Riviera - Singapore to Bali: Malay Straits & Java Sea

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports and 3 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Singapore

   SingaporeDepart

   Singapore is the turnaround hub for most Southeast Asia itineraries, so for a lot of passengers it is embarkation day rather than a port call. Ships use either Marina Bay Cruise Centre, purpose-built for the largest hulls, or the older HarbourFront terminal next to VivoCity. What you get on arrival is an efficient, very hot city where the metro is fast and cheap and almost nothing worth seeing is more than half an hour away.

   • Gardens by the Bay - the Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome
   • Hawker lunch at Maxwell Food Centre or Lau Pa Sat
   • Chinatown and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, then the shophouses of Little India
   • Singapore Botanic Gardens and its National Orchid Garden

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Marina Bay Cruise Centre is a 10-minute walk from Marina South Pier MRT and a short taxi from downtown; HarbourFront sits directly above its own MRT station.

   Best months

   Feb-Apr (driest); hot and humid year-round

2. Day 2

   Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur)

   MalaysiaPort

   Port Klang is Malaysia's main container gateway, and the cruise berth is at Boustead Cruise Centre out on Pulau Indah, a good way from anything. Kuala Lumpur is the draw and it is an hour or more inland, with traffic that can turn ugly on the return leg. Passengers who would rather stay local usually settle for the Hindu shrines at Batu Caves, which are on the KL road anyway.

   • The Petronas Twin Towers and the KLCC park below them
   • Batu Caves - the 272 steps and the golden Murugan statue
   • Merdeka Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
   • Central Market and the food stalls of Jalan Alor

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Boustead Cruise Centre, Pulau Indah; Kuala Lumpur is about 40km inland, 60-90 minutes each way depending on traffic, and there is nothing walkable at the terminal.

   Best months

   May-Jul (relatively drier); rain is possible any month

3. Day 3

   Langkawi

   MalaysiaPort

   Langkawi is a duty-free island in the Andaman Sea, greener and quieter than Penang, with rainforest running down to mangrove-fringed water. Ships berth at Porto Malai on the south-west corner, which is a resort development rather than a town. The two things most people come for are the cable car up Machinchang and a boat through the Kilim mangroves.

   • The Langkawi SkyCab cable car and the SkyBridge on Gunung Machinchang
   • Kilim Karst Geoforest Park by boat - mangroves, sea eagles, limestone caves
   • Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) and the shops of Kuah town
   • Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) waterfall

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Porto Malai (the Star Cruises jetty) on the south-west of the island; Kuah town is about 20 minutes and the cable car around 30 minutes by taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Mar (dry, calm)

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   Jakarta

   IndonesiaPort

   Jakarta berths ships at Tanjung Priok, a large container port on the north coast, and getting from there into the city is the day's main obstacle - the traffic is among the worst anywhere. The city is not conventionally pretty, but the Dutch colonial core at Kota Tua and the enormous Istiqlal Mosque are worth the drive. Treat it as one or two fixed stops, not an itinerary.

   • Kota Tua and Fatahillah Square, the Dutch colonial old town
   • Istiqlal Mosque and the Catholic cathedral facing it across the road
   • The National Monument (Monas) and the National Museum
   • Sunda Kelapa, the old harbour where wooden pinisi schooners still load

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Tanjung Priok, a working container port where it is a 20-minute walk from the pier to the gates; central Jakarta is around 45 minutes in decent traffic and well over an hour after mid-afternoon.

   Best months

   Jun-Sep (dry season); Jan-Feb floods regularly

7. Day 7

   Semarang

   IndonesiaPort

   Semarang is a port city on Java's north coast with a Dutch colonial quarter and a large Chinese-Indonesian community, and ships tie up at Tanjung Emas fifteen minutes from the centre. The complication is Borobudur: the world's largest Buddhist monument is the reason most itineraries include this call, and it is close to three hours away in each direction. That is a long coach day, and it leaves no room for anything else.

   • Borobudur, the ninth-century Buddhist stupa complex - a full-day excursion
   • Lawang Sewu, the Dutch railway headquarters known as the 'thousand doors'
   • Sam Poo Kong, the temple marking where the Chinese admiral Zheng He landed
   • Kota Lama, Semarang's restored Dutch old town, and the Blenduk Church

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Tanjung Emas; central Semarang is 15-20 minutes away, but Borobudur is close to three hours each way and consumes the whole call.

   Best months

   May-Sep (dry season)

8. Day 8

   Surabaya

   IndonesiaPort

   Surabaya is Indonesia's second city and its main eastern port, an industrious place that sees far fewer tourists than Bali across the strait. Ships dock at Tanjung Perak, half an hour from the centre. What you can realistically do is a city day - the Arab quarter around the Sunan Ampel mosque, a Cold War submarine parked in the middle of town, a clove cigarette factory turned museum - because Mount Bromo, the volcano everyone asks about, is three to four hours away.

   • The Sunan Ampel Mosque and the Arab Quarter's covered market lanes
   • Monumen Kapal Selam, a decommissioned Soviet-built submarine you can walk through
   • House of Sampoerna, a colonial-era clove cigarette factory and museum
   • The Cheng Ho Mosque, built in Chinese temple style

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the Gapura Surya Nusantara terminal at Tanjung Perak; downtown Surabaya is 20-30 minutes, while Mount Bromo is three to four hours each way and only realistic on an overnight call.

   Best months

   May-Sep (dry season)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10

    Benoa (Bali)

    IndonesiaPort

    Benoa is Bali's cruise harbour, on a spit of reclaimed land south-east of Denpasar, and it is a port rather than a destination - the ship is your last sight of anything scenic until the bus leaves. Bali itself starts about twenty minutes away and gets better the further inland you go. The honest constraint is traffic: Ubud and the rice terraces are 90 minutes off in the best case, and considerably more in the worst.

    • Uluwatu Temple on its clifftop, ideally timed for the late-afternoon kecak dance
    • Ubud - the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the art markets and the Tegallalang rice terraces
    • Tanah Lot, the sea temple on its offshore rock
    • Tirta Empul, the spring-fed purification temple near Tampaksiring

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Benoa Harbour, with tendering only when the berths are full; Nusa Dua is 10-15 minutes, Kuta 25-35, and Ubud 60-90 minutes each way.

    Best months

    May-Sep (dry season)

11. Day 11

    Benoa (Bali)

    IndonesiaArrive

    Benoa is Bali's cruise harbour, on a spit of reclaimed land south-east of Denpasar, and it is a port rather than a destination - the ship is your last sight of anything scenic until the bus leaves. Bali itself starts about twenty minutes away and gets better the further inland you go. The honest constraint is traffic: Ubud and the rice terraces are 90 minutes off in the best case, and considerably more in the worst.

    • Uluwatu Temple on its clifftop, ideally timed for the late-afternoon kecak dance
    • Ubud - the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the art markets and the Tegallalang rice terraces
    • Tanah Lot, the sea temple on its offshore rock
    • Tirta Empul, the spring-fed purification temple near Tampaksiring

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Benoa Harbour, with tendering only when the berths are full; Nusa Dua is 10-15 minutes, Kuta 25-35, and Ubud 60-90 minutes each way.

    Best months

    May-Sep (dry season)