Voyager of the Seas Dec 2012 Australia New Zealand Cruise Day 2 (Sea Day)

This was Day 2 of our 14N Royal Caribbean Cruise on the Voyager of the Seas out of Sydney.

This was a sea day!  We were sailing to Hobart.  See the navigational screen below.  Sunday, Dec 9, 2012.

We woke up late.  That is perfectly acceptable!  It was a sea day and we were in no hurry to go anywhere.  This was at the Windjammer, the Omelette station.  Two chefs preparing the various omelettes.

They called it the Omelette Central.  Always a favourite. The lines can get rather long, so be prepared for a short wait.  Still, this was a sea day and we were in no rush.  That is the fun part about cruising.  Relax.

Later that morning, we went for the "Meet & Mingle" event organized by Cruise Critic forum.  They prepared some fruits.

Also some finger food like tarts.  Quite nice!

The event was well attended, maybe 40 or so?  Anyway, we took in the raffle and my wife won!

Had some RCI goodies, including a nice cap.

Here were the winnings.  Pretty neat.

The Christmas Tree was set up.  The next cruise would be the Christmas and New Year cruise.  Usually, the cruises over Christmas and New Year are significantly more expensive, therefore we avoid those cruises.

A picture of the Royal Promenade - a 'WoW' feature on Royal Caribbean ships, Voyager Class and above. I have read many reviews on cruise critic and other cruise forums where people miss the Royal Promenade when they sail with other cruise lines.  However, the new Quantum class ships may not have the full Royal Promenade.  We'll wait and see.

The Pig & Whistle was well patronized.  Drinks were reasonably priced and that was good.

Fine Art exhibitions on board.  I'm not sure if the art pieces were worth it, however, it was fun to take a look.

Lunchtime in the Main Dining Room
It was lunchtime!  We headed to the MDR.  Remember that the Voyager is a large ship and MDR lunches on sea days may be slightly crowded.  Anyway, we were in no hurry.  We had to wait to be seated.

They had set up a Tutti Frutti salad bar.  Very nice.

This is one of our favourite features on RCI ships during MDR lunch.  The Tutti Fruitti salad bar.  You would choose your ingredients and the chefs would mix the salad for you.  A very efficient process.  We love the Tutti Frutti salad bar because all the salads tasted really fresh and good!

No lines on this side.

The Main Dining Room (3 levels) looked really grand.  Remember, this is a ship, not a land hotel.

Even though this was lunch, the waiters would seat you.  Yes, there were lines outside too.  Oh well.

A very attractive flower display.

Served lunch.  Very nice.

Got this for the kids. Burger.

Some pasta to share.  I remember it tasted so-so.

And we move on to the desserts.  This cake looked good.  Tasted good too!

This chocolate layered cake is one of our favorites.  We have eaten this many times, over several cruises, and we still like it very much.

The wake from our Deck 10 cabin.  Beautiful.  The sea is a vast, vast place. 70% of Earth's surface is ocean.

More views of the sea.

That afternoon, they were showing some 3D show in the La Scala theatre.  So we went to watch.  The theatre wasn't very full.

A rather empty theatre.

Out for a walk, after the movie.  Walk, walk and walk.   Enjoy the sea breeze.

Some are playing this game.

Seas were not too rough, which was good.

This part of the ship is breathtaking.

Look at the wake.

Passengers enjoying the sun tan.  This was summer in Australia and the days were very long. Very pleasant indeed.

More sun-tanning.

More pictures of the ship in sunny, good weather.

The Voyager was launched in 1997.  She was still in a very good shape.

The wonderful thing was the great sunshine and the sun set very late.  All the sunshine made us very happy.

See that triangular shaped glass thingy - it was designed to let some sunlight into the Royal Promenade below.  Not sure if this feature is available on other Voyager class ships though.

Gorgeous day to spend by the pool.

The Voyager of the Seas.

Alright, dinner time.   This was the menu - entrees.

Starters.

Alternative selections.

Had a glass of red.

Bay Scallop Gratin.  I can't remember if this cruise had escargots.

Filet of Beef.

Roasted Duck.  A big serving.

Grilled Seafood Brochette.

Prawn Ravioli - this wasn't great.

Desserts time.  We really like the desserts on Royal Caribbean.

Chocolate Souffle.

Pouring in the espresso custard.  Yumz!

Cruise Compass for Day 3.  Tomorrow, we will be in Hobart.

Hobart, Tasmania.

After dinner, there was still sunlight.  An amazing experience for us (we live in the tropics!).  So, after all that food, time for a walk.

Beautiful ship, basking in the setting sun.

This was one of the bars.  Not very well patronized though.

Some event going on, probably the nightly Diamond cocktail.

Goodbye sun, see you soon.

First call in Singapore - 26th May 2012.

After our walk, it was time to get some supper!  Yeah, we are rather greedy.  We head off to the Windjammer cafe - the place for buffets.

Some sushi?

Hot food.

Eat, and eat some more!

Some salads and other salady stuff.  Some more pictures of the food available at the Windjammer buffet.

Salads.

Potato salad, pasta salad.  Lots of carbos here.

Looks like some broiled veggies on the right.

Meat stews.

Now, time for desserts.

Isn't this really cool?

More desserts.

Fruits.  Fruit carvings.

Bumped into Po the Panda.  Yes, Voyager has the Dreamworkz experience on board.  Kids loved it.

This was the Promenade Cafe.  It is open 24 hours, though the selection becomes very limited beyond 1 or 2am.

All complimentary.

Very tempting, what should I have?

That was Day 2 - Sea Day.  What a way to relax.

Bakery Box (Local Bakery) Jurong East

Bakery Box is a local bakery in Jurong East Town Centre, in between the two large coffeeshops.  #01-275. If you park at the multi-storey HDB carpark, this is the first shop you will see when you come down the stairs.

Compared to prices downtown and other upmarket bakeries at shopping centres, we find the prices here still reasonable and the confectionary to be of good value.

If you like muffins, they have rather big ones for $1.20.  How do they taste?  I'm not sure because I haven't tried them.  The also have Apple Pies, by slice ($1.20) or the entire pie for $5.50.

Here are some more muffins and cakes, including egg tarts.  Notice that $1.20 is the most common price they have.

Large chunks of Coffee Cake and Pandan Cake at $1.50 per piece.  The slices are rather big, can easily be shared by two, for a snack.  The Marble, Butter, Banana cake slices going for $1.20 per slice.

There is also a good selection of buns.  Japanese red bean at $1.20.  In fact, $1.20 is the standard price for their buns.  Not too long ago (i.e. last year), it was only $1.00.  I guess inflation has kicked in.

All the buns are good value.  The portions are fairly big (well, bigger than Bread Talk!).  My kids love the cheese sausage bun, also $1.20.

This is a close up shot of the cheese-sausage bread that my kids like.  Looks a bit like a cheese tortoise maybe?  Nevertheless, good value snack.

We also buy cakes, like this Swiss Roll.  This piece for $2.20.

We can keep it in the fridge and consume over the next 2-3 days.   Much cheaper than buying individual slices from downtown bakeries.

Verdict
The bakery doesn't have good looks.  The cakes and stuff also don't look great in terms of design.  But in terms of taste and value, they serve as just fine.    Whenever we are in the vicinity, we will come here to buy some stuff.  With things getting more expensive these days, we need to stretch the dollar!

Life is about choices. Go to Starbucks, get a coffee and cake for $12.  Or you could come to this place and get your cake ($1.20) and coffee from the coffesshop for ($1.10) for $2.30.

$12 versus $2.30.  Since I want to retire earlier rather than later, I would choose the cheaper option.  Call me cheap but I'd rather call myself practical.

Back to my restaurants (food) page.