Skyline Stories: Singapore To Hong Kong

Arrive in Singapore and settle in with a private transfer straight from the airport to your hotel, where three nights of 5-star accommodation set an unhurried tone before the cruise begins.

A full Singapore day before the cruise begins. The National Gallery Singapore, housed in the City Hall and Supreme Court buildings, holds the world’s largest collection of Southeast Asian modern art. The Botanic Gardens’ UNESCO World Heritage orchid collection, the Peranakan Museum and the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood’s Art Deco shophouses give three completely different versions of the city.

A final Singapore day before embarkation tomorrow. Gardens by the Bay with the Supertrees illuminated after dark is the city’s most photographed spectacle and is best experienced on a clear December evening. The hawker centres at Maxwell Food Centre and Lau Pa Sat give the finest and most accessible expression of Singapore’s food culture. The Southern Ridges forest walk above the harbour connects Telok Blangah Hill, Mount Faber and Henderson Waves in a route that gives the city’s skyline from above. The Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling was created in 1915, is worth the late afternoon.

A private transfer carries you from hotel to port. Board Seven Seas Explorer in Singapore, with the ship remaining in port overnight.

Singapore departs 12:00 PM, allowing one final morning in the city before the ship sails for Borneo.

A sea day crossing the South China Sea as Seven Seas Explorer heads southeast toward Borneo. December in these waters is warm and clear, the northeast monsoon season having brought drier conditions to the region. The Canyon Ranch SpaClub, the Observation Lounge and the pool deck are all at their finest. Kota Kinabalu arrives tomorrow with Borneo’s mountains visible on the horizon before the ship docks.

Kota Kinabalu, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The capital of Malaysian Sabah sits between the South China Sea and the Crocker Range, with Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Southeast Asia at 4,095 metres, visible from the city on clear mornings. The Sabah Museum gives the most complete introduction to Borneo’s indigenous Kadazan-Dusun and Bajau cultures. The Mari Mari Cultural Village, accessible by organised tour, stages traditional longhouse ceremonies and blowpipe demonstrations. The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, five islands accessible by short boat ride from the waterfront, gives some of the finest snorkelling in Malaysia in December conditions.

Muara, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Brunei is one of the wealthiest nations on earth per capita and one of the most rarely visited, its oil-funded prosperity visible in the scale and quality of its public buildings and the immaculate condition of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital 25 kilometres from the port. The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, completed in 1958 and set on an artificial lagoon, is the finest Islamic building in Southeast Asia. The Kampong Ayer water village, built on stilts above the Brunei River and home to roughly 30,000 people, is the largest still-inhabited water village in the world and accessible by water taxi from the city waterfront.

A further day at sea cruising the Sulu Sea as the ship tracks toward the Philippines.

Puerto Princesa, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The capital of Palawan, consistently rated among the finest islands in the world for natural beauty. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site navigated by paddle boat through an 8.2-kilometre limestone cave system, is the primary natural experience and one of the most extraordinary in Asia. Honda Bay, a short drive from the city, gives excellent snorkelling across a cluster of small islands. December is the dry season on Palawan and the finest time of year to visit.

A tendered call at Coron, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, famed for its spectacular limestone lagoons and turquoise waters.

A tendered call at idyllic Boracay Island, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with a full day to enjoy its powder-white sands.

A full day ashore in Manila, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, the historic and energetic Philippine capital.

A final sea day as Seven Seas Explorer crosses the South China Sea toward Hong Kong. The voyage has covered Singapore, Borneo, Brunei and six days in the Philippines since departure. Hong Kong arrives tomorrow morning and two nights of 5-star accommodation follow before Christmas Eve. The Compass Rose and Prime 7 are both worth a farewell reservation for this final evening at sea.

An early morning arrival in Hong Kong at 7:00 AM marks the end of the cruise. A private transfer carries you from port to your Hong Kong hotel for two nights of 5-star accommodation.

Two nights of 5-star accommodation in Hong Kong follow. The Peak Tram to Victoria Peak at night, the Temple Street Night Market in Kowloon, the Star Ferry crossing the harbour between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central, and the Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan are the essential Hong Kong experiences. Christmas Eve in Hong Kong means the harbour lights and the city’s extraordinary density at its most festive.

Christmas Eve in Hong Kong and the city is at its most vivid. The private transfer to the airport closes out a journey that began in Singapore sixteen nights ago. If time allows before departing, the IFC Mall and the Landmark in Central are both worth a final hour, and the harbour view from the Star Ferry terminal on a clear December morning is one of the finest urban views in Asia.