Places to bring kids and R&R

We replaced the Japan trip with a 4D3N cruise on the Super Star Virgo to Penang and Phuket the very last minute and thanks to a nice friend who had a VIP card, we got ourselves a balcony room at a fraction of the cost! This was our first cruise so we were all very excited.

The check-in was relatively fast, probably because we were in balcony class and went not during the peak season in early April. The room was more spacious than we expected of a cruise cabin, it was a pretty decent size (see pic of balcony view & cabin, excuse the mess) and we awoke each morning to a different scene which can be appreciated right on the bed, wonderful! The engine of the ship was not loud, a slight purring sound which you can hear when you lay on the bed.

The food at the Chinese Restaurant Pavilion was yummy, especially their sang tang (double stock soup), we ate there most of the time, service was quick too as the food (4 dishes and a soup) were standard for everyone. Breakfast there was dim sum, not bad and we got a table by the window most of the time, Jerome loved eating indoor in air con by the waters (so to speak). We tried Bella Vista (western) for their American-style breakfast (good stuff) and lunch (3 course meal – we had salmon pasta, soup, dessert ice cream/chocolate pudding). You’ll have to ‘dress up’ for dinner in this restaurant (no open-toe footwear and shorts or sandals, guys with collar polo at the least). The Mediterranean Terrace served international buffet and was so so. We were usually early for meals so we didn’t face much of a queue, also because it was off peak. There were 6 other restaurants available but it was not part of the package (ie. you have to pay to eat there). We only tried the Japanese restaurant which was ‘okay’ standard for the Gala night dinner. For normal paying passengers of the balcony class rooms, you would get a $200 dining credit with your room card but we were guests so we didn’t get the credit.

We spent quite a bit of time at the arcade and outdoors playing table tennis and at the kid’s pool. I was tempted to try the big slide but decided it was too troublesome as it was located at the Parthenon Pool (adult’s pool 1.7m deep with 4 jacuzzis) at the otherside of the ship from the children’s fun pools. Jerome enjoyed himself at the toddler’s pool though he was not too keen on the slides at Neptune’s Wet and Wild (see pic) which most kids loved. As he gets older, he develops more fears like getting splashed in the face down the slide when he loved being dunked as a baby during classes at Marsden swim school…sigh, talk about regressing. Talking about fears, Jerome was frightened of the mascots on board, including Charlie the penguin, a clown, a tiger and a pirate which most kids loved to take photos with.

We went to the open house at Charlie’s Childcare centre – the facilities were not bad, they had a decent size indoor play structure which Jerome loved, a soft play area for toddlers, a dining and sleeping area, a movie room with bean bags, a reading and craft area, a pantry, child toilets. However, we decided not to put him at the childcare centre because of two reasons – one: we saw a child being admitted when she seemed to be sick, no temperature or health checks were taken at the door. We actually paid for the session for Jerome, it was a face painting and free play (there were activities almost every hour including pizza making, crafts, costume party) but asked for a refund because we didn’t want him to catch any virusses from other kids. The second reason was our doubt as to the suitability of the child-minding (sorry, this must be because my standards are high – the more I read up on early childhood education for my doctoral studies, the higher my expectations of others…not realistic you might think…but it’s my paranoid self coming to play). During the crew show on the second night (kudos for the crew putting up an entertaining show), there were segments where the ship ‘divas’ came out to sing and dance (cross-dressing act). On the intinerary (we were given a daily newletter of the happenings on the ship which was good), it was labelled as ‘family fun’ but we disagreed that a cross-dressing act with lewd actions can be considered family fun. Jerome was rather confused during the show…he asked ‘is that a monster? is it a man or a woman?’ and I had a hard time trying to explain ‘cross dressing’ to him and made a joke out of it. The children who were in Charlie’s childcare centre were brought to see this show which had the mascots coming out during the finale (probably the only part suitable for the kids). These kids had front row seats and sat through the entire ‘diva’ performances together with their childminders. We began to doubt the suitability of the childminding at that point. I have no doubt that other parents have put their kids in the centre and they had lots of fun, it’s just that hubby and I decided Jerome was better off with us. Because of this, we didn’t have much time for ourselves – my plan to visit the spa was shelved.

We looked forward to the shore excursions and after reading up some reviews, decided against buying any excursion packages from the ship as they were overpriced. We did some of the things ourselves by hiring a taxi for a few hours (must bargain with driver), at a fraction of the package cost.

Penang – we docked at Georgetown (in the city) and disembarked by noon. Our plan to go to Penang Hill was shelved because the venicular which we wanted Jerome to experience, was being fixed. So it was a shopping trip. We were taken to Gurney Plaza (upmarket shopping like any shopping centre along Orchard road, prices no different we found) and Prangin Mall ( a let down as half the shops were abandoned). We regretted not going to foody places instead, that would have been the speciality of Penang (Penang laksa, chendol, char kuay teow and indian rojak…sigh). We bought quite a bit of local goodies from a local produce shop though, like my favourite chicken biscuits and shek kia ma. Some things sold there were made in china, so be careful what you buy, read the labels. We returned to the ship at 5pm to prepare for the Gala dinner.

Gala dinner – everyone dressed up, well, some more than others. I would have preferred to watch the Gala show first at 7.15pm then catch a late dinner but Jerome’s tummy couldn’t wait. We ate till 8pm and went for the show at 9pm by which time Jerome was sleepy and fell asleep before the acrobats that he was looking forward to came out. It was a Russian production, not bad for entertainment and circus acts. We couldn’t stay till the end because Jerome was asleep on daddy’s shoulder.

Phuket – We disembarked quite early at 9+ in the morning, the ship dropped anchor just off Patong beach and we took a small boat to shore, Jerome liked the ride. We followed our friends who knew their way about, hired a tuk tuk for 200 baht (4 adults and a child) and went to Jongceylon shopping centre’s market and mall. The wet market which was just beyond the shopping mall had lots of local produce, we bought mangoes, plain dumplings, fish maw, dried shrimps for a good price and they were fragrant and fresh. The mangoes we bought tasted delicious, according to our families who ate them back home in Singapore. After the morning’s shopping, our friends (two senior ladies) decided to head back to the ship for lunch after a thai massage. We proceede to the beach for some sand play which we promised Jerome and he had a good time at the beach (water and sand is so-so at Patong beach, a highly commercialised stretch) although it was very hot.

Jerome (at 4.5 yrs) took his camera along and snapped some good pics. The photo of the beach and tuk tuk are taken by him.

All in all, we had a pretty good time although hubby still prefers Club Med where the food is available almost 24/7. His only grouse is that there are specific timings for eating on board this ship….