By ChristinaChristina writes and edits Travelling Companion. Her writing covers expeditions, food, and culture for the blog. First Class Honeymoon Trip Report First Class Honeymoon Overview Delta Sky Club DCA Review Delta CRJ 900 DCA-JFK First Class Review Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK Review Singapore Airlines A380 JFK-FRA Suites Review Singapore Airlines A380 FRA-SIN Suites Review JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach Review Singapore Surprise Singapore Airlines 737-800 SIN-MLE Business Class Review The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort Review Etihad Airways A320 MLE-AUH Business Class Review Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa Dubai Review The St. Regis Abu Dhabi Review Exploring Abu Dhabi Etihad Apartments A380 AUH-JFK Apartments Review  Singapore Singapore Surprise Overview Prior to booking our tickets, I never really thought about Singapore. After we finalized our honeymoon itinerary, Ramon and I did some light research. We asked for advice from friends who traveled to Singapore, looked for suggestions from the internet, and went to the theater to watch Crazy Rich Asians. We learned that Singapore is a very safe city-state, with some interesting rules, and a foodie's dream destination. We made a list of places we would like to see, but mostly wanted to wander the streets and see where the city took us. What I didn't realize at that time was that I was going to fall in love with Singapore. I left with a promise to myself that I would return. Here are some of the highlights to our first adventure in Asia. Attractions  National Museum of Singapore Our first stop was to visit the National Museum of Singapore. Google Maps told us the walk from our hotel to the museum was about 15 minutes, so we decided to walk. Along the way, we stumbled into Fort Canning Park and some really beautiful murals.  Armenian Street Murals The National Museum was extremely impressive. The Republic of Singapore is a very young country, only 55 years old. The free museum did a beautiful job explaining the pre-independence history of Singapore and bringing the visitor to modern day. I highly recommend this museum as a first stop if you visit Singapore, especially if you are not as well versed in the history and sociology of this region of the world. The museum gave us context to the country and set us up for success for the rest of the trip. Some things that we learned:
Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay Nighttime It is really hot in Singapore. I mean, really, really hot. The walk to the National Museum, while not a far distance, completely zapped our energy. When we came back to the hotel, Ramon and I switched our plans to try to capitalize our experiences by exploring the nightlife. We found out Singapore comes alive at night.  View from Singapore Flyer I highly recommend carving time to visit the Singapore Flyer at the start one's vacation in Singapore. While it may be a bit of tourist trap, it provides a nice overview of the landscape and gives an opportunity to learn landmarks as points of reference. We took the "flight" at night. The journey was slow and steady around the ferris wheel and offered beautiful views of a twinkling city. The trip around was about 30 minutes, and about $25 USD a person.  Gardens by the Bay Gardens by the Bay is another popular attraction in Singapore. The park has two free nightly shows where their gardens dance with popular music through lights. When we arrived to watch the show, we were overwhelmed with the size of the park, and decided to circle back another day to visit additional attractions. There were a large number of people attending the show, so I recommend coming a bit early if you would like good seats. The show lasts only 15 minutes, which was about as much as we could handle being outside in the high temperatures. Gardens by the Bay Daytime Gardens by the Bay is essentially the ride Living with the Land at Epcot, but IRL and not Disneyfied. With a futuristic mindset, Gardens by the Bay tackles how the city-state could self-sustain their growth in population, protect biodiversity from climate change, and continually promote Singapore as a City in the Garden. Since the attraction is a large national park, and we would need to spend most of the time in a climate-controlled space, we limited our experience to the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome.  The Cloud Forest The Cloud Forest is a conservatory that replicates cooler mountainous climates. As you climb the mountain inside, you experience the temperature dropping while learning about threatened biodiversity.  The Cloud Forest The Flower Dome is the largest greenhouse in the world, displaying the variety of plants and flowers from arid and Mediterranean regions. I was especially tuned to the section the California Garden. For a brief minute or two, I was transported to a very familiar landscape.  The Flower Dome Cultural Diversity Whenever Ramon and I travel, we get a small exposure of how a society views race and interracial marriage. It can be uncomfortable at times, but it is an experience that I am continually grateful to have. This being our first trip to a whole new continent, I didn’t have preconceived ideas. What I found was an extremely kind and welcoming city who did not show any interest in us other than wanting to show us hospitality. This is not by accident, rather than by design from the city. Four languages are recognized as the official language, English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Three quarters of the population are ethnically Chinese, followed Malay, then Indian. Within the ethnic groups, there are further subgroups that continuously split but not necessarily within ethnic lines. Buddhist is the largest religious group followed by Christian, then people who do not identify by religion, followed by Taoist and Muslim. In addition, because of the geographic and economic position of Singapore, there are multiple nationalities from around the world calling Singapore home. It is not out of the ordinary to see different people from all corners of the earth. This cultural creates a unique identity all on to Singapore. The music, art, and food all unapologetically point to their origin, but at times the culture blends with each other at a graceful pace. Singapore gives space for their citizens to honor their history with the new nation. Malay Heritage Center  Sultan Mosque The Malay Heritage Center explores the cultural and historical experience of Malay Singaporeans. The building was once the palace of a sultan in the early 1800s. The expeditions display the experience of the Malay people prior to the 1800s through present day.  Arab Street The community surrounding the Malay Heritage is a vibrant section of the city with wonderful unique shops, small cafes, murals and specialty stores. There are multiple shops that cater to Muslims, but the community is not exclusively Islamic. The neighborhood is a fun place to walk around and enjoy the sites. Chinatown  Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Chinatown is another neighborhood with winding streets that invite you to wander in and out. Multiple shops and restaurants with their own specialties dot the area, but the two main structures of architecture are the Sri Mariamman Temple and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum. We were not able to visit the Sri Mariamman Temple as we were not dressed appropriately, and they did not have coverings available to visitors. We did see the building from the outside and we were awe of the intricate designs. I wished we had a docent who would have been able to talk us through and explain what we were seeing. Regardless, it was still super enjoyable.  Buddha Tooth Relic Temple We were able to see the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Again, I found myself wishing I had someone to explain to me what I was seeing. I tried my hardest to learn but found it difficult to take in all of the details while trying to be respectful of the people who were in their place of worship. Still, I enjoyed the experience taking my time to be a wallflower and observe.  Sri Mariamman Temple Little India Little India Store Walking through Little India was an awaking for all our senses. There was so much color, sounds, and smells coming from each direction. The shops carry items from all parts of India. The food also represented the culinary diversity within India. We originally planned to visit the Indian Heritage Center, but we had our days wrong (yay jetlag!) and they were closed when we arrived.  Indian Heritage Centre We decided to explore a little and see what we could find. The food smelled so wonderful, it made me wish we didn’t have such a big breakfast. There were wonderful keepsakes at Little India Arcade, but we were nervous about buying anything as we had to keep our luggage empty for our next flight. With 20/20 vision, I would end my trips in Singapore so I could stock up with trinkets to my heart’s content.  Little India Jewelry Store Singapore Zoo We took a Grab from our hotel for a 30-minute ride to the Singapore Zoo. Grab is Singapore’s common ride share app. The drive to the Zoo was really fascinating. We were able to get a glimpse of life outside of downtown Singapore, and really appreciated the large size of the island.  Singapore Zoo Giraffes We spent a whole day at Singapore’s Zoo. I am intrigued how other countries set up and run their museums and Zoos. In comparison to what I experienced stateside, the Singapore Zoo is a hybrid between the San Diego Zoo and their Safari Park. The Singapore Zoo is an open concept zoo, meaning the animals are given large amounts of space, separated by natural barriers like boulders and rivers.  Singapore Zoo At night, the zoo turns into a separate excursion where visitors pile into a vehicle and are driven around the park in the dark. The tour guides point out nocturnal animals throughout the drive, and visitors observe how the park comes alive in a whole new way.  Singapore Zoo Elephants A highlight was being able to feed an elephant banana during their snack time. The second big takeaway from our visit to the zoo was their delicious food. We ordered a variety of food during our stay and everything was surprising exquisitely delicious. We are used to eating park food to be passable at best, but the food in Singapore never disappointed. Food is the Universal Language I can’t say it enough, but if you consider yourself a foodie, Singapore should be on your wish list of countries to visit. Their food is out of this world. Ramon and I were never hungry during this trip because the second we had even a bit of room in our stomachs, we made a pit stop to try something new. The surprising part of experiencing food in Singapore is that all of their food is super high quality. From street food, to cafes, to five course dinners are all served with a strong sense of pride in their work. And because Singapore takes food safety super seriously, we were not nervous to try out street vendor’s food. We did not experience one tummy aches from the variety of things we ate, and oh boy, did we try everything and anything. Hawkers  Singapore Hawker Sign Hawkers are a foundational part of Singapore culture. Hawkers are essentially street food vendors from Singapore, and their history dates back to the early 1800s. In an effort to maintain a high level of food safety, Singapore moved the hawkers from the streets and rivers and placed them in Hawker centers, a version of an open-air food court. With strict regulations and essentials like running water and shelter provided, the hawker culture thrived. Generations of Singaporeans and immigrants to Singapore passed down their recipes, perfecting cheap food. Adding the concentration of diverse people, you could essentially eat around Asia in a very small space.  Hawker Stalls Hawker food is high-quality and low-cost. For example, in 2019 there were 7 recognized hawker stalls with a Michelin star, and multiple more with the distinction of a Bib Gourmand. You can have a Michelin star meal of chicken and rice for under $3.00 USD. If the hawker stall is well known, you would need to plan to arrive early. Multiple times we tried to eat at a famous hawker stall, but they would run out of food by noon.  Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle Hawker Stall Some of the hawkers responded to this new level of popularity by capitalizing on their name and recipes by franchising out. We ate at Hawker Chan’s franchise in Chinatown and was not impressed. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t hold a light to all of the other food we had in Singapore, especially considering the name was associated with a Michelin star.  Hawker Chan If you are in Singapore and want to experience the hype, by all means plan out your day to guarantee you can have the experience of a $3.00 Michelin star meal. But I wouldn’t be too worried about it. We had plenty of mind-boggling meals at the hawker stalls by walking around and doing eeny-meeny-miny-moe. Singapore Sling  Singapore Slings While food in Singapore is relatively inexpensive, alcohol come’s with a hefty price tag. Because of this, we didn’t really seek out too much to drink, but wanted to try the Singapore Sling, Singapore’s Long Island Iced Tea, but classy.  Singapore Sling Sign Singapore Sling is a gin-based drink, created first in the Long Bar at the famous Raffles Hotel in 1915. Raffles Hotel was still under renovation when we were visiting, but the Long Bar was still up and running. After a long day of playing tourist, we walked across the street from our hotel to the bar for a night cap.  Raffles Hotel Old-World colonial England is alive and well at the Long Bar. Rich mahogany wood, colonial ceiling fans, colonial décor, and peanut shells on the floor all harken back to when England occupied modern day Singapore. The drink itself is a refreshing cool drink to break the Singapore heat and is roughly $27 dollars per drink. While the drink was pretty tasty, we didn’t think it was $27 dollars’ worth of tasty. We heard there were other, better, options to try the Singapore Sling, but didn’t seek it out since the cost was pretty much the same throughout all of Singapore. Chimjes  Lei Garden Chimjes was originally a Catholic convent in the 1800s. Currently the space is multi use, including event space, restaurants, bars, cafes, fitness centers, spas, and open gardens. We visited Chimjes a few times as it was just a few blocks from the hotel.  Lei Garden Menu One of our memorable meals at Chijmes was at Lei Garden. Lei Garden is a Chinese (Cantonese) restaurant with one Michelin star. We decided to eat the chef’s lunch, which was a eight-course meal. Ramon and I are not well versed in Chinese food, nor did we know what we ate as we could not read the menu. But it was really wonderful!
Singapore in Hindsight
Singapore has so much to offer. Food, art, shopping, museums, gardens, public transportation, and much more. While we were there for a week, there was still so much we didn’t get to do or see. I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye, so instead I said, see you soon. Now, I am off to convince Ramon to have another long layover in Singapore for our next trip.
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By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further.
First Class Honeymoon Trip Report
First Class Honeymoon Overview Delta Sky Club DCA Review Delta CRJ 900 DCA-JFK First Class Review Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK Review Singapore Airlines A380 JFK-FRA Suites Review Singapore Airlines A380 FRA-SIN Suites Review JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach Review Singapore Surprise Singapore Airlines 737-800 SIN-MLE Business Class Review The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort Review Etihad Airways A320 MLE-AUH Business Class Review Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa Dubai Review The St. Regis Abu Dhabi Review Exploring Abu Dhabi Etihad Apartments A380 AUH-JFK Apartments Review 
Ramon and Christina in Dubai
Introduction
After a lot of planning and saving our miles and points Christina and I embarked on our amazing First Class honeymoon to Asia in May 2019. During our honeymoon we went to Singapore, the Maldives, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates(UAE). The goal of this trip was to get to the Maldives, an island nation in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I first heard about the Maldives in the documentary film The Island President in 2012. After being blown away by the beauty of the islands, I committed to one day visiting the Maldives. It wasn't difficult to convince Christina that this beautiful remote island destination should be the place for our honeymoon, that we should fly international First or Business Class, and that we should stopover in Asia since neither one of us had ever been to Asia. The changing political climate in the Maldives which moved closer towards dictatorship as our planning was underway almost led us to go to another destination such as Thailand or the Seychelles. In the end the Maldives held new elections in 2018 and we ended sticking with our original plan to go to the Maldives. The Maldives was even more gorgeous than I had imagined. It was a great place for the seclusion we desired during our Honeymoon. However, some of the places we envisioned just being stopovers also left significant impressions on us. In the case of Singapore it was a very positive impression and it ended up being our favorite city we have every visited together. In the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the impression was negative and we are unlikely to visit again. Booking Flights For our honeymoon we set out well in advance saving all our our miles and points to ensure that we would fly the long haul segments to the Maldives in First Class and all of the shorter segments in Business Class. We also wanted to try out two of the best First Class products in the world for traveling companions; the Singapore Suites and the Etihad Apartments. Both of these products allow traveling companions to connect suites, sleep side by side on beds, and dine together. While I will leave the full details for the reviews I can tell you we were very impressed and neither product disappointed. 
First Class Honeymoon Flight Routing
Singapore Airline's Suites are only on their flagship A380 aircraft. In the United States the airline only use this aircraft to serve New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) via Frankfurt International Airport (FRA). This meant to start off our trip we had to fly from Washington D.C. to New York JFK. For this flight we booked a Delta First Class tickets for 12,000 SkyMiles and $5.60 taxes and fees. You should know that SkyMiles fluctuate in price generally based on the actual cost of the ticket. These tickets were selling for $161.20 each meaning we got a value of 1.03 cents per mile which was a mediocre value for SkyMiles. However, at the time we didn't plan to fly Delta for a while and the overall SkyMiles cost was low so we went ahead and used our SkyMiles.
Delta CRJ 900
For the next leg of the trip in the Singapore Suites the only redemption option was utilizing Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer miles. We booked the tickets from JFK-FRA-Singapore Changi (SIN) for 120,000 Kris Flyer miles and $65.80 SDG (~$49.22 USD) each. These tickets were selling for $8,415.78 USD each meaning we got an amazing value of ~7 cents per mile! For the complete details on how we booked these tickets you can read my post on the booking process here. Since the time we booked these tickets the cost on this route has increased to 132,000 miles per ticket which I believe is still a great value.
 Singapore Airlines A380
To get to the Maldives from Singapore we flew in Business Class on Singapore Airlines affiliate Silk Air since there were no First Class flights available on this route and the timing of the Silk Air flight worked better than the mainline Singapore Airlines flight. For this flight we booked the tickets using 39,000 Kris Flyer miles and $49.80 SDG (~36.88$ USD) in taxes and fees each. These tickets were selling for $1,416 USD each so we got a great value of 3.54 cents per mile.
Silk Air (Singapore Airlines) A320
For our flight from the Maldives to the UAE we chose to flying Etihad from Male Veleana International Airport (MLE) to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). Even though we were heading to the Dubai desert for this leg of the trip, we decided to fly into Abu Dhabi because Etihad had a non-stop flight from MLE and we could use our AAdvantage miles. We booked this flight for 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles and $51.40 in taxes and fees. These tickets were $1,480 per person meaning we got a great value of 4.76 cents per mile.
Etihad Airways A320
Etihad's Apartments are only on their flagship A380 aircraft and JFK is their only U.S. A380 destination. For this flight we booked the Apartments using 115,000 AAdvantage miles and paid $49.31 in taxes and fees. The tickets were selling for $8,535 meaning we got an amazing value ~7.38 cents per mile. For the complete details on how we booked these tickets you can read my post on the booking process here.
Etihad A380
For the final flight to Washington Regan National (DCA) from JFK we bought two First Class tickets on Delta. We chose Delta because the timing of the flights gave us a buffer in case our Etihad flight was late, the Delta terminals at JFK are near the Etihad's terminal 4, and we could access the SkyClub during our wait. We booked these two First Class tickets for $197.30 each. We each earned 855 SkyMiles, 750 Medallion Qualifying Miles, and 171 Medallion Qualifying Dollars.
Booking Hotels
For our Honeymoon we chose to stay only at Marriott luxury hotels since Christina has Marriott Platinum Status. In Singapore there are numerous Marriott hotels bookable with points including The St. Regis Singapore and the W Senosta Cove. However, for our trip we decided to book the JW Marriott Singapore because of its central location. We booked the JW Marriott Deluxe Room for $436 SDG (~$322 USD) per night. Christina earned 50,082 total Marriott points. 
Delta 717
JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach
Marriott has multiple luxury properties in the Maldives including the W Maldives and the JW Marriott Maldives. However, for our stay in the Maldives we chose to stay at The St. Regis Maldives Volmmuli which is considered one of the best points hotel in the world and one of the best hotels overall in the Maldives. This hotel is located on a secluded atol about a one hour seaplane ride from Male, Maldives. We booked the Garden Villa for five nights at 60,000 points per night with the fifth night free, for total of 240,000 points, along with $1,450 in taxes and fees including the cost of the roundtrip seaplane ride. The cost of the Garden Villa was $1,473 excluding taxes and fees meaning we got a fantastic value of 3.7 cents per Marriott point. Please note that in the intervening time Marriott has implemented category 8 and peak and off-peak pricing. This means that the price of an award redemption at The St. Regis Maldives can range from 70,000-100,000 points. We also booked this reservation as a part of Marriott Points Advance which allowed us to lock in the price of the room before it increased. However, in the intervening time Marriott has Points Advance to only allow the member to hold a room and not lock in the price.
The St. Regis Maldives
Marriott has a large number of luxury hotels in Dubai including the Ritz Carlton Dubai and the W Dubai-The Palm. However, we decided to stay at Al Maha located in the desert about an hour outside Dubai because we wanted the seclusion of the desert experience and looked forward to enjoying the all inclusive food and activities. We booked a one bedroom Bedouin Suite for 60,000 Marriott points per night, for a total of 180,000 points, plus 60 AED (~17 USD) in taxes and fees for the whole stay. The cost of the garden villa was $870 per night excluding taxes and fees meaning we got a great value of ~1.5 cents per Marriott point.
Al Maha Dubai
Finally, for our stay in Abu Dhabi there were a number of Marriott luxury hotels available including The Edition Abu Dhabi and The St. Regis Sadiyaat Island Resort. However, we decided to stay at The St. Regis Abu Dhabi so we would have an opportunity to easily explore the city. We booked the Superior Room for $590 AED per night (~$142.33 USD). Christina earned 6,773 Marriott points.
The St. Regis Abu Dhabi
Summary
We had an amazing time on our First Class Honeymoon! We can't wait to share the photos, videos, stories from Singapore, the Maldives, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi! We felt very blessed to have had this experience and hope sharing some of our adventures will inspire you to travel when it safe to do so again or just bring a light hearted story for you to enjoy during your day. Let the First Class Honeymoon trip report begin! |
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