Spectrum of the Seas out of Singapore

[glentally]

The following is a description of the December Sailing.  Will I be the only white English speaking person on the boat including the crew?  I'm not worried about the ports, and it is only a 5 day cruise.

 

The Spectrum of the Seas is the first ship in the Quantum Ultra Class. Designed with our Chinese guests in mind, the ship is fully immersive with Mandarin speaking staff and Chinese cuisine served onboard

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, glentally said:

Will I be the only white English speaking person on the boat including the crew? 

No, that text is outdated and referred to the time when she was meant to sail from mainland China.

[Joseph2017China]

6 minutes ago, glentally said:

The following is a description of the December Sailing.  Will I be the only white English speaking person on the boat including the crew?  I'm not worried about the ports, and it is only a 5 day cruise.

 

The Spectrum of the Seas is the first ship in the Quantum Ultra Class. Designed with our Chinese guests in mind, the ship is fully immersive with Mandarin speaking staff and Chinese cuisine served onboard

Currently out of Singapore, where English is widely spoken.  However, it can be the "second" language on the ship.  When the ship goes back to Shanghai, if it ever does, than the language will be Manderin.  Although, they mix some Asian food into the menu, the menu is mostly the same as all the other ship.  Think of any Asian foods as "comfort foods" for the market.  Plus, you will be a minority on the ship but that would make no difference in the amount of fun you will have. 

[majmaj4]

I am on the 4 day in Feb.  I think the menu looks great, some Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese mixed in with standard cruise menu options.  The roll call is pretty quiet but I am looking forward to the cruise.

[Tin can]

My friend lives in Singapore and is from the UK like myself. I can't remember which ship he sailed on from Singapore but I recall him saying that about 30% were Expat Europeans and Australians and that English was the first language. He said the casino was full to bursting but the bars were fairly quiet and the Asian food was excellent.

 

Guest participation in anything organised by the Entertainments Team was very high irrespective of whatever it was and whilst it was different to his UK/US cruises he had a lot of fun.

[Ethanol95]

Don't worry, there are lots of English speaking passengers on a cruise out of Singapore. Probably more than Mandarin as English is the administrative language. 

 

In terms of demographic, you shouldn't see that many mainland Chinese parties or guests, because they're still opening up. But expect more Indians, Singaporeans, Malaysians and Expats from Singapore as well as further out international passengers and you're good to go! 

 

Try and practice ya mandarin and have a go with the crew onboard, i'm sure they'll be more than willing to entertain it! Enjoy your cruise 🙂

[desibee]

Just got back from our Spectrum cruise out of Singapore.  I’d say the majority of the population on board was actually Indian East Asian, not Chinese but English is spoken everywhere so you won’t need to worry about that.  The food situation is a little different though.  Windjammer buffet largely caters to the Asian market and it can be difficult to find something to your tastes if you aren’t particularly fond of Chinese, Malay, or Indian food.  
 

Don’t worry about being the only white person either, there are always some Aussies somewhere. 🙂

[renza]

My 24 year old son is on spectrum as we speak. He is on a 7 night cruise out of Singapore. He stayed in Singapore 5 days before and absolutely loved it. He said the ship is all English speaking just like Singapore. He has meet other Americans, Australians, and Chinese. 

[Ashland]

8 hours ago, Tin can said:

My friend lives in Singapore and is from the UK like myself. I can't remember which ship he sailed on from Singapore but I recall him saying that about 30% were Expat Europeans and Australians and that English was the first language. He said the casino was full to bursting but the bars were fairly quiet and the Asian food was excellent.

 

Guest participation in anything organised by the Entertainments Team was very high irrespective of whatever it was and whilst it was different to his UK/US cruises he had a lot of fun.

This is exactly what we experienced when we sailed on RCI Mariner from Singapore to Shanghai.

In addition to the above the pools were empty. We loved this particular itinerary and wish RCI would offer it again.

[ARandomTraveler]

I'm sailing on Spectrum out of Singapore next summer (12 day Singapore to Japan). I thought it would be a great way to visit Asian countries that I probably wouldn't travel to on a land vacation due to the language barrier, but on a cruise I'll have a home base I can come back to each day where I can ask questions and get help in English, while still enjoying the cultural stuff on land during the day.

 

 

I've watched a couple YouTube videos about spectrum and the food looks several steps above the usual Caribbean cruise fare, but I also enjoy Indian and Asian foods. For someone who doesn't, they're not gonna like the food, even if it's done well. 
 

Im looking forward to the cultural differences on the ship, and don't care if it's not full of white people. I hope it's not actually. 

[mil76]

Singapore is wonderful to visit and if the ship is going to be mainly Singaporeans with some Aussies and others sprinkled in then I can't think of a better crowd.  Almost everyone in Singapore speaks English, especially the demographic that will be going on a cruise.  I managed a team in Singapore years ago so I spent quite a bit of time there, and my kids loved going there.  

 

We're probably going to cruise Spectrum next December as well.  We haven't been back since my kids were pre-teens, and we were supposed to cruise Voyager out of Singapore in Summer 2020 to celebrate my son's high school graduation, but COVID had other plans so this would now be to celebrate his high school AND college graduation.

 

A few days in Singapore along with a 5 day cruise sounds perfect to me.

[ARandomTraveler]

10 hours ago, mil76 said:

Singapore is wonderful to visit and if the ship is going to be mainly Singaporeans with some Aussies and others sprinkled in then I can't think of a better crowd.  Almost everyone in Singapore speaks English, especially the demographic that will be going on a cruise.  I managed a team in Singapore years ago so I spent quite a bit of time there, and my kids loved going there.  

 

We're probably going to cruise Spectrum next December as well.  We haven't been back since my kids were pre-teens, and we were supposed to cruise Voyager out of Singapore in Summer 2020 to celebrate my son's high school graduation, but COVID had other plans so this would now be to celebrate his high school AND college graduation.

 

A few days in Singapore along with a 5 day cruise sounds perfect to me.

Same! We had a high school graduation trip planned for summer of 2020 where we were gonna go to Japan, and then fly to Singapore for a 4-day cruise, but it was canceled.

[ShazM]

There is an Aussie lady who has been on pretty much every ship in the Royal fleet and she travels to Singapore quite often to get on a ship. She has said for ages that Spectrum is her favourite ship by a long way.

[Genevivev]

On 1/4/2023 at 5:50 AM, majmaj4 said:

I am on the 4 day in Feb.  I think the menu looks great, some Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese mixed in with standard cruise menu options.  The roll call is pretty quiet but I am looking forward to the cruise.

 How was the cruise and port days, going in early April and would love any tips

[majmaj4]

The cruise was very good.  Food and service were  very good.   I enjoyed the variety of cuisine at the buffet.  Cruise passengers primarily Asian.   

 

Not sure what you are interested in, or which stops you have...

 

Penang/Georgetown is very nice that you can walk into town, but do recommend also going out to Lok Si Temple.  I used Grab app and busses to get around to some of the further out spots.

 

Phuket,  snorkeling trip to Phi Phi islands was nice.  Phuket town had some decent tourist shops.  Karen beach seemed the nicest I was sorry I didn't take the opportunity to swim there.  There was a bathroom and shower facility for a small fee.

 

[majmaj4]

The first night dinner was pretty backed up and crowded - get a reservation if doing mytime at least for at least the first night