ASing1Cruise

Singapore Customs Regulations

If you do not have any controlled, prohibited or restricted items, or taxable/dutiable items exceeding your GST relief/duty-free concession, proceed to the Green Channel.

If in doubt, go through the Red Channel.

Duty Free Allowances

Travellers entering Singapore (whether returning home or visiting from overseas) can make use of their trip with following limits:

Alcohol Allowance

If you are above 18 years of age, traveled from countries other than Malaysia and have spent 48 hours or more outside Singapore immediately before your arrival, you are granted the following duty-free concessions for liquors:

Option Spirits Wine Beer

A 1 Litre 1 Litre 1 Litre

B - 2 Litres 1 Litre

C - 1 Litre 2 Litres

As a crew member, you will be granted duty-free concession on 0.25 litre of spirits, and either 1 litre of wine or 1 litre of beer.

Cigarettes and Tobacco Allowance

There is no duty-free concession for Tobacco, including cigarettes and cigars. Such dutiable goods must be declared.

For more information on GST Relief and other Duty-Free Concession, please visit Singapore Customs' website at http://www.customs.gov.sg.

The MBS hotel can be seen from the Cruise Terminal. However, don't try to walk there with luggage in tow. It takes awhile to walk 3km (30mins to 1hr) depending on how fast you walk. The weather is too warm and humidity a;so.

MBS's room rate are fairly high ranging from US$300 (standard) to 500 (family room). Its a good hotel but if cost is a consideration then you are better off looking else where.

For people who like Chinese Mythology and Legend (+ 18 steps of hell)

You can visit this park in Singapore :

http://www.yoursingapore.com/see-do-singapore/culture-heritage/heritage-discovery/haw-par-villa.html

It won't be raining the whole day. Just morning and evening for an hour or so.

But the humidity will be high so just keep yourself cool in the shopping malls every 30 mins after you walk outside in the afternoon.

If you go to the Garden by the Bay, its cooling inside so there won't be any issue will muggy weather or rain.

Evening is the best time to walk around and also the most people around. I suggest that you go to Singapore River and Marina Bay during the evenings. You can take the bump boat too.

The sky has cleared up after a heavy storm over the Indonesia forests.

Good news for those coming to South of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

You will get rain shower instead.

:)

Beware if you are coming to Singapore in the month of Sep.

Most of the hotel price will shoot up due to F1 race.

Conrad will be especially expensive due to its location (able to view the race track).

I don't think you will be able to use your Hilton points during this time.

I have never been to Singapore: of the two Hiltons, which one has a better location and can anybody who has stayed at both of the Hiltons tell me which one they prefer. We intend to use Hilton points for our stay. Thank you for your advice!

Hmm....There is only 1 Hilton Singapore in Singapore. Its near Orchard road. The next closest Hilton is in Johor Malaysia....different country.

If you are talking about Conrad Centennial Singapore which is also under the Hilton chain. Its a better hotel than Hilton Singapore since it is newer.

Depending on what is your interest:

Conrad is better for sightseeing and going for the Marina Bay area (Flyer, Garden by the Bay, Bumboat, Singapore nighttime skyline).

Hilton Singapore is better for shopping as it is closer to the shopping district.

However, you can also take a taxi which is not expensive to the places that you want to go.

You can look at other post in this forum about Singapore. They covered most of the sightseeing activities.

Can someone please give me advice? I will arrive 25th June this year at Marina Bay Cruise :)terminal on Legend of Seas. Flight is Etihad to Melbourne 10.40pm. Would like to visit China Town and Gardens by Bay. What is best option where leave luggage, get to both these places plus Airport and shower? Look forward to any suggestions and we are both, my sister and I, early 60s. Wendy

There are 3 airport transit hotels at each terminals. Copy and paste the below link to browser.

http://www.changiairport.com/at-changi/leisure-indulgences/rest-areas

Please note there is min. 6 hr. These hotels are after you have check-in and gone into through the custom. So you have to bring your fresh clothes with you if you have checked in your main bags.

As for leaving the luggage, cruise terminal has a counter. See link below.

http://mbccs.com.sg/inside-mbccs/left-baggage.

Another way is to use the Crowne plaza hotel which is next to Terminal 3. This is outside the customs. You can ask for the day rate (1/2 day). However it is expensive as it has all the 5 stars hotel amenities. Link is below.

http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/singapore/sincp/hoteldetail

Then from this spot you can take a taxi or subway train back to the city to do your sightseeing.

Thank you the mall you mentioned is it called greenhills Aussie

SM Mall of Asia is around the bay at Ocean Drive. You can google it to find the location.

The Greenhills Shopping Mall is around San Juan city area. It is different.

Thanks for that .... great to know that there are taxi's

 

I read a blog that told of getting off the ship, into taxi, visited the gaya fishing village, the wildlife park and back around in town...

You are welcome.

Just beware the ship docking time and departure time. When I was there the ship only docked about 9am. The first passengers off were the ones who got the cruise tour. So by the time I got off, it was already 10am. Also the ship depart around 4pm, so everyone got to be back by 3:00pm.

You would probably need to get Malaysian dollars before you go on this cruise. The terminal there does not have a Money changer.

We flew to Singapore from CDG Paris, where we purchased two bottles of wine. We declared on arrival and were not required to pay anything.

Its 1 litre per person, so if you have 2 people, then 2 bottles is duty free.

Was able to change our hotel to the Fairmont Singapore so it is more centrally located. Thanks for the confirmation of my thoughts the airport hotel wasn't going to work. We will be there for 3 nights prior to our departure.

 

I am currently researching a foodie tour for one of our days and then will probably just use MRT to get to other locations.

 

I saw the Night Zoo online prior to reading these posts and we had it on a list to consider for our visit.

 

Thanks,

Let me know what you have in mind for Foodie Tour. There are cheap ones which are in Hawker Centres and Food Courts. And slightly more expensive one which are restaurants and coffee shops.

For Hawker Centres, Tiong Bahru (day time only) and Maxwell Rd (both) are the cheaper ones compare to Lau Pa Sat (evening) and Newton Circle (evening). Beware seafood seller at Newton, you need to get them to price the food before ordering.

And you have specialty food like chilli crabs that you can only get from restaurants. Recommended Jumbo Seafood restaurant, however they are pricey.

I was required to pay duty on 2x1litre of 40 degree spirit as the ship had called into Malaysia, whilst with my wife. I would not have been charged if the ship had not called into Malaysia. I feel the tobacco duty is excessive and have never been charged at any other arrival port whilst cruising for twenty years.

Yes, Singapore Government decided that to have a clean environment, cars and tobacco are put with a high tax. To discourage people from driving or smoking.

The country used to allow a small amount of cigarettes to be brought in without tax but that has changed 2 years ago.

Its unfortunate that the cruise line did not warn people who are disembarking in Singapore.

I was there March 2015.

Yes there are a lot taxi waiting out terminal. But make sure you bargain the cost before getting in the taxi.

There is a small ferry terminal about 25 mins walk. Around there you will find a few tour counters selling excursions to the nearby islands. Do make sure that you get back in time before your ship leaves. Some cruises depart early as 4 pm.

Not much to see in town. There is a nice shopping mall, 10 mins walk from the small ferry terminals.

For causal smokers and drinkers,

Under Singapore laws, arriving travellers need to pay taxes to bring in cigarettes or other tobacco products, liquor products or other taxable goods exceeding the duty-free concession and Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief.

So please be aware that you will be levy a taxes if you bring in Tobacco and Alcohol into Singapore except the duty free 1 litre Liquor.

Hi all,

 

I will accompany my parents for a 6 day cruise in May. We will arrive at Narita airport(Tokyo) one day ahead. Our embarkation port will be at Osanbashi Yokohama.

 

Since my parents are at their 80s and 70s, esp. my mom has parkinson's disease, her movement won't be easy. Our activities will be very much limited.

 

Though all three of us first time to Tokyo, but it might be more feasible to go directly to Yokohama after arriving in Tokyo. Are we going to miss anything "must see" in Tokyo? Anyone has suggestion on what kind of activities we can do in Yokohama? Shall we stay near center or port terminal? Any hotel recommandation?

 

Thank you in advance for any inputs.

 

CMOOD

There are a lot of things to see in Tokoyo. However, you did not mention what time you are arriving in Tokoyo, this makes it hard to advise. Imperial Palace is a nice place to go but a lot of walking (up hill and stairs).

Since your mother has movement problem, I suggest that you go straight to Yokohama instead. The train platform has lifts or escalators but only at 1 location. Finding it take some time.

Below is a links to website of Yokohama visitor page. You can try China Town which is quite famous there.

http://www.yokohamajapan.com/things-to-do/

As for hotel, it depends on your budget. You find the ratings also in the above website.

Happy Cruising

I did the Diamond Princess in July 2014 around Japan + Busan (South Korea).

Not much different from any cruise except they have to use a Japanese translator during most of the shows and events. There are more foreigners than Japanese on board the ship.

For the cruise land excursion, there are 2 types. The guides for foreigner can speak fluent English and Japanese. But if you pick the Japanese only land excursion, then no English available. Some how the cost is cheaper for the Japanese only land excursion.

I did 2 land excursions on my own, cover less places but did get to see what I wanted. I also did another one with the cruise land excursion, because the castle was too far away by public transport.

There are 2 types of Singapore tourist pass that you can get.

For more info, go to the link below to find out.

http://www.thesingaporetouristpass.com.sg/about-the-passes/

Oh, so the Singapore cruise port will man the immigration and customs counters around the clock?

Yes it is manned around the clock if there are ships docked. I came off the ship at 5 am in the morning from Celebrity Century, there were 4 custom officers at the desks but only 1 X-ray machine working (2 persons manning the machine). So if there are too many people getting off at that time, you will see a queue at the X-ray machine.

Do beware waiting for the normal cab will take 5 to 15 mins. Maxi-Cab would be a lot faster but cost S$55 if pre-booked.

http://www.taxisingapore.com/taxi-booking/

Above link is a taxi booking phone numbers. You will need to be able to call using your cell phone or public phone to book.

Note : For Maxi-cab is a S$55 per trip (7 seater)

Normal cabs are by meter.

Happy Crusing

Yes you can depart the cruise at any time.

However, since your flight is at 8am, you need to be at the airport around 6am.

Meaning getting off the ship at about 5am, going through the customs then getting a taxi. its about 20mins to the airport in the wee hrs in the morning.

Depending on amount of lugages and number of passengers (more than 3 big cases), I would advise that pre-book a Maxi-cab (bigger) the night before.

If only 2 suitcases and some small ones, you can just grab the normal cab.

If you need help with the taxi, ask the cruise stuff, they may be able to help.

thanks so much, think we will go with MRT . the apps .....mmmm I am old and don't even understand apps and my phone doesn't have data. yes I am behind the times but its all just too hard for this old girl. I assume I need to be connected to the internet to use them? working a computer is hard enough, but I am sure some other traveller will appreciate it.

Please note that the Fort Canning MRT (next to Novatel) is still under construction. The closest MRT is the Clarke Quay MRT station about 20mins walk (opposite the river).

So it is better to take the bump boat first (you can buy the whole day/night pass or a 1 way river boat also for S$6) to the MRT at Raffles or Marina Bay. For any point of interest like Botanical Garden that cannot be reach by MRT, go with taxi. Taxi are reasonable cheap in Singapore.

You can reach most of the places from MRT by walking but advise you to return to hotel via taxi after a hard day of walking.

When you get to the MRT vending machine, you can look at the location you want to go and press that station, it will ask you how many tickets. If you are travelling alone, enter One. The ticket cost will be shown, put it the money in the Note or Coin slot. The ticket and change will drop down into the collection bin below. Ticket can be reused by topping up to 6 times if you need to go to the next place.

You can also approach the staff at the MRT train station. If it is a main station, they can sell you the whole day pass (it cost more but you don't have to think about vending machines).

If you have 4 people in a group, better to go with taxi. Save time and money. HO/HO bus cost S$22 to S$30 per person depending on the company.

Ashkand - we are wondering whether to do the 2 day hoho or use the MRT

The advantage of MRT is it is fast and frequent compared to the bus which could be slow due to traffic and also not frequent.

advantage of bus is it is air con and I don't know how we will cope in the heat anyway.

arrive on rhapsody early one day and fly out 9pm the following night.

We will only go to orchard road to say we have been, not into shopping but keen to see some temples, marina bay, gardens in the bay and botanic gardens and raffles to say we have been.

your opinion on hoho vs mrt would be appreciated. we are staying at Novotel Clarke quay.

HOHO is not as frequent as MRT. Its about 1 hr per bus (frequency) and 5mins per MRT (frequency). I would advise to take MRT if you know where you want to visit. HOHO is for people to get a general idea of the places. If you have limited time, MRT or taxi is a better way to go.

If you are staying at Novotel Clake quay, you can try the bump boat at the river walk area. Day and Night is different so try both and see the Singapore River to the Marina Bay.

Below are some apps for smartphone that may help you to navigate using public bus. However, you will need a lot of coins (they do not give change back).

http://www.expatliving.sg/Living_In_Singapore/settling_in/Top-Singapore-phone-apps-for-daily-life-5751.ece

Due to the wake, there will be Road blocks in front and around the Parliament House. Public is advise to take Public transport (MRT) instead of driving. Not sure how it will affect the Hop On Hop Off bus as traffic will be affect when it goes from Marina Bay to China Town via the Parliament House.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/traffic-arrangements-for/1734200.html

You will have no problems with airport transit or cruise terminal transit.

2014 July and August there were a couple hurricane in Japan.

Will miss some ports if that happens. It is their rainy season.