Suzi66

I did single entry and it also wasn't rejected. Just make sure you do the correct ports.

Koh Samui was the last stop for us and I was interested to see if we would be able to tender here considering the last cruise couldn't. Something I hadn't mentioned is that I had got a letter from both guest services and shore excursions noting that I had used a wheelchair to board and for me to contact them about me getting off the ship at the different ports including the tenders. I had done this for both letting them know that I used a walking stick, and that I had balance issues, but I could get myself on and off, it was just standing for long periods of time that was the main problem. For Ho Chi Minh City letters had been delivered several times to say that the gangplank would be low and wheelchair users would have to wait until after the rush (approx 10am) to use it as they could then make it a ramp without disturbing everyone else trying to get off the ship. It was also in the Daily Planners. As you can guess there were people in wheelchairs lining up to get out the gangway as soon as it opened making it difficult for everyone else. Back to Koh Samui. We used the fact that we had priority tendering to get over to the island as it was a beautiful day and we had a private tour booked with Kohsamuitours who we discovered were a German company. We were in small vans with 10 people per van and there were 2 vans in our group and one tour guide who was in the other van (who was an English speaker as was our driver). We discovered during our Singapore tour that the other only pure English speaker was in the other van (also from Solstice), and luckily there were a couple of bilingual people in both vans translating what the driver/tourguide was saying for the rest of the van. Mein Schiff 5 was also at Koh Samui at the same time so they were most of those on our tour. Our tour was a round island tour to see the highlights of the island. Our first stop was the Na Muang Waterfall, followed by the Mummified Monk. A stop at Grandfather Rock was next (Grandmother Rock was underwater because of tides. Then we went to a Buddhist Temple and lastly the Big Buddha. The company supplied more water and wet towels than any other excursion than we had done so we were pretty impressed.

Bangkok Day 2. When I booked this tour (and others booked it from the comments made) the description said that we were going only 40 minutes from the port. We ended up back in Bangkok and the description changed. It also said we were getting a meal at the floating markets (something I was looking forward to), which has also now been removed from the description. We went to Ancient Siam which is a "theme park" of sorts. If we were staying in Bangkok we could easily spend a lot of time here exploring the different temples. The park is in the shape of Thailand and replica temples from all over Thailand have been built on the site in the places that they would be in Thailand so that people can see them. Some that I really wanted to see we didn't stop for, and only did drive-bys while I could see other carts did stop.

Bangkok Day 1 The description according to the ship. Essence of Old Bangkok Enjoy the road less traveled in Bangkok, Thailand. Reward yourself by visiting some of the most important and beautiful Buddhist temples in the world. Start with Temple Wat Ratchanadda, known for its unique Loha Prasat. Then, visit Wat Suthat with its Viharn and gorgeous Big Buddha. A stop at Wat Po temple with the reclining Buddha is a must. Your tour ends with a traditional tuk tuk ride down Bangkok's ancient street before lunch. Hubby says he was templed out after the first two (there was actually 4), then they did they tuk-tuks and had a fourth one. The Tuk-tuks were so much fun, but the temples were beautiful.

She had been battling cancer for several years but I think he would have preferred if she had lasted another month so he could have been home for his mum. It is very hard for her losing a husband and daughter in the same year.

Stop 3 Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon Another ship tour (Cu Chi Tunnels) and the description didn't really tell us anything. Not the 4 hours to get there, which meant 4 hours back as well, and that it was a push, push, push walk through and then a who wants to go shooting at the rifle range with an AK-47? and we had to wait around for those who wanted to do that to finish. I would have rather have known that we had 2 hours at the tunnels and went through at my own pace rather than have to wait around for people to finish shooting. Also the guide spent most of his time lecturing us. I'm glad I went, but I would never have chosen it if I had known what it involved in the first place.

Stop 2 was Danang. We got the message that morning that my husband's sister had passed away and he was not in the mood to go out at all. It was also pouring with rain which convinced him even more, but I really wanted to go to My Son so I headed out on the excursion by myself. It was a ship's excursion and we were told beforehand that My Son was a few hours drive from port so I was expecting it. The rain continued the whole time we were at the historical site, but then we went into Danang and looked around. This was really enjoyable. Our guide was knowledgable and even though it was a big day, I think this was one of my favourite excursions for the whole cruise.

We boarded the Solstice the next day and boarding was relatively smooth. We had an early boarding time but it appeared that everyone had decided to turn up at a similar time. A wheelchair had been requested by our TA to make it easier for me to board as I can't stand for long periods of time and although we did get that eventually we didn't get someone to push the chair so my husband had to push and handle our carry on luggage as well, which was disappointing. There was at least one person who was very verbal in the fact that they thought they shouldn't have to provide Visa's for Vietnam. I found it amusing as this person was also the most verbal on the ship demanding things. There is always one. We loved our Aqua room and our stateroom attendant was fantastic, as were all the staff in BLU that we had. In fact all the staff we encountered were great. However we did notice the drinks staff in Oceanview were almost invisible at lunch and breakfast as seems to be the norm. For someone that has to eat GF and LF I was usually able to find a reasonable lunch in the Oceanview on Solstice and BLU always gave me a fantastic meal. One thing we have to say about the officers is that they were always very friendly and visible. Lauren, who is the Hotel Director, was the Solstice's CD 5 years ago. When she saw us, the first thing she said was "where is the possum?" (he belongs to our grand-daughter and comes on all our trips and I make her story books about his travels). It is great that they can remember things like that from years ago. Our first stop was Ha Long Bay and we did a private tour booked through Viatour. It was a trip through the bay and included a walk through the cave. They didn't warn us about all the steps and I was sore for days 😄 but I loved it. We just had a quiet day onboard the Solstice on the second day.

A somewhat long summary of our S2S cruise, Hong Kong to Singapore then Singapore to Benoa. It may be in multiple posts. We left home (Mildura in the most northern corner of Victoria, Australia) on NYE and stayed in Melbourne for the night having a flight to Hong Kong the following morning. For some strange reason they decided to book us into seats 20 rows apart and on opposite sides of the plane and no matter what I tried to do, we couldn't move them together. As we got to the airport as check in opened there a few phone calls got us moved to a back row, which we didn't mind as we need to be one of the last to leave the plane in any case (mobility issues - me) Hong Kong was lovely. We were staying in Victoria Harbour itself in a not so expensive place as it was only for the 2 nights and we spent the day at Kowloon Park and the Harbour as well as eating some quite yummy food nearby. Having food allergies meant that I needed to be a bit picky, but my husband enjoyed lots of different things.

Tomorrow afternoon I should have sometime to get things down and I should have some photos sorted from one computer/hard drive to this one. Celebrity really needs to get the wording on their shore excursions sorted as some of them over both cruises were nothing like what we ended up getting. We only got back yesterday and then I went straight back to work. Exhaustion plus. I think I need a vacation to recover from the vacation.

Have just done a S2S on the Solstice followed by the Millennium finishing on Sunday and both were in Aqua. I can confirm that no canapes were offered for either cruise.

I was trying to find where it was on the ship. They still have a little part near the Casino telling you all about it and I thought it must have still been somewhere. Mind you, I was having troubles finding where they had hidden the door to Tuscan Grille as well.

I know we are definitely doing the former, and have a free day as the second so if we don't have the second as part of our travels we will look at that. I think I will try and do a live for the time we are away as well.

I've just checked. We have 4 Sea days while you have 3. I wonder if we are the outlier or if all northern routes are one way and southbound the other.

It doesn't appear to be the case. For a while anyway. We have a booking for the Edge at Easter, then 2 on Ovation this time next year (our grand-daughters first cruise), then we have 2 on Virgin that March/April as the Resilient Lady leaves Australia and goes back to Europe. We have just tried a 5 day cruise which had a lot of goods as well as a couple of not so goods. I will need to scroll back to the start of your thread to see what your ports of call are. The Jan 3 one is overnight Ha Long Bay, Chan May, Phu My, overnight Laem Chabang, Koh Samui, finishing at Singapore. The following day we board the Millennium and have an overnight at Phuket, Langkawi, overnight Penang, Port Klang, Celukan Bewang, Lombok, and finishing in Benoa and flying home that night. School in Australia is to start for teachers the next day but I am taking a day LSL as I won't get home to my town until lunchtime. Hopefully the kids will be kind to me the next day.

Luckily for the Jan 3 cruise the only tender stop is Koh Samui. We have Hue/Chan May instead of Nha Trang. I am enjoying your 'Live' very much and am busy sharing info with my husband as you post. We fly to Hong Kong on Sunday. I suppose I better pack tomorrow 😄

We have just got off a 5 day cruise on Resilient Lady. We are in our mid-50s. Loved (most of) the food - caveat I have food allergies so for me sometimes finding something I could eat was a bit more challenging than for hubby, found the entertainment a bit hit and miss - some was fantastic, some not so great, but then again isn't that how it is with all cruise lines. The entertainment had swearing so if that offends you, be warned. We were able to find quiet spaces as well as those with live music. If your phone is like mine and too old to run the app you might be in trouble. My husbands phone is brand new, and the app had to be restarted constantly. EVERYTHING is done from the app, and we often didn't know things were on. We walked through the social club on the second last day to realise that music trivia was almost at the end and we love music trivia. Hubby loved that we didn't have to dress up for dinner which was a big bonus as well. Also it was great not having the please give us a 10 talk at the end of the cruise.

We were on the same cruise. If you weren't one of the first into the Manor, pretty much don't bother, as it was so small. Food in some places for those with food allergies was great, others very limited. On our first night at Extra Virgin I had the choice of one starter, one main and one sorbet for dessert. That was it. No point going back as it would be the same meal no matter what. My husband who has no allergies was fine, but the menu wasn't explained as I think I think I may have thrown them saying yes straight away to the question of allergies and having 2. Some of the places in the Galley had no GF options at all let alone ones I could combine with no dairy. The app continually crashed on my husband's brand new phone and wouldn't load on mine as my phone apparently is too old, so this is a real problem that needs to be looked at as well. On the flipside, we were worried about boarding as we had seen what had happened on the previous cruise and that didn't happen so at least that got sorted out. We arrived when we were supposed to and boarded quickly.

They used to be. Who knows in the revamp as they seem to be missing.

I'm worried about this too. I don't drink for medical reasons, but my husband does. We booked our upcoming cruises many, many months ago under the impression that he could get what he wanted to drink (which is mainly the beers that WERE on the classic package) and I could get sodas and mocktails. If I can't get sodas, there will be a lot of orders of kahlua and coke, hold the kahlua.

Funnily enough, we are doing one of those to try them, just before we head off to Hong Kong for our S2S. We were debating on upgrading from Aqua to a suite or doing a 5 day Virgin cruise and the Virgin cruise won.

Thank goodness, says this teacher. School holidays officially start on the 20th of December but the kids are already in holiday mode and switched off.

My husband who works for Telstra says they have a LOT less phones to fix now that they are free as no one is breaking into them to get the money out.

We are on the December 16 cruise. I am looking forward to seeing how they cater for food allergies and for those of us that are less mobile than others. As stated above, I also hope there are grab bars.

I am thinking about the same with boarding the Millennium in Singapore in January. I have just had a dreadful week of illness and had to be off work for the last fortnight and I really don't want anything to muck up this long awaited vacation. We have a S2S booked and originally had the first leg booked on the Connie in 2019 and then it went into dry dock and it has taken until now for us to get to do it again.