Singapore Cruise Port Guide

My Singapore Day – A First-Person Account

Every single time our Royal Caribbean ship sails through the Strait of Singapore at dawn and the skyline of Marina Bay Sands, the Supertrees, and that incredible skyline appear like something out of a sci-fi movie, I actually tear up a little. The name itself whispers its own origin story: Singapura, from the Sanskrit Singa (lion) and Pura (city) – the Lion City – born from the legend of Prince Sang Nila Utama who glimpsed a lion here in the 11th century while the settlement was still Temasek, a humble fishing village. Centuries later, on January 29, 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company stepped ashore and founded what would become modern Singapore. Today it's consistently ranked the #1 or #2 port in all of Asia-Pacific by Royal passengers (4.9–5.0 average 2023–2025), and standing on deck watching the city wake up, I get it completely.

My perfect day starts the second we dock – whether we're at the gleaming Marina Bay Cruise Centre (Singapore's newest terminal, built for megaships like Spectrum and Icon) or the older Singapore Cruise Centre at HarbourFront, I'm off the gangway and onto the MRT (spotless, cheap, air-conditioned) straight to Gardens by the Bay. This is Singapore's "city in a garden" vision made real: those towering Supertrees soar over 50 meters tall, the Flower Dome holds the Guinness record as the world's largest glass greenhouse, and the Cloud Forest dome shelters the world's tallest indoor waterfall cascading 35 meters down a mist-shrouded mountain. Every single time I step inside that dome, the cool air and roar of water take my breath away. Then the OCBC Skyway suspended between the Supertrees for panoramic views, and I time my evening return for the Garden Rhapsody light and music show at sunset.

Before I leave the Marina Bay area, I always pay my respects to Singapore's most famous resident: the Merlion, that wonderfully whimsical mythical creature with a lion's head and a fish's body. The iconic 8.6-meter-tall, 70-tonne statue was designed in 1964 and installed in 1972, spouting water into the bay as a tribute to both the lion Prince Sang Nila Utama saw and the fish tail honoring Temasek's fishing-village roots. I stand there watching it spray water while the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark looms behind me (that infinity pool 57 stories up still makes me dizzy just looking at it), the ArtScience Museum's lotus-shaped petals gleam in the afternoon light, and the Singapore River bumboats chug past on their way to Clarke Quay and Boat Quay. It's a moment that captures everything Singapore is: deeply rooted in history, wildly futuristic, and somehow perfectly harmonious.

Lunch is always chili crab and black pepper crab at Jumbo Seafood or No Signboard on the East Coast – messy, expensive, and the best seafood I've ever had. Afternoon options: Sentosa Island (Universal Studios, S.E.A. Aquarium, or just the beaches), the Singapore Zoo Night Safari (feed hyenas at 7 p.m.!), or shopping on Orchard Road and Haji Lane's colorful street art.

I always do the Singapore Flyer or a bumboat ride on the river at sunset to see the Merlion and the laser show at Marina Bay. Hawker centers like Lau Pa Sat for satay and laksa are non-negotiable. Singapore is clean, safe, green, and mind-blowingly efficient – it feels like the future we were all promised.

Getting Around

Spectrum and Icon of the Seas dock at the brand-new Marina Bay Cruise Centre (5–10 minutes by taxi to Gardens by the Bay, $15–20), while smaller ships sometimes use the older HarbourFront – both have direct MRT stations underneath. Grab rides are cheap and instant.

Depth Soundings Ashore: The famous Singapore rules and efficiency are simply the city's way of giving you the smoothest, safest, most hassle-free day imaginable – embrace the order and you'll have time for three perfect activities instead of one.

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