GENTING HONG KONG LIMITED If a weekend is all you can spare from your busy schedule, two nights aboard Genting Dream could very well be the magic pill that you need to revitalize your weary spirit and get you recharged and ready for another busy week ahead. Think of it as a floating staycation with an upgrade, what with the luxuries and amenities on board, plus an option to take an escorted shore excursion to boot.
Genting Dream, the first luxury cruise ship of the fleet of
The package allows passengers "seamless convenience from the airport onward to the cruise. It includes an end-to-end luggage transfer, lounge access, cabin key card collection at the airport, and one-way ground transfer from Changi to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
" How convenient. You can feel your stress-filled work week starting to melt away already.
It is not difficult to see why
With its indoor gardens, leisure facilities and attractions as well as more than 300 retail and dining facilities within its 10 stories five above-ground and five basement levels you will hardly notice the time pass until it's time for you to proceed and embark on the ship for your luxury getaway. Genting Dream was purposely built in
Over 70 percent of the staterooms feature private balconies, with over 100 connecting staterooms, ideal for extended families and large groups. nk The Palace is "a ship within a ship" with two floors of lavish suites featuring European-style butler service as well as VIP facilities including its own swimming pool, spa, gym and dining venues.
There's a wide variety of restaurant and bar concepts including the popular Singaporean nightclub Zouk, as well as Bar 360, whose first outlet can be found in Resorts World Manila. Exquisite Chinese and fusion dishes are served at the
We cruised in calm waters overnight and woke up to a clear sky as we neared our port of call in
Telaga Biru or
Opposite the temple entrance we saw the Giant Turtle Statue facing the sea. The turtle is believed to symbolize long life.
Lunch was at a local seafood restaurant. There was a sudden downpour that stopped just as suddenly as it started.
We proceeded to the
The entertainment onboard is something that Genting Dream takes great pride in. No wonder.
A lot of effort and energy has gone into the creation and performance of every show. "Our main strong selling point is the production show and the theater itself," says Genting Dream cruise director
"We have two production shows." These are "Sonio: A Tale of Two Dreams," which features dancers and acrobats, about the life cycle of a child who grows up to be a teenager struggling to get his freedom.
"It's aligned with our ship's brand, the Dream brand itself," Joseph remarks. "'Sonio' is a continuation of 'The Voyage of Lover's Dream' which we had before, which was about an astronaut and a mermaid and how they meet.
We carried this show for more than a year and it got many good responses." "Some Like It Hot" features ballroom dances with a live band.
"Our shows are multimillion-dollar productions, from the costumes to the props and the lights," adds
" "We have a shore entertainment team based in
They are the ones coming up with the concept of the show, the planning and the costumes, lights, music, choreography. The rehearsals are done onboard the ship.
It's like a three-month period of production preparation." The nightly shows are presented at the
Besides the production shows, the cruise director together with his team plan the entire entertainment and program of activities onboard Genting Dream. "We plan the lineup of programs according to the kind of customers expected in the cruise," Joseph explains.
"So we do a survey of the nationality as well as age breakdown about three to four days prior to the start of the cruise. And based on that, we basically know what they would like to do.
" He continues: "If there are more teenagers, for example, we will do more challenges, more pool activities. There are the ropes courses and zip-line, rock-climbing wall, giant water slides and swimming pools, mini-golf, bowling, even a jogging track.
For senior citizens, there are dance classes, Bingo, and trivia game shows. There's also a 24-hour karaoke room.
"We also do a lot of activities for the kids so the parents can have their own time as well," he adds. "We have a junior bridge officer activity where the kids can go up to the bridge and they get a chance to meet and talk with the captain.
They can do the junior butler where they dress up like a butler and we bring them to the Palace lounge where we do basic classes like greeting class and normal table etiquette classes. They can experience being part of the housekeeping crew.
They can attend pizza-making as well as sushi-making classes." Meanwhile, the parents can spend their time at the fitness club, beauty salon or barbershop.
The ship has the largest reflexology spa at sea. Or they may just want to wander around the ship, visit the art gallery or shop at the duty free stores and boutiques.
Something to look forward to are the fireworks on the final night. "We are the only company which has a license to do fireworks on the sea," Josephs says.
"We have close to 20 different nationalities working on the ship Indonesian, Malaysian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian,
"The guests will be more comfortable with their own. We understand their needs and what they expect.
We are very flexible." For Joseph, Genting Dream is all about the experience: "Inspirational journeys at sea that's Asian at heart and international in spirit.
That's what we aim to deliver at an international level but with an Asian hospitality touch. It's a magic touch that you don't get everywhere.
That's something which makes our brand Dream Cruises stand out, that's different from all the others." For information, call 8836 6080,Jan Lynch Imbat 0917-637- 0794 or email salesmanila@gentingcruiselines.
com.
© Pakistan Press International, source
