A traveller’s diary: Legend of the Seas

When my friend Mabel called on June 28 and asked if I would like to join her and two of her girl friends, Osang and Cynthia, on a Southeast Asian cruise on November, it took me all of two seconds to decide. We’d fly to Singapore, board the ship there then cruise to Malaysia and Thailand then sail back to Singapore. Mabel and Cynthia would fly back to Manila but on the same day, Osang and I would board the ship again for the second cruise. Mabel e-mailed the dates, ports of call and rates to me an hour later, and it was a go.

The five-month wait was nerve-wracking but on November 19, we finally flew to Singapore where we stayed overnight before boarding the ship the next day. Then, the feasting began. Feast for the tummy, feast for the senses, feast for the mind. The ship is named Legend of the Seas in the fleet of the Royal Caribbean – ten decks, 867-foot long with a gross tonnage of 70,000 and a passenger capacity of 2,067.

We boarded the ship at noon on November 20 and a scrumptious buffet lunch was awaiting us at the Windjammer Cafe on Deck 9. Between lunch and the 5.00 p.m. sailing time, we whiled the hours beside the pool, glasses of Singapore Sling and cognac in hand. By sundown, we were at sea.

As the ship pulled out of port, I barely had time to take photos of the sunset as it was time to get ready for dinner. Unlike the casual buffet set-up at the Windjammer Cafe, dinner at the Romeo & Juliet dining room was a sit-down affair. It was hard to choose which appetizer was best, the waiter suggested we leave everything to him and I must say it was a wise decision. He brought us plates of escargot swimming in pesto and cheese for starters, grilled fish for the main entree and a souffle which he pierced to pour in some custard for dessert.

The thing about cruising is how the food parade never seems to end and you don’t pay for anything extra because, except for the alcoholic beverages and the soda, everything is included in the package. You can have an early breakfast at the Windjammer Cafe and a second breakfast at the main dining room, and do the same thing for every meal, and live the life of a glutton if you can manage to digest everything before the next meal. Pizza, burgers and hotdogs are served all day until around midnight at Deck 10, coffee and tea are free-flowing, and there is a frozen yogurt dispenser near the pool. If you still feel hungry after all that, there’s room service.

But enough about the food. Let’s talk about the musical entertainment.

While a Mexican duo performed at the poolside during the afternoons, the real action was at the center of the ship (aptly called the Centrum) after dinner.

One of the performing bands, Vicki and the Holding Company, was made up entirely of Filipinos. Vicki did the vocals, her husband Cris played the guitar, Ike was on the drums and Boy on the keyboard.

They played dance music and we had a blast dancing most nights away.

(More on page 2)