Singapore …. 95 days to go… should I really be counting these days away

We arrived one and a half hours earlier than our scheduled time.  Pulling along side at 7.30am instead of 9am.  Maybe this was done intentionally as another ship was arriving at 10am which would mean that the Singapore immigration would be even slower than what it already was.

Arriving at our Berth at Marina Bay Cruise Terminal

Singapore is one of the rare ports on this cruise where we would have to have a face to face with officials.   Princess had us all prepared ensuring that each of us had completed the online arrival card 2-3 days before arriving.

Singapore do not allow large crowds within the terminal so disembarking was completed using a ticket system, very much like tendering.  We probably waited around an hour for our number 4 to be called off, but once in the terminal the process went quicker than I thought.

Today we were invited by our Travel Agents, Clean Cruising, to a cocktail party on the 57^th Floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. 

We had time to kill before the start time of 12noon. I was on a mission to find my favourite shoe shop close by.  Bingo!, there was one at the Suntec Mall, which was in walking distance back to Marina Bay.

Kids are certainly catered for in at this mall

The walk was pleasant despite the heat and we passed many sculptures, fountains and crossed the Helix Bridge.

We walked through the Helix bridge ( on the left ) to get to Marina Bay Mall

Lovely and cool in the Mall

The Marina Bay Sands Mall was a welcomed cool relief.  Here shopping is only performed with the eyes as the high-end shops are a little out of our league.  Hence my excitement that I could find my fav shoe shop and make a purchase of not one or two but three pairs of shoes for under $100 Singapore.

The cocktail party was held at the Ce La Vi Bar up top of Tower 3 at Marina Bay.  Great views look back over the city and down across the gardens.

Many a fabulous cocktails were enjoyed along with some lovely finger food.  A family run company, Dan and his siblings along with a select group of colleagues where there to ensure we all had a great time. It was a great celebration that marked the first World cruise out of Australia since the lock downs.

Not leaving anything to chance they even arranged for a continuous shuttle to deliver us all safely back to the ship before sail away.  A sail away that I slept through lol….. only to be woken by our room steward delivering a couple of World Cruise drink bottles.

 

Gift bag from Clean Cruising....

Two days at sea …. Crossing the Equator …. 96 Days to go

The seas have been a mill pond so far and the weather has been hot hot hot over the past few days.  But it is the humidity that gets to you…  and if it is not humid enough, the random short bursts of rain don’t help.

On the second sea day, the ship celebrated crossing the equator in the usual fashion, by inviting King Neptune and his busty wife Double Dee on board so the Captain can ask for permission for us to cross.

Of course we had the trials for those misbehaving on board and then the initiation of those polliwogs who will now be known as shellbacks as they cross the equator for the first time.  It was only the ships crew who got to  “kiss the fish”,  but guests were invited to participate in the traditional  food fight…

Brian took one for the team, and as you can see from the photos he certainly enjoyed himself.

The night ended with the production show Stardust, which we enjoyed.

Eureka! We made it ….. Hello Komodo!! 98 days to go

We were up early today for the sail into our first international port Komodo.  For us, it is our third time but opted to go ashore anyway as we wanted to share the experience with my sister who had not been before.  Many others decided to stay on the ship.

Village of Flores where many of the guides live.

Long pier that takes you to the entrance of the National Park

I had a group of 24 and we did the usual walking trail that included the waterhole where dragons can always be found and the climb up to Sulphur Hill where we enjoyed a lovely vista of the harbour and the ship. 

Lunch..... the Timor Deer,  dragons only eat around 12 times a year

Then it was down to board the boat that would take us to Pink Beach.

I was disappointed with the boat supplied by our company as it was one of the first things I checked before booking for so many people…  So you can imagine how cross I was when our operator asked if he could add extra people to our already very small boat….  It was a resounding no from me…..

Nothing like the picture he sent me.....

Apart from that we still had an enjoyable trip to the beach…  Once over there you are shuttled to the beach by a smaller dingy.  The beach is lovely and clean and the water is crystal clear.  Many enjoyed the small coral reefs and the tropical fish that inhabit them…. The water was refreshing and once in it was lovely to just float around.

Not as pink as the photoshopped photos, but as you walk along the shore you can see the pink hue as the waves rolled in and out.

Then it was time to jump back into our tinnies and head back on board to enjoy a local lunch…. Lunch was an array of local cuisine, with lovely flavours and unusual textures, and if I could as for anything it would be for the food to have been hotter (temperature that is).

When we arrive back the tender queue was horrendous, and many complained that they stood for over 2 hours in the sun to head back to the ship.  We looked at the line and we looked at our watches and knew that the 3pm last tender, was a figment of Princess’s imagination.   The end of the line nearly reached the market, so that is where we headed…  Then decided to sit and enjoy a Bintang in the shade until the queue was reduced to an acceptable length.

The intended subject of my photo was the carved dragons in the foreground, then when I finished I realise I captured the lovely lady in the background.

Well earned!

Nup that line was not going down

There was a ship in town, so  the locals came to sell their wares and the kids had fun frolicking in the water

Back on the last tender and the official sail away time that had come and gone, we headed to our back deck and debriefed with our friends until finally the engines roared and we started to move out of the bay.

Tonight was an exceptionally beautiful sunset….

We had the most amazing Sunset this evening