Singapore-How many days?

[JSR]

Hi we are sailing on the Azamara Quest Singapore to Hong Kong. We are trying to decide how many days pre-cruise we should plan for in Singapore. We are traveling with our 14 yr old daughter and will be arriving from the US.

We love big cities. Also any suggestions for which neighborhood or hotel to stay at? Also, any gems of things to do. DD is a shopper so that is on the list too. Should we prearrange transport from the airport or are there cabs?

 

Thanks for the help. Jean

[newfarmers]

cabs by the dozen at the airport. cheap and metered.

 

we stayed at hotel re @ pearl's hill just on the edge of chinatown. we would recommend chinatown to stay, others will go for clarke quay. we would go for chinatown for the atmosphere, the great accessible food. clarke quay is more the sanitised fancy restaurants/bars/big malls

 

we had four full days/three nights post cruise and still didn't see everything on our list. missed the botanical gardens, the zoo, the night safari, the changi museum.

 

we loved the singapore art museum and the asian civilisations museum. also jurong bird park

 

if you log on to travelpod.com and search aussiepanda the detail of our cruise and our final stop in singapore is the last post (or two)

[Ms Understood]

We stayed at the Four Seasons and as can be expected by a five star hotel and especially one on Asia the service is impeccable. We were picked up at the airport. They got us a car and driver and guide who just fabulous. We didnt really shop much and were frankly disappointed in Orchard Rd which is all the usual high end retailers (Louis Vuitton and the like), nothing you cant get anywhere in the world. We stayed 2 days and would have liked at least one more day I think. Loved the Night Safari, Raffles hotel and the Singapore Flyer is fun, probably even more so if you have not been on the London Eye.

-------------------

Helen

[JSR]

Newfarmers and Helen thank you very much.

 

Newfarmers- I read your blog, it was great and a wealth of information. So would you say 5 days and 3 nights would be better or more? We will be pretty jet lagged when we get there.

 

Helen - How were the rooms at the Four Seasons? We have stayed several of their resorts but not their city hotels. How was the location of the Four Seasons?

 

Would you do the Zoo during the day and the Night Safari or would you pick just one?

 

We are also considering a cooking class.

 

Thanks again.

Jean

[Ms Understood]

The rooms were lovely and a good size. The bed was comfy and most important to me: the shower was great. Not much of a view tho, just the tennis courts below. It is on a road that runs parallel to Orchard Rd so no street noise. You can get out to Orchard Rd w/o going outside by walking thru a mall and then coming out in to lobby of the Holiday Inn. This was a plus in that awful heat/humidity. We have lived in LA for 30 years where it is often hot but never humid so I found it hard to take. My DH was not nearly as bothered as me. For that reason I would pick the Night Safari over the Zoo. The temp was quite pleasant after dark. We did go to the Orchid Gardens in the heat of the day and they were pretty spectacular but we found plenty of shade when the heat got to be too much. Bring a hat, sunscreen and lots of bottled water.

-------------

Helen

[celle]

Newfarmers and Helen thank you very much.

 

Newfarmers- I read your blog, it was great and a wealth of information. So would you say 5 days and 3 nights would be better or more? We will be pretty jet lagged when we get there.

 

Helen - How were the rooms at the Four Seasons? We have stayed several of their resorts but not their city hotels. How was the location of the Four Seasons?

 

Would you do the Zoo during the day and the Night Safari or would you pick just one?

 

We are also considering a cooking class.

 

Thanks again.

Jean

 

Here's another vote for the Night Safari at the Zoo. We really enjoyed it and will be doing it again this May.

[JSR]

OK, Night Safari.

Four Seasons is a possibility.

Now I just have to figure out how many days.....

[F02]

Hi we are sailing on the Azamara Quest Singapore to Hong Kong. We are trying to decide how many days pre-cruise we should plan for in Singapore. We are traveling with our 14 yr old daughter and will be arriving from the US.

We love big cities. Also any suggestions for which neighborhood or hotel to stay at? Also, any gems of things to do. DD is a shopper so that is on the list too. Should we prearrange transport from the airport or are there cabs?

Thanks for the help. Jean

 

I would suggest that you stay at least 3 nights in the city and 2 nights on Sentosa Island.

You could spend your time window shopping at Orchard Road, taking a city tour with the orchard gardens, the Merlion and the Hindu Temple in China Town, go on a night safari, do some real shopping where Singaporeans shop and enjoying the beach and the other attractions on Sentosa Island.

There are so many things to do. Now it is up to you to pick the ones that suit you best.

[Ms Understood]

Jean if you stay at Four Seasons the concierge desk was fantastic (that has been my experience with every Four Seasons I have stayed at). They will arrange a pick up from the airport and suggest things to do and see and get you a driver and guide if you want. I think the air conditioned car is the way to go if you can afford it. (Prices are pretty reasonable in Singapore. I believe airport pick up was $70 for a mini van, all day tour with car, driver and guide was maybe $300? that may have included the ride out to the pier at the end of the day) Public Trans may be cheap and easy to negotiate but oh the humidity!

--------------

Helen

[JSR]

thanks Helen. We will probably do a combination of public transport and private car. I like to take busses, I drag everyone on them wherever we go. We live in the mountains in New Mexico so we have very little humidity but both my husband and I grew up out East so we so ok in the humidity as long as the temps stay in the low 90s, when it hits 100 degrees, I am done.

[newfarmers]

we arrived early morning off ship and flew out late so effectively had four full days with three nights. we could have easily have filled in another couple of days so that would have meant another two nights.

 

frankly I'd give sentosa a miss unless you are into contrived amusement parks/resorts or want to see something specific. two nights there would be two nights we could have been enjoying chinatown or little india. we only went to see the dolphins. maybe if it had been sunny we would have thought differently but I've been to Disneyworld and Orlando

[JSR]

Thanks.

 

I bought a book today to try and start figuring this out. We have 8-9 days to play with. My choices so far

 

a) Hong Kong and Singapore (we leave from Singapore and end up in Hong Kong but we can not extend our stay in Hong Kong more then 2 days/1 night at the end of the trip because our DD will already have missed a week of school).

 

b) Just Singapore and day trips

 

c) Singapore and some where in Malaysia

 

This is fun. Thanks again for all the input... keep it coming!!!!

[ab0si]

If you are any interest in botany, the Botanical Garden is one f the best in the world (it is free); the Orchard Garden, which is within the Botanical Garden is the best in the world (there is a small entrance fee).

 

I, also, would give Sentosa Island a miss and if choosing between the Night Safari and regular zoo, I'd go with the Night Safari.

 

Taxis is Singapore are metered, reasonably priced, honest and life everything else clean .. I never bother with a private car in the Lion City (nor did I when I was there consulting and was billing my expenses.. there simply is no reason for it). Mass transit is reasonably priced, clean, efficient, easy to use and covers most anywhere you want to go.

 

There are many excellent hotels .. it all depends on $$, your style and in what part of town you want to be (although getting around is easy as described above).

 

Most importantly: eat Chili Crabs. they are simply wonderful there.

[chummy]

Hi,

 

If u have 9 days to play with...u can afford a trip to Malaysia as well.

 

Well maybe u can tell us more on your interest, so that we can give u more detail suggestion.

 

If u like beach, there is no beach in Singapore worth visiting. Instead, u can take a day trip to Bintan or stay over for anite there. The beach is fabulous. But that's about it. Just a beach resort with nothing else there.

 

If you want a quite place in the hilly area, you can go to Cameron Highland, Malaysia. You ca do those strawberry picking and njoy some fresh air. Usually u need to stay atleast 1 night for a cofortable journey.

 

Or ofcourse you can take a peek of Malaysia capital Kuala Lumpur. About 5 hrs journey from singapore by bus. KL is another big city. But the atmosphere are very different from Singapore.

 

In Singapore itself, we hv Chinatown, Little India, Kampung Malay, Seaside area to eat seafood mostly, the beach just so so, zoo and night safari, botanical garden, Sentosa island (The museum here is a must go I would say) and endless shopping complex.

 

Cheers

[Ms Understood]

What are your plans for HK? One of my favorite cities! Stay at the Peninsula if you can or the Intercontinental. We went to Lantau Island on this most recent trip and saw the giant Buddha, very impressive. And the cable ride back was fun.Be sure to have tea at the Pen and visit the restrooms at Felix. (the restrooms at the Singapore Night Safari are a hoot. Flushing produces the sound of a lion's roar!)

-------------------

Helen

[F02]

If u like beach, there is no beach in Singapore worth visiting. Instead, u can take a day trip to Bintan or stay over for anite there. The beach is fabulous. But that's about it. Just a beach resort with nothing else there.

 

Well, Waikiki beach is certainly more rewarding to go for a swim. But the beach on Sentosa looks nice too even though it is much smaller. I would of course only swim in a hotel pool. What is different from all the other places I know is the number and variety of ships you can see from the window of your hotel (provided you have the right room). One of the draw-backs is that the sand and water suffer from having all those ships nearby.

[JSR]

Thank you all for the great options.

 

I did make it to the bookstore and bought a book on Singapore and Malaysia.

 

As for what we are interested in:

We are interested in culture, people, some museums, some shopping (traveling with a teenage girl.).

 

I am a paraplegic and use a wheelchair for mobility so we have some limitations. I try not to let the chair limit me too much, I have gone ziplining in Costa Rica, dog sledding in Alaska, snorkeling everywhere....

 

We are looking for a variety of experiences.

 

No plans yet for Hong Kong. At this point we only have two days there because I am hesitant about keeping our daughter out of school for longer then a week. We overnight there on the ship.

 

Thanks again,,,,keep those suggestions coming.

[chummy]

Hi..

 

Singapore is not that wheelchair friendly yet. But no worries, cab are plenty here and the fare are affordable. Just avoid to take cab between 7-9am and 6-8 pm when they add 35% surcharge to the meters.

 

For Culture, u can try those towns like little india, gelang seray, china town for a different ethnic experience.

 

Museum, try the Images of Singapore in Sentosa, Art & Civiliation Museum around clark quay area. They are not bad..

 

Shopping u can try Bugis village for a 'bazaar' feelings. Orchard and Citihall Area are filled with shopping malls, nothing unusuall though..almost the same as other shopping malls u can find in other city.

But do drop by at Esplanade, near Citihall. It is one of Singapore Icond n has a unique architecture. If you go there in the evening, u can take a leisurely stroll along the water as well. Sometimes they hv live music during the weekend.

 

Esplanade is also one of Singapore theatre, where u can watch some play. Including local pnes. U can check out at sistic.com.sg for the schedule.

 

Cheers

[JSR]

Chummy,

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. We will try and do them all. I of course may have lots more questions as I do more planning.

Jean

[chummy]

U r welcome Jean..

 

Feel free to ask anything..will try to help if I can..

 

Before I forgot.. if you are adventurous with food.. do try some of the local food here.. they are considered spicy by most of American standard..

Also the fruits.. there are some fruits which are quite unique such as Snakeskin fruit, Jackfruit, Rambutan (Hairy Fruit) and Durian.. do give them a try.. depending on the season.. but usually u can find them in supermarket or local fruit seller (eg.in Bugis)

 

cheers

[newfarmers]

U r welcome Jean..

 

Feel free to ask anything..will try to help if I can..

 

Before I forgot.. if you are adventurous with food.. do try some of the local food here.. they are considered spicy by most of American standard..

Also the fruits.. there are some fruits which are quite unique such as Snakeskin fruit, Jackfruit, Rambutan (Hairy Fruit) and Durian.. do give them a try.. depending on the season.. but usually u can find them in supermarket or local fruit seller (eg.in Bugis)

 

cheers

 

for us the best part of singapore was the food. fantastic!! especially the food in the stalls courts under the apartment buildings around chinatown. yum! fresh fruit was also a highlight. we've started looking for some of the things we fruit in singapore at home as we can get a lot of tropical fruit here in queensland

 

ps, the heat in the food never worried us. on our previous cruise on HAL we had a jar of sambal on the table waiting for us every night.

[JSR]

We love to try new foods. I am looking forward to the food. My husband has never eaten anything that is too spicy, the hotter the better. I am more a medium spicy but by no means do I not like spicy. I can not wait. We have not been doing a lot of planning as my mom was very ill and passed away last week. I will put my planning hat back on soon.

 

thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

Jean