Tuesday, Day 66 - Mar 13 - 8am to 6pm, Singapore

Beginning of the Forth Segment.

Singapore an island nation, strategically located at the end of the Malaysian peninsula, is a modern, thriving metropolis and a true melting pot of cultures. Singapore offers diverse colorful ethnic quarters; a fantastic array of superb cuisines; and a shopping mecca second to none. In many ways Singapore (the name means Lion City) was built by Sir Stamford Raffles. Coming ashore to a tiny fishing village in 1819, through trade treaties and business acumen, he laid the foundation for one of the most amazing urban success stories in history.

We have not spent any time in Singapore since our first trip to Asia in 2004, though we have spent time transferring through the airport. Back then, we visited exotic Chinatown, the Arab Quarter and Little India, we enjoyed the beauty of the  UNESCO World Heritage Site orchid gardens, visited some of the WWII sites and went to the famous Raffles Hotel Bar for a Singapore Sling. We wanted to go back to Raffles this time, but they are completely restoring the hotel and the public areas will not be open until after we are leave. So we pick a free ship’s tour and plan to adapt it by leaving the tour at the last stop, the Marina Sands, getting some lunch and going to the Gardens by the Bay for a visit to the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome before taking a taxi back to the ship.

Well you know, best laid plans and all that! We were scheduled to be docked by 7AM and off the ship and on the tour by 8:45AM. Well, the ship traffic was heavy and we were held up. As a result, at 9AM they have just got all the luggage in the hallways off the ship! 

Talk about chaos! There are 200 guests trying to get off, luggage is stacked in every public hallway space since they can’t unload it yet and until they get the luggage in the public areas off no one can get to the gangway! All this has a domino effect on the tours.

Shortly after 9AM Jamie announces that people who are carrying all their luggage off and independent in transit guests can go ashore. The rest of us have to wait until our luggage number or bus number is called. The in transit tour guest have to wait because the tour buses haven’t arrived because of traffic! Finally, about 9:15AM, they start calling tour bus numbers. But by now the immigration lines are huge. There is another ship in, the Europa, with us and the ferry from Indonesia has just arrived! The good news is by 10AM everyone on our bus has cleared immigration and the bus heads out over an hour late. On top of all this, the departure time was changed at some point before we left LA to 5PM and we have to be back on board by 4PM for the muster drill. So we effectively have six hours in Singapore! A real BUMMER!

Today’s tour is “Iconic Singapore,” a four hour free tour. First we do an interesting cruise down the Singapore River aboard an electric “ bum” boat. Interestingly, the river is now completely fresh water. They have dammed the mouth of the river to close it off from the sea and made it a fresh water reservoir for the city. Tthe electric boats are used to protect the water quality. The river is home to 150 years of commercial activity, and has been at the heart of the growth of an obscure fishing village into a great seaport and metropolis. Off the river boat we walk across the Jubilee Bridge to the bus.

We have a sightseeing drive through the Colonial District of Singapore, also known as Old Singapore. Along the way, we pass by the Padang City Hall, and St. Andrew's Cathedral, and view some of the splendid architecture of bygone eras. 

 Painted Raffles Construction

Next, we walk down Arab Street and visit the beautiful, gold-domed Sultan Mosque. Along the way we see all kinds of neat shops and cafes. Too bad we don’t have time to shop! 

Traffic is heavy and we are already late plus it looks like it might rain at any minute so the guide says we need to go to the Marina Sands Hotel to the Observation deck to see the city at our feet before we get rained out. Wow, what a view!! This is where we had planned to leave the tour and go to the Gardens.

 Cute Easter Eggs in hotel candy shop

It is 1PM by the time we come down from the observation deck, so that gives us only three hours before we must be back on the ship. Carolyn was told to plan for at least three hours for the Gardens. We are slow, Dick’s feet and knee are starting to hurt and we are hungry after a light room service breakfast. So we talk with our guide. She is concerned that we don’t really have enough time. Plus there is still one more stop on the tour. It is hard decision, because Carolyn really wanted to see the gardens, but to be safe, we stay with the tour.

The final stop is at the Thian Hock Keng Temple, once a beachfront temple, but since then, the shoreline has been reclaimed. It was visited by Chinese immigrants giving thanks to Ma Zu (Goddess of the Sea) for their safe voyage. The entire structure was assembled without nails. It is an architectural masterpiece of stone, tiles and wood, dragons and phoenixes, amazing carvings, intricate sculptures and imposing columns.

This is a good tour for an overview of Singapore. We see a lot, have a good guide and a comfortable bus; very worthwhile. We get back to the terminal a little before 3PM and check out the mall. Back on the ship we head to the pool grill at 3:30PM to get something to eat. This is going to ruin our dinner, but we are hungry!

We get finished in time for the Muster Drill and after that get cleaned up. We don’t sail until all most 6PM. At 5PM they were still loading supplies on to the ship! Maybe we should have just planned to sail later....a lot of the World Cruisers would have been happier.

Singapore is a nice harbor to sail into and out of. About 6:30PM we go up the Galileo Lounge to have a drink or three and watch sail away. At some point our Australian friends show up and we drink and talk until almost 9PM. Carolyn is hungry so we all decide to go down to Compass Rose where we have a light but good meal and continue the conversation until, at some point after 10PM, we realize we are the last ones in the dining room. We thank the staff, say good night and head for bed.