Consecutive cruises circling calm seas on Spectrum off Singapore.

[woodyren]

Time for the epilogue pt1&2&3.

After 18 super relaxing days on board Spectrum doing exactly what we set out to do (nothing much at all) it was time to head home.

With an 8pm flight from Changi we were in no hurry to disembark so had a sleep in and late breakfast in the lounge. We departed around 9.30 and there was almost no one in the departure lines.

Headed to immigration and again as on our original arrival and a few other previous cruise departures in Singapore during the regular process I was instructed to go to the backroom. Waited for around 15 minutes and then sat in front of one immigration officer with a supervisor looking over their shoulder while they both pointed at their computer screen and discussed whatever the issue was. Again as previously I have no idea why this happens so often to me and has never happened to Mrs Woodyren. 20 minutes later and I was handed back my passport and allowed to depart.

$22 cab to Changi and dropped off at Jewel as I thought we could check in there. The Jewel check in wasn't available so we took the Sky Train to terminal 3 and checked in.







Superfast early baggage check in and a walk back to Jewel to waste an hour or so.














Lunch was calling so it was time to walk back to terminal 3 and the SilverKris lounge.

 

[woodyren]

The SilverKris lounge was quite full but we managed to find some seats and a table then later some lounge chairs so we were reasonably comfortable for the 5 or 6 hours wait. Things will become far less crowded once the other lounges open in the near future.









Laksa was excellent I thought.



Self serve bar until 5pm then full bar service later.



A shower in the new shower rooms prior to boarding was great and despite the full lounge there was no waiting for a vacant one.











Not sure these were in the old lounge.



After trying to restrict a little the food in take and limiting the booze to 2 x Singapore Slings it was off to the gate to board.

 

[woodyren]

Our flight was an award booking made with KrisFlyer points during on of the Spontaneous Deals promos recently. 42K KF pts was a bargain. The flight was in one of the A350 regional aircraft and while the hard product was not as good as the longer haul configurations it was perfectly fine.



Flight was delayed at the gate while technicians were brought in for some flight software issue reboot.

Offered Champagne prior to takeoff but for some reason they then had an issue with the IFE system and so service sort of disappeared for a while from our area of the J cabin and the bubbly didn't arrive until service resumed after takeoff.




The usual Satays of course.



Followed by the very tasty mango salsa.



I had ordered the book the cook lobster and Mrs Woodyren the chicken rice.

Mine was fine but hers was only so so (she is a tough judge)



Desert trolly selection for me.






A few more Champagnes and then a reasonable 4 hours or so sleep before touchdown around 6am in Sydney.

No breakfast service. Suited us anyway so we go more sleep but I am wondering is that is that the usual routine for the early arrival.



So that's a wrap for my second ever TR. Felt fantastic just to be experiencing some travel again and a really incident free trip.

Home and some part time work while we await the next and much longer venture in early August when we will head to the Maldives, the UK for a cruise, a few weeks of train travel from UK to Italy through Switzerland and Northern Italy and then 3 Med cruises around the Greek Islands, Turkey and Italy.

Cheers.

 

[RB]

Excellent write-up. Fantastic photos again

 

[love_the_life]

Thank you for the TR - lovely to read and to look forward to travel soon.

 

[kenteguy]

All bookings made and hotel booking transferred it was now time to fully research the Singapore and cruise line requirements for travel.

Firstly we needed a supervised RAT within 2 days of departure. Chemist Warehouse $29.99

We also needed the Singapore Trace Together App for both entry to Singapore and boarding Spectrum. We never use OS SIM cards and always rely on wifi only so this may have been problematic. A little more research showed that Trace Together needed to be downloaded in Australia (as you need a phone number for a tele PIN) and activated once you clear security in Changi. Loaded the required info the day before departure and all appeared well.

Thirdly we needed another supervised RAT at one of Royal's nominated providers on the day of the cruise. Luckily Fullerton Health in Raffles City was just around the corner from the Naumi out hotel. $15 for the test.

Great trip report and write up! Will be onboard Spectrum next week.

I believe RAT test can now be taken the day before embarkation.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for the TR - great to see people out and about

 

[OZDUCK]

Enjoyable TR. Thanks for the effort.

 

[oobi doobi]

Can’t wait to return to Singapore. Probably wait until July when it is cold here.
Great photos of Singapore.

cheers

 

[woodyren]

Great trip report and write up! Will be onboard Spectrum next week.

I believe RAT test can now be taken the day before embarkation.

The rules are changing rapidly. The rule when we cruised was 24 hours prior to embarkation so they told us we could take one after 5 pm the day before. Royal were great in sending latest requirements and links. Enjoy your trip.