Allison Abroad: Cruising the Malacca Strait on the Royal Caribbean

So I would never have described myself as the cruising vacationer - the first and only real mega-cruise I went on was with my parents and sister with Holland America where we hit up the Panama Canal, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao back in 2011 - before kids, before marriage, before Hong Kong - i.e., a long time ago! And I only vaguely remember the room and boat details, though the offshore excursions snorkeling in Bonaire and shopping and exploring in Curacao stay with me.

And before that my only trips living on boats were in the Galapagos during my bar trip after law school (but that boat housed 17 people total and I still remember to this day that the shower water spurted orange due to the rust in the pipes, so that is a wholly different category of "cruise") and a brief 3 day stint on a Big Red Boat from Florida and the Bahamas when I was 10 or 12 or so...

But now I completely get the appeal, especially for those with small kids or elderly. It's so perfect for a group vacation.

We were on the Spectrum of the Seas for a 4 day 3 night cruise from Singapore to Penang with the Royal Carribbean and it was, barring the crowds, very nice. We had two extra large balcony rooms adjacent to each other (although we only figured out 2/3 of the way through our trip that we could remove a portion of the separating wall on our balcony) and they were so comfortable. The kids loved running from room to room.

The boat was huge, and really quite new as it was delivered in mid 2019 (right before Covid, oh my). It contained 16 floors with endless staterooms and entertainment options and everything was just... very beautiful. We were on the 8th floor, low down enough to be away from the entertainment and pools and activities on the upper decks, but high up enough to be away from the casino, main dining hall and theaters. I chose to be as close to the center of the boat as possible, having read that the aft is most prone to choppiness. Overall, I'd say that the boat was so big and so steady that you would be hard pressed at times to realize the boat was actually moving.

We boarded the boat right before noon (thank goodness we splurged for the VIP access Key membership, I have never seen a more hectic and anxiety inducing cruise check in!) and enjoyed a lovely special welcome lunch. My filet mignon was shockingly good, very yummy! Then we checked into our rooms and wasted no time going to the pool and water splash zone on deck 14. All of these pictures are taken before the boat left port. Michael has gotten the kids to really enjoy the hot tub, and delight in the "hot cold" experience.

Finally we started sailing at 4 pm and Teo exclaimed, "Mommy oh why are we moving so slowly?" But we quickly picked up speed.

Dinner was an easy grab and go pizza with some veggies and fruit, enjoyed on our private balcony.

In the afternoon shortly after we set sail, the boat had to stop for nearly two hours as we waited for a rescue/ police guard/Coast Guard. Sadly and worryingly it seemed there was an accident or emergency that required an evacuation to a local hospital. Apparently it took 45 minutes to stop the boat. They did it so smoothly and gently that it took me a while before I realized we weren't moving.

But we eventually got moving again and the kids enjoyed a little movie night cuddled together before bed.

It was magical to look up that first night and see the moon peeking out from behind the clouds, feel the kiss of the balmy night air, and hear the rhythmic, gentle slap of the waves as the boat powered through the water.

And magical again to behold the breathtaking serenity of the water and sky at dawn's early light - here is our view upon drawing the curtains in the morning.

We always managed to get seats by the window in the main dining hall for our meals. The kids (Al in particular) got very intense about juice.

The boat had a two level Adventure Ocean playroom that was basically an onsite drop-off nanny accompanied daycare/playgroup. We went to the unsupervised playroom to play on the second day, then the kids went back to enjoy the activities and playgroup for a little bit in the morning on the third day.

There were endless elevators to take, and we especially thrilled at catching the glass ones.

On the second day Lola and I went for a spin on the North Star, which is a glass observation capsule that takes you up 300 feet into the air from the top deck of the boat and gives you a birds' eye view of the boat as well as its surroundings. It's apparently won the Guiness Book of World Records for highest viewing deck on a cruise ship!

Here, Lola celebrating that she passed the height requirement. Sadly the boys did not even come close...

Then we were off!

Lola observed that from way up high the boat actually looked like her Barbie playhouse. I took a look when we reached the top and have to agree with her astute assessment. Things looked doll sized!

We explored the boat, played Bingo in the beautiful theater, and enjoyed some amazing views from the aft of the boat. Then it was time for the boys to nap.

The boat pulled into Penang on time, around 3 in the afternoon, but we decided not to venture off the boat and instead stayed on for a relaxing afternoon at the pool. Here, we got to see the pilot boat guiding our large ship to dock. It was hot and sunny!