cruiserinsg
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Posts posted by cruiserinsg
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Hi Kim,
I am really enjoying your review and photos of this cruise. We are from Australia and my family and I are going on the Dec 29 sailing. Wondering about the KL tour guide option as hiring a driver for the four of us (2 adults and 2 kids) may be cheaper than the RC Shore tour.
Taxi in Malaysia can be quite "small" for 4 especially if you are close to 6 footer. Best to get others in your Roll Call and get a Minibus. :)
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Another thread about Singapore which may interest you. :)
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WELCOME to Singapore and hope you have a great time and cruise :)
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I can't figure out how to send you a private message! Do you know? haha
I'm not sure whether this is permitted but seen others doing it. :) You can email me at kwangyongsg at yahoo dot com dot sg :)
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Wow, so nice of you to offer! We might actually take you up on it!
Sure :) let me know how best to get in touch with you to send you my contact detail.
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Thank you so much for all the info. We are okay with returning to China for a land tour, but not for a cruise. It was really difficult to deal with the other passengers...but we had fun anyway! And yes, Tiger Balm foreverrrrrrr! :)
If we are in town, we would gladly show you around Singapore if you want.
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Awesome! Thanks for all the ideas! Even more excited to visit Singapore after seeing the photos. I think I'll pass on the fish spa though haha.
Prepare good walking shoes or sandals :)
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That's it for tonight! Tomorrow I'll wrap up Singapore (yes there's more LOL) and get to day one of the cruise as well. Thanks to everyone reading for following along as I relive my adventure!
Our STPB (Singapore Tourist Promotion Board) should reward you with a 7 nights stay in Singapore :) at MBS :D
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Love your review! It has been over 10 years since I was in Singapore. We too had a Singapore Sling,(it was expensive then but a must do), ate at the amazing hawker stands, went to the Singapore Museum (they had a Faberge egg exhibit), etc. I cannot wait for more of your review, including Hong Kong.
Local lingo = Hawker Centres, Coffee Shop or Food Court :)
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Fingers crossed one day I will. That would truly be the trip of a life time, and they might give me a million dollars to take it. :D
Hi Critter! Everything is in Singapore dollars, except for the price of the hotel and apartment. The $72 a night is US, and the MBS price was US. In Singapore dollars, the hotel was more like S$515. :eek: I'm glad this is helping you with your planning. :)
Oops! Thanks for the correction. :o
More specific for your future reference, it used to be the Convent of Holy Infant Jesus. A Catholic School for girls doing their Secondary schooling (Junior High and High School in the US definition).
Looking forward to your opinion on the Mariner. :) Want to meet again on the Ovation sailing from Dubai? Haha.
BTW you ordered Pradthai in Singapore. Did you ordered that in Phuket too?
Oh yes, about one third of the people living in Singapore are Foreigners.
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I tried to price out Marina Bay Sands, and it is sold out. Wow, the pool!
I am looking at Haw Par Villa. I LOVE Tiger Balm! No seriously, it's the only muscle ointment that works for me! haha
We were on Mariner in March out of Shanghai. We met some very nice people, two of whom were on your cruise. We will see them when they visit the islands in the spring!
Let me guess...you probably bring back lots of Tiger Balm to Hawaii? :D
Those out of China, reviews were mostly bad but we are taking the chance with the Ovation OTS out of Tianjin in November. Want to join us? :)
Interesting that you met 2 person in our cruise from yours. I may know them from our Roll Call. Haha. We were the only Singaporean in CC on that Roll Call. Keep in touch and should you need any information (but can tell that you probably have all your plans fixed by now) or assistance in Singapore, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.
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Thank you for all the insightful info. We will be in KL for Christmas/New Year's on Mariner. We normally use private tour companies (mostly for more comfort away from the masses, but also for value), but KL is somewhere we will use the ship's excursion due to the many comments I've read about traffic.
Great idea. You surely won't want to be caught in KL infamous traffic. The ship will wait for you if you take their ship's excursion. :)
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Looking good! Thank you for this. We will be on Mariner in Dec with almost the same itinerary. I appreciate the hard work it takes to compile a review. Excited to hear more!
Glad you found yourself into here. :) Was about to suggest it to you.
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We stayed at the Holiday Inn Orchard Park and were quite pleased with the hotel. Lots of places reasonable to eat around it and easy to get to public transit to get you anywhere you would like to go.
Yes the public transit (MRT) is a good way to explore Singapore. Taxi is not expensive too. :)
https://www.transitlink.com.sg/images/eguide/mrt_sys_map.htm
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Thank you so much! When I went to the link to Resort World, I discovered that I had been there already, as well as the Hard Rock (autofilled when I started typing). It's sad when you've researched so much that you don't even remember going to websites!
Thank you also for the other links. I will check them out. We only have one full day in Singapore. Sad about that, but the boys miss too much school, so we have to get back. We are staying overnight (Crowne Plaza at the airport) after the cruise. Perhaps we can also use that day to explore some of the sights.
Some links that may interest you.
http://www.wildsingapore.com/ubin/
http://www.yoursingapore.com/see-do-singapore/culture-heritage/heritage-discovery/haw-par-villa.html
Do try Chicken Rice in Singapore if you got the opportunity. Don't have it at the Hotel (usually expensive and not that fantastic).
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Anyone recently on Mariner who can confirm it will tender at Patong for the next few months during high season? We are arranging a private tour and need to tell our driver. Thanks!
On the 22nd Oct 2015 cruise it was at Patong Beach and the Pier was located in front of Avantika Boutique Hotel, Thaweewong Road
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Thank you! How was Mariner last month???
I totally forgot to mention that we are staying three days in Tokyo before flying to Singapore. We will be at Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea. I think we prefer to do more cultural things in SE Asia.
I'll look at the hotels, though! Have always wanted to try a Hard Rock, and my sons loved Universal Orlando (lukewarm on the Hollywood version).
I may just book the cruise excursion for Penang (second cruise), because it includes Kek Lok Si and Penang Hill. Not too many private options.
Haha, they may like the Transformer ride. When in Singapore, do experience the Train (MRT) rides. Probably Chinatown in Singapore would be a great stop.
I'm not sure how many days you have in Singapore. If you are into Gardens, than Botanical Gardens (UNESCO) or Gardens by the Bay would be very nice places to go.
We enjoyed our first Royal Caribbean cruise. Our little one like it so much that we booked 2 more cruises with Royal Caribbean on the Ovation. Food wise, Princess was better in the MDR. Activities, Royal Caribbean was better and I'm sure the Ovation of the Sea would be even better. We made many friends on this cruise from Australia, Germany, US, Hong Kong etc. Some are planning to visit Singapore again. :)
I'm sure you and your family would like the Mariner as much as we did. The 7 nights we did was too short a trip haha. :)
Feel free to ask. We may be free to show you around Singapore.
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WELCOME to Singapore. :)
You may like to try Festive Hotel or Hard Rock Hotel etc at Sentosa. At Sentosa, your kids may like Universal Studio, Adventure Cove and various attractions there.
For Penang, Kek Lok Si Temple may be interesting.
For Phuket, you may like to try Fantasea.
This time of the year is the raining season in SE Asia. Anyway, do wish you have a great time in SE Asia. :D
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There is a third option - the Adventure Cove Waterpark do a dolphin swim too. It looks like the Sentosa Resorts World website is down, which is why you can't get info on the aquarium/ Adventure Cove.
Also, I'm not sure if you are aware, when I was looking into doing this too I came across a lot of sites saying that the way the dolphins are kept is not good for them, and there are some animal welfare issues of concern. Obviously Singapore has a pretty good reputation for these sorts of things compared with other countries in the region, but still, something to look into. We have chosen not to swim with the dolphins for this reason, though we may well try the ray bay at Adv. Cove.
We bring our little one to Adventure Cove and Universal Studio Singapore often as we are annual pass holder. Kids under 4 is free for both attractions. :)
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That's great news CruiserinSG, she's a size 9 so she should be good to go!
Everything is coming together now so I'm starting to relax and look forward to it, we still haven't booked anything for Phuket, but worst case we'll hang out in Patong and just have a wander around. Thanks for all the help and advice, if I think of anything else I'm sure I'll be back.
I'm getting so excited now - this time next week we'll be on our plane!!
Long pants are required for all ice skaters.Yup and get the knee and elbow protections too. Socks are required as well. :)
We did walking tour at Phuket. Most shops are open at around 11am, Thailand Time. Foot massage is around 250 baht. :)
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Howdy! I'm a little late getting back over to CC after returning, but you'll have to excuse me - the time change is hitting me pretty hard. I've started typing up trip reports from my wife and I's Asia trip and will post links soon to it, but yes, we were on Mariner of the Seas out of Singapore and yes, we have some definite opinionz 4 u regarding the whole experience. Before I get any pictures or posts up (might be a couple days, this is a long process), I'll go over some basic stuff in a FAQ format:
****IS SAILING ROYAL CARIBBEAN IN SOUTHEAST ASIA JUST LIKE SAILING IN THE CARIBBEAN OR MEDITERRANEAN?****
Good question! More similar than dissimilar, yes. Is it an identical thing? Absolutely not. Some differences you'll notice immediately:
-Singapore Cruise Only Room Service menu at play. My wife had her hopes pinned on some Spinach and Artichoke Dip but learned to love the Veggie Spring Rolls as a replacement.
-Dining Room Menus; quite different. Most of the classics are always there, but the rotating items, yeah, lots more Asian and Indian flare here. Which, by the way, is precisely what you should be eating on these ships already since it is the cuisine the people in the galley are most comfortable and familiar with anyhow.
-Do you like fountain soda? Tap beer? Forget both! Johnny Rockets' menu suggests they have Mr. Pibb, but no, they have Coke, Sprite, and Fanta from 2 Liters only. Also Johnny Rockets has Curry Bowls and White Miso soup on the menu. What great American old time diner favorites, right?
-There's some smoking, but aside from the casino, it never seemed excessive. And then it is a casino and that whole enterprise is about self destruction and hedonism, so it fits IMO and isn't that why you're in there to begin with?
-The pub is a lot smaller because part of it is now more shopping. People went after the "sales" super duper hard.
-There's something called "Steamboat" in the buffet at $25 a head. What is that you ask? Basically this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pot. The number of westerners requesting a Steamboat was probably in the single digits.
****IS IT ALL CHINESE PEOPLE?****
No. Plenty of Aussies, Kiwis, various Southeast Asian country residents, Germans (Germans get around, y'all), and yes, even Americans.
****BUT CHINESE PEOPLE AND CHINESE LANGUAGE****
All the announcements are in English. All of them. They don't even do that thing here where they do them in 4-5 languages one after the other. There are informational TV channels in Mandarin, and yes, a lot of signage is in Mandarin, but c'mon, you can manage with all the interactive LED signage that's in clear, concise English, I'm sure.
****ARE THE PORTS GOOD?****
I think so! Phuket was probably our least favorite and closest stylistically to a Cozumel or Grand Cayman, but the ones in Malaysia were all really good.
****ISN'T IT A LONG FLIGHT FROM AMERICA?****
YES. YES IT IS
****FOREIGN PLACES SCARE ME, ISN'T SINGAPORE ISLAMIC OR SOMETHING****
Singapore's largest religious group is Buddhist, comprising 33% of the population. 15% of the population is Muslim, almost all of whom are Malay ethnically. There is no state religion and diversity is strongly emphasized as a positive by the folks running the country. Should you be threatened by Singapore? Here's a questionnaire - answer "yes" to any of these and perhaps you shouldn't go:
-DO YOU PLAN TO TRAFFIC DRUGS INTO OR OUT OF SINGAPORE?
-DO YOU WANT TO TAKE HOME NUMEROUS ENDANGERED SPECIES THROUGH SINGAPORE OR AT LEAST PELTS/BONES/ETC FROM SAID ENDANGERED SPECIES?
-DO YOU PLAN TO VANDALIZE PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SPACES IN SINGAPORE?
-DO YOU REALLY LIKE RENTING CARS AND THEN DRIVING THEM DRUNK?
-DOES THE IDEA OF ATTACKING FOREIGN POLICE OR MILITARY SOUND HIGHLY APPEALING TO YOU?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, going to Singapore would likely be a bad, if not outright fatal idea. If you answered "no", you'll find an incredibly safe, diverse, colorful urban space probably far more advanced and attractive than wherever the heck it is you live in the Western World. Singapore makes Chicago and LA look like Fallujah. I'm even talking about the nice parts and suburbs of those here, not just Ford Heights and Watts.
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If anyone else has some questions they want to ask, feel free. I'll post links to trip reports and put some pictures up as the days go on.
Haha thanks for laugh. :) Glad to be on board on the same cruise. :)
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Gotten over your jag lag? :) Hope to cruise on the same ship with you again. :)
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Mariner of the Seas From Singapore 10/22/15- Complete Picture Review!
in Royal Caribbean International
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Kim thanks for the memory. Think I saw my "back" at the M&M. haha :)