Daiso offers a wide range of affordable products. Even though there are other shops (Value Shop, Dollar Mart) that carry similar low prices, Daiso stands out for its good quality products which are manufactured in Japan.
And recently, Daiso started introducing baby products. Imagine getting stroller hooks, feeding spoon, silicon bib and milk bottle cleaning sponge for $2 each! Scroll down for some of the numerous baby products I found at the Daiso outlet at Waterway Point.
Finger toothbrush! I bought from another brand on Shopee and used it when my son started growing his teeth. It is convenient to use because I can hook it on my finger and he can’t take it off – means he can’t throw it! Really cheap! I bought a pair myself. Yet to use, keeping as spare! Another type of stroller hooks – this one has a full circle clip vs the one above, which is a half clip From my experience, don’t get a spoon that is too long or too ‘springly’. When my son started learning how to feed with a spoon, a ‘springly’ spoon – or one that is very flexible – resulted in a lot of food on the floor as he could not control his strength. I didn’t buy this as I already have a lot at home, but the length and firmness felt good. Good for bringing out! A single spoon with a caseClippers for picking up those hot sterilized bottles! Before Daiso had them, I bought mine at another supermarket at $7.90, so these are cheap! Definitely important for those sharp corners. I bought a lot from Taobao (again, before Daiso had them) and pasted them all over my son’s cot. For those sharp corners! Cabinet locks. I think I’ll need these soon. You could use these or a nail grinder. Nail grinder takes a lot longer to trim those nails though. These are ESSENTIAL for feeding. Really helps to prevent a mess!
There is no baby or children’s section at Daiso. For the outlet at Waterway, these items are located on a small rack at the ‘Travel’ section. I am not sure if they are placed at the same place for all outlets.
Did you buy any of these items from Daiso? Comment if you have used them and how you find these products!
P.S. I know it has been a while since our last post. We have been really busy with work! Will try to post more in future – at least once a month okay? :). Leave a review if you like what you are reading!
It is quite apparent by now that I had went to NUH first, before transferring to KKH. In this article, I will elaborate on the experience I had visiting NUH as a subsidized patient. (I went to KKH as a private patient. Hence, the service I received cannot be an apple to apple comparison.)
I initially decided on NUH because of one factor, and one factor only – water birth. I was very keen to give birth using this method and to avoid the use of any medications. I understood that by using water birth, I could not take epidural and I was fully prepared to go ahead with it, having read many articles on water birth.
Water birth is available only in NUH and Thomson Medical Centre. Having decided against private hospitals, I naturally went to NUH. Furthermore, from what I have read, at Thomson, women are only allowed to be in the water for the labor process, but not the actual giving birth process – when they are about to give birth, they would be lifted up from the water and brought onto a delivery bed for delivering.
I wanted a water birth as I hoped for a medication-free delivery, and because I had a colleague last time who gave birth using this method at NUH. She described the process as very calming, but unfortunately her labor was short and hence the pain was intense. However, the water flowing around her calmed her down, and the way she described her birthing process captured my heart.
When preparing to go NUH, I thought I had to go to polyclinic first to get a referral. This was what my other colleague had went through and I assumed it was the normal process. As I had went through the polyclinic route to get a referral to NUH, I was asked to go to the subsidized clinic. I didn’t realize until later that if I had wanted to go private, I need only make an appointment directly with the hospital. So, ladies, if you are very sure you want to be a private patient, there is no need to waste time in going polyclinic – just call the hospital you are interested in and make an appointment with your chosen gynae.
As a private patient, other than higher costs, you will also be able to admit into a private ward. Private wards are 4 bedders, 2 bedders or single bedder, depending on the final class you stay in. You can also choose your gynae, a privilege that is not present in the subsidized ward.
During my first visit to NUH, I was asked to go to Clinic G, which was located near the Pharmacy. After registration, I was asked to take my height and weight and was given a cup to provide a urine sample. There were no toilets inside the clinic, and I had to go to one a short distance away. There were only two cubicles in this toilet, and it was a bit squeezy.
I then had to place my urine sample on a counter and a lab technician would immediately take it and analyze it to confirm pregnancy and to check on protein and sugar levels.
One word perfectly summarizes my experience at NUH – wait.
I had to wait a lot at NUH. For my first appointment, I waited close to an hour before I could see the gynae. To my surprise, the gynae did not give me an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy, and only told me to come back at a later date for the scan. She said that the urine test confirmed my pregnancy.
For my second appointment, I was asked to go to the fetal scanning centre, which was located at a separate building from Clinic G. From what I understand, at NUH they will only provide three scans. The first scan is to confirm pregnancy, the second scan is when the baby is around 20 weeks to ensure there are no abnormalities/deformities in the baby, and the third scan is when the baby is around 30+ weeks to check on the growth of the baby. They apparently do not provide scans at every appointment, regardless of whether you are a subsidized or private patient. This is a very big factor of why I decided to go KKH in the end.
Also, the fetal scanning centre is the same regardless of whether you can a subsidized or private patient. My appointment for the scan was 11 am and I waited from 10.30 am to 2 pm for my scan. So even if you go to NUH as a private patient, be prepared to wait this amount of time for the three scanning appointments.
However, we were rewarded for the long wait with a picture – our first picture! – of a little tiny pea. By then, my son was 9 weeks old and had developed a heartbeat. It was surreal watching the blood vessels and the heart beating for the first time on the screen. There was a feeling of lightheadness, a realization that – I am going to become a mother. A strong sense of protectiveness, that I need to protect myself and the little one inside me. At that moment, my husband and I clenched our hands together very tightly, watching the screen light up with each pulse of my son’s beating heart.
Yes, he looks like a pea. We called him Little Pea.
I previously already mentioned that I went through polyclinic to get an appointment at NUH. Why a restructured and not a private hospital?
Cost
Cost wise, some people have argued that the difference is not significant. Just a simple comparison – my cousin gave birth at Thomson Hospital in 2017 and stayed in a 4 bedder room for 2 nights. She paid around $8K for her stay. Whereas for me, I gave birth in 2020 at KKH A1 ward, single bedder and I stayed for 2 nights. My bill was around $6K.
Total delivery charge – $5.6KWith GST – about $6K. The antenatal claim are pre-delivery expenses and they deducted the amount in the later part of the bill. Hence, purely for delivery the cost was $6K.
I spoke to a few other colleagues and those who stayed in private hospitals consistently paid more than those who stayed at restructured. All of us had vaginal births.
After talking to a colleague who had emergency C-sec at Parkway Health, I cemented my decision to go to a restructured hospital. Her final bill was around $15K. My husband and I decided that it was not worth spending so much on the delivery when we probably need a lot more money after the baby comes out.
Private hospitals usually offer a maternity package that cover the costs of all the appointments and medications starting from around the 24th week till delivery. NUH also offers this package, but KKH does not. The prices of these maternity packages are actually very attractive and affordable – in the range of $2K – $3K, and there is not much difference in the cost of packages between NUH and private hospitals. However, the delivery fees and ward charges between private and restructured will differ greatly.
For NUH, as I went to the subsidized clinic, the charges were a lot lower and GST was absorbed. When I switched to KKH as a private patient, the charges were higher as I was seeing a senior consultant. And yes, I had to pay GST.
My KKH bill as a private patient – repeat consulation was $100. The obstertric routine check, if I recall correctly, refers to the standard blood tests etc we had to take once we reached the clinic. My bill at NUH as a subsidized patient – no GST and I received more than 50% subsidies.
Do also keep in mind that after giving birth, your child would also be charged for his/her stay at the hospital and the charges would be in accordance to your ward class. My son’s bill came to $1K+.
My son’s bill – he stayed for only one day in hospital, class A ward.
You can estimate your charges using the bill calculator on MOH’s website. You can also search for different conditions e.g. cesarean birth, or vaginal delivery with forcepts to see the difference in costs.
My bill of $6K is higher because I had to use forceps. Any extra procedures (including forceps use) would be chargeable. For those who intend to stay at A class, you will have to pay a deposit using cash prior to the stay. At KKH, I was asked to pay $2, 670 cash deposit. Subsequently I had to pay another $109.27, and the remaining $3, 275 was paid using Medisave. Hence, total out-of-pocket expenses for me was $2, 779.27.
Cost was but one factor of why we decided to go to a restructured hospital. Another extremely important factor to me is because of what will happen in the event of emergencies.
Emergencies (Touch Wood)
I have prior working experience in a hospital, and a nurse colleague advised me then that restructured are always better than private hospitals, because private hospitals are focused on profit and therefore may not have the latest medical equipment. Whereas for restructured hospitals, the government is always very willing to invest in the latest medical technologies and equipment.
I have also heard from other medical colleagues that in the event of a medical emergency, if private hospitals cannot cope, they will divert the mother and baby back to a restructured hospital for follow up. If that is the case, why not go to the restructured hospital from the beginning?
Do keep in mind that these are only my personal opinions, gathered from conversations with ex-colleagues. Because of these two factors, my husband and I decided to go with a restructured and not private hospital. However, if you can afford to, and prefer the service given by private hospitals, it is really your choice to deliver in one.
Summary
Restructured Hospital
Private Hospital
Emergencies
Can assist with emergencies
May refer you to restructured hospital
Cost
Lower
Higher
A really simple summary! Decide on which is the best option for you and your spouse 🙂
If you’re reading this post, it means you may be trying for a child. If so, ladies, do start taking folic acid even before you get pregnant. Folic acid is commonly found at Guardian and is quite affordable – about $5 for 20 tablets. Folic acid is essential for your child’s brain development. As your child’s brain usually starts forming even before you know you are pregnant, it may be too late to take folic acid only after discovering your pregnancy. So go take those folic acid tablets now!
We started trying for a baby around February 2019. I used the Flo app to track my periods and to determine the best dates to make a baby (grin). After about three months, I felt disheartened when there were no results, and bought ovulation kits from Qoo10.
These ovulation kits were very affordable, and I used them around the time Flo told me I should be ovulating. That was when I realized that I somehow always ovulated slightly later than Flo’s calculations. With the ovulation kits, I was able to pinpoint the ovulation period more accurately. To give more context, I have a history of ovarian cysts and late periods. For couples who are trying to have children, I highly encourage buying these ovulation kits to help you in your planning.
In August 2019, taking advantage of the long National Day holiday, my husband and I traveled to Taiwan, Taizhong. It was a wonderful trip and we stayed overnight at an aquarium (I could write more about it in future if there is enough interest). On the last day, I even took part in a roller coaster ride.
A few nights after coming back from Taiwan, I felt nauseous after dinner and tested with a pregnancy test kit. To my ultimate surprise, the kit showed positive results. Not believing it, I tested with an ovulation test kit, and it was also positive.
After reading up, I realized that if one is pregnant, both ovulation and pregnancy test kits can show positive results. I confirmed my pregnancy by using up all my pregnancy test kits, and then buying some more from Guardian to test (kiasu much).
I then went to polyclinic to get a referral letter to my hospital of choice (NUH). The polyclinic doctor did not ask me to do any test, which surprised me. He said if the conventional pregnancy test kits bought from Guardian show a positive result, then it is very likely I am pregnant since they will use the same urine test at polyclinic. I was hoping to do a scan to confirm the pregnancy, but they don’t do that at polyclinics.
1st Trimester
I was joyous about my pregnancy, but the joy lasted only about two weeks before I was brought on a roller coaster ride.
According to Chinese customs, a pregnant woman is not encouraged to announce her pregnancy until the first trimester is over. However, I had to let my sister know first as I needed her advice on whether I could have ovulation and pregnancy kits positive at the same time (she works as a nurse).
After securing my NUH appointment, one day I felt slight pain in my stomach and rushed to the toilet – there were a few spots of blood. The spots were small and infrequent, but they were enough to make me jump and worry. I was afraid that I would lose this precious baby. That night, my husband and I told our respective parents about the pregnancy. Both sides were delighted – and I was assured by my mother that she too, had spotting when pregnant with both my sister and I. Ladies, tradition is tradition, but if you are pregnant and need some advice, the best person to seek from is your mother. This is because many things you experience during your pregnancy would be something she had experienced too. Genetics have never played a stronger role, as I was going to find out.
Morning Sickness
I started vomiting about two weeks later. It came suddenly. I was walking to work when I felt an urge to vomit. Luckily, I had prepared plastic bags and I dumped my breakfast into the bag. After this, I vomited daily. I usually vomited my breakfast, no matter how little I ate or drank. On bad days, I vomited my lunch too.
I felt extremely nauseous and weak and lost the energy to go out to buy food. I had to rely on help from my colleagues and simply told them I had stomach flu. The only food I could stomach was porridge with some vegetables and tofu. I could not handle meat. And there were many triggers for me – the most prominent one being the smell of lemon. The moment I smelled lemon, I felt like heaving. I had to switch out all my shower products as they contained lemon then. Even until today, I feel a bit uncomfortable when smelling it.
If you are also suffering from morning sickness, hang in there! Morning sickness is the toughest part of the entire pregnancy journey. Nothing seemed to make it better. I tried many different remedies, but even if they worked, the effectiveness was lost after a few days. And by ‘worked’, I did not mean they stopped the vomiting – it seems nothing could – but rather they reduced the frequency and intensity of the vomiting episodes and made me less nauseous.
Some of the things I tried included ginger tea (worked the longest, for about 2 weeks), orange juice and mints. For some reason I hated plain water. The taste felt strange to me, regardless of where I got the water from. I could only stomach juices and sports drinks such as 100 Plus.
I lost weight during this period actually. Don’t worry, soon to be mothers, if you don’t feel like eating anything during this period. 80% of pregnant women experience morning sickness, and it is common to lose instead of gain weight during this period. Luckily for me, my morning sickness was not the severe type of morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). HG starts earlier and ends later than morning sickness. A colleague of mine suffered from it and had to be hospitalized for IV drip as she could not stomach any food/drink.
Morning sickness peaked at around 9 – 10 weeks pregnancy for me and started to get better after the 11th week. The final time I vomited was after a dinner with some friends on a Sunday night. I remember this vividly because it was my final and most – violent – vomit. I had been vomit-free for a few days by then. After dinner, we took a cab back and the moment I alighted, I vomited so badly I tore my throat and I tasted blood. I was 13 weeks pregnant then.
Does nothing make it better? Any medications at all? Pleaseeeeeeee?
The happy answer is, the gynae does prescribe pills that claim to help with morning sickness. The one that I got was Diclectin, a white pill with a picture of a pregnant lady. The unhappy answer is, from my own experience and from what I read, the pills have limited effectiveness.
Diclectin
Perhaps it would make us better to know the reasons behind morning sickness. Unfortunately, there is no definite explanation as to why we suffer from it. One theory state that it could be our body’s reaction to higher levels of the hCG hormone, which is highest during the first trimester. So, in fact, it is good to suffer from morning sickness – it shows we have a healthy baby. Studies have suggested that women who do not suffer from morning sickness actually have higher rates of miscarriages.
And, if you really want to know if you can avoid this stage altogether, go ask your mother about it. Genetics play a very big factor in morning sickness. If you mom had it, likely you will go through it. And if she hadn’t, you may be the lucky 20% who can avoid going through this terrible phase. My mother suffered from morning sickness until her 5th month of pregnancy, so I guess I am lucky mine stopped at 13 weeks!
To make it better, remember to take note of your triggers – is there a particular smell or food that would especially trigger you? If so, avoid it at all costs. Drink and eat whatever you can, regardless of what it is. At this stage, it is important to ensure your body still has some nutrition, no matter how little. Having said that, eating overly spicy and fried foods would only make you more nauseous, so I suggest holding off on KFC until morning sickness is over.
Lastly, to all the husbands and soon-to-be fathers, please exercise some prudence and patience during this period. Your wife is going through a hard time. Volunteer to do the housework, wash the dishes, massage her feet and shoulders, and endure if she scolds you (this is good training for the REAL scolding during delivery). A healthy mother will have a healthy baby 😊.
World Dream departs from Marina Bay Cruise Centre. If you’re taking a taxi, alight at Level 2. The Cruise Centre is where you check in your luggage, collect your Tracey, pass immigration and finally board the ship. Next to the Cruise Centre is another building (I think it was repurposed from a carpark but I can’t be sure) where you go specifically for swab test. There are many staff available to guide you through so you definitely won’t get lost. No pictures allowed, so don’t expect any!
You will be directed to go to the 3rd floor of the other building. If you’re reading this post, it means you’re interested in going on Dream Cruise. You might have read about their Palace stay, a luxurious experience with dining at speciality restaurants, a dedicated butler and a private pool. Another reason to splurge on a Palace stay, if you have the financial means, is that even for swab tests, Palace guests have priority.
It was super crowded when we arrived and there was a long queue in-front of us. We were asked to sit down at seats spaced apart. The staff were friendly and fast – they immediately helped us to fill up the forms for the swab and after that, it was waiting time! There were fans so it wasn’t too hot, and the staff distributed bottled water too. We arrived at 2.15 pm and by 3.05 pm, we were done with the swab test and were waiting for the results.
The swab test was carried out in individual stations. Each station had one nurse, a single chair and a fan. The nurse would swipe the chair with alcohol after each use – very careful preparation here. They would then prepare the swab materials and ask you to sit at the chair when they are ready. They would require your IC for verification.
How was the swab test? It was my first time doing a test and frankly I was quite nervous. I asked the nurse if it was painful and she said it was just itchy. I calmed myself and when she swabbed my right nose, it just felt a bit uncomfortable and yes itchy. Then she swabbed my left one. I sneezed after each swab. And..that was about it. The uncomfortable feeling persisted for a few minutes after that but seriously nothing unbearable.
I was apprehensive when it was my son’s turn. After me, my husband went first so my son was placed last, in anticipation that he would cry like nobody’s business and both of us had to be available to handle him. I carried him and sat on the chair and the nurse asked me to hold his head to ensure that he won’t turn. When the swab entered his nose I thought he would cry – and to my surprise, he didn’t!
After a few seconds he started to whine and looked angry and the nurse quickly pulled out and swabbed the other nose. Same – he stared curiously at her for the first few seconds and when he decided he didn’t like it, he whined and that was it. The end. No tears!!
We were then asked to wait at the waiting area. Each of us was assigned a number. The waiting area was divided into different color zones and we were told to wait until our numbers were called. Here, we were each given a bottle of water and a copy of Dream Daily, telling us the schedule for the cruise. The wait here was about thirty minutes, then they will call out the numbers and issue you a slip telling you the result. Hold on tight to the slip – you will need it for registration later!
Registration
After collecting the swab test result, we had to go back to the Cruise Centre Level 2 for baggage scan and registration. Take note that power socket extensions are not allowed on board! They used to be but for some reason are banned now. Prohibited items would be collected and you can take them back at the end of the cruise.
After baggage scan we had to collect our room cards and the ship’s own version of Trace Together token, called the Tracey, then finally it was time to go through immigration and board the ship!!
Say hi to Tracey – it is compulsory to bring it along with you everywhere but do note that it drops very easily so I placed it inside my landyard cover for safety. It will be collected back at the end of the cruise.
Activities
Before you board the ship, do download the Dream Cruises app. You need the app to book their entertainment shows. You can also pay for any outstanding fees using the app and view the daily schedule. As a bonus, you can message your roommates using the app’s message function too – no more needing to use radio transmitter to communicate (seriously, I’ve seen people using the transmitters to commuicate on other cruises).
There were 2 entertainment shows when I went onboard – a magic show and a dancing/acrobatic show. Both required advance booking. Booking slots were released via the app every hour from 5.30 pm – 9.30 pm. I am not sure how many slots are released each time, but they ran out really quickly. Try to book during the earlier time slots because as more passengers board the ship, it would be harder for you to book.
During the shows, the staff would guide you to seats based on the number of pax. They really put in a lot of effort in keeping to the safe management measures – when arranging seats, they did it on the spot to ensure that for the immediate row infront and behind you, there would be no passengers sitting in those seats. Say yay to a clear view!
World Dream also has a new VR facility located at Deck 17. The activities looked pretty cool, but of course everything was chargeable, which explained the lack of crowd when we went in.
Price List for the VR activities
There are also 2 arcades, 1 at Deck 16, and another one at Deck 6. All the games are chargeable.
There are spa facilites (Crystal Life Spa) and a gym located at Deck 15. The area looked really posh and classy, but the prices were expensive too. You can also spend your time shopping around their many shops selling luxury watches, handbags and jewelry. They have a sounvenir shop located on Deck 8 – we went there a few times just to view the goods. There were many offerings from Japan – comestic products and even Merries’ diapers!
And of course, if you’re game for it, have a spin at one of their many, many casino machines. Sign up as a Genting Rewards Member and accumulate points – you can even use points to redeem for free cruises in future!
Facilities
There is 1 adult swimming pool, 1 kids pool, 1 toddler pool and about 6 jacuzzi pools. Pre-booking was required for all the pools except the toddler pool. You would have to proceed to Level 16, where the pools are located, to do the booking personally. The booking corner was located at the opposite end of the Lido restaurant. Each person was allowed to book only one slot each time, and could only book a second slot after the time for the first slot had passed. The kids pool only allowed up to 5 pax/hour, child included, and the jacuzzi pool allowed only 2 pax/hour/pool. I didn’t enquire about the swimming pool as I wasn’t planning to use it, but I heard it is 8 pax/hour. The slots ran out really fast so I recommend that you book the slots as soon as you board the ship. There are also 6 water slides – no pre-booking required for those slides.
You will receive this booking slip after you have successfully booked your pool!
We booked slots for the kids’ pool on Saturday, 1 pm. Unfortunately, it started raining from 10 am and all the pools were closed. They were reopened only around 3 pm. We managed to re-book another slot for 6 pm, their last slot, but it was still raining. Although the pools had reopened, we ultimately decided to give up the slot as we did not want the small boy falling sick due to the cold water. This was why we were really glad we booked the Balcony Deluxe room as he could play in the bathtub.
Besides the pool, there are also a rock climbing wall and ropes course located at Deck 18. Strangely, this area is not accessible by lift – you would have to take a staircase from Deck 17 to reach the area. I had been on their previous cruise ship, Genting Dream before, and I remembered that there was a lift on Deck 18 then. This meant it was inconvenient for wheelchair and pram users to acess the area and we did not bring our boy up in the end.
Food
The highlight of the cruise! What is the point of being on a cruise without eating? World Dream has 3 inclusive (i.e. free) restaurants – Dream Dining Room Lower at Deck 7 that focuses on Chinese cuisine, Dream Dining Room Upper at Deck 8 that focuses on Western cuisine, and finally the Lido at Deck 16, that focuses on pretty much everything else (halal, Indian food, vegetarian, etc). Take note that the vegetarian food is mainly Indian cuisine though.
Breakfast menu at Dream Dining Room Upper. You can view this from the Dream Cruise app! Our dinner at Dream Dining Room LowerIndian cuisineBreakfast at Lido – their hashbrown was awesome!
Due to Covid, guests are not allowed to self-serve. You would have to tell the chef what you want and he would take it for you. Guests are still allowed to walk around the restaurant and request for the items they want. Take note that only Lido provides such a service – at Dream Dining room, whether Lower or Upper, the food would be served to you based on the number of pax for your table. So if you are a small eater, do tell them in advance that you would prefer smaller portions – don’t worry, the food is all refillable, and you can choose specific dishes to refill. It was unfortunate that I witnessed a lot of people wasting food on board the cruise ship.
You can also go to another inclusive restaurant to eat after finishing at one restaurant. They take good care of our bellies :). 5 meals are offered – breakfast, morning tea (at Lido only), lunch, afternoon tea (at Lido only) and dinner. There is also a 24 hours snack corner located outside Lido, offering pastries and fried snacks on a rotational basis. You could also get juices, coffee or tea.
When I went, there was a special Thailand event. On Saturday afternoon, they set up booths at Deck 17, selling Thailand food and goodies such as mango sticky rice, bubble tea etc. All these were chargeable. There was also a small photobooth and we could take pictures with staff dressed in Thailand’s traditional costumes. The highlight was that for dinner at Lido, there were free Thai dishes such as pad thai for us to enjoy. The current theme is Japan, running till 31 Aug 2021, and I am really tempted to go again and experience the event!
Being poor, I did not go to any of the inclusive restaurants, but you can read up about them here. For Palace guests, there are also Palace-exclusive restaurants, providing a truly luxurious and dedicated experience.
I hope this post has been informative for you. Leave a comment if you plan on going World Dream!
P.S. if you missed my previous post on baby amenties on Dream Cruise, read about it here!
To celebrate Baby L’s first birthday, we decided to bring him on his first ever cruise!!
As my mother is a RWS member and can get free rooms on World Dream, we decided to sail with them. Another reason for the preference over Royal Carribean is the number of days of leave we have to take – World Dream is the only cruise that sails Friday – Sunday, so we only have to take Friday off. Royal sails from Thursday – Saturday, meaning we have to take at least 2 days of leave.
When I checked the room availabilities (directly from the website here), balcony staterooms were still available at around $250/pax (including taxes). Because Mr Messy kept forgetting to ask his HR if he could go on cruise, only balcony deluxe staterooms were available by the time he obtained approval and we wanted to book. It was $330/pax for deluxe room inclusive of taxes.
However, no regrets booking the deluxe room in the end! Deluxe rooms are slightly bigger and some deluxe rooms have a bathtub – we specifically requested for that during our booking. See the comparison between a deluxe and a normal balcony stateroom below, but pardon all the mess ok.
Deluxe stateroom – can fit a baby bed in between sofa and bed!Bathtub!Double sink!Balcony room – no space between sofa and bed to put baby bedStanding shower – no bathtubSingle sink – yes it’s messy
I hope the pictures helped you to decide on which room is more suitable for you! If you are not planning to stay long in your room, honestly just save the money and get a normal balcony. But if you have a young child like us, a bigger room and bathtub really helped in entertaining the small one. P.S. they also gave free masks during the cruise, so thoughtful!
Bonus – this is the balcoy. It’s the same size for both deluxue and normal balcony room.
Baby Amenities
Before going on the cruise, I did my research to make sure it would be baby friendly. I read that I could request for baby bed, bottle sterilizer and bathtub. When I called in to book, I was also informed that there is baby cereal available at Level 16 Lido. Certainly makes me more assured!
Baby bed!
There are two kinds of baby crib – Pack n Play cribs (size: L40” x W 28.5” x H 29”) and regular wooden cribs (size: L40” x W25.5” x H38.5). During booking I requested for the wooden crib, but somehow they gave me the Pack n Play one instead. It served its purpose though and we could throw some toys inside for him to self-entertain as we pack our stuff.
Baby bathtub
The baby bathtub looks so cute! My son could fit into it. It may be more useful for smaller babies though and we didn’t use it in the end.
Baby cereal. Sorry for the blurred photo!
Although we were told there are Heinz and Gerber cereal, when we went on board they provided only Heinz in apple or pear flavor. I chose the apple flavor and it was super sweet. My son didn’t like it. We didn’t give it to him again and he enjoyed eating the same food as us.
I hope this post makes you more assured about bringing your baby on board the cruise. Apparently there is baby toilet seat available as well but we did not request for it. Throughout the ship, there are wheelchair-friendly toilets and these toilets also have a diaper changing station, so it is really convenient to find a place to change his diapers.
Read on to find out more about the swab process, food and activites on board the cruise!
After going SEA aquarium, we also brought our son to Dolphin Island. (Warning: Wordy post ahead! Sorry, we were not allowed to take pictures 🙁 ).
Dolphin Island is located inside Adventure Cove. Sadly, Adventure Cove is currently not open. (Due to Covid? But swimming pools can? No idea). Update: Adventure Cove has reopened! Book your tickets here.
We purchased the Dolphin Encounter ticket since he needs to be at least 4 to take part in Dolphin Adventure. As he certainly can’t swim yet, I also don’t want him to panic when in the water with mammals that would probably be giants to him.
There are two Dolphin Encounter slots each day at 11 am and 4 pm – we chose the 4 pm one. After buying the tickets, for Dolphin Island admission only, there is no need to book a reservation slot on RWS website. The reservation is only needed for USS and SEA aquarium. Therefore make sure to book the correct date when you purchase the tickets because they will do the processing backend and confirm the slot only if there is an available slot at Dolphin Island that day.
Redeem your tickets at the SEA aquarium guest services counter. Show them your vouchers and after verification you’ll be given a bracelet to wear around your wrist. We were told to assemble by 3.40 pm and yet we waited until 4 pm exactly before the Dolphin Island staff arrived. After checking our bracelets and asking us to do Tracetogether, we were led to Adventure Cove. It was quite sad seeing how empty Adventure Cove is now – there used to be a lot of shouting, laughter, long queues. All that is gone now.
The staff led us to Dolphin Island and we were told to remove all jewelery on us (watches, rings, brackelets) to prevent scratching the dolphins. We were given one free locker each to place our belongings. The staff then briefed us on precautions, informing us not to scratch the dolphin (stroke them gently using our palms), and not to touch their genital areas (it would be quite obvious where these areas are).
After the briefing, we followed them to the pools where the dolphins were kept. We were split into 3 groups, kept to about 4 pax per group. There were mats laid out for us and we were advised to lie down on the mats. My husband kept my son in the carrier and sat down instead.
The trainer was friendly and immediately called the dolphin over. We were given chances to touch the dolphin’s body – even my son touched the dolphin, though he was highly apprehensive at first – as the trainer explained to us about dolphins. The trainer then asked us whether we preferred to be wet or dry, haha!
Based on our preference (we chose dry), we then played a simple game with the dolphin using hand movements. The couple with us didn’t mind getting wet and they were splashed a little – nothing much and they dried very quickly under the hot sun. For us, our hand movement was rewarded with the dolphin waving to us.
We were then given a chance to ask the trainer questions. If you had no questions, that was the end of the session. It was a very fast 15 minutes session, and we were promptly invited out to wait for our photos. We were not allowed to take any photos within the area but there was a cameraman constantly taking pictures of us. My husband and I declined to buy any though – a single picture costs $70+.
We were then led back to the meeting point. As we walked out, a dolphin swam next to us, waving goodbye.
Overall, it was a fast activity that was well-planned and really once-in-a-lifetime. I may go back again after my children have learned to swim and try Dolphin Adventure activity next time.
On 4th April, we brought Baby L to the SEA Aquarium for the first time! His father loves aquariums and we were wondering what sort of reaction he would have xD. It was also the first time that we brought him out with his paternal grandparents.
We booked the tickets using our SRV vouchers. If you haven’t used them yet, take note that you can only use them in multiples of $10. So do calculate carefully if you plan to use the SRV vouchers for multiple attractions.
After booking the tickets on Klook, it does not guarantee entry to SEA Aquarium. You have to book entry slots to RWS here using your ticket number. However do make sure you select the correct date on your Klook ticket as well. Strangely on the day of the visit they looked only at my Klook ticket and weren’t really interested in my RWS reservation email.
The ticket on Klook comes with a free snack for each paid ticket. For adults, it would be a small box of 5 nuggets, redeemable at a snack store right at the opening of SEA aquarium, or at the Dino bites inside, next to their Ocean restaurant. Seniors get something else – a cake and a drink I believe, that can be redeemed at Malaysian food street. However the redemption is based strictly on the ticket you purchased. Eg if you bought 4 adult tickets, but went with 2 adults and 2 seniors, you will only be able to redeem 4 sets of nuggets.
April is also Baby L’s birthday month and we went to the guest services center located right outside SEA to redeem his birthday gift. It consisted of a cute magnet, a voucher for a free small bag of popcorn, and a discount voucher entitling the birthday person to 15% off retail or food items. You can redeem these free gifts any day during your birthday month, it doesn’t have to be on your birthday itself!
SEA Aquarium birthday magnet: Look at how cute this magnet is!
Being a Sunday, despite the restricted pax allowed, it was still extremely crowded inside. There were queue systems implemented for some areas, such as the dolphin viewing area, the jellyfish area and of course the giant Ocean Habitat area, which I would say is the key highlight of the whole place.
There are squares in front of each display marking out where visitors should stand in view of the safe management measures. Overall the queue management system was generally ok, since people usually don’t spend too long at one display anyway. The only area where I felt frustrated with the queue system was the one for the Ocean Habitat.
The queue for the Ocean Habitat involves visitors going down the staircase and a staff would assign you to go either the left or the right side. There is another queue there – when you are first assigned, you are assigned to the back area. There is a front area where you are directly infront of the aquarium and can admire the view. If you pushing a stroller or with a wheelchair user, the staff will ask at least one family member to queue while the other family member accompanies the one in the stroller/wheelchair. Only when your family member has been assigned a spot, the staff will allow you to take the lift down to meet up with your family. In other words, no cutting queue!
Up till this part was great. However, once you’ve been assigned a spot at the back end, whether or not you get a spot at the front end depends on how fast and lucky you are. The staff doesn’t interfere in assigning people to the front spots, and the family infront of us stayed there for more than 20 minutes! We gave up in the end and left.
Baby L watching the jellyfish
Despite this unpleasant experience, generally we had a lot of fun at the place. Baby L looked around so much and refused to sleep until I forced him to in the carrier. Take note that being SEA aquarium, things are really expensive – a can of coke costs $4! And due to Covid, there is no water refilling service inside so make sure to bring your own hot water for making milk etc.
At the exit (after the shark exhibit), there may be mascots available for picture taking, but the staff would not help to take any pictures. Bring those selfie sticks because you’ll need it. Also, they have closed the section inside the Aquarium where you can touch the fishes, and shifted it outside. After exiting the Aquarium and passing by the souvenir shop, you’ll come to a small display of toads (really tiny toads in individual glass displays). After this area, there would be a snaking queue for the touch display. The two times we passed it, the queue was so long that we decided to give up straight away. If you really want to go this display, I suggest you conquer it as early as possible – we passed by at 12+ and again at 3+ and the queue was significantly longer at the later timing.
And that’s it! Baby L enjoyed his first trip to the aquarium but I think it would definitely be more fun for him when he could walk. Looking forward to bringing him again at a later age! Wonder if we will get SRV vouchers again? Heh heh. I hope this short post has prepared you for the trip to SEA Aquarium!
Bonus: you can get free parking at RWS if you spend $50 and above in selected restaurants. You can also dine at the Malaysian Food Street, in which case there is no limit to the number of receipts you can combine to form $50. The receipts can be from different stores too! You can redeem the receipts for the free parking coupon at a pop up booth next to the confectionary store at Malaysian Food Street. Or if you are very rich, you can dine at any of the other listed restaurants. No doubt you’ll hit $50 very quickly – one main at any of these restaurants is easily at least $30 – $40.
Pro tip: if you’re spending cash on the Klook ticket, you can get cashback from Shopback for any cash portion you are paying. Not on Shopback yet? Use my referral link here and we’ll both get $5 when you spend $20 and above!
