Earlier in February, I boarded Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas for a 4D3N cruise from Singapore to Penang, Malaysia for Cosfest SEA 2017.
The 138,000 tons cruise ship with a capacity to hold 3,807 passengers, was transformed into a world of cosplay fantasy, playing host to Asia’s biggest cosplay festival at sea for the second time.
COSFEST SEA: Beyond The Great Horizons is organised by The Singapore Cosplay Club in collaboration with Royal Caribbean. This special themed cruise event featured some of the region’s top cosplayers, vying for the Asia Cosplay Meet 2017 championship plus exciting cosplay entertainment and activities for fans and guests. The competition this year featured contestants from China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, with guest performances from American cosplayers.
I went onboard Mariner of the Seas last year to experience the first COSFEST SEA and sailed with them again this year. Before we set sail, there was a press conference to introduce each of the participating teams for this year’s Asia Cosplay Meet 2017:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Indonesia](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-35.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Japan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-33.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Korea](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-29.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Hong Kong](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-27.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Singapore](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-22.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team China](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-31.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Philippines](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-23.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Thailand](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-15.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team USA](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-06.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas The organisers, Stephanie and Takahan from the Singapore Cosplay Club](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-12.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Group photo](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-02.jpg)
For the competition, this was held over two afternoons at the Savor Theatre. The first round featured the single and double performances, followed by the team (3 pax) performances during the finale the next day.
Photos from the single performances:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team China - Ranma 1/2](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-52.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Japan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-54.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Korea](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-57.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Singapore](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-58.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Philippines](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-64.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Thailand](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-62.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Indonesia](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-82.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Hong Kong](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-91.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas USA](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-99.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas All the single contestants on stage](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-92.jpg)
Photos from the double performances:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas China](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-105.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Japan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-109.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Korea](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-114.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Singapore](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-119.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Thailand](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-121.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Philippines](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-129.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Indonesia](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-137.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Hong Kong](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-145.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas All the Double contestants on stage](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-148.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas USA](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-152.jpg)
Photos from the team performances:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team China - Alice in Wonderland](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-155.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Japan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-157.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Korea](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-166.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Singapore - Bleach](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-170.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Thailand - Detective Conan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-176.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Philippines](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-184.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Indonesia - One Piece](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-196.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Hong Kong](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-204.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team USA](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-207.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas All teams on stage](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-209.jpg)
After three rounds of intense competition, the winning team was announced right after the team performances. The winners were narrowed to the last three teams consisting of the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. In the end, the winning team was:
I felt this was a well-deserved win for Team Indonesia. They showcased their diverse talents, choosing to work on a mecha video game character for the Single component; a crowd-pleasing skit featuring Mr. Bean from the hit television series of the same name for the Double segment; and a slew of cute characters from one of the hottest anime at the moment, One Piece, for the Team finale. There was a good balance of showcasing their costume making skills, while not forgetting to entertain onstage with their showmanship.
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Congratulations to Team Indonesia!](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-214.jpg)
The other two runner-up teams were pretty good too, but just lacked one thing or another in terms of showmanship and entertainment value across all three rounds, compared to Team Indonesia. Special mention should be given to Team Philippines for the tons of costume and props they presented on stage. I wonder how they managed to ship all these stuff from the Philippines to Singapore and then onto the ship! It must have been hell of a logistic nightmare!
Other than the Asia Cosplay Meet competition, there were other cosplay activities for guests on the cruise ship to participate in. The most popular activity was the visit to the pop-up Cosplay Museum, featuring costumes, props and cosplay characters from some of your favourite superhero movies:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas At the pop-up Costume Museum - there are costumes for kids to wear as they walked through the museum on a free guided tour](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-47.jpg)
On the last night of sailing, there was also a cosplay parade where all the cosplayers went about modelling their costumes for the public along the royal promenade:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Team Korea at the parade](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-19.jpg)
Throughout the cruise trip, you will spot cosplayers on the ship, going about their photo shoots or just having fun with their friends. Just approach any of them politely if you want to take a photo with them and they usually will oblige. I took some photos of the cosplayers here and there while on the cruise:
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Cosplayers suntanning](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-231.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Posing with a little fan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-230.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Cosplayers taking a selfie together](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-229.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Posing for a fan](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-228.jpg)
![[PHOTOS GALORE] Cosfest SEA 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas Group photo at the top deck](https://media.alvinology.com/uploads/2017/03/cosfest-sea-226.jpg)
That’s it for this year’s Cosfest SEA 2017! 🙂
4.5