2023 Spring Asia Cruises I - Holland America Westerdam Singapore to Yokohama, Japan
February 27, 2023 (Monday)
I woke up around 4:40 this morning and half asleep until close to 6:00 before getting up for our day. After everyone was ready, we met at 8:30 for breakfast. Christian and I wanted to try the Toast Box in the mall across the street and MOR decided to join us last minute. He was going to have porridge with the others in our group but I guess he changed his mind. Toast Box serves similar breakfast of Kaya toast and coffee like Ya Kun, but in a different presentation and with bigger cup of great coffee. We also ordered a laksa and a Mee Seaw noodle to try. Everything turned out nice! I think I like Toast Box better!
Delicious Mee Seaw
Loved this Laksa!
Kaya toast and coffee
also came with a dessert
We were to meet with the driver at 10:30 downstairs but when 10:35 came we still did not see any van showing up. MOR went to the reception to call him and he said he was there at 9:35 and we weren’t there so he went for another job and he was at the border now. I am sure he was lying. Why would he come at 9:35 when we asked for 10:30? Anyway, Christian called Grab and got another big van to take us to the cruise terminal, for the same price as the trip from the Airport, $60.80. It seems Grab has the same starting price for the size of van we want regardless of the distance. We arrived at the cruise terminal around 11:00 and it was very well organized with people taking over the baggage in the parking lot. There didn’t seem to have many people at the baggage drop-off during that time. Then we proceeded up to the third floor of the terminal and found many people have already checked in. Many were crowded at a store-like place and we were wondering what that was all about. Later found out that that was where people take their COVID test if they have not already done so in the last 24 hour and have the negative report showing. Check-in was organized but they did not ask to see VeriFly or was there a separate line for people who had done that. The frustrating part is they checked our vaccine records several times. The real hard copy instead of using VeriFLY that they want us to do. Then they also had us fill out another form of the dates of vaccinations. After the final check-in, we were lead to the holding area which was numbered from #1 on, and we were #4.
Waiting patiently at the holding area.
After a short while, we were lead to board the ship, all well and done before noon. Our cabins were ready when we walked onto the ship so we went to our cabin and see if everything was good to go.
Lunch was at the main dining room for us. We just hate going to the buffet on the first day with everybody hitting that area which makes it chaotic and crowded. Similar to the embarkation lunch on Eurodam, it had a simple menu but still with varieties. Not that many people were there and it was just nice to be able to enjoy a relaxing lunch being served by the staff in a quiet atmosphere.
Embarkation lunch menu
Fish
from another angle
A tasty bacon burger. Before I forget, they served the best French Fries on this ship!
After lunch, we came back to the cabin and the steward introduced himself and got us things that we needed, like extra towels, bathrobe, etc. I did not get my luggage, the steward took me downstairs where I found my bag. It was because they had to confiscate my collapsible kettle that was stowed inside. Oh well, I can’t use it now on this trip, will get it back when we debark in Yokohama. MOR also got his extension cord confiscated. They seemed to be pretty serious about checking the luggage at this port. I have not had any problem with my collapsible kettle on the last few cruises that we took lately. Now, we just have to get hot water at the buffet every evening before we go to bed. It is something I need for my medication first thing in the morning. We sanitized the room to make it clean and safe and then went about the ship, ready for the sail-away.
The 'indoor' pool under the dome.
Nice, but we never utilize this during the trip. What a waste!
Sail-away was very different from like Carnival, NCL, etc. It’s not easy to get this older group to be dancing and screaming for excitement. Sail-away was delayed quite a bit because they were still loading stuff onto the ship while we were watching. Then, it started raining so everyone scampered inside even before the ship leave port. It was time for dinner anyway since we have early dining in the MDR at 5:15.
A nice view of Marina Bay Sands from the terminal.
Still loading.
Food was served on deck at the sail-away party.
Let's party!
We are ready!
We were at table #30 in the MDR, right in the middle of the aft part of the dining room, perfect location, a table for 6. We enjoyed a decent dinner with a great view. Since this is a full ship, there were a lot of people in the dining room, making it a slow dining experience. By the time we finished, we were all tired and ready to hit the sack for the night.
Dinner Menu for the first night.
Seafood Ceviche
Classic Caesar Ssalad
New York Strip Loin
Korean Spiced Barramundi
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