Thursday, November 25, 2010

All Aboard!



Myself and 39 other bloggers were lucky enough to be selected by OMY for a half-day ship tour onboard the Royal Caribbean ship - Legends of the Sea, as part of a contest where we could win the grand prize of a 7D5N western mediterranean fly-cruise!

I was looking forward to catching up with my fellow blogger friends whom have also made it into this contest. Namely Eunice, Edmund and Walter. You can go to their blogs to read their far more detailed posts on this ship-venture we had :) Unfortunately we were split into 4 different groups and I was separated from the three of them. This forced me to make new friends! They were the cheeky newlyweds, Benjamin & Michelle, the Keropok man, bubbly young girl Peimin, the personal trainer Lionel (i think if this diet of mine is not going anywhere, i will require his services!), food blogger Catherine, Lynn, and Peggy. Everyone was SOOO young! I felt like an aunty amongst them.

Being the photographer, everyone thinks you'll be snapping 8G worth of pictures but I didn't want to show what you can already find on Royal Caribbean's website so in this post are some "alternative" photos of my little trip onboard the ship taken and edited with my humble iPhone.

Roman and nautical themed decorations/artifacts/paintings were present throughout the vessel.


To be truthful, my mother-in-law goes on a cruise at least once every few months so I've come to associate cruise holidays with the older generation. But after being on this ship tour, I've changed my mindset somewhat. Here's one important thing I found out - all your meals are taken care of, included with your cruise ticket. Not only buffets but fine dining in a proper restaurant too! You can use any/all of the facilities onboard at your whim. I particularly liked that you could leave your little ones in the "day-care" while you enjoy a swim, a movie or perhaps a spa treatment. Here are some of the facilities available onboard:

Rock-climbing wall
Outdoor pool
4 whirlpools / jacuzzis
Indoor/outdoor pool in a Solarium with a sliding roof
9-hole miniature golf course
Beautiful glass-walled dining rooms
Themed bars and lounges
Centrum, an open atrium featuring shopping and more
Adventure Ocean® youth facilities
Casino
Day Spa and Fitness Center

We also got a chance to check out the rooms onboard. The more luxurious rooms like the one and only Royal Suite can rival any 6 star hotel rooms on land, maybe even better because this room had a baby grand piano in it!!!



The luxurious sheets used, I can only imagine the threadcount in this sheet!


While we were ooo-ing and aaa-ing at the room, we suddenly noticed that the guests (a friendly indian couple) who booked this room were already sitting in the living area of the suite! They must be wondering what we were doing taking pictures of their suite :p Thankfully they were friendly and not upset by the disturbance :p We quickly took our leave and proceeded to lunch.

I was impressed when we walked past this room which had streamers and banners hanging from the ceiling that screamed Happy Birthday! It was a guest's birthday and they actually decorated his room, nice touch of service.


Then the highlight of the tour was a wonderful lunch in the two-tier glass-walled Romeo and Juliet dining room.



yummy shrimp ravioli!




Thanks again to OMY and Royal Caribbean for organising this contest, I had a great time :) If you my readers are considering a fuss free vacation, why not book a cruise with Royal Caribbean? I guarantee you it's not just for old folks ;)

5 comments:

eunice said...

hehee u were always "forced" to make new friends.. I know u have thousands of fans already!! :DDD

What else should I say? Guaranteed quality shots as usual from u! Who knows what u just blogged here will be featured on TV, travel magazines again. *wink*

Mummy Cendrine said...

Hi there, Thanks for the add in facebook. Didnt get a chance to talk to u on the cruise. Edmund told me abt u, saw yr website, beautiful quality shots. :)

maryann koh said...

hey ladies thanks for the kind words! wah mummy cendrine, should have met you on the cruise, at least you are a parent too, the rest in my group either married without kids or youngs things that are not married yet hehe :p will check out your blog soon!

Unknown said...

Beautifully shot as always, and I like how you manage to compose your family type photos (oops off topic) to be so evocative of the deep emotions and bonds in each family unit. I think Royal Caribbean Cruise should select more family bloggers (like us) who are also professionals (like us). haha... anyway, was great catching up and hope that you can WIN! :)

maryann koh said...

awww thanks walter (about the off topic comment)! i try to do that with each family i shoot :) yes so true about Royal Caribbean selecting more family bloggers because WE are their target clients hahaa :D see you at the christmas party!