Spectrum of the Seas is the first cruise ship of the Quantum Ultra class in the Royal Caribbean International fleet introduced in 2019. I recall fond memories sailing on an older ship, the Mariner of the Seas, with my family a great many years ago, so I was really looking forward to checking this newer one out!
Almost a year before the actual sail date, Royal Caribbean ran a Black Friday sale with attractive discounts so I secured a Junior Suite for my husband and I at a fairly decent price! Throughout the year, they also offered promotions for add-on packages and activities that guests could purchase to enhance their experience onboard. A few of these deals caught my eye as we hadn’t tried them before, such as The Key programme (more on this later), the North Star observation capsule experience and Teppanyaki dining.
- Inclusions:
- 3-night stay in J4 Junior Suite ($1835.26 for 2 pax)
- The Key ($172.14 for 2 pax)
- North Star Basic Experience on Day 1 at 6.30pm ($54.56 for 2 pax) – rescheduled to Day 2 at 6.45pm due to inclement weather
- 1-for-1 Teppanyaki Dining on Day 3 at 7.30pm ($92.64 for 2 pax)
- Spent: SGD$2154.60
- Contents of this review (check out the video below for the full list of dining options and facilities!):
- The Key benefits
- J4 Junior Suite (#10724)
- Complimentary dining
- Dog House
- Main Dining Room
- Silver Lounge & Dining (as part of Junior Suite Sea Class inclusions)
- Sorrento’s Pizza
- Windjammer
- Specialty dining
- Bars
- Complimentary activities
- Add-on activities
- Vitality Spa & Fitness (Body & Mind Wellness Centre)
The Key programme entails a whole suite of additional benefits that guests who purchase this can enjoy. The first benefit we utilized was the early priority access (as early as 11am) at Marina Bay Cruise Centre, the cruise terminal we were setting sail from. I brought along tuna bread just in case I got hungry but I had to discard it as it wasn’t allowed through the bag checks. Aside from that, it was an amiable welcome all-round from the terminal staff, especially from the sweet lady, Kiat Boon, at the registration counter.
The other benefits (more details as we go along) include:
– Welcome Chops Grille lunch at Main Dining Room (served between 11.30am and 1.30pm) on embarkation day
– Private time slots shared with other Key guests for selected activities (FlowRider, Bumper Cars, Rock Climbing)
– Priority departure from ship-to-shore at tender ports (didn’t use this as we didn’t disembark)
– VIP access for shows at Royal Theatre and Two70 Bar (reservation still required)
– VOOM Surf & Stream internet package for 1 device
– A la carte breakfast (served between 6.30am and 8.30am) and choice of departure time on disembarkation day
– Separate baggage drop-off and pick-up locations
After dropping off our bags at the designated counter for Key guests near Wonderland restaurant on Deck 5, I explored a couple of places on the ship while my husband parked himself on a cosy sofa for a short nap.
One of the places I popped into was the Body & Mind Wellness Centre on Deck 13, part of the Vitality Spa & Fitness facilities. Gayatri, a spa staff there, warmly introduced herself and invited me for a brief personal tour of the facilities. She showed me the extensive gym, the beauty salon with an amazing view, the lulling treatment rooms and locker rooms with luminous saunas inside. At the end of it, she bid me farewell with raffle tickets for the Spa Raffle Draw later at 4pm.
Rousing my husband from his mid-morning soirée, we then headed to the Main Dining Room for our welcome Chops Grille 3-course lunch as part of Key benefits. The Main Dining Room spans two levels (Deck 3 and 4), with a section on Deck 4 reserved for Key guests.
We were greeted by wait staff, Didik, who was assigned to us for the rest of the trip. He would become the familiar face servicing us whenever we dined here. He brought us welcome lemonade drinks (which were very diluted) and handed us a menu with options to choose for each course.
Our appetizers were the colossal shrimp (very average as in most reviews I’ve seen about it) and the mushroom soup scented with white truffle oil (yummy and flavourful).
My husband selected the 6 oz Angus filet mignon done medium rare. Despite its thickness, it was actually tender and succulent! He became a fan and said this changed his mind for the better about thick-cut steaks. I opted for the grilled branzino, which tasted okay but was a little too dried out. One unexpected aspect was that all the hot dishes were served on warm plates (:
We rounded up the meal with a royal chocolate cake (this lacked flavour, plus its texture resembled that of cardboard, but at least it wasn’t cloyingly sweet) and a New York cheesecake (delightfully light and not overly cheesy).
Just as we were about to finish our lunch, an announcement over the PA system informed us that all rooms would be ready at about 1.30pm. Our Junior Suite was located on Deck 10 (#10724) and was serviced by the friendly and approachable room attendant, Piya. It was a really long walk from the nearest lift though.
Staying in a Junior Suite meant that we were entitled to Sea Class tier benefits:
– A dedicated check-in queue and priority boarding
– Access to Silver Lounge & Dining
– Luxury bathroom amenities and bathrobes for use onboard
– In-room Lavazza Espresso coffee and tea
The room itself was wonderfully spacious compared to the usual rooms we’re used to on cruises, definitely worth the extra cost. We even had a sizeable balcony with a panoramic vista. Alas, the bed was on the softer side and there was no option of a firm pillow. Do note that only two plastic water bottles will be provided in the room and they won’t be replenished, so either keep these bottles or bring your own to refill them with water for free at Sorrento’s Pizza on Deck 14.
The bathroom configuration was such that the WC was on one side and the shower and tub were on the other. Everything inside was immaculate, with all the metal fixtures glimmering in the light. Hair conditioner is an additional toiletry solely provided in Junior Suite categories and above (regular staterooms only have shampoo and body soap so pack one along if needed).
On one of the days, upon returning to our room, we found a towel animal on our bed with my husband’s sunglasses sitting on top. Very cute!
Not forgetting the Spa Raffle Draw that was scheduled for 4pm, we made our way back to Body & Mind Wellness Centre slightly earlier to drop our raffle tickets into the box, as advised by Gayatri. I ended up winning a USD$100 voucher for their signature spa treatments! As this voucher had to be used before the sailing ended, I booked myself a massage at 3.30pm on Day 2.
Next, we visited the Silver Lounge & Dining on Deck 14, an exclusive space for guests who book a Sea Class tier room (ie. Junior Suite) and above. It includes a lounge with sweeping sea views and a separate dining area overlooking the Solarium outside.
Although the buffet spread here was much smaller than that at Windjammer, it was certainly a lot less crowded and chaotic, fantastic for a bit of peace and quiet. The quality of food was comparable to Windjammer’s anyway.
The Royal Theatre spanning Deck 4 and 5 is the main venue on the ship for large-scale performances, with the team putting on a different show every night. We caught the 45-minute Showgirl performance at 7.15pm on Day 1. With Key benefits, we were able to access a special reserved seating section available until 15 minutes prior to showtime (these seats get released to all guests after that).
The performance itself was pretty well-executed – the overall theme was the evolution of showgirls throughout the decades and into the future. The singers were stellar, and while the dancers were great to watch individually, their lifts were unfortunately not as clean as they could’ve been. With that said, it was still a spectacle to behold given the insane number of costume changes and large stage set-ups.
After the show, we made our way back to the Main Dining Room for dinner. The menu changed a fair bit across meal services so there was good variety. However, service fell short as it was close to impossible to get the attention of the wait staff here. They seemed so busy that they literally looked past the guests (including us) who were waving at them for assistance.
Anyway, moving on to the food. For starters, I had the crab cake (a tad mushy but flavourful nonetheless) while my husband had the Asian-style chicken soup with cabbage dumplings and oyster mushrooms (bland with just a hint of mushroom).
For mains, I ordered the pan roasted fish fillet (slightly more moist than the branzino I had at lunch but other than that, it was equally mediocre) while my husband ordered the New York strip steak (just as good as the one at lunch – juicy and perfectly seasoned).
For dessert, we shared the apple crumble with vanilla ice cream (buttery with just the right level of sweetness) and dark chocolate custard (worst-tasting dessert on this trip – it didn’t taste anything like chocolate and had an unpleasant artificial after-taste).
Our last activity for the day was catching the 10.30pm Silk Road performance at Two70 Bar, the other major performance venue onboard that occupies Deck 5 and 6. Since we had some time to kill after dinner, we headed straight to the venue 45 minutes before showtime as that was when the early access queue opens for Key guests (doors open for everyone 40 minutes prior).
With this 5-minute early access, we whizzed past the already snaking regular queue to get first dibs on prime seats. Note that even as Key guests, we still needed to make a reservation for this show via the Royal Caribbean app – you can do this the moment you board the ship (:
Once again, the singers knocked it out of the park and the show was quite the visual spectacle. A unique element was the use of agile rotating LED screens attached to mechanical arms to form part of the performance, interacting and moving seemingly on the performers’ commands.
However, I was a little thrown off by the fact that the songs were famous Western pop songs but refashioned and reharmonized in a barely recognizable way (with oriental instruments and elements added to the mix). It just felt a little off and try-hard.
Check out what happened in Part 2! 🡲
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 