The latest travel craze and why you’ll love it!

Like most people in Singapore, after a year of no overseas travel, I’ve really been keen for that feeling of packing a suitcase and dusting off my passport for a trip – something a little further away than a staycation.

There has been plenty of “cruise to nowhere” buzz lately, but I had always dissed the idea. What could I possibly get out of sleeping on a cruise ship that didn’t go to another destination? Wouldn’t we get bored being stuck on a ship in the ocean? Would it be safe amidst a global pandemic? And how would I cope with having to take that dreaded PCR test before sailing?

In a normal year, Royal Caribbean operates 24 cruise ships around the world; until recently, though, they’ve all been idle. However, thanks to Singapore’s fabulous safety measures around COVID-19, the company has come up with a way of taking passengers on one of its fleet, the Quantum of the Seas.

It’s called the Ocean Getaway, and it’s available for two, three or four nights. We went for the four-night option – easily our longest holiday in a year! After booking, I downloaded the Royal Caribbean app and created an account.

The ship sets sail from Singapore at around 9pm (boarding is from 2pm). At the end of the cruise, it returns in the morning, docking at around 6am. Check-out is staggered from 6.30am to 10.30am.

Safety measures

A full PCR test is needed for the cruise – it was the part we were all dreading! A couple of weeks before our scheduled departure, the invitation came to arrange a time at a testing centre in Raffles City for our swab test. You need to take the test a couple of days before sailing. It was uncomfortable, but better than I expected – a little like the “nose freeze” you get after eating too much wasabi! The results came back within 24 hours by email; certificates are accessed via a weblink or app.

Before departure, the Royal Caribbean team send emails for some really great offers on drinks packages, plus a combined drinks and Wi-Fi package with different options on number of devices, activity sign-ups and more. My advice is to book the paid options before sailing; it’s more expensive if you leave it until you’re on board – plus, for the paid activities, you’ll have more choice with time slots.

They also reach out regarding a pre-boarding health check that you need to complete, and to arrange a specific check-in time. Try to check in as early as you can, as you’ll have more of a chance to explore the ship when it’s quieter. You can also catch some of the early activities and tick them off your list before everyone else boards! Time slots for boarding run from 2pm to 8pm, on the half hour.

Formalities at the dock

Before we knew it, our sailing date was upon us. We headed down to the cruise terminal for our allocated time of 2.30pm. Check-in was smooth – it only took 30 minutes from arrival to boarding, including health screening, temperature taking and passport control. They did a great job of keeping us all at a safe distance. You can drop suitcases off at the entrance and they’ll be placed in your cabin later, or you can carry them on yourselves.

Passport control issued us with a “tracelet” – a contract-tracing watch that we had to wear throughout the cruise (apart from in the pool, as we found out!). They also issued us with our individual Seapass cards, which you use to check in and out everywhere once on board.

After these formalities, we went straight to our cabin, connected to the ship’s Wi-Fi, and used the app to book our shows and schedule some activities. The app works onboard even if you don’t take the Wi-Fi package and prefer to go offline for a few days.

There are various accommodation options, from an interior stateroom with a virtual balcony to an ocean view with a porthole window, an outside stateroom with balcony, and suites of various sizes. Most staterooms accommodate up to four guests as they have a pull-out sofa bed. A few rooms have interconnecting options where the balcony partition is removed between rooms – a great option for more space. Some of the suite bookings include drinks and speciality restaurant packages, too, so check those out. There’s also an option to upgrade to a suite before sailing – these details are sent by email, subject to availability.