radiancecruiser Posted August 26, 2017 #1 Share Posted August 26, 2017 We will have 2 nights/1 full day in Singapore prior to our cruise in Feb. 2018. We are staying at the Village Hotel Albert Court for those 2 nights, apparently just near Little India. We don't want to do anything specific, just experience the sights and sounds of Singapore. Can anyone suggest the best way to do this? We are considering the hop on/hop off bus tour. But is it better to just use the MRT to get around? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted August 26, 2017 #2 Share Posted August 26, 2017 If you like to walk we walked and also used the subway. One or two times we also took a taxi. There is so much to see. Be sure to visit Chinatown in addition to Little India. Visit the colonial area. Get a good map. You certainly can do the Hop On Hop Off Bus which we do in some areas but for the three times we have been to Singapore we used the transportation I mentioned along with walking. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted August 26, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted August 26, 2017 If you like to walk we walked and also used the subway. One or two times we also took a taxi. There is so much to see. Be sure to visit Chinatown in addition to Little India. Visit the colonial area. Get a good map. You certainly can do the Hop On Hop Off Bus which we do in some areas but for the three times we have been to Singapore we used the transportation I mentioned along with walking. Keith Thank you. We will have a day pre cruise and a day or so post cruise. It's not a great deal of time, so I want to make sure that we make the best use of our time. How do you pay for the subway? Do you just purchase a ticket at the station? Also, what would be the best way to get from Changi Airport to our hotel, and then from our hotel to the port? I was thinking just a taxi, but I'm wondering if there is a better way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SordidClown Posted August 26, 2017 #4 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Spent 7 days in Singapore this summer and loved every minute. Taxi from the airport to hotel is by far the best option with plenty available at reasonable prices. Using the subway is very easy with ticket machines at every station. Once you have your ticket just swipe at the entrance and exit barriers. Any issues just find a member of staff they all seemed more than happy to help. Have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4774Papa Posted August 26, 2017 #5 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Taxis are cheap. With only two nights and one full day, you will have to choose what tour not to take. There is an evening tour including Chinatown with a meal as well as a short cruise on the lake and canal downtown that is good. Daytime, I enjoyed the island tour that visited most of the island, including places important to WWII history and the Japanese invasion and prison camp. You may wish to take a city tour of Singapore. If you go back, loved the Botanical Gardens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted August 26, 2017 #6 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Thank you. We will have a day pre cruise and a day or so post cruise. It's not a great deal of time, so I want to make sure that we make the best use of our time. How do you pay for the subway? Do you just purchase a ticket at the station? Also, what would be the best way to get from Changi Airport to our hotel, and then from our hotel to the port? I was thinking just a taxi, but I'm wondering if there is a better way? You are very welcome. Yes, you purchase a fare card at the subway. Just have local money. It's very easy to use. I would just take a taxi from the airport to the hotel and over to the port. The taxis are very nice and the drivers are very courteous. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted August 26, 2017 Author #7 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Thank you. With regard to the HOHO bus tours, do I have to purchase the tickets online, and then get to Suntec Hub to redeem them? Or can I get straight on the bus at Little India? Sorry if these are silly questions....we aren't experienced travellers and I'm a tiny bit nervous. I don't want to waste precious time not knowing what to do..... Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted August 26, 2017 #8 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Singapore is our first stop this winter on an extended winter vacation. We were initially targeting three days, two nights. Is this sufficient? We have previously spent time in Malaysia and Thailand so we are somewhat familiar with the region. We had a fabulous air fare into Singapore so this is where we decided to start. We have lots of time, we are extremely flexible, and have an open schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted August 26, 2017 #9 Share Posted August 26, 2017 I am not sure where you are traveling from but remember jet lag. It takes some time to get over it. I would spend three nights versus two nights there. There is lots to see. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swissmiss6253 Posted August 27, 2017 #10 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Masses to see in Singapore. We caught a taxi from your hotel last time we were there, it looked like a really charming hotel. We did one day of the hop on hop off bus and it was interesting. The rest of the time we took taxis as they were really reasonable value I thought and you still got to see where you were going. We did a one day tour as well with viatour. We were there four days and could have easily stayed for another four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian1 Posted August 27, 2017 #11 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Thank you.With regard to the HOHO bus tours, do I have to purchase the tickets online, and then get to Suntec Hub to redeem them? Or can I get straight on the bus at Little India? Sorry if these are silly questions....we aren't experienced travellers and I'm a tiny bit nervous. I don't want to waste precious time not knowing what to do..... Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Hi,when we were there in 2013 we had to convert the online vouchers to validtickets at the hub.It was a Sunday and the hub did not open until 9am even though the buses started at 8.That was a bit frustrating,but we managed to do most things in 1 day,cheers,Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted August 27, 2017 Author #12 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Masses to see in Singapore. We caught a taxi from your hotel last time we were there, it looked like a really charming hotel. We did one day of the hop on hop off bus and it was interesting. The rest of the time we took taxis as they were really reasonable value I thought and you still got to see where you were going. We did a one day tour as well with viatour. We were there four days and could have easily stayed for another four. Thank you for the feedback about the hotel! I scanned booking websites for days before actually deciding on one that I thought was great value.... I just hope that it's in a convenient location.👍 Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted August 28, 2017 #13 Share Posted August 28, 2017 Thanks. We arrive early in the AM from Canada. Long flight. I think that we will book three nights. If we like it we can stay longer. We keep our plans very flexible in case we want to stay longer than anticipated in one location Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted August 28, 2017 #14 Share Posted August 28, 2017 We loved our pre-cruise in Singapore. Used a taxi from airport to our hotel, Royal Plaza on Scott's Road...amazing location. Opted for the HOHO...purchased our tickets as we hopped on. Used the MRT (easy) to get to the night street BBQ at Lau Pa Sat (google this...not to be missed)...actually so good we went two nights. Then day of our cruise easily took a taxi to the port. FYI...how early of an arrival flight do you have? Ours was 4:00am so we took the advice of other's and booked the night before to assure we would have access to our room when we arrived...this in particular was a great suggestion especially in Singapore. Enjoy Singapore "It's A Fine City" (their slogan). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted August 28, 2017 Author #15 Share Posted August 28, 2017 We loved our pre-cruise in Singapore. Used a taxi from airport to our hotel, Royal Plaza on Scott's Road...amazing location. Opted for the HOHO...purchased our tickets as we hopped on. Used the MRT (easy) to get to the night street BBQ at Lau Pa Sat (google this...not to be missed)...actually so good we went two nights. Then day of our cruise easily took a taxi to the port. FYI...how early of an arrival flight do you have? Ours was 4:00am so we took the advice of other's and booked the night before to assure we would have access to our room when we arrived...this in particular was a great suggestion especially in Singapore. Enjoy Singapore "It's A Fine City" (their slogan). Our flight arrives in Singapore at 4.50pm, so we have just booked our room from that night. So do you mean that you purchased the HOHO tickets on the actual bus? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyaheel Posted August 28, 2017 #16 Share Posted August 28, 2017 We stayed at Oasia Downtown and received free HOHO bus tickets from the hotel. We had 6 nights there pre-cruise and did the HOHO at the beginning so we'd have an idea of where we wanted to spend more time. We used taxis and Uber - Uber was better at finding our hotel (it had only been open 6 months) than taxis were. The taxi from the airport went to the wrong Oasia at first. Not good at 1am ;-) (we also booked our room for late check-in the night we arrived - worked out great for us - once we got to the hotel ;-) LOVED that hotel. Right next to an MRT station, walking distance to Maxwell AND Lau Pa Sat hawker centres. We used the MRT for our tourist travel around town with 2 exceptions- we took a taxi to the port (we were on Azamara which uses Harbor Front) and Uber to the Botanical Gardens (we were dropped off on one end and walked through to one of the MRT stations on the other side). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted August 28, 2017 #17 Share Posted August 28, 2017 Our flight arrives in Singapore at 4.50pm, so we have just booked our room from that night. So do you mean that you purchased the HOHO tickets on the actual bus? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Yes, we just purchased when we boarded the HOHO at the stop near our hotel Scott's Road & Orchard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted August 28, 2017 Author #18 Share Posted August 28, 2017 Yes, we just purchased when we boarded the HOHO at the stop near our hotel Scott's Road & Orchard. That's good to know. I was expecting to have to pre purchase the tickets and redeem them at Suntec before we can even get on the bus.... Did you use SIN$? Or credit card? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashland Posted August 29, 2017 #19 Share Posted August 29, 2017 That's good to know. I was expecting to have to pre purchase the tickets and redeem them at Suntec before we can even get on the bus....Did you use SIN$? Or credit card? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app SIN $'s for everything except our hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missinver Posted September 14, 2017 #20 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Radiance Cruiser, I am stalking you around the forum's tonight & soaking up all the information you are getting!! Our flight from London arrives just a couple of hours before you around 2.40pm. I will probably spend the next 5 months trying to plan this trip, we also have 5 nights in Bali after the cruise, so that needs researched as well lol!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiancecruiser Posted September 23, 2017 Author #21 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Radiance Cruiser, I am stalking you around the forum's tonight & soaking up all the information you are getting!! Our flight from London arrives just a couple of hours before you around 2.40pm. I will probably spend the next 5 months trying to plan this trip, we also have 5 nights in Bali after the cruise, so that needs researched as well lol!! Our flight from Melbourne to Singapore got cancelled, and all of the alternative options the airline provided just weren't going to work. So we had to take the refund and book a flight with a completely different airline, at a higher cost.... Fortunately the timing is almost exactly the same, but it certainly caused some stress at the time! Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missinver Posted September 25, 2017 #22 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Oh that's not good, but I'm so glad you got a suitable alternative booked, but sucks that it is more expensive. The time is marching on & our holiday will be here before we know it!! Would be great to meet up on board for some cocktails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trend Posted September 25, 2017 #23 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Last time we went to the zoo which we very rarely do but it was amazing. Very different from other zoos as many animals are roaming free or are viewed at close range. Would return. This time we are just one extra day so going to hit the gardens and Orchard Rd as we did not do this last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted September 27, 2017 #24 Share Posted September 27, 2017 This might sound a bit weird, but we love going out to the zoo at night and doing the Night Safari. Easy to get there using the public transit and the night experience was quite interesting. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champagne lover Posted September 27, 2017 #25 Share Posted September 27, 2017 Radiance cruiser & Missinver, we are in Singapore for nights in February as well before our cruise on Celebrity Millenium - is that the same cruise you are both on? We were in Singapore 10 years ago and did the HOHO bus and loved it, thinking about doing it again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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