work (aka whole day meetings) during the cruise that time (lol!). There is a schedule for a tour of the bridge in the day and we didn’t get to sign up in time on our last day. But since we know the captain and saw him during breakfast, naturally we scored a private tour by ourselves. Hehehe. It was a very informative tour though. :)
And there you go! I hope you were able to glean something from this post to prepare you on your next cruise. I do apologize for the lack of posts last week. I will be able to explain it in my next post. Ciao! :)
