Singapore Arrival Information Please

[DICKY BEACH]

My Wife And I Are Taking Our First Cruise In July. Onboard The Superstar Gemini Out Of Hong Kong Into Singapore. We have not made any arrangements about transfers to our hotel, The York, and are a little concerned about transport. Will we find a taxi easily? Where from? How do we pay? Any thing else you can think of.:(

[Waltzer]

I'm going to also start looking for a reasonable place that has a good location.

Any clues would be great!

 

Thanks,

Waltzer

[Aussie Gal]

Taxis are plentiful in Singapore. You do need to pay with Singapore dollars and the price is very reasonable.

 

Jennie

[Aussie Gal]

I'm going to also start looking for a reasonable place that has a good location.

Any clues would be great!

 

Thanks,

Waltzer

 

 

The hotels in Singapore are all good. It just depends on the location and whether you prefer a 3, 4 or 5 star room.

 

Here is a good website which gives you a good list of hotels.

 

http://www.asiatravel.com/singapore.html

 

I can give you some good recommendations but am not sure what type of hotel you are looking at. We have stayed in Singapore since 1978 so know the city very well.

 

Jennie

[ab0si]

First, Taxis in Singapore are inexpensive (even after the rate increase in 2006), clean, safe and the drivers are honest. There are plenty of them and undoubtably will be many of them meeting the cruise ship. The only possible problem is that they are not huge cars and if you pack for cruises like my wife does, you and your luggage might not all fit.

 

You can pre-book a London cab (which has much more space for "stuff") at a very resonable rate. Google Singapore London Cab.

 

A final comment about Singapore Taxis. Many of them take VISA, Masterdacrd, etc. So, if you don't ahve a chance to obtain Singpaore dollars, youwill still be ok.

 

Someone else in this threaded asked for hotel recommendations. That's rather impossible without knowing what "good location" means and price range. Are you looking for something on Orchard Road for the shopping? Or something else? I often stay at The Regent -- mostly because it is the closest hotel to the Botantical Gardens which means my standard morning walk can start without a taxi or bus ride. to me, that makes a great location. Others probably differ.

 

Most Singapore hotels raised their rates 20% or so at the beginning of 2007 (this is particularly true for the 4 and 5 star hotels). The Lion City is no longer an inexpensive palce to stay in a nice hotel. It is stil not at the London or New York level, of course, but it is no longer "cheap." And, don't forget to add the standrd 16% Service and Tax to the room rate when planning your budget (and taxes are going up an additional 2% soon).

 

Paul

[ab0si]

First, Taxis in Singapore are inexpensive (even after the rate increase in 2006), clean, safe and the drivers are honest. There are plenty of them and undoubtably will be many of them meeting the cruise ship. The only possible problem is that they are not huge cars and if you pack for cruises like my wife does, you and your luggage might not all fit.

 

You can pre-book a London cab (which has much more space for "stuff") at a very resonable rate. Google Singapore London Cab.

 

A final comment about Singapore Taxis. Many of them take VISA, Masterdacrd, etc. So, if you don't ahve a chance to obtain Singpaore dollars, youwill still be ok.

 

Someone else in this threaded asked for hotel recommendations. That's rather impossible without knowing what "good location" means and price range. Are you looking for something on Orchard Road for the shopping? Or something else? I often stay at The Regent -- mostly because it is the closest hotel to the Botantical Gardens which means my standard morning walk can start without a taxi or bus ride. to me, that makes a great location. Others probably differ.

 

Most Singapore hotels raised their rates 20% or so at the beginning of 2007 (this is particularly true for the 4 and 5 star hotels). The Lion City is no longer an inexpensive palce to stay in a nice hotel. It is stil not at the London or New York level, of course, but it is no longer "cheap." And, don't forget to add the standrd 16% Service and Tax to the room rate when planning your budget (and taxes are going up an additional 2% soon).

 

Paul

[yiddishkopf]

When you arrive at the cruise terminal in Singapore, there will be taxis at a 1:1 ratio -- that is (probably) a taxi for every passenger. Three years ago our cruise ended in Singapore and we had a taxi take us on a short tour of the city and to a tailor where we had some clothes made. It was like Hong Kong where our items were delivered to our hotel that evening. My significant other had a blazer made and I had an Oriental type dress, a style I have always loved, and several pairs of heavy silk pants. I'm always 20 degrees hotter than everyone else, so silk is a good fabric for me. I'm still wearing all these items.

 

We stayed at the Ritz Carlton which was Holland America's hotel that year. The Ritz had just opened a few months before -- it was a lovely hotel. The bathtub was about six feet long and had a picture window looking out over the harbor.

[Aussie Gal]

The Ritz Carlton is our favourite Hotel in Singapore. We have stayed at many others over the years - we have been visiting Singapore since 1978 - but the Ritz has been our hotel of choice now for the past 5 years or so, since it was first built.

 

As Yiddishkopf mentioned the bathroom is fantastic. I love lying in the bath and looking out at at the wonderful view. The service at the Ritz is incredible and the room are huge. I think they are the biggest hotel rooms in Singapore.

 

Jennie

[bentho]

The good thing about singapore is the cab line. There isnt one! :)

[DICKY BEACH]

Thanks for all the great info'.Jennie. One more please. We ae only in Singapore overnight and fly back to Brisbane the next evening. Any suggestions of MUST DO things while we are there.

Thanks again

Frank

[Aussie Gal]

There is quite a lot to see in Singapore but often the heat and humidity makes it hard to move quickly and get around to see everything. There is the bus that is called the Singapore Explorer which is free for anyone who travels on Singapore airlines and does take you around most of the city.

 

There are the Botanical Gardens which are very beautiful and coolish, these are not far from Orchard Road. There is the Night Safari which is very popular but I don't know if you will be there in time for that, there is also the morning breakfast at the Zoo with the animals, the Jurong Bird Park and of course Sentosa Island which does have quite a bit of history. You can get to Sentosa by using the Cable car which gives you a good view of the city. On the island is a museum showing you how Singapore was captured by the Japanese during the war. It is quite interesting.

 

Of course there are the wonderful shops and shopping. No matter where you are staying, there are always shops surrounding you. We prefer the Marina area where the Ritz Carlton, Marina Mandarin, the Pan Pacific, the Oriental and the Raffles group of Hotels are all situated. Around that area there are arcade after arcade of shops. Orchard Road is the main shopping area where all the designer clothes are situated. When you convert the Singapore dollar back to Aussie dollars, the clothes cost exactly the same here as there and if you are interested in designer clothes it is better to buy here at home where we have the correct sizes. Singaporians are a lot smaller than the average Australian.

 

Singapore would be the safest country in the world and you can walk anywhere at night and not be concerned. You also do not need to worry about carrying handbags etc as it is safer than here at home and we consider this to be a very safe country.

 

Jennie

[Westaussie]

Hi Dicky Beach

 

I see from your first post on this thread that you are staying at the York Hotel. We've stayed there several times, it's a very nice hotel and very well located. If you head towards Scott Road there is the Far East Plaza, my favourite as it's not too big and noisy also my husband goes to a tailor there.

 

For a bit of history, if you have time go to the Raffles hotel they have a very interesting museum on the top floor. Beware, the drinks are expensive in the bar! Also the bum boats on the river makes an interesting hour or so ending with lunch or dinner at the many restaurants (all different nationalities) along the river.

 

Taxis at the port and all over Singapore are plentiful. The longest we've had to wait at the port was 20 minutes and that was after a cruise on the Virgo with three times the number of passengers than the Gemini.

 

Vera

[fivefoot4]

Dicky BeachWhen I stayed in Singapore I got around the city by Citybuzz tourist bus service which costs SGD1 a trip or a day pass for SGD5. It has several routes which will take you all around Singapore's great tourist spots. If you are staying at The York you can get on at Orchard Road. There is information on Singapore at the singaporeguides.info site which is quite informative for planning your short stay. As I was a solo traveller it was a safe way of seeing Singapore as well and less costly than tours although the exception would be the Night Zoo which was terrific and well worth the cost.

[Avariel]

Singapore would be the safest country in the world and you can walk anywhere at night and not be concerned. You also do not need to worry about carrying handbags etc as it is safer than here at home and we consider this to be a very safe country.

 

Jennie

I totally agree.

 

Whenever I'm back in Singapore during the university vacations, I have no problem walking around, even if its near midnight and I'm alone.

 

I would never dare do the same thing over here in Perth, Australia.