Cruises from Singapore: the four ships, the real total per person and the two terminals explained

1. Which ship to book: the four in one table

Four ships sail round trip from Singapore, and they are easy to tell apart once you know what each one is for. Disney Adventure is the family ship. Genting Dream is the cheap one. Navigator of the Seas has the most to do on board. Star Voyager is the small, old ship that does short hops to Malaysia in winter.

The four ships side by side

Families with young children should start with Disney Adventure and stop reading the other rows. The ship is built around them, the kids’ clubs take children from three to seventeen, and the fare includes every meal outside the speciality restaurants. Most sailings have no port of call, though, so the ship is the whole holiday.

If the fare is what matters, Genting Dream has the lowest round-trip fare of the four, and its 2-night Melaka sailing is the cheapest way to try cruising and still come back to Singapore on the ship. Read section 9 before you book, because tips, port charges and a fuel charge are added on top and they change the comparison.

Navigator of the Seas is the ship with the most to do: the longest waterslide at sea by the line’s own description, the FlowRider surf simulator, pools and shows. It costs more than Genting Dream for the same three nights, but the bill is simpler, because the daily tip is the only fixed addition and there is no separate port or fuel line.

Star Voyager is a different kind of trip. It is an older ship, it leaves from HarbourFront rather than Marina Bay, and its overnight one-way sailing to Melaka has the lowest fare of any sailing in this guide. Treat it as a short hop rather than a holiday in itself.

How to read the rest of this guide

Sections 3 to 6 cover each ship in turn, with its sailing patterns and what sits on top of the fare. Sections 9 and 10 add the numbers up. Sections 11 to 15 sort out the terminals, the airport run, the paperwork and embarkation day. If you are here for the long voyages that leave Singapore and end in Japan, Australia or Bali, jump to section 16.

2. When the ships are in Singapore

Ships pile into Singapore over the winter and thin out by the middle of the year. The busy season runs from December to March, when the international lines bring their ships through and there are several sailings a week. June is the quietest month of the year, with only a handful of calls.

Year-round ships and winter ships

Genting Dream and Disney Adventure sail from Singapore all year, so you can book either of them for any week you like. Navigator of the Seas is also here year round from late October, and Royal Caribbean has said a bigger ship, Quantum of the Seas, is due to take over the Singapore run from next winter.

Star Voyager is the seasonal one. It is sold for the winter months only, roughly November to January, and outside that window there is nothing to book. If you want the HarbourFront ship, plan a winter trip.

The long voyages in section 16 follow the same rhythm. Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, Seabourn, Silversea and the rest pass through Singapore mostly in the winter season, on longer voyages that start or end somewhere else. In high summer the departure boards at both terminals are short.

What that means for booking

Winter is when the choice is widest and the terminals are busiest, so book early for those weeks, especially on the family ships. Outside winter, Genting Dream, Disney Adventure and Navigator of the Seas keep sailing through the year; Star Voyager does not.

Our guide to the best time to visit Singapore covers the weather side. For cruising, the schedules run all year and the choice of ships is what changes with the season.

3. Genting Dream: the lowest fare, with extras on top

Genting Dream is the ship you see most often at Marina Bay Cruise Centre. It belongs to StarDream Cruises, which revived the old Dream Cruises name for this ship, and it sails from Singapore all year. It was built in 2016, carries about 3,400 passengers, and has six waterslides.

Sailing patterns

The schedule repeats every week, which makes it easy to plan around. The 2-night weekend and Melaka sailings leave on Fridays and Sundays, the 3-night Penang and Phuket sailings on Tuesdays, and the Redang, Ko Samui, Bali and Bangkok sailings fit around them. The table gives the patterns by weekday; the exact dates are on the booking page.

The 3-night Phuket sailing is worth a look if you want real time ashore, because the ship stays in Phuket overnight instead of leaving the same evening. The 3-night Penang sailings are the simplest first cruise: Penang plus a second Malaysian port, Port Klang or Melaka, and back by Friday afternoon.

What sits on top of the fare

Tips can be paid at booking or settled on board at checkout on the last morning. Port charges appear on the booking invoice as their own line, so you see them before you pay. The fuel charge is new and applies to sailings that start in Singapore, Port Klang or Melaka. StarDream lists all of this in its own FAQ, which is worth reading before you compare fares.

What the fare does include is the cabin, the buffet at The Lido, the main dining rooms, the shows, the pools and the slides. Drinks are sold separately, as on every ship in this guide.

Cabin grades run from inside rooms up to the Palace cabins, which carry the highest tip rate. For a 2- or 3-night sailing an inside cabin is fine for most people, and the tips are lower than in a balcony cabin.

4. Navigator of the Seas: the most to do on board

Navigator of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s Singapore ship, sailing from Marina Bay Cruise Centre all year from late October. It was built in 2002 and carries between three and four thousand passengers. Royal Caribbean describes The Blaster as the longest waterslide at sea, and the ship also has the FlowRider surf simulator.

Sailing patterns

Departure time depends on the sailing. Some leave at 16:00 and some at 23:00, and the check-in window moves with it, so read your own booking rather than a friend’s. The 3-night Penang sailing is the one we use for the worked total in section 10.

Tips, drinks and the drinking age

Royal Caribbean adds a daily gratuity of US$18.50 a person to your onboard account automatically, with a higher rate for suites. You can prepay it when you book, and you can adjust it on board if you want to. Drinks and spa treatments carry an 18% service charge on top of the menu price. The line’s own gratuity page spells it out.

The drinking age on these sailings is 18, not 21. Drinks are not included in the fare. Royal Caribbean sells drink packages separately, and whether one pays off depends on how much you drink.

There is no separate line for port charges on a Royal Caribbean booking, so the fare you see plus the daily tips is close to what you will pay. That is the main reason the gap to Genting Dream shrinks once everything is added up.

A bigger ship from next winter

Royal Caribbean has announced that Quantum of the Seas will take over the Singapore run from next winter. It is a bigger ship, so if you are booking a long way ahead you may find both names on the site. The patterns above are for Navigator.

5. Disney Adventure: the family ship, in brief

Disney Adventure is the largest ship in the Disney fleet and it sails from Marina Bay Cruise Centre all year. Disney has committed to Singapore as its home port for at least five years, so this is not a one-season visit. We cover the ship in full in our Disney Adventure guide; here it appears only as one of the four choices.

The two sailings

The pattern is fixed: Monday departures are the 3-night sailings, Thursday departures the 4-night ones, and both leave at four in the afternoon. Almost every sailing has no port of call at all. The ship is the destination, with seven themed zones, kids’ clubs for ages three to seventeen and character appearances built into the day.

Disney has announced that some 4-night sailings will add a single stop at Langkawi from the end of this year, on the third day. The no-port 4-night sailings continue alongside them, so check the itinerary line on the booking page if a stop matters to you either way.

What the fare adds

Tips of US$16 a person a night are added to your onboard account on embarkation day, with a higher rate for concierge cabins, and you can adjust or remove them on board. Bar and spa bills carry an 18% service charge. Adults may bring one bottle of wine or six cans of beer on board.

All meals outside the speciality restaurants are included, and so are the kids’ clubs, the characters and the themed zones. Night for night it has the highest fare of the four ships, with the lowest tips per night and no fuel charge.

6. Star Voyager: the small ship from HarbourFront

Star Voyager leaves from Singapore Cruise Centre at HarbourFront, not from Marina Bay. The other three ships use Marina Bay Cruise Centre, so if you book Star Voyager and turn up there, you will miss the ship. The terminal sits beside VivoCity📍Map and HarbourFront MRT station, in the new building that opened this July.

An older, smaller ship

The ship was built in 1997, sailed for years as Pacific Explorer, and now carries the StarCruises name under StarDream Cruises. It takes about half as many passengers as Genting Dream, and it is the oldest and smallest of the four.

HarbourFront handles the ferries and the smaller cruise ships, while the big ships go to Marina Bay, and Star Voyager is small enough for it. Its ports are all in Malaysia.

Sailing patterns

The 1-night one-way sailing to Melaka is unusual and worth knowing about. You board in Singapore, sleep on the ship, and step off in Melaka the next day with your bags, ready to continue by bus to Kuala Lumpur or back down to Singapore. It has the lowest fare of any sailing in this guide, and it doubles as transport. Our Melaka from Singapore guide covers the land side.

Star Voyager is a winter ship. The season runs roughly November to January and nothing is sold outside it, so the ship is not an option for a mid-year trip. Tips, port charges and the fuel charge follow the same StarDream rules as Genting Dream.

7. How many nights to book

The number of nights sets the shape of the trip more than the ship does. Two nights is a weekend on the ship, sometimes with one quick Malaysian port. Three nights gives you a sea day and one port. Four or five nights adds a second port and, on some sailings, a full night alongside in Phuket. Longer than that, and you are into the voyages in section 16.

What each length gives you

Why three nights is the safe first cruise

Two nights sounds like a low-risk try, and for some people it is. But the weekend sailings have no port, so you never find out whether you like the rhythm of a port day. Three nights gives you both: a day at sea to learn the ship, and a day in Penang or Phuket to see how the shore side works.

Three nights is also short enough that a cabin you do not love is bearable. On Genting Dream the 3-night Penang and Phuket sailings leave on a Tuesday, which fits neatly after a weekend in Singapore.

Five nights is the step up for people who already know they like ships. You get two or three ports, and on Genting Dream that is where Bali, Lombok and Bangkok come in.

8. The ports of call, one at a time

Between them the four ships call at a dozen or so ports, most of them in Malaysia and Thailand. What you can do on a port day depends a lot on where the ship actually puts you, so that is what the table covers, for the ports that come up most often.

Where the ship puts you

The ones that need a plan

Penang is the easiest port day of the lot. Swettenham Pier sits beside George Town’s old quarter, so you walk off the ship into the old streets without a taxi. Melaka is the opposite: the ship lies offshore and boats take you in, so allow time for the transfer each way.

Port Klang is on these itineraries for Kuala Lumpur. The sensible options are a ship excursion or a pre-booked car. Our Kuala Lumpur from Singapore guide is for the land route, but the sights are the same.

Phuket splits into two. Some sailings dock at the Deep Sea Port, and some use Patong Bay. The overnight sailings, where the ship stays in port, are the ones that give you an evening ashore.

Bali, Ko Samui and the Vietnamese ports only appear on the longer Genting Dream and Navigator sailings. If one of them is the reason you are booking, filter by port before you filter by price.

9. What the fare covers, and what it does not

This is the section to read before you compare prices. The advertised fare on each line covers slightly different things, and the extras are added at different points: at booking, on embarkation day, or on the last morning. Once you line them up, the cheapest-looking ship is still the cheapest, but by less than the headline suggests.

The comparison

Why Genting Dream looks cheaper than it is

Genting Dream has the lowest advertised fare, and three things get added to it. Tips are charged per night in Singapore dollars. Port charges are a separate line on the invoice. The fuel charge is the newest of the three and applies to bookings made from 1 October.

Royal Caribbean adds the daily tip and shows no separate port line, and Disney adds the nightly tip with no fuel charge. So a fair comparison is the fare plus tips on those two lines against the fare plus tips, port charges and fuel on Genting Dream. Section 10 does that sum for a 3-night sailing.

Alcohol is extra on all four ships, so it changes the bill without changing the comparison. A couple who drink wine with dinner every night should price the drinks before assuming the cheap fare stays cheap.

The last row matters when you settle up. Royal Caribbean and Disney run the onboard account in US dollars, and a foreign card that charges a conversion fee will add a little to everything you buy. StarDream quotes its tips and fuel charge in Singapore dollars, the same currency you are using in the city.

10. The real total for three nights, two people

Here is the sum for the sailing this guide keeps coming back to: three nights with one port, two adults sharing an inside cabin. The fares are the lowest advertised prices at the time of writing and will move; the tips, port charges and fuel charge are the published rules. Treat the totals as a comparison, not a quote.

The worked table

What the numbers say

Genting Dream stays the cheapest of the three once everything is added, but the gap to Navigator of the Seas narrows. Add the port charges from the invoice and it narrows again. If the ship itself matters to you, weigh that gap rather than the headline fare.

Navigator is the simplest bill to predict. The fare and the daily tips are the only two lines, both in US dollars, with no separate port or fuel charge waiting at booking or on the last morning.

Disney Adventure costs the most and its fare covers the most on board: the meals, the kids’ clubs, the characters and the themed zones. The tips are the lowest per night of the three, and there is no fuel charge. For a family, that is the sum to weigh against the higher fare.

Fares move with demand, promotions and cabin grade. Royal Caribbean runs offers where children sail free or the second guest is discounted. Run the same sum with the fare in front of you on the day you book, using the rules in section 9.

11. Marina Bay Cruise Centre: where the big ships leave

Marina Bay Cruise Centre is the terminal for Genting Dream, Navigator of the Seas, Disney Adventure and every large ship that visits Singapore. It is run by SATS-Creuers, and its two berths can take two very large ships at the same time.

Getting there

The MRT option works well with one suitcase, and the walkway from Marina South Pier station is covered the whole way. With a family’s worth of luggage, a taxi to the covered drop-off lane is easier, and it is a short ride from any Marina Bay hotel. Our MRT guide covers the network.

The terminal opens only on ship days, so do not turn up the day before to drop bags or look around. Your check-in slot from online check-in is the time to come.

The expansion and the services

A large expansion finished last year. There is now a new check-in hall on the ground floor, with seventy counters and seating for several hundred, serving the second berth, while the original hall upstairs serves the first. The ground transport area was rebuilt with more coach bays, and an early baggage drop lets you hand over suitcases that go straight to the ship.

Two services are worth knowing about. Baggage storage lets you leave bags at the terminal, useful if you get off the ship in the morning and have a late flight. CruiseFly lets passengers on selected flights check their bags in at the terminal on the morning they leave the ship; check whether your flight qualifies before you count on it. The terminal’s own site lists the current services and the shuttle days to Gardens by the Bay📍Map and Chinatown.

Immigration on departure uses automated gates with face and iris recognition for foreign visitors as well as residents. Keep your passport in hand anyway, because the ports you visit will want to see it.

Hotels in Marina Bay are the natural place to sleep the night before, and the ride to the terminal is short. The Marina Bay Sands guide covers the obvious choice; the box below has the rest of the neighbourhood.

12. Singapore Cruise Centre at HarbourFront: the new building

Singapore Cruise Centre moved into a new building on 15 July. The old HarbourFront passenger terminal handled its last sailing the day before, and the ferry companies and Star Voyager now all use the new terminal at 5 HarbourFront Avenue. It is a red terracotta building about seventy metres from the old one, behind HarbourFront Tower 2 and opposite the Reef at King’s Dock development.

Getting there

The link to HarbourFront MRT station and VivoCity is under cover, so you can arrive by train, eat at VivoCity and walk to check-in without going outside. Many bus routes stop at HarbourFront too. Singapore Cruise Centre’s own terminal page has the walking directions.

Inside the new terminal

Check-in runs through kiosks. There are twenty-five of them and six self bag-drop machines that take bags up to twenty kilograms, with automated gates for both departure and arrival immigration. The waiting area is half as big again as the old one, and there is a nursing room, a prayer room, a money changer, a duty-free shop and food outlets such as Old Chang Kee and Subway.

The terminal also handles the fast ferries to Batam, Bintan, Karimun and southern Johor, so the arrival hall is busy through the day even when no cruise ship is in. Our Batam and Bintan ferry guide has that side of the building.

What happened to HarbourFront Centre

The old HarbourFront Centre building next door closed at the end of July for redevelopment into a tall mixed-use tower, expected to take several years. Older guides and forum posts that tell you to check in at HarbourFront Centre are out of date. Look for the new terminal building beside VivoCity instead.

For the night before a Star Voyager sailing, the hotels around HarbourFront and on Sentosa📍Map are the closest. The Sentosa and HarbourFront hotel guide covers them, and the box below has the current prices.

13. Changi Airport to the terminal

A taxi or Grab is the default way from Changi Airport to either terminal, and with cruise luggage it is usually the right one. Our Changi Airport guide covers the taxi ranks and the Grab pick-up points at each terminal.

How long it takes

The car times are for a normal day, so add time in the morning and evening peaks. The MRT works if you travel light, but changing trains with suitcases and a walkway at the end is a poor start to a holiday.

Private transfers and heavy luggage

A pre-booked private transfer solves two problems: a driver waiting at arrivals with your name, and a vehicle big enough for a family’s luggage. For a group with several large suitcases, a booked van is the sensible choice. The box at the end of this section has the current prices.

If you are flying in the morning of the sailing, which we do not recommend, a private transfer at least gives you a fixed pick-up and a known vehicle. Even then, a delayed flight is your problem, and the ship does not wait.

Getting off the ship with a late flight is the other direction. Marina Bay Cruise Centre has baggage storage and the CruiseFly bag check-in for selected flights, and HarbourFront has VivoCity next door to sit in. If your flight is late in the evening, a day room at a Changi transit hotel or a few hours at Jewel is a better way to spend the wait than the terminal; our Changi layover guide has the options.

14. Passports, arrival cards and visas

The paperwork for a cruise from Singapore is short, but part of it repeats. The common rules first: your passport must be valid for six months from the day the ship brings you back, on every line, and you will fill in Singapore’s arrival card again for the return leg. After that, what you need depends on your passport and on which ports the ship calls at.

Singapore: the arrival card, again

The card is filed on the ICA site at ica.gov.sg. Royal Caribbean hands out a reminder on board during the sailing, but nobody files it for you. The three-day window means that on a short cruise you file it on board, on the ship’s Wi-Fi or on your phone during a port day, not from your hotel before you leave. Our arrival card guide walks through the form.

Long-term residents of Singapore should carry their pass as well as their passport. Immigration on departure at both terminals uses automated gates, but the ports you visit will check the passport by hand.

Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia

Malaysia’s card is only for people who leave the ship. If you decide to stay on board at Port Klang you can skip it. File it anyway if there is any chance you will go ashore. Thailand’s card applies to sea arrivals in the same way as air arrivals.

Visas are your problem

Visas are the passenger’s responsibility. That covers a visa for Singapore if your passport needs one, a multiple-entry visa if you leave and return during a longer trip, and visas for Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia if your nationality requires them. Check your own passport against each country’s rules before you book, and do not rely on the ship to sort it out at the gangway.

Travel insurance is not part of any fare. Royal Caribbean recommends it, and a policy for this trip should name cruising and the countries on the itinerary, not just Singapore.

15. Online check-in and embarkation day

Every line expects you to check in online before you get to the terminal, and each one runs it differently. StarDream makes it mandatory and closes it well before departure. Turn up before your Port Arrival Time on Disney and the terminal will not let you in. Royal Caribbean only recommends it, through its app.

Each line’s check-in window

Departure times differ by ship. Some sailings leave in the afternoon, some in the evening and some late at night, and your check-in slot moves with the departure, so the time on your own booking is the only one that matters.

The day itself

1. Arrive in your slot Come to the terminal at the time on your booking, not earlier. On Disney you cannot enter the terminal before your Port Arrival Time.
2. Hand over the big bags Tagged suitcases go in at the baggage drop and travel to the ship separately. Keep passports, medicines, valuables and a change of clothes in a day bag.
3. Check in Show your passport and booking at the counter or kiosk. Marina Bay works mainly through counters, HarbourFront through kiosks and self bag-drop.
4. Immigration and security Departure immigration uses automated gates at both terminals. Keep your passport with you afterwards, because the ports will want to see it.
5. Board Walk through to the ship. From here the only time that matters is the departure time on your booking.

A taxi sets you down in the covered drop-off lane at Marina Bay Cruise Centre, a few steps from the check-in hall. At HarbourFront the flow is the same, with self bag-drop machines in place of some of the counters.

Coming back, you go through arrival immigration like any other entry into Singapore, and the SG Arrival Card needs to be filed before you reach the desks or gates. Collect your suitcases in the hall and you are out.

16. Longer voyages that start in Singapore

A different kind of cruise also begins here. You board in Singapore and get off in another country: Japan, Australia, Bali or, on the world cruises, somewhere much further. These are one-way voyages sold by the big international lines, and most of them pass through Singapore in the winter season. The four ships above are round trips; these are not.

The lines that use Singapore as a turnaround

Most of these ships call once or twice a year. Some, such as Mein Schiff 6, call many times in a season. A few, such as Aqua Blu, are expedition ships rather than big cruise ships.

How these bookings differ

These are one-way bookings, so be sure of the city the voyage ends in before you book a flight home. Visas follow the same rule as the short cruises: your passport, your responsibility, and on a voyage that ends in Japan or Australia that means checking every country on the route.

These ships also use Marina Bay Cruise Centre, with the odd small one at HarbourFront, so everything in sections 11 to 15 about the terminals, the airport run and the SG Arrival Card applies to them too. Navigator of the Seas joins this list occasionally with one-way sailings between Singapore and Yokohama.

We do not list the itineraries here because they change every season and the lines redraw them. Dates live on the booking page.

17. Singapore on either side of the cruise

A cruise from Singapore usually means two visits to the city: a day or two before you board, and the morning after you get off. Both are worth planning rather than treating as dead time. The terminals are close to the centre, the airport is efficient, and a night in the right neighbourhood removes most of the stress from embarkation day.

The night before

Arrive the day before the sailing. A flight that lands the same morning can work, but a delay of a few hours turns into a missed ship. If you are flying from Europe, North America or Australia, a night’s sleep before you board also means you are awake for the first evening on the ship rather than asleep through it.

Choose the hotel by terminal. For Genting Dream, Navigator of the Seas and Disney Adventure, that means Marina Bay, where the ride to the terminal is short and the evening before can be spent on the waterfront. For Star Voyager it means HarbourFront or Sentosa, with VivoCity next to the terminal for dinner. Our where to stay guide compares the neighbourhoods, and our Marina Bay at night page covers the evening.

The morning you get off

Most sailings get back in the morning, and some Genting Dream sailings in the afternoon. Either way there is time in hand before an evening flight, and the mistake is to sit in the terminal or the airport with it. Store the bags, go into town, and come back for them.

With half a day, Gardens by the Bay and Chinatown are the obvious targets from the Marina Bay terminal, and on selected days the terminal runs a shuttle to both. From HarbourFront, VivoCity is on the doorstep and Sentosa is close by. Our Singapore itinerary has half-day plans built around exactly this.

If your flight is the following day, a hotel near the airport or a second night in the city both work, and the ride from either terminal to the airport in the evening is short.

18. Which ship for whom

The four ships sort themselves once you know who is travelling. What follows is our reading of them by group, using the sailing patterns, the fare rules and what each ship has on board. It is not a review of the food or the cabins.

Families with children

Disney Adventure is the obvious first choice and for young children it is hard to argue with. The kids’ clubs run from three to seventeen, the characters are part of the day, every meal is included, and the 3-night sailing leaves on a Monday and is back by Thursday morning. The fare is the highest of the four, but the tips are the lowest per night and there is no fuel charge.

For families with teenagers, Navigator of the Seas competes. The Blaster and the FlowRider give a teenager more to do than character appearances, and the Penang and Phuket sailings add a port day. Genting Dream’s six waterslides and lower fare make it the budget family option, provided you add the tips and charges first. Our Singapore with kids guide covers the days on land.

Older parents and grandparents

A 3-night sailing with one port suits older travellers well: one sea day to settle in, one port with the ship as the base, and a return that does not involve packing up every night. Penang is the easiest port day for anyone who walks slowly, because the pier is beside the old town and there is no tender boat. Melaka, with its tender, is the one to think twice about.

Between the ships, Genting Dream has the Palace cabins for anyone who wants the top grade, and Navigator has the most going on during the day. Disney Adventure makes sense for grandparents travelling with the grandchildren. Our Singapore for seniors guide covers the city side, from the airport to the MRT lifts.

Solo travellers

Cruise fares are quoted per person with two sharing a cabin, so check what a single occupant pays before you compare. The cheap short sailings are the sensible place to start: a Genting Dream weekend or a Star Voyager overnight to Melaka is long enough to find out whether you like being on a ship on your own. Navigator, with the most happening on board, is the easiest ship to meet people on.

The Star Voyager one-way to Melaka deserves a second mention here. For a solo traveller heading up the Malaysian coast anyway, it is a bed for the night and a way of getting there in one ticket. Our solo travel in Singapore guide has the rest of the trip.

Couples

For a couple the choice is between the ship with the most to do and the ship with the best value, and the answer depends on how you spend an evening. If you want shows and a surf simulator, book Navigator. If you would rather put the money into a balcony cabin and a good dinner in Singapore, book Genting Dream.

Timing helps too. The Friday-night weekend sailing on Genting Dream returns on Sunday afternoon, which leaves Sunday evening and Monday in the city before a flight. For an anniversary, look at the 5-night Bali sailings on Genting Dream or the 5-night Navigator sailing with the night in Phuket. Our Singapore for couples guide covers the city before and after.

19. Data, money and what you settle on board

The last set of practical questions is about your phone and your wallet. Ship Wi-Fi costs extra on every line, the port days put you in Malaysia or Thailand where your Singapore SIM may not work, and each ship runs its onboard account in a particular currency. None of this is complicated, but it is easier sorted out before you board than from a cabin at sea.

Staying connected

Ship Wi-Fi is not included in any of the four fares and is sold separately on board. For a 2- or 3-night sailing, going without and using the port days to catch up is a reasonable plan.

On the port days your phone connects to a Malaysian or Thai network, not the ship’s. A regional eSIM that covers Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in one plan handles the whole trip: the days in Singapore before and after, and the hours ashore in Penang, Phuket or Melaka. Our Singapore eSIM guide compares the plans. Switch data roaming off while the ship is at sea and back on when you are in port.

Money on board and ashore

Tips, drinks and spa bills go on the onboard account rather than being paid on the spot. On Royal Caribbean and Disney that account is in US dollars, so a card with no foreign transaction fee is the one to give them.

Ashore, a little local cash helps for small things: a snack at the jetty in Melaka, a trishaw in Penang, a taxi in Phuket. Our money and GST guide covers cards, ATMs and exchange in Singapore itself.

Remember from section 12 that there is no GST refund on a cruise departure. If you shop in Singapore before you board, you pay the tax and keep the goods; the refund only exists when you leave by air.

Cruises from Singapore: questions people ask

Planning the days before and after the cruise? Start with our full Singapore travel guide.

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