April 9 - May 6, 2018: Aboard the Mariner of the Seas
	April 7-9, 2018: A Visit to Singapore
	Return to the Index for 2018

Today, Monday, we are boarding our cruise ship. The cruise will take us on a twenty-eight-day trip from here to Barcelona, with stops in Phuket, Thailand; Cochin, India; Goa, India; Muscat, Oman; Dubai, UAE; Aqaba, Jordan; Jerusalem, Israel; and Chania, on the Isle of Crete in Greece. Along the way, we will also transit the Suez Canal.

The Mariner of the Seas

Of course, having one single page for this cruise is impractical, as is having an index page into the whole thing. So this time I'll do something different, and have an album page for each of our stops, this one for boarding the ship and beginning the cruise, one for pictures we took on board the ship and of the ship, and one page for our arrival in Barcelona.

Although our onboard pictures were taken throughout the cruise, I will be putting that section next, so as we mention places and people aboard ship, you'll have some idea of what we're talking about. But we'll begin with our boarding here in Singapore, and our departure on this month-long adventure.

Our taxi got us to the port in about 20 minutes, and we were going through the boarding process by 3PM. We happened to run across Greg and Steve, his cabinmate for the first two cruises, and we boarded the ship together. Fred and I went to unpack our stuff in the cabin, and then we dropped by the Windjammer Cafe to see if we could get a snack- but it had just closed. We did find that down on the Promenade there is a little cafe that is open 24 hours, so we were able to get some little sandwiches and desserts and a drink.

We weren't departing until six, so we had time to locate the gym and do a bit of exercise before walking around the ship for a while. The ship was new to us, so we just went up on deck to watch the departure procedures. We were at the cruise ship dock about two miles south of Downtown Core. There was another cruise ship docked beside us, and it was another Royal Caribbean ship- the Ovation of the Seas. Just after taking that picture, I took a picture looking down the starboard side of the ship back towards the city, and you can see that picture here.

Up on the sports deck, I took a panoramic picture of the city, the ship, and Fred:

The rest of the pictures and movies we took this evening were just as we were leaving the cruise dock and heading out into the Singapore Straits.

Fred and Singapore: Downtown Core/Marina Bay Sands/Gardens by the Bay

Leaving the Singapore Cruise Ship Dock (Mouseover Image for Video Controls)

The Marina Bay Sands/Gardens by the Bay

The Singapore Cruise Ship Dock

The light was fading fast as the ship pulled out of Singapore, so it was time for final pictures:

Fred with Singapore as a Backdrop

Leaving Singapore Behind

And for the last picture of the day:

The Singapore Skyline: A Farewell

So, we are off. Fred and I will be seeing noplace we have seen before, at least not until we dock in Barcelona. And each of us will get to add a number of countries visited to his list. Oh, and there will be a couple of "bucket list" items along the way.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	April 9 - May 6, 2018: Aboard the Mariner of the Seas
	April 7-9, 2018: A Visit to Singapore
	Return to the Index for 2018