Marella Enchanting Far East -any reviews or excursion recommendations please?

[Bertie Doe]

We'll be on the following cruise and arriving at Lankawi on the 28th March. Boat also leaves at 4pm so have decided to book thru' Marella at £38 per person. They advertise a 4 hour trip but will replace by visit to Underwater World in the event of bad weather.

 

Not sure on the cost of a taxi but if you leave after breakfast, there should be bags of time - in theory 🙂

[BABBY]

Can anyone please tell me what time you land in Langawi please and if the ports accept american dollars - or do we need to get the local currency.

 

Also any reviews on the deluxe cabins on the back of the ship deck 7

 

Also wonder where you dock in singapore and how far away it is from the metro as thinking of buying the all day pass (btw is the 10 dollars american dollars or SD ?)

 

Any suggestions on how to DIY in the ports below or what is worth doing (or not)  greatly appreciated as I don't use FB 

Singapore - want to visit marina sands - raffles - market area - marina bay

penang - hop on hop off bus?

Koh samui - tried to book a trip to the beach but full - so is it easy to get a taxi etc and how far away to chawang beach

 

Thank you - so looking forward to the cruise :)

[Vitalsign]

If you go to Destination services or use the screens near Reception when you first embark you may be able to book the beach trip cos all the places are not sold on line

Sorry can't help with anything else.

[redsails9]

Hi Babby,

just to let you know Raffles is closed until the middle of this year according to there website. 

[cuisign]

Thanks for the update redsails, what a shame to miss this.  For Us it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I hope that the outside won't be shrouded in scafolding.

On a different issue I wondered if anyone who is on board between 7th March and 21st March would be interested in meeting up on one of the sea days.  I think it would be nice to put faces to CC id's.  I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but some might welcome a chat over a drink (or two!).

 

Happy cruising

 

Cuisign

[BABBY]

Hi -  has anyone come back of any of the Asia cruises yet please and have any reviews?

 

If so, can anyone tell me what time you land in Langawi please and if the ports accept american dollars - or do we need to get the local currency ?

 

Also any reviews on the deluxe cabins on the back of the ship deck 7

 

Also wonder where you dock in Singapore and how far away it is from the metro as thinking of buying the all day pass (btw is the 10 dollars american dollars or SD ?)

 

Any suggestions on how to DIY in the ports below or what is worth doing (or not)  greatly appreciated as I don't use FB 

Singapore - want to visit marina sands - raffles (but gather closed) but is it still worth a look from outside?  - market area - marina bay

penang - hop on hop off bus? is this near the port area to pick up

Langawi cable car - and is it near the ship/port

 

Thank you in advance

[Balibeach0]

Hi Babby,

 

i can can help with some of your questions.

 

Singapore - The metro is very close to the port, the station is Harbourfront and it’s literally under the port building.

we bought the $10 pass and used the metro all day for getting round, it is very efficient, clean and air conditioned. It’s 10 Singapore dollars, plus a 10 Singapore dollar refundable deposit which you claim back at the Harbourfront ticket office at the end of your day. 

We went to Orchard Road, the viewing point at the top of the Marina Bay Sands, Haji Lane, China Town and then we’re going to go to the Gardens By The Bay just to look around the outside areas but it rained heavily so we ended up visiting some of the shopping malls instead.

 

We took local currency for everywhere (apart from Cambodia who use usd). The taxi and tour operators at some of the ports used USD pricing as well as local but I believe you will need local currency for most places. 

 

Langkawi I believe we were able to get off the ship about 8 - 8:30am. We didn’t go to the cable car but I believe it is a 30 min taxi ride away.

 

Penang - we hired a trishaw for an hour and did a tour of the street art with a lovely driver who took photos for us and pointed out all the sites. Definitely something I’d recommend! Then we just walked around the rest of the time seeing the other sites.

 

You will have a fantastic time, it was certainly a holiday of a lifetime and filled with amazing memories.

[11057]

 Wev’e been back two weeks now, and managed to get over the jetlag. The premium upgrade was definitely worth it, no other way to fly. 

 We flew from Birmingham and arrived at the ship about 10 am the following day. 

We pre-booked trips in our local TUI shop as they were very reasonably priced. Some were already sold out on the ship. We did generally tours around the islands or cities as we have already had land-based holidays in Malaysia Thailand and Singapore previously.  It proved to be a good move as some of the independent tours were quite expensive. 

 You need local currency apart from Vietnam and Cambodia where US dollars are king.

 The ship was wonderful, and the seas so calm.  Food and entertainment was up to the usual standard. 

The Thailand port is quite isolated and there is nothing to do under your own steam.Unless you’ve been to these places before I think it pays to be on an organised tour,  it’s not a cheap cruise and it’s the last place to do pennypinching if you are not experienced. 

 It’s a wonderful holiday with different experiences pity it has to end with a 12 3/4 hour flight back home. 

 If you haven’t left yet have a fantastic holiday. 

[cuisign]

Hi 11057

many thanks for such an informative review. I agree about the premium choice we don’t go any other way now we’ve ‘discovered ‘ the Dreamliner.

Did you have a balcony cabin?

There have been many adverse comments about the lack of facilities at the airport in Thailand and wonder what your experience was?

[11057]

 We had an outside cabin on deck 2 close to the exits for getting on and off which was very handy.  It was two floors up to the waiter service restaurant which we used in the mornings to avoid the rush upstairs.  We were always allocated seating on our own  for breakfast. We decided at the outset to spend the extra money on the aircraft seating rather than a balcony.

 We flew into Langkawi so had two days there at the beginning of the cruise. We have had two fantastic beach holidays there so new the island quite well. 

 One thing I had to get used to was the early starts for the tours, which were between 7.45 and 8.30, I don’t normally rise until  8.15 at the earliest at home.

Don’t want to recommend any tour in particular as we all like different things.

 Can’t help with your question on the airport, but most airports are similar some bigger and some smaller.  Have a great time. 

[cuisign]

We were lucky and managed to get a balcony cabin on deck 8. Like you we booked excursions on the net except 1 which I hope we can book when we get on the ship. 

[11057]

 We met a lady in the lift earlier one afternoon who had been on the taxi trip with her sister in Langkawi and thought the trip was 100 ringgits and was told that it was $100 US. She was going to get the money while her sister  stayed with the taxi.  an expensive mistake or was the taxi driver taking advantage !

[BABBY]

Thank you Balibeach0 and everyone for your replies. Appreciate that.

 

Did you just pick up the trishaw when you got off the ship in Penang? and how much was it please.

I know you didn't do the cable car in Langkawi, so did you stay on the ship?

 

Also in singapore is it certain stations we need to get off for marina sands hotel - raffles - gardens by the bay and the street market area? - also how much is it to go up the marina sands hotel?

 

We have booked a deluxe balcony as it's our 35th anniversary and want to enjoy the ship and the views too  - it was either this or the flight upgrade - has anyone had a balcony on this ship?

 

Thank you all

 

:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Balibeach0]

Hi Babby,

 

For the trishaw we walked away from the entrance to the port in Penang where there was a lot of trishaw and taxis waiting for people coming off the ship and approached one further up the road. He asked for 40 ringgit (which I had read was about the right price so I didn’t haggle) and we ended up giving him 50 at the end of the tour as he had been great. So just over £9 for the hour tour.

 

In Langkawi we got a taxi to Pantai Chanang to spend the day on the beach. It was our last day and we just wanted to do something relaxing, the plan was to go to the cable car in the afternoon if we felt like it but we were enjoying the beach so we stayed there. 

There were a lot of taxi drivers wanting to do full day tours but we walked past them and got a taxi from the taxi rank (a desk under a white gazebo) which had a set price list, this cost 10 ringgit per person provided there was a minimum of 4 people so we shared with another couple. It was easy to get a taxi back from the beach area. I did read that if you get a taxi to the cable car you are better off agreeing for it to wait for you as it can be difficult to find one at the cable car that hasn’t been reserved. 

 

This link explains which MRT stations to use for each of the key areas of Singapore:

http://www.singapore-guide.com/transport/singapore-mrt.htm

We picked up a free map from the tourist information shop on Orchard road which showed the stations. At each of the stations the exits to the nearby attractions are all clearly marked and it was a great way to get around.

It cost 23 Singapore dollars each to go up to the viewing platform at the Marina Bay Sands which I thought was a bit expensive but the view was great.

 

Sorry, can’t help you with the balcony cabins we spent the money on an upgrade on the flight instead.

 

 

[cuisign]

Hello Babby

We are also booked into a balcony cabin desk 8 and although we haven’t been on this ship before we have been on a number of thomson cruises in the past and from my experience you won’t be disappointed. 

Have  a great time, we certainly will - just over 2 weeks now😆

[Sylvia999]

If you go to floor 57 at marina sands hotel you pay 20sd and get a drink voucher for 20 sd and you still get the great view with a nice seating area and bar and overlooking the amazing swimming pool

[BABBY]

Thank you for all the information, i have wrote my notes inc re the drink  😃  - it's great to get all the ideas and advice from people that's been.

 

Were on countdown now so excited - any further information or advice please let me know

[BABBY]

Hi Sylvia999,

Could you tell me please what the bar was called and in what tower in the marina bay sands hotel, as see there's several bars and I think 3 towers too, so want to go to the correct one as note your one has the view of the amazing pool, where I think some it's just the view of Singapore.

[Sylvia999]

Hi babby

I don’t no name of bar you just ask for ticket to level 57 when you get out lift there are two bars you can go in one to the right and one to the left

i think we went from tower 3 but our friends went from tower 2 so don’t think it matters

hope this helps 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Sylvia999