"Live" Coral Princess, 32 Days, Oct 17th to Nov 17th, Singapore-Asia-Los Angeles (+Week in Singapore pre-cruise)

[leck57]

3 hours ago, NownZen said:

While waiting for the rain to quit, I looked up some food options we have seen. I have never seen the first three options on a ship but, then again they might be the extra items in the reserve dining 

The durians are a large fruit with a nice custard inside but it smells like an outhouse that needs cleaning. It is forbidden to take them on the buses, MRT or into hotels.

The last two photos are very good food options. This is from the Berseh Hawker center. We saw only locals there 

 

 

You could also try a selection of these. This is from the hawker area at Gardens by the Bay. I tried none of these, rather sticking to many satay sticks washed down with a Tiger beer.

[mtnesterz]

2 hours ago, leck57 said:

You could also try a selection of these. This is from the hawker area at Gardens by the Bay. I tried none of these, rather sticking to many satay sticks washed down with a Tiger beer.

I gather from your post you're finding the local food too challenging? If so, I feel that way too.

I stayed home this trip, can't take the flight, but Mrs. M is staying with her mom in Jurong and being away from the tourist areas, some foods locals eat are more challenging than this.

When I was there on business, I really missed western food and if you do too, I found Indian foods more accessible. Little India is in Rochor, but perhaps you can find closer. If you find Roti John, a sandwich of beef eggs and curry, that hits the spot. Roti Paratha is a bread with curry.  Murtabak is satisfying too, meat and eggs in a wrap. 

[leck57]

2 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

I gather from your post you're finding the local food too challenging? If so, I feel that way too.

I stayed home this trip, can't take the flight, but Mrs. M is staying with her mom in Jurong and being away from the tourist areas, some foods locals eat are more challenging than this.

When I was there on business, I really missed western food and if you do too, I found Indian foods more accessible. Little India is in Rochor, but perhaps you can find closer. If you find Roti John, a sandwich of beef eggs and curry, that hits the spot. Roti Paratha is a bread with curry.  Murtabak is satisfying too, meat and eggs in a wrap. 

 

No not really any issues with the food in Singapore. Not there at present but will be in two weeks. For us it is only just over 7 hour flight so we cruise from there or use it as a stop off on the way to Europe. We have been there about 10-12 times and just love the place. I like most of the Asian food but draw the line at frogs and various other animals. Any hawker centre will be fine for me (particularly satays and the satay sauce, which I usually ask for extra) and I also love Roti with any curry. 

Jurong is a nice area and the bird park out there is also a very enjoyable place to visit. My wife paints so she takes close ups of the birds.

[waltd]

5 hours ago, NownZen said:

Our hotel is allowing us a 4pm checkout. I really do not know when to head over. I assume there will be the usual 9-10 am crowd. If they really are not starting until 3pm, it could be quite a zoo. Maybe Getting there at 4 will give them a chance to work through the largest part of the crowd. 

 

My biggest fear is they will not let anyone into the terminal and a line will snake outside the building in

 The heat and humidity

[waltd]

5 hours ago, NownZen said:

Our hotel is allowing us a 4pm checkout. I really do not know when to head over. I assume there will be the usual 9-10 am crowd. If they really are not starting until 3pm, it could be quite a zoo. Maybe Getting there at 4 will give them a chance to work through the largest part of 

 

Edited October 14 by waltd

[LACruiser88]

Tonight we celebrated our birthdays at Nobu (in our hotel).  Today is my birthday and Debbie's was 19 days ago.  We were both born in the same year, so I get to harass her for 19 days that she is older than me!  🤣

 

This will be our last year in our 60's so we figured we would celebrate.

 

 

The six course Chef's selection was SPECTACULAR!

 

 

 

 

 

The dessert looked like a cheese plate but was pistachio cake in the large cubes, orange sorbet in the smaller cubes, and the thin slices were chocolate!

 

The birthday card signed by the staff in each of their native language was an extra special touch!

 

 

 

[Crown Cruiser]

Following along - Have a fantastic birthday cruise!  Looking forward to reading all about it.🥢

[NownZen]

1 hour ago, waltd said:

My biggest fear is they will not let anyone into the terminal and a line will snake outside the building in

 The heat and humidity

Good point. After visiting there and looking at the floorplan on the website, it would be quite a stretch to put 2000 people in there. The luggage drop on the bottom floor is at least out of the direct sun. Maybe with that space the line could accommodate the group. When I walked through there on Friday there were the typical zig zag barriers for the crowd lines in the luggage drop area. It is a bit odd as it seems that the first level is listed as the bus drop-off (and we saw the #400 bus go there) but the taxi dropoff is on the second level. Maybe someone who has been through this can let us know more. 

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, waltd said:

My biggest fear is they will not let anyone into the terminal and a line will snake outside the building in The heat and humidity

No worries.

Some photos from 2015

 

 

 

 

[9tee2Sea]

you may be able to harass her for 19 days about being older, but for those 19 days, she can boast she has younger boy toy.

[alwalaska]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Tonight we celebrated our birthdays at Nobu (in our hotel).  Today is my birthday and Debbie's was 19 days ago.  We were both born in the same year, so I get to harass her for 19 days that she is older than me!  🤣

 

I am 24 days older than my husband, and he definitely reminds me of how old I am for just over 3 weeks. Now I have a story though to make up for it.  About a year ago we were hiking and I started back just a short distance from the bottom because I'm not good at bolder scrambling, but I wanted to let him go get a closer view of the falls.  There was a young family in front of us.  A good while after they passed me on their way back up (I was sitting on the steps close to the top waiting for him), there was still no site of him on the trail.  2 young guys came up that I hadn't seen on the trail, but other trails intersected with this one, and I asked if they had passed anyone else on the way up.  They said no, and I expressed that was weird because my husband was just behind the family that had already come up.  They said, "Oh, you mean the older gentleman. Yes, he was still taking photographs."  I thanked them and had a good laugh to myself while waiting to tell me husband that I obviously looked younger, even though I am a few weeks older. 🤣

[alwalaska]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Tonight we celebrated our birthdays at Nobu (in our hotel).  Today is my birthday and Debbie's was 19 days ago.  We were both born in the same year, so I get to harass her for 19 days that she is older than me!  🤣

 

I am 24 days older than my husband, and he definitely reminds me of how old I am for just over 3 weeks. Now I have a story though to make up for it.  About a year ago we were hiking and I started back just a short distance from the bottom because I'm not good at bolder scrambling, but I wanted to let him go get a closer view of the falls.  There was a young family in front of us.  A good while after they passed me on their way back up (I was sitting on the steps close to the top waiting for him), there was still no site of him on the trail.  2 young guys came up that I hadn't seen on the trail, but other trails intersected with this one, and I asked if they had passed anyone else on the way up.  They said no, and I expressed that was weird because my husband was just behind the family that had already come up.  They said, "Oh, you mean the older gentleman. Yes, he was still taking photographs."  I thanked them and had a good laugh to myself while waiting to tell me husband that I obviously looked younger, even though I am a few weeks older. 🤣

[jwattle]

4 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Tonight we celebrated our birthdays at Nobu (in our hotel).  Today is my birthday and Debbie's was 19 days ago.  We were both born in the same year, so I get to harass her for 19 days that she is older than me!  🤣

 

This will be our last year in our 60's so we figured we would celebrate.

 

 

The six course Chef's selection was SPECTACULAR!

 

 

 

 

 

The dessert looked like a cheese plate but was pistachio cake in the large cubes, orange sorbet in the smaller cubes, and the thin slices were chocolate!

 

The birthday card signed by the staff in each of their native language was an extra special touch!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday both of you!! ❤️

 

[shellbeachjim]

8 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Tonight we celebrated our birthdays at Nobu (in our hotel).  Today is my birthday and Debbie's was 19 days ago.  We were both born in the same year, so I get to harass her for 19 days that she is older than me!  🤣

 

This will be our last year in our 60's so we figured we would celebrate.

Hmmm, so you're both older than I am. I'll have to give you the eye next time we see each other...

 

 

(I catch up to both of you next month).

[azbirdmom]

Happy birthday!

 

When we boarded our cruise at Marina Bay in January 2019 we stood in a very long line that snaked inside the terminal.  When we arrived we asked if there was a priority line and were told no.  Of course when we got close to the front we were asked why we didn't go into the priority line at the start!  We would have gotten through it quickly instead of the hour we waited with hundreds of others.  Hopefully they've figured that all out by now.

[LACruiser88]

Good morning, Singapore!!!

 

 

[NownZen]

The Coral is now scheduled in the Marina Bay Cruise terminal from 5am to 8pm. I wonder if the extra time is for provisioning the ship. If so, it would seem that they could let people on. 

It could also be that a large part of the crew is coming on board which would make sense delaying us so they can be installed.

[loge23]

🎂 Happy Birthdays! Have a great trip!

[wintrev]

5 hours ago, NownZen said:

The Coral is now scheduled in the Marina Bay Cruise terminal from 5am to 8pm. I wonder if the extra time is for provisioning the ship. If so, it would seem that they could let people on. 

It could also be that a large part of the crew is coming on board which would make sense delaying us so they can be installed.

We were on the Coral coming to Singapore and all the crew were staying onboard for the dry dock (info directly from them). A lot of them were going to be fire marshalls for the workers doing the renovations. I imagine that the couple of hundred workers who boarded as we were disembarking will get off once it is tied up at the cruise terminal. Provisions were being loaded as we left as the kitchen was still expected to feed the crew and the workers - so yes it will need new provisions.

[NownZen]

22 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

I gather from your post you're finding the local food too challenging? If so, I feel that way too.

On the contrary, we find the local food great. Today we had a plate at a hawker center with BBQ pork, chicken and roasted pork with rice and soup that was wonderful.

We always eat at the locals places when we can. This will be missed when we leave. 

[Yehootu]

 

1 hour ago, NownZen said:

On the contrary, we find the local food great

 

1 hour ago, NownZen said:

This will be missed when we leave.

Find the longest line at a Hawker Centre and get in it. Check what you're standing in line for using Google Translate and you'll be satisfied.

  Mixed Duck Noodle from Maxwell Hawker Center in Chinatown and a Tiger to go along. Was about a 20min wait. The man in front of me went to place his order and asked about using his card. The person taking orders and serving said his machine was broken but not to worry. He went about making the mans order and served him. He instructed him to eat FIRST, then go to the ATM and pay after he was done. Great experience.

Edited October 15 by Yehootu

[Yehootu]

Giving me error while trying to upload picture. Duck was very good, so was the Beer😀

[mtnesterz]

3 hours ago, NownZen said:

On the contrary, we find the local food great. Today we had a plate at a hawker center with BBQ pork, chicken and roasted pork with rice and soup that was wonderful.

We always eat at the locals places when we can. This will be missed when we leave. 

How was the frog soup I was referring to? Because I can eat chicken and pork with rice too.

It's things like Kuay Chap, which as part of the meal, includes coagulated pig's blood that challenge me. How about Buah Keluak, a chicken or pork dish made with fruit of the Pangi tree. They have to process the fruit to get the cyanide out of it. Admit I'm not an adventurous eater.

[Yehootu]

6 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

How was the frog soup I was referring to? Because I can eat chicken and pork with rice too.

It's things like Kuay Chap, which as part of the meal, includes coagulated pig's blood that challenge me. How about Buah Keluak, a chicken or pork dish made with fruit of the Pangi tree. They have to process the fruit to get the cyanide out of it. Admit I'm not an adventurous eater.

It all depends what you were raised with. My Father while working in the Maui cane fields as a young man in the 30's told me how the Fillipino workers always had meat and he had chicken or rabbit. The meat they had was usually dog. To them it was normal. I have friends who won't touch some of the Hawaiian foods I was raised with.

[Yehootu]

Looks like this board will be down to fix several problems from 2am-3am EDT. Singapore time with 12hr difference will be 2-3pm.