TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

This was my fifth cruise overall on Royal Caribbean's (RCL) ships and my first time cruising onboard Ovation of the Seas . The ship was on its re-positioning cruise from Brisbane and I boarded it in Singapore as it continued on its way to Vietnam , Hong Kong and Okinawa . My cruise was only from Singapore to Hong Kong in April 2025. It was a 5-night cruise with a single stopover in Vietnam's Chân Mây Port . Ovation of the Seas at port,  Chân Mây,  Huế Province, Vietnam (2025) On boarding day in Singapore, we boarded the ship on time at 11am as scheduled. This being my fifth time onboard a RCL ship, I was rather familiar with the embarkation day procedures, including heading straight for the safety briefing before taking the elevator to Deck 14 for my lunch at Windjammer .  Since it was only 11am, Windjammer was still not really crowded. It usually got really crowded around 12pm onwards when one could start to see folks walking around looking for tables. Rooms were usu...

I booked this cruise way ahead of the scheduled sailing and thus got quote a good deal because of the early booking. After almost two years of waiting, I finally boarded the ship on Monday morning of 24th February 2025. This will be an 8-night cruise on a return trip sailing from Singapore to Indonesia's Bali and Lombok before retuning to port in Singapore on 3rd March 2025. Previously, I had sailed four times onboard Spectrum of the Seas . This was my first sailing onboard Anthem of the Seas . Different ship, different vibes. Anthem of the Seas anchored on the sea during the port visit to Clean Bawang, Bali, Indonesia (2025) The ship left port and departed Singapore's Marina Cruise Centre in the late afternoon, around 4.30pm. Sailing southwards past Indonesia's Riau Island and across the Java Sea to the island of Bali. I am a frequent visitor to Bali for vacations. But this was my first time sailing to Bali instead of traveling there by flight! After two sunny sea da...

Returning from my first trip of 2025.....  I just returned from my first trip of 2025. It was a 8-nights cruise from Singapore to Bali and Lombok and back to Singapore onboard Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas . I had visited Bali multiple times before because it is a favourite vacation destination for me and is only about 2-hours by flight from Singapore. I had however, only visited Lombok once before, in 2014! The sailing from Singapore to Bali actually took slightly more than two days and I am glad to say I finally get to sail across the Java Sea . 🛳 While I did not take any land excursions during the three Port Days of the cruise, I did disembark from the ship each time to walk around the vicinities of the port areas just to take in the sights and sounds. I must say that I felt I actually enjoyed the port days more this way as I get to interact with the locals and to simply spend the short time at port to discover what each port has to offer the random cruise visitor lik...

Preparing for my first trip and cruise of 2025.....  In a little over two weeks from now, I will be going for my first vacation for the year. And also my first cruise and probably only cruise for the year.  In term of preparation, nothing much. Just mentally psyching myself up to take as much enjoyment as possible from the trip. I will be sailing on Royal Caribbean 's Anthem of the Seas on a return trip from Singapore to Indonesia 's Bali and Lombok . For the trip, I will be bringing along my writing instruments to record my travel log and also for my journaling and writing. I will of course not be spending all my time writing but also will be out and about the ship, looking for fun stuff to occupy my 8-nights cruise. I intend to star gaze , if that is even possible considering how brightly lit modern cruise ships are and I am certain the Anthem of the Seas will be no exception. Then, there will be the late night dancing. I am not an alcohol drinker so no alcoholic bever...

Thus far, my only cruises have been onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas . Prior to this cruise, I had previously sailed thrice onboard the same ship, including a 12-night cruise from Yokohama to Singapore . These sailings had helped me made many friends including both fellow passengers and crew. I had met many wonderful people during these trips. Therefore, I decided to make one last sailing onboard the ship before it repositioned from Singapore to China in April 2024. This cruise was a 4-night sailing in March 2024 for a return trip from Singapore to Penang and Phuket . After three previous cruises onboard the same ship over a period of two years, I am rather familiar with the ship, its layout and its facilities. Thus, finding my ways around the ship was no issue. On the flip side, there was less exploring to do!  Entertainment-wise, I had actually watched all the onboard shows before but still watched them anyway during this trip. I did notice that even for the same ...

Starting a brand new travel year in 2025 with a cruise.....  While I did not get to travel much in 2024, I certainly am not going to be able to make up for it in 2025. I currently have two cruises booked for the year and will probably add a couple of short regional trips as the year progresses. And for the end of year travel period, I intend to visit Japan in winter . That's all for my travels this year. I am anticipating a very busy year on the work front. Thus the absence of any major travel plans, especially trips that may require a slightly longer itinerary. Less trips mean I will need to enjoy each trip more. A balance between quality and quantity. My upcoming trip will be a cruise from Singapore to Bali and Lombok and back to Singapore. A total of 8 nights, including at least 4 sea days. I am still deciding what I want to do on the scheduled port visits in Bali and Lombok .  While I had visited Bali multiple times, I had previously only visited Lombok once when I staye...

Modern day cruise ships are huge behemoths where almost anything imaginable can be found onboard.  After having been on several cruises already, I am beginning to believe that even on cruises with no or very few port days , I will still not run out of things to do onboard. After all, it is really difficult for one to get bored on a huge cruise ship that can span a couple of hundreds of metres or more, from bow to stern. Even on days when I may feel a bit on the introvert side, I can always find a relatively serene corner to read or write, a warm beverage in-hand. There will also almost always be a gym for me to work out, swimming pools to get some tan, a dance hall to enjoy music and a dance or two, lots of food for the glutton in me, spectacular shows for entertainment, even a promenade to shop or window shop, my room balcony to look out at the sea and contemplate life and more. Of course, there is also the opportunity to meet people and make new friends. While on a cruise tha...

I visited Penang again in March 2024 when I took a cruise which had a stopover at the Swettenham Pier in Georgetown . Due to the relatively short stopover of only around half a day,  I only disembarked to walk around the pier area to take photographs of the cruise ship. Back to the ship at dusk, I was at Deck 15 and had a rather good view of the city when I spotted this photo opportunity of the setting sun.  Taken with my iPhone 15 Po Max , this is the view I witnessed onboard Spectrum of the Seas ' Deck 15 of Sunset over the City . 📸 Sunset over the City, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia (2024)

Gearing up for my next trip......  In less than a week's time, I will be going on my planned vacation. This will be my second trip of the year. After this, I have no other trips either planned or confirmed for 2024. I am still trying to come to grips with the astronomical increase in travel costs. Thus, I have been searching and waiting for discount deals on flight tickets and accommodations, but no luck so far. And so, the search and wait continue. The coming trip is a relatively short and unadventurous 5 days/4 nights return cruise from Singapore to Penang and Phuket. I had booked this cruise sometime in the middle of last year, paying a lot less than what I would need to pay if I am to book a similar cruise itinerary today. And, I love the ship, Spectrum of the Seas. Sadly for me, this ship will leave Singapore next month (April 2024) for its new home ports in China. Thus, this will very likely be the last time I cruise on Spectrum unless it returns to be home ported in Singapor...

South-East Asia, Malacca Strait This article was originally published in this blog in July 2022 as one of my Trip Recollections articles. The article reminisced my first ever cruise trip and also my first ever visit to Penang's Georgetown as part of the cruise ship's port call. Even though this was a relatively short 3-nights regional cruise, I really enjoyed the trip. While I had since went on longer cruises including a 12-nights cruise from Yokohama to Singapore, this first cruise will always be fondly remembered as the one that "introduced" me to a cruise vacation.  A bucket list item well and truly checked.  ****************** I finally got to enjoy my first ever cruise experience. A short 4-days, 3-nights cruise from Singapore's Marina Cruise Centre to Penang's Georgetown in Malaysia onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Deck 15 of Spectrum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Straits of Malacca (2022) Maybe it was my first time on a cru...

Year 2023 Personal Travel Wrap-up......  And so, 2023 is nearing its goodbyes and we are all looking forward to a brand new year in 2024. For travelers, a brand new travel year beckons. Personally, 2023 marks the first year when leisure travel truly resumes, after 2020 and 2021. Yes, I traveled a fair bit in 2022 compared to the two preceding years. But travel in 2022 was tentative, punctuated by the need to handle cumbersome vaccination certifications submissions prior to each trip, downloading official apps from individual countries and registering on these apps before embarkation, masks wearing, expensive travel insurance as well as limitations in where one can travel to. All these requirements were thankfully, slowly peeled away towards the end of 2022. Year 2023 is when we feel like normal again. Truth be told, COVID-19 is still everywhere, endemic. However, a combination of annual vaccinations and naturally acquired immunity from previous infections by previous strains of the...

I had previously posted articles about going analogue and using physical notebooks for my daily and travel journaling. While it can be cumbersome to bring along physical writing materials as I go about my daily schedule or during my travels, nothing beats having physical pens, pencils and notebooks to write with. Physical writing helps me relax and unlocks my mind as I pen down my thoughts and experiences. Most people I know maintain just one physical journal for everything. I like this concept but for me, I prefer to compartmentalise my writings separately in different journals. The burden of bringing more notebooks in my bag is "lightened" by using simple minimalist-designed notebooks. I thus have a combination of standard A5-sized notebooks, the slim A5-height Traveler's Notebook (TN) in their so-called Regular Size and of course, smaller TNs in their Passport Size editions. I usually don't carry with me any physical notebooks bigger than A5 in size due to weight a...

A short stopover on my cruise in August 2023 saw me visiting Nha Trang for the first time. Because of the relatively short time we had before we need to return to the ship, I did not venture into the city itself. Viewed from offshore onboard the ship, the city seems huge with lots of sprawling skyscrapers. Unfortunately, I did not get to explore the city to experience its hustle and bustle. My brief few hours on shore was really nothing to shout about. Going ashore on tender boats, we landed in a rather obscure location with only a few local shops in the area. Getting to the city will require a taxi ride and I figured that was not going to be worth the effort and hassle because I had less than 4 hours onshore. This was partly due to my own fault because while the first tender boats started bringing passengers from ship to shore at 8.30am, I had chose to go ashore only around 11am. The last tender boat was scheduled to depart for the cruise ship at 3.15pm. Thus, my brief couple of hours...