After a fairly erratic night as the bodies tried to get used to the 5 hour difference, we went down to the buffet a bit later than intended, so it was a bit busier. Spotting potential cruisers wasn’t too difficult, as there is always that glow of anticipation prevalent! Back to the room to shower and pack and to the lobby to check out. Oh dear. From a very slick check in, with no queue, check out was just the opposite. A slow queue then as an honest soul, I declared that we hadn’t signed for our breakfast that morning, so had to wait whilst the receptionist rang through to the buffet and confirmed we had been clocked in for breakfast, so that meant the final bill had to be reprinted... It took just over half an hour in total.
A taxi to the Marina Bay Sands convention centre to check in, where the there was a constant stream of taxis, slowing up the arrival area. Another total fare of $10. We thought that maybe we’d be able to go up to the hotel (it’s the one with the massive surfboard structure as its top level – hopefully, a photo attached) but the Convention centre is across the road and we opted to check in instead. We handed over our luggage and there was no queue for the “Preferred Check In”. That is us... To the desk, sign a form and we were given a shuttle bus ticket.
We only had to wait 5 minutes and the bus took about 30 minutes to transport us to the pier, at one of the many container terminals.
Most people know that Singapore is the largest container terminal in the world. When it takes a further 10 minutes driving AFTER arriving at the port gates to get to the ship, and you can traverse the average NZ town in less than 5 minutes, you’ll get some idea of the size. Incidentally, from our Singapore hotel window, even though I could only catch a glimpse of the water between the various tall buildings, I counted 76 ships in the harbour.
Embarkation was a breeze, getting our cards issued and official card photo’s taken at the foot of the gang-plank, then straight up to deck 11 to dump our carry on stuff in the cabin, before heading for the Horizon Court buffet. Similar to the Dawn Princess as far as food is concerned, but with an extra dining room tacked on at the rear, extending outside to the rear deck.
We then wandered through the ship, trying to get our bearings before the lifeboat drill, but I’ll leave the ship observations for later.
Singapore did its usual trick with a shower at sailaway time and we met up with just a few “Diamond Cats” before the evening buffet.
After unpacking and realising that I’d left my black (semi formal) trousers in Auckland plus a couple of polo shirts, we just relaxed before the theatre’s introductory show 9:30pm to 10:15pm. Our cruise Director – Warren Smith, who was also our director on the World Cruise, compered the short show, featuring the dancers and a comedian, Tommy Briscoe.
No Alana and Alana nor a suitable spot on deck 7 for a late night coffee and dance, so early to bed – 11pm is not exactly early though. The first full day at sea tomorrow.
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