Due to Covid 19 situation, we aren’t able to travel abroad so cruise is not a bad idea.
It was my 4time cruising to nowhere for the past 2 years. But this time we tried out the Palace Dream. This time we have booked for the 3Day 2Night Place Suite getaway. It cost about S$800+ per pax, for the month of December, the price usually gets slightly higher due to peak season.
In this blog, it covers more on Palace facilities and their specialty restaurants
You may think it is expensive for Palace Dream but actually, it is not. After the breakdown, the price is actually a very good deal. It includes a huge suite, 2 meals in a day with all the specialty restaurants, private pools, free WIFI, sauna & steam room, private gym, and 24-hour butler service to assist with all your bookings and activities as well as other requests.
Oh yes, you will be entitled to a few cans of beer, a bottle of wine, and some soft drinks and mineral water in your mini-fridge too. So for Palace Dream guests, you don’t need to get the beverage package if you are not a heavy drinker.
For Dream Cruise, there is no PCR test so all you need to do is to go early on the day of departure for your ART swab test. The queue for the ART test is long at the terminal carpark but because you are a Palace guest, you can skip the queue. Once you arrive at the terminal, go to the Palace Dream corner and the staff will give you a sticker to place on your clothes so that you can skip all lines and have the priority check-in.
The waiting zone to check-in for Palace Dream is also separated from other guests. Upon check-in the cruise ship, you should wait for your butler to bring you to your room.
There are a few types of Palace suites offering a different tier of luxury. From the highest is the Palace Villa, Palace Penthouse, Palace Deluxe Suite, and Palace Suite.
Let’s check out the Palace suite! The total space is 37sqm, it comes with a double King size bed and a double sofa bed. In the evening, the cabin crew will help to turn the sofa bed into a comfortable bed.
The space in Palace suite is so much spacious, you will find a balcony and bathroom that comes with a shower and bathtub. There is even a bathroom vanity, an area dedicated for you to sit down to do your make-up and blow-dry your hair. Really comfortable to sit and relax, slowly do your hair and make up.
Beside this bathroom vanity area, you find a min-bar. A posh Nespresso coffee machine and inside the fridge, there are a few beers, soft drinks, mineral waters and a bottle of wines. All are complimentary. It won’t get top up the next day if you finish on day 1. If you wanted to bring home the alcohol that you can’t finish drinking, then you would have to pay taxes at the custom. So you might as well finish everything or just leave it and don’t bring them home.
For Palace guests, the dining is at a different place, not in Lido. There are afternoon tea and evening cocktails served. Do check out for the timing with your butler.
After you have checked out your suite, go to Palace lounge to have some afternoon snacks. We had some noodles, western and Asian to be served to you at your table. Just order what you want in the menu list and food was served hot as it was individually made by the chef and served to you.
You can also go Lido with buffet style but it is more crowded over there and you need to pick up your own food from the buffet lines. The food range is also slightly different as food are prepared in a smaller portion per guest’s order over here
Palace guests have special access to the Palace restaurant for breakfast and tea break and supper 24 hours. Order from the menu and the chef will be specially made for you.
I went to Palace restaurant for breakfast, tea and supper. I have to say the food served is really nice and better than the Dream dining room and the Lido since Palace guests pay a premium.
You also get to enjoy “happy hour” 5-7 pm in Palace restaurant, you get coffee, tea, soft drinks, juices, and red wine or cocktails, this is equivalent of their “Beverage package”.
High tea is served from 3-5 pm at Palace Restaurant as well. Small pastries are placed on the 3 layer cake and dessert plate stand, looking super elegant.
There is a private lift for Palace guests to bring to Palace restaurant.
For Palace Guest, you are also entitled to 4 specialty restaurants on the cruise. The Japanese teppanyaki, Western Mark Best’s Seafood Grill and Prime Steakhouse, Hot Pot and Silk Road Chinese Restaurants. Each meal costs about S$80 per pax and a total of 4 meals per pax could easily add up to S$300 worth of gourmet food per person.
Think about it, Palace Dream is really worth its value.
At Umi Uma, the Japanese teppanyaki, the chef will amuse you while preparing your chosen dish. We have chosen beef for our teppanyaki. There are also other dining options if you don’t want to have the teppanyaki, you could choose bento set or other Korean sets from the menu.
Prime Steakhouse and Seafood Grill are actually located at the same place. So you can order either the seafood menu or Prime steak. We ordered 2 seafood lobster and one prime steak. To our surprise, our butler is waiting for us before we walked into the restaurant.
At the Silk Road specialty restaurant, we have lobsters again but cooked in a different style as compared to the afternoon lunch at the Western seafood grill. I prefer the Chinese style which adopted garlic to enhance the taste of the lobster. Beside lobster, the Chinese menu also came with abalone stew with mushroom, tofu and teriyaki chicken.
One of the main selling points to book as a Palace guest is you get to experience different gourmet, most are very satisfying. Go book for different restaurants for dinner and lunch and enjoy to the max!
Palace guests has the access to the Palace Pool, your butler will help you arrange a time slot to enjoy the pool facilities. The slots are given at hour intervals. There are in total 4 hot jacuzzi hot tubs.
There are also steam room and sauna for the Palace guests only. You get to enjoy the great ocean sea view when you are in the sauna room.
As for other outdoor activities such as waterslide, mini-golf, rope course and rock climbing you have to join the queue on a first come first serve basis. The lines are very long in the month of December. Go early before the activities start at 9 am. As for the palace pool, it was not crowded at all but booking is still needed but the good thing is you don’t have to queue to book the facilities. Your butler will arrange for you.
The show entertainment booking was done by your butler as well. There are different shows every 3-4 hours and performed by different groups of performers from different parts of the world. The good thing about booking for Palace guests is you get the VIP seats, that is to say, one of the best views for the performances. Also, the entrance for Palace guests to the theatre is not the same as other guests. You don’t have to go with the crowd and queue to get in. There is a different tunnel to bring you to the theatre.
Other live singing entertainments are still conducted at different venues. Check the timetable and walk-in before the singing performances start.
Final thoughts
Should you do Palace dream? Yes, why not? If you break down everything, this is value for money.
You get an early check-in, board the cruise as early as 11 am. It is a personalized check-in and you get to skip the queue for ART tests. Once you board the cruise, the butler is waiting for you to show you your room. Butles service is round the clock 24/7. The butler will help you to book all the facilities and show entertainment and restaurant booking for your dining. You don’t have to do it yourself. On the first day of check-in, you can go straight to the Palace restaurant and have your late lunch, just let the butler take care of everything for you. You don’t have to go queuing at the long lines for pools. Lunch and dinner are provided at the specialty restaurants of your choice. There are a few specialty restaurants to choose from.
A bottle of wine and some beers, juices, soft drinks, and mineral water are provided in the in-room bar fridge. You also get to enjoy the private pool and jacuzzis in the different area which is less crowded.
