Robert Downey Jr Shah Rukh Khan T20 Final How To Survive A Disney Cruise Singapore As Single Adult
I have spent more than 35 years on this planet without having to be on open water for more than a few hours. I am not a ‘water baby’, and the word cruise appears in my vocabulary only as a verb for navigating life and not as a noun. So, when an invitation to spend four nights aboard Disney’s newest and largest-ever cruise ship landed in my inbox one morning, it was with a lot of thought that I replied to it.
“What do people do on a cruise?” Photo: Disney Adventure
The back of my mind had one question: ‘what do people do on a cruise?’ For me, the idea of merely sailing for four days, with nowhere to go, was an aberration. My mind somehow refused to register four days of a do-nothing trip, juxtaposed against my usual 30,000-step walking holidays and tightly packed itineraries. But one name made it all worth it: Robert Downey Jr. He was to be at the christening ceremony of the ship. We could cross all oceans on earth to see him; a four-hour flight was no big deal.
Iron Man wore down my iron will to not set foot on a ship and I hit ‘send’ on the reply. Yes, I would be in Singapore.
From Land To Sea, With Robert Downey
From a city hotel to the port, the first evening was to be the christening of the ship.
At first glance, the ship makes little sense. Photo: Disney Adventure
At first glimpse, the Disney Adventure made little sense. It was too big; too much to wrap my head around. I caught the massive ship, counted four visible floors till I lost sight of it and moved to security. We weren’t leaving Singapore yet, but stepping off terra firma came with its own checks. A flight of escalators and footbridges led me to the deck of the ship, and after photo-ID screenings, I was ushered in through a massive door. On the other side, the full Disney crew, in the sparkliest of Disney gears, geared up to welcome us on board.
Inside, it was a different world. A very crowded, albeit different, world.
The Wishing Well at the Town Square onboard. Photo: Disney Adventure
There were many, many people on the cruise. I made my way to the hub of all activity: the ‘Town Square’, by a bar called Spellbound, in front of which was the Wishing Well from Snow White. The guest check-in stretched behind the Wishing Well, and over welcome drinks and canapes, the reason for being on the cruise that evening was announced: the christening ceremony, but we had to wait a little longer. A few more minutes before Robert Downey Jr would show up. For the several thousands of people on board the ship that evening, you could touch the excitement in the air.
Spellbound, one of the luxury bars on the ship. Photo: Disney Adventure
Soon, there were queues. The main ceremony was to take place in Walt Disney Theatre, the largest screen on the ship, and a hall that could seat over a thousand people at once. The occasion called for the extravagance. The epithets stacked up. This was Disney’s newest, largest, the first-ever cruise to set sail in Southeast Asia. So, the christening ceremony too had to catch up. And catch up it did.
After an hour in the queues, as we made our way to the theatre, there were hoots and cheers and a dazzling entertainment showcase. Captain Mickey and Minnie took charge, as the rest of the Disney characters made their way to the audience, sprinkling confetti and singing along. There was a 23-piece orchestra as well. Hollywood Performing Arts Hall of Fame inductee Jed Madela, and international recording artist of Eurovision fame Dami Im, guided the show through classic Disney, Pixar, and Marvel melodies. There was more talk of how high and mighty the newest cruise ship was, as anticipation in the hall reached a dizzying high. Where was Robert Downey!
Iron Man Enters The Scene
And then, he arrived. Much like his Marvel avatar, Robert Downey Jr made quite an entrance on to the stage. It was almost as if the theatre manifested him out of smoke. There was smoke, and then there was the fire of Robert Downey Jr’s magical voice, threatened to be drowned out by the screams in the theatre. Did someone faint, I wondered. (No.)
Robert Downey Jr at the christening ceremony. Photo: Author
No one quite stopped to breathe or hear what Iron Man had to say. But here’s what he did say: “I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the team at Walt Disney Imagineering, and I can tell you Adventure is the perfect name for what they’ve created. Being the Godparent of this majestic vessel is an honour, and I have some serious duties to perform, so let’s make it official, shall we?”
The shouts in the theatre reached a deafening high. He then cued the orchestra, “You bring the theme and I’ll bring the thunder.” The official blessing followed: “I christen thee, Disney Adventure, may God bless this ship and all who sail upon her.”
And just like that, he was gone.
The Disney-themed desserts. Photo: Author
The rest of the evening was more or less a blur, taking in the numerous items on the menu, speaking to people about what the cruise was going to be like, and what not.
Let’s Set Sail
The next day was for the actual sailing, and in groups marked by Disney characters, we boarded the Adventure. ‘Let’s set sail,’ the song bellowed out of the speakers all over the way as we set sail. We were at sea!
“Let’s set sail!” Photo: Disney Adventure
The preview sailing of Disney Adventure, was, understandably, a children-first affair. But the ones more excited than the kids were their parents. So, if you had a doe-eyed child gazing at Rapunzel for a hug, the next photo booth had a queue of adults trying to get a selfie with Minnie Mouse. No one was an adult anymore. Disney, and its years upon years of storytelling had ensured that adulting was a tough game onboard. It was actually the adults who looked more at home in their Disney outfits than the children.
What’s On Board
The ship is Disneyland on sea. No, not joking. The ’emotional heart’ of the Disney Adventure is the Disney Imagination Garden, complete with a pretend-castle. There are six other immersive themed areas on the ship: Disney Discover Reef, Wayfinder Bay, Town Square, San Fransokyo Street, Marvel Landing, and Toy Story Place. Each of these host various activities on board, across the days at sea. The Marvel Landing is a marvel in itself. It is home to the first-ever roller-coaster on a Disney cruise ship: the Ironcycle Test Run.
The Ironcycle Test Run. Photo: Disney Adventure
My stateroom opened to views of the Disney Discover Reef, and every night, the lights turned blue to mirror the world underwater. While that was an intial dampener (who doesn’t want views of the ocean while on a cruise!), the rest of the ship ensured I did not spend much time in the cabin.
The staterooms are each themed on a Disney character. Photo: Author
What To Eat And Do At Sea
Then there are the restaurants. The cruise follows ‘rotational dining’, a concept where guests are assigned dinner timing and restaurants rotationally, which allows them to try out everything on board. There’s buffet, sit-down dinners, as well as high-end fine-dining options that will set you back a couple hundred dollars. There are adult-only restaurants too, which you will probably appreciate after a few days of family time on the ship.
Animator’s Palate. Photo: Disney Adventure
The restaurants are themed. At Animator’s Palate, for example, you are allowed to order only after you have sketched to your heart’s content, within a given silhouette. We followed orders. Within the course of the three-course meal, the sketches were collected, sent to the Pixar studio, and animated: all before dessert hit the table! It was a delight to see how happy everyone in that restaurant was that evening, seeing their mindless doodles coming to life in front of them. For once, the food seemed to have paled in front of the experience.
King Khan Lights Up The Night
The night was dedicated to Shah Rukh Khan. King Khan’s voice from the topmost deck reverberated all across the ship as fireworks turned night to day in the middle of the sea. The half-hour show was the highlight that evening.
Lion King, narrated in the voice of Shah Rukh Khan, was among the highlights at sea. Photo: Author
Experiences on the ship are many and varied. There’s always something happening somewhere. The entertainment options on the cruise range from movies in the many theatres onboard; to the Broadway-style musical Rememberwhich you are bound to remember long after you’ve disembarked. In addition, there are numerous stores to shop from; a Bacha Coffee kiosk sits next to a TWG tea store, across which is a Cartier outlet and a diamond boutique. The multiple Disney retail outlets draw so many guests that purchases are capped. Talk about champagne problems!
Disney Imagination Garden, the ’emotional heart’ of the cruise. Photo: Disney Adventure
There’s also champagne to drown out your adult problems in, in one of the bars on the ship. Spellbound, themed on Snow White And The Seven Dwarfsis among the luxe options around. There’s a sports bar too, Buccaneer Bar, which became the scene of something much more on the four days that we sailed around the Strait of Malacca and Singapore and Malaysia.
A T20 Adventure Onboard
Our final night on the ship coincided with T20 World Cup finals, where India was to take on New Zealand. Since the afternoon, there was chatter: was the match going to be screened anywhere? The last bars on the ship to shut were to shut by midnight. The match wasn’t going to be over before that. What was to be done? Lloyd Machado, the entertainment director on board, came to our rescue. “I’ll be at the Buccaneer Bar; so, you know!”
The Discovery Reef. Photo: Disney Adventure
Right on cue, Indians from all over the cruise began filling in to the bar before the match began. I too made my way to the sixth floor, to gauge what the temperature was like at the bar. Inside the tiny strip, the atmosphere was electric. Non-Indians in the bar were trying to make sense of what had hit them. The chorus from the handful of non-Indian folk was: “We’ve never seen anything like this!” The ‘this’ included chants of ‘India, India‘; invocations of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya‘ before every ball that India threw at the Kiwis; and calling each person on the field out by name, as if they too were listening to this motley crew of supporters on sea somewhere far from shore.
India won that night. In that dim-lit bar, the grown-ups banded together for a different kind of Adventure. One that only had adults turning into kids for their men in blue.
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