We started the day with breakfast at Windjammer's.

 

The quality of food was not as good as for lunch but it was adequate. Fried noodles were mushy, juices were diluted, hard-boiled eggs had shells that stuck to the whites.

 

My personal favorites: spicy chwee kway and carrot cake.

 

 

After breakfast, we got more outdoor fun at Deck 13.

 

 

Rock climbing.

 

 

Soccer. Basketball.

 

 

And more mini golf action.

 

 

Hot and sweaty, we grabbed an cone from the ice-cream kiosk at Deck 12 before visiting the helicopter landing pad at the front of the vessel (Deck 4).

 

The little one who has always been curious about the workings of large machines and vehicles got so excited when he saw a wiper on the bridge window move!

 

 

Lunch was next followed by an extended nap.

 

 

Treasure chest outside Casino Royale!

 

 

By the time we woke up, the cruise had already docked at Penang.

 

 

While majority of the passengers disembarked for their offshore tour, we took advantage of the post-Thanos, half-emptied vessel for a rendezvous of the facilities.

 

Finally the little one got to swim!

 

 

The pools are not exactly kids-friendly. They slant from 1.41 to 1.67m deep and are filled with filtered seawater.

 

But swimming vests are available for loan so make sure you slap one of those on your kids before letting them into the pool.

 

Lifeguards are on duty during pool operating hours too.

 

Towels can be loaned out by scanning our seapasses but each unreturned towel would incur a USD$25 charge.

 

On the peripherals are circular jacuzzis called whirlpools where we soaked in the heated water enjoying the not-so-gentle kneading of the bubble torrent.

 

 

After swimming was dinner again! While I find the quality of food at the Main Dining Room average, what brought us back repeatedly was the cheery atmosphere and perennially jovial and friendly waiters and waitresses.

 

 

At dinner, our waiter Mario performed a magic trick for the little one, making a bunch of sugar disappear right before his eyes and later plucking it from his ear and flowing out of his clenched fist.

 

We also had a nice talk with an elderly couple from Jakarta who were on board with their daughter and grandchildren.

 

This time we caught the evening skies from the windows of the main dining hall which is no less spectacular.

 

 

With the passengers not boarding till later (by 10.30pm), we played a bit more mini golf and table tennis before retiring to our room.

 

 

Check out the little one's killer serve!

 

 

As foreshadowed by the extended afternoon nap plus other convoluted factors, we endured a protracted battle to put the little one to bed. He stayed awake till past midnight, ushering in his birthday with sleepy and disgruntled parents.