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

[c-boy]

53 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

I forgot to mention that Singapore Airlines provides free inflight wifi for those in BC. 

 

2 1/2 hours to go before we land!

 

 

  🍸 well good to know. It's cocktail hour here, and by the time you land I will be on drink #2  

[Disney Sheep]

Thank you so much for posting this thread! My husband and I are booked on a similar cruise next year (Seattle to Singapore) and I am very much looking forward to gathering info as I have not been to any of these ports yet!

 

Yvonne - whose user name of Disney Sheep is more than a little ironic since we only visited Disney parks twice when our kids were very young… BUT we loved sailing on DCL back when their prices were less stupid! And before we started sailing Royal, Princess, and HAL!

[Yehootu]

3 hours ago, c-boy said:

  🍸 well good to know. It's cocktail hour here, and by the time you land I will be on drink #2  

It's 8:30am here in Singapore and I've started my local beer tasting to settle on a favorite.

[Yehootu]

We left our Long Beach place on a prearranged Uber at 0400 for a 0600 flight to SFO. Arrived SFO around 0730 after a short fog delay flow time. 

Polaris lounge for breakfast and a few preflight IPA's.

Flight boarded and left ontime at 1105. flt time 15;58. We had our favorite Business seats, 2 center seats in front row. They have larger foot wells for my big feet. A few areas of bumpy ride, but overall very nice. Had a medical problem onboard and had to wait for medical stall to board and attend to passenger before we could get up and get off. What's a few minutes for someone after 16hrs.

I attempted to sleep and got maybe 2hrs. Suzanne got a little more. Watched several movies.

Singapore arrival was a breeze. were met by our driver from Welcome Pickups who had sent us pics of himself and where he was standing outside arrival doors.

Easy check in after 15-20 min ride to hotel. Showered and read some and was asleep by 9pm and slept till 0400. Same sleep cycle as at home! Woke up feeling fine.

Great breakfast in Exec Lounge.

Went for a short walk down Orchard Street to show Suzanne all the big shopping malls.

She's waiting till we leave in a few to take a Grab to Bugis and Little India so she can start her quest for Grandkids 'stuff". I'm looking forward to all the great Singapore food I can find and no doubt will work it and the beer off carrying around her daily booty of 'stuff"

I'll let Debbie corner the market on Orchard Street before we get there so there will be a lot less for Suzanne to buy

Great Start..

[Yehootu]

9 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

The food has also been fantastic!  As well as the wine selections.

That menu looks fantastic. Sure beats United's selection. I did have Fried Cod with Red Curry and Suzanne had the Short Rib. The Cod was one of the better meals I've had on UAL. I suppose that doesn't mean much as the majority of my meals have been 32 yrs of crew meals.😀 It was really good though. Hope you have as easy of a turn around time wise as we've had.

[leck57]

1 hour ago, Yehootu said:

It's 8:30am here in Singapore and I've started my local beer tasting to settle on a favorite.

 

Not many actual local Singapore beers. Tiger is about the best I find. As you'll soon work out beer is pretty expensive unless you strike a happy hour place, of which there is many. One of our favs is SQUE at Clarke Quay where they do a 2 for 1 and you don't have to get both at he same time. They'll bring the second when you are ready and their happy hours last a number of hours. If you like a beer in your hotel, grabbing a 6 pack from the places like 7/11 is much cheaper. 

We'll be back in Singapore in two weeks and can't wait.

Edited October 11 by leck57

[LACruiser88]

We have arrived!  Immigration was all automated and a breeze.  Bags came out super quick, we went out thru the "Nothing to Declare" doors into the arms of Eddie, our Blacklane driver.

 

We arrived at our hotel at 9 am.  Our room would be ready at 10 am as promised, so we took a stroll down Orchard Road.  We returned promptly at 10 and were given our room keys.

 

We are going to rest a bit and at around 4 pm we will head to Bugis Street for shopping and dinner. @Yehootu Tim, we'll be looking for you!

 

Our home for the week...

 

 

 

The purse did not come with the room!  🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from our room.

 

 

[leck57]

43 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have arrived!  Immigration was all automated and a breeze.  Bags came out super quick, we went out thru the "Nothing to Declare" doors into the arms of Eddie, our Blacklane driver.

 

We arrived at our hotel at 9 am.  Our room would be ready at 10 am as promised, so we took a stroll down Orchard Road.  We returned promptly at 10 and were given our room keys.

 

We are going to rest a bit and at around 4 pm we will head to Bugis Street for shopping and dinner. @Yehootu Tim, we'll be looking for you!

 

Our home for the week...

 

 

 

The purse did not come with the room!  🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from our room.

 

 

If you don't find Bugis area doesn't do it for you (personally not for me) walk about 10 minutes to the Arab St area. Heaps of places on the side streets and around the big mosque. 

[waltd]

Just now, LACruiser88 said:

We have arrived!  Immigration was all automated and a breeze.  Bags came out super quick, we went out thru the "Nothing to Declare" doors into the arms of Eddie, our Blacklane driver.

 

We arrived at our hotel at 9 am.  Our room would be ready at 10 am as promised, so we took a stroll down Orchard Road.  We returned promptly at 10 and were given our room keys.

 

We are going to rest a bit and at around 4 pm we will head to Bugis Street for shopping and dinner. @Yehootu Tim, we'll be looking for you!

 

Our home for the week...

 

 

 

The purse did not come with the room!  🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from our room.

 

 

Rafael

How well did Blackline work out?  We also have them booked.   Did your driver speak any English?  We used Blackline in Japan and were very happy with them.

Joe

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, waltd said:

Rafael

How well did Blackline work out?  We also have them booked.   Did your driver speak any English?  We used Blackline in Japan and were very happy with them.

Joe

Joe,

 

Eddie, our Blacklane driver, spoke very good English and pointed out things to see on our way to the hotel.  He also gave us info on his favorite Hawker locations and other misc information.  We gave him a 10 out of 10 rating.

 

Rafael

[Yehootu]

5 hours ago, leck57 said:

If you like a beer in your hotel, grabbing a 6 pack from the places like 7/11 is much cheaper. 

7-11 is a very short walk and the clerk said to me, "back so soon, which one did you like the best?". I was getting a few to take to the pool and told her, "looks like we'll become good friends during the next week". I figured I'd get in a swim while Suzanne recovered from her shopping blitz. 

[waltd]

39 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Joe,

 

Eddie, our Blacklane driver, spoke very good English and pointed out things to see on our way to the hotel.  He also gave us info on his favorite Hawker locations and other misc information.  We gave him a 10 out of 10 rating.

 

Rafael

I know gratuities are normally included in the price which I like. Did you feelI they expected additional? Do we even tip in Singapore.

Thanks for the reply.

Joe

 

[Yehootu]

5 minutes ago, waltd said:

I know gratuities are normally included in the price which I like. Did you feelI they expected additional? Do we even tip in Singapore.

Thanks for the reply.

Joe

 

I can't speak for Blacklane as we used Welcome Pick Ups. If you Google tips in Singapore it says "tips aren't expected from Grab and Taxi drivers". A small tip is appropriate if moving bags are done. Our driver made it very easy to find him and took care of all our bags. He didn't expect a tip and was surprised when I gave him one. Very seamless arrival and transport experience.

[LACruiser88]

3 hours ago, waltd said:

I know gratuities are normally included in the price which I like. Did you feelI they expected additional? Do we even tip in Singapore.

Thanks for the reply.

Joe

 

As Tim mentioned, tips are not expected.  And, Blacklane specifically states that gratuities are included in their fee worldwide.  That being said, we did give Eddie a tip which he greatly appreciated.

[LACruiser88]

6 hours ago, leck57 said:

If you don't find Bugis area doesn't do it for you (personally not for me)

We took a taxi to the Bugis shopping mall (kind of a flea market) and we were greatly disappointed.

 

We decided to walk the 3 miles back to our hotel along Orchard Road, during which time Debbie stopped at many of her favorite stores.  Her professional opinion was that there were definitely no bargains to be had!  I did a happy dance all the way back to our hotel!  🤣

 

I did stop for a coconut ice cream sandwich.

 

We also had sushi for dinner inside one of the many modern shopping malls.  Below are some random photos from Orchard Road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Four Seasons is known for their turndown service which includes a bedside floor mat and slippers.

[mtnesterz]

6 hours ago, waltd said:

Do we even tip in Singapore.

 

3 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

That being said, we did give Eddie a tip which he greatly appreciated.

No, it's really not in their custom. Like here, people feel differently about things. Some would graciously accept, but privately think it strange.

The culture is that you do your best. To offer someone extra implies they were not working hard enough and need to try harder. But it is perceived as if someone from another country tried to push some of their ways, which may seem odd to you and I, on us here is the US. 

Edited October 11 by mtnesterz

[smcmahon]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:52 AM, pa_snowbird said:

Any comments on the Lau Pa Sat and Maxwell food center?
These hawker stalls are all open air right?  Is it too hot and humid to eat there.  Are there indoor food centers with A/C?

Lau Pa Sat is good, we did not really care for Maxwell but its close to our hotel 🙂

[leck57]

10 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We took a taxi to the Bugis shopping mall (kind of a flea market) and we were greatly disappointed.

 

We decided to walk the 3 miles back to our hotel along Orchard Road, during which time Debbie stopped at many of her favorite stores.  Her professional opinion was that there were definitely no bargains to be had!  I did a happy dance all the way back to our hotel!  🤣

 

I did stop for a coconut ice cream sandwich.

 

We also had sushi for dinner inside one of the many modern shopping malls.  Below are some random photos from Orchard Road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Four Seasons is known for their turndown service which includes a bedside floor mat and slippers.

 

When people say that they are going somewhere that I don't rate I don't like to say too much other than a broad hint. Now that you've been there, I can say I dislike that area. It was a major visiting area back in the 80's but has no appeal to me now. As I mentioned, the Arab St area is much better.

Don't hesitate to use the MRT. It is a wonderful transport system that will take you anywhere in Singapore and help lessen some walking in the heat. You can use your credit/debit card to pay and just get a map of the lines from a station or take a photo. 

As you mentioned, we also don't find any bargains shopping wise in Singapore these days, however Orchard Rd is generally higher end stuff. We now visit Vivo City shopping centre which is more day to day items like Sketchers etc. Easy to get to by MRT as is everywhere. Enjoy.

[LACruiser88]

We tried to stay up as late as we could last night to help with the 15 hr time change from PST.  We made it to 9 pm!  And, I slept until 5 am, not bad!  Debbie got in an extra 1.5 hrs.  All that store browsing wiped her out!  🤪

 

The hotel has a pillow menu that we always take advantage of, a #5 and a #8 please.

 

 

 

[EDVM96]

28 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The hotel has a pillow menu that we always take advantage of, a #5 and a #8 please.

How do they taste? 😁

[NownZen]

We arrived yesterday and got settled into our hotel. Then went down to see the cruise terminal. As leck57 said, the MRT is great. We got a three day pass for $S29. The cruise terminal is the end of the NS line at stop 28. That services both the ferries and the cruise terminal. However it is about 1/3 mile to the terminal on a covered walkway which is probably better for a different age group than we are. The Geeling Dawn and a Celebrity ship were at the two berths. The terminal reminds me of Canada Place in Vancouver. There is a ramp to the second floor for taxis but there is also a ground floor stop for luggage dropoff.

The walk to the terminal was pretty with lots of flowering bushes. There were a lot of people heading to the ships with carry on size suitcases.

We will probably take a cab Thursday.

Edited October 12 by NownZen
Mispelling

[waltd]

Just now, NownZen said:

We arrived yesterday and got settled into our hotel. Then went down to see the cruise terminal. As leck57 said, the MRT is great. We got a three day pass for $S29. The cruise terminal is the end of the NS line at stop 28. That services both the ferries and the cruise terminal. However it is about 1/3 mile to the terminal on a covered walkway which is probably better for a different age group than we are. The Geeling Dawn and a Celebrity ship were at the two berths. The terminal reminds me of Canada Place in Vancouver. There is a ramp to the second floor for taxis but there is also a ground floor stop for luggage dropoff.

The walk to the terminal was pretty with lots of flowering bushes. There were a lot of people heading to the ships with carry on size suitcases.

We will probably take a cab Thursday.

Just another question.  Do the taxis drop you off at the beginning of the walkway? When do you drop off your luggage before you do the walk?   We are of that certain age.   LOL

[shellbeachjim]

13 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We decided to walk the 3 miles back to our hotel along Orchard Road, during which time Debbie stopped at many of her favorite stores.  Her professional opinion was that there were definitely no bargains to be had!  I did a happy dance all the way back to our hotel!  🤣

I can only imagine what your 3 mile long happy dance looks like...

Edited October 12 by shellbeachjim

[shellbeachjim]

7 minutes ago, waltd said:

Just another question.  Do the taxis drop you off at the beginning of the walkway? When do you drop off your luggage before you do the walk?   We are of that certain age.   LOL

The taxis should drop you off at the terminal itself. This was true last year when we sailed from Singapore. There were two ships in port that day and getting into the terminal took a while. They were limited the number of people let into the people into the terminal. The luggage was dropped off outside, so we were only schlepping our carry ons as we waited, but we were bunched up outside the doors as they let just a few people at a time to enter through the doors.

[LACruiser88]

We started our day this morning with a huge breakfast at the hotel (included in our stay).  We usually do not eat breakfast, but we loaded up so we are good until dinner.

 

The restaurant is beautiful!  In addition to the standard American staples, they had different cuisine stations; Singaporean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai.

 

I had several Singaporean dishes that were fantastic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another view of our hotel.