Regular Royal Caribbean cruiser Chris Murphy tried a cruise out of Singapore on Spectrum of the Seas. And he was taken aback by some of the stark differences to cruising in Australia.

Murphy said his first surprise was at how empty some of the facilities were. On a cruise out of Australia, they are much busier.

“First time I’m actually cruising out of Singapore on Spectrum of the Seas. And I can’t believe how different it is compared to cruising out of Australia. Yet, it’s still a Royal ship.

“All bars are pretty much empty, I kid you not. I can walk up to any bar and get served immediately. Unlike any Australian cruise where waiting could take 10 to 15 mins to get served or longer mainly because everyone is getting cocktails mixed.

“They even let you drink your beer out of the stubby instead of being poured into a plastic cup from the pool bars.”

What are some of the other differences?

Murphy points out a few more surprising differences.

“All nights are casual nights, no dress to impress or themed 70’s nights etc. Speciality dining has vacancies all the time, they never get booked out.”

Overall, Murphy said he had a great experience, and it was certainly something different to his usual sailing.

“I love cruising and have done a heap, thought we would fly somewhere close by to Australia to do another cruise and Singapore was our choice, wow, how different this is.

“Tonight the show in the theatre was one of the best I’ve ever seen on board a ship. Bar Allure of the Seas shows.”

Overall, if you’re a cruiser who enjoys the Royal Caribbean experience, but doesn’t care for crowds, a pivot to Singapore could be the move for you. 

Furthermore, it offers a chance to explore some interesting new ports.

Could you save money on a Singapore cruise?

From a cost perspective, it could be cheaper to cruise from Singapore. It will depend on where you want to cruise and when you want to travel. But for an overview, we’ve come up with the numbers.

Another key factor is where you live in Australia. While many are blessed to live in cruise hubs such as Sydney or Brisbane, many are not. If you live in other states of Australia such as South Australia or Western Australia, it will involve a cross-country flight if you want to jump on an itinerary to the South Pacific or New Zealand. 

For example, this 11-night New Zealand cruise from Sydney on Ovation of the Seas starts from $1949. For a cruiser who lives in Perth for example, this will involve a costly flight.
Return flights with Jetstar from Perth to Sydney for February 7 to February 20 start from $630. This flights leaves two-nights before in Sydney to prepare. 

However, if someone from Perth still wished to cruise in February 2025, but wanted to do it in Singapore, the flights would be cheaper.

This eight-night Bali adventure cruise starts from $1347. However, return flights from Perth to Singapore only average around $500 for this period. 

How else to save

The other area in which you’ll save is if you have some pre-cruise days in the city. Singapore will generally prove cheaper than Sydney. Budgetyourtrip.com estimates the average daily cost of travelling, including everything, in Singapore to be $233, versus $421 in Sydney. If you spend two days in the city pre-cruise, Singapore will be $380 cheaper. 

If you put all the costs together for a cruiser living in Perth, the Sydney cruise will come out to $1986 for the cruise, $630 for the flights and $822 for two days in Sydney, equalling $3438 in total for 13 nights, or $264 per night.

The Bali cruise will cost $1390, the flights $500 and two days in Singapore will be $466, or $2356 in total for 10 nights, or $235.60 per night. 

This leads to the surprising conclusion that for some Aussies, a cruise out of Singapore can prove cheaper than a cruise out of Sydney. 

These figures will change depending on where you’re travelling from and when you are travelling, but if the switch up to a Singapore cruise is already sounding attractive, you might even save a few dollars as well.