Genting Dream 3-6 September 2023 (Part 2)

The next day, Monday, 4 September began well enough. I planned to get up early for a run on the jogging track on Deck 17, but I only managed to get up around 6.30 a.m., and after waiting for my mum to get ready, we only reach Deck 17 just after 7 a.m. It was nice to get up to the morning air at sea, and it is one of the things I enjoy, which makes me try to get up early on cruises, even though many would think it is an opportunity to sleep in. I showed Mum around the top-deck facilities. We took a few pictures against the rising sun and the ship was already pushing against the pier at Port Klang, which we were supposed to be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We have arrived at our next port on the itinerary, and to me, that was too soon for a cruise. I generally like some sea days between my ports, even if it is half a day.

We went back to the stateroom around 8.30 a.m. to the waking family. Soon we began heading to The Lido buffet for breakfast. We ended up having all of our remaining meals at The Lido, after surveying all the available menus there and at the Dream Dining Room before each meal. It was for the variety to suit both the young and old, and my mum always found the Chinese menus at the Upper Dream Dining Room too common and unimpressive. This is certainly a downside of the Dream Dining Room. I thought to try out the Western menu for at least one of the meals, but was deterred by the extra 'nominal' charge of S$15 per diner.

Feli and H got some pool time after breakfast, but it was probably around 11 a.m., near lunch hour and H was still recovering. Meanwhile, the mum and I toured the rest of the indoor facilities that we were not able to the evening before. Then, it began to rain and we returned to the stateroom to find Feli and H back and showering. After that it was lunch. We toured more of the open-air decks (16 and 17) after lunch and even managed to play a bit of mini-golf and international chess. H got to play and to the Gelateria on Deck 8 for gelato and waffles. After this, we attended the story-telling session hosted by the noted author Neil Humphreys, which is a very pleasant surprise, but it was more for H than anyone else.

I went to check out dinner options and we ended up at The Lido again. I cannot remember much of what happened after dinner, but we must have toured the indoor shopping and gaming decks and went to bed.

Genting Dream 3-6 September 2023 (Part 1)

This is Part 1 of a review of my experiences on the three-night cruise to Port Klang and Penang on Genting Dream, from 3 to 6 September 2023:

Communication was almost non-existent. We did not receive any details, embarkation or otherwise, from the time we booked in late April until about a week before the cruise. By then, we were already feeling puzzled. Have they forgotten? Finally, the first e-mail came on 27 August, exactly a week before the sailing, confirming our booking. Whew. Then another e-mail the next day sending us our cruise ticket. At least it was on. Then silence thereafter. Feels rather transactional.

We were given the check-in time of 4.30 to 4.40 p.m. on the cruise ticket, which seemed rather late, given that most of the afternoon would be gone and we would not be able to enjoy the attractions on board before the ship's scheduled departure from Singapore at 7 p.m. Hence, I wrote on 31 August asking to check in earlier, but received an automated reply a day later saying that my e-mail was not delivered, citing a refusal by the 'recipient's email system... to accept a connection from [my] email system'. I don't know what went wrong there, but by then it was already too late.

Boarding was confusing.  I checked us in (the family with my mum) two days earlier on 1 September in the hope that we would have a smoother boarding experience. However, when we reached the Marina Bay Cruise Centre just after 4 p.m., there was still a process to follow. Only upon arrival did I realize that the boarding time was from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. We were definitely in the later bunch. We left our only suitcase with the baggage check-in counter at the entrance before heading into the departure hall on Level 2. Then we joined the snaking queue to scan our bags, where we waited for a fair bit of time and when we received our boarding groups (9A and 9B). Then we went to join another queue to supposedly check in, after which we discovered only one member from each group was required to undergo the process, so everyone else went off to the seats and waited there. It was another snaking queue and it was not until it was almost my turn when I discovered that it was to generate our personal access cards. This could have been revealed to us earlier.

After we got our access cards and lanyards, we started to look for where we should proceed next. This moment to me was the biggest failing of the cruise centre. We were not directed where to go and the first usher we encountered even told us to sit and wait while the jams ahead at the immigration counters cleared, even though the PA system had announced while I was in the queue earlier for the access cards that everyone remaining could board. About a few minutes later, as we were looking for seats to park ourselves, another usher said we could go ahead, regardless of the crowds, which had not diminished. These conflicting sets of instructions were quite confusing and unhelpful. For this, I blame the cruise centre management, not the cruise company Resorts World Cruises. The contrast with the efficiency and seamless experience at Changi Airport was stark. It is baffling to me that both could exist in the same jurisdiction.

Eventually, we followed the crowd upstairs to the automated immigration counters and checked out of Singapore. From then on, it was a smooth journey along the side of the terminal onto the bridge and on board the ship at around 5.25 p.m. Finally! The entire check-in process took only about an hour but felt longer than that. It certainly can be shortened further.

Nickel and dime all the way! This part is about the entire onboard experience over the almost 2 days, 20 hours and 55 minutes on Genting Dream. This was not our first time on the ship, except for my mum. Our last time onboard was in 2018, with my parents-in-law. It was quite a difference in experience after five years. The balcony stateroom (room 12036) was narrow, small but cosy and clean. This was good. We quickly put away our luggage and got ready to explore the ship, and perhaps have dinner along the way, as it was pushing 6 p.m. I introduced the lower decks where the indoor facilities were to my mum and we tried to get a table at the upper Dream Dining Room, where the Chinese menu was served. We were told (at 6 plus p.m.) that the restaurant was full, and to return at 8 p.m. Hence, we went to The Lido buffet line on Deck 16 to have a snack first, in case the daughter got hungry. And here was the first change.

We had to queue to get a numbered table first. This was quite different from the practice at all onboard buffet lines I had been to. A sign said it was for our 'dining comfort', but I suspected it was to track numbers and prevent wastage of food. We had a light snack and not a full meal before heading back below, exploring the ship along the way. By the time we reached the Dining Room, it was about 8 p.m. and here we were informed that to enter a second restaurant within the same mealtime was chargeable at S$15 per person for dinner and lunch, and S$10 for breakfast. This was the second first. On Royal Caribbean ships, you could eat at any of the included restaurants for as many times as you like within the same mealtime. Apparently not on Genting Dream. In order to enjoy a fuller experience and have a more complete dinner, I agreed to the extra charges and we went in. By then, it looked as if people were finishing their dinner but the restaurant was half-full anyways. We were led to a screened-off area like a private room (which looked exclusive, which was good), but was left there for a while with no one to tend to us. Eventually I caught the attention of a waiter who kick-started the entire service. There were no dishes to choose from as there was only one set dinner, so the wait staff brought out the dishes and Chinese tea. We decided to have only three bowls of rice despite there being four of us due to our reduced appetites. The appetizer, fried chicken, was too hard for my mum, and the rest of the dishes were lukewarm, evidently prepared some time ago. The chicken soup was rather common and nothing special, and the marinade did not get into the flesh of the fish, leaving it rather tasteless. The pork belly turned out to be steamed ribs though, but it was good, along with the prawns. These were the two highlights of the dinner. My mum said the vegetables were too salty. Seemed alright to me though. By then, we were too full for dessert, but thankfully it was light, which most of us managed to finish. Overall, the dinner left us rather unimpressed, especially for the price charged.

There were no more printed daily programmes or the RW Daily. You had to go onto their onboard WiFi and read it online (which did not work for us), or consult it on any of the electronic directory screens scattered across the ships. And worse, they do not change for the next day until after midnight, which makes it hard to plan activities for the next day. This was a serious downside, and I fed it back to the reception staff on the last night when I was paying for our outstanding balance.

My mum and the daughter remained in the room, which had been set up for four to sleep, with an extended sofa bed and an overhead bunk bed, while the wife and I went to the Zodiac Theatre to watch the nightly performance for 3 September. The performance was very good. That essentially ended the day.

Part 2 to come!

Melaka -- Overrated?

An old draft, but these are my thoughts after a visit to the historic town in late May 2023:

I think Melaka's commercial importance in the past was probably overrated. It was an independent sultanate only for a little more than a century from 1403 to 1511. After that, the Portuguese destroyed and scattered the trading networks that made Melaka an Asian emporium. The Portuguese never managed to reconstruct the networks that made Melaka successful, nor did the Dutch who took it from the Portuguese in 1641. By the time the British East India Company took it over in 1795 to prevent it from falling into French hands, there was not much commercial value in holding on to it, except to prevent the French from establishing themselves on the Straits of Melaka, i.e. for geopolitical reasons.

After Singapore was founded in 1819 and the Anglo-Dutch Treaty signed in 1824, Melaka was essentially kept by the British for completeness of their domination over the Malay Peninsula. There would be no foreign European settlement in their sphere of influence, just as there would no non-Dutch settlement in the Dutch East Indies. This does not speak to the importance of Melaka. In fact, it lapsed into a backwater in Singapore's shadow.

Let's see if it becomes important again under an independent, sovereign Malaysian government and renewed links with China harking back to the time of Cheng Ho.

I'm Back!

After exactly eight years and two months, I am reviving this blog! Watch out for more posts!

The Nature of Singapore

The thing about Singapore is, that there is no security of life here.

The Nature of Singapore's Economy Part II

The nature of Singapore's economy has inevitably led to a pandering of Singapore policies to foreign interests, so we can 'stay relevant' and be 'world-class'.

In the process, we lose a sense of self as a nation, as well as underestimate our own people's talents and capabilities.

The Nature of Singapore's Economy Part I

Since its independence, the PAP government has been very concerned about how Singapore is portrayed abroad, and is at pains to make Singapore look good internationally, to foreigners.

Part of the rationale behind this is to portray Singapore as an investor-friendly place to attract investments, and hence create jobs for its multitudes of unskilled labour—a feature of Singapore in the 1960s.

However, within this process and over 50 years, the government has not managed to be cognisant of how Singaporeans see Singapore, of the reputation of Singapore amongst Singaporeans, and what Singapore stands for.