I am not a fan of cruise but decided to give cruises - the great Royal Caribbean - one last chance in May 2017. It was the Voyager of the Seas and I was expecting plenty of kids friendly activities, like how they had advertised it. Well, there were indeed a fair amount of activities but there were also a crazy load of passengers and a hell of waiting time for almost every other activities. I didn't quite enjoy the cruise and knew that it would be a long time before returning to one.
Year 2020 had been so cruel to travel. Our last family trip was to South Korea in December 2019 and Covid-19 ceased all our quarterly travels. We all missed traveling and recalled how fun this and that place was whenever we chatted about our holidays. Sob, I want to go holiday.
Desperation calls for tough measures. I booked a Royal Caribbean cruise holidays. Hohoho. Daddy Lim says that he is unable to take leave and Popo is dying to go to the casino (not cruise) and we nicely made a room of 4. We got Auntie S, C and T for companion too.
We were so looking forward to the cruise. Ok, at least Zaky and I are very much looking forward to it. Popo just wanted to go to the casino and the teenager at home is a pain. Zzzzzzz.. from "pls substitute my space to somebody else bcos I have netball training" to "the cruise activities are so boring" to "I don't want the swab test" to "I wanted to sleep in during the school holidays". I give up. I have decided that I would bring her physically onto the cruise and she can sleep in the whole day in the cabin if she wanted to. From just a while ago, the kids were so excited at any kind of holidays. Puberty is a cruel thing. But at least I still have 1 kid, who said that he would do line dance and k pop dance with me. Haha.
The swab test was scheduled for last Saturday. We met up with Auntie S and kids. There was a Q when we arrived but moved quickly. It was very efficient. I asked for a picture but the teenager only rolled her eyes at me. Zzz.
I went to the same stall with Zaky and he went for the swab test 1st while the person explained the process - 5s each nostril. Stay still and there will be some "discomfort". "Discomfort" is a dangerous word.
I saw Zaky's eyes turned red when the tester stuck this long skinny plastic stirer lookalike thing into his nostril. He kept still nevertheless and soon he was done and I saw the tester stuck this sticker on him, which I assumed was to indicate that the work was done. Zaky then started sneezing a few times in a roll; he has sensitive air passageway.
It was my turn next. "Discomfort" is an ugly word. Pui! If it is indeed "discomfort", it is a big discomfort. Boo! The only saving grace was that it was done very quickly. I was then waiting for the sticker and realised that I didn't get one. Luckily I didn't ask or insist to have one bcos upon closer look...
