Being the second time cruiser on Royal Carribean, we qualify for the Gold membership on the Crown & Anchor Society (CAS). This entitled us to some privileges, such as express check-in and reception for CAS members (more about that later).
As the rooms are not ready until 1pm, we headed to the Windjammer cafe for lunch. By the time we reached around 1215pm, all the tables were full, and many guests were just standing around waiting for a table. I felt Royal Carribean could have done a better job, perhaps to open up some of the cabins earlier or open up another place for people to sit down to relax (e.g., Park Cafe on the other end of Deck 9). We decided to head for Deck 5 instead to get the itinerary for the day (or what they call Cruise Compass onboard).
Just before 1pm, the rooms were ready and we went to leave our luggage in our cabins. As it was an interior stateroom, it was smaller than what we remember of our balcony cabin on the last trip. But the room was still clean and the furniture did not look too worn out. After a short rest, we went to Windjammer's for a quick lunch.
After lunch, we went on a ship tour, which was led by Yun, a staff whom we remembered from our first cruise. We were shown the different places and facilities in the ship, including the Centrum (first picture below), Schooner Bar, fine-dining restaurants (one Japanese and one steakhouse), mini-golf course and rock-climbing wall.
All guests are required to attend a muster drill before the ship sets sail. This took place around 330pm, where all guests had to gather on the port or starboard side of the ship to know where they are supposed to gather in case of emergency, and also how to use their life-jacket. We did not arrive too early this time round, so we didn't have to wait too long before the drill started.
One of the key highlights of any cruise on Royal Carribean is the food in the dining room (called Romeo and Juliet on this ship). We enjoyed the food on our last cruise, and enjoyed it as much on this cruise. For dinner on the first night, we had Vadalia Onion Tart and Spinach Salad for starters, and Atlantic Salmon and Prime Rib for main course. We wrapped up with a Chocolate Cherry Cake and Apple Crumble for deserts.
After dinner, we decided to watch a movie (People Like Us) at the "That's Entertainment Theater". Seats were comfortable and large. But because the theater is just outside the casino (where smoking is allowed), we could smell whiffs of cigarette smoke at the first few rows from the entrance. We left early as we wanted to wake up earlier for the fitness classes the next morning.
Day 2 was when we were to dock in Penang. I woke up earlier for a vitality stretch and abs class in the fitness center (didn't manage to wake Yanni up). As we were still full from dinner the night before, we decided to make do with a simple breakfast of muffins and bagel at Park Cafe (just outside the spa and gym). Although it's a small cafe, it became one of our favourite resting spots during this cruise, as it had a pleasant ambience within a covered swimming pool.
After breakfast, we attended a towel folding class. During our last cruise, our stateroom attendant folded a cute monkey out of towels for us. This class had several stateroom attendants present to teach us how to fold various animals, including elephant, dog and monkey. Pictures below are comparison of ours (on the left) and the stateroom attendants'. I'd say it's not too bad for a first attempt :)
Just before lunch, we had a CAS get-together for members on the Viking Crown Lounge. Apparently, 108 members were sailing for the second time or more on this cruise. One couple had even sailed 647 nights. We were served champagne and some finger food, and introduced to the key members on the ship, including the Captain.
Lunch was at the Dining Room. Although we were going to disembark in Penang, we were not going to let this get in the way of a good lunch on the ship first. The salad bar had an impressive range of various vegetables, cheeses and meats. We also had beef carparccio, pasta special (which tasted like yellow noodles in Singapore), and brazo de mercedes (light meringue) and raspberry-chocolate ganache tart for desserts.
Shortly after lunch, the Legends of the Sea entered the Swettenham Pier in Georgetown, Penang. We decided not to take the shore excursion so that we could food-hunting in Penang on our own. We also realized when we got off the ship that there were many taxis outside for hire.
Our first stop was Ghee Hiang along Lebuh Pantai for tau sar piah. Unfortunately, by the time we got there at 330pm, the tau sar piah was all sold out. We then decided to go to another tau sar piah shop along Lebuh Kimberly, with a pit stop at the junction of Lebuh Carnarvon and Lebuh Kimberly for crispy fried oyster cake.
We couldn't find the tau sar piah shop along Lebuh Kimberly either, so we decided to head for Pranglin Mall for a sun-break first (later on we realized it was 37 degrees in Penang that afternoon). I asked Yanni to wait for me, while I headed to Chowrasta nearby for my last attempt to buy tau sar piah. Only when I reached there did I realise that stalls in Chowrasta also carried various brands of tau sar piah (including Him Heang and Ghee Hiang), albeit at a slightly higher price.
I went back for Yanni after buying the tau sar piah, to eat Chendol at a small street (Lebuh Keng Kwee) off Jalan Penang. We also tried the assam laksa there, which was not too bad. Being on a gluttony streak, we then headed to Lebuh Kimberly for duck koay chap and char kway teow (with some cray-fish like meat). Thereafter, we took the free city shuttle bus from Chowrasta back to the Pier. All in, the short 3 hours we spent in Penang was somewhat nostalgic, as we went back to try the same foods that we ate some years back when we first visited Penang.
We got back to the ship around 645pm, so that we could have a shower before the Captain's welcome aboard reception at 730pm. This was supposed to be the formal night, and we saw many Korean guests in their traditional costumes. Free-flow champagne and mocktails was also served all around.
We were stuffed from our eating in Penang, but by 815pm (our dining time slot), we felt ready for some more fine food. For starters, we had shrimp cocktail and escargots. For the main, we went for hoisin glazed duck and filet of beef. We wrapped up with low-fat berry mousse and chocolate souffle for desserts.
After dinner, we went for a private event for Citystate Holiday customers (where we booked our cruise). The event was held in the Anchors Aweigh Lounge, and we were entertained by singing, dancing and games from 9 to 1130pm. March babies (including Yanni) were also given a mini-celebration by way of birthday song.
The next day, we had breakfast in the dining room. I enjoyed the cereal bar the most, as they had various dried fruits to go with the cereals. We also ordered omelette and scrambled eggs.
The ship docked at KL (Port Klang) around 10am to 6pm, but we decided to stay on the ship as any shore excursion would mean having to spend a few hours on the road just to reach KL city center for shopping. We wanted to join the shufflegolf tournament, but got wrong advice from one of the staff that it was on Deck 10. Nonetheless, we had a good time trying out the shuffleboard game. We also had a good time playing ping pong at various times of the day. (it was too bad that we had to give the ping pong tournament a miss the day before due to the CAS event)
Lunch was only available at the Windjammer's Cafe as half the guests had gotten off the ship. After lunch, Yanni attended a seminar at the Vitality Spa, while I attended an origami class that taught us how to make a lily. Before dinner, we participated in the Golf Tournament at the mini-golf course. We didn't manage to get any placing, but were happy with our scores nonetheless.
At 7pm, we headed to the theater for a farewell show, which included an acrobatic performance by the Alan andYulia from the Olympic National Team of Russia. I'm sure their amazing performance left a deep impression on many of the audience, including myself.
Our last dinner on the ship was as memorable as the past few nights. For starters, we had smoked fish tapenade and cream of pumpkin (rich and creamy). For mains we had NY strip steak and shrimp & mahi mahi tempura (which didn't taste like the japanese tempura we know). For desserts, we had pistachio & raspberry sherbet and chocolate brownie sandwich.
In the middle of dinner, we were treated to a heartwarming performance by the crew of the Dining Room, including the chefs and waiters. They gave a good rendition of 你问我爱你有多深, followed by a gangnam style performance by two young sisters who performed the night before during the Citystate Holidays mini-concert. We also took a picture with our two waiters, Seri and Frank, who took good care of us over the last three dinners.
After dinner, we attended a 5-min performance at the Centrum entitled Aerial Vignette "Sun", which had three performers suspended in the air doing various acrobatic moves. This was followed by the "Rock and Roll Reunion Party" also at the Centrum, which was hosted by the Cruise Director "Dan Dan Mian". It was a whole lot of simple and good fun, with games such as hula-hoop and twisting competitions that got the crowds on Decks 4 to 8 riled up.
All in all, this cruise was more fun than we imagined would be possible on a smaller vessel. We satisfied and stuffed the glutton within us both on the ship and also in Penang. The vibes and energy of the crew staff also left a lasting impression on us. We will certainly consider sailing on Royal Carribean again, perhaps on a bigger vessel next time.
