The Spice Route.

[chromered7]

We are booked to do the Spice Route cruise in 2023 from Singapore to Mumbai. If anyone has had  any experience of this cruise could you share your information and experience’s? We are spending two days in Singapore before stopping at Penang, Phuket, overnight in Columbo and Cochin and finally overnight in Mumbai. We will of course do the research before going but any personal experience is always very helpful.

Thanks, Gary.

 

[jelayne]

We did a similar cruise.  We stopped in Cochin, Goa and Mumbai plus others.  We left the ship in Cochin and booked a tour to the Taj Mahal  and returned to the ship in Goa.  The ship also did a similar tour but the price was 3x what we paid and it was just the  of us, driver and guide vs a large group.  It was one of the most memorable experiences in all our travels.  You might consider doing something similar or adding a couple of days at the end to go to the Taj.  Just a heads up if you decide to explore leaving & returning to the ship to go to the Taj, you do need advance approval from the ship and there is a fee.  It took a bit of paperwork on the part of the ship to make sure we could enter the port in Goa.

 

Sri Lanka has a lot holidays so check to see if you are in port on a holiday as it will impact some of the places you would normally visit.  We booked a tour with Blu Lanka tours and they managed to create a interesting day in spite of much being closed.

[Izzywiz]

I hope you find this itinerary as interesting as we did. we have been to this area of the world several times over the years and love it. We haven't been to Penang for many years...long before I made notes... and never to Hambantota.

I write a daily log which includes details about each place we visit. They are a bit lengthy but I'm posting them in case the information is of use to you, I am doing it in sections

Singapore April 2017 Celebrity Constellation - we had an overnight in a hotel before boarding the ship

Day 2. Saturday 1st April 2017.

Dubai to Singapore

Swissotel The Stamford (5*)

A.M. Very cloudy throughout the journey

P.M. Torrential rain with thunder as we landed in Singapore which finally stopped about 17.00

We landed on time (14.00 Singapore time) and we were through immigration quite quickly. Our luggage was already on the carousel so we were out in the arrivals hall at 14.40 but there was nobody from the cruise line there to meet us! We eventually phoned the number on out transfer form and they sent a taxi for us. We got to the hotel at 16.15.

Swissotel The Stamford (5*)

The hotel is situated in central Singapore, very close to Raffles, the Suntec Mall, Clarke Quay and the marina.

There are metro stations close by and the HOHO bus interchange is at the Suntec Mall.

There is a smaller shopping mall attached to the hotel.

The hotel is a 66-storey high-rise building with a huge impressive lobby area.

 

The hotel was a fairly short walk from the 'Suntec shopping mall so we made our way there and remembered that we had spent a lot of time in there the last time we were in Singapore. We found the large hyper-market and bought some beer, tonic water and nibbles before going back to the food court and finding the local food outlet that we had used last time. We had the 'noodle special' each at S$18 for the two of us. We both had the chicken broth and the noodles. Jim had the chicken and I had the crispy pork cutlet. It was very nice. We followed that with a visit to the yogurt ice cream shop across the way. I had a scoop of mango and a scoop of lemon and strawberry sorbet with a few of the juicy 'popping balls'.........absolutely yummy!!

 

Day 3. Sunday 2nd April 2017.

Singapore....boarding the ship.

A.M. Hot, humid and overcast with some sunny intervals.

P.M. As above 

Sea conditions.

Breakfast was included as part of the hotel package so we went down at 07.30. There was a comprehensive choice of hot and cold dishes which catered for the various nationalities that use the hotel. We had a very cosmopolitan selection!!

After breakfast, Jim went off to the park and I caught up with this diary before going down to the hotel shopping mall for a bit of 'retail therapy'.

The shopping mall was Raffles City and there was a M&S as well as a lot of other good quality shops. There was a large 'food court' in the basement. There was free wifi.

We met up at 11.15 and went up to the 70th floor to take some photos before finalising our check-out at 12 noon. 

The cruise.

Transfer

We had a 20-minute wait for the transfer coaches......there were a lot of other passengers who had stayed at the hotel too.

All suitcases were put in a separate van 

The journey from the hotel to the Marina Cruise Terminal took about 15 minutes.

At the terminal car park, we collected our suitcase from the van and took them to the drop-off point a few yards away.

We then made our way to the main building where we first had to show our passports and cruise tickets before we went through the airport type security scan.

After security, we were handed the 'health declaration' form to fill in.

At this point it was all rather chaotic and there were long queues for the check-in desks so people were being asked to sit and wait to be called. Unfortunately, there were a lot of bolshie people who refuse to sit and then complained loudly about the length of the queue!

Elite and higher tier passengers had priority check-in desks so their lines moved faster. The P&O method of using coloured cards was much better!

Check-in was quite slow because there was a Thailand immigration card and 3 Indian immigration cards to sign as well as the usual paperwork to be dealt with.

Once we had our sea passes, we went through Singaporean passport control and then, having handed our passports in to be held by 'the ship' we were able to board.

There was a small glass of Prosecco or orange juice offered as we walked into the ship's atrium at 13.30. 

We were not informed that the cabins were not ready and had to guess by looking at people sitting around with hand luggage. We waited for an announcement but after a while Jim went down and saw people going into their cabins so we headed to deck 3 and found that ours was ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore January 2020 Fred Olsen Cruise Line - This was a port stop on a longer cruise. 

Mon 27 January 2020. Singapore - 08.00 - 23.00.

A.M. very hot, humid and sunny with some cloudy intervals

P.M. very hot and humid with some prolonged heavy showers

Sea conditions: Calm

·        Beware - Inside the terminal mall, we were told it was S$50 for a taxi to the Botanical Gardens. We walked out to the taxi rank and got a metered taxi for S$9!!!!

Singapore City

·        The city is large and very modern with areas of historical and ethnic interest.

·        Public transport is cost effective and very efficient.

·        There are 2 companies that run Hop-on, Hop-off bus services but neither service the HarbourFront Mall. They are a good way of seeing the city though and can be accessed at other shopping Malls like Suntec and at the Botanical Gardens

·        The majority of retail outlets etc accept credit cards but almost all, if paying in cash, require Singapore Dollars.

·        There are a lot of places in Singapore that merit a visit.......Marina Gardens by the Bay, The Marina Bay Hotel, Clark Quay, Orchard Road, Changi Prison Museum, China Town, Little India and the Botanical Gardens to name a few.

Singapore Botanical Gardens

·        The Gardens are large and beautifully stocked with a huge variety of plants.

·        Entry is free but there is a charge for the Orchid Garden - S$5pp and S$1 for over 60s - which is spectacular and well worth paying the premium.

·        There are smooth pathways that wind through a variety of 'rooms' which showcase specific species.

·        There are several lakes and plenty of open spaces.

·        Seating is placed strategically

·        There are cafes, restaurants, gift shops and toilet facilities at various points around the Gardens.

·        It is possible to borrow a wheelchair at the different entry points but, unfortunately for those with poor mobility, there isn’t an option to hire a mobility scooter or be taken round on a golf buggy.

 

 

 

 

[Izzywiz]

Phuket April 2017 Celebrity Constellation – Tendered into Patong Resort Town

 

Day 5. Tuesday 4th April 2017.

Phuket. – Patong town - Tender port.

A.M. Hot, humid a sunny.

P.M. Very hot, humid and mostly sunny

Sea conditions. Smooth 

Hour goes back 90 minutes tonight.

The alarm went off at 05.15 so we could have breakfast before heading to the Rendezvous lounge where, as elite passengers, we were to meet for our priority tender embarkation. At 07.10 a crew member took us down to deck 1 and we boarded the 2nd tender for the 15-minute ride to the jetty in Patong.

Jim had seen some birds on the beach so he disappeared to photograph them while I sat on the sea wall and admired the view.

We enjoyed our 4-hour tour with Lee and it brought back happy memories.

I got the tender back to the ship at 12.45 and Jim got back at 14.30

PATONG, PHUKET.

·        Tickets for the tender were made available for collection on deck 5 at 07.00. People were asked to wait in public areas until their tender number was called

·        The tender journey was about 15 minutes.

·        People disembarked at a long pier in the centre of the bay.

·        The pre-booked independent tours and the ship's excursion tours departed from the road at the end of the pier.

·        There were plenty of local people selling tours at the roadside.

Patong town is an international tourist holiday resort with lots of hotels, a beautiful beach and shallow sheltered sea.

It has a bustling town centre with cafes, bars and shops (many selling 'genuine fakes').

There is a pleasant promenade area with seating.

Our tuk-tuk tour.

We agreed a price of US$55 with Lee for a 4-hour tuk-tuk trip. We wanted to go south from Patong to revisit Kata and Kata Noi. These were places where we had enjoyed time on our beach holiday in Phuket 20 years previously. We had done the elephant safari, the boat to the Phi-Phi Islands and seen the main religious sights previously so this was just a bit of nostalgia and a chance to see if Jim could get some bird photos.

We left Patong at 08.30 and had stops at the Kata Noi view point (spectacular scenery), Sunset view point, Rawai Beach and Nai Harn Beach before travelling to the Safari Village and the Botanical Gardens. We didn't stay at the village because it was mainly an elephant and monkey show which we had seen before. 

Time was getting short by the time we got to the Botanical Gardens so we decided just to have an ice cream each at the cafe by the entrance rather than pay 500 TB (£10 pp) for a 20-minute stop. 

The cafe didn't accept credit cards and we had a problem using US$ which we eventually overcame by going to the main office where they accepted $5 and gave a little change in TB.

In hindsight, I wish we had made more time for the gardens as they looked beautiful with the lush vegetation, pretty water features, native creatures and secluded areas to relax......maybe next time!

Lee then drove at break-neck speed (no health and safety in Phuket!) back over the central hills to Patong.

Our trip ended at 12.30 when Lee dropped us off at the tender pier.......it was US$60 (that included a $5 tip) well spent.

 

 

 

 

 

Phuket - Fred Olsen Cruise Line. Docked near Phuket town

Wed 29 January 2020. Phuket, Thailand. 08.00 - 16.00

A.M. very hot, humid and sunny

P.M. extremely hot, humid and sunny

Sea conditions: calm

 

Phuket City Port –

·        credit cards are accepted in a lot of places but most, unless in the big tourist areas, do not accept US$

·        The port is very industrial and it is a long way from Phuket Town.

·        Shuttle busses are not allowed but there are taxis in the port area where the drivers offer tours. We were quoted US$150 but managed to get one for US$75 to take us to where we wanted to go.

·        There was a market by the port gates and none of the stall holders pestered us to buy.....great!

·        There doesn’t seem to be much in close vicinity to the port other than a couple of supermarkets.

 

Phuket Town

Phuket Town is quite large, bustling and chaotic in THAI style. There are lots of shops, cafes, markets and temples. There is also a large Tesco Extra!

 

Our taxi tour

·        Margaret and Derek joined us and we bargained with Ricky, our driver, to get the tour for $75. He had a comfortable 11 seater taxi which was clean and well presented. Ricky spoke some English and was very accommodating.

·        We went to the Botanical Gardens which was through Phuket Town and up in the hills. The Gardens are smaller and more intimate than those in Singapore but still very attractive. Unfortunately, there is an entrance fee of 500 Baht pp (£12.50) which I thought was overly expensive. There are toilets (free), a souvenir shop and a cafe which only accepted THAI Baht.....a bit of a bummer!

·        We then carried on across the hills to Patong which is now so built up it is almost unpleasantly busy. The beach is still beautiful though and we spent 10 minutes there before moving along the coast to Kata Beach. We had a quick look at the area where we stayed 30 years ago (so built up now) and then we went to Starbucks so I could use the wifi

·        We arrived back at the port about 13.30 where Jim and Derek went for a birding walk and Margaret and I had a look round the market stalls before returning to the ship.

A very pleasant few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Izzywiz]

Colombo, Sri Lanka April 2017 Celebrity Constellation

 

Day 8. Friday 7th April 2017.

Colombo, Sri Lanka. 07.00 - 19.00 (all-aboard was 18.30)

Independent tour to Galle.

A.M. Torrential rain and a thunderstorm as we had breakfast but it cleared up and became extremely hot, humid and mostly sunny.

P.M. Extremely hot, humid and mostly sunny.

Sea conditions. Calm

I set the alarm for 06.00 so we had time for breakfast before we set off to meet our tour.

As we sat down in the buffet, it got darker and darker outside and then the rain came 'in buckets' accompanied by thunder and lightning. That lasted for 20 minutes and then, fortunately, the sun came out!

Independent Tour - Cruising Excursions- 'Galle Excursion' £179 total + US$40 for the river trip, US$3 for other tips, US$2 for coffee and US$10 for the driver.

I booked this tour over the Internet with 'cruisingexcursions.com' as they offered a similar tour to the one done by the ship but without an included lunch. We prefer to use the lunch time to carry on sightseeing. At £176 it was cheaper than the ship's excursion and offered a bit more flexibility. I booked several months before we sailed once I had seen what Celebrity offered. 

The company also guarantees that it will get customers back to the ship on time or, if unforeseen circumstances prevent this, clients will be transported to the next port of call so I felt comfortable with taking this tour.

Meeting.

The instructions on the tour voucher were a bit ambiguous as it implied that there was a terminal building. In fact, the port is huge and there isn't a designated 'cruise terminal building' so we had a bit of a hunt to find our driver. 

Our meeting time was scheduled for 09.00 but we had disembarked at 08.15 as we weren't sure how long it would take to find each other. We wandered up and down the quay side and asked about the terminal but nobody seemed to know anything.

Fortunately, at 08.30, we saw 'Shauna', our driver/guide, driving down the pier, showing a card with our names on, just as we were about to get into a taxi to take us to the port gate so we were able to start our tour immediately.

Outward Journey.

Our driver took us along the coast road to Galle so we got to see a lot of the urban sprawl of Colombo, experience the traffic congestion and the scary skill of local drivers......overtaking 3 abreast, on corners, dodging tuk-tuks and pedestrians.....see smaller towns and the beautiful beaches and dramatic coastline.

What I didn't realise, even though I had researched the tour, was how far Galle is from Colombo and how long it would take on the local roads!

Spice and herb garden. Toilets

We had a short stop at a Spice and Herb Garden where we were shown various plants that had medicinal uses and we were given the opportunity to have hand/arm massages and to buy products.

There were clean toilets and places to sit.

Madu River Boat Trip. US$20pp. Toilets, bottle of water pp.

Our guide offered us the opportunity to do a boat trip on the Madu River. We decided to do it because there could be a chance of seeing birds for Jim and it turned out to be a very pleasant hour where we saw a few kingfishers, some small local villages, the mangrove swamps and local people crab fishing.

The boat was a small motor boat with 21 seats. There were just the 2 of us whereas we saw people on the ship's tour in full boats. We had a great view and our boat 'captain' did some bird spotting for us.

Gems and craft stop. Coffee

The next stop was the 'obligatory' shopping stop and was at a small gem and craft centre. The jewels were beautiful and there were a lot of craft items....mainly wood carved artefacts....and a chance to buy packeted tea and coffee. There was also a restaurant and toilets.

The ship's tour people had a buffet lunch there but we just had a coffee each (the manager tried to charge me US€5 but I caught him out as I had seen the coffee price in the menu so I challenged his costing and paid US$2!)

Galle

As we neared the southern city we began to see the remains of the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami and the memorials and graves of many of the victims.....it was sobering to think of the terror the people must have experienced.

As it was 1.00p.m. when we got to Galle we decided to just go to the Portuguese Fort and miss the stilt fishermen which were a further 20km along the coast.

Galle is a large, vibrant and busy city with a marina and some nice hotels.

The fort was huge and there was a lively community living inside so it was well worth the visit and really needed more time to explore than we had. We drove round the main areas inside and stopped a few times for photos. There were museums, churches, mosques, shops, restaurants, picturesque squares and buildings.

Return journey.

We had originally requested to return to the ship via the coast road as we wanted to get some beach photos but, having experienced the heavy traffic on the way to Galle, we changed our minds and asked to go back via the express-way. Thank goodness we did, as that journey was 118km and took 2 hours, including a 20 min stop at a service station. 

The road runs through the countryside so we saw tea, cinnamon, cashew nut and citrus plantations but not much of the local life so I'm glad we did the coastal route on the first journey.

We got to the outskirts of Colombo at 16.15 and got to the ship at 18.00. The traffic in the city was chaotic and we moved so slowly that I was beginning to get a bit anxious. We did get chance to see the new parliament buildings and some of the more modern areas of the city.

I think one of the ship's tours must have been late back as we didn't sail until 20.15.

The service station was modern and had a selection of shops including a small supermarket plus food outlets and washrooms.

Colombo

Colombo port

·        It is a vast industrial port.

·        Tour busses, taxis and independent tour transport was at the quay side beside the ship.

·        There was an extensive local crafts market on the quay side as well.

·        It was US$10 for a taxi to the port exit which was approximately 1 mile from the ship.

·        The local authority provided a free shuttle bus from the quay side into the city centre but it didn't start running until 9ish.

Just outside the port exit.

·        It might be a bit of a culture shock when you step out of the port because it is an extremely busy 'local area' and the traffic noise and bustle can be a bit intimidating at first if you have not experienced this type of culture before.

·        There are a lot of small local shops selling every type of commodity.

·        There are tuk-tuks, taxis and local busses.

·        The main colonial area is about 500 metres away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colombo February 2020 - Fred Olsen Cruise Line

Wed 05 February 2020. Colombo, Sri Lanka - 08.00 - overnight

Viator Shore excursion Colombo port passenger Jetty to Kandy by Car. 8 to 9 hours

A.M. hot, muggy and overcast

P.M. very hot, humid and sunny

Sea conditions: calm

We were awake at 06.00 so we could have breakfast before disembarking.

We left the ship at 08.40 and got back at 18.45.

 

Viator Shore excursion Colombo port passenger Jetty to Kandy by Car The tour operator was Yatours and the company had an office right on the jetty by the ship where they also offered tours that were not pre-booked.

·        I had e-mailed the company through the Viator site with information about our arrival time and had had a prompt response.

·        I also had a text from them a couple of days before we arrived but didn’t have my phone switched on so missed the information.

·        There was a gentleman with our name on a sign waiting on the jetty. He took us to the office, had our booking voucher and then our driver, Sanka, took us to the car which was a clean and modern Toyota. We left the port at 09.00.

·        We requested a stop at the Royal Botanical Gardens rather than going to see the elephants.

·        The drive to Kandy took 3.5 hours including the first stop and it was almost continuously through busy urban areas. It was interesting to see the way the locals live and to experience the traffic, especially the multitude of tuk-tuks.

·        We stopped at the ubiquitous 'Spice Gardens' where we were shown various plants and told about their uses. We had a chance to buy items as well (vanilla essence and spiced tea £8) and there were clean toilets.

·        The second stop was at the Botanical Gardens (2000pp entrance fee - £9pp) which were huge and beautifully maintained. We spent over an hour wandering through the various areas before having a coffee and a soft drink.

 

We left there at 15.15 and decided not to go into Kandy itself but to head back to the ship which was a good move as the traffic was horrendous and we finally reached the port at 18.45.

It was an interesting trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Izzywiz]

Cochin, India. April 2017 Celebrity Constellation

 

Day 9. Saturday 8th April 2017.

At sea, travelling from Colombo to Cochin

Indian immigration vetting day.

A.M. Very hot, humid and sunny

P.M. As above,

Sea conditions. Calm

All passengers had to attend the Indian immigration vetting. Passengers were given a time to go to the Rendezvous Lounge (ours was 13.00-13.15) where we were given our passports, an 'immigration card' plus a 'landing card' which already had our picture on it.......this was a copy of our security picture that was taken on the first day - very clever. Once we had signed both cards we went into the lounge where there was a very short queue which we joined. We were called forward to have our passports and visas checked by an Indian immigration officer who then stamped our landing card and gave it back to us. He kept our passports and immigration card which were also stamped and then these were kept by the ship.

The whole process was quick and efficient.....probably 5 minutes in total.

 

Day 10. Sunday 9th April 2017. Palm Sunday.

Cochin - 08.30 - 17.00

Independent tour to the Kerala Backwaters 

A.M. Hot, humid with sunny intervals 

P.M. As above but hotter

Sea conditions. Calm

We were up at 06.00 again so we could have breakfast and do ablutions as quickly as possible. We wanted to be ready to disembark as soon as we were able because our trip will depart when all passengers are there.

Muziris Heritage -Day Tours. Backwater cruise and Cochin Fort. - US$70pp (similar ship's tour was US$199pp).

I booked this tour on the internet after seeing good reviews for the company. There was a 3-tour package designed for our ship so we booked the package ($450 in total)

I had good communication with the company and email queries were answered promptly. I got a 'reminder' email about a week before we left home. It gave payment information and confirmed that the tour would start as soon as the bus was full.....very good service.

Meeting.

We were greeted at the port exit end of the quay side market by a gentleman with the Muziris sign. He directed us to bus 3.

Our meeting time was 09.00 but all 12 passengers were on board at 08.30 so we set off then.

Outward journey

We were fortunate that, because we set off a little early, we had time to stop for a few minutes at a temple where people were preparing for a festival and we had chance to photograph the ceremonial elephants.

Kerala has a large Christian population so we saw a lot of groups doing 'penance walks' carrying crosses as part of the Palm Sunday festival.

The journey to the backwaters took 90 minutes and we drove through the busy town and then along the highway. Being a passenger on an Indian bus is still a scary experience!

Experiences

We arrived at the dock at 10.40 and had to go through one 'rice barge' to get to our boat. There were 24 of us (2 bus groups) so we were all able to sit in the front area. 

The barge had 4 en-suite bedrooms so there were plenty of toilets but no toilet paper.....so take your own!

We were served a glass of mango juice before the barge left the quay.

I was amazed at how the numbers of the houseboats has grown since we last came in 2013 but it is very big tourist business. It did mean that we didn't see as much canal-side life as before but there were still quite a few different bird species to look at.

We spent a nice 2 hours gently cruising through the waterways and got to see some lovely homes, poor housing, lush vegetation and the daily life of the local inhabitants.

Lunch was included in the price and was cooked on board.

There was boiled rice, coconut rice, poppadoms, fried locally caught fish, chicken curry, 2 kinds of vegetable curry, an onion salad and a green bean dish. All the food was mildly spiced. Dessert was gorgeous fresh pineapple and very tasty but tiny local bananas. There was bottled water to drink.

The barge returned to the quay at 13.15 and we left for the return journey at 13.30.

Return journey 

The journey was straight forward with no traffic hold-ups. I suspect that this was the case because it was Sunday and many people weren't working.

We arrived back in central Cochin around 14.45 and were driven through the port area where we were shown the colonial buildings and we got a quick glimpse of the 'Chinese fishing nets'.

Our last stop was at the all women 'Spice Market' commune in the ancient Jewish quarter where we had 20 minutes to browse and shop.

We were back at the ship for 15.45 after a good tour.

Comments

I think we got value for money although it would have been nice to have seen the iconic 'Chinese fishing nets' at closer quarters but I understand that time is limited.

Cochin.

·        The port is huge and industrial.

·        It is a 20-minute drive into the town.

·        Ship's tour busses were parked directly on the quay side.

·        Independent tour transport was parked 200m to the right of the ship's gangway. 

·        There was a large souvenir market on the quayside.

·        The town is very busy, colourful and crowded.

·        Traffic is 'Indian style' where nobody follows the rules of the road so pedestrians need to be very aware and agile!

·        The tourist areas are the Cochin Fort, which is where the colonial buildings and Chinese fishing nets are, and the Jewish quarter which has picturesque narrow streets full of artisan and souvenir shops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Denny01]

Well, I guess that answers the OP’s question!!

 

Great posts @Izzywiz!! You got us interested in that type itinerary…Wow!

 

den

[Izzywiz]

Mumbai - April 2017 Celebrity Constellation

 

Day 13. Wednesday 12th April 2017.

Mumbai. 10.00 - 21.00 (aboard by 20.30)

A.M. Extremely hot, humid and sunny

P.M. As above

Sea conditions. Calm.

Clocks go back 90 minutes tonight 

Mumbai Port.

·        The port is huge and industrial.

·        There is a designated cruise terminal with some souvenir shops inside.

·        Security was tight.

·        Ship's tours and independent pre-booked tours departed from immediately outside the terminal.

·        There were taxis available immediately outside the terminal but they cost more to hire than those outside the port gate.

·        There was a free shuttle bus to the port gate.

·        Port passes and passport copies had to be shown twice to exit the port and twice to return to the ship.

Mumbai city.

The city is huge with a population of 22million people who all seem to be wherever we were!

There are many magnificent Victorian colonial buildings, some more faded than others.

It is a bustling, vibrant city where there are a lot of prosperous people but there is a huge contrast between the 'haves and have nots'

Hiring a taxi.

·        Do research before arriving at the port.

·        Have a written list of places you want to see and the amount of time you want to spend there.

·        Negotiate an amount of time and a price. Always haggle.

·        Write down the agreed price and time.

·        Take a photograph of the cab and the driver.

·        Pay the full amount at the end of the trip.

·        Leave something inexpensive on the seat (bottle of water, tissue, newspaper, spare copy of the ship's daily) when leaving the cab. It helps you to identify your cab among many.

·        Take into account the time it takes to get through heavy traffic.

·        The driver may get a small cut from specialist shops so make it clear if you don't want to visit them or just go to be polite.

Our taxi tour.

We were on the first shuttle to the gate and were easily able to get an air-conditioned taxi. 

We negotiated a price of US$50 for three hours and we set off at 10.30.

I remembered how bad Mumbai traffic is but was still unprepared for how slowly we moved.

We had requested to visit the Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach, the Hanging Gardens, a local market, the Gateway to India and a 'Cafe Coffee Day' shop....India's answer to Starbucks!

 

We did all but the coffee shop (boo....I like their coffee and I was looking forward to a cake too) in the 3 hours.

There is very tight security round India Gate.

It was good to revisit places we had seen in depth the last time we were in Mumbai in 2013 and we marvelled at how much the traffic had increased in that time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chromered7]

1 hour ago, Izzywiz said:

I hope you find this itinerary as interesting as we did. we have been to this area of the world several times over the years and love it. We haven't been to Penang for many years...long before I made notes... and never to Hambantota.

I write a daily log which includes details about each place we visit. They are a bit lengthy but I'm posting them in case the information is of use to you, I am doing it in sections

Singapore April 2017 Celebrity Constellation - we had an overnight in a hotel before boarding the ship

Day 2. Saturday 1st April 2017.

Dubai to Singapore

Swissotel The Stamford (5*)

A.M. Very cloudy throughout the journey

P.M. Torrential rain with thunder as we landed in Singapore which finally stopped about 17.00

We landed on time (14.00 Singapore time) and we were through immigration quite quickly. Our luggage was already on the carousel so we were out in the arrivals hall at 14.40 but there was nobody from the cruise line there to meet us! We eventually phoned the number on out transfer form and they sent a taxi for us. We got to the hotel at 16.15.

Swissotel The Stamford (5*)

The hotel is situated in central Singapore, very close to Raffles, the Suntec Mall, Clarke Quay and the marina.

There are metro stations close by and the HOHO bus interchange is at the Suntec Mall.

There is a smaller shopping mall attached to the hotel.

The hotel is a 66-storey high-rise building with a huge impressive lobby area.

 

The hotel was a fairly short walk from the 'Suntec shopping mall so we made our way there and remembered that we had spent a lot of time in there the last time we were in Singapore. We found the large hyper-market and bought some beer, tonic water and nibbles before going back to the food court and finding the local food outlet that we had used last time. We had the 'noodle special' each at S$18 for the two of us. We both had the chicken broth and the noodles. Jim had the chicken and I had the crispy pork cutlet. It was very nice. We followed that with a visit to the yogurt ice cream shop across the way. I had a scoop of mango and a scoop of lemon and strawberry sorbet with a few of the juicy 'popping balls'.........absolutely yummy!!

 

Day 3. Sunday 2nd April 2017.

Singapore....boarding the ship.

A.M. Hot, humid and overcast with some sunny intervals.

P.M. As above 

Sea conditions.

Breakfast was included as part of the hotel package so we went down at 07.30. There was a comprehensive choice of hot and cold dishes which catered for the various nationalities that use the hotel. We had a very cosmopolitan selection!!

After breakfast, Jim went off to the park and I caught up with this diary before going down to the hotel shopping mall for a bit of 'retail therapy'.

The shopping mall was Raffles City and there was a M&S as well as a lot of other good quality shops. There was a large 'food court' in the basement. There was free wifi.

We met up at 11.15 and went up to the 70th floor to take some photos before finalising our check-out at 12 noon. 

The cruise.

Transfer

We had a 20-minute wait for the transfer coaches......there were a lot of other passengers who had stayed at the hotel too.

All suitcases were put in a separate van 

The journey from the hotel to the Marina Cruise Terminal took about 15 minutes.

At the terminal car park, we collected our suitcase from the van and took them to the drop-off point a few yards away.

We then made our way to the main building where we first had to show our passports and cruise tickets before we went through the airport type security scan.

After security, we were handed the 'health declaration' form to fill in.

At this point it was all rather chaotic and there were long queues for the check-in desks so people were being asked to sit and wait to be called. Unfortunately, there were a lot of bolshie people who refuse to sit and then complained loudly about the length of the queue!

Elite and higher tier passengers had priority check-in desks so their lines moved faster. The P&O method of using coloured cards was much better!

Check-in was quite slow because there was a Thailand immigration card and 3 Indian immigration cards to sign as well as the usual paperwork to be dealt with.

Once we had our sea passes, we went through Singaporean passport control and then, having handed our passports in to be held by 'the ship' we were able to board.

There was a small glass of Prosecco or orange juice offered as we walked into the ship's atrium at 13.30. 

We were not informed that the cabins were not ready and had to guess by looking at people sitting around with hand luggage. We waited for an announcement but after a while Jim went down and saw people going into their cabins so we headed to deck 3 and found that ours was ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore January 2020 Fred Olsen Cruise Line - This was a port stop on a longer cruise. 

Mon 27 January 2020. Singapore - 08.00 - 23.00.

A.M. very hot, humid and sunny with some cloudy intervals

P.M. very hot and humid with some prolonged heavy showers

Sea conditions: Calm

·        Beware - Inside the terminal mall, we were told it was S$50 for a taxi to the Botanical Gardens. We walked out to the taxi rank and got a metered taxi for S$9!!!!

Singapore City

·        The city is large and very modern with areas of historical and ethnic interest.

·        Public transport is cost effective and very efficient.

·        There are 2 companies that run Hop-on, Hop-off bus services but neither service the HarbourFront Mall. They are a good way of seeing the city though and can be accessed at other shopping Malls like Suntec and at the Botanical Gardens

·        The majority of retail outlets etc accept credit cards but almost all, if paying in cash, require Singapore Dollars.

·        There are a lot of places in Singapore that merit a visit.......Marina Gardens by the Bay, The Marina Bay Hotel, Clark Quay, Orchard Road, Changi Prison Museum, China Town, Little India and the Botanical Gardens to name a few.

Singapore Botanical Gardens

·        The Gardens are large and beautifully stocked with a huge variety of plants.

·        Entry is free but there is a charge for the Orchid Garden - S$5pp and S$1 for over 60s - which is spectacular and well worth paying the premium.

·        There are smooth pathways that wind through a variety of 'rooms' which showcase specific species.

·        There are several lakes and plenty of open spaces.

·        Seating is placed strategically

·        There are cafes, restaurants, gift shops and toilet facilities at various points around the Gardens.

·        It is possible to borrow a wheelchair at the different entry points but, unfortunately for those with poor mobility, there isn’t an option to hire a mobility scooter or be taken round on a golf buggy.

 

 

 

 

Izzywiz this wonderful information will be invaluable, thank you so much.

We are also from Staffordshire.

[chromered7]

We are still processing the information provided by Izzywiz and I would like to ask what inoculation’s were required prior for the cruise ? 

 

 

[chemmo]

Izzywiz…How I wish I had kept a daily diary when we toured this part of the world, it has brought back some happy memories!