HOTEL in SINGAPORE

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, SophieM said:

Are you on the April 28 sailing to Dubai? If so, we’ll see you onboard!

Hi Sophie no we are sailing Singapore to Bangkok late January.

We have sailed Singapore to Dubai and it was a great cruise.

At the moment we are thinking about AbuDhabi - Singapore in December 24. but not quite sure yet.

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Absolutely spot on for the advice of knowing what your interests are.  And asking yourself what your desires are for your hotel.

 

Have been to Singapore a number of times and am an old hand at the MRT system.  So I tend to stay near a station to make life quick and easy.  Also, I'm pretty low maintenance, so I don't need extensive concierge services for a city I know fairly well.  Your needs may vary from that.

 

One big consideration is that a number of those convenient hotels also have rooms that are the size of a broom closet.  So be sure to research through a travel site that gives the size of the room.  Also, look into prepaid hotel rates vs a simple reservation - you can often save up to 50% of your lodging cost by pre-paying your stay.

 

Hotels that are right on top of MRT stations include the Swisshotel Stamford, the Dorsett, JW Marriott and Fairmont.

 

 

FlyerTalker great advice.

I think sometimes people don’t really think about the places they are going to, their own expectations and there own interests.

 

We called at Santa Cruz de Tenerife August 22 and I was speaking to a lady who had imagined the Canaries to be a group of small picturesque islands, maybe a bit like some of the Caribbean islands. She was shocked at Santa Cruz because it was so big. I explained to her that it is the capital of Tenerife and, as with other capitals, was a large city!

So disappointed was she that she decided not to leave the ship which was a great pity, because the scenery in the National Park is amazing…. for anybody who remembers Planet of the Apes, parts of it were filmed there. Amazing lunar landscape.

Romantic visions don’t always meet the reality!

Edited November 11, 2023 by Vallesan

[SophieM]

38 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Hi Sophie no we are sailing Singapore to Bangkok late January.

We have sailed Singapore to Dubai and it was a great cruise.

At the moment we are thinking about AbuDhabi - Singapore in December 24. but not quite sure yet.

Thanks for the reply. We are really looking forward to this cruise! 

[Vallesan]

4 hours ago, CardowMD said:

Thank you everyone for all of these suggestions! I was looking at Trip Advisor for suggestions to start. Will depend on how many days I go before a cruise as to location and I have never been to Singapore. Goal is to get over jet lag from east coast US while exploring. Do they have any kind of Hop on Hop off tours to get a lay of the land? I will probably be traveling solo, so some type of tour would be helpful.

 
Yes there are tour buses. If you fly with Singapore Airlines they give you free stop over tours …. at least they used to!

Hotels usually have all sorts of maps etc.  Wouldn’t worry if travelling solo as Singapore feels really safe. The laws are pretty rigid, the penalties dire. Not sure if the lash is still used but one thing for sure ‘don’t chew gum’ or even take it into the country… strict laws about that too!

I would suggest you pick out the points of interest to you … there are so many… and try and make a plan before you arrive.

[FlyerTalker]

Four other suggestions if you will be there for more than just a day.

 

Plan on at least a three night stay.  Probably one will just be adjusting to the time change.  The other days because there is so much to see and do in a small space.

 

Get a SingTel SIM for your phone.  Cheap and you will have tons of data to use at full 5G speed.  Some also include roaming in Malaysia.

 

Get an EZ-Link card early on for your travel on the subway system.  The subways are safe, clean and VERY well signed, so you really can't get lost or confused. Taxis are much more expensive and often a slower trip.  Get a system map at any MRT station.

 

Be sure to visit the various food/hawker centres around town.  Some of the more notable ones are Maxwell (across from the Maxwell MRT station), Albert and Newton.  Lots of articles online about the best stalls in the centres, but a good rule of thumb is that if there is a line, the food is worth the wait.  Also, they are inexpensive, so lots of locals.

 

 

[Queen of DaNile]

3 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Hi Sophie no we are sailing Singapore to Bangkok late January.

We have sailed Singapore to Dubai and it was a great cruise.

At the moment we are thinking about AbuDhabi - Singapore in December 24. but not quite sure yet.

See you on board!

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, Queen of DaNile said:

See you on board!

? Singapore Bangkok January 28th?
Look forward to seeing you too!

[babysteps]

We used the MRT and buses a lot. Citymapper app was amazing for planning trips (even reminds you when your stop is approaching). 

 

We had read about ezlink and did get a 2-day one but when it expired we just did pay-as-you-go and for us the cost difference was small vs a bit inconvenient to get ezlink (only some stations sell or accept turn in for deposit back).

 

If your credit card works in Singapore you can tap-and-go at subways and buses with automatic transfers

 

For getting to the port with luggage, if you want a cab I highly recommend having hotel arrange ahead or that you use the Grab app or similar. There is a shortage of cabs in Singapore. We were in a short but barely moving cab line Mar 2023 when we disembarked - ordered a grab and moments later we were walking to a different door to meet our car. Probably saved us half an hour. Would have saved 45+ minutes if we had just used the app at the beginning and never tried the taxi line... 

Edited November 12, 2023 by babysteps