Tired of road trips? Afraid of heights? Why not unleash your inner titanic dream with a cruise? (Unless of course, Titanic was more of a trauma than a dream)

On the 5th of September 2018, I had my first ever day cruise. Amusement World was having a promotion with a price of RM88 for 2 pax! I've never been on a cruise and my parents thought it would be a great opportunity. Accompanied by my mother, we went and boarded the ferry at the Melaka Raya Jetty.

The cruise started approximately 9 a.m. inclusive of two meals (lunch and dinner), which is a steal in my opinion. As soon as we boarded the ship, we quickly explored the place and took many pictures. Don't judge, it was our only amusement, the other activities were not quite our cup of tea.

The cruise provided a variety of amusements which include a cinema room (the movies played only at certain timings), the casino (which was the main attraction for most patrons on this trip), and the bar (with performances and karaoke sessions).

The bar served alcohol accompanied by some short performances, but we weren't really interested, so we went up onto the deck. Since I have never boarded a ship before, it was quite thrilling to me, to explore the wide-open deck, the rows of rooms, and practically anywhere that was not off-limits. My mom and I were not interested in gambling and spent our time having our very own photoshoot session.

Before too long, our stomachs rumbled and lunch was served at 12 p.m. in a charming and quaint restaurant.

It was a catering sort of meal with a wide variety of choices. The food was not bad, but my favourite aspect was the fruits they served without limit. Naturally, we picked a seat next to the window, with a view of the ocean. We stayed there until the restaurant closed and we had to leave. Then, once again we explored, but this time, at the second level of the ship.

We were a little tired after that and ventured into the movie room. It had rows and rows of such comfortable chairs (so comfortable that we fell asleep)

The movie started at 3 p.m. but I was too exhausted from all the picture-taking and fell asleep as it began. When we both woke up from our nap, we wondered if we had cruised into international waters and went back onto the deck to see. We were unsure, but the seas and the skies were certainly more vibrant and deeper in hue than before.

The sun was scorching hot at this point, so we went back indoors and lounged in the bar, witnessing the karaoke sessions by other patrons until dinner time at 6 p.m. We hurried back to deck again after dinner to catch the sunset before it became crowded with other patrons.

My titanic moment with the warm hues of the sun illuminating me. The heat was mostly subdued at this point, with a gentle breeze and the warm lighting, it was quite a romantic and relaxing moment.

The bright blue light in the picture was from the Encore Melaka theatre, so we knew we were approaching the shores. And that concludes our cruise aboard the Amusement World.

I have to admit, as fun as it was in the beginning, we began to realize that the ship was not as big as anticipated and taking pictures became too much under the hot sun after awhile. There wasn’t much to be done on the ship and quite frankly, it was a little boring.

The consolation was the amazing sea breeze, and the calmness of being out at sea, staring into the deep blue waters and the vibrant blue skies, which could not be witnessed back on land. It is quite funny how the ocean and the sky were indeed bluer on the other side.

Although it was quite boring, I do believe it was a rather calming and novel experience compared to our usual fast-paced lives surrounded by technological gadgets. When out at sea, there was no line and all we could do was to cherish the moments with photos after photos. I do recommend everyone to try out a cruise, especially a day cruise at least once in their life to be off-the-grid for awhile and really appreciate the simplicity of small delights.