Mariner of the Seas From Singapore 10/22/15- Complete Picture Review!

[gapearl]

Wow, Kim, I can't believe all the amazing things you did in Phuket! I don't think I could have gotten so close to those tigers, though. And thanks for the extra info about Buddha, too. I had no idea.

Heather

 

Yeah Phuket was a busy day! The tigers were awesome. One day I'm going to go cage diving with the great whites. That's on my bucket list. :eek: I certainly learned a lot about other religions. It was an enriching trips, to say the least.

 

Great review. I am really enjoying sharing your trip.

 

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying.

[gapearl]

Would you recommend staying at the Holiday Inn Express location wise once you got there Wow you are an action girl ,I dont think I could high five a tiger like you did ,!Can I please have Lek your drivers details ,I gather you just booked rest when you got there !Oh its so great to read your review knowing we shall be there in 2 months now really does help so much !

 

Location wise, the Holiday Inn Express is in the middle of Patong Beach, close walk to Bangla Road, and plenty of shops, restaurants and massage places are a short walk away. You'll be by all the action. Just don't try to walk from the ship and take a tuk tuk for 200 baht ($6). It's 200 to get from anywhere to anywhere in Patong. I'll dig up Lek's information in my email and also send him a Facebook message that you'll be getting in touch with him. :)

 

It's been many years, but I was able to spend 12 days in Singapore while on vacation. It's truly a beautiful conuntry, city, island. Looking forward to seeing more. BTW, I had one of those Raffle's Slings. I remember paying $14 and flipping out. :D

 

Great review!

 

OMG I wish I only paid $14 for that drink! LOL Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures.

[gapearl]

We are staying at the Orchard City Centre one for two nights prior to our cruise. The feedback I've received before booking has been that it's in a good location for shopping and eating.

 

*****

 

Kim, I also got very absorbed in your Navigator review...we love Europe and will be there for the fourth year in a row next summer. Repeating some of these ports, so happy to see a different perspective and experience. Thanks again!

 

You're welcome! Every so often, I'll go back through years later and read one of my reviews again. That's one good thing about writing them. I have all of my memories documented and can go back later on down the road and relive some amazing experiences.

 

I am sure enjoying this. Your trip is almost over.

 

It is. :( I'm half way done with my pictures for the next post. Hopefully I can wrap this up tonight after The Walking Dead. haha

 

Kim,

Thank you so much for another great review!!! I love your writing style, you make me feel like I am on the cruise with you.

 

Ms. Fun Bunch (Michel)

 

Awwww thanks so much Michel! I appreciate it!

[eveanddavid]

thanks that will be great if you can find Lek s email and fb as well would be great ! Im sure looking forward to a couple of massages and some shopping !

Eve

Edited November 23, 2015 by eveanddavid

[go fish 44]

Your trip has been amazing and we have been to Singapore and we loved every minute except the humidity of course. Your pictures are great and loved your review. We cannot wait to go back to Asia.

[gapearl]

thanks that will be great if you can find Lek s email and fb as well would be great ! Im sure looking forward to a couple of massages and some shopping !

Eve

 

Lek Landen on FB, and his email is leklanden@hotmail.com. :)

 

Your trip has been amazing and we have been to Singapore and we loved every minute except the humidity of course. Your pictures are great and loved your review. We cannot wait to go back to Asia.

 

Thank you so much! Yes, the humidity I face in Georgia is nothing compared to Singapore. I also look forward to returning to Asia one day.

[gapearl]

Cruise Day 7- At Sea

 

 

 

 

 

This is a list of coupons that were loaded onto my sea pass card.

 

[gapearl]

Time to wrap this up!

 

My last day on the ship was a pretty uneventful one that I can sum up in one post. This trip had taken a lot out of me and I was more or less ready to leave the next day, and even more ready to get home. I have a friend from Finland that I met in Colombia last year that travels for 2-3 months at a time, and she's getting ready to start a 5 month vacation early next year. That sounds good in theory, but 2 weeks is long enough for me.

 

We had to set our clocks forward again after leaving Thailand. This is the first time I've ever been on a ship where the ship's time was adjusted to match local time. I slept in late and slept sooooooo good. After leaving the gym, I went to the rock climbing wall. You have to sign a waiver and given climbing shoes, a helmet and a harness. The wait was not long, maybe 5 or 6 people. I unknowingly went to the hard side, the blue rocks on the right. This was my first time on a rock climbing wall. I was about 90% to the top and then there was nowhere I could go. I was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place haha. I had to come down and never got to ring the bell. The wall is a lot harder than it looks. Afterwards I took a shower, had some lunch from the Windjammer, started packing and roamed the ship taking pictures of everything. I had dinner again in the WJ and there were some officers sitting at the table next to me. They were very nice gentlemen. One said he works 10 weeks on, 10 weeks off. I took some desserts to go, used my buy one get one free wine glass coupon at a bar, and came back to my room to watch the Dreamworks parade from my window. I stopped by the Dragon's Lair one last time to say a few goodbyes before turning in early again.

 

Now for some pictures around the ship.

 

You can find these touch screen boards by the elevators and see where you are and what's going on at the moment.

 

 

 

Everything was in both English and Mandarin.

 

 

The art gallery, deck 3.

 

 

The photo gallery, deck 3.

 

 

Studio B, deck 3.

 

[gapearl]

Bolero's, deck 4.

 

 

Logo shop, deck 4.

 

 

Casino Royale, deck 4.

 

 

Schooner Bar, deck 4.

 

 

 

View looking up.

 

[gapearl]

The Savoy Theater, decks 3 & 4.

 

 

 

Dragon's Lair dance club, deck 3.

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for the parade tonight.

 

[gapearl]

The Royal Promenade.

 

 

Cafe Promenade, where you can get coffee, a drink, or 24 hour pizza, sandwiches and snacks.

 

 

 

Duty free shops. The duty free alcohol was a very small selection in the logo shop.

 

 

I never used this but I'm sure it's handy for many.

 

 

Loyalty & cruise sales, deck 6.

 

[gapearl]

The library, deck 7.

 

 

Internet cafe, deck 8.

 

 

Windjammer and specialty restaurants, deck 11.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Pool, deck 11.

 

 

 

The Solarium, deck 11, ages 16 and up.

 

 

This bar was closed all cruise. I suppose there was no need for it to be open as there was rarely anyone here except the last day at sea.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

The gym, deck 11.

 

 

Hot tub at the gym entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this water bottle machine where you can get a bottle with your sea pass card. It eliminates having to go get one from the bar. Unfortunately it was not working, but I love the idea.

 

[gapearl]

Sports deck, deck 13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

More of the sports deck.

 

 

 

There's a roller blading track, I'm guessing they have roller blades for rent?

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Seven Hearts lounge, deck 14.

 

 

 

 

Ellington's, deck 14.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Skylight Chapel, deck 14.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Belly flop contest by the pool earlier in the day.

 

 

Wig & Gavel pub, deck 5.

 

 

The promenade has a few high end stores, including Coach and Michael Kors.

 

 

There's a little entrance from the promenade down to the casino here. If you blink, you'll miss it.

 

 

And I wonder why I gained weight. :rolleyes:

 

[gapearl]

The Dreamworks parade. I had the best view from my window!

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Last day of the cruise/ Hong Kong

 

I had zone 11 tags and met at my designated time in Studio B waiting for my number to be called. We were called a little earlier than our listed time to pass through customs and immigration at 9:30 am. Don't book early morning flights out of here. It might be mid morning before you're off the ship. It took about 15-20 minutes to get through customs. After that I collected my bags, passed them through the scanner to make sure I wasn't smuggling back a monkey from Malaysia, and I was in a taxi pretty quickly on my way back to where it all started, Singapore Changi International Airport.

 

One last view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel as I'm leaving.

 

 

I was going to have to fly through Hong Kong to get back to the US, so I figured I'd stay a couple of days. Originally I was planning to fly to Vietnam for another 5 days, but that was going to add on about an extra grand, so Saigon will have to be another trip later. Hopefully this next part can help those of you cruising from Hong Kong in the future.

 

 

 

I stayed in Lantau Island so I could be close to the airport and away from all the hectic Hong Kong traffic. I used Airbnb again, and unlike my pleasant first experience in Singapore, I had a horrible experience. I survived a day and a half, but the description and reviews didn't fully prepare me for what I got. Be careful when booking there and ask many, many questions to the owners. My first night here I didn't do anything but grabbed dinner at the local pub down the street, so in actuality I only had one full day here. The apartment was a 5 minute walk to Pui O Beach.

 

 

The beach has water buffalo that roam around.

 

 

I never knew Hong Kong was so green and beautiful.

 

[gapearl]

 

 

This water buffalo was completely unbothered by the fact that a car was trying to pass by. Haha

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

The beautiful Pui O Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've never come across unopened seashells. I tried to pry one open, but it was impossible.

 

[gapearl]

Much like the beach in Langkawi, there were crabs and crab holes everywhere.

 

 

 

A local lady and I took a selfie.

 

 

I took a 10 minute bus ride to the ferry that I'd catch over to downtown Hong Kong.

 

Bicycle parking at the ferry dock.

 

 

 

I wonder what ships are these.

 

[gapearl]

From the ferry dock at Central, I took the #15 bus to the top of Victoria Peak, where you have the best view of the Hong Kong skyline. It was about a 45 minute ride.

 

How awesome is this?