Ethanol95

DCL has just announced that DCL will deploy it's largest ship out of Singapore starting from 2025-2030. This is amazing for us. We have always wanted something Disney in our country and now we are being served. So thrilled to be able to try the inaugural trip when it opens for sale! She will sail around South East Asia is what some news outlets have said. Please remove the link if it's not allowed. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02qdNBFRPcJrs8x2qsDB67CRf6S2mc4bg3omSnF2Yg1uBTfGnJHdxwa9CAC5nninnrl&id=100045283783712&mibextid=qC1gEa

What did you think of the ship? TBH i prefer Spectrum to Quantum despite the suite in a ship concept. The physical offerings of the ship is of course quite significantly different from Quantum, with some saying its worse. This i will not argue cause there is some truth to that. But boy oh boy, the entertainment line up on Spectrum is miles better than what we ever got on Quantum. Especially sailing QN during the covid period. Spectrum's shows are all very good. The Effectors especially, is the best Royal Caribbean show i've see so far and i've been on many different Royal ships before. Live bands in the Music hall and in bars were amazing. Did it seem weird to have so much of the ship segregated for silver and gold passengers? This time round i didn't have time to properly experience the segregation of suite vs non suite, as i was travelling with friends and forgoed my diamond status to dine in silver to be with them. Having said that I didn't feel as though the suites vs non suites was really in my face as a mainstream cruiser. Perhaps for only the Solarium and the exclusive dining as others have mentioned. Even when i went to the solarium with my friends, we didn't see any specific area cordoned off for silver or gold specifically. How different were the food menus from the usual Caribbean sailings? At the time of my sailing, Royal had been in the middle of rolling out fleet wide the new 'themed' menus that they have been conceptualizing. On my sailing, this was still not implemented. I believe it was implemented on Spectrum only 1 or 2 weeks ago. But during my sailing, we still had the classics section and a much larger menu that had rotating items everyday. For Singapore/Asia sailings, you will definitely see more local asian AND Indian options in the MDR. Some can include: Chicken soup Laksa Thai Pad Thai Noodles Hot and Sour Soup Sweetcorn Crabmeat Soup Etc. Did you try any of the specialty restaurants? Nope, but based on what i've heard and seen, the exclusive SC specialty dining places are not fantastic. Sichuan Red is better than Hot Pot. In Asia, we have high standards for Hot Pot, and Royal Caribbean's doesn't cut it to pass at all. It's just a thing in cruising and Hotpot. Even on Resorts World Cruises, our home grown local brand, the Hot Pot is pretty bad as well.

We ended up going to Bang Tao Beach which is north of Patong Beach, the beach is much nicer and less crowded. The area is themed as a lagoon resort area, with famous hotels such as Banyan Tree, Dusit Thani Laguna and Angsana. It's very much like a lake which is a different vibe to the conventional Phuket experience for most tourists. Transportation to and from that area is not cheap though. Roughly paid 1000 Baht, which is around 30 USD for our trip there and back by grab car. I think it was well worth the experience. We felt like we beat the crowd this time round. Also in Patong beach, do go to Bangla street, there is a nice Thai street food setup along one of the smaller roads there. Shouldn't be hard to miss. We managed to catch some food at dusk, right before boarding the ship. Had to make a run for it to the pier though. Sad to say I do think over the decades, Patong beach has become way too commercialized and flooded with tourists it takes away from the experience. But if you've never been there before, I do think you should at least walk around there to get a sense of what Patong has to offer. If you are interested in beach clubs, Patong is not the place. You can check out Kamala and Bang Tao beaches north. Hope this helps!

Yes my employer knows but can't cover. We have to cover the ship to a live audience given the internet holds.

Is there an international i can call from Singapore?

Do they not recognise it if I wait until embarking the ship and buying the package on that day instead?

what about in the atrium and in public areas of the ship?

1. I'm Elite status 2. Nope, booked through an Interline TA, so didn't see the options displayed. Yea guess i'll just have to swallow it down.

Yup, thanks! 😂

Wow that's great of them. I've always had varying degrees of issues with the internet whenever I sail and for sure none so far has offered this level of personalized service and excellence. If it was me i would have tipped those IT guys personally and generously.

I work for a travel media organization. So travelling is part of the job 😂. Sadly it's not my primary job!

Hmm interesting, i would think that sailing from FLL would have good internet stability. Maybe the weather was a factor in your internet reception on board? I'll be sailing out of Rome, so I do hope that it is better than what you describe at least.

Nope i need the full bandwidth.

Yes. So i guess its the full fare for wifi then

Oh okay. Nope mine is INTERL NOPERK

Part of my job involves being on a cruise so... They know but can't do much to help 😂

Where on your booking invoice would it say that I purchased the all inclusive plan?

Okay this was my concern as i'll need to do video calls as well. I'm hoping the internet comes through for me.

Sorry i meant what tier are you in the Captain's club loyalty? I see that there's a perk on Celebrity's website for Elite members 30% off wifi package or Wi-Fi upgrade. Does that mean i can get Basic and upgrade FOC to Premium wifi?

I'm in Prime Concierge class, do you know if it's included in that category? What tier are you for CC?

That sounds like a steal to me now. What package is that? I do need to be connected for work reasons.

Hello just wanted some input from y'all. Now, i'm not a new cruiser by any means (although a first timer on X cruises). This is my first time sailing on a 10N+ cruise, but surely paying $329.89 USD for wifi for the duration of the entire cruise is ridiculous. 1/3 of 1k just on wifi for 1 device is exorbitently high. Is this pricing normal for all X cruises. Just wondering how people afford the wifi on longer cruises given most X sailings are generally longer than other cruise lines. I would at least think the longer duration the cruise, the lower the price per device per day would be.

If Disney hasn't build a park in India yet, there has to be a good reason why. Disney cruises aren't exactly cheap either. I would say China is more developed than India and hence the Chinese have more spending power which is what Disney would look for.

It's likely going to be out of China and tied up with HK Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland and possibly even Tokyo Disneyland/Disneysea. It would provide families with a very full on disney experience on land and at seas creating great family vacations.

I think Utopia is going to Southampton.