Tag: Celebrity Millennium

Sailing into Singapore

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January 3/4, 2026

We came into port on Saturday morning and had a nice breakfast on the ship before making our way out into Singapore. We had less than 24 hours in Singapore – so we knew we had to make the most of it. I had made a to-do list that would cover the major tourist locations in addition to doing some foodie-fun as well.

Our first mission, of course, was to drop off our luggage. When I had traveled to the Philippines for work previously, I had stayed at a Shangri-La hotel and it was absolutely lovely. In my search for a hotel I had seen there was one in Singapore, so it was a no-brainer that we stayed there for our one night.

Somehow, the universe looked down upon us favorably and when we checked in at 9:30 am our room was ready! The room was really nice and had a great view of the pool. We had a quick cat nap before we made our way out into the city.

Public transit in Singapore is incredible – I kept reading about the “MRT” (Mass Rapid Transit) and how they had tourist passes. Candidly, I love saving money and I know Andy and I can always figure out public transportation in a foreign country. The 1-day tourist passes came out to about $26 for both of us, and gave us unlimited access to the city. The MTR system was vast – and honestly puts any US system to shame. (Don’t get me started on how clean and safe it is as well…)

We made our way to the closest MRT station, which happened to be in a mall. It felt like we were in a whole underground city + mall. Because Christmas had just ended – there were a ton of sales and everything still felt super festive. We had to stay focused though – we only had the one day in Singapore and this wasn’t the time to go shopping. So, we got our MRT passes and got on the train!

Our first stop was the Newton Hawker Center. Have you seen Crazy Rich Asians? This is where Nick and Rachel go to meet his best friend and his fiancé when they land in Singapore. It also happened to be the closest Hawker Center to our hotel!

We were there during the day, so not all of the food stations were opened, but we made due. We got more noodles, rice, and chicken. One lady was really pushy and she almost talked Andy into ordering a beer – instead he got a peach Jinro from Korea. (It was really sweet). I stuck to a Tiger beer. The food was really good, but more expensive than our food market in Malaysia.

After lunch we hopped back on the MRT and made our way over to Gardens by the Bay. I’m sure if you’ve ever seen pictures of Singapore, you’ve seen these famous trees. We wish we could have seen them at night, but time was not on our side with this trip. They were still amazing to see during the day (and free!) – we walked around until our time at the SkyPark observation deck.

The SkyPark is part of Marina Bay Sands hotel – the surfboard shaped hotel that is also a famous part of the skyline. Naturally, I had to get to the top of it because I figured this would be the best viewpoint of the city. The cost was actually really affordable – about $50 for both of us to get up there! As far as we know, there isn’t a time limit for how long you can stay and there is a restaurant where you can get food and drinks. But remember – we were on a time crunch!

Photos of the photo spots

Looking up
Looking down

Places to see people! We did a complete walk around of the observation deck (I read every plaque – I’m one of those people) and took pictures. My mom went to Singapore in the 1970s – so I wanted to take pictures and videos so she could compare and see how much it’s changed from when she was there. (I’m sure a ton!)

Our Cruise ship getting ready to go for it’s new route
Singapore Harbor
Merlion
For the F1 fans

After we felt like we had taken as many pictures as our hearts desired – and we spotted our cruise ship in the distance! We made our way back down the elevator. Our next stop was the famous Merlion.

Unfortunately, this was a tough one to get to by MTR and we decided to hail a Grab (their version of Uber) to get over there.

We hopped out and blended in with the other tourists trying to take a picture of this famous statue – and of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which was weird because we had just been there 7 minutes before! We didn’t stay for too long, but it was a nice area.

We decided to walk to our next stop, the famous Raffles hotel. This is where the Singapore Sling was created. We hadn’t researched it ahead of time, otherwise we might have gotten there earlier, but we ended up waiting in a line to get in.

Thankfully the line was moving pretty fast – and it was in the shade. Once we got inside, we were greeted by peanut shells all over the ground and punkah fans on the ceiling. Back in the early 1900s, women weren’t exactly encouraged to drink in public. Juice was acceptable, cocktails were not. Enter Ngiam Tong Boon, who saw a loophole and ran with it. He slipped gin and liqueurs into what looked like a harmless pink juice, giving us the Singapore Sling – a discreet cocktail with a rebellious streak.

We had a few Singapore Slings on the trip, but this was definitely the best one we drank and the most expensive.

At this point we started to make our way back to our hotel. We wanted to have a quick dinner and then repack our suitcases to redistribute the weight for the flight. We opted to eat at the hotel since we had a credit with our American Express card – we opted for pizza and wine. A classic.

We were off to bed and had an early wake up since our flight was at 9 am the next morning!

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We were excited to get to the airport early because the Singapore airport is known for being one of the best airports in the world. We dropped our bags and were thrilled just to walk around the airport.

I had researched things to do in Terminal 3, which is where our ticket said we would be departing from. Unfortunately, we were actually departing from Terminal 1. (Noooo!!)

This meant that I was going to miss out on the giant slide and free movie theater – yes, you read that right. But when life hands you lemons… so we decided to walk instead of taking the train so we could see everything as we went.

The main attraction is the Jewel. This glass-domed stunner is home to the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, crashing through the center of a jungle-filled oasis like it’s no big deal. Jewel turns the airport into a destination. It’s the kind of place that makes you forget you’re in an airport… until you realize you actually wish your flight were delayed. Unfortunately for us… it doesn’t turn on until 10 am. So we took the train by it, and got to see the lush jungle surrounding it and used our imagination. (You can use yours too…)

We headed to a lounge to get a quick bite and a coffee and before we knew it we had to head to security to board our flight. For those of you who have really long layovers, just know that the Singapore airport even has free city tours that you can sign up for that take you around the city on a bus. (How cool is that?!)

Until next time – thanks for joining us on this trip!

Up Next: Our last US National Park cruise: New Zealand / Fiji / Samoa / American Samoa! – March 2026

Eating our way through Penang

Posted in Bali / Malaysia / Indonesia / Thailand / Singapore, Celebrity CruiseTagged , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

December 28/29, 2025

Often referred to as the “Crown Jewel of Malaysia,” Penang earned its reputation long before it became a foodie pilgrimage. Founded in 1786 by the British East India Company, Penang quickly emerged as one of the most valuable trading ports in the region making it one of the busiest maritime routes in the world.

At the center is George Town which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Over time, Penang’s wealth shifted from trade to culture most famously its food! When we realized we were making a stop here we decided that we needed to do a food tour.

We booked one with the ship – and our first stop was the Wonder Food Museum, which was a real hoot. They had created a ton of interactive photo opportunities throughout – and a lot of their national dishes on display. Our tour guide let us know to take pictures of ones that looked interesting for the market we were going to later, so we knew to look for them while we were there.

Beatriz, our guide took a liking to us. Probably because she saw me quickly put on a chef jacket and pull out two frying pans and pose for a picture for Andy. She basically led the two of us from display to display while we were in the museum because I think she knew we would be excited to take pictures in the exhibits. (Pictures below as proof).

After the museum we went to a few different shops where we were able to buy different Malaysian goods. Malaysia is most known for the Batik, which features vibrant floral and geometric patterns with bold colors (pinks, blues, purples) from its wax-resist dyeing tradition. The store that we stopped by had a large selection for men, women, and kids. Plus, a ton of accessories that had a wide variety of different patterns. Basically, they would draw in the fabric in wax, then dye the fabric, then boil the fabric so the wax melts off- they dye doesn’t change the color under the wax, so it leaves a cool effect!

Next door, we walked into a store that “white coffee” and tea. They were both delicious, but when they call it white it means it’s instant and packed full of sugar. The teas were similar for the most part – loaded with sugar! The ones that didn’t have sugar were really expensive, but we took pictures in hopes to find something similar when we get home because they are known for their natural remedies.

After our shopping was done, we finally made our way to the market. This was a foodie heaven. Beatriz told us to grab a table and memorize the number. She explained that we could go to a booth: order, pay for the food, and wait there OR tell them our table number and they could bring it over. But she said it’s happened to her in the past where she’d forgotten she ordered something and she wandered off and when she remembered the food wasn’t there (likely because someone else had already taken it).

The market was super busy – so we ended up sharing a table with a couple that didn’t speak any English. They made great table mates! We ordered a LOT of food – it was all very affordable. Fried rice, fried noodles, dumplings, soup dumplings, meat skewers, and a large Skol beer. It was all super tasty and we left super full!

Our bus dropped us off at the cruise port, but Andy and I wanted to see if the local Starbucks had a Malaysia mug. We made our way over only to find out that they were out of stock, disappointing considering how muggy it was outside! On our walk we did get to walk by a very cool fort, which we learned had never been fired upon so never saw any military action.

That evening our Cruise Director had coordinated to have a local dance company to come on board to perform a traditional Malaysian dance for us. We really enjoyed it!

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We had two days in Penang, so we woke up in Penang. We lounged around the ship taking advantage of a quieter day on board. We decided to make another attempt at a different Starbucks for a mug (a bit over a mile away). We walked in and out of traffic for about 30 minutes to a super large mall. We couldn’t find a directory to help us find it, so we just started wandering.

That’s when we quickly realized how big this mall was. Eventually we finally asked a man who told us we needed to take a sky bridge to an entirely different section of the mall which was on a different block, the place was massive, and that is coming from people that grew up around the Mall of America. Once we made our way over there, we found a directory.

Their decorations were so cute!
Some will appreciate this

We were still lost, but this time we had more hope. I finally found a picture on Google maps and saw that it looked like it had exterior windows. Success! We found it! AND it had mugs!

We started our grueling 30 minute walk back in the humidity, but took a different route this time. This street was more interesting. There were more shops and restaurants. It was very cute, but we just wanted to get back to AC at this point.

We really enjoyed our time in Penang – it was a very cute city! We wish we would have had more time to explore, but grateful for the time we did have there.

Up Next: Langkawi

Port Klang / Kuala Lumpur

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December 27, 2025

We arrived in Port Klang on Saturday morning and we were eager to get off the ship after 2 days at sea. Both days had been really nice sailing days though – the water had been really smooth and the ship had done a nice job with Christmas entertainment and food. At a certain point you’re just excited to see land again!

Port Klang is a major port in Malaysia and serves as a gateway to Kuala Lumpur, which means it is at least an hour to hour and a half bus ride to get into the city. We had booked an excursion with the ship this time to show us around.

Our first stop was at a hotel for a buffet lunch, which was a bit unusual that we didn’t start with an activity first. There was quite a bit of local cuisine, with some international cuisine mixed in too. We got to try some new things without worrying about going hungry if we didn’t like it!

After lunch we hopped back on the bus before making a quick stop at Petronas Twin Towers. If you’re a Formula 1 fan, you probably recognize the name as they are a huge sponsor of F1. If you’re a Harry Potter fan you might think I’ve misspelled patronus but I swear I know what I’m talking about! They are one of the most prominent fixtures in the city skyline – and they are really cool to look at!

Merdeka 118, 2nd tallest tower in the world (2,227 feet tall)
Petronas Twin Towers

We continued over to their central square area where we started a mild walking tour towards the Central Market, stopping along the way to look at a few of their landmarks.

River of life (2 rivers coming together into one)
Masjid Jamel Mosque
Independance Square

Next we made our way over to the Central Market to do a little shopping, and the group had an option to go to the market or head into China Town. It was a no brainer for us because the Central Market was air conditioned and at this point we were both melting.

We bought a few things and made our way to the meeting point. This is where things started to take a turn. The whole group wasn’t there, which started to push our timeline back for Batu Caves (the real reason we had all booked this tour). Our guide suggested we split up and some of us head to the bus, as we got outside we realized the bus wasn’t there, it was easily 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 60%+ humidity, and it looked like it might start to rain.

Now we were getting pretty annoyed because I think all of us would have rather had started at the caves when the weather was better and skipped the shopping, the 15 minutes at the towers, etc. And where was our bus anyhow?!

Short story long… Our bus finally pulled up, along with the rest of our group. We’ve all been there, our guide had originally said an hour and then changed his mind and said a specific time. They had heard the hour first and immediately left to capitalize on their time shopping. But that left 40 minutes at the caves.

I’ll tell you why this matters. Batu Caves has 272 stairs to climb to get into the caves, yes. You read that right. It isn’t something you want to sprint up. And now imagine you’re doing that in the rain. Throw in the added pressure of needing to get back in time for the ship’s departure time.

People were getting really upset, rightfully so. Eventually our guide called the company and was able to get us 20 more minutes at the caves, which wasn’t much. But it did help.

Did I mention it’s a sacred site so women had to cover their shoulders and knees? An added pleasure on a particularly humid day.

Now that I got that off my chest. IT WAS STUNNING! And there were monkeys everywhere. It was sooooo cool!

We saw a few monkeys actually grab food out of people’s hands, some were a little aggressive, but most were well behaved

The colorful stairs were so fun to look at from a distance (not so much as you were walking up them and trying to catch your breath). The caves themself were really cool – there were different ceremonies being performed while we were there too.

It was worth it. We were really happy that we went, and if you’re in the area I would highly recommend going! The hour we had was just the right amount of time to fully take in and enjoy the temple, any less and we would’ve been rushing.

After we returned to the ship and had dinner we were even able to catch a magic show on the ship. (No, I didn’t get selected to volunteer this time. 😉).

Up Next: Penang