Anybody ever do a Dubai to Singapore cruise?

[FirstCruise2331]

We saw nothing but complaints about Quantum before we boarded--there were even folks who canceled because of all the complaints and fears about the construction that was going to happen to change for the Chinese market. I decided not to worry about it. We had a fabulous time and loved the ship. Were there some glitches? Sure, but you can have those no matter what ship, or for that matter what hotel or land restaurant you go to. There is so much to do on that ship. Entertainment is fantastic. We loved Dynamic Dining. We just went on Vision of the Seas, and MDR was not nearly as good in our opinion. Everyone has different tastes, and some just want the same thing they have always had. We like to try different things, so for us Quantum was great. Enjoy your cruise!

 

I think your attitude is just like ours - Im prepared for some teething problems but this is more than made up for by the fact we'll be on the newest ship in the fleet visiting places we've never been before! I like idea of dynamic dining - just been researching it.

[RoamingRetirees]

I think your attitude is just like ours - Im prepared for some teething problems but this is more than made up for by the fact we'll be on the newest ship in the fleet visiting places we've never been before! I like idea of dynamic dining - just been researching it.

 

Making reservations for 53 days on the RCI website was something of a nightmare, but once that was done we had no problems with the reservations. They were always accommodating when we wanted to change after we were on the ship. The hardest part is making reservations without knowing the show schedule, but it all worked out. We always asked to share a table and met many nice people that way. The only time that didn't work was on the last leg from Singapore to Shanghai. There were so many Chinese on board that it was difficult to find people to share. We thought the food was great.

[FirstCruise2331]

Making reservations for 53 days on the RCI website was something of a nightmare, but once that was done we had no problems with the reservations. They were always accommodating when we wanted to change after we were on the ship. The hardest part is making reservations without knowing the show schedule, but it all worked out. We always asked to share a table and met many nice people that way. The only time that didn't work was on the last leg from Singapore to Shanghai. There were so many Chinese on board that it was difficult to find people to share. We thought the food was great.

 

Did you book all 53 nights dinner in advance? I was thinking maybe booking the first four nights then booking on board for the rest. Is this a bad idea?!

[RoamingRetirees]

Did you book all 53 nights dinner in advance? I was thinking maybe booking the first four nights then booking on board for the rest. Is this a bad idea?!

 

I did it all in advance, although not all at one time. :D On Quantum, we could have booked after we got on. We did make last-minute changes on the ship. A few times we weren't able to get the restaurant or time we wanted. Hard to say what your particular cruise will be like. You could make reservations in advance and then change on the ship--at least then you would have a fall back if you can't get the change you want.

[FirstCruise2331]

I did it all in advance, although not all at one time. :D On Quantum, we could have booked after we got on. We did make last-minute changes on the ship. A few times we weren't able to get the restaurant or time we wanted. Hard to say what your particular cruise will be like. You could make reservations in advance and then change on the ship--at least then you would have a fall back if you can't get the change you want.

 

Good advice! Will book just in case there are no options once on board.

[cruiserinsg]

I did it all in advance, although not all at one time. :D On Quantum, we could have booked after we got on. We did make last-minute changes on the ship. A few times we weren't able to get the restaurant or time we wanted. Hard to say what your particular cruise will be like. You could make reservations in advance and then change on the ship--at least then you would have a fall back if you can't get the change you want.[/QUOTE]

 

Thank you Nancy for the great advice. Did you book your Tours (Dubai, Oman and Cochin) with RC or you made your own arrangements? Any contacts that you can share? :) Thanks.

[cruiserinsg]

We saw nothing but complaints about Quantum before we boarded--there were even folks who canceled because of all the complaints and fears about the construction that was going to happen to change for the Chinese market. I decided not to worry about it. We had a fabulous time and loved the ship. Were there some glitches? Sure, but you can have those no matter what ship, or for that matter what hotel or land restaurant you go to. There is so much to do on that ship. Entertainment is fantastic. We loved Dynamic Dining. We just went on Vision of the Seas, and MDR was not nearly as good in our opinion. Everyone has different tastes, and some just want the same thing they have always had. We like to try different things, so for us Quantum was great. Enjoy your cruise!

 

We read similar about the Mariner OTS but till went ahead and had a wonderful time and even booked 2 more cruises with RC. :)

[cruiserinsg]

We absolutely loved Quantum. The food and service were great, and as you said, there is so much to do--iFly, bumper cars, circus school, FlowRider. Entertainment is fabulous. Combine an amazing ship with an amazing itinerary, and you can't go wrong!

 

Can you make pre-cruise reservations for the iFly, bumper cars, Flowrider etc in advance or you can only book them on-board?

[RoamingRetirees]

I did it all in advance, although not all at one time. :D On Quantum, we could have booked after we got on. We did make last-minute changes on the ship. A few times we weren't able to get the restaurant or time we wanted. Hard to say what your particular cruise will be like. You could make reservations in advance and then change on the ship--at least then you would have a fall back if you can't get the change you want.[/QUOTE]

 

Thank you Nancy for the great advice. Did you book your Tours (Dubai, Oman and Cochin) with RC or you made your own arrangements? Any contacts that you can share? :) Thanks.

 

We booked those tours with others from CC. I mentioned the tour companies in Oman and India in a previous post. In Dubai we did the HOHO bus during the day (the buses came to the port) and did dune bashing in the evening with Fun Tours. All were excellent.

[RoamingRetirees]

Can you make pre-cruise reservations for the iFly, bumper cars, Flowrider etc in advance or you can only book them on-board?

 

You can reserve iFly in advance, and I recommend you do that--it is very popular. I loved it. Bumper cars, FlowRider, roller skating, circus school do not take reservations. You show up and wait in line. At least, that's how it was on Quantum.

[cruiserinsg]

Just did a Dubai - Singapore on the Explorer last month. It was a 11 night itinerary and we had stops in India (Goa, Cochin) and Malaysia (Penang, Port Klang). Oman wasn't in our itinerary - if i'm not wrong the ship had already made a stop there on her prior voyage from Barcelona to Dubai. So it was 3 seas days for us between Dubai and Goa.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and that was probably the cruise which got me hooked onto cruising, but this won't be the usual rave review. Just wanted to share the following-

 

1. embarkation at Dubai was a mess. We got to the terminal shortly before noon and boarded at close to 4pm. When we got on there were still lines of people behind us. And this was with a 5pm sailaway. There was simply not enough staff at the terminal to process everyone. Hopefully they will have done something about it by the time of your cruise.

 

2. If you are looking to explore the ports, check to see if you will have full port days. For us, we had only about 5-6 hours in port in Goa and Penang. With the time taken for immigration to clear the ship, the lines for getting off the ship, and having to be back an hour before departure time, this left hardly any time to explore.

 

3. INDIA VISAS. Literally EVERYONE needs a visa for India even if you do not plan to get off the ship. Prior to the cruise RCCL sent a bunch of emails warning that those without visas may be denied boarding. i'm not sure if that was enforced though. And as you will be arriving by ship, you cannot use India's online visa application system, which only applies to travellers arriving via certain airports. Check early as to how to get a India visa in your country. The roll call for my cruise had people of various nationalities reporting different procedures, fees, wait times etc. And of course this was a hot topic on board. I learnt during a short elevator ride from the royal promenade to the windjammer that some canadians paid about $300 for their visa, while the norwegians had to pay a whopping $700 for theirs. Mine cost slightly less than SGD 100, if i remember correctly.

 

4. Indian immigration. It doesnt end with the visas! 1 day prior to EACH of the port stops in Goa and Cochin, immigration officers were on board to clear everybody. Everyone was assigned a time (by cabin nos) to present yourself (plus a bunch of immigration forms you had to fill up beforehand and a photocopy of your passport) at one of the ship's venues for the immigration officers to clear you and stamp your shore leave card (one of the aforesaid forms). The first 'immigration day' lasted from morning till late afternoon. I was lucky enough to have been put in one of the first few batches and completed the process by 9 plus am or so. After us, there were announcements for people to show up half an hour behind their assigned times as the immigration process was running behind schedule. Kudos to RCCL though, they did the best they could to explain how the forms were to be filled up and to make the 'immigration days' as painless for us as possible.

 

That said, all this didnt stop us from having a great time and i'm sure you will too. Will be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

 

 

tingyyy

 

Thanks for sharing. Can I check with you which airline you used to fly to Dubai from Singapore? Did you stay in Dubai pre-cruise? any recommendation for the Hotel there? Did you booked your Dubai and Cochin tour with RC or you did on your own? Thanks. :)

[cruiserinsg]

 

We booked those tours with others from CC. I mentioned the tour companies in Oman and India in a previous post. In Dubai we did the HOHO bus during the day (the buses came to the port) and did dune bashing in the evening with Fun Tours. All were excellent.

 

You can reserve iFly in advance, and I recommend you do that--it is very popular. I loved it. Bumper cars, FlowRider, roller skating, circus school do not take reservations. You show up and wait in line. At least, that's how it was on Quantum.

 

Thank you Nancy for your valuable advices in this thread. Not sure how much different the Ovation will differ from Quantum OTS and no one can tell yet as of now but may be the same as the both ships station in China.

[cruiserinsg]

Thanks for the recommendations. Will check out the tours.

 

DW is on board (pardon the pun), going to book in the morning!!! Woohoo :)

 

Congrats, hope to meet you at the M&M. :)

[RoamingRetirees]

 

 

 

Thank you Nancy for your valuable advices in this thread. Not sure how much different the Ovation will differ from Quantum OTS and no one can tell yet as of now but may be the same as the both ships station in China.

 

You're welcome! Ovation will be in Australia half the year, so it may not be changed as much to suit the Chinese market.

Edited December 3, 2015 by RoamingRetirees

[cruiserinsg]

I couldn't resist .. and booked the 3 nighter so I'll be boarding after all of you get off! First time on Quantum class! Fingers crossed that everything will be running smoothly. The complaints about the Anthem in the other threads are making me a little worried.

 

We have 2 days in Singapore before your trip. :) We are contemplating staying on-board while docked in SG. :D

[sweetgirl26]

The information that you provided was very helpful I do have a few questions.

Did you pay online or mail in two personal checks?

Did you list all the countries that you have been to in the last 10 years or just the ones in your current passport? My current passport is ~ 14 months old. If I list all the counties in the last 10 years it could be >25 or more!!

Did you list a friend as your US reference or did you use the RCL US address?

I plan on using the US Post Office (Certified with Return Receipt) to get them there. Did you pay for Fed Ex for return? It states you will get overnight delivery. Nothing is overnight delivery to Guam!

Thanks for all your help!!! I do appreciate it!:)

Peggy

[RoamingRetirees]

The information that you provided was very helpful I do have a few questions.

Did you pay online or mail in two personal checks?

Did you list all the countries that you have been to in the last 10 years or just the ones in your current passport? My current passport is ~ 14 months old. If I list all the counties in the last 10 years it could be >25 or more!!

Did you list a friend as your US reference or did you use the RCL US address?

I plan on using the US Post Office (Certified with Return Receipt) to get them there. Did you pay for Fed Ex for return? It states you will get overnight delivery. Nothing is overnight delivery to Guam!

Thanks for all your help!!! I do appreciate it!:)

Peggy

 

I paid online.

 

I thought I only had to go back 5 years, but I'm not positive. I listed 10 countries. You might call CKG (I assume India is still using them) and ask if you need to list all of them--I called them 5 or 6 times the day I completed all the forms. They were very nice and helpful.

 

Here is what I listed for references:

India sponsor: COCHIN PORT TRUST

BERTH Q 5 AND 6, ERNAKULAN WHARF

WILLINGDON, COCHIN

+ 91 484 266 68

US sponsor: ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINE

1050 CARIBBEAN WAY

MIAMI, FL, USA 33132

+1 305 341 0204

 

I did pay for the Fedex return. If you don't, it might go on a slow boat! :eek:

 

Good luck!

[sweetgirl26]

See you in Sydney in 2017!

Peggy

[RoamingRetirees]

See you in Sydney in 2017!

Peggy

 

You're welcome! Sydney seems so far away. Lots of planning to do.

[cruiserinsg]

You can reserve iFly in advance, and I recommend you do that--it is very popular. I loved it. Bumper cars, FlowRider, roller skating, circus school do not take reservations. You show up and wait in line. At least, that's how it was on Quantum.

 

Hi Nancy, can I check with you the number of times you can make the reservation for iFly? Thanks.

[RoamingRetirees]

Hi Nancy, can I check with you the number of times you can make the reservation for iFly? Thanks.

 

You can only make one reservation. They will let you go again if they have space (for instance, someone doesn't show), but you would just have to show up and wait. It is popular, so make reservations in advance to make sure you can do it. It is a blast!

[cruiserinsg]

up this thread for hotel advise/recommendation in Dubai. Thanks. :)

[ilikeplanes]

Hi, couple of questions about Oman and Cochin. At those ports is it possible to grab a taxi form the port and do it yourself to the city centre? How far is the port at each place to downtown?

 

Thanks

[Biker19]

Do a search for the Splendour sailing out of Dubai (recent thread) - that mentioned Oman in a few posts. Also, the folks on the roll call for this sailing can probably give you answers.

[AussieVisi2r]

Hi, couple of questions about Oman and Cochin. At those ports is it possible to grab a taxi form the port and do it yourself to the city centre? How far is the port at each place to downtown?

 

Thanks

 

Yes to both ports.

 

Especially in India - negotiate a price then tell them you want to inspect the car first.

You want to check for "American Air Conditioning" and seat belts. Some of the cars were wrecks and when we asked for the aircond to be turned on we were told to wind down the windows.

 

Oman taxi's are run by a controller. So all good. We go a luxury car. Amazing.

 

It's a great way to see both places.

 

Raina