Singapore and Royal Caribbean Cruise
Updated: Dec 25, 2022
Post Covid we had stopped travelling and eating out. Two of the things which I love.
In April 2022, we had gone to Lucknow for our daughter's head tonsuring ceremony(Mundan Sanskar). We met our cousin brother who was also in the same boat not going anywhere due to Covid restrictions and work obligations. 10min of quick discussion and we decided to go somewhere outside india. First Maldives was in consideration but then due to the fact that our kids are young, most water activities will be closed to them. Then came Dubai but that was ditched due to high cost. Finally the idea of cruise from Royal Caribbean was floated by my cousin and I was sold. I had never done a cruise and it felt as if my bucket list was being fulfiled.
After loads of planning we decided to go to Singapore in last week of Nov 2022, get two days to acclimatize to the time zone and then do a three night cruise and come back on 1st Dec 2022. Our cousin was to travel from Delhi to Singapore and we were to travel from Bangalore to Singapore and meet at the hotel. Gradually Hotels were booked, flight tickets were done, cruise reservations were made and we finally applied for the visa. Got the visa in a week. My daughter was very excited at the thought of going to a new country, meeting her cousin brother and taking a cruise. We even visited our doctor for recommendations for various common ailments and to-dos in case of scenarios. Did last minute hot weather purchases, downloaded multiple applications for various things to do in Singapore, created list items to take, to keep with us, to keep as backup. Ultimately packed and unpacked the suitcases 3 times before finally calling it quits one day before departure. Finally the D-day arrived. We were travelling on a Friday and returning on Thursday midnight. Our flight was at 12noon so taking adequate precautions we decided to leave from home around 8 am so as to reach Airport by 9am and then have sufficient time for clearing immigration and just relaxing before going on our first international vacation post becoming parents. Day 1 (Travel to Singapore)
Everything went according to plan. Got up on time, did last minute cleaning and packing, called Uber and were on our way by 8. Reached airport by 9 and had cleared immigration by 10am.
At the BIAL Airport
Had a leisurely breakfast and roamed the international terminal waiting for our boarding.
Just before boarding the aeroplane, we got an unfortunate news that our cousin had a passport validity issue and he was not allowed to travel. So essentially his family was not traveling and all of a sudden i felt how will we be able to manage. Post discussing with him, he gave a contact of his friend in Singapore Vivek Bhaiya whom I called and got reassured.
The flight was uneventful. Our daughter slept comfortably during the journey.
We should have started at 12 but we finally took off at 1pm IST and Singapore is 2.5hours ahead which effectively meant that once we landed after 4.5 hours, the time in Singapore was 8pm. By the time we got our luggage and finally got out of the terminal, it was 9pm. I had called up Vivek Bhaiya and he helped to finalize and book our next day's attractions to visit in Sentosa. Since we were at the Airport we decided to explore Jewel and have dinner prior to heading to the hotel. We were lucky to catch the Jewel Waterfall Light and Sound show as soon as we entered the Mall. It was a surreal experience.
One word of Caution. Singaporeans get up early and the city winds down by 9-9:30pm. So it was very difficult to find open eating places in Jewel. Finally post our exploration, we found the food court at level B2 and had burgers and fries in Burger King as our dinner at 10:30pm.
Post dinner, we booked a grab and reached hotel (Carlton on Bras Basah Road) at 11:30pm. Had a very smooth check-in process and to our surprise got an upgrade to a King type room.
DAY 2 (SENTOSA and Singapore Exploration)
Next day getting up was a big pain since our bodies were on India Time and we had to reach Sentosa's SEA Aquarium for a show at 10:30am Singapore Time. We setup 3 alarms , still got up like zombies, had terrible body ache but got dressed and rushed to have breakfast one by one and finally were able to get a cab at 9:40am to take us to Sentosa. From our hotel, it was a 25min ride to SEA Aquarium in Sentosa. I was expecting that the taxi would take us directly to the SEA Aquarium building and we would go in. NO. There are fixed pickup and drop-off points for any building in Singapore and most importantly people abide by the rules. So we were dropped off in the basement and we took an escalator to the ground floor. Then it was an approximate 3min walk to the SEA Aquarium building. By this time it was 10:10am and we had booked an additional extra show at 10:30am (Behind the Panel). I had the tickets on my mobile and had to show them to get physical tickets. The helpful person at the counter told me that I may miss my allocated time of 10:30 to actually reach the designated spot and he shifted the time to 12noon. I thanked him and off we went to the aquarium.
SEA Aquarium means (South East Asian Aquarium) and they have all types of fish and marine life including sharks, piranhas, crabs, jelly-fish and manta rays.
Post visiting the Aquarium, we got out on the square and clicked few shots with the Universal globe. Then we headed off to our hotel for lunch and rest.
In the evening we had booked a ticket for Marina Bay Sands Sky-Deck (57th Floor) and had planned to meet Vivek Bhaiya after that.
The view is amazing. Could see entire Singapore skyline.
Then we headed down to meet Vivek Bhaiya who took us first to witness the light and sound show outside MBS Bay area and then we went on a walking tour on the helix bridge, esplanade, Singapore Flyer and Merlion.
At the hawker center in Esplanade, I had my first taste of Singapore Chili Crab. It was heaven.
Finally we went back to the hotel walking all the way. Our legs were killing us but it was an interesting experience to explore the city like a local with a resident to guide us and spend some quiet time in the by-lanes of the city.
DAY 3 (DUCKTOUR AND NIGHT SAFARI)
After a good sleep, at least mine and my wife's body clock were adjusted to Singapore time however not our kid who was still running on India Time. So again we got up and had breakfast. Today's plan was to get a Duck Tour in the morning, have lunch rest then go for river safari and night safari. This was exhausting but we only had two days in Singapore and wanted to make the maximum out of it. Also on Monday we were just boarding the ship so we could sleep late and head out to the ship post checking out around 12.
Our first stop was Suntec Mall from where the DuckTour starts and we were just there at 10:55am while our tour started at 11. We confirmed ourselves and got our seats which were pre-assigned so that was great. The bus first runs on land then goes into water. It is an amphibious boat and takes us first around the city then takes a dip into the bay area and gives us a water side view of MBS, Esplanade, Merlion and then a short trip around the city showing heritage landmarks. In my opinion a must do for the novelty of riding an amphibious boat.
The drop-off point for duck tour was in the same mall (Sun-Tech) so at 12 we were back there hunting for a good pair for shoes for my wife since she had hurt her knee walking yesterday night with slippers. Luckily we got an adidas store from where we purchased shoes and some accessories. Now we were hungry and after some exploring found a Malay place named "Penang Place" whose menu looked familiar from our earlier trip to Malaysia. It had both options "Ala-Carte" as well as "Buffet" and after checking the buffet we opted for Ala-Carte. Food was good and we were hungry. After 40mins of chomping down sea-food, Chicken and rice, we were satiated and decided to explore the mall. We found a few clothes to purchase and bought them. By this time it was already 2pm. We decided to head to the hotel and re-charge our batteries.
Once we slept, we could only get up by 5pm. So decided to ditch the river-safari and focus only on the night safari. A quick bath, change of clothes, some food and we were off by 5:45pm. Night Safari is an amazing interactive experience. Essentially it is to explore the nocturnal animals in their natural habitat at night. Timings are from 6:30pm to 12pm. Our Cab dropped us to the drop off point from where we walked roughly 500m to get to the entrance of the Night Safari. We were welcomed by a short dance presentation at 7pm post which we started to explore the safari.
Night safari has 4 trails which can be done in any order and one tram ride which is roughly 50min and it takes the visitors over an overview of the entire campus. There is an office where one could book a pram for the younger kids and it was a god-send. Our daughter loved it and liked to be pushed into it.
There were a few eating stalls right next to the tram station where we were getting food combos both veg and non-veg. Since it was around 7:45pm, we elected to first eat and then start on the exploration. We ordered and ate quickly and then got on the tram for the ride.
The tram ride started and there was a running commentary in English. We saw deer, swans, Lions, Rhinos. Elephants, Hippos amongst other animals and birds in their cages roaming free. It was an exhilarating experience. Post the ride we decided to do one trail where we saw pangolin, fishing cats and Wolf.
We came back to the starting point of the trail and ordered a Singaporean Specialty (Chicken Rice) , gobbled it down and then decided to head home since it was getting late.
Now spoiler alert: It is very difficult to get taxis from Mandai Forest Reserve. There are shuttle buses every 15-20min to take you to the nearest Metro station (MRT) and from there you can get home. So after approx. 20min ride in the bus, we were at the metro station. There I withdrew some cash from the ATM and then purchased two cards for the ride. Checking the ride brochure, it was a 50min ride back to our location (Bras Basah) with an interchange in the middle.
Metro ride was uneventful. The station markings and in-train announcements made me feel as if I was traveling in DMRC not MRT in Singapore. Finally we reached the hotel around 12:15 am on Monday Morning.
Day 4 (Little India Exploration and Cruise Trip Begins)
This was the D-day. Today had nothing to do except checking in at the cruise terminal at 1:30pm so decided to go and explore "Little India" and then check-in for the cruise. Had our breakfast at A2B (Adyar Ananda Bhavan) and then decided to explore "Mustafa". Mustafa is a ginormous superstore which has everything under the sun ranging from currency exchange to groceries to souvenirs to latest electronic items and luxury goods.
We explored Mustafa and decided to come back on the last day. By this time it was close to 12:45 so we rushed back to the hotel collected our luggage and then moved on to the cruise terminal.
The check-in queue and the proceeding visa check and passport enquiry was similar to completing an international flight check-in process. First our passports and visas were checked, gave our heavy bags to the cargo handlers, then carry-on bags were security screened and finally waited for immigration clearance since we were leaving Singapore (on the cruise ship). The entire process was seamless and took close to 60min post getting into the terminal. Then we had our picture taken and then moved on to board the ship. Our passports were taken in custody as soon as we got on the ship with a message that we would get them back one day prior to de-boarding the ship.
The first order of the day was to get to our emergency station and go through the drill. Once that was done, we made our way to our cabin, It was on the 13th Deck(Floor) and had an amazing view of the ocean.
By this time it was 2:45 and we were famished. Post dumping our things in the room, we decided to explore the ship and look for open food places to eat. One deck above us was the open pool and other sport areas.
There was also a fast-food joint but it was closed. Upon asking the attendant there, he recommended that we try out "windjammer" a buffet place which was right opposite to the pool area on deck 14.
Windjammer is huge and it is a buffet place with all varieties of food (Chinese/Malay/Singaporean/Indian Cuisines) and other international cuisines. A place to cater to all tastes. It was open for breakfast-Lunch-Dinner and became our fav place for having our food.
Once we were full, we decided to lie down and sleep for some time. The slight rocking motion actually helped us fall asleep and we were out for more than 3 hours.
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