Omar Cruise 22nd to 24th Dec 2006

We boarded the ship 'Omar' for a 3D2N cruise to nowhere. I was glad that they were able to give me two connecting cabins with potholes. We only paid $592 ($198 for the adults and $98 for children) for the trip - much cheaper than my Sentosa trip and the meals are included. They also gave $50 voucher per adult which you can use to play the jackpot. We won $75 but my sons used up $50 playing the arcade games.

There is not much entertainment onboard. My sons swam in the pool with my husband - the pool is deep and the waves are strong ('tsunamis" - that's what my sons called them) - but they had fun. We went to the star lounge for the kid's club activities on the second day. It was opened from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. We left at around 2.30 p.m. and I heard that drinks and snacks were served after we left! My kids played monopoly there and I must say that it has a great view - 270 degree sea view. Nobody seems to be watching the video 'over the hedge" and the children were playing their own games while the adults rest on the sofa.

My husband loved the deck - though I felt that the winds were a bit strong and worried that my sons will be blown off the deck!

The food were good - quite a choice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper but I realised that it is not Halal. This means that we cannot have a class gathering onboard - unless there are no muslim involved.

Chris got sea sick and I had to bring him to the doctor when we reached Singapore - it cost me $42! 2 Days later - that is today - Ian felt sick - gastric flu and I brought him to see the doctor. It pains me to see them sick. Hopefully they get well soon as School reopens

next week.

Sentosa 18 Dec to 20th Dec 2006

We wanted to stay in Sijori for 4D3N but had to cut short the trip to 3D2N as it rained almost throughout the 2 Days! The service in Sijori wasn't as good as the hotel we stayed in in Batam. Imagine, the housekeeping sent the extra bed (which we had to pay $60++ for the 2 nights) and told us that we have to make the bed ourselves? The beds seems small and like what my sons said "squeezy". When I asked for extra pillows, the lady said we had to pay for it! When we were in Batam, extra pillows and towels came with no extra charges and we actually paid so much lesser for the hotel room. The only thing which my sons like about the hotel is that there is a pool and they had the whole pool to themselves - of course - who would want to swim in the rain other than them? However, Sijori is conveniently located next to the Merlion and you can actually reach Imbiah via a flight of escalators. It was fun at Imbiah.

 

 

The most costly part of the trip is admission to the underwaterworld - it cost us around $70 and though it also includes entry to the dolphin lagoon, we didn't manage to visit it as it was raining non-stop! The food was equally expensive and I spent almost $50 on the food and drinks.

Frankly speaking for the amount I had spent in Sentosa - I could have afford 3 trips to Batam with my family! Quite disappointed by the rain - we will go to sentosa again next year when the sentosa express is ready. There are so many other places such as Palawan beach which we have yet to explore. Anyway it is quite convenient for us now via the NEL. I had already subscribed to the Sentosa Islander membership for the family so we are allowed

 

We also went into the Butterfly park and had the pizza.

My sons enjoyed the 4D show - they were laughing throughout the show. I don't quite enjoy water being splashed onto my face and having such a bumpy ride though.

They fell in love with the luge rides. They wanted a second ride but it started drizzling again.

.