Cruising with Keira

19 - 22 August: Cruise to Penang & Phuket on Superstar Virgo
(photos to be uploaded shortly, come back again to check it out)

Keira's 1st trip overseas, yeah!!! So exciting for her, but stressed out for me! K papa did not go though, I went with Elder Bro, Sis-in-law, Karin my niece, my mum and dad.

Pre-trip Planning:
Plenty of things to bring for a 11-month old baby! Can you imagine??? not unless you are already a parent! There were so many things on my mind on what to bring for Keira, countless! I had to make a checklist of what to bring on an excel spreadsheet, and had to have my fren littlepony to vet it for me! Just imagine, diapers alone... how much space would that occur in my luggage already!?!?!?! ha... littlepony told me not to forget myself & my stuff with my mind preoccuppied with Keira's stuff..haha! TRUE!

So, for a 4D3N trip on a cruise, I had:
1) A trolley luggage - my clothes only occupy 1/4, the rest are full of her stuff! Oh.. mum told me to bring her pillow, bolster and blanket - which I did -> lucky I did! haha....
2) A big backpack with food/milk/equipment etc etc supplies to last for 4D3N

Day 1 - 19/8:
Arrived at Harbourfront checkin and boarded cruise by noon. Fed Keira her porridge before boarding the ship, coz she's not going to have any home-cooked porridge for the next few days. Had lunch on ship, followed by walk around the ship. Keira uncovered her hidden flair for climbing stairs.....Didn't want to stop after she tried, and for about 30 mins, we took turns to support her up and down aarrgghhh.....Finally, we managed to get her to sit down for a pic with Karin...

By about 3pm, dear Keira was yawning - big time! Had a hard time putting her to bed, coz she was sleepy yet playful!!! Finally, ship departed Harbourfront at 4pm, and Keira woke up slightly from her 'shakened' bed.. haaa...
I was quite tired out by Keira, and Zzzz by 9pm!! ha... gone was my first day. Oh.. I have to show this pic.. coz we were so amused by what we saw when we got back to the room after the beds (including the sofabed) were made....

(Apparently, the service crew member who made our beds probably saw Keira's little pooh bear, pillow and bolster... kindly make their positions to amuse little Keira... haha... CUTE! ... this scene repeated for all 3Nites...wonderful!!! thumbs up to the service crew!!!)

Day 2 - 20/8:
Had Breakfast, fed some porridge to Keira taken from the buffet spread. Sis-in-law was amazed how much Keira eats...non-stop! Never seems to be enough was her comments.. haa..
After lunch we disembarked in Penang. Had to take a boat ride from cruise to shore... very hot and stuffy! Poor Keira was perspiring! It was also very challenging getting taxi to get to the shopping area. We made it anyway... shopped for couple hours and Keira ZZZZzz in my arms while we shopped. While Keira was ZZzzz, I managed to buy 2 pairs of shoes for her. Glad I was able to find shoes for her size coz I could never find nice design in her size for Keira. They are cheap too, about SGD10 for each pair. Yeah... felt like mission accomplished for me... ;-)

(At Penang Port)

Day 3 - 21/8:
Phuket for one day! Disembarked after breakfast. We joined the free&easy land tour to get to Patong beach for shopping. Bad weather! It rained for 15 mins, stopped for 15 mins, and rain in that sequence throughout the day! My goodness!!! Bought Keira a Ripcurl set for SGD7. Looked and bargained high and low for an England Jersey set for her, but to no avail. :-(
Got back on cruise by about 4 plus pm. Rested before dinner. Keira slept early... by 8 plus pm, she was in slumberland with little pooh bear... (oh.. i brought it along for her)

Day 4 - 22/8:
(Extremely "Exciting Day" for both Keira and I - read about this!)
Last day on board the ship. We've not had a chance to swim, and decided we should after breakfast. So excited was I, got changed into my bikini, and put on Keira's sweatsuit (coz it was windy so I did not want her to wear too little..hehe). Prepared everything, and headed for the pool... kids pool... yeah!
Headed for the first bb pool, very low level, no issue... Keira played excitedly! Bro suggested going to the jacuzzi for the bb... oh.. great idea!!!! ha... i was carrying Keira and heading towards it... took the steps up, and was mentally telling myself... slowly.... be careful... dun trip...blar blar blar...
Guess what...!! have you guessed it already???

I TRIPPED in that stupid jaccuzi, and dropped Keira into the jaccuzi!!!!!!!! Shocking!!!!!!! where is Keira!!!!????!!!! her whole head and body submerged into the water, faced down!!!!!! I grabbed her up immediately, her head emerged and for few seconds, she was in shocked. Then in couple seconds, she wailed in her loudest every cry! Her face, eye brows, cheeks all turned read, and tear couldn't stopped rolling! My god, what I have done!???!??! But the stupid jaccuzi steps were really slippery!!!! After that, Keira cried for good 15-20 mins, and refused to get into the water anymore! So that was both our 5 mins dipped for the whole cruise trip... :-(
My fault! Poor Keira, she's got a butter-finger & butter-feet mum!

Verdict:
Overall, I enjoyed the trip - more the chance to spend close/personal time with Keira and enjoying sweet moments with her. Though she was very much in her naughty-self throughout the trip, I still treasured the time spent with her. During this trip, Keira walked alot, and wanted to walk alot too! When she saw the stairways at the lobby area, she pulled me/dad to walk up and down the stairs with her! I must say, that was extreme sports to both my dad and I!

Anyway....I think Keira enjoyed herself... she was super hyped up!