OldBoot

This looks wonderful. I am so sad though that they don't offer tours on Mondays--the day our cruise stops for an overnight port stop.

 

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No matter! I contacted them anyway and they set up a private tour for 6 of us from the cruise ship.

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Wow. Australian and Singapore money arrived. It all has holes in it!!

Holey! Can't wait to see some. [emoji1]

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We used Betel Box Tours for a walking food tour of Joo Chiat / Katong neighborhoods. Loved it. Really got acquainted with the food, the people, the history, the diversity, not the mention the chilli crab. We've done walking food tours in Shanghai, Hoi An, Istanbul, Siem Reap and a few more. This one ranks in our top two - and all of them were worth doing. And maybe doing again. If we have time on next visit to Singapore, we'll add another Betel Box tour along with a return visit to Jurong Bird Park and the Zoo.

This looks wonderful. I am so sad though that they don't offer tours on Mondays--the day our cruise stops for an overnight port stop.

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Your ship is scheduled to embark at 8AM. But by the time you get off from the ship, I guess it is already 9AM or later (I was there at the port last week to pick up my guests from Celebrity Millennium and the port technicians took almost an hour to hoist and install the steel foot bridge, very primitive).

 

Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si Temple are near to each other, about 10 mins away. It takes about 30 minutes from the port if the traffic is good. I would suggest that you hire a licensed tour guide + car/van if you want to go to these two places for three reasons:

 

(1) If you use a private car/van, the driver can drive all the way up to the highest point in Kek Lok Si Temple where the 31m Kuan Im (Goddess of Mercy) statue is located. If you follow the big groups (coaches provided by the cruise management), the TGs will only show you the main hall of Kek Lok Si because the highest point is not accessible by coaches/buses (hence missing the view of George Town). Even from the coach park to the main hall, you have to climb the staircase for 15 minutes. This is not adviseable to elderly people. From the main hall to the Kuan Im statue, you have to climb starcases for another 15 minutes and then take a 5-min tram. You don't have time to do that.

 

There used to be a van driver touting at the coach park providing 2-way van service to Kuan Im statue at RM$10/person. Unfortunately Ricky passed away last month from cancer.

 

(2) If you want to go Penang Hill, you have to put this at the very top of the itinerary. You want to reach there before the big groups. The funicular train can only ferry 80 persons per trip X 15 minutes a trip.

 

(3) It is much cheaper hiring a private tour guide + car/van if you have a group of 4 or more, comparing to joining the big groups provided by the cruise management. I was told by my guests that the cruise management charged US$190/person for a Penang or Kuala Lumpur city tour!

 

Here is something I suggest (in the sequence as shown) for 9AM-5PM trip:

 

Penang Hill >>

 

Kek Lok Si Temple >>

 

Lunch in George Town (I usually suggest buffet lunch at Eastern & Oriental Hotel to my guests. US$19.50 nett. It's the oldest and most expensive hotel in town.) >>

 

Trishaw ride (an Oriental tricycle) through the pre-war houses which gave George Town the UNESCO World Heritage title. >>

 

Khoo Kongsi clan temple >>

 

Short walking tour to Art Street + the famous "Children On Bicycle" mural. >>

 

Pinang Peranakan Museum (ranked #1 in TripAdvisor) >>

 

Chew Jetty (always keep this at the bottom of your schedule as it is only 3 minutes away from the port) >>

 

Back to the port.

 

P/S: If you have sufficient time, spend 10 minutes visiting the handmade joss stick shop. It is a dying tradition.

 

HINT: You can find a good licensed tour guide + car/van for up to 4 paxs / 14 paxs respectively in www.ToursByLocals.com

You have offered some great tips. May I ask, how does one tell if the tour guide is licensed?

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Thanks for posting this question. I'm glad to read these tips also.

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we had booked the princess cruise tour to batu caves kuala lumpur but just received email to tell us this tour is cancelled.....disappointed now have to decide on what to do

Doing some research for our own SE Asia cruise. I wonder what prompted the cruise line to cancel? Health concerns, security, breakdown in relations with the excursion operator? Did they give any details?

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I'm interested in this type of tour as well. We're on the ms Volendam in February. Are we by any chance sailing together?

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In Honolulu we did a doors off helicopter which was amazing.

 

The Amalfi Coast we were a small group from roll call but went off with time on our own. DH and I also ended up buying some beautiful pottery which was delivered a couple of weeks ago.

 

In Rome we had a guide/driver to show us around the city, no lines or tickets. That was one of the most expensive but definitely worth it.

 

In Madeira it was just us and the driver and that was a fantastic day, in a four wheel drive, all over the island.

 

In Alaska DH went up in the plane over Mt. McKinley and he thoroughly enjoyed that.

 

Whatever you do I hope you have a fantastic time with wonderful memories.

Oooh, some of this sounds quite recent. You must still have that after-cruise glow about you. :) Great choices, every one of them it seems. Thank you for the lovely wish for our holiday! You are kind to offer it and I appreciate your words.

I haven't done an excursion on a cruise yet. I'm DIY. But, I did do a splurge on a trip to Kenya. The safari was already stretching my budget. But, there was an offer of a dawn hot air balloon ride on the Masai Mara. I just couldn't turn that down!!! The photo in my .sig is from that ride...

DIY is an aspiration of mine. I don't feel confident enough for most--and, I always seem to try to hit ALL the high points available, instead of enjoying the moment. (I have a dawn hot air balloon ride in mind for an upcoming splurge.) Would love to see other photos from that ride!

Another splurge, we had a private driver take us to Pompeii and then along the Amalfi Coast, stopped in Positano and Sorrento to buy Italian Pottery(arrived in perfect condition) and ate lunch at a small family farmhouse restaurant. After lunch the daughters taught me to make limoncello and orangecello, gave me a tour of their farm. Really a wonderful and remarkable day of gorgeous views, great pottery, and a surprise limoncello lesson. Now I always have Limoncello in my refrigerator.

 

And another one - this time in France, took a van to a boat which brought us out to view the Calanques de Cassis (gorgeous), visited a local food market and pastry shop, bought a picnic lunch at these places of ham, French Bread, cheese and pastries, went to an olive oil mill, bought olive oil and Herbs de Province in the olive wood grinder and then went wine tasting and bought wine. Just another day in paradise!

 

On that same trip, we did a FABULOUS Tuscan Hill Town adventure. These towns have amazing views and are equally beautiful to look at from below. They are a photographer's dream in every way! Our first stop was Volterra - with a commanding presence and sweeping views and a great place to buy alabaster. Second, San Gimignano (and ate the world's best gelato - and it WAS! (Gorgonzola flavor)), It was in San Gimignano that I discovered the crazy colored and oversized pasta from Morelli from Tuscany and Marella from Puglia. San Gimignano is beautifully preserved and just a fun place to visit, so quaint and charming. We went further along to Montepulciano, where we had a delicious lunch of pasta with wild boar, wonderful local wine and vin santo for dessert and then finally Sienna where we saw the Head and thumb of St. Catherine (relics) in the basilica and did some shopping. We had not gone to the basilica to look at relics, but I happened upon them and decided to look up the story behind these. After all, why would they just have her head and thumb? How did she die? As it turns out she died in her early 30's as she claimed she could only eat communion wafers and communion wine (was she an anorexic or did she have cancer or some other disease? We'll never really know.), these relics got to Sienna by way of a rather risky caper - they were stolen from the Vatican while under guard and brought to Sienna in a valise, which was searched when the theft was noticed, but only contained rose petals and then the head rematerialized upon its return to Sienna! Look up the story, it is fascinating. Anyway, this is why St. Catherine is often depicted in paintings with rose petals. This was her last miracle.

 

Interestingly enough, Volterra is actually the town in the Twilight books, but Montepulciano is where the Twilight film scenes (New Moon) for Volterra were filmed as Volterra has no central fountain as described in the books. The Tuscan hill towns were so individual and so interesting, it has made us want to go back and visit even more of them! Meanwhile, back in Florence, others from our cruise spent the whole day in the Academia Gallery. But I realized, if we did that, we'd see art but not Italy.

 

I feel so lucky and privileged to have had these experiences. They were all just amazing and so very, very special and unique.

So glad you shared. I am loving everyone's stories. What great experiences; no regrets.

Oh boy. Tender doesn't seem the right word for that commute from shore to ship!

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Flight seeing in AK, with a landing in the shadow of Mt. McKinley. Well worth the cost. Landing on a glacier at that altitude and location is incredible.

 

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Those photos! Obviously well worth it.

All day trip from Buenos Aires to an Estancia (cattle ranch). Wonderful ship's trip!

 

Earlier on the same cruise, at Punta Arenas Chile, did the combination penguin colony + barbeque at a sheep ranch. Weather turned sour late in the day and we were glad THAT one was also a ship's tour. They pulled in the gangway onto our very tender!

 

This is not to say we always do ship excursions. We do about half and half -- it's just that the non-ship tours tend not to qualify as splurges as they are (usually) significantly cheaper.

 

At Livorno Italy, we booked a private tour with SPB -- wound up being the only 2 passengers in a mini-van. Driver offered an upsell from a self-purchased bistro lunch to a home-kitchen-prepared meal at a family-owned winery with wines selected for all four courses. This was a splurge esp. when we had a case of wine shipped home! On the other hand, EXCEPT for the wind order, we still came out under the cost of the comparable ship's tour. And that company has a policy of "If you miss the boat, we take you to the next port!"

Omg, a home-cooked meal at a family-owned winery--that sounds wonderful. Great to have the guaranteed delivery to the ship too!

You must have been resting easy in Chile, knowing that you had no worries about re-boarding the ship in time. Whew! Close one.

Best expensive splurge: I hired a private guide for just myself for a full-day tour in Israel of the places I most wanted to see. I am very interested in Roman history and with some research and help online I was able to find a guide who was an archaeologist and specialized in this particular area. It was an absolutely memorable day, and I had access to some places that are either not well known or not generally open to the public...

 

Best not-too-expensive splurge: On a tour that visited Tivoli (outside Rome) we had time for lunch on our own and some free time in the afternoon. I had heard about a wonderful restaurant perched up on one of the high parts of town and located right next to two Roman temples. We had a wonderful lunch there, outdoors under the arbor, in this gorgeous location (while most of the rest of the tour participants never got to this location)

A guide who was also an archaeologist?! That's perfection. I would love a guide who is also an architect one day. And love your categorizations. Now I want lunch in Tivoli. :)

Very memorable (though some would consider them "expensive":

 

Kauai's NaPali Coast et al. by helicopter. (Take the longest tour you can afford).

 

Private Rome tour with driver plus licensed guide arranged by our hotel concierge. (Packaged this with same driver doing port/airport transfers [Mercedes AMG sedan!!!] and same guide doing Vatican. Overall, a bit "pricey" but actually less expensive than equivalent offerings from outfits like Rome In Cabs or The Roman Guy.

 

We've also done private tours with licensed guide/driver (one person) including transfers in places like Lisbon and are about to do the same in Santiago/Valparaiso.

Flatbush Flyer, those are some great excursions!

On an Alaskan cruise tour we flew over the summit of Denali on a clear day. It was the most spectacular excursion we have ever taken. The plane was small (6 passengers if I remember correctly) and unpressurized (you had to wear an oxygen mask) and the pilot a little unnerving (it was the end of the climbing season on the mountain and he banked sharply over the upper base camp a couple of times to get the climbers to wave at us) but the scenery was breathtaking.

We visited Denali national park, but no fly-over and no clear day for us. Wow, you had the luck of the gods. That excursion does sound uniquely memorable!

From Antigua we did A helicopter tour of the live Montserrat Volcano.

biker@sea, great handle. I love the Twain quote in your signature.

This helicopter trip was amazing! As there are three of us we priced up having the helicopter to ourselves rather than two more people being in with us. They gave us a reasonable price but that then meant we could tailor our trip rather than just do the scheduled run. The pilot discussed where we could get to in the time allotted and we loved every minute.

When you love every minute, it just doesn't get any better than that.

A day long trip to the WW II beaches in Normandy. Incredible trip. I think almost all of the guys on the bus were veterans so lots of stories swapped at lunch.

Aw, I love this. I'm so glad you chose to make that trip.

In Mahogany Bay, we did a a/c bungalow - it was FABULOUS!!!!

In Civitavechia, we did a private excursion past Roman Aqueducts to Bomarzo Giardino di Mostri - arrived in the early AM when it was foggy and explored the gardens as Renaissance guests would have - an experience not to be missed for the world, Villa Lante - so spectacular and I am jealous of the fountain table overlooking the ocean - hard to explain except to say this is an absolute amazing garden and unlike anything I have ever seen before and Villa Farnese, the Heaven staircase, the frescos - we also had lunch at a restaurant frequented by only Italians - it was an amazing day and well worth the splurge - no one else had anything this incredible!!!! Worth every cent! (I believe $500) Would not trade that experience for the world!

I am hearing fabulous, spectacular, amazing and incredible! What great memories. SuiteTraveler, thanks for sharing.

So far, so good. Loving all the juicy details! It is very inspiring.

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I'm considering an excursion splurge on an upcoming cruise. I'm wondering if other cruisers would be willing to share a story about a time when you chose to splurge big on an excursion? Was it amazing or did you regret it?

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Thanks jig. I'm resting easy now. Did you happen to write a trip report for your cruise? I enjoyed seeing VictOriann's.

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We're you easily able to provide the information they required? Beyond my passport info, I am a bit concerned about remembering details they may request.

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To get it straight from the source, call HAL or use their Chat feature on their website.

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Thank you!

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