cruiserinsg

up this thread for hotel advise/recommendation in Dubai. Thanks. :)

Am flying into Singapore next week to board Sapphire Princess. Last year when I cruised out of Singapore I thought I would purchase my 2 bottles of wine(for hubby and I) that I allowed to take on ship in Singapore but had trouble finding a wine shop that was not overly expensive. I like sweeter white wines and had trouble finding any wine shops in Singapore. My question is am I able to take 2 bottles of wine in my checked in luggage from Australia to Singapore, not purchased through duty free. Never buy Duty Free alcohol as Dan Murphy's is pretty cheap nowadays & is not worth the hassle. Have some small Baileys sampler bottles(50ml) will take as was given for Christmas & could be drank before boarding ship

For cheap wines you can try 7-Eleven or at NTUC outlets. Usually when I return to Singapore I get a bottle of Wine, a bottle of liquor and 3 cans of beer or 2 bottles of Wine and 3 cans of beer from the Duty free shop at the airport.

To answer your question, yes you can.

How awesome is that! It's always fun to meet people from roll calls and I think it's so cool that people really take my travel advice and visit some of the places I've recommended. How did they enjoy the fish spa? Unfortunately I didn't visit the Chinese Temple in Chinatown. I honestly don't remember if I didn't know about it or if I did and just couldn't find it. I wish I had visited the Gardens by the Bay. The pictures I've seen from there are pretty spectacular. I was talking to my family and friends about this trip the last few days and kept telling them how super clean the MRT was (and that you can get a fine for eating or drinking on it) and how clean Singapore is in general. I certainly hope to return one day! Happy new year to you as well. :)

Must be great!!! hahaha. Steven was a character and we mentioned to him that he was in CC review. Ya, I thought that you probably missed that, it was 2 blocks down from the Hindu temple you visited.

Do come if there is another opportunity in future. Would be nice to catch up with you. :)

Thanks for the video. We will be there later this year and are planning to do this walk

WELCOME to Singapore and hope you have a wonderful time here. :)

Iluvcruising2

 

Our ship will be in Singapore on Thursday, 14 January 2016. Any chance the streets will remain lit-up for Singapore's celebrations a little longer or perhaps in preparation for (Chinese) New Year?

 

We have been to Singapore many times (one of our favourite cities in the World) but were unaware of the Henderson Waves Bridge. What is the best way to get there from the Marina Bay Cruise Centre?

You may like to try Chinatown Street on the 14th Jan.

Christmas decorations in some shopping centres/malls are coming down and CNY decors are up. :)

Hi Kimberly, we met one of your "Mariner OTS follower" in Singapore 2 days ago (pre-cruise). We took them to do the Fish Spa at Chinatown and to the Hindu Temple similar to what you did. BTW did you visit the Chinese Temple at Chinatown after the Hindu temple? I mentioned that you may have missed it.

We ate/drank like the locals and they found it in-expensive. :D ..no sgd$39 Singapore Sling haha. Showed them the Hotel where you stayed on the first evening and made our way to Gardens by the Bay. We even introduced them to travelling by our MRT. :D

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016. :)

I believe that Millennium does dock at Marina Bay so do appreciate your response.

Another question. Would it be best to pre-buy Night Zoo tickets online? I am thinking this might avoid some lining up once there. Thanks for any information.

Yes http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/buy-online/?gclid=CNH18Pzt9ckCFcuOaAodqT4KBA

If I may suggest, do have early dinner and stock up your water supply with purchases from 7-Eleven before you make your way to Night Safari. The taste and prices are not "very appealing" IMO. :)

We also want to do the Night Safari when we overnight in Singapore so really appreciate the responses on this board. Does anyone have any idea of the approximate cost of a taxi from the port?

Which port in Singapore? If from MBCC there will be a surcharge. Anyway probably not more than sgd$30 during off peak hours. :)

WELCOME ALL to Singapore. If you are in Singapore in December, do take stroll along Orchard Road. Best Christmas and Street Light-up as we are celebrating SG50 (Singapore 50th Birthday).

As for Satay, there is a Satay Club at Gardens by the Bay.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas in advance and a wonderful stay in Singapore. Do carry a small umbrella too. :)

Our first cruise was with Star Cruise (Virgo) on the 9th August 2013 (Singapore National Day) and since then sailed on Virgo twice and Gemini twice. Star Cruise catered more for Asian market ie Casino and Asian Cuisine. Very different experiences and do give it a try if you have the opportunity.

We would like to try Carnival but it doesn't come to my port in Asia, maybe oneday :). All the best to you and if you ever pass by Singapore again, do let us know. Cheers!!! :)

You can reserve iFly in advance, and I recommend you do that--it is very popular. I loved it. Bumper cars, FlowRider, roller skating, circus school do not take reservations. You show up and wait in line. At least, that's how it was on Quantum.

Hi Nancy, can I check with you the number of times you can make the reservation for iFly? Thanks.

Unless you want to have breakfast like the locals, most Hotel should be able to arrange it for you. :) Restaurants in Shopping Centres don't usually open that early, usually around 10.30am/11am so you probably be getting ready to board your cruise. IMO either arrange through the Hotel you are staying or do in on-board the Mariner in the evening.

Have a WONDERFUL trip, Happy Birthday in advance and WELCOME to Singapore. :)

You could actually save some of the phone numbers ir Comfort, citycab, SMRT (the more popular Taxi Companies in SG) and called them and do a booking. Another way is to do an advance booking by giving them the location and time to pick you up.

You are most likely not have any Taxi waiting at the Taxi Stand at 4am. Most locals if up at this time will probably go to the main road (main street) to flag a taxi driving by. You may be fortunate to meet people (ie security guards) who may be kind enough to book a Taxi for you.

I couldn't resist .. and booked the 3 nighter so I'll be boarding after all of you get off! First time on Quantum class! Fingers crossed that everything will be running smoothly. The complaints about the Anthem in the other threads are making me a little worried.

We have 2 days in Singapore before your trip. :) We are contemplating staying on-board while docked in SG. :D

Thanks for the recommendations. Will check out the tours.

 

DW is on board (pardon the pun), going to book in the morning!!! Woohoo :)

Congrats, hope to meet you at the M&M. :)

 

We booked those tours with others from CC. I mentioned the tour companies in Oman and India in a previous post. In Dubai we did the HOHO bus during the day (the buses came to the port) and did dune bashing in the evening with Fun Tours. All were excellent.

 

You can reserve iFly in advance, and I recommend you do that--it is very popular. I loved it. Bumper cars, FlowRider, roller skating, circus school do not take reservations. You show up and wait in line. At least, that's how it was on Quantum.

 

Thank you Nancy for your valuable advices in this thread. Not sure how much different the Ovation will differ from Quantum OTS and no one can tell yet as of now but may be the same as the both ships station in China.

Just did a Dubai - Singapore on the Explorer last month. It was a 11 night itinerary and we had stops in India (Goa, Cochin) and Malaysia (Penang, Port Klang). Oman wasn't in our itinerary - if i'm not wrong the ship had already made a stop there on her prior voyage from Barcelona to Dubai. So it was 3 seas days for us between Dubai and Goa.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and that was probably the cruise which got me hooked onto cruising, but this won't be the usual rave review. Just wanted to share the following-

 

1. embarkation at Dubai was a mess. We got to the terminal shortly before noon and boarded at close to 4pm. When we got on there were still lines of people behind us. And this was with a 5pm sailaway. There was simply not enough staff at the terminal to process everyone. Hopefully they will have done something about it by the time of your cruise.

 

2. If you are looking to explore the ports, check to see if you will have full port days. For us, we had only about 5-6 hours in port in Goa and Penang. With the time taken for immigration to clear the ship, the lines for getting off the ship, and having to be back an hour before departure time, this left hardly any time to explore.

 

3. INDIA VISAS. Literally EVERYONE needs a visa for India even if you do not plan to get off the ship. Prior to the cruise RCCL sent a bunch of emails warning that those without visas may be denied boarding. i'm not sure if that was enforced though. And as you will be arriving by ship, you cannot use India's online visa application system, which only applies to travellers arriving via certain airports. Check early as to how to get a India visa in your country. The roll call for my cruise had people of various nationalities reporting different procedures, fees, wait times etc. And of course this was a hot topic on board. I learnt during a short elevator ride from the royal promenade to the windjammer that some canadians paid about $300 for their visa, while the norwegians had to pay a whopping $700 for theirs. Mine cost slightly less than SGD 100, if i remember correctly.

 

4. Indian immigration. It doesnt end with the visas! 1 day prior to EACH of the port stops in Goa and Cochin, immigration officers were on board to clear everybody. Everyone was assigned a time (by cabin nos) to present yourself (plus a bunch of immigration forms you had to fill up beforehand and a photocopy of your passport) at one of the ship's venues for the immigration officers to clear you and stamp your shore leave card (one of the aforesaid forms). The first 'immigration day' lasted from morning till late afternoon. I was lucky enough to have been put in one of the first few batches and completed the process by 9 plus am or so. After us, there were announcements for people to show up half an hour behind their assigned times as the immigration process was running behind schedule. Kudos to RCCL though, they did the best they could to explain how the forms were to be filled up and to make the 'immigration days' as painless for us as possible.

 

That said, all this didnt stop us from having a great time and i'm sure you will too. Will be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

 

 

tingyyy

Thanks for sharing. Can I check with you which airline you used to fly to Dubai from Singapore? Did you stay in Dubai pre-cruise? any recommendation for the Hotel there? Did you booked your Dubai and Cochin tour with RC or you did on your own? Thanks. :)

We absolutely loved Quantum. The food and service were great, and as you said, there is so much to do--iFly, bumper cars, circus school, FlowRider. Entertainment is fabulous. Combine an amazing ship with an amazing itinerary, and you can't go wrong!

Can you make pre-cruise reservations for the iFly, bumper cars, Flowrider etc in advance or you can only book them on-board?

We saw nothing but complaints about Quantum before we boarded--there were even folks who canceled because of all the complaints and fears about the construction that was going to happen to change for the Chinese market. I decided not to worry about it. We had a fabulous time and loved the ship. Were there some glitches? Sure, but you can have those no matter what ship, or for that matter what hotel or land restaurant you go to. There is so much to do on that ship. Entertainment is fantastic. We loved Dynamic Dining. We just went on Vision of the Seas, and MDR was not nearly as good in our opinion. Everyone has different tastes, and some just want the same thing they have always had. We like to try different things, so for us Quantum was great. Enjoy your cruise!

We read similar about the Mariner OTS but till went ahead and had a wonderful time and even booked 2 more cruises with RC. :)

I did it all in advance, although not all at one time. :D On Quantum, we could have booked after we got on. We did make last-minute changes on the ship. A few times we weren't able to get the restaurant or time we wanted. Hard to say what your particular cruise will be like. You could make reservations in advance and then change on the ship--at least then you would have a fall back if you can't get the change you want.[/QUOTE]

 

Thank you Nancy for the great advice. Did you book your Tours (Dubai, Oman and Cochin) with RC or you made your own arrangements? Any contacts that you can share? :) Thanks.

Thanks Kim..now I miss the Mariner and may book a trip with her prior our Ovation trip. :)

Just curious if anyone has ever done a Dubai to Singapore cruise? What was your experience?

 

Have spied a very good deal on Ovation (14 nights stopping Oman, India and Malaysia). Its sailing in May 2016. Wasnt considering a cruise in that part of the world or that early in the year but for the price, with the all inclusive deal and the duration, its hard not to very seriously consider!

 

I've just recently had my first cruise on Enchantment, so was hoping to take a bigger ship in 2016.

Will be on the same cruise. See you at the M&M. :)

There was plenty of shade on the ship, and there are a lot of nice indoor areas to sit and read or chat with others.

 

We did an all-day tour with Oman Day Tour. There were 8 of us (arranged with others on CC rollcall). This is the itinerary: Grand mosque of Oman, Mutrah, Fish and vegetable Souqs, old Muscat and the Sultan's Al Alam Palace, at the entrance of Muscat bay the twin Forts of Jalali and Miranit Bait Al Zubair Museum. As it turned out, our guide took us to his house for fruit and coffee--it was totally unexpected and really delightful.

 

In Cochin we did a 2-day tour (there were a LOT of CC folks in about 10 or 11 vans). It was with Muziris Heritage Tour (Lijo Jose). It was a great tour, and I know many CC people on Ovation are booking it as well.

 

In Dubai we did the HOHO bus during the day and then did dune bashing in the evening--that was a lot of fun and highly recommended.

Thanks Nancy for sharing. Any suggestion on the Hotel in Dubai. We have a few days there pre-cruise.

Hi lalenalei,

 

We are doing the same cruise as you....can you send any info about the bike tour you are planning on doing in Phuket?

We are also 2A 2C and my girls are 9 and 6.

 

We are arriving Dec 27 and spending 2 nights pre cruise and then 7 nights post cruise in Singapore (and then we are going to Hong Kong).

 

We are actually thinking of hiring a driver for KL, as I think it will work out way cheaper, plus I want to do the caves and the Petronas Towers view, but not the other stuff so maybe we can come back quicker to the boat.

 

Have no idea what to do in Penang...from what I have read so far, unless you are a foodie doesn't seem like a lot there.

 

Following the replies as well...

WELCOME to Singapore. Hope you and your family have a great time here. :)

Thanks Jimbo! It's cool to do a review on a different cruise line and a unique itinerary. I'm flattered that all my Carnival people are migrating over here to read this. :p

 

 

 

Haha I saw you and your family around so much, you might be in the background of a lot of my pictures! :D

 

Has the haze gotten any better in Singapore yet?

Yes it is better now as the wind direction had changed recently. Now mainly in the moderate range.

Stay in touch with us and should you come by Singapore again, let us bring you on a food tour in Singapore. haha. :D