Silk Routes & Spice Isles

Bali is one of the world’s great arrival experiences and a single hotel night here before boarding Crystal Serenity gives you enough time to begin absorbing the island’s Hindu temple culture and extraordinary landscape. April in Bali sits at the tail end of the wet season transitioning to dry, with the rice terraces at their most intensely green and the island’s flowers in full bloom. The Seminyak and Kerobokan restaurant scene, the sunset temple of Tanah Lot on the clifftop above the Indian Ocean and the artisan villages of Celuk and Mas are all accessible from most hotel locations in the south. Ubud, the cultural heart of the island with its Sacred Monkey Forest, rice terrace walks and traditional dance performances, is worth the 90-minute drive if your hotel night allows time.

Bali is so beautiful that the natives believe heaven will be just like home, and touring this island paradise, it’s easy to see why. Here are mysterious volcanic lakes and jungle-shrouded volcanoes, wondrous ancient temples, fabulously creative painters and wood-carvers, and the legendary dancers who re-enact the stories of their Hindu deities.
Crystal Serenity embarks at Benoa this afternoon, but the morning is still Bali’s — and the southern port area gives access to the island’s most celebrated experiences before departure.
The Uluwatu cliffside temple on the southern peninsula, with its nightly Kecak fire dance performed above the Indian Ocean at sunset, is one of Bali’s most dramatic cultural experiences and is accessible before an afternoon embarkation.

A sea day heading northwest along the Java coast as Crystal Serenity leaves Bali behind. Java is visible on the port side for much of the day, the volcanic peaks of the island chain rising above the Java Sea in the clear April air. Semarang arrives tomorrow with Borobudur, one of the world’s largest Buddhist temples, waiting inland. The Umi Uma sushi counter and the Palm Court afternoon tea service are both excellent companions for a sea day on this particularly beautiful stretch of water.

Located on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia, Semarang is the capital of its province, playing a prominent role as both busy commercial center and important cultural destination. The lowlands are characterized by offices, business centers and industrial estates, while up in the hills are houses with lovely gardens and superb views. The city’s current vibrancy could perhaps have been predicted, as Semarang has been a bustling trading center since the Dutch colonial era, when the Dutch East Indies Company established tobacco plantations and built infrastructure such as roads and railroads. The Dutch influence can still be seen in the older part of the city near the harbor. Other cultures, primarily that of the Chinese, also have left their imprint on Semarang and continue to be a significant part of what it is to live in and visit Java. Semarang is the gateway to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world and the most significant single excursion available on this voyage.

A sea day crossing the Java Sea toward Singapore as Crystal Serenity rounds the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The shipping lanes between Java and Singapore are among the busiest in the world and the procession of container vessels, tankers and bulk carriers visible from the upper decks throughout the day gives a vivid sense of the trade routes that have made this stretch of water the commercial spine of Southeast Asia for centuries. Singapore arrives tomorrow with two full days in one of Asia’s most extraordinary cities.

Singapore arrives with its extraordinary skyline announcing itself from the water — Marina Bay Sands arching above the CBD, the Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay glowing at the waterfront and the financial towers rising behind them. Two nights here gives Crystal Serenity passengers something most cruise visits to Singapore cannot offer: genuine time to explore beyond the obvious. The city-state’s layered cultural identity rewards the visitor who moves past the gleaming surface. Chinatown’s clan houses and temples, Little India’s flower garland stalls and incense shops, the Malay kampung architecture of Geylang and the preserved colonial shophouses of Tanjong Pagar all tell very different stories of the same island. The hawker centres, where Singapore’s multicultural food culture is at its most democratic and most delicious, are the real reason the city consistently ranks among the finest eating destinations in the world. Maxwell Food Centre, Lau Pa Sat and the Newton Food Centre are all within reach of the ship.

A second full day in Singapore and the overnight stay means the city is yours before the tour groups arrive. The Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with one of the world’s finest orchid collections, are at their most beautiful in the morning. The Peranakan Museum in Armenian Street, dedicated to the Straits Chinese culture unique to Singapore, Penang and Malacca, tells one of Asia’s most fascinating stories of cultural fusion. The National Museum of Singapore covers the island’s full history with exceptional clarity and is worth two hours of any visit. For those who prefer to spend the day outdoors, the Southern Ridges walk connects three parks across the forested hilltops above the harbour with views over the Strait of Malacca to Indonesia. The rooftop bar at 1-Altitude gives the finest panoramic view of the city at night and is the ideal close to a second Singapore evening.

A sea day heading northeast from Singapore into the Gulf of Thailand as Crystal Serenity leaves the Strait of Malacca behind. The transition from the urban intensity of Singapore to the tropical island landscape of Koh Samui tomorrow is one of the most pleasant geographical contrasts on this voyage. The Gulf of Thailand in April is warm, calm and luminous, the water a deep blue-green that the Trident Grill’s outdoor deck and the pool area both make the most of. The Connoisseur Club and the Crystal Bar are both excellent companions for the evening as Thailand approaches.

Koh Samui is Thailand’s second largest island after Phuket, and April sits at the very beginning of the island’s dry season when the Gulf of Thailand is at its clearest and calmest. The island’s interior is dominated by coconut palms and rubber trees rising to a forested central peak, and the coastline alternates between long sandy beaches, rocky headlands and small fishing villages that have survived the resort development of the past 30 years with their character largely intact. The Big Buddha temple at Ban Rakam on the northeastern tip is accessible and striking, its 12-metre gold-covered statue visible from the water as Crystal Serenity approaches. The Fisherman’s Village at Bophut on the north coast is the most charming part of the island for a morning walk, its shophouse-lined beachfront retaining the feel of the old Thai fishing community that preceded the resort era. The waterfalls at Na Muang in the island’s forested interior are accessible by tour and provide a cool and beautiful contrast to the coastal heat.

Bangkok is one of the great cities of Southeast Asia and two days here from Laem Chabang, 130 kilometres south of the city, give Crystal Serenity passengers genuine time to do it properly. A city devoted equally to tradition and modernity, Bangkok’s 7th-century lantern-decorated temples sit below soaring skyscrapers and its precisely prepared sushi restaurants operate alongside street food stalls of legendary quality. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha within the ornate Grand Palace complex is the most sacred site in Thailand. The soaring Wat Arun on the western bank of the Chao Phraya, covered in fragments of Chinese porcelain that shimmer in the morning light, is the most visually distinctive temple in the city. Ayutthaya, the 14th-century ruins of the Kingdom of Siam, is an hour from the city and one of the finest UNESCO World Heritage archaeological sites in Southeast Asia.

A second full day in Bangkok and the opportunity to move beyond the Grand Palace circuit into the city’s quieter, more local layers. The floating markets of Damnoen Saduak or Amphawa, both accessible by organised tour, give a sense of traditional Thai commerce that the city itself has largely outgrown. The Jim Thompson House in the Pathumwan district, a complex of six traditional Thai houses assembled by the American silk merchant who disappeared in Malaysia in 1967, is one of the finest domestic interiors in Bangkok. The Chao Phraya River’s express boat service connects the waterfront temples and markets for a few baht and is the best-value transport experience in the city. The Ari neighbourhood and the Ekkamai restaurant and bar scene represent a contemporary Bangkok that has nothing to do with temples and everything to do with why the city’s young residents consider it one of the finest places to live in Asia.

Your Silk Routes and Spice Isles journey concludes this morning in Bangkok with your included 5-star hotel night complete and transfers to Suvarnabhumi International Airport ahead. From Bali’s Hindu temple culture and Borobudur’s 9th-century Buddhist monument to Singapore’s multicultural intensity, Koh Samui’s tropical coast and two days in one of Asia’s most compelling cities, Crystal Serenity has covered the most historically rich stretch of Southeast Asia in eleven nights of all-inclusive elegance. Ask your Cruiseabout specialist about extending your Bangkok stay or adding a northern Thailand extension before flying home.