Iluvcruising2

Day 8. Our last day which was a sea day.

We were very sad that the cruise was coming to an end so soon!

This photo was taken about 9pm on Day 7, after the ship departed from Xiamen. The band played a few pieces in the Royal Promenade. Very cool.

I just reread your entire review again! Thanks so much!

 

I can't wait to see Singapore and go on our cruise in October!

What would you suggest for some must see things to see in Singapore as we will be

there for a few days after the cruise.

Glad you liked the review & welcome back to Singapore!!

Some suggestions in no particular order:

1) Gardens by the Bay

2) Singapore Flyer - the views now should be breathtaking in the evening and at night.

3) Singapore Zoo

4) Chinatown

5) Little India

6) Orchard Road

7) Universal Studios (if you are into theme parks)

Not sure what other interests you may have.

This is the official Singapore tourism website where you may get more ideas.

http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/experience.html

Don't try running on the deck!

That is the Xiamen cruise terminal. Looks pretty cool at night!

The Voyager left at around 7pm. The ship had to do a 180deg turn - the wonders of Azipods and bow thrusters It was quite interesting!

It was rather wet! We certainly had a rainy day at Xiamen.

Some chicken thigh. Tasted pretty good.

This was the dessert menu.

Dinner. I didn't take a picture of the menu that evening. Must have been dreaming.

This was some spring rolls.

Some clear Asian-styled soup. I think my kids enjoyed this one.

Our balcony. It had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table.

Back on the ship, we went to collect our kids.

This picture shows them hovering over the iPad. We told the stateroom attendant to just leave the sofa bed as a bed, rather than converting it from bed to sofa every morning and then sofa to bed every evening.

Bathroom.

Bathtub.

After reading your review, I am seriously thinking about a cruise on Voyager when she returns to Asia next year!

 

I'm sure there is loads of new things to see & do in Singapore since my last visit.

Thanks!

I am doing my part as a tourist ambassador for my country!

When was the last time you visited Singapore?

Anyway, regardless of when, do come again and you may want to visit the newly opened Gardens by the Bay - http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html

I am sure it will take your breath away.

Great review- thanks!

 

It's been a few years since I have been back to Singapore- but I always liked it & it was very clean compared to other asian countries I visited.

I can highly recommend it to anyone visiting Asia.

 

I love Singapore airlines as well, one of the better airlines IMO.

 

We are on Voyager in January to NZ, looking forward to it after enjoying Radiance earlier this year.

 

I love deserts as well! How did you find the Ben & Jerry's icecream parlour on Voyager- I heard it was about $4.50 per scoop?

Come visit Singapore again! We have this new Gardens by the Bay which is awesome. Our Government spent more than a billion Singapore dollars to build it.

We didn't try the Ben & Jerry's ice cream. There was ice cream available in the MDR everyday.

Found in an earlier post (in 2010} that Voyager is due for dry dock in Jan 2014

There are no cruises scheduled between 12th Jan and 3rd Feb 2014 that I can

Thanks. Makes sense not to go to dry dock so soon since they already had invested a few million dollars to upgrade the Voyager before it arrived in Singapore this May.

Pictures of the inside of the Xiamen cruise terminal.

Am thoroughly enjoying your review. We are considering Voyager for 2013 after our first child is born. We have cruised 5 previous times (including on Voyager) but all pre-kids so any information on kids services would be great. Does Voyager have a royal babies and tots?

Thanks for the great review - I know how much work goes in to them!!

Glad you enjoyed it.

Unfortunately the Voyager doesn't have Royal babies and Tots. I'm not sure when the Voyager is due for dry dock though.

It was a rainy day, a pity. Still, it was rather crowded.

We spent about 15 minutes and decided to head back to the ship. The weather wasn't great and nobody was in the mood to do any shopping.

We also decided to give Gu Lang Yu (Gu Lang Island) a miss. My parents had been there before and weren't too impressed. Also, it was raining.

That's the start of ZhongShan Lu, where the cab driver dropped us off.

There was a McDonalds but this store only sold drinks and desserts. You had to walk 500m down the street for the main restaurant.

After the temple, we took a cab to get to the shopping street called Zhongshan Lu. When translated, this means middle hill (or mountain) road.

The cab ride took about 15 minutes and cost 15 yuan.

This was taken on the cab ride.

Visa question please

I hold a Singapore passport, so I do not need Visas to enter the countries on this itinerary.

For the Americans, I note that you must get a Chinese visa otherwise the ship would not let you board. I bumped into one couple who had to board the ship only in Hong Kong because they were not able to get their Chinese visa on time. They were denied boarding in Singapore.

For Vietnam, I understand that the ship will get a group Visa for the passengers that require a Visa and the charge was US$49 per pax.

The above is what I understand to be the situation. Usual disclaimer applies. Please check with the authorities or cruise line.

We saw a cruise organized tour group coming up.

More temple pictures.

Our next stop was the Nan Pu Tuo temple. It was a very short walk from the Xiamen University. Thankfully we could speak some Mandarin, so it was easy to ask for directions. Funnily, the first couple we asked directions from told us that they were also tourists, albeit from China, haha.

The guy that finally helped us asked if we were from Singapore. We said yes. He told us that he could recognize our accent, as he had worked with Singaporean companies recently. Interesting.

All these cars were sighted in the parking lots.

I certainly don't own such fancy cars to drive in Singapore. :)

They had a rather nice lake within the University campus. It looks quite romantic. I'm sure this is a popular haunt for many lovebirds.

More pictures of Xiamen University.