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We sailed into Singapore this morning but I decided to stay onboard to enjoy a relatively quiet ship. A little envious of those going on to Capetown and Southampton. But nothing like not having to take a flight home.

Our second port of Nha Trang went much more smoothly even though we had to use the tenders. The included lunch was delicious.

On 3/19/2024 at 1:45 AM, Solent Richard said:

What a shame and such a tough call for north (Hue) or south (Hoi An) excursions.

Yes it made for a very long day. But we still got back in time for a quick dinner in Britannia before rushing off to the show.

Chan May on Saturday 16 March.

our docking was delayed by about half an hour ….

6 hours ago, Patria21 said:

It was only in the Britannia for one day because the Queen’s Room was being set up for a World Cruise party. Tea is back

in the Queen’s Room today.

Yes! we were there!

i had heard afternoon tea had moved to Britannia. much prefer the Queen’s Room.

and Chris Frame is lecturing!

was pleasantly surprised to discover Catholic Mass is being offered every day on this world cruise.

Before i get too out of sync this was the dim sum lunch we had in Sha Tin before boarding yesterday.

1 hour ago, texanaust said:

Hi Mark,

 

Nice photos as usual.  We will be joining the ship in Singapore for the voyage to Cape Town.  Will you be continuing?  

Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately, no. Even though there is a very good deal being offered now, a bit too last minute (and too many days) for a last minute jaunt.

2024 Bear (on QM2)

Hello again!

I’m back onboard Cunard after more than a year, and back on Queen Mary 2 after almost 19 years (SOU to NYC in April 2024).

The excitement of first catching sight of the red funnel as your taxi approaches is still there, and it’s been very nostalgic rediscovering the ship.

I flew in one day early and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Sha Tin for one night.

I was mainly in Hongkong to get on the Queen Mary, and when asked a friend from Hongkong what was good to eat at Sha Tin she recommended pigeon. So I dutifully ate a deep fried pigeon and some dim sum delightfully shaped like swans and goldfish for lunch before checking out and heading to the Kai Tuk cruise terminal.
 

The area around the terminal is under redevelopment with the cruise terminal looking like the only thing completed, surrounded by buildings that look to me very much like construction worker dormitories.

Checking in was very much a breeze with very short lines at Cunard check-in itself, security and immigration. The longest part for me was actually a sit down interview for a survey by the Hongkong Tourism authority. (I was rewarded with a souvenir keychain, and grateful thanks from the lady who could now go home.)

After a brief stop at the purser’s office, where we were informed “to the best of her knowledge” they were sailing full, (I am 100% sure that there are unsold cabins) we went to our cabins where my suitcase was already waiting for me. Our steward was there to welcome us and busied himself getting stuff we noticed was missing.

After unpacking I even managed to find a free machine in the laundry to do a small load (I’ve already been travelling for a week) and everyone in the laundry was eager to help with instructions. The benefit of joining a world cruise sector is that you will meet people who are experienced with the machines.

Muster was reporting to the station after watching the video that was running on loop the TV while i was unpacking. And then it was time to wander around.

Coming up: dinner at Britannia.

On 10/16/2023 at 6:47 PM, gnome12 said:

It's not just Apple. I can't see them on my PC with Windows 10.

Hello Everyone!

regarding the mystery of the non-appearing photos: i suspect (don't know for sure) it is something to do with cruisecritic being distributed across various servers (cruisecritic.com, cruisecritic.co.uk and cruisecritic.com.au.) While the texts of the posts get propagated relatively quickly, the photos might take longer to migrate across the servers. So i suspect it's not so much an Apple or Windows issue but a geographic one where you are connecting to a server that is different from where the photos were uploaded.

in other words: just wait a bit and the photos will appear!

(i haven't got a good guess for the sometimes upside down mystery.)

3 hours ago, les37b said:

Your photos bring back some great memories of our Seward to Osaka voyage on the Muse in April /  May. Sounds like you did the same tours we did. Did you get a great send off in Miyako? Felt very humble.

 

We didn’t get a death by chocolate though.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed Japan and intend to go back for a land tour. On the down side, we hated the huge number of sea days once we left Japan. Rough weather meant we missed the 2 Alaskan stops and the time changes each night were horrible.  Rained constantly too so no deck days. It was far too cold anyway. We also missed what would have been our highlight - the railroad journey from Anchorage.

 

 

Our send off was from both Kushiro where we had the drummers and Muroran where the Brass Band played Jazz for most of the afternoon until we left the pier!

Oh! I didn't know skipping the two Alaskan ports was possible. I can see how that would make for too many sea days. Honestly Dutch Harbour was only OK but I did enjoy our time in Kodiak very much. I suggest you try again the other way, or find your way to Kodiak at a different time of year.

We did seem to be blessed by better than usual weather and having one hour extra of sleep is definitely better than losing an hour several nights in a row.

Having said that we also braved Hot Rocks in the cold and it was an experience!

Oh! thanks for your patience and reminder @Port Power. You needn’t have been so patient…

Here are a few more from a very memorable “Death by Chocolate” deck party!

white chocolate martinis and white chocolate with ameretto. 
 

and after we disembarked in Yokohama.

Photos from Muroran Saturday 23 September.

Hello Terry,

I’m a little late to this party but now that I am back home here are my thoughts on what you asked in another thread.

1.     Among the "usual suspects" for the top Singapore attractions, what are you favorites for first-time visitors??  Pluses and minuses for Gardens by the Bay, Little India, Buddha Temple, Arab Quarter, Colonial District, Merlion Park, China Town, Orchid Garden, etc.??  We are doing a ship's evening Light-and-Sound Show tour with boat ride, etc.

Considering your stay in India before coming to Singapore I think you can safely skip Little India and the Arab Quarter.

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, to give it its full name,  is a new building and I would say more relevant to devotees. It is right in the middle of Chinatown and opposite the Touristy Maxwell Food Centre so you might see in in passing anyway. It is hard to miss. If you are interested in culture and history there is the Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple, nearby between Pagoda and Temple Street. For a more culturally important Taoist Temple, Thian Hock Keng is the one to visit.

This leaves Gardens by the Bay and the Orchid Garden. They are iconic Singapore destinations. Note that the National Orchid Garden is part of the original Botanic Gardens located more centrally in Singapore and not on the reclaimed land where Gardens by the Bay have been constructed. That being said the Orchid Garden has recently been renovated and is well worth a visit, though I would still put it after the two conservatories (Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Dome) in Gardens by the Bay. The Cloud Forest in particular has a large variety of orchids so if pressed for time you might consider skipping the Orchid Garden if you already are visiting the Cloud Forest.

2. What are the less well-known locations that offer insights as to the "real life" for people who live day-to-day in Singapore?

3. Any special favorite dining locations that are fun, very tasty and interesting?  No interested in the over-priced "designer food" locations that get the media fawning.  Real places with good food!!

My answer to these two questions can be combined: visit a more “heartland” hawker centre. The Old Airport Road Food Centre is a good compromise. It is still inside the central core but surrounded by public housing rather than commercial developments. And about as “real” as you can get to Singapore food. It is a 5 minute walk from either Mountbatten or Dakota MRT stations on the circle line which you can get on at Esplanade station, which connects to South Beach where the JW Marriot is located. This way you get to experience the Singapore Mass Transit System as well as see what public housing where 78% of Singaporean live looks like. You can always take a cab back after dinner if you’ve had enough adventure for the day. It’s not a long drive and shouldn’t cost very much. Oh any card with the PayWave symbol including Apple or Google Pay will work on public transport. Bus and MRT. You need one device or card per person though. On the bus you tap on and off, on MRT you tap to go through the gantries.

I would say Singapore has the most diverse culinary culture and you can get decent to very good examples of all the major and quite a few minor cuisines of the world. The typical Singaporean diet is all about change and variety. You can try this fun exercise on Google Maps. Go to the Singapore map and type in “<country name> food” and see what pops up.

What we miss most about Singapore food is not just a particular dish that only grandma can make but the wide variety available.

NB Please reconsider visiting any hawker centre during the day. They are not airconditioned and there is a high chance the heat will be uncomfortable to unbearable. Once evening comes it becomes bearable but still warm. Early mornings are also good if you want to see some breakfast dishes. (Also, Beach Road Kitchen at the JW Marriot serves up acceptable facsimiles.) I think Old Airport Road is better for dinner.

4. Any overlooked and/or undiscovered "stars" in Singapore to consider?

I’m surprised no one in this thread has mentioned the otters. Even though Singapore is very urban our efforts to green Singapore have paid off with a boom in urban wildlife. Most famous and cutest of all are our otters. Type in “Singapore otters” on YouTube.

9 minutes ago, irvington said:

you're so lucky you got onto the Bunker Hill hike!

oh, heh. i guess i was!

I was down on the dock while it was still dark, amidst all the confusion of missing tour guide and uncertainty about the actual time, hoping for a no show or cancellation.

as it turned out because of the confusion several people decided to skip the tour and just take the shuttle around town and to the museum so I managed to squeeze in....

a more from Dutch Harbour on Friday 15 September.

one of the better preserved bunkers on the hill.

interior of the command post right at the top of the hill.

one of the many whales we spotted during our sail out. (taken from deck 12 forward.)

zooming in a bit more.

A few catch up photos from our Kodiak tour on Wed 13 September.

"everyone owns a gun in Alaska."

all the creeks were full of salmon.

a better view of the bears.

a few more photos from the Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest in Sitka on Monday 11 Sep.

Supplementary photos from later (afternoon) whale watching tour in Juneau. (Sun 10 Sep)

close up of the sunflower starfish.

i mentioned we saw many whales but I noticed my earlier photos show solitary flukes. So here are some clearly showing 2 whales at a time.

You can imagine how this might give rise to loch ness monster sightings.

this one is single again but much nearer to us. Unfortunately it was not doing anything exciting other than just swimming along.

A few more photos from Ketchikan on Saturday September 9th.

Harbour Seal seen while kayaking.

Disney Wonder in port.

while sailing out.