Kids Go Free!

With the Costa Victoria celebrating 20 years on the water, REBECCA BISSET steps aboard to discover the highlights of its short cruises from Singapore to Malaysia, Thailand and beyond.

Going on a cruise has its advantages, and not having to pay for kids (they’re free on Costa Victoria if they’re under 13 and sharing your cabin) is just an additional one. There’s plenty for them to do on the ship, and with the buffet-style eating being all-inclusive, you don’t have the drama of meals not getting finished when you’ve paid a lot of money for them. It’s also a good way for young ones to get a taste of new types of foods without the waste. There are five restaurants, some à la carte and some buffet, and ten bars.

Most of the onboard entertainment is suitable for all family members, so it’s a good way to spend time, and you can’t really lose them anywhere – well, only if you try hard! (If your children are old enough to have a smart phone there’s a Mycosta Mobile app that lets you and them stay connected while aboard.) Every evening there is a different show, from a Michael Jackson tribute show to a very clever comedy show, and all sorts in between.

Costa is an Italian cruise line, and Costa Victoria has an authentic Italian theme throughout: the floors are all named after Italian operas and there’s heaps of good Italian cuisine. Also, a Pavarotti lookalike sings in the foyer – he’s brilliant! It’s all rather musical, actually – even the waiters in the fine-dining restaurants will suddenly break into song and dance. And the big event on board is the Venetian Ball.

The ship’s kids’ club is known as Squok Club, and it offers everything from making Venetian masks and costumes, to mural, necklace and t-shirt making. Meeting the Captain is always exciting for littlies (and biggies, too!), and there are sports tournaments for kids and sport facilities like a fitness centre, jogging track, and tennis and volleyball court.

If you want to take older family members or those with disabilities, there are six cabinets that can cope with wheelchairs and it’s a very easy way to travel. The ship employs around 760 crewmembers, so there are plenty of people around to help. For our Ocean View with Balcony cabin, we had our own butler, William – he was lovely. And there’s also a Medical Centre on board. The first night there is a compulsory fire drill; getting youngsters and old ones to that could be a bit painful.

There is a spa but the massages seemed quite expensive; however, there are some great deals in the on-ship stores. I bought a couple of Guess handbags at a steal and stacked up on some Christmas presents too.

Cruising is a great way to see the region without flights and tours. The three- night cruise from Singapore includes day tours to Malacca and Penang, and there are four- and five-night cruises that include destinations such as Phuket and Langkawi. Various day-tour options are offered at each place, though unless there’s enough interest not all of them will run. I wanted to do a kayaking one at Phang Nga off Phuket but because no one else had subscribed to it, I ended up doing a really dodgy animal park, labelled as a “wildlife park”. It was awful and they had monkeys and elephants doing tricks; I don’t understand why these places are allowed to function or are promoted. The Penang day tour was also disappointing, so, if you’re a family, I think just do your research before and organise a tuk tuk or taxi to take you where you want to go. Or just spend the day on the beach or in the nearby shops.

I’ve been on a few cruises from Singapore and the quality of the experience does depend on the time of year – travelling in regional school holiday periods means you’re going to get more of the mass market, so bear that in mind.

Costa Victoria is a stunning ship and I think cruising is definitely the easiest and most relaxing way to travel and see some of Southeast Asia’s highlights. You can start the cruise from Penang too, if you prefer, with an option of flying and cruising for one night only.

SIMONE WIRTHMANN always loved being in the water as a child in Germany, but she started diving relatively late, after graduating and travelling to Koh Lanta, Thailand, in 2004. Since then, she hasn’t looked back, becoming a dive instructor in 2008, and subsequently joining Singaporebased boutique professional PADI dive centre,

Here she tells us more about the centre and its focus on diving for families.

What’s your favourite dive spot on the planet?

There are loads of great places – most of the diving I’ve done has been in Southeast Asia (in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia) but I’ve also dived in Mexico and Germany. I would say my favourite so far is Mushimasmgili Thila, better known as Fish Head, in Ari Atoll in the Maldives.

Who typically signs up for programmes with Orca Scuba?

Since we’re headquartered in Singapore, most of our students and divers come from here, and it’s where a lot of our theory and swimming pool training takes place.

Our dive centre at Rawa Island, Malaysia, is well equipped for families, and many come on weekend trips from Singapore. (It’s just a few hours by car and ferry.) However, we also welcome families from Europe, and from Malaysia itself.

Often we get parents and kids wanting to dive as a group, and because the dives at Rawa are fairly easy and the depth is generally quite shallow, we can easily take out more advanced divers together with those who are less experienced.

More experienced divers can also appreciate long dives alongside beautiful coral formations; they can bring their cameras, and dive without feeling rushed by big groups or a rigid time schedule.

Can anyone get involved?

In general, anyone can dive, as long as they are fit and healthy. Kids as young as five can enjoy their first experience with us by participating in the Surface Air Supplied Snorkelling for Youth programme; snorkelling on the surface using a mini tank and a regulator set, instead of the usual snorkel set.

Once they turn eight or nine, they can join the PADI Bubblemaker programme. This involves going to a depth of no more than two metres in the ocean or four metres in a pool; they’ll take their first real breath under the water, practice some basic skills, play with buoyancy in shallow water or even go on an underwater exploration looking for fish and coral with their instructor.

Kids can start their first certification course from age 10. Those aged from 10 to 14 can earn a Junior Open Water certification, while ages 15 and above earn a standard Open Water Diver certification, which entitles them to go to a depth of 18 metres.

People who aren’t so interested in earning a certification right away can do the Discover Scuba Dive programme, which includes a theory session covering basic safe diving practices, how to use the equipment and how to swim and behave under water; this can be followed by fun dives with an instructor to a maximum depth of 12 metres.

Do guests need to bring their own equipment?

For all activities we offer, you don’t have to bring your own equipment – we provide everything necessary. However, if you choose to go for a diving certification and you plan to do more diving in the future, basic

equipment such as mask, snorkel, fins, a wetsuit or rash guard and maybe a dive computer are good items to own.

Tell us about the Orca Scuba facilities.

Our shop is located inside Queensway Shopping Centre, with a wide range of diving and snorkelling equipment (including everything I mentioned earlier) and dive staff who can give you all the information you need about learning to dive with us.

We also complete a lot of swimming pool training in Singapore, which can save time on your holiday when you go to complete the dives in the ocean.

Our dive centre at Rawa is located at the northern tip of the island, a five-minute walk from Rawa Island Resort. It has a big classroom area with loads of space and modern amenities such as flat-screen TVS to watch videos in the various courses we teach. The kit room has new, up-to-date gear, and there’s a compressor room with a silent Bauer compressor to fill our tanks. Besides standard-sized tanks, we have smaller tanks especially for kids as well as some with a higher volume to accommodate people that can do with that little bit more air.

Is there any ocean diving off Singapore or do you need to go further afield?

You can dive in Singapore, but due to the amount of boat traffic and industry off the coast here (both of which have an effect on the visibility of the water and the health of the corals and marine life), Rawa is much better.

What are the highlights of diving at Rawa?

The dives we do around the island are generally relaxed and at a fairly shallow depth. All the sites on the western side are easy to reach and can be done as shore dives. In the north, just outside our dive centre, is an area called Northern Gardens, with a multitude of bigger and smaller rocks and coral formations spread out across the sand. Here you can find blue spotted stingrays, a variety of nudibranchs and flatworms, and many common reef fish.

One of my two favourite places around the island is Dragon Rock, on the southern side, which has impressive coral structures, including healthy staghorn coral, huge table corals, fields of whip and harp coral and even some colourful soft coral. You’ll also see fish, rays, moray eels, cuttlefish and sometimes nurse sharks and turtles.

The other place, Bat Cave, can only be reached by boat; it’s a big channel that leads into the rock at a maximum depth of around five metres and ends up in a small cavern. If the water is calm, you can come up and see bats hanging from the ceiling. In the morning, when visibility is good, the sun illuminates the water and the views are stunning.