Iluvcruising2

TS,

I've travelled to HK before and I put some descriptions and videos on this blog post.

Specifically, we stayed at the Eaton before. Here is a video.

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During a subsequent visit, we stayed at Hotel Panorama by Rhombus. I found this hotel to be in a better location.

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HK is fun. I put plenty of info on my blog. We did Disneyland but that was many years ago when kids were smaller. For the most recent trip, we visited Ocean Park, which is more adulty overall, especially this whirly bird ride which got me quite dizzy.

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I didn't even know that they had pands on display at Ocean Park, until we got there. Cool.

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Tiger is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It is a low-cost carrier and separately run. We have flown with TIger to HK before. overall, it is reliable. The operate single aisle Airbus A320 aircraft.

Here are two videos.

HK to Singapore

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Singapore to HK

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Another excursion worth considering is the Kilim Karst Geoforest. Here are my videos.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Enjoy the boat ride!!

ah, Langkawi. I was there a couple of months back. ROCruiser is right that the Skycab is worth a visit. They claim that it is the steepest cable car ride in the world. Here are some videos I made of my experience.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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If you are afraid of heights, you may want to reconsider this attraction.

Have you every flown Business Class on a long flight overseas? I have always used my miles and I think it is worth every mile. I almost never use my miles for domestic flights because the long haul business awards are a better use of the miles.

 

No way I am suggesting your opinion is not valid. I was just wondering if you have ever taken a long haul flight in Business so you could actual compare the experiences.

For us it makes the flight more enjoyable and we do not dread the flight as much. We flew 15.5 hours in coach to Melbourne Australia once and we will never do it again. Even if I had to pay for the Business Class seat it would be less expensive than a divorce.

Yeah, once you fly in Business on a long-haul flight, very hard to turn back. :)

For me, it has always been Economy, until recently I got to travel in Business but only for work. With the family, it is still in Economy and we are talking about Singapore to Europe flights (typically 13 hours direct non-stop or if we take a stop, then it would be 15 to 16 hours total).

Yeah, we got hooked and have been cruising on and off ever since, as our schedules permit.

How to book these from Singapore?

I've found the cruise lines more alike than different, then again I don't have that much experience. Most of our sailings have been on Royal, once on Celebrity, once on NCL, once on MSC and one more on Holland America some years back. They were all good.

Celebrity Silhouette had a classy feel. I found their buffet to be excellent, probably the best amongst all the ships I've been on.

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Having sailed many times on Royal, we are very familiar with the product and will be sailing with Royal again this June. Typically more activities on board but we are not really into activities, so it doesn't really matter for us. Here is a video clip of the buffet line on Adventure of the Seas.

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NCL Jade - this was more of wanting to try something new after having sailed so many times on Royal. We were willing to try because we had a good deal on their 2 bedroom penthouse suite (non-haven) which was fabulous!

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Thinking back, the NCL Jade cruise was our first brush with 'suite life' and we were very happy we could get this type of treatment, even though we didn't have to pay very much more for it relative to other sailings. It was the NCL cruise that made us realise that perhaps Royal and Celebrity were not always the most cost effective. And I found the NCL Jade buffet to be very good too!

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And once we were more willing to try, we could cast our net wider, and the next attempt at something new was with MSC Yacht Club. This was an incredible experience, albeit slightly more pricey because it is the Yacht Club. The experience starts from the time you board the ship. We would happily sail in the Yacht Club again, no doubt about that. (Full review in my signature link)

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All the above is not to say that we have left Royal. Not at all. Our next cruise is on the Serenade of the Seas.

Yes, fly Singapore Airlines, better still in Business Class. Sorry, my shameless plug for my national carrier.

This was a flight from London Heathrow back to Singapore late last year on an Airbus A380. Part 1.

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And here is part 2.

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And Business Class - London Heathrow to Singapore.

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Well, if money isn't an issue, live it up and don't stinge on pampering yourself! It does make a difference.

I only fly business on work-trips and it sure does make a difference!

Had the privilege to fly on Air Canada, London Heathrow to Ottawa return in their International Business Class. Having a flat bed to sleep was good.

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If you ever come to Asia, try Singapore Airlines! This flight was from London Heathrow to Singapore, in the New Business Class.

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These were menu prices for drinks on our MSC Preziosa cruise out of Genoa (currency was Euros). They looked reasonable. Not sure the prices for the cruises out of the USA.

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Attended Good Friday service this morning. Poignant.

"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do".

Luke 23:34

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Attended Good Friday service this morning. Poignant.

"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do".

Luke 23:34

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I would definitely go with the OBC.

I loved having my drinks in the Yacht Club and I had all my meals in the Yacht Club which came with drinks anyway.

Yacht Club drinks menu

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Dinner in Yacht Club restaurant, with drinks included

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Mini-bar

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I seriously had too much to eat and drink during my cruise. Had to go on a diet thereafter.

Since somebody mentioned Royal Plaza on Scotts, here is a video to show you the location of this independent hotel. About a 500M walk from the Orchard MRT station.

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Also, the Botanic Gardens, now a UNESCO World Heritage site - https://www.sbg.org.sg/

Here are some videos of the place. Admission is free, other than the Singapore Orchid Garden (located within the main gardens) where there is a fee of $5SGD. Still worth going.

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Orchid Gardens - walk right into the Orchid VIP gardens where you will see our Orchid diplomacy.

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For example, this was named after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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I hope someone can help us. How far is the closest metro stop to the dock in Singapore? We have a stop there, and since we have been there before, we would like to take the Metro to Orchard.

Thank you

This video shows you how to walk from the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal to the Marina South Pier MRT station. Easy walk and most of it is sheltered too!

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Can anyone tell me how long it will take to get to airport from cruise terminal, and is a taxi the best way....Thanks!

Where is your ship docking? If Royal Caribbean or Celebrity or NCL, then you are likely docking at Marina Bay. Here is a video I made of the Marina Bay cruise terminal. You can see the taxi stand, as well as the walk to the MRT.

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Take a taxi if you are going to the airport, since you have luggage.

We have been to Hong Kong a couple of times on holiday from Singapore.

I put some info on what we did in Hong Kong here.

On our most recent trip, we stayed at Hotel Panorama by Rhombus.

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WOW, you have given up a lot of your time to show everyone your experience, can you tell us what options you had in your cabin bar, as far as brands & selections & the same for the bar outside. Were used to premium brands & make a difference if we would choose this option.

Hello, thanks for your compliment. Are you asking what options there are in the mini-bar in the cabin? Please see this video. I don't think these are premium brands though.

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We have been on the Voyager of the Seas twice and once on the Adventure of the Seas. Enjoyed both cruises a lot. Haven't been on any bigger RCL ships, so I can't compare with the rest.

Our only experience with MSC was on the Preziosa Yacht Club out of Genoa and we had a wonderful time. You might have seen my review in another thread on this same MSC boards.

I'd say, just enjoy yourself and enjoy the differences.

After we settled into our room, it was time to grab some dinner. Now that we were back in London, good Chinese food beckoned and the place to go would be London Chinatown! So we took the Tube from Waterloo station to Piccadilly Circus. Some snippets from the Tube journey.

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We were familiar with the Tube lines, so navigating the Tube system was not a problem. From Piccadilly Circus, we walked to London Chinatown. Explored the place a bit, wondering which restaurant to dine at, and we finally decided on Young Cheng. This was the branch at Lisle Street. The other branch at Shaftebury Avenue had closed, unfortunately. We had lobster noodles! Delicious.

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I think I may have watched your videos before, no doubt I found your channel via these forums, did you also do one on Australia Dairy Company? I kept a list of places to go, and we went to Australia Dairy Company in Hong Kong. The scrambled eggs really were great!

 

And yes, chicken rice is worth a 15 hour flight, lucky for me it's only a 7 hour flight :)

Are you referring to this one? Thanks for watching my videos! Glad they are useful.

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Thank you, and you're welcome, I really loved Singapore and can't wait to go back. We visited for the first time last year, and just loved it, so much to see and do, clean, safe, friendly people. But the best part of course - the food!!!

 

For the OP - forget fancy restaurants, hawker centres is where it's at. You can eat like a king for under $10. Some of the best food I've ever eaten.

 

............

 

I miss kopi!

Ah yes, food. I fully agree with you that the one of the most unique features of Singapore is our local hawker fare. I am a big advocate of that too.

The BBC Travel channel has said that the Hainanese Chicken Rice is worth a 15 hour flight. On this blog post, I share some videos of the chicken rice that I have been eating.

Other than chicken rice, we have plenty of local hawker fare and here are some videos to show you what I eat.

Compilation video.

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At a hawker center, having breakfast.

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Having some food at Newton Food Center, including satay, char kway teow, young coconut and chendol.

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Enjoy!

I wouldn't hesitate to take a cruise out of or to Singapore, I would hesitate to/from mainland China. Very different cultures. There was a very detailed review I remember reading of Mariner with mostly mainland Chinese passengers and the reviewer found it quite difficult to cope, it can be quite the culture clash.

 

Beijing has actually been running educational campaigns for their citizens on how to behave when travelling, it has become such a problem that they are sadly gaining a bad reputation.

 

My level of discomfort would be differences in hygiene standards. No problem for Singapore, which would surely win cleanest city in the world!

 

And I agree that Sydney - Singapore will probably be majority Australans.

 

Not that Australians always have the best reputation, bunch of drunken yobbos sometimes ;), but on a longer cruise you wouldn't find much of that, older demographic, not a party cruise!

 

I wouldn't hesitate to take the cruise.

Thanks for shouting out for cruising from Singapore. I have cruised a few times and met many nice Australians on board.