I have been to Dream Cruises many times pre-Covid, and once with my baby so far. I have found it to be baby friendly, and my child thoroughly enjoyed the food on board, though of course they were limited activites on board for him.
Since it is unlikely we can travel overseas anytime soon, my parents and I decided to go on our very first cruise trip to Royal Carribean. My mother has been pretty excited about it for a long time, but due to work she and my father cannot travel except during Chinese New Year season. As a result, they always go overseas during the festive period, and 2021 was the first time they stayed in Singapore. Since there is no way they can be on a plane, they decided to be on a cruise ship this time instead.
I, too was pretty excited about going on board Royal Carribean, having heard about their activities such as ice-skating rink, bumper cars, iFly and Flowrider. I was particularly impressed when I read that there is a library on board the ship, and their shows feature popular characters such as Kung Fu Panda. My expectations led to some disappointment when I realized that for Quantum of the Seas, the only Royal Carribean cruise ship in Singapore at the moment, there is no ice-skating rink, library or shows featuring such popular characters. iFly, which used to be free, is also now chargeable. Strangely, even though I had messaged them on Facebook enquiring about their activities on board, they were hesitant to tell me exactly which activities were available (they refused to tell me outright there is no ice-skating rink/library on board) and only directed me to their activities page. Not sure of the reason for this secrecy. Excitement down a notch, I went on to find out about their prices.
During the last weekend of July 2021, there was an offer of $100 off for each cabin along with their usual 50% off and kids cruise free. I had been monitoring their prices for a while and found that despite all these ‘offers’, the prices actually don’t differ that much. I searched for 2 connecting rooms, 1 for 2 adults and 1 child, and 1 for 2 adults. Same dates and room type (obstructed view balcony) for each.
You may have noticed that in the first screenshot, the price per pax was $873, but it increased to $909 in the second screenshot. I wasn’t sure whether this was due to a surge in bookings on that day, even though I found these prices just 1 day apart. I also found the web interface to be confusing – several times when I searched, they informed me that connecting rooms were no longer available, and yet when I selected the room, I clearly saw connecting rooms still available.
Feeling perplexed by their booking system, I called their Singapore hotline but the person who answered couldn’t even tell me whether there was a baby bottle sterilizer on board, putting me on hold twice and saying he will check. He eventually told me there wasn’t one and said I could bring my own if I wanted. When I pointed out that the sterilizer is a heating device and enquired if I could really bring it up, he said I could try and if it is not allowed, it would be confiscated before boarding. Joy. Take note that this hotline only has customer service officers who speak English. I decided to give their Chinese hotline a try instead at +65 3158 9166, and the woman who attended to me was way more helpful.
Besides giving me details on the activities and facilities on board, she told me there was a senior’s discount of 10% per room and a HSBC card discount of 5% per room. She also informed me that there is a Cruise with Confidence program for all cruises booked before 31 August 2021. If we had to cancel our cruise for whatever reason, as long as it is 48 hours before the cruise, we would receive a full refund towards a future cruise. For cruises booked after this date, usual cancellation charges apply. They also have a Best Price Guarantee program and if you see a future price lower than that you paid, you can call them and they will refund the difference to your credit card, or give you onboard credit. As I was wondering whether there would be future promotions like the $100 off or perhaps 8/8, 9/9 or 11/11, she assured me that whenever they have offers, they will keep the previous promotions they offered in mind and there would not be too much of a price difference. Even if there is, we can get a refund via the Best Price Guarantee. Neat!
Feeling more assured, I decided to apply for the HSBC credit card first. There is an ongoing HSBC credit card sign-up promotion offering cashback of $200, which makes the deal even sweeter. After securing the credit card, I called the Chinese hotline again and spoke to Tom, who was very friendly and helpful.
If you are thinking of booking a cruise on Royal Carribean, I suggest you call in via the hotline to enjoy the HSBC discount (not applicable for website bookings). The staff can also instantly tell you which rooms are available and recommend you staterooms. When I checked online, for some reason the website only offered me staterooms on level 6 and 7. Tom however very quickly found connecting balcony rooms on level 11 for me, and it was near the lift too.
My final cost for the two rooms was $1, 210.80 for 1 senior, 1 adult and 1 child, and $1, 057.20 for 1 senior and 1 adult. To enjoy senior discounts for both rooms, I had split my parents’ names for each room. Notice that there is an extra savings of $75/pax? Not sure what it is for, but my guess these extra savings are to balance out any past/future promotion prices.
After booking, I received an email with a payment link and very quickly after payment, I received the link to log-in to my Cruise Planner. You will have to create an account, and once done you can log in to see your upcoming cruise details and to book packages for the cruise, if you want.
In the next post, I will share more about the drinks, wifi and dining packages you can book through Cruise Planner, so keep a lookout for it!