Just finished my solo cruise in an interior stateroom from 13-16 Sept 2021, and I had a great time! Thanks to the advice from many of the cruise veterans here to optimize the vacation time. I went for all 4 shows, watched some live music, had the Unlimited Dining Package to try all 4 of the speciality restaurents (did Chops Grille twice) and also did a number of other activities on board, so here's a short summary of what I thought about them:
Shows:
(1) Sequins and Feathers (Royal Theatre): Entertaining, fast paced and enjoyable pop music and dance performance, a must see!
(2) Gold Art Duo (Royal Theatre): Nice artistic and acrobatic showcase, dude was pretty funny too
(3) Violinist Nadiia and the Cast of Starwater (270): Nadiia was amazingly talented. The Starwater part was a bit of a headscratcher, although it did showcase the 270 stage well.
(4) KUBA (270): Think this is a new show, since nobody else here mentioned him before. KUBA is a multi-instrumentalist, and he played the vibraphone, kalimba and theremin, backed up by the Royal Caribbean Jazz Quartet (see below). Was an entertaining show and I loved the rock rendition of Caprice No. 24.
Live Music:
(1) The Kinetic Band (Music Hall): cover-pop rock band from the Philippines, watching the show made me realise how much I missed live rock band performances in Singapore. Great band!
(2) Royal Caribbean Jazz Quartet (Music Hall): amazingly talented musicians doing what they do best. Was especially impressed by the guitarist.
(3) Yaroslav (guitar) (Boleros): amazingly talented classical guitarist. Pretty robotic in terms of audience interaction, but just seeing Asturias performed live was insane.
Speciality Dining:
(1) Chops Grille: Had Chops Grille for both lunch and dinner. Great place for your steaks, I think I preferred the filet mignon over the bone-in ribeye after trying them both on two separate occasions. Favourite starters were the wild mushroom soup and the crab cake, while the lobster bisque was a little too salty. Red velvet cake and chocolate cake were both great, though I was pretty full by the time I got to dessert
(2) Jamie's Italian: Had it for dinner. Everything was so good but I ordered way too much for myself. Both starters, crispy squid and baked mushroom, were excellent. Had both carbonara and salmon for mains, with rocket salad as a side. Everything was great but only had enough space for about half of each. Tiramisu was great too!
(3) Izumi: Lunch. It's not ala-carte; you order one small plate, two large plates and a dessert. Gyoza was not bad, and my favourite was the Chef's sushi roll, really tasty. Tried the ramen too and while I liked the meat and egg, the noodles were a bit sus; they didnt look or feel like actual ramen noodles. Matcha ice cream was matcha ice cream.
(4) Wonderland: Nice dinner to round up the dining experience. Inventive cuisine, with each of the dishes having multiple elements and thought behind it. The narrative and service experience was excellent, and there were several standout dishes like the tomato water, smokey eggs and the pork belly (the applesauce drops were amazing!) The World dessert was a great spectacle to watch, but it tasted too overly sweet. But then again I'm the kind who orders 0% sugar bubble tea, lol.
Other Activities
(1) Early hot tub at the Solarium on Day 1 is a must, before everyone else comes onboard. Also went to the openair pool and hot tub on Day 3 and it was enjoyable as well.
(2) Went for a number of game activities like Sudoku, General Trivia, Harry Potter Trivia and Word Search, I'm bad at all of them, but still it was entertaining. Had some great hosts such as Tristan and Xiao!
Interior Room
- I felt the room size was perfect for a solo traveller, and never felt the need for a balcony or something. The lcd screen with the fake balcony was funny but actually felt quite good psychologically.
Can't wait for my Grand Suite cruise in January!