LIVE from SE Asia with Sungirl - 29 Nov16 Diamond Princess

KCSungirl,

Re the exchange of your Thai money. If you don't need any more Singapore dollars wait until you get home and then change it back into your own money.

Otherwise, if you need more Singapore dollars, wait until you get to Singapore. There are loads of money changers around Singapore who will change it for you.

Only change it in the countries where you need their money, otherwise you will be changing it twice and losing money each time. eg. If you change the money in Malaysia for say US dollars or Singapore dollars, it will first of all be converted into Malaysian ringgets and then into either the SDollars or the U.S. dollars. I hope this makes sense.

Jennie

Enjoying your live blogs. Seriously thinking now of Asia 2018.

Thanks for taking the time to write this amazing blog! It's so good to read up to date info on the ship and the ports. We board on the 27th December and can't wait!!

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The cruise director sent out a new sea day activity schedule within an hour. Excellent organization. I am sure they look at weather conditions the night before and have Plan B ready.

 

I doubt that they figured out anything the night before.

My experience has been that "knowing" it will be a port day many of the staff (such as those who work in the boutiques) will party to 5 AM and then be very surprised to find they need to start work at 9 AM.

Saigon 04 December16

 

I booked a shared tour in advance through Smile Tours. $85/pp. They are a very reputable tour operator. They contract with guides. Anh was our guide and he was fantastic. As well as our driver Phoung. Very nice mini-coach bus with seating for twenty. We had 12 on our tour. We were picked up at the ship at 7:30am. We moved a lot faster than normal due to the lighter Sunday traffic.

 

Itinerary:

Jade Emperor Pagoda - Over a 100 years old, features turtles and a Jade Emperor. Spooky.

 

Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office - The cathedral is a neo-Romanesque constructed between 1877 and 1883. The Post Office is a grand French Colonial building designed by Gustav Eiffel. Sent myself a postcard.

 

War Remnants Museum - very upsetting for me. I didn't realize I would be so emotional. Kind of like going to a holocaust museum or the Anne Frank house. A comprehensive collection of photos, weapons, machinery, and documentation of the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective. The Vietnam War was very ugly, complicated, dirty, messy, confusing.

 

Cyclo trickshaw ride through district 5 to Chinatown. Super fun hour long ride. The twelve drivers were waiting to take our group after the visit to the museum. Yu grabbed my hand. He was going to have to work extra hard to peddle my ass around, but he got a good view of my cleavage.

 

Thien Hau Temple - Chinatown Sea Goddess temple. I don't quite understand this mythical stuff. Goddesses of fertility and prosperity. Voodoo!

 

Lunch stop at Pho 2000. The restaurant that Bill Clinton made famous when he ate there. I loved the chicken and noodles with spring rolls.

 

Ben Thanh Market - famous, huge market. Vendors are aggressive. It's exhausting to bargain, so I don't shop much.

 

Rex Hotel, City Hall, Opera House, Riverfront

 

A fantastic day in a city with a sad history after losing their freedom to Communism.

 

Back to the ship! We enjoyed sail away along the river. Lovely evening.

 

When we had that tour there was also a stop for a performance of water puppets.

Do you know why that was not included on your tour?

How do you make up those activities? They are made up aren't they? ;-)

Have loved your live from, thank you very much. I did a very similar cruise out of Singapore last year, your posts brought back many happy memories.

Sea Day 08 December16

Heading toward the Singapore Strait, the busiest shipping lane in the world. On route to Singapore.

Sunny and Hot. I am happy to report I was up for breakfast. Sausage, French toast and Rice Krispies. However, I lost an hour of my life that I will never get back. My room steward failed to tell me that the clocks were going forward one hour. I sat around waiting to escape the mass of humanity and I was an hour late to the Sanctuary because I hadn't set my clock ahead. The horror. I reported this this catastrophe to my Sanctuary attendant, Indra, and asked him if he would give me a bonus hour another day. He was fine with that. My tip probably helped also.

This cruise ends tomorrow, but 800 of us are staying on for a 3 night cruise. Can you handle a few more days of Cruising with Sungirl? I am a bit curious because the next cruise is a gambling junket for Singaporeans. What does this mean exactly? It was not an advertised cruise in some markets.

Today was full of culminating activities - Ukulele concert for those who took lessons, Glockenspiel concert for those who took lessons, Princess Pop Choir Concert for those who practiced, and the Navigational Chart auction for the person who can shell out the most $$ for a souvenir map.

I have thought of a few shipboard activities I would add if I was the leader:

Elevator Etiquette- letting people off, before you get on

Buffet Management

How to speak Australian

Manscaping- get rid of nose hair, ear hair, and back hair.

Asian Line Dancing - these Asians are masters with Achy Breaky Heart

I skipped the free elite Grapevine wine tasting at 3pm. I was much too comfortable on my sun bed in the Sanctuary.

Great evening of entertainment. Showtime - Born to Be Wild with the singers/dancers. Excellent. Festival of the World Dance party in the Atrium with The Sound. I inquired about the lead singer and I guess she is really sick. She has been MIA for two days. The production show cast have been the best I have ever seen. They have been together for a while and it shows.

Lucky Princess was given a coffee card from a very sweet gentleman who was leaving the ship. That is great. We burned through ours and hadn't bought another one. PC isn't feeling too good tonight, so we came back to the cabin early.

What was my number? 51. Pretty respectable if I do say so.

Cheers to you and I will see you in Singapore tomorrow. I am ready to tour!

Do they decorate the ship for the holidays in this area of the world?? My sis said the Royal is absolutely gorgeous all decked out in the Caribbean!

btw...it's Lynn from FB :)

Can't wait to follow along for 3 more days!

Really enjoying your reports. I was curious about your missed port plans for Koh samui? What made you plan on a day pass at the Four Seasons? My daughter and I are looking for a hotel day pass for our day there. Did you book it ahead of time?

Thanks so much

Do they decorate the ship for the holidays in this area of the world?? My sis said the Royal is absolutely gorgeous all decked out in the Caribbean!

 

 

 

btw...it's Lynn from FB :)

 

 

 

Can't wait to follow along for 3 more days!

Singapore decorates their city fabulously for Christmas. Much better than we do in Australia. It is widely celebrated in Asia. I expect the ship to be fully decked out when we board on 27 Dec.

KCSungirl,

I can give you a private lesson in Australian, if you really want to know some of our slang.

Just ask away.

I am afraid you are going to be bombarded by all the Singaporeans that love gambling. Once you are out of the Singaporean sea lanes, the Casino will go non stop. They have those gambling ships leaving Hong Kong every other day or so.

Jennie

I think you must have a peculiar (or maybe older - 70's) bunch of Aussies on board if they have taught you the word Ocker. That was a 1960's kind of word. Generally Aussies now not Ockers.

I think Ocker is a great word, otherwise a Larrikin - a boisterous, often badly behaved young man.

"James was something of a larrikin"

I would always have classed Paul Hogan as a typical Ocker. Of course there is also the word Bogan which describes someone else altogether.

Jennie

Sure but it's not a word used these days. I don't think my adult kids have even heard it.

Call 911. I will be back to explain later. I want to jump ship. NOW. Pray for Princess. And PC.

Call 911. I will be back to explain later. I want to jump ship. NOW. Pray for Princess. And PC.

That doesn't sound good... I'm so sorry! Please let us know what happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

This cruise ends tomorrow, but 800 of us are staying on for a 3 night cruise.

One thing that the 800 of you need to be aware of.

Your three day cruise has Malaysia ports and then returns to Singapore.

When you disembark in Singapore, any alcohol you have will be taxed even if you are heading directly to the airport. This is only done when the ship arrives directly from Malaysia.

All luggage and hand luggage will be x-rayed at customs so any wine or liquor bottles will be detected and you will be directed to take them to the tax window before you can leave the customs area.

What on earth has happened. I do hope nothing has happened to either of you. Is it because you have new cruisers on board.

We are extremely worried about you both.

Jennie

Aussie gal, so sorry to worry you. PC got really sick and I would never have booked a 3 day weekend cruise if I was in my right mind. It's a gambling junket and cartoon character cruise for kids. A thousand Singapore kids. Don't know whether to laugh or cry. I will give you more details in a bit.

1000 kids sounds wonderful. I love kids... if they're cooked properly. ;)

Oh. I know that 3 day was still on sale until really late. Clearly they have filled it - with kids!!! Sanctuary sounds the go!

The Sanctuary sounds like the ONLY way to go (they could probably quadruple the daily rate and still sell every space).

P.S. I hope PC recovers soon.

Please come back and tell us more! Hope PC feeling ok

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Check her Facebook page. She sounds like she is in a comical meltdown