November 23-30, 2016.
**Highlight: **A twofie with Alden Richards at Universal Studio. ;)
DAY 1
This was my first time running late in the departure area. It was fun. The adrenaline rush was real. Haha. But I’ll never do it again. LOL. I’ll eat an hour before the boarding time next time.At 8:10 AM, we left the Philippines then we arrived early in Hong Kong at 10:30 AM. In immigration, I feel like I’m the only one traveling and I like that. My friends didn’t fill up the immigration slip in the airplane so they fill up first, and I don’t want to wait for them, so I decided to enter without them. I feel like an independent person. LOL.
We left Hong Kong International Airport by bus at 12:24 PM going to the Cruise Terminal. In the airport, I wonder why there were no decorations, no Christmas trees, and Christmas lights. I expected that the place was just like when I went there 6 years ago.
I like that we used a bus going to the port. We feel like we’re on a field trip. We enjoyed the view even if it was raining.
The streets of Hong Kong are the same. It’s still clean. The taxis if I remember it right, they were black and like a Toyota Vios but right now, it’s like an old-school taxis. I saw the street where we stayed when we went there last 2010. If only we were allowed to roam even just for 15 minutes, I’ll buy my favorite egg tart.
I also didn’t know that I miss the place, I just felt it when I saw it again.
We arrived at the cruise terminal at 1:30 PM. I couldn’t believe most of the men working at the cruise terminal are good looking. Hahaha. We just filled up every paper they were giving to us.
Here’s the funny part, before check in they have an iPad, they need to take a photo of each one of us for our sea pass card (our key card also). Whenever we use the card on board, our photo will appear on their screen. The sea pass card was like our ID. When it’s my turn, I didn’t know if I’m going to smile or not so I cannot help not to laugh. Hahaha. It was so awkward when your face was so close to the device. A man (he is handsome by the way.) couldn’t take a picture of me properly. My picture was either blurred or my eyes were closed. I don’t know how many takes we did before I can finally have a “decent” photo of my face.
I was glad he’s also kind and he’s not like those people in immigration. Look, he even laughed.
We were so famished that we weren’t in the mood to roam first, so the first thing we did was we ate lunch at Windjammer restaurant. The food was tasty.
After eating, we went to our stateroom to rest for a while then we went to the Royal Theater to listen to the safety drill. I expected that the drill would take long, but it only took less than 30 minutes I guess. We went back to our stateroom to relax and take a nap.
At 8:00 PM, we dressed up for dinner. We ate at Windjammer again. The Filipino chefs are so friendly and so thoughtful.
I didn’t enjoy our dinner this time because we were already full and I have seasickness. We went to American Icon Restaurant because we had a meeting with our professors. We didn’t know that our meeting place was a restaurant. The crews gave us already the menus then they take our orders. I swear this was the first time that the food wasn’t appealing to me because I was so full already.
Our night was good. The crews looked like having a good time with Ian. Hahaha. The way they looked at him and how he asked requests with the crews were funny.
I like that they were so kind, friendly and are also joking with us. The other guy said a Tagalog word.
We called it a day at 11:00 PM because of exhaustion and sleepiness.
DAY 2.
At 7:00 in the morning, we ate at Windjammer and we had free time to stroll around. We went to the place where you can go shopping, then to a casino. At the music hall, there were people who dance Zumba. We enjoyed watching them. We just took pictures then we went to Windjammer again to eat.We weren’t allowed to go to China because the school didn’t want to. We just stayed at the ship the whole day while other people in the cruise were having the city tour.
At 10:00 AM, we went to the Seaplex to ride bumper cars and play air hockey and a soccer game there.
We went to the arcade to have a picture taking only because it’s not free. Haha.
On 11:00 AM, we went to the theater for our seminar about housekeeping. The top 1 employees on the ship are Filipinos. There are 408 Filipinos who are working on the Ovation of the Seas, so that explains why there are Filipino crews wherever we go.
After the seminar, we had lunch at American Icon. A fine dining restaurant we went last night. After eating, we went back to sleep. Then we prepare to dine into The Grande restaurant. This time, we used our formal attire because we were planning to go to the orchestra.
All our plan was changed because unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to the Grande restaurant, and we didn’t know why. We were also late for the orchestra so we watched a movie in the theater instead. At 10:00 PM, we went to the Two70 for the silent party.
We were talking about the silent party when we were eating at the Silk. We were actually laughing at the idea of it. We imagined that the silent party was a party without a sound and we were just going to listen with the headset, then you can dance. When we were at the venue, the silent party we had imagined was actually like that. Hahaha. Some walked up to the dance floor and begin to dance. It was so awkward at first because if you don’t put your headsets on, you’ll think they were crazy dancing without a sound, but after a while we joined them and it was fun! We really enjoyed our night.
Then we went back to our stateroom at 11:00 PM to sleep.
DAY 3
We had 8 hours of sleep. We ate brunch at Windjammer then we strolled around the ship.
We went to Seaplex again, watch the practice at Music Hall, play billiards, then we went to the theater for our seminar with the stage production.
After listening to the seminar, we went to the Windjammer again to eat lunch. We were starting not to like all the food because it just tastes the same. Then we went to our stateroom to take a nap.
When I woke up, Diane, Diucs, and I went to Ripcord iFly. The experience was good. It was just sad that the pictures were so expensive. It costs $99 for the both of us.
After that, we went to the Grande. I didn’t enjoy eating because of seasickness. Putu, the crew is very funny. We’ll never forget her joke the first time we had a conversation with her. Then I went to sleep cause I couldn’t take my dizziness.
DAY 4
Again, we ate breakfast at Windjammer then we went to the theater to listen to the environmental manager, restaurant manager, front desk manager, and the executive chef of the ship. After the seminar, we went back to sleep. Then we went to American Icon to eat lunch. I forgot the Indonesian crew we had a conversation on, but he’s funny.After that, we strolled around the ship. Then we went back to our stateroom. I just watched a movie then my friends took a photo shoot on the balcony. Then we got ready for the captain’s night. It was not a party, like a party. We just took a photo with a captain then that’s it, it was done.
We just roam around deck 4, took photos with the photographer, Michel on the stairs, then we went to Chic restaurant to dine.
We enjoyed our dinner because of the three crews named Nico, Divina, and Ikomang the Indonesian. Ikomang is very funny. We were laughing at him the entire time.
DAY 5
We woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for our shore excursion in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. We ate breakfast at Windjammer then we went to Two70 to wait. We were bus number 17 and our tour guide’s name is Steven. He’s nice and I saw how passionate he is with his work. We went first to Chinese Medicine Street.
The street is very busy and there are more scooters than cars. We headed next to the Buddhist temple.
Some Vietnamese don’t have manners. When I went to the toilet, it was so dirty. The toilet wasn’t like a normal toilet that we have. Vietnamese specifically the older ones, they don’t know how to say ‘excuse me’. They are just going to walk past you like they didn’t see you there.
We went to Palace Saigon to eat our lunch. The crews there don’t have manners also. They just get our plates without even asking if we’re already finished. But the food especially the chocolate ice cream is the best! I will never forget the taste of it.
and Vietnam souvenir shop. I just only bought one souvenir magnet.
Then we went back to our ship. We freshen up for dinner at Silk restaurant then we tried the North Star. It’s a 360 view of the ship. The view was so pretty with all the street lights of Vietnam.
I went to our stateroom after to sleep at 10:15 PM.
DAY 6
We just had room service and stayed in our room until lunch. Then we called some of our block mates to go to our room to eat some of the food we ordered. We just talked to two Koreans, play UNO cards and punished Ian because he just lost the game. We were laughing the whole time.
At night, we tried the flow rider. It was fun. I stayed on the ride longer than my friends. If only we went there earlier, I can try the standing position.
We stayed in the jacuzzi, then I went to sleep early because of seasickness again.
Our 7th day was our last day on the Ovation of the Seas. We had a group picture at the royal theater and at the stairs in deck 4 Then we just strolled inside and taking pictures of ourselves. I bought 4 watches that cost $88, but its original price is $65 each. I don’t know if it’s real, though.
We went to our room to change then we left because Rio, our stateroom attendant will clean the room. He was so kind and friendly. He always communicates and jokes with us. He also knows our names. I like how passionate he is with his work.
Then we had dinner at the Windjammer. We expected that the food was a Filipino food because our professors said they will serve it for us. I was so disappointed.
After that, we just stayed in our room. We took photos, talked about issues in life, then we had fun.
DAY 8
This was the day we were actually leaving the ship and going back to our country. Our last destination was Singapore. We went to Universal Studio.
The place is not that big like what I’d expected. I didn’t like the taste of the food, again, even my favorite chicken nuggets. I don’t know what’s wrong with my tongue. I’m just the only one who always has problems with the taste.
We just took photos.
Diane and I rode 3 rides only. The Transformers, Mummy, and Puss and Boots.
The Mummy ride is the best! Even my other friends who tried the roller coaster said that the Mummy was scarier. We just love the ride. At first, we thought that it was like one of the horror houses. Emily and Sally said it was fun so we went to try it. The four of us just put our things in the locker, then we went inside.
Inside, there’s a television that has information about the ride. When I saw it, the first thing that I read was the words _roller coaster. _I told Sally and Emily and they were just laughing. Hahaha. They knew! They trapped us into riding one. It was our turn now, and we’re at the front! We had no choice because we were the first in line. Diane and I were in the middle. Emily, Diane, Me, and Sally were holding hands the whole ride. Hahaha. It was awesome!
We went to the souvenir shops. Then my friends said that Alden Richards is at the entrance, so we went outside. I took a selfie with him so my sister and cousins would feel envy. Hahaha.
Then we just wait for our bus to pick us up going to Changi Airport. We waited for less than an hour for Cebu Pacific to open their check-in area. This was the first time my ear was hurt during descent. It was like your eardrums would explode. I searched for the causes and it says that it’s normal when you have colds.
My overall cruise experience was good. I got to experience talking with other nationalities every day. I also made friends with them. I learned Indonesian and Korean words. I familiarized myself how was it like working on a cruise ship and what kind of life does the crews have.
I recommend this to everyone who wants to experience a luxury lifestyle and who just wants to relax. In addition, Royal Caribbean should make food with different menus to each and every complimentary main dining they have. Also, The Royal iQ app should be accurate on what it says in the app’s description.
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