1st December 2010
After a few concerns regarding the weather we eventually took off from Heathrow leaving a snow covered Britain behind. 1st stop Dubai. Coming in to land is a sight to see, the whole city is lit up like a Christmas tree, it looked fantastic, well worth the discomfort of the 7Hr flight. Having to set the clock back 4 Hours, left us in cloud cuckoo land and we didn’t come round until lunchtime the next day.
2nd Dec. After haggling over the price we hired a taxi for 4 hours,
We paid 40 Durand’s, about £35. He took us to all the city highlights, and there was plenty to see. Take a look at the architecture and you can’t help but be impressed. Since we shall be calling at Dubai on our way back we sussed out two or three places that we should spend time at on our return.
This is one of a few hotels owned by the Sheikh, maybe the horses are of solid gold? They certainly look as though they are!
Apart from the main body of the hotel this area which looks like a canal village, it is in fact part of the hotel, offering luxury accommodation suits.
It’s astonishing to think that all this development in Dubai has taken place on desert sand, the first hotel constructed in 1997.
A nights rest and we were off again, this time to Singapore. 7 Hrs. flight and another 4 hours off the time, confusing our body clock still further.
3rd Dec. We arrived at Mercure Hotel Singapore late, cup of tea and to bed. The next day we shopped for a computer, a welcome change from Tee shirt shopping! As you can see, Mary was so pleased!
We went to an electrical shop 9 stories high, I purchased a laptop, not sure whether I saved money or not, but in any event I needed one.
Lots of development here too, but not on the scale of Dubai. We didn’t have much time, Mary wanted to go to Raffles for tea, we made it, but we didn’t get afternoon tea.
We didn’t make this Ferris wheel either. 
There were hundreds of ships of all sizes anchored in the bay, trade here is obviously very busy. Probably sending those Christmas goods to the UK which we could not possibly do without!
Again we hired a taxi, and drove around to City and finished at the beach where there is a selection of Fish restaurants. We had dinner there which was superb.
Then, back to the Hotel for an early start the next morning to board Diamond Princess.
4th Dec. We gave the assembly point address to the taxi driver to make sure that 10 Dollars would be adequate as we had no more Singapore currency. No problem he said, it is only 5 minutes away. 50 minutes later he dropped us off at another hotel (The Fairmont) as he couldn’t get to our destination or back to the hotel we had left?
Vot a mistaka to maka, Princess Cruises that is, not me, they failed to plan around a marathon which was terminating at the bus depot where 2500 passengers were instructed to meet for their transport to the dockside. Mary stood by the cases, guarding her entire wardrobe together with my spare socks and underpants, whilst I tried to get help. The Fairmont hotel receptionist was fantastic, she provided us with a car, free of charge which attempted to get us there. The driver eventually gave up as all the roads were closed. He left us on a traffic island which was within sight of the bus compound. Again I left Mary on guard whilst I fetched a porter, who after mounting several curbs with a trolley took charge of the situation.
At last we were in the hands of Princess Cruises. It only took them 4 ¼ hrs. to process us and a further 1hr to get us to our cabin. We were knackered.
A holiday now, would be very nice! As Princess say in their brochure ”just relax and we will take care of all your needs”!!!
Once on-board we set about unpacking and then exploring our new home for the next few weeks.
We liked breakfast served on the balcony, did it take any time getting used to? Not on your nelly.
A desk, a settee, dining table and chairs, 2 televisions so you can wake up to a broadcast of what's happening on board, a shower big enough to take three, room to swing the proverbial cat, all makes for a very comfortable holiday.
These zips get longer.
….. Part 2 to follow.
