Ovation of the Seas Cruise Day 3: Sunday 21 October

We sailed through the Sunda Strait last night so now we're in the Indian Ocean.  I haven't had any issues with sea-sickness so far, but the seas are definitely higher now, so I've taken another Travacalm as a preventative.
Absolutely nothing planned today now that they've cancelled my All Access Tour of the ship.  I had also signed up to attend a Roll Call get-together, but you don't get to find out when / where it is until they send you an invitation onboard.  However, I never got the invitation, and I found out that it was on when it was almost over.  There were a lot of problems with registering for the roll call event - some people registered for it and then their sign-up was lost, and this happened to some people multiple times, so maybe mine got lost too.
Today I'll post about our cabin.  In brief - very nice.  It's bigger than our hotel room in Singapore - there's enough room here for a sofa as well as the bed.
And, there's a really good amount of both desk space and storage. Definitely the biggest cabin we've had, with the exception of the mini-suite on the ship formerly known as Dawn Princess. 

And, something I've never seen on a cruise ship before, although I know some of the ships that sail out of England do this - in our room they have provided a kettle and the makings for cups of tea!

The bathroom is nicely set out and the shower has a proper glass door instead of the clingy plastic curtains that they have on lots of ships.

And, because of the location, our balcony is larger than most - enough room for two nice chairs and a small table.

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Day 2: Saturday 20 October

"Planned" for a quiet day today - actually by not planning anything.  We headed off to the buffet for (late) breakfast - it was crowded but not overwhelmingly so.  Then we found the most important place on board - the place where they sell the good coffee!  Then we checked out the Casino to make sure we'll be able to lose the correct amount of money - that definitely won't be a problem :-)
By the time we did this and lazed around a bit it was lunch time, so back to the buffet.
During the afternoon we finally had the first rain that we've really seen since we left home; although they had forecast storms for every day in Singapore, none of them came near us :-)
I got some unfortunate news today - I was booked tomorrow on the "All Access Ship's Tour" where they take you around and show you lots of behind the scenes stuff.  I've done it on a Princess ship - and it was really interesting - but not on any Royal Caribbean one.  However, they notified me today that for "Health and Safety reasons" they can't hold the tour tomorrow.  They haven't refunded my money yet because they do hope to run the tour later on the cruise.
Dinner tonight was at our proper fixed seating table.  I'm not sure if the couple who were seated with us tonight (Denise and Bob) will stay at our table; they're very keen to join family who are at another table. The maitre de wouldn't change them over tonight, even though the table their family is at is an eight seater with a number of unused seats.  Anyway, for a co-incidence, Denise and Bob are going to do their first Princess cruise next year, and it turns out that it's the same one we're going on - the Majestic Princess to New Zealand.
After dinner we went to a show called Pixels. We knew it was very popular, and we really enjoyed it although it's a bit hard to describe what it's about - lets just say a combination of people doing music, dance and acrobatics in conjunction with video and sort-of-dance being done by robots.
Finished off the night by losing some money in the casino - always fun :-)

Ovation of the Seas Cruise Day 1: Friday 19 October

As I mentioned, our boarding time was changed from 11am to 4:30pm because of problems on the ship on the way to Singapore.  So, we got up and mostly packed, then went out for breakfast.  On the way it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to try the Singapore Flyer - the big ferris wheel down by the bay.  I also thought that with so many delayed cruisers in town it might be booked out, but we decided to go and have a look anyway.  As it happens, we had only a very short wait.  The views over the city and island were really excellent, it was well worth the cost.
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and took our suitcases to the cruise port via the MRT.  Worked pretty well; although we had to catch two separate trains I think we only had to carry the suitcases up 6 steps, and only on an escalator once; the rest of the way was flat walkways and lifts.
Then, we got to the cruise port, and talk about chaos.
This was well after 2pm, but there were still heaps of people trying to leave the ship, plus of course get on and off the other ship in port.  There were at least three places on the lower level called 'bag drop' but none of them were accepting bags; even though some people had been told upstairs to bring their bags down to the lower level.
Anyway, we fought our way upstairs and finally found the right place to leave the bags, and then we escaped; we went back to the train and back to Suntec City again.
We got back around 4:30 which was our supposed new boarding time, and inside the cruise terminal seemed almost more chaotic than before!  They had started boarding; the new arrangement was boarding by deck starting from the top.  When we arrived, they had already called all the decks above us, plus ours and the one below.  However, there was just a huge group of people; we couldn't see any idea of where we were meant to go.  We eventually got into the process though, starting with security.  The couple in front of us caused a problem because they were trying to bring wine aboard - what they were doing would have been acceptable on a Princess cruise but not on Royal Caribbean.  I also caused a delay; I was carrying 8 small cans of Diet Coke which is allowable, but with all the pushing and shoving I hadn't found a place where I could take them out of my backpack, so I had to do it at security.  Anyway, we finally got through there, then fairly quickly up to and through the Royal Caribbean check-in.  Then, they gave us a boarding card with a colour, and told us to wait.  Just fascinating how badly this was organised.  For each of the boarding colours there was a group of seats with a sign showing the colour, and the colour was also named on your boarding card.  The colours included "Black" and "Silver" for example, and I could see those areas.  However, the next three colours were three different shades of green - including "Lime" and "Mint" - but our colour was different again - "Green" - and there wasn't a "Green" area that we could see at all.  Most people couldn't see the "Mint" area either, since the sign was turned around.  And despite all that, in the end it didn't matter, because a little while later they called everyone who was there waiting, regardless of boarding colour.  Next stop was immigration, where it looked like we should be able to go through the "Automatic" gates but they were stopping almost everyone from trying.  Paul went through quite quickly, but I got caught up again because they were directing people to specific gates, two at a time.  And, just when the lady in front of me was due to be seen, the Immigration lady decided to log off and leave, and it took quite some time for the new person to take her place.  Then, the last stop along the way was just as you board the ship, where they scan the bar code on your boarding pass.  Paul's again went through fine, but mine wouldn't scan, so she had to check my passport bla bla bla.
Finally though we got on board and found our cabin.
By this time it was almost dinner time, but because of all the delays they weren't trying to have formal dinner arrangements.  We ended up having quite a nice meal in one of the restaurants anyway.
Then back to our cabin where we met our Cabin Steward, followed  by the least organised Muster Drill I've ever attended.  The map on the back of our door says quite clearly that we are required to go the drill via the emergency stairs just near our door.  However, they remained firmly closed, so we went to the normal stairs instead.  Not a person in sight until we got there.  Then, we had to stand around watching the most inane, stupid safety video I've ever seen.  Even the Royal Caribbean staff were apologising as we left....
However, never mind, we were finally on board and all good with the world. 

Ovation of the Seas Cruise: Thursday 18 October - Singapore

We had thoughts of going to the Gardens by the Bay today but we're both still a little tired from the travel.  So, we started the day by having breakfast and then walking around to an absolutely enormous shopping and office area (Suntec City).  I don't think we saw any more than a small proportion of the whole place and there was definitely more shopping there than anywhere in Canberra.
By this stage, we had found out that our boarding time for the cruise had been delayed.  We were scheduled to board at 11:30am Friday, but that was based on the ship arriving at about 6am.  However, they had a medical emergency overnight and so had to return to their previous port, and won't be arriving in Singapore until 11am.  Our new boarding time is 4:30pm.  I asked the hotel if they'd extend our checkout time until 2pm and they agreed - and without extra charge!
We went out again and checked out using the MRT to get to the port, and it looks like it will be okay provided we avoid peak hour - the locals wouldn't take kindly to tourists with suitcases during peak hour!
Dinner was at another large shopping area nearby that we had not even realised was there, even though our hotel overlooks it!  I think we could spend a year here and still not find all the interesting stores and restaurants in the area :-)
Came home expecting to crash but someone got into the lift on the 10th floor talking about a smell of smoke; he was quite concerned and was going downstairs to report it.  We were one floor higher and we could also definitely smell something smoky, so we got our important things (aka phone, iPad etc!) and went downstairs.  By the time we got there though, there wasn't much going on, and the lady at the desk told Paul that it had all been dealt with.  Possibly someone just cooking illicitly in their room.
Given the dramas we had in Sydney before our last cruise (woken up twice in one night by fire alarm and fire trucks) I'm hoping that the lady at the front desk really is right!!!
Added note: since we didn't burn to death in the night, it was obviously all OK :-)

Ovation of the Seas Cruise: Wednesday 17 October - Singapore

Woke up around 8am local time and both of us felt that we weren't going to get any more sleep, despite the long day and interrupted night. 
So, we started getting our bearings - found the local markets and shopping centre, had some breakfast, checked out the train station.  We also spent some time getting SIM cards for our phones - even though it's only three days it's still good to be able to access the internet when you're out and about.
In the afternoon we bought a three day tourist pass for travel on the MRT and started off by using it to get to Pasir Ris MRT station for the start of a tour we had booked.
The tour was about Changi and World War 2. It became quite clear that in the rush for development a lot of historical sites in Singapore have been demolished, but just the same it was quite interesting and I'm glad we went along.
Had dinner at a street market nearby and went home to crash after a very long day.

Ovation of the Seas Cruise: Sydney and flight to Singapore - 15 & 16 October

The trip to Sydney on the train on Monday 15th was the usual - slow and tedious but the least uncomfortable of the available options.
Once we arrived at Central we got the train to Martin Place station and then to our hotel.  The only issue with all of that was actually getting into and out of the train stations - as in Brisbane, they're quite keen for people with suitcases to use the lifts rather than the escalators, but it was like a magical mystery tour actually finding the lifts in both Central and Martin Place. 
Because we booked the room direct with the hotel, we automatically got a noon checkout rather than the standard 11am.  I was hoping to be able to extend it further but they only allow for one more hour of extension.  They charge $30 for it but that wasn't my problem, we'd need to go out to lunch anyway so a late checkout wouldn't help unless it could be until 3pm or so. 
Anyway, the room was ok, we had a fairly good night's sleep although the airconditioning was less than great; the room really was too warm.
We got up fairly early on the Tuesday and went out for coffee and some last minute shopping, then went back to the hotel until around 11:30.  Checked out and asked them to mind our suitcases.  Then came the great trek - we thought we'd just go for a walk.  So we trotted down Phillip Street to the Quay and admired the Radiance of the Seas which was in port, making sure to avoid the hordes at the Opera House who were hoping for a glimpse of Harry and Meghan.  Then we wandered up George Street and eventually ended up at Darling Harbour, where we had lunch.  Then we decided to try to go to Paddy's Market but it was closed.  So, we hopped on the light rail up to Central where we made a great discovery - we decided to buy Opal cards since we'll be using Sydney trains a few times over the next few months.  Turns out that not only were we paying too much because of paying standard fares rather than Opal (which we knew) but they actually honour the ACT MyWay concession cards, which means that Paul can get the even lower concession fares.  A really helpful young man at Central sorted this out for us and now we're proud holders of Opal cards.
Then, despite our lovely new Opal cards, we *walked* all the way back to the hotel instead of getting a train!  According to my phone, almost 18,000 steps for the day.
By now it was about 3pm and we decided to go to the airport - knowing that it would be too early really.  So, we got out there and of course were really hot and sweaty because of all that walking.  As it turns out, there are showers in the public toilets there, so with a bit of careful purchasing (for example, a towel) we were both able to have a shower and change into other clothes.  Much nicer way  start a long-ish flight
While this was all happening though, someone posted on the Facebook group about the cruise that our flight was delayed.  And, sure enough, the Sydney Airport website said that our 9:45pm flight had been delayed by 45 minutes to 10:30.  At this stage we weren't sure if that was correct, because the boards in the airport still had it leaving at 9:45, and Scoot doesn't have their own online "arrival and departure" checker to confirm.  I was a bit concerned about this, because the airport has a fairly strict 11pm curfew and we weren't going to have much leeway if it really was correct.
Anyway, they finally started check us in, so we went through immigration and security, where I yet again got pulled over for the bomb test.  I absolutely believe that I meet their criteria for "little old white lady to be pulled over so that people can't complain about profiling".  Not complaining, but it really does happen to me all the time!  Paul also got pulled up for a pat-down check and the bomb test. 
We checked out where our gate was and then went and spent an outrageous amount on dinner ($58 for two burgers, two orange juices, and one large chips) before settling down to wait for the flight.
Eventually the airport signs started showing that the flight was delayed, but some people still hadn't noticed.  Later though, a lady sitting behind us asked if we knew when the curfew was, and we started discussing the risks, when two people sitting across from us both heard what we were talking about, went pale and started panicking.  One of them - obviously a really optimistic young lady - had a further flight from Singapore; she had allowed only two hours to arrive there, get off the plane, get through Immigration / luggage / Customs, and check back in for another flight.  I wouldn't risk this if my first flight was with a really reliable airline, let alone with Scoot, who are notorious for delays.
Interesting flight left from our gate while we were waiting - the airline code was ASY  (flight ASY42) and it turns out this is an Australian Air Force flight.  The destination on the board meant nothing to me, but Google told me it's an air base in Dubai.  The passengers appeared (not surprisingly) to be Aussie and maybe NZ defence force people.
People started lining up to board our flight long before it was ready to board.  The Scoot people at the counter told them all to sit down and wait (which they all ignored), and in the end a lot of them were made to line up somewhere else for boarding.  People (like us) paid a lot of money for the good seats, or simply to get early boarding, and Scoot was very good about making sure those financial promises were met.
We finally took off at one minute to 11 - so a bit over an hour late and one minute before curfew. They did make up some time en route but we definitely arrived late.  Both of us managed to get a bit of sleep along the way.  We never expected Scoot business class to be equivalent to Qantas or Singapore Airlines - we were hoping for something like their premium economy and that's what we got - nice wide seats that you could recline a decent distance without smacking the person behind in the face.  However, we also got a meal included (in economy you have to pay for it) and ditto access to their entertainment service which you watch on your own device.  Almost the best thing - sharing the toilet only with those in business class - no queues and it was still clean at the end of the flight.
Arrival into Singapore was fine - VERY long walk to immigration but not much of a queue (a lot of the people on our flight must have been transitting), a short wait for our luggage and no wait for a taxi.  Our taxi driver was a bit of a lunatic - road lanes were optional in his mind - but at that time of the day there was almost no traffic and he told us a lot about Singapore.
The hotel had our room all ready and waiting, and once we got to it - around 5am local time - we showered and crashed.

Leaving tomorrow!

Tomorrow we leave Canberra and our next cruise is now only 5 days away.  I'm looking forward to this; it's almost a year since I stepped foot on a cruise ship and I'm having withdrawal symptoms :-)

Packing is all done, although not without challenges.  Singapore is going to be really hot and sticky, and I'd guess that it will be quite warm for the first few days of the cruise.  However, the weather forecast for the three ports we visit in Australia hints at much cooler weather, and it will definitely be cool at sea once we get to the south of Australia.  Not that we mind cool weather, but packing for both hot and cool weather is always a bit tricky when you're trying to stick to one suitcase each.  Usually the problem with luggage weight is the airline(s) but this time we only have one flight which has a 30kg per person baggage allowance.  However, getting to and from Sydney on the train is the issue this time - we can have up to three bags each but none of them can be over 20kg (and we've found that they're really strict about this).  My bag is 19.9kg according to our scales, so we could be up for a quick re-organisation if the scales at the railway station disagree :-)