Busybean

We did this trip last fall, through HAL. The train ride was extremely worthwhile. The track goes through smaller-than-small towns. You will see people working in their back yards, in paddies, and along the rivers. They will all smile & wave and generally seem happy to see you, no matter how poor they appear to be.

 

The train itself is very simple ... wooden seats, no windows, amenities. The only restrooms (at the end station) were very primitive, but clean enough. Definitely not western-style ... but, you're not in the west!!

 

B'b'dur was fascinating, well worth the visit. It was a very long trip, traffic was very bad, we were glad to be on a ship's tour. We were traveling with a couple who went off completely on their own in China & Japan & Viet Nam & the other Indonesian ports (and they have traveled all over India on their own) - this was one of the few ship excursions they took, because they were uncomfortable doing this one on their own.

Thanks for your input. Did you get on the train at the old railway station? If so did you get time to see the other trains on displayed there?

We were on mv Discovery, a friendly little rust-bucket & not typical of the mass-market lines.

Don't recall the sailing time, but pretty sure it was around 5pm to 6pm.

So you seem to have a better window.

 

The tourism industry in Indonesia, apart from places like Bali & Lombok, is in its infancy with a lot of amateur wannabe tour operators. No doubt there's some accomplished & efficient professionals but you do need to be wary.

 

JB :)

Thanks again. My thoughts exactly re Indonesia --especially Java tour conpanies. I have contacted a couple re tours from Semarang & find their responses to be on a "hit & miss " basis. I am also struggling to find reviews for these companies although I havent looked at that too deeply yet so will have another go at this.

I would also appreciate any input from anyone else who has cruised this area.

This is Borobudur from Semarang?

 

The general consensus is that this is one trip you should do as a ship's excursion because of the distance & the potential for delay. Ships' buses are escorted by police, who carve a path through the traffic for them.

 

We didn't go to B'budur, instead we negotiated a cheap van at the pier & stayed fairly local - train museum, coffee plantation, Semarang shopping centre & had an interesting & enjoyable day. But a couple of times we were passed by ship's buses & their escorts with sirens wailing.

 

Unless you can find a tour operator with several personal recommendations such as on CC, it's best to bite your lip, open your wallet, & book ship's tour if you want to go to B'budur

 

JB :).

Hi

Thanks for the input.Yes we are planning to go from Semarang. You have confirmed what most people are saying but there are several tour operators on the Web which look orgainised & offer tours for cruise ship passengers. The ship doesnt sail until 20.00 hrs so it occurred to me that HAL may have factored in more time to allow for delays??? Which ship were you on & can you remembner at what time you sailed?

As an extra to the question above--does anyone have experience of any of the various private tour operators offering trips to Borobudur for cruise ship passengers?

Reports I have read indicate the general problem of late returns to the ship.

I have found a few tour companies advertising such tours but should we choose to take a private tour rather than a ship one I would like some reassurance that any company I might use is reliable. Any help to enable us to make our decision would be appreciated.

Just wondering why someone would offer information via email, but then not reply to the email and never come back to the thread. :confused:

Hi

I havent had any reply either but did get some good info from another traveller who took part in a trip organised with "Komodo Tours". This company arranged a tour with a ranger but unless you can get quite a large group together the ship tour seems to be the only option. I dont think that you are on the same sailing as us. We are on HAL Feb 28th.

I have found a couple. If you would like to email me, I can send you the info. jlspray@comcast.net. What cruise are you on? We will be on HAL on January 6th

Thanks

I have E mailed you. We are on the HAL cruise leaving Singapore on Feb 28th.

Does anyone know of any reputable tour companies who offer trips for cruise passengers to Komodo. We hope to see the dragons + anything else possible during our visit to the island next year with HAL. I have done some internet searching for tours on the island for cruise ship passengers but had limited success. I am aware that you can only visit the island with a pre booked tour. Is a ship tour the only option available to us?

Thank you

The link I gave you is of the guy that has a car with driver in Probolinggo.

Yes we enjoyed this cruise (ms Rotterdam) very much. We also stopped in Bali (2 days), Komodo, Lombok and Sulawesi. Apart from Jakarta, Semarang and the shipstour in Komodo we had arranged private drivers in all other ports before. It worked great.

The tour to Bromo was not going to the Bromo itself, but we stopped at a viewpoint with view over the Bromo. Getting to the Bromo is more complicated. From a certain point you need a 4WD, then a ride on a horse and after that over 200 steps. This a a altitude of about 2500m.

In Surabaya we drove around town, looking for and stopped at the places of my DH (and his parents) past. Had a nice icecream in Zagrandi's, which was there also over 60 years ago. Visited a local market etc. We had just a few hours in Surabaya, but we left as early as possible (6.30 am.).

This worked great. If you are interestred in visiting the Zoo, we have heard it is not that great anymore.

Thanks for your last reply. The destinations are the same as the ones on our cruise The info you have given me will be good for when we plan trips. Don't think we will be rinding a horse to Mt Bromo!! but the rest sounds inrteresting. Also look forward to seeing what ytours the ship offers --as yet little is available but its early days.

In Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) and Semarang we booked a full day tour through HAL. In Tanjung to Bogor gardens and Puncak teagardens. Due to extremely much traffic we came back to the ship 3 (!) hours late.

In Semarang we had the HAL tour to Burobudur, here we arrived back 30 minutes late. So if you plan tours like that, maybe you better book a shipstour.

In Probolinggo we prebooked a car with driver, this was through a dutchman living there part of the year. You can contact him at: jooosting@hotmail.com This driver spoke dutch, but I know the owner also has an english speaking driver. Be aware that in Probolinggo there were no cabs available, only becaks or a shuttlebus into the small town.

We had a nice tour to the vicinity of Mt. Bromo.

We had the same driver and car again in Surabaya, we had sent him information before about what we wanted to see and do as my DH was born and raised there in his youth. We saw plenty of cabs in Surabaya close to the port however.

Hi

Thanks for your reply.You seem to have done a cruise similar top the 1 we are doing next February. Ther info is very useful I will check out the website you gave me. I aasume that you enjoyed the tours you did. We are particulary interested to see Borobudur & Mt Bromo. I wonder what you did from Surabaya? Hope you enjoyed the cruise its a different area & I assume quite new to most cruise lines.

We have booked a cruise with HAL which includes calls into Tanjung Priok,Semarang, Probolinggo and Surabaya. Does anyone have any recommendations for tours and/or guides from any of these ports please. As yet HAL hasn't released much detail of their proposed excursions. Thanks

Has anyone used Best Cruises in Vietnam - Stephen. We contacted him for a Halong Bay junk cruise and he has proposed doing all our Vietnam tours. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you Caryn

Hello Caryn

I think that we may have had correspondence on other threads referring to Best Cruises. If not I can certainly recommend them--Stefan organised for myself & a group of other passengers on Millennium 3 tours in Vietnam. One was the Halong Bay tour you refer to & the others were an overnight to HCMC & a day tour to Hanoi. All tours worked well with good guides who spoke excellent English. Stefan gave good info on each tour's content & everything on the list was covered. My only regret was that we didnt take up his offer to overnight in Hanoi. This would have saved the hassle we experienced on day 2 at Halong Bay in the delay getting a tender from the ship & also reduced the driving time involved in 2 journeys to /from Hanoi in the same day. I recommend that you consider this option if your funds permit.

Best wishes

Sue

Did you get any free time to just wander and soak up the atmosphere in Saigon? And did Stefan offer an overnight in Hanoi as we'd prefer to split the travelling over 2 days plus have some time to wander in the Old Quarter night market.Thanks

 

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We only really had the evening free + short periods to look round the various "attractions". It was TET whilst we were there & this was a fantastic experience

We stayed at the Ruby 3 Asian Hotel which was fine for a stort stay--very central in Saigon. I thnk that overnight in Hanoi would be a good idea as its a long journey on slow bumpy roads. We were given this choice by Stefan.

Anyone use Best Cruises for other ports besides Halong Bay??contacted him for junk on the bay and he came back suggesting some very interesting tours for Saigon and Hanoi also. Appreciate any feedback.....

Hi

We have just returned from the S E Asia cruise on Millennium. We used Stefan to arrange a day tour to Hanoi from Halong Bay as well as the 1/2 day junk trip on Halong Bay. He also arranged an overnight tour to Saigon for us visiting the chu Chi tunnels on day 1 & seeing the sights in Saigon on day 2. All tours were great & good value. We would definately use him again. We formed small groups for each toiur via the CC thread & everyone was happy with their choices.

We have recently returned from our S E Asia cruise on Celebrity Millennium. For shore tours from the Saigon & Halong Bay ports we booked with Stefan @ Best Cruises Travel. We formed a as mall group for each tour via the CC thread and had 3 brilliant efficiently organised tours. All participants enjoyed the tours with a driver + guides who spoke excellent English. I recommend this company to others proposing to visit S E Asia.. I understand that Stefan is able to offer tours in several S E asia countries. His personal level of service was outstanding.