Iluvcruising2

Thank You so much for this review. Many helpful stuff for Malta and Barcelona. I have only cruise on RCL and NCL and only the last couple of years. I decided to book MSC Seaside Europe/Transatlantic cruise on 11/30/17....also in the YC. It's for 21 days. It will be my first time to Europe and first TA. I'm hoping to do a semi live review so everyone can get a first look at Seaside.....but just need to figure out how to post the pics onto Tapatalk or CC forum (I have all recent electronics but never learn but the basics. Haha)

I'm also looking into Ovation of the Seas from Hong Kong to Singapore on 11/14/17 for 9 days then fly to Venice to board the Seaside. Trying to fit the extra time and money. I would love to ask you a few questions about Singapore if you don't mind? Like hotels/restaurants/ and airline used for Singapore to Venice. This is an expensive and time consuming trip but I will literally knock off many things on my bucket list with these adventures.

 

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Thanks very much for your nice words. Glad the review was useful for you.

Happy to help you in any way for info on Singapore and also Hong Kong (we have been there a few times). In fact, if you check out the Asia parts of this forum, I have already put up some videos and answered some questions. Or you can send me an email directly, I'd be happy to help.

Come visit Singapore!

All I will say is that if you take care of the bartenders they will take care of you and get you anything you desire.

That is an important point and consistent with our recent experience on Serenade of the Seas. The bartenders do want to please you, but of course, we should reciprocate. :):)

More videos of a recent trip, flying SQ Business Class.

Enjoying a light dinner at the SilverKris Lounge (Business class section) at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 before the flight.

[YOUTUBE]fT9A7fiyH3w[/YOUTUBE]

This is part 1 of SQ306 Singapore to London Heathrow. Settling in and takeoff. A red-eye flight.

[YOUTUBE]e-i62F5VHHI[/YOUTUBE]

This is part 2 of SQ 306 Singapore to London Heathrow. I show you the meals (which I booked the cook). Lots to eat. I'm growing fat.

[YOUTUBE]QVP_gRtu038[/YOUTUBE]

Thank you! Could you tell me if there was a shuttle laid on into town in Helsinki ?

Yes there was. I think it was US12 return. We did not use the shuttle, we ended up taking public transport!

Mr. Iluvcruising2,

I have suffered through many "reviews" on CC, but yours wasn't just interesting and helpful; it was a spectacular exposition of all the things I needed to know and hoped to learn about before embarking. Truly, a tour de force for which my DW and I are in your debt. Thanks a million

Thanks. Feedback like yours make my day. :)

I have just started another review on the Serenade of the Seas 7N Baltic cruise - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50238669#post50238669

Recently completed a 7N cruise in the Baltic Seas on the Serenade of the Seas. The ports of call were as follows:

Day 1 - Copenhagen, depart 5pm

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Stockholm; arr 9am, depart 5pm

Day 4 - Tallin, Estonia; arr 9:30am, depart 5:30pm

Day 5 - St Petersbury; arr 7am, depart 7:30am

Day 6 - Helsinki; arr 7am, dep 2pm

Day 7 - At sea

Day 8 - Copenhagen, arr 7am

This was a cruise of many firsts for us. First time on Serenade of the Seas (The only other Radiance class vessel we have sailed on was the Brilliance some years back). First time sailing from Copenhagen, first time to Stockholm, to Tallin... the ports were all new to us. You get the idea. Super excited we were.

Coming from Singapore, we originally planned to fly to Copenhagen on Singapore Airlines. However, the prices of the Turkish Airways flight (via Istanbul) was too good to ignore, and saved us about US 1,400 in total, so we decided to try Turkish delight instead. It turned out to be pretty good and I will show you some videos of the flight once I get those sorted out.

After the cruise, we flew to London where we spent a few days and then flew back to Singapore (on Turkish, via Istanbul).

This time round, my review is video-heavy, because I was trying out my new video camera. I will embed the videos on this thread as I go along. We only got back to Singapore a couple of days ago and today, I have gone back to office (with lots of stuff to clear), so pardon me if the updates are slow. But I assure you that I have tons of video footage of the ship as well as what we did in the various ports (all DIY, didn't join any ship's tour), so hopefully some of the information would serve as a useful reference.

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

I managed to get two videos done to whet your appetite. More will follow later.

First video, let me show you the cabin we stayed in. Cabin 1054. Oceanview Family Stateroom. What's the big deal about 1054, you may be wondering? Well, see the video to find out more... (it is huge)

[YOUTUBE]SOe2UQj8j1E[/YOUTUBE]

Second video shows you what was available for lunch in the Windjammer on embarkation day. Yes, food and more food!

[YOUTUBE]-u20W48-QH4[/YOUTUBE]

More later. Have a blessed day ahead.

Next, the London Heathrow to Washington DC Flight.

Waiting at Gate to board the flight.

[YOUTUBE]uZE9cEwyAWs[/YOUTUBE]

LHR to Washington DC Dulles Part 1

[YOUTUBE]q6bwHIkAm70[/YOUTUBE]

LHR to Washington DC Dulles Part 2 - pushback and takeoff

[YOUTUBE]aysmYJILqMY[/YOUTUBE]

LHR to Washington DC Dulles Part 3 - lunch service

[YOUTUBE]0CtC-ZFwguY[/YOUTUBE]

Part 4 - Gluttony! Afternoon Tea and Gourmet Burger

[YOUTUBE]ayOnHSNjMfU[/YOUTUBE]

Part 5 - GO PRO footage of cabin

[YOUTUBE]TDqUfvXECds[/YOUTUBE]

Privileged to fly on Virgin Atlantic Upper class, London Heathrow to Washington DC Dulles and back recently. I enjoyed the experience. The clubhouse at LHR was excellent. The clubhouse at Washington DC was very good. The flight was good too, though I found the cabin a bit cramped, but still it was a flat bed.

Here are some videos. First up, Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow.

Part 1 - Breakfast

[YOUTUBE]Qi905dfWBnM[/YOUTUBE]

Part 2 - Pool Table

[YOUTUBE]dhyCZ7Idfjo[/YOUTUBE]

Part 3 - Walkaround with GO PRO

[YOUTUBE]0MmJ9T_1dCQ[/YOUTUBE]

Several more videos.

This is the Singapore Airlines office at the Orchard ION.

[YOUTUBE]eOOoaD-bx_Y[/YOUTUBE]

Mangoes for sale at 50 cents a piece at the Ghim Moh market.

[YOUTUBE]cGfro5s_nSs[/YOUTUBE]

A dinner at a teochew restaurant called Hung Kung, along North Canal Road.

[YOUTUBE]mHmlCMimITs[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks for that, so do you recommend a specialty restaurant rather than food halls.

 

You don't have to name your favourite here if you want to keep it a secret lol.:)

I am not a big fan of chilli crab to start with, so I don't have a favourite.

However, there are several more well known local restaurants that serve decent chilli crab. One example is Jumbo Seafood - http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/en/

We'll be back in Singapore in a few months can't wait to get into the the great food, the hor fun is one of my favourites, can you tell me if I can get good chilli crab at Lau Pa Sat.

I think there is a stall (or two) selling chilli crab at Lau Pa Sat, but I heard they are only average. So probably not the best place to get chilli crab. The rest of the stuff is fine.

Do you happen to have the MDR menu's of the last 2 days?

Possibly also the always available selection in the MDR?

 

Thanks

By MDR I assume you mean the main dining room for non-YC guests? Sorry I don't have those.

Haven't updated this thread in a while. Here are some more videos recently made.

Pre world war 2 machine gun pillbox along Pasir Panjang Road.

[YOUTUBE]hDNwSh094EQ[/YOUTUBE]

Taken from outside Goodwood Park Hotel, at the start of Scotts Road.

[YOUTUBE]Yt4Nn1CfHPE[/YOUTUBE]

Part 2 of the above video.

[YOUTUBE]8UMnoaZinu4[/YOUTUBE]

This was an a la carte buffet dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. Very good.

[YOUTUBE]IRcNyYspV7M[/YOUTUBE]

Hey there.

 

Celebrity Solstice will dock at Marina Bay Cruise Center, the one in Marina Bay. This is because, the ship is too big and too tall for Harbourfront.

 

Enjoy the cruise. I'm looking forward to the Solstice too because it last came in 2012? Will be there to video the sail-away..Might do the arrival too :D

Indeed. Even the Celebrity Millennium class ships are too big for Harbourfront and they have to dock at Marina Bay. Here is a video of the Millennium in port.

[YOUTUBE]u9MG8IeV-xk[/YOUTUBE]

We look forward to receiving the same perk.

 

We are sailing on Ovation later this year from Hong Kong to Singapore and have really appreciated all the information you have posted on your home country. Thank you.

 

We are staying three nights post-cruise at the W Sentosa, and look forward to exploring Singapore.

Welcome to Singapore! Wishing you a wonderful cruise.

What a fabulous review. We sail mostly Royal Caribbean, but reading your review makes me want to book a Celebrity cruise. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your experiences.

Glad you enjoyed the review.

When we sailed on Celebrity, we had achieved Diamond level on Royal, and that was nice because we were given reciprocal recognition as Elite.

great. thank you so much!!!

(on the divina you had to wait until 20:00 to order, which for

us, is quite late for dinner )

 

 

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Interesting. Looks like the procedures differ from ship to ship.

if you get a chance - could you please take a look at the yc dailies and tell me at what time you can order the pizza seen in one of your videos? thanks so much!!!

 

 

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Hi, it states

12:00 to 15:00

18:00 to 24:00

Pizza delivery call 99 (reception).

I remember calling and the lady on the other end wasn't sure whether pizza was available. It was quite funny. But ultimately it was, and my butler delivered the pizza, which was still piping hot when it got to our room.

Fun perk.

Some food videos of the meals we had in London, post cruise.

This was an eatery in London Chinatown called Hung's.

[YOUTUBE]k8WEAR2It8M[/YOUTUBE]

Another restaurant in London Chinatown, called Wong Kei.

[YOUTUBE]Hrlf6TPH8NU[/YOUTUBE]

I have always wished it would be for dollars spent. We have definitely spent well over a $150,000 with Royal Caribbean over the past 13 years. We get the drink packages now and only sporadically enter the lounges. Give me a nice discount on my drink package and my balcony and above and I will be happy. I don't need a lounge. On our airline of choice we have lifetime benefits of free baggage and other perks but we know that can change at a moments notice. Same with the cruise lines.

Why not try other cruise lines, say MSC Yacht Club?

Have you considered the new MSC Meraviglia?

Yes! Great minds think alike! We are looking at the new ship, for a sailing in 2017. Excited!!

looking forward to the review [emoji12]

 

 

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Me too!

When you are in Barcelona when you walked down Las Rambles to Columbus's statute there is a Port bus that you can catch to take you back to the ship for E3 return per person or E2 one way p.p.. It is the blue bus and very easy to use and lots of people use this bus as it only goes to the port and back to the city. Just for future info. Sue

Glad that the review was useful for you.

Thanks for the tip on the Blue bus in Barcelona. Useful information!

Yes, we sailed in the YC on the MSC Preziosa. Review in my signature link. You will enjoy it! Everytime I look at my videos, I want to go back.

Gala dinner.

[YOUTUBE]2_DnkB_ubl0[/YOUTUBE]

Missing the Yacht Club and seriously looking at another MSC cruise in the YC, but only in 2017.