**Solo to Singapore! Live From the Diamond- January 17, 2017**

Is this the Normal Love desert from last night?

 

 

Now hopefully I've posted MY first picture!

 

I'm so excited for you...keep having a great time!

 

- Nat

 

 

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Yes, Nat- that is it! Thank you for picking up my slack...

Congrats on posting your first picture! Stay warm!

Hi fun friends-

I have a question for those of you have been to Benoa, Bali recently on Princess...

Do you know if there is a shuttle to Kuta at the port?

As someone else said, there is no shuttle to Kuta. I wanted to shop for a specific item so I went to Kuta by taxi (cheaper than the ship's excursion 'Kuta on your own'). Maybe the beach might have been OK - I didn't look, but the shops were a major disappointment. There were some market stalls, but I don't think they were much better than the few outside the cruise terminal.

Tracie-Lynn, I'm enjoying reading about your world travels. Especially impressed with your doing it solo and in memory of your mom. Your tea sounded lovely and brought tears to my eyes. It's so hard losing your mom. It reminds me of my grandmother and how much we miss her. As much as her loss hurts, I can only imagine that magnified with the loss of your mom.

I look forward to hearing about the cruise as well.

Happy travels!

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oh! And strawberries from neville, maitre'd -- which i think may be the direct doings of two of my favorites here on board! (you two hooligans know who you are!)

 

thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tracie-lynn

 

 

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;);)

Loving this report - you are a wonderful writer!! Thank you for sharing this adventure :)

January 19, 2017

Somewhere at Sea- On our way to Indonesia

Hi friends-

Well, it has hit me- the travel, the time zones, the pace. I am officially exhausted. I keep trying to rally- but I am not quite sure that it will happen for me today. These days are all about expectation management. It is ok to do a big bucket of nothing.

I woke at 3:30 am and knocked around the cabin a bit, dressed and found the Promenade Deck for a bit of a walk-around. I can't remember if I mentioned my blisters that were my souvenir of Singapore- but there were a number of them- but only one was painful. They are pretty common place in my world (heat, humidity, swelling, and increased activity = blisters... And yes, Bradley, I was wearing proper shoes AND blister socks.). I committed a small act of surgery (I am a doctor- afterall. Haha- not an MD, though), packed it, and minimized my movement. I woke this morning to no pain, no infection. I took it easy with a 3 mile walk- even at 4 am, it was hot and humid. I am glad I got it out of the way. As a note, at 4 am, the upper part of the Promenade Deck is blocked for access, so I just did "horseshoes".

Once I finished, I was hungry but the little coffee bar on Deck 5 was not yet functioning- so I headed to buffet. I had a waffle with bananas and some yogurt. I returned to the room to gather the first load of laundry and read, but I fell asleep until 9- when I woke in a bit of a panic. Trivia is at 9:30. I dressed, packed my backpack- and set off for the day.

The team was comprised of the usual suspects... We gathered at our table- and guess what?!?! We lost. That is ok, because now all of the trivia regulars know we are not regulars. Not sure what the prizes were, as we did not get them. It did not look like magnets- whew!

I headed to the Sanctuary to read and relax. I joined the book club, only because the I really wanted to read the book. I like that Princess organizes book clubs for its voyages of 10 days or more. The book is "Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist" by Sunil Yapa. It is not the typical light fare. I am about 70 pages in and it looks as though it will be a fairly dark read. And you really have to pay attention to what your read, because I strongly suspect that if you skim the narrative will cease to make sense.

I had last eaten at 5 am, so by the time lunch rolled around I was pretty hungry. Quick disclaimer, I did not take pictures of the food. Today is my favorite lunch day, though... They had gazpacho, the veal tortellini, and the stuffed yellow bell pepper. Yum. And Keith, they had the blueberry roulade! I am not sure if I will make the effort for dinner, as there are not big standouts on the menu for this evening. Who knows- I may be asleep by dinner time.

Just some fun facts:

they gave out blue bags on this cruise- but oddly, I was not offered one. No worries- I would have turned it down. I am the person who offered to mail the small collect of my to any takers.

They ship, in no way, feels crowded, though we are sailing almost- if not- totally full.

Everyone, in spite of their cultural background, is very well behaved. There have been no reports of women biting one another over a lounger.

The volume of chatter is a bit louder than I am used to on this cruise- but it is all happy voices and lots of laughter. Obviously, the passengers took the MRT "happy, happy" message very seriously.

The showers all have the detachable handheld nozzle vs. the fixed version. And speaking of showers- I just want to know that my shower curtain has been most respectful in keeping distance. My virtue is safe.

If you are an American (and maybe a Canadian), be mindful that the sole 220 volt plug is the "universal type" and if you have prongs that are two sized (as a safety feature), your plug may not fit. It would probably be a good idea to bring some sort of a (non-surge protector) powerstrip or adapter. Had I not brought one, I would not have been able to use my flat iron- though in this humidity- straightening my hair has become an exercise in futility. My normally thin, flat, straight hair is ginormas!

My bed is not one of the new mattresses. I have no clue on whether or not it is comfortable as I cannot stay awake long enough to make the determination.

The food has been consistently very good.

I have not seen terribly long lines for ATD.

My balcony room does not have one of the fancy Japanese toilets- but they are in some of the public washrooms.

I am in a mid-aft balcony on Baha. My air conditioning is working very well. I have not heard of any complaints from any other passengers.

I guess they have closed the aft smoking area. There are a few unhappy passengers. It seems that you can smoke on front of the Lido Deck- port side, and starboard Promenade Deck or Churchill's. I am not a smoker (anymore) but am pretty empathetic to those who opt to smoke. I know their options continue to shrink.

I think I am going to quit here. I am pretty sure I need to take a nap. I am just not sure where yet.

Thanks for hanging in with me!

Tracie-Lynn :):)

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Have a great day! :)

I then headed to Deck 6 midship dining rooms for lunch. I checked all four dining rooms for lunch, but it was crickets... I ran into a waiter who directed me to the main dining room aft-- where there is lunch! Another warning- no tables for two at embarkation lunch. They did give me a table for four alone- so I could write to you...

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January 19, 2017

The PM Edition

After I waddled away from lunch, I returned to the cabin for a nap. When I woke, I showered and dressed for the next round of trivia. This time it was general trivia in Club Fusion- and we won by a pretty large margin. The prizes were sadly not magnets. We did get flashlights and lanyards. The team members with the inside cabins are very happy about receiving a second flashlight- now they have one for each hand!

The dinner menu is not a big favorite- but there were a couple of items that seemed mildly interesting- so off I went. Again, I did not take pictures- but my selections were really basic, so you are not missing the most.interesting.salad.ever. I ordered the cock-a-leekie soup- which tasted fine, but was lukewarm. A salad that was fine, but not the terribly interesting, and the pad Thai- which was really, really good and about as close to "real pad Thai" as I have ever gotten on the Princess ship. Dessert was creme brûlée. Truly the best part of dinner was getting to chat with Mike and Ginger- my bench seat table mates.

As our trivia team, still unnamed, decided to meet again for another round at 7:15, I invited Mike and Ginger to come and meet the gang. One of the regulars did not make it, so Mike subbed in. I can describe Mike in one word- Ringer. Holy mother of all things trivia! That guy knows everything! Yet, we did not win. We were a respectable 2nd to the b2b team.

And here is where the magic happened- even though I am as far away from all that I love on my big solo adventure- I have found my people. It is this band of misfits (me, included) known as the unnamed trivia team. None of us are hugely competitive. Not one of us always needs to be right. Everyone can take a joke. It really is wonderful. ... And the winning part doesn't suck either. I really am having a wonderful time. By nature, I am such an introvert- but this goofy tribe of inane facts is getting me out of the cabin. It's great!

We all hung around and chatted a bit. I grabbed a hot chocolate at the bar- and then headed to bed. I slept well, though I know know this would probably not be comfortable bed for many. I wonder with the Diamond will get her mattress upgrade?

It is very early in the morning- today is Bali and I have a private driver lined up. It rained all night- accompanied an amazing lightning show. I hope the rain holds off a bit- but I am pretty sensitive to barometric pressure drops- and this nagging little head tells me we might have a rainy day. No matter- It is easy to see beauty through the rain, if you just squint your eyes and look....

More later-

Tracie-Lynn :):)

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January 19, 2017

As our trivia team, still unnamed, decided to meet again for another round at 7:15, I invited Mike and Ginger to come and meet the gang. One of the regulars did not make it, so Mike subbed in. I can describe Mike in one word- Ringer. Holy mother of all things trivia! That guy knows everything! Yet, we did not win. We were a respectable 2nd to the b2b team.

Why don't you call yourselves "The Unnamed" or "The Unknowns"?

Tracie-

You can always ask the cruise director's staff to substitute the prizes for the elusive magnet. They're always happy to do so!

If not, I got three on my last sailing and I can mail you one [emoji12]

I really hope the shower curtain is still behaving itself!

Cheers-

Nat

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Why don't you call yourselves "The Unnamed" or "The Unknowns"?

Or, maybe "No Use for a Name" or NUFAN for short. Trivia factoid, this was the actual name of a punk rock band that was formed back in the mid '80s.

Or, maybe "No Use for a Name" or NUFAN for short. Trivia factoid, this was the actual name of a punk rock band that was formed back in the mid '80s.

I like that one. :D

Tracie, your review of your trip is a fab read, I can't put it down. Look forward to more. You and I have many similarities read below) and even share a name, so I felt compelled to respond to your review. Apologies in advance... I'm not meaning to hi-jack and forgive me if it appears that way.

I also did a solo cruise on the Sun Princess Round Indonesia Xmas New Year 2015. My first cruise, but hooked now.

My next sailing is in May on the Dawn Princess Fremantle, Bali, Penang, KL, Lankawi, Phuket, Singapore, then 3 nights in Singapore before heading home to Perth. This one is with my beautiful 28yo daughter. So excited.

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Thank you for posting your wonderful "Live From". As usual it is great reading and your love of life and cruising is infectious.

Congratulations on finding your group of people and also winning trivia more than once. I have only managed to win twice - once on Diamond and once on Royal. I am determined to win a lanyard one day :)

Happy travels!

Thank you again, Tracie, for your posts. There are MANY solo cruisers and you are doing them a very helpful service.

January 20, 2017

Bali, Indonesia

Hi friends-

The title of today's blog is "Find what you love and let it kill you". (Which is a is a Charles Bukowski quote that was painted on the side of a building in Bali)

Today was our first port day- Bali- for this cruise. This is about as far, far away as I have ever been. I was up at 4 am, then finally at 6 am- as evidenced by my post. We were due to drop anchor around 7 am, as Bali is a tender port. I think we actually were in early. The first tenders were scheduled to depart around 7:30, but there was a medical evacuation, and this incurred a slight delay. I was directed to the library to wait with the other Elite. There were about 40 people ahead of us, so we went out with the first wave. We boarded the tender at 8 am and docked in Benoa around 8:30.

I booked a private tour with Made Saber,

and I am so glad I did. He came highly recommended by some buyers in Australia and New Zealand. He was on time, great in traffic, and was willing to work on our time and itinerary. When we first disembarked the tender, we had about a 100 meter walk to the cruise port exit. Made was right there holding a sign with my name on it. We quickly jumped into his really nice air conditioned Toyota van (I think it would hold 5 or 6) and we're off... To sit in traffic. I may have taken us 30 to 45 minutes to get out of the general port region, but once we did- it was pretty fast. As a small point of interest, they drive on the left hand side of the road- which was fine with me, because I was not driving. If you are interested in booking him, his email address is madesaber@hotmail.com. The cost for the tour with all admissions and meal as US$ 45. It may have been slightly more expensive than others, but I liked him and he was willing to do what we wanted to do.

As we drove to our first stop, Made shared some information about Bali- like the population, the religious make-up, caste system, and naming conventions. Our first stop was a traditional Balinese performance.

Thank goodness we were given directions- because it was pretty chaotic- and a little violent. (But obviously "fake violent"). It sort of went from pleasant, to strange, to PG-13, to NC-17- all in about 35 minutes. Lots of killing. Lots of dismemberment. Even some vigorous poking of one's selves with objects. I have to admit, I got a pretty good case of the giggles during the performance. And I am pretty sure that it was inappropriate. The cost was 100,000 rupeea - and we just let Made pay for everything and then paid him at the end in US dollars. By the way- 100K rupeea is about 7.50 US. Here is a picture of the dancers:

Next, we headed to a Hindu temple- Batuan. We donned the traditional saris and walked around a bit. It began to rain a bit- it is the rainy season, after all... And we found shelter to watch a traditional "priest" perform some sort of ritual - that involved pouring out water and throwing flower petals.

Our next stop was a small town that hosts a very large waterfall. I liked the sign that said, "You can be sexy- but not nude". Ummmm... Yea. I will be neither- thankyouverymuch. We did not hike down to the waterfall- and lucky we did not. Just as we were leaving- there was a major deluge- it is the rainy season, after all.

We asked to have the most local lunch possible. We did not want to go eat with 6 bus loads of tourists. And, welllllllll, it was really, really local. I think it was called Babi guling- and it was pig- roasted and fried 800 different ways. So here is where my American really shows- We were given a bowl of soup- which we were told was banana leaf soup (I am picturing plantains here).

It tasted pretty good and I ate quite a bit of it. We also had a plate of meat- lots of different kinds of meat. There was a pork satay, and some chopped pork with jack fruit, and then some other things- that we learned were sliced and fried pork heart, fried pork intestines, stuffed intensifies, something that I swear looked like part of a hoof- I am not the pickiest eater in the world, but this was a huge departure from Anthony Bourdain- and more into the Andrew Zimmer category.

Fortunately for us, it was spicy, so we could beg-off using spicy as an excuse. I did eat the rice- which tasted like...... Chicken! No. Just kidding. It tasted just like rice. The cost of the meal was about $4. If I lived in local Bali- I might starve.

Finally, we went to see a beach. It was considered a white sand beach, but the sand was black- this was due to the ashes of the departed. I many have committed some major faux pas- as I stepped on that beach. If I did, I sincerely apologize to the ancestors.

We returned to the cruise center at slightly before 2. I was a bit worried- as traffic can get very bad, and I have read reports that it can take an hour or more to get to port- the last tender was scheduled for 4 pm- so we were fine. At 2 pm in Bali heading to the cruise center- there is no traffic- and bonus! No line for the tender! We rode a tender that was comprised mainly of crew. They had gone to shore to buy big cases of noodles- 40 packs for 7 dollars.

I returned to the room- and took a nap. I had been quietly trying to fight a migraine all day. I know there are others that cursed the rain, but I was really grateful- the bright sun would have done me in.

The still as yet unnamed gang met up for trivia- we did terrible. Really, really terrible-- we only got 8 out of 20. But the winners only got 9 out of 20- so we were still cresting the top of the pack. No magnets for us.

I headed to dinner- and Charles decided to join me. I had a salad and the Curtis Stone leek and chicken pie- which was very good, but I was struggling to eat. I also had a bit of soufflé. After dinner- I headed back to the cabin to deal with the migraine. I have medicine for it- and the medicine really works- but it knocks me out- so I rarely take it. After taking said medicine- I slept from 6:45 pm to 4:57 am. And when I awoke- the migraine was gone! Yay!

So that is where I will leave you- It is just past 6 am- and I think I will go for a walk.

Thanks for following along-

Anyone want my portion of deep fried, sliced pig heart? Seriously, it is yours, if you like!

Tracie-Lynn

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That food sounds disgusting :eek:. I'm loving this thread. So interesting.

That food sounds disgusting :eek:. I'm loving this thread. So interesting.

I agree with this [emoji3]thanks for all your time!

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Thanks for mentioning Andrew Zimmern. I get to know the food taste.:)

you have the best cruise blog I have ever read - your way of describing everything is so engaging! thank you so much for writing this!

Happy Birthday!

great review. you pics are very nice. You had a great time; and love life. Sweet

Love following along with you.

I always want to try the local foods when in interesting parts of the world, I am just always worried about the aftermath...... especially if you have a loooong bus ride back to the port if you catch my drift [emoji33]