Cruise to Nowhere: Review of World Dream by Genting's Dream Cruises

Is a Cruise to Nowhere worth it? Absolutely! At under $400 per pax, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our 4D/3N stay on Genting's World Dream cruise ship and would totally do it again if we could. If you've been hesitating on whether to book a trip, here's my review and I hope it helps with all the burning questions you have on how a cruise to nowhere will be like!

Note: this is not a sponsored post (although I wish it was :P)

Pre-boarding process

COVID-19 Swab Test

For Dream Cruises, we had to take an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) before you board the cruise. This is all done on the same day, so you don't have to go out of your way for an extra trip down at all.

You'll be given an allocated swab test timing once you have done your online check-in (up to a week in advance before your sailing date). We checked in as soon as we got our email notification, and the allocated swab test time was 5pm i.e. 4 hours before departure.

Lest you think the swab test is scary, it really isn't! In fact, it felt more like a tickle up my nose - I was expecting it to go a lot deeper / higher up my nose and had to clarify with the swab test administrator that it was done correctly, lol! 

It took about 20 - 30 minutes for the results to be out, and we had to wait in a separate waiting area before being allowed to board. All in all, the whole process was faster than we expected.

Check-in

Aside from your TraceTogether token/app, you will also be needing the boarding card which will be issued to you at the check-in counter (and you'll need to bring it around with you everywhere on the cruise).

It is recommended to download the Dream Cruises app before you board the ship as well, which has everything you'll need for your cruise including pre-bookings of events, shows and restaurants.

If you're pregnant like me, note that you will need a "Fit to Sail" letter from your gynae and that mummies beyond 23 weeks of pregnancy will not be allowed to board, for safety reasons. So...do your babymoon before that like I did! ;)

Accommodation

Room and toilet

I opted for the cheapest room - a Balcony Stateroom - which came with a queen bed, a long sofa, an attached bathroom and a private balcony deck. Lest you think cheapest room = worst, that was totally not true and I LOVED our room!

The bathroom was spacious enough even though I was juggling my 20-week-big pregnant belly, and toiletries (hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, body foam, body moisturiser) were provided. The fragrance was great and I didn't have any skin sensitivity from the toiletries, but the real surprise was in the conditioner, because it was actually able to get rid of the frizz from swimming in the pool! Bath towels and toilet paper were also provided, together with a floor mat.

You can view my in-room video of our Balcony Stateroom here on my Instagram highlights.

Other provided items

Another pleasant surprise was the hairdryer, which was wayyy better than what most hotels normally provide, and didn't leave my hair roasted or frizzy after using it. 

Bathrobes came in handy when we had to go to the pool, and you'll find them in your wardrobe (most people don't realize this!).

The TV had on-demand videos which are FREE, and the selection of movies were awesome! We watched Fast and Furious, The High Note and Gemini Man on our trip. You can view the entire selection on my Instagram highlights here.

There's also 2 bottled water provided each day, and coffee/tea if you're boiling any water in the kettle (we didn't, as we got all our drinks at Lido each time).

Activities

Food

There are 4 inclusive restaurants (i.e. no extra surcharges) on the World Dream cruise ship:

• Lido (international buffet with halal options)
• Upper Deck Dining (Western)
• Lower Deck Dining (Chinese)
• Lido 24-hour outdoors snack bar

The food was good, but our favourite restaurant had to be Lido, which constantly impressed us with the huge variety and quality of food. If you're not too picky an eater and as long as you don't have super atas tastebuds, then this should be good enough for you as well. In fact, we loved Lido so much that we ate all (but 2) of our meals there!

The Chinese restaurant was decent, but not something we felt like going back to.

The Western restaurant failed to even churn up a good plate of meatball spaghetti, so we didn't return either.

Note that for the Chinese and Western restaurant, you will need to either pre-book or arrive early to secure a booking slot on the waitlist, so if you're not a fan of queuing like us...then just go straight to Lido.

I also recommend the Lobby Cafe, where cakes were going for just $4.50 and the Singapore dishes (e.g. Nonya Laksa, traditional breakfast set with soft-boiled eggs and toast) were priced at a very affordable range of $2 - $10.

Entertainment

There were so many entertainment options on the ship that we couldn't finish them all, even though we had 2 full days onboard! 

Here's what we did try out:

• Mini Golf
• Giant Chess
• Table Tennis at the SportsPlex
• Swimming Pool - pre-bookings required, which we did on the first morning
• Faith the musical - featuring tap dance, ballet, acrobatics, aerial silk, aerial hoop, trampoline acts and more! We loved this so much that we went for it twice!
• Vision by Vincent Vignaud - magic show
• Yoga - taught by one of the professional acrobats who starred in Faith (and she provided pregnancy-friendly variants on many of the moves for me - thank you!)
• Jackpot Bingo - this was the highlight for the guys, and they spent $60 each on 6 bingo tickets!
• Key Master - an extremely appealing but frustrating machine game
• Swimming pool - the length is pretty short so don't expect much of an exercise here, although I did do my 20 laps before our 1-hour allocated timeslot was up.
• Jacuzzi - the guys tried this, but I didn't because it isn't suitable for pregnant mummies. My husband joked that the warm water would "cook" the baby, LOL!

Here's what we skipped:

• Waterslides - not suitable for pregnant ladies
• Ropes course - not suitable for pregnant ladies
• Flying fox - not suitable fo pregnant ladies
• VR games at the Esc Experience Lab - we visited the place, but pregnant ladies aren't suitable for many of the activities so we ended up not doing any :(
• Dream Boys - a male striptease show

Because of these amenities and activities, the ship is extremely family-friendly, so both the adults and young children should have a (splashing) good time! There are also Workshops, Live Music and a children's toy area (Little Dreamers) if you're bringing your kids. I intend to come back again when I'm not pregnant next time, so I can try out the stuff I missed this time round. Our next chance is likely to be in Q4 after I've given birth, but as I'm not too sure whether it'll be safe for a newborn yet (in terms of having to make milk and constantly sterilizing everything), so I'll update this space again if we do make that trip.

Gambling / Casino

Once the ship sails, the casino / gambling dens are open 24/7! We only played a few games for fun since we're not big on gambling, but there were many people who were playing until the wee hours of the night.

Final Thoughts

Safety and Hygiene

I had pretty low expectations, and packed clothes that I wouldn't mind getting dirty because I wasn't sure if the public seats or areas would be clean. However, as it turns out, I could have just brought all my prettiest dresses without worries because I was honestly impressed and blown away by the safety standards and hygiene levels observed on the ship, including:

• Check-in at each venue: with your boarding pass and TraceTogether token/app
• Social distancing: there were Cruise Ambassadors who went around ensuring guests who weren't from the same group were of a safe distance apart
• Pre-booking: to reduce crowding, although this provided some inconvenience (worth it for the safety though)
• Toilets: there wasn't a single dirty toilet I encountered which surprised me! It was always clean and dry no matter where I went

I wasn't too worried about any potential COVID-19 cases onboard given all these measures, and the fact that only those who tested negative during the ART swab test were allowed to board the ship.

Seasickness? Nope.

You can barely even feel the ship move, so don't worry about feeling seasick! You probably won't even realize the ship is moving unless you look outside (and there's nothing to see or gauge with when you're out on the open waters, lol).

Can you use Singapore ReDiscovers vouchers? Nope.

Unfortunately you won't be able to use your government-provided credits for cruise bookings, but hey, it is still worth it anyway.

We loved it so much that I wanted to book a Royal Caribbean cruise right away...but with just 3 weeks left before I cross into my 24th week of pregnancy, there wasn't any sailing date or slots available for us to take up anymore :(

Is the ship family-friendly / wheelchair-friendly?

Yes! There are nursing rooms onboard if you need them (although it'll be more comfortable to breastfeed or pump in your room), and almost everywhere can be accessed via lifts so a stroller / wheelchair won't be an issue. The waterslides and toy room will likely keep your young children entertained for hours as well.

Tip: Packing List

Here's what we packed and what I'd recommend:

• Basic toiletries (facial wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, razors, any skincare routine items)
• 3 smart casual outfits - I was always in a dress, whereas the guys were in a T-shirt and shorts / bermudas
• 3 sets of underwear
• 1 sports outfit - or maybe 2 if you want to spend more days outdoors at the Sportsplex
• 1 swimming costume / bikini 
• Chargers - for your electronics
• Shoes - 1 slippers / casual and 1 sports shoes

Other than that, you don't really need anything else because the ship provided a lot of other stuff. We didn't even need a luggage for it - a normal backpack did the trick.

All in all, I was seriously impressed with this sea-cation - from the hospitality of all the cruise staff, the standards and even food quality onboard Genting's World Dream.

I also documented my entire trip here on Instagram and pinned it on my highlights, so head over here to view!

I'd love to go on another cruise later this year again once I've given birth, and this time, bring along our parents and children. Now, if only Royal Caribbean would sponsor me next... well, I can continue dreaming :P

With love,
Budget Babe