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Lifestyle Travel

Cruise To Nowhere: Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas Review

cruise-to-nowhere-review-of-caribbean-spectrum-of-the-seas

My family sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas in February 2021 and had nothing short of a fantastic time. My daughter, Olympia, has been reminiscing about her time on the cruise and badgering to go on a cruise ship again. Therefore, when news that Spectrum of the Seas would start sailing in Singapore drifted to my household, I promptly made the bookings. Plural for bookings because I also asked my parents-in-law along to enjoy a seacation (and babysit Olympia of course). Since I have already tried balcony stateroom on Quantum of the Seas, I decided to pamper ourselves with Suites class this time round. As part of its opening promotion, we paid S$1,800 for 2 adults and 1 child for a 5-day 4-night Silver Junior Suite. Here is my review of Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas, a Cruise to Nowhere.

Tips On Planning Before The Trip

Most of the pre-departure tips that I shared on my review of Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas in this blog article are still applicable. Anyway, here is a quick summary:

  1. Know your itinerary in advance by changing sailing date to current day on the Royal Caribbean International Mobile App (still the best hack ever)
  2. Wait for promotion (25% off) before purchasing wifi on the Cruise Planner. Do also offset the cost with your on-board credits, if any. I regretted purchasing the Voom Surf Voyage Package this time and not the Voom Surf +Stream Package as the former was annoyingly slow.
  3. Take note of restrictions on some activities that your child may not be allowed to participate. For instance, at only 3+ years old, Olympia was ineligible for bumper car, rock climbing and the Skypad even though these were activities she really wanted to try.
  4. Save 5% off by booking direct (email, phone, walk-in) with your HSBC credit card. Receive branded bag and luggage with minimum spend of S$1,800.
  5. Purchase travel insurance offering cruise riders for additional coverage
starr_insurance_cruise_rider

Diagram 1: Starr insurance offers cruise rider as an add-on

Given the changing Covid-19 restrictions, I opted for a virtually supervised Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) from the comfort of my home. I booked with Raffles Medical and each test cost me $23 per pax. Therefore, do add this cost to your budget since the ticket does not cover for this.

Silver Junior Suite Privileges

I was yearning to try Suites class because my last attempt to do so was quashed after Olympia fell sick. On the other hand, I had to balance my budget as I also have plans to travel elsewhere in the second half of 2022. (revenge travel is real). Therefore, during the time of booking, I felt that the Silver Junior Suite offers the best of both worlds – not too hard on the wallet (check out the price of her Ultimate Family Suite) while having a decent exposure to the privileges afforded by Suites.

For comparison, a Silver Junior Suite cost $310 more per pax over 4 nights than an Ocean View Balcony, which works out to $78/pax/night. Spending this additional amount entitles one to the following SEA Class benefits exclusive to Spectrum of the Seas:

1) All day access to Silver Dining covering Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. This is an exclusive area dedicated to passengers on Silver Suites.

silver-dining-area-spectrum-seas

Diagram 2: Silver Dining area on Spectrum of the Seas

For breakfast and lunch, it is served buffet style while dinner is a semi-buffet concept. There are a few standouts from the ala-carte dishes served during dinner as shown in Diagram 3.

silver-dining-ala-carte

Diagram 3: Appetisers served during dinner at Silver Dining

I feel that the food at Silver Dining was only slightly better than those served at Windjammer. There are several areas that can be improved upon; a rotating ala-carte dinner menu would be a good start. Overall, the major perk here is definitely the exclusivity and more serene environment afforded.

silver-dining-food-spectrum-of-the-seas

2) The Silver Lounge is located beside the Silver Dining but my stateroom category did not entitle me to complimentary d’oeuvres and cocktails served between 5-8pm. I simply sat there to have some quiet “me-time” when Olympia was having her afternoon nap. Alternatively, we also spent time soaking in the hot tubs, lounging on the sun beds and lazing in the mini pool of the adults-only Solarium. A significant part of the Solarium has been hived off for Suites guests and it’s a shame that these facilities were grossly under-utilized during my sailing. Nevertheless, it was great self-care to be able to take our minds off the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.

silver-lounge-solarium-spectrum-seas

3) A more spacious room at 276 sqft compared to 198 sqft for a balcony stateroom. The extra space is useful as we requested the housekeeper to open up the sofa to serve as a sofa bed for Olympia. As part of sleep training, she has never slept together with us on the same bed since she was born! As we booked early, we also managed to snag one of the best cabins on the higher decks with a wide balcony frontage and a more efficient room layout.

silver-junior-suite-stateroom-cabin

4) Finally, the bigger room comes with a bathtub stocked with luxury bathroom amenities. A bathtub experience is something that Olympia looks forward to on staycations because we don’t have one at home. My wife brought along some bath bombs for their daily daughter-mother bonding activity.

silver-junior-suite-bathtub

Granted, I do not have concierge access to guarantee the best seats for the performances but this can be easily overcome simply by turning up early. Besides, only the Silk Road production requires reservations these days. Other Gold benefits such as priority boarding is also not as valuable since boarding time is now staggered as part of safe distancing measures. My verdict is that if you do not appreciate the bigger room with better specifications, there may not be a need to splurge on this additional cost. If premium food is something you are after, you might be better off purchasing a dining package instead.

Our Experience on Spectrum of the Seas

Even though we got ourselves a bigger room this time round, we still spend most of our time outside. In fact, we utilised almost all the facilities and participated in almost all the activities on board. This confirms my belief that a cruise vacation is ideal because there are activities catered for all ages and personalities.

For Olympia, her absolute favourite activity turned out to be something very simple- swimming. This was a good activity because she got to spend time outdoors at the kid’s playground, expend her energy and exercise at the same time. Besides, she is also a more confident swimmer these days.

swimming-pool-spectrum-of-the-seas

On times when we preferred to stay dry, we brought her to the indoor playground, Aquanauts. There is an open-play zone where parents are allowed to enter and kids get to interact amongst each other.

toddler-activities-spectrum-seas

The grandparents also accompanied Olympia to several activities such as a card making workshop as well as a digital scavenger hunt organised by Adventure Ocean. To our surprise, we came in first for the digital scavenger hunt and walked away with the grand prize of a popper (extremely grand from the perspective of my toddler). The wife said we won because I was overly analytical and this game played on my tendency to be extremely efficient.

family-activities-royal-carribean

Facilities that are new and not present in Quantum of the Seas include the Skypad as well as Sasu Valley. The Skypad involves jumping on a massive trampoline with a safety harness. To my surprise, I was left catching my breath when it ended. Unfortunately, each passenger is only entitled to 1 try even though we had wanted to jump again on other days. One activity that we did get to play multiple times was Sasu Valley, a virtual reality game. The family had a hilarious time watching the videos of Olympia navigating the game in earnest.

skypad-sasu-valley-royal-carribean

We ended each night by watching a performance at the Royal Theatre or Via270. We thoroughly enjoyed Silk Road, Showgirl and Su Pengfei as they made for top quality entertainment. Unfortunately, the magic show by John Taylor was a miss in my opinion. After Olympia sleeps, we continue to enjoy couple time by listening to musical performances at Schooner Bar and Music Hall and the occasional karaoke songs belted out by fellow cruise-goers.

showgirl-aura-band-spectrum-seas

Despite having only sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas in Feb 2021, we still thoroughly enjoyed our experience on Spectrum of the Seas. I will definitely cruise again and would like to try getting off the boat to participate in some shore activities. Singapore Tourism Board stated that international cruises will be possible by the end of 2022, so that is something novel to look forward to again!

This blog article is published on 17 May 2022.

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18 Comments

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Comments

  1. 3Fs says

    May 17, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    Nice review and thanks for the last article tips as I used it for my benchmark too.

    Also, I wanted to share a nice gesture done from the Royal Caribbean which is my boy fell sick on the last 2 nights of the 4 nights we stayed the medical was prompt and provided medicine and hydralite and they even refunded the 2 nights as credits for next cruise booking. All in all I thought that was a nice gesture from them.

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      May 17, 2022 at 6:21 pm

      Hey Brian,

      Thanks for the compliments. Glad to hear that you also received their excellent hospitality. Looks like you will be cruising soon with the credits!

      Reply
  2. Sheng Kang says

    May 17, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    Hi Heartland Boy,

    Thanks for the post! Wanted to check with you for the virtually supervised Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test (ART). If I am travelling on June 20, can I do my virtual ART at home on June 19? Will it be valid? Thanks.

    You can check out Minmed as they charge $12 per pax as it is cheaper 🙂

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      May 18, 2022 at 9:22 am

      Hi Sheng Kang,

      Yes it is valid. I did mine the night prior to departure.

      Reply
    • zk says

      May 19, 2022 at 7:11 pm

      If you are also cruising on Royal Caribbean, take note the ART needs to be done after 5pm on the day before for it to be valid.

      Reply
  3. Sue says

    June 3, 2022 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks for the helpful review. When did you travel? I understand that RCL has increased the booking capacity from 50% to 75% after the easing of Covid rules. Wondering if queues for meals or leisure activities are challenging?

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      June 3, 2022 at 2:39 pm

      Hi,

      I sailed during May so it was maximum capacity. The queues were tolerable when i sailed

      Reply
  4. Aileen Ho says

    June 8, 2022 at 10:38 pm

    Im cruisin in Jul N juz rx a new covid-19 update on the ART few days ago stating that we must scheduled our ART not earlier than 530pm on the day prior to boarding.
    Now im veri confused as the appt for the wellness checkup arrival time is 3-330pm.

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      June 9, 2022 at 7:24 am

      hi,

      Wellness checkup is different from ART. you arrange your ART at your own convenience within the stipulated timing. Wellness check is almost the same as boarding time whereby they examine your physical health.

      Reply
  5. Jan says

    July 2, 2022 at 2:08 am

    May I know what is the stateroom no you stayed so that I can reference with?

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      July 2, 2022 at 9:56 am

      Hi Jan,

      10322

      Reply
      • Christine says

        July 9, 2022 at 9:38 pm

        Hello Alison,
        10322 is the corner room right? Based on the picture on website, the TV is at the side wall instead of the front of bed. Quite perplexed by that. But your picture seems to show otherwise? I’m now deciding which junior suite room to choose…

        Reply
        • Alison_Liew says

          July 13, 2022 at 6:50 pm

          Hi,

          Not sure if I could still recall if it is the corner room. Best to check the deck layout which shouldnt change.

          Reply
  6. Nicole says

    July 14, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    Hi Alison,

    Does your kid needs to do supervised ART as well?

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      July 15, 2022 at 7:45 am

      Hi Nicole,

      Yes, she had to.

      Reply
  7. Norman Koh says

    October 19, 2022 at 8:17 am

    Thank you for sharing your family experience on the Spectrum of the Seas. We are grandparents with a 2yr old granddaughter, We are planning a family trip in February 2023 and will take note of your kind suggestions. Is there any tips you can offer as this would be our 1st Cruise trip as a family.

    Thank you and God Bless

    Reply
    • Alison_Liew says

      October 19, 2022 at 10:16 pm

      Hi Norman,

      Besides the tips that I have shared, you may also refer to the other article of mine- Quantum of the Seas.

      Other than these, I would say have loads of fun!

      Reply
  8. Kara Harper says

    November 22, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    Thanks for the review! We sail February 2023 and booked the same floor plan. We have 9 and 5 year old kids. Do you have and more pictures or videos of the suit? I appreciate the picture of the pull out bed opened. Did you leave it open the whole time? Will housekeeping come close it for you? Is the room still comfortable to walk around with the bed open?

    Reply

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Hello there, I am Heartland Boy! I am always thinking about how I can improve my financial literacy in order to achieve financial independence. This is the place to be if you are hungry for financial independence (sometimes good hawker food as well) and foolish enough to believe in the musings of Heartland Boy. Read More…

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