LIVE from SE Asia with Sungirl - 29 Nov16 Diamond Princess

Let's get this party started! I haven't seen you LIVE on Princess since Dec14 in Tahiti. I seem to be alternating between Holland America and Princess on the more exotic itineraries. Last year we cruised HAL around the Horn in South America with a side trip to the Atacama desert. I am really looking forward to leaving the heavy gear at home this year. No North Face! I miss my perks on Princess when cruising HAL. I have no status yet. I will report/review on the ship/ports in my irreverent style. I am starting my thread a bit early as we are taking our side trip pre-cruise instead of post-cruise. We are packed and ready to go. We are flying 12,500 miles in the next 48 hours. Lots of details to follow. Happy Thanksgiving, Sungirl

Safe travels, looking forward to your live from.

Looking forward to your live updates.

Eager to read your live from trip report as I will be on the Diamond in February.

Enjoy your cruise.

I will give you my usual disclaimer - life, food, and entertainment is subjective and I don't take myself or others too seriously. On the short list of planning this year - South Africa, Vietnam by land/cruise, Bali/Indonesia. I struggle when it comes to land vs. cruise travel. I love both. Unfortunately none of the cruises I looked at were exactly perfect, so I compromised a bit. My consolation prize is a pre-cruise side trip visit to a place I never thought I would ever see. A dream come true.

I enjoy my status perks on United Airlines but they don't serve South Africa. Princess wouldn't be guaranteed a B-class upgrade on SAA. For that reason, South Africa keeps getting bumped from my schedule. Next year, hopefully.

I wander around a bit and I don't plan travel in advance. I am not wired that way. I have never paid a premium to book 14-30 days in advance. Plus, I have a lot of flexibility in my schedule to find lower fares. I looked at both the 10 and 13 night Diamond Princess itineraries. The price per day for a balcony cabin was actually cheaper on the 10 day, but when we decided to splurge on a mini suite, the per day price was about the same. I like taking advantage of the lower prices/less crowds before the Christmas holidays. November/early December. I think it has been since Christmas '09 that I have booked a mini-suite. Looking forward to the space and open balcony. I booked 2 weeks in advance, perfect for me.

I booked United Airlines via SFO to Singapore. It's the most direct flight for me. It's also the longest flight from the US - almost 17 hours. I love the 787 Dreamliner. We flew this aircraft to Buenos Aires last year. United is getting ready to roll out its new Polaris Business Class service next week. 17 hours seemed like the unthinkable, but with internet, movies, food, wine, etc., I embrace it as part of the adventure. I have watched three heavy foreign films, my favorites. And Absolutely Fabulous, the movie. I love Patsy and Edina. PC (Prince Charming, the mister) has watched American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused for the hundredth time. Coming of age movies are his favorites!

We are crossing the Phillipines as I write. Haven't seen the sun since we left SFO at 11pm last night. We are within three hours of arrival. I get so excited, it's difficult to sleep. We are spending our first day at the greatest airport playground in the world - Singapore Chiangi. Looking forward to having some fun eating and shopping at the airport. We are in transit and will be flying out of Singapore 11 hours after landing. We will get a day room, most likely at the Crowne Plaza.

Thanks for coming with me. I post my pics and videos on my Facebook travel page. See you in a few...........

We are on the Diamond in late December from Singapore. And also in a mini suite on Emerald. How do I find your Facebook page to see the pics? Thanks for the TR.

KCSungirl

I am so looking forward to reading your Blog. We loved the Diamond when we were on her in October, 2014 in Japan.

Is your cruise coming down here to Australia as the Diamond usually makes her way down here at this time of the year?

Jennie

KCSungirl

 

I am so looking forward to reading your Blog. We loved the Diamond when we were on her in October, 2014 in Japan.

 

Is your cruise coming down here to Australia as the Diamond usually makes her way down here at this time of the year?

 

Jennie

The Diamond is hanging around Asia - I know it is doing a lot of Singapore cruises, I am cruising on Diamond on 27 December around Asia for 12 nights and that continues for several cruises later.

Found your Facebook page too KCSungirl.

I am really looking forward to your live from. I board the Diamond on January 17- for my first long solo cruise. I can't wait to for all the details!

Consider me subscribed-

Tracie-Lynn

I'd be interested in getting your take on the Izumi Spa/Onsen/Bath.

Welcome to Changi Airport. An awesome place. Immigration took 3 minutes, bags were already circling when we got to the carousel, and you don't stop at customs unless you have something to declare. This has to be the most efficient operation in the world. We got a luggage cart (free)'and walked from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3, the location of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. A day room is from 8am to 4pm and cost me $148US. Nice swimming pool and super fun to have a runway view. Singapore Airlines has got to own the largest fleet of A380 jets. Love those double deckers! They keep driving by our room. The rooms are fresh, modern, and perfect for a rest and shower. There are a couple of cheaper options for transit passengers in the terminals, but more modest than the Crowne Plaza. I think I also read you can book smaller blocks of time like 6 hours. We are too excited to get quality sleep, but PC has been snoring pretty good. We will check out at 4pm so I can start my airport shopping and dining expedition before our next flight this evening.

We always stay at the Crowne Plaza en route if we need to stay overnight. It is a great hotel and so easy to get to and from especially when using Singapore airlines as they mainly leave from Terminals 2 and 3.

I agree, Singapore's Changi airport is the most efficient and cleanest in the world. It doesn't matter which terminal you arrive at or depart from it is always the same. Immigration is so quick and of course collecting your baggage is a laugh as we have never had to wait for it to arrive at our carousel in all the years that we have been going to and from Singapore.

Jennie

I loved Singapore airport until I went to Dubai. Amazing.

We on this cruise from 16th dec. It is our first cruise so interested in your live posts

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Looking forward to your live from :)

I just got back from a 3 week land trip to South Africa - awesome:)

Changi is full of shops, restaurants, food courts, photo ops, flora and fauna, and transit hotels. I have been to lots of international airports - Dubai, London, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong, but none of them can boast of a Swenson's Ice Cream Parlor and Garrett's Popcorn. WOW! Also they have Paul's Bakery, one of my favs in Paris. The shopping is almost too overwhelming and lots of people. I didn't buy anything, yet. I am thinking I want that new Gucci fragrance, Bamboo. I will be transiting thru Changi a few more times. I did look at Swatch watches, which I collect if there is a city exclusive. No Singapore exclusive.

We are departing on Tiger Air, a budget subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. I bought the "extra" stuff. For $33US I got a Club Pass, priority check in, priority boarding, and seating toward the front of aircraft. Worth every penny to me. I also pre-paid for meals on the plane. That $10 was so worth the full size Cadbury chocolate bar. The food in the club was quite good, so by the time we got on the flight, we weren't hungry for the pre-paid lemon chicken and curry chicken. Do you think that stops me from eating? Never! The Airbus A320 was a bit worn beacause I am used to newer aircraft flying United a lot.

The Tiger Air pilots looked too young and I was a nervous wreck thinking about flying 5 hours into the middle of the Indian Ocean. But again, the Lord delivered and I am one lucky Princess. There were two open seats on the flight and guess what? We got the empty middle seat and had the row. That is equivalent to winning the travelers lottery IMHO. I could spread out a wee bit.

We have changed our attitude when booking pre/post cruise side trips. We historically have save the best for last and travel post cruise. We have changed our mind on that. We have decided that doing our side trips first while we are fresh and have energy is better. We can relax on the ship afterward. These flights would have seemed a lot harder post cruise. Also I learned from an experience my dad had. His dream was to go to Bhutan. He went around the world and saved Bhutan for last. Unfortunately, by the time he got to Bhutan, he and his brother were tired and sick (malaria pills and India!) and had to leave early. Do the the most important stuff on the front end. He wished he had reversed the itinerary and gone to Bhutan first.

Off we go. Into the darkness over the ocean. Breathe, pray, repeat.

Looking forward to joining you in your travels!

YAY - you're back. Your blogs are always such a kick!!:D

Looking forward to another one of your fantastic and hilarious episodes.

Paige, I am sure you arrived safely at your destination which is my guess, the Maldives as I haven't heard of any crashes this morning on the radio!! If not the Maldives then I am not sure where it is unless it is the lovely Seychelles as they are truly beautiful.

Enjoy your time there and relax while we await on your next instalment.

Jennie

Thanks for sharing.

I am speechless and completely loopy. How did I accomplish getting from my house in Kansas to the Maldives? I never thought I would ever figure out how to accomplish this, but I did. A dream come true. WOW. It's dark outside and I have been in airports for three days. We land in Male, the capital city of the Maldives. There are over 120 atolls and a few larger atolls with domestic airports. We switched to another time zone, 3 hours behind Singapore. I am so messed up! I booked a small 14 room hotel near the airport for a short overnight transit stay - h78. I used Trip Advisor to do most of my research h78 was $115us/nt including transfers and breakfast. Everything went smoothly. I loved our cozy room with a sunrise ocean view. I would rate the hotel A+ if I had not been for the lack of hot water. The super cold AC was really great. Bottled water is readily available. Alarm set for 5:30am. I've got 2 tickets to paradise.

KC, may I get your FB travel name to see your pics? If you don't want to post it here, please email me at Jackie.alpinechurch at Gmail dot com.

I emailed enjoying your review!

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I am breaking the bank! If I don't quit doing this, that trailer living in Florida is going to come sooner rather than later. We all know islands are expensive, but the Maldives takes expensive to a whole new level. 5 star hotels range in price from $700 to $2000/nt. I spent hours researching accommodations and where to get the most bang for my buck. As I have told you before I am a practical Princess, a genius with money, and have really good luck. I found this resort that was offering a really cheap special (it's all relative) and I was very skeptical. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. After hours of research, I decide to take the "deal". The LUX* Resort. A small chain of resorts in a variety of locations in the Indian Ocean. The asterik really gets me laughing. The "deal" starts at a somewhat reasonable price. After taxes, breakfast, seaplane transfers, food/drinks, etc., there is no "deal", but I am quite proud of the deal I got. When you travel as much as I do, you have to learn the tricks. First, if they were offering a promo price, there had to be a decent amount of inventory available. I decided to book the cheapest (makes me laugh!) room, hope for an upgrade or better bargaining opportunities to upgrade in person. Score!

When you book the hotel, you must buy the seaplane transfers at the same time. The transfers cost more than my flight from Singapore - around $400 or so pp RT. Pretty sure there is some mark up for the resort. The hotel sets up all the transfers and confirms everything 24 hours in advance. Trans Maldivian Airways is the name of the Seaplane company. They have a large operation and very well run. We checked in a 8am and were in the air around 9:15am. It is a 20-30 minute ride from the North Ari Atoll to the South Ari Atoll. I forgot to tell you, that I missed #6 on the prohibited items in the Maldives- alcohol. I had two bottles of wine confiscated when I arrived. I could have gone to prison, but when they saw my lucious well-fed body they knew I would be spending some good money on their islands and spared me. I will get the wine back upon departure. However, I still had to pay $80 because I was over the luggage weight limit. I was so glad I didn't have the wine. It would have been ridiculously expensive. Like the Dali Lama says- sometimes not getting what you want is your greatest stroke of luck. That $10 bottle of wine was worth nothing compared to the $5 per kilo luggage overage. If you like math word problems, you can guess how many kilos over I was!

Up in the air again! I was a little afraid that I might get sick. I never get motion sickness, but this summer I went to Disneyland and I kept getting nauseous on the rides. I have no idea what that was all about. I couldn't find a barf bag. No worries, it was a nice smooth seaplane ride with barefoot pilots. That was just freaky. I understand the island life, but aren't there some rules? Had some girl power in the cockpit too. Pictures/videos on my FB page.

Mr Roark and Tatoo, I am sure will be waiting for us. De plane, de plane

Thank you again for your consistent posting (which as a fellow "live from-er", I know how challenging and time consuming that can be).

Your adventures sound amazing, and I cannot wait to hear all about the Madives, your resort, your eventual return to SIN, and the cruise.

I am sailing on the Diamond in mid January, and I will be interested to hear a loquatious American's impressions. I am all about the details- and I think you fit the bill perfectly!

Oh! And in case you were not completely aware- due to all of the travel- Happy Thanksgiving!

Looking forward to more...

Keep 'me coming!

Yes, Mr Roark and his entire staff were at the seaplane dock to great us. Cold towels, drinks, and a personal assistant. Racheal, from Malaysia is my assistant. Racheal got us checked in. Gave me a great free upgrade from a beach pavilion to a beach villa. Much larger and nicer. We declined the over-water bungalow offer. It was sweet, but we didn't like the set up. We might change our minds in a few days. We have stayed in over-water bungalows in Tahiti, so the novelty isn't a draw. We like toes in the sand, a beach walkout, and most importantly a sunset. It's very similar to the beach experience we had in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.

The resort houses approx. 550 workers from India and Malaysia mostly. So friendly, loving, and eager to please. Very few female employees, so girls if you like Indian men, come on down.

The atoll is about a mile long. We dropped our bags and wanted to immediately explore. We walked the resort and felt good about the location we chose. There are golf carts everywhere to give rides around. At 2pm, which was 5pm Singapore time, we were starting to crash. We went to one of the beach restaurants for a Thankgiving feast. Delicious, fresh wahoo. Our lunch was a bargain at $146. Not joking. The drinks are in line with luxury resorts across the world, the food is pricey. The New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are $14/glass, $60/bottle. We aren't big drinkers, so it's not an issue. However, we love to eat! We went to the ice cream kiosk for dessert. Homemade ice cream in every flavor. I got mint chip, PC got chocolate and mint chip.

We went back to villa to get unpacked and organized. PC was asleep in 10 minutes. We are still pretty messed up on our day/time, but by tomorrow morning we will be fine. We took the breakfast option, so I hope it is a fabulous spread. It was another bargain at booking - $20pp

Off to dreamland on Fantasy Island.