Repositioning cruises

[JohnGc]

49 minutes ago, sayaguru said:

Yes. We liked the sea days. I do the exercise classes, and trivia, lectures etc. And we like reading, playing games. Its quite relaxing. 

Sounds like the perfect cruise for the wife and I 😊

[cruiser3775]

3 hours ago, JohnGc said:

I was wondering how far to walk to the terminal from the station ?

It's about one kilometre walk. There is a pedestrian pathway and it is perfectly flat and shaded by trees, so you could do it, but walking in Singapore is generally not much fun in the heat and humidity.  Taxis are not expensive in Singapore.

[possum52]

 

3 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

It's about one kilometre walk. There is a pedestrian pathway and it is perfectly flat and shaded by trees, so you could do it, but walking in Singapore is generally not much fun in the heat and humidity.  Taxis are not expensive in Singapore.

We had planned to walk to the station but the heat and humidity when we walked out of the cruise terminal convinced us it was more sensible to get a taxi and yes not expensive at all. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

20 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Hard to say.

I have taken the shuttle once, but only because I was solo, had arrived via a short haul flight and was in no hurry.

It took a while as there were a couple of prior stops, but I enjoyed the scenic tour.

 

Arrival from a long haul flight with 2 people we always use taxi.

Personally I would join the taxi queue and then have one person go and ask the person in charge of directing people to taxis.

 

The shuttle counter was close by ( I think ) so if a single taxi won’t work you could perhaps check their next departure whilst still in the queue.

 

Re hawker food centres.

We have eaten in the Maxwell Rd Food Centre a couple of times.

Not touristy and close to Chinatown.

What dishes to try ?
I wander, see what people are eating and ask.

Have someone also locate the beer stall as they are likely to be separate.

Small pack of tissues on the table in front of your seats will reserve your seats while you order.

The beauty about places like Maxwell Rd is that you can choose what looks good, you're not just ordering off a menu. Many years ago I went to the Newton Food Centre and spotted someone having a very interesting fish dish. I asked what it was and where it was from. It was Sliced Fish Hor Fun and was delicious. After that trip I went back there a couple of times to have it but, sadly, on the second visit that outlet had closed down. 

 

Maxwell Rd used to do a really good Hainan Chicken Rice.

[JohnGc]

2 hours ago, possum52 said:

 

We had planned to walk to the station but the heat and humidity when we walked out of the cruise terminal convinced us it was more sensible to get a taxi and yes not expensive at all. 

That is good to know, at our age walking in the heat would not be good. I don't think a standard taxi would fit three persons luggage in but as suggested we could take 2 but I know my wife would not like us going separately. Maybe a maxi taxi !!  Must thank all of you for your advice and suggestions this forum has been so helpful.

[lyndarra]

You have the option of maxi taxis from the terminal. Both types will arrive and be allocated by taxi ushers(?) on a needs basis. That was the case when I disembarked Westerdam last January. There was a massive queue for taxis on that day as it was raining.

[JohnGc]

15 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

You have the option of maxi taxis from the terminal. Both types will arrive and be allocated by taxi ushers(?) on a needs basis. That was the case when I disembarked Westerdam last January. There was a massive queue for taxis on that day as it was raining.

I reckon the maxi taxi will be the go. I will probably order it a couple of days from the hotel to take me to the terminal. Out of interest can I use a master card in Singapore or will I need SGD.Thanks.

[aussielozzie18]

I holidayed in Singapore for a week with my dad who was in his 80s at the time.  We exclusively used taxis in Singapore as Dad had mobility issues. As mentioned, they were inexpensive. The taxis were easy to obtain at our excellent apartment complex.

Things that Dad really enjoyed: 

 

Orchid gardens at the Botanical gardens - absolutely stunning 

Early dinner at Clarke Quay then sunset/night  bumboat cruise from Clarke Quay -goes under the illumination bridges & you watch  the illuminated fountain light show outside the Marina Sands Hotel from your bumboat.

 

We caught a taxi to the Supertrees in the afternoon and then did a tour by  open bus around the site first to get orientated.  Then we visited the Cloud Dome & Flower Dome.  Absolutely stunning. We timed our visit so we would have dinner at the hawker food outlet at the Supertrees.  Then we sat & waited in amongst the Supertrees for the nightly light show.  Dad was complaining about the time we spent waiting - 1hr - but I knew it would be super busy and I wanted up to get there early so we actually had somewhere to sit.  And he was absolutely wowed when the light show was over.

I was going to mention Battlebox - really good history tour we did at Fort Canning but I just searched and unfortunately it closed permanently in May of this year.

We caught the cable car over to Sentosa Island (stunning views) and the monorail back.  We didn’t stay long at Sentosa as Dad was getting tired by this point.  But it was worth a visit for me.

 

Newton Food Court was closest to our apartment and we went there & back by taxi most nights. I will admit that there was a bit of a wait for taxis to get us back.

 

We stayed at Treetops Executive Residences (Apartments) which was superb.  Lovely two bed apartment with really nice pool and breakfast buffet included.  It’s not cheap though.  We weren’t going on a cruise - so I expect there are closer & cheaper options for you.  I liked the location because it was a short walk to the big Orchard Road shopping complex.

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by aussielozzie18

[lyndarra]

27 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

I reckon the maxi taxi will be the go. I will probably order it a couple of days from the hotel to take me to the terminal. Out of interest can I use a master card in Singapore or will I need SGD.Thanks.

You can use a card. I used Visa.

[JohnGc]

7 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

You can use a card. I used Visa.

That makes life easier. Thank you.

[JohnGc]

33 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I holidayed in Singapore for a week with my dad who was in his 80s at the time.  We exclusively used taxis in Singapore as Dad had mobility issues. As mentioned, they were inexpensive. The taxis were easy to obtain at our excellent apartment complex.

Things that Dad really enjoyed: 

 

Orchid gardens at the Botanical gardens - absolutely stunning 

Early dinner at Clarke Quay then sunset/night  bumboat cruise from Clarke Quay -goes under the illumination bridges & you watch  the illuminated fountain light show outside the Marina Sands Hotel from your bumboat.

 

We caught a taxi to the Supertrees in the afternoon and then did a tour by  open bus around the site first to get orientated.  Then we visited the Cloud Dome & Flower Dome.  Absolutely stunning. We timed our visit so we would have dinner at the hawker food outlet at the Supertrees.  Then we sat & waited in amongst the Supertrees for the nightly light show.  Dad was complaining about the time we spent waiting - 1hr - but I knew it would be super busy and I wanted up to get there early so we actually had somewhere to sit.  And he was absolutely wowed when the light show was over.

I was going to mention Battlebox - really good history tour we did at Fort Canning but I just searched and unfortunately it closed permanently in May of this year.

We caught the cable car over to Sentosa Island (stunning views) and the monorail back.  We didn’t stay long at Sentosa as Dad was getting tired by this point.  But it was worth a visit for me.

 

Newton Food Court was closest to our apartment and we went there & back by taxi most nights. I will admit that there was a bit of a wait for taxis to get us back.

 

We stayed at Treetops Executive Residences (Apartments) which was superb.  Lovely two bed apartment with really nice pool and breakfast buffet included.  It’s not cheap though.  We weren’t going on a cruise - so I expect there are closer & cheaper options for you.  I liked the location because it was a short walk to the big Orchard Road shopping complex.

 

 

aussielozzie18 that is brilliant, thank you for all that information. That has conjured up some excitement. I have a fair bit of time to go before the cruise but that has given me so much to look forward to.

Cheers John.

 

 

[cruiser3775]

11 hours ago, JohnGc said:

12 hours ago, lyndarra said:

You can use a card. I used Visa.

That makes life easier. Thank you.

Your Visa or Mastercard will work for most transactions in Singapore, but beware the cost of foreign exchange. You should find out what the card will charge you every time you use it. It can be quite substantial amounts that add up. For example, one of my cards charges a flat fee of $A4 for every transaction in a foreign currency. So I would never use it to buy a cup of coffee overseas, but it is useful if I want to buy something more expensive. You can find out what you will be charged, by going to the website for the card and using the search facility to find "foreign exchange transaction fee".

Do not use your credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. It will be treated like a cash advance on credit, and will immediately attract high interest rates (maybe 30%), which will continue until you pay off the whole balance owing on the card, not just the cash advance amount. For cash advances, you need a debit card, not a credit card.

If you have time, you could get yourself a new credit card that does not charge for foreign exchange transactions.  I use the Latitude 28 Degrees card when travelling overseas, and there are others available in Australia. Just search online for a list of them.

[JohnGc]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Your Visa or Mastercard will work for most transactions in Singapore, but beware the cost of foreign exchange. You should find out what the card will charge you every time you use it. It can be quite substantial amounts that add up. For example, one of my cards charges a flat fee of $A4 for every transaction in a foreign currency. So I would never use it to buy a cup of coffee overseas, but it is useful if I want to buy something more expensive. You can find out what you will be charged, by going to the website for the card and using the search facility to find "foreign exchange transaction fee".

Do not use your credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. It will be treated like a cash advance on credit, and will immediately attract high interest rates (maybe 30%), which will continue until you pay off the whole balance owing on the card, not just the cash advance amount. For cash advances, you need a debit card, not a credit card.

If you have time, you could get yourself a new credit card that does not charge for foreign exchange transactions.  I use the Latitude 28 Degrees card when travelling overseas, and there are others available in Australia. Just search online for a list of them.

 

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Your Visa or Mastercard will work for most transactions in Singapore, but beware the cost of foreign exchange. You should find out what the card will charge you every time you use it. It can be quite substantial amounts that add up. For example, one of my cards charges a flat fee of $A4 for every transaction in a foreign currency. So I would never use it to buy a cup of coffee overseas, but it is useful if I want to buy something more expensive. You can find out what you will be charged, by going to the website for the card and using the search facility to find "foreign exchange transaction fee".

Do not use your credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. It will be treated like a cash advance on credit, and will immediately attract high interest rates (maybe 30%), which will continue until you pay off the whole balance owing on the card, not just the cash advance amount. For cash advances, you need a debit card, not a credit card.

If you have time, you could get yourself a new credit card that does not charge for foreign exchange transactions.  I use the Latitude 28 Degrees card when travelling overseas, and there are others available in Australia. Just search online for a list of them.

Once again thank you for the useful information. 👍