jig
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I am also fascinated by the future Maasdam In Depth itineraries. I keep digging to find the future ones. Not easy. I also found the Tokyo to Sydney parts, then 9/26/2019 New Zealand & Coral Sea Odyssey, 10/7 Australia Circumnavigation, followed by New Zealand and across the Pacific to Vancouver. Then she sails down to San Diego, followed by cruising to Baja California. That is as far as I could follow her, and I wish than my notes were better. My imagination heads south.:) :)
I look forward to following the blogs of the adventurers on the coming In Depth cruises.
Barbara
The sea of Cortez cruises look interesting. Never heard of several ports. Very low prices.
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You'd have an easier time hunting down Elvis in hiding and getting a 1on1 interview .....
On a more serious note - with the announcement of Prinsedam leaving the HAL fleet in July 2019 I fully expect some major shifts on where ships are deployed in 2020/21. It is quite possible that Maasdam's "in depth" voyages get somewhat merged with some previous Prinsendam offerings. As the. Dust settles I'd venture a guess that ANY cruise booked on an S or R class vessel after Dec19 is easily subject to change in itinerary deployment in the next few months. I also would not be surprised to see some tweaking of the Vista class ships itineraries as well.
I agree with you about the HAL website. Horrible. I use something called I cruise App. Has every sailing on every ship on every line. Easy to read.
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I am booked on the Massdam July 2019 from Seattle to Tokyo. It is a unique cruise and even though it’s after the official end of the exploration cruise it fits it with program. It will sail from Tokyo to Sydney making baby unique stops. And there is where it ends. The new schedule came out and next is a circle Australia and many almost cookie cutter South Pacific and New Zealand Cruises before returning to Vancouver. I was hoping that it might repeat in 2020 what they are doing in 2019. But not to be. Maybe no interest.
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No. Not more complicated. The CTrip app is wonderful. You buy the tickets from them and you pick up at the station. No need to speak mandarin. Just show the receipt to anyone info center at a station and they will print them out.
The main subway stations at airports and train stations have a booth that sells day tickets. Very easy to use.
Sorry you didn’t get to see the city.
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I was on the first HAL ship to call in Banjul in2002. The Princendam. Took a tour to Abuka preserve. Nice town. Busy market. Lots of people wearing Bin Laden tee shirts.
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We were twice in the Seychelles. Once a Sunday and then the day after new year. Everything was shut. They really didn’t seem to care if a ship was in port.
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Report # 72 Day atSea March 13, 2018 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 79 degrees
We think it was already 79 degrees when we went out on thelower promenade deck at 9:30am right after breakfast this morning. And was it muggy or what? Of course, we are heading south, and once againgetting closer to the Equator. It surewould have helped to have a breeze, but there was barely one stirring. Perhaps it has turned into a followingbreeze, not one that we like. At leastthere was no rain in today’s forecast.
This morning’s daily update talk at 9:20am is normally givenby the cruise director, Hamish. However,we think he has been under the weather with a cold, making his talks even moredifficult to understand, due to his unusual accent (Jamaican, we heard). So the event manager, Mark, has taken overthat spot. So much better we think. Manyothers agreed. Speaking of illness,Barbara H, or port lecturer has been missing her talks, with someone else doingher job in the Queen’s Lounge at 10am. We figured out why today, whenshe came back on stage with a very bad throat problem this morning. Sore throat or a bad virus…who knows? But it sure sounded to us like she needed afew more days of recovery, or else she might be stressing the vocals cords abit much. Worse-case scenario is that wehope it is nothing extremely contagious.
Last night, we had a note reminding us that we had put ourname on a list to buy the Grand World Voyage t-shirt and baseball cap. Way backin January, the shop had sold every one they had in stock. They had arrived and were ready forpick-up. So we went to pick it up and foundit was the incorrect size. Never knowhow well these t-shirts will launder, so it is always better to go a sizeup. The sales gal only had one in thecorrect size to exchange with us. Theextras were all small. Now how many “small”people do you think are traveling on this ship? Very, very few, we say.
Today we received a log of the cruise for the last 7days. This unadvertised segment was forthe trip from Hong Kong to Singapore. That was a total of 1556 nautical miles. Hardly worth flying overseas for such a short trip,but OK for the local Asians who we suspect were most of the new guests.
We spent the day at the pool, visiting with friends, butmostly with Barb, until she could not take the heat anymore. This is her “icecream” time. It was so warm today thatshe had to eat it quickly before it totally melted. It did look good, so we will have to get oneourselves later on.
Maxing out our sun time at the pool by 2pm, we headed offfor a light lunch in the Lido. Thesandwich-maker is doing a better job at keeping the makings full and neat. We always end up sitting on the side wherearts and crafts are taking place. Todaythe group was working on creating greeting cards. Always takes us by surprise to see a few menin the group. Even when they were makingearrings. Whatever floats your boat, wesay. And after we finished oursandwiches, we headed off to the ice cream corner for one scoop in a cone….onefor each of us.
Did we mention that Rudi Sodamin boarded the ship in HongKong? He is here to host the beginningof the new Sel de Mer specialty dinner in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant. This venue has been developed to replace theLe Cirque cuisine. Gone are thewhimsical plates with the monkey on them. Now they serve the meal on plates of blue and white shades resemblingwater themes. The charger plates wereeven more comical with food becoming the design of faces in the center. Anyway we had reservations at 8pm to try itout.
The other jobs we had today involved filling out arrival anddeparture cards for Thailand and Sri Lanka. It was also necessary to pick up our passports at the front desk. Lastly, we needed some Singapore dollarsbefore we arrived tomorrow. This tripseems to be flying by all too quickly now.
At our spot on deck five outside the Ocean Bar, we hadreclaimed our chairs that have beenblocked for the Princeton tailors display and desk. Besides listening to the music of the OceanBar’s band, we can also watch three decks of people traffic. We spotted a long-time President’s Clubmember, Ann-Marie, who happens to be the partner of Rudi. She saw us and came over for a visit. It has been at least four years since shelast sailed a segment of the world cruise, so we were surprised she rememberedus. Actually, she was thrilled to seesome of the regulars, as the majority of passengers were new to her. Telling the truth, she was sad to see some ofthe older regulars that need the assistance of walkers and scooters now, areminder that all of us are getting up there in age. She is among the group that is sad to see thetraditions that surrounded the HAL brand going away. She was on her way to join the crowd in thePinnacle Grill for dinner. Sayinggoodbye for now, we said we would see her there later.
Dinnertime came and we were right on time at the entrance tothe Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. This wasalmost considered a grand opening, since Henk M was greeting the guests, withRudi there checking on the customers. This event had to be sold out, and there were still many guestslingering well past their dining time. Our usual table was occupied by guests who had arrived at 5:30pm andwere still there. Funny thing…..we hadpredicted this would happen. Tina saidif she could, she would put a firecracker under their table to get them movingif she could. We have to add that Henk,our most friendly hotel director, offered to buy us a cocktail while we werewaiting. We thanked him, but declinedhis offer. Expecting the wait to be nomore than 10 minutes, we waited by the mini wine bar outside the Wajang Theater. Noelle, the marketing manager, stoppedand chatted for ten minutes until we were summoned inside. We were seated at a better table, without thewindow, where other guests passing by, stop and check out the meal we arehaving. Anyway, we had finally gottenour table by 8:25pm at that point
To begin, we recently dined at this venue while on theEurodam last fall. So we knew what toexpect. What we did not expect was forRudi and Ann-Marie, to send the wine steward over to offer us wine with ourmeal. We thanked him, but declined sincewe do not drink wine. Nice surprisethough. The first course was a platter with small dips, tapanades, and olives. A skinny loaf of sliced French bread goeswith that. Then a muse arrived, whichonly one of us could eat. It was thescallop. A substitute was offered forone of us in its place, but that was not necessary. At this point, we surmised that the staff wasstressed with so many full tables. Wedid not want to add to that delay, since our service was slow to begin already.
Next we ordered salad nicose with ahi tuna. One of us ordered it without the tuna. Later we learned from Tina, the manager, thatwe could have had the tuna cooked all the way through, and not raw. Never developed a taste for the rawfish. Both of us had ordered the rack oflamb, and it was cooked perfectly. Seasoned on the outside, it was pink and tender on the inside. The only comment we could make was that the entréewas served not on a flat plate, but in more of a soup bowl dish. The grilled vegetables, and a goatcheese/potato square were buried under the meat. Not the best presentation, but the qualityand flavor was pleasing. We added oneorder of skinny French fries to share. The most fun part of the meal.
Dessert was the best – profiteroles. A stack of five creampuffs, one filled withvanilla ice cream was served. Ourwaitress drizzled the cup of chocolate sauce over the top. Delicious. We were full to the brim.
On the way out, we stopped to thank Rudi and our friend forthe offer of wine. When asked how weliked the special wine, we had to admit that we declined since we do not drinkwine. The look of total disbelief waswhat we saw on their faces. Everyonelikes wine, except us, we guess. Withmany people it is like drinking water. For us, we prefer the water. Andthanked them again for the generous gesture.
Needing to take a walk for a few minutes, we went outside ondeck three. It was like walking into asauna, even at 10pm at night. CaptainMercer mentioned in his talk that tomorrow’s temps will be high, but there isalso a threat of thunderstorms and heavy rain showers. We have leaned never to go out in Singaporewithout umbrellas. “When it rains, itpours”, applies in this part of the world.
Here are the answers to a few recent blog questions. Although we did not get to the backside ofHong Kong Island, we heard from Barbara H that few, if any people live in thesampans or similar houseboats anymore. They may have been out-lawed. Wehave visited Lantau Island twice in past trips, but not this time. And no, we do not have a cat to board athome. A few years ago, we had a wild(feral) cat adopt us, and we purchased an automated feeder to supply meals forhim. However, over the last year, heseems to have moved on, perhaps to kitty heaven, as we think he was an oldercat.
Bill & Mary Ann
LeCirque is gone from Holland America and from everywhere else. They went under in Dec and sadly are no more. I really liked the meal. The new one was not on the Noordam in January when we were there. Next time.
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Report # 67 HongKong, People’s Republic of China March8, 2018 Thursday 50% Chance of Rain Part #1 Of 3 83 Pictures
Our first day in Hong Kong could not have begun more screwythan it did. Like in what could go wrong,did go wrong. First of all, the sail intothis harbor was supposed to commence at 7am, with a scenic sail in commentaryby Barbara H, our port lecturer. By the time we turned on our room TV, her talkwas about over, and we were close to docking. Checking the channel that has the camera onthe bow, we noticed that it was raining heavily. There was not one person outside watchingthis epic sail in. In fact from earlydawn until about noon, it was 100% rain. Guess we missed the Hong Kong rolls too. Darn……
Speaking of docking, instead of the best spot we have alwaysenjoyed at Ocean Terminal, we are now docked at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, theold airport. It is located far from themassive shopping mall we know so well. So instead of being able to navigate our way to downtown, we had to takea free shuttle for a long ride to the Peninsula Hotel. That part was fine, since taking a taxi wouldhave been pricey for sure.
Now, this is where more things went wrong. The ship’s clearance process was scheduled totake one hour to complete from the 8am arrival time. However, one public announcement afteranother came saying that it was delayed. And please do not congregate in the gangway area….or you would beremoved. This went on for two hours and10 minutes before the passengers were finally released. Shore excursions had several tours beginningat 8:30am, and obviously they were not going to leave on time. The one that may have had a problem was theovernight in mainland China, as they were supposed to take a train to getthere. Another overnight excursion wasto Macau, and with only a few ferries running there, they surely missed thetiming on that one. If any folks hadindependent tours, then they would have been out of luck this morning.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the ship’s water to all of thecabins and public restrooms had been turned off at 9am. And with the delay of over two hours to getoff, we are sure there were many unhappy campers among the bunch. Maybe that is why, when the gangway was opento disembark, we saw people literally running off. Probably in a hurry to find restrooms in theterminal. Normally, these water shutdownsoccur during the evenings, well after midnight. Why today during 9am to noon, we cannot figure out.
The airport terminal is one long stretch to navigate. First there is the Disneyland-like switchbackgangway attached to the ship. Followingsigns, we went down escalators, down hallways, and eventually ended up goingthrough two security halls. Moreescalators found us exiting into the parking garage, where we had another longwalk to wait for the bus. Some of ourfriends had left the long line, and decided to try for a taxi to town. Since we are here overnight, we were not inany hurry. Sometimes you have to realizewhat you cannot change, and deal with it. Takes lots of patience for sure.
Two buses filled quickly, and the ride should have taken 30minutes or less. Not so today. Even though we left the terminal at 11am, thebus was caught in traffic, and did not arrive to the Peninsula Hotel until11:45am. Then due to congestion around thehotel, the driver was not allowed to let us off in the street. He had to go around the corner twice, beforehe could park at the curb. We werefinally on our way walking by noon. Andstill in the rain, although it had let up a lot by then.
We navigated our way to the Ocean Terminal and the hugeshopping mall we know so well. It isHarbour City with over 450 shops. Mostly, we wanted to see what ships weredocked there today. One of the ships wasthe Super Star Virgo, the same one we were docked across from in Manila. The other ship was the Amadea, owned byPhoenix Reisen. Launched in 2006 (arebuild from another name), this 28,856 gross ton vessel holds only 594passengers. Mostly German-speaking weread. It was described as a stylish,spacious ship with fine food and good service. Not a gambling ship, we still wonder why the Amsterdam could not haveused this spot? Perhaps we don’t payenough? Who knows…..
Hong Kong has a population of 7,055,100 people (2012), whospeak mostly Cantonese, although many speak English as well. These people live in an area of only 426square miles, so it is no wonder that no matter where you go, it is incrediblycrowded. But that is the nature of any largecity.
We made our way to the Star Ferry area, and the nearbyVictorian Clock Tower, built in 1915. Itmarks the end of the Kowloon Canton Railway Station. This whole area still appeared to be underconstruction. Since we wanted to startgoing up Nathan Road, we figured we could check out the Avenue of the Starstomorrow.
The easiest way for us to get from here to the road thatgoes uphill, was to walk the mall, which seemed to extend for a mile. Perhaps, not quite that far, but it alwaysseems like it is. At the end, we exitedthe building via 2 sets of escalators, and proceeded up towards KowloonPark. This is another favorite place tovisit, but we would save that for tomorrow too.
Even though the temperature was under 60 degrees, we keptplenty warm walking uphill towards the Flower and Bird Markets. We have no idea how afar it is mile-wise, butwe do know it takes over an hour. Crossing streets is not easy at some points, because you have to go upescalators across the road, then down 4 flights of steps on the other side.
Did we mention that today was International Women’sDay? Good time for sales at the flowermarket. Most all of the potted plantsand bouquets were on the sidewalks, and sure made for colorful photos. Last month, Barb had brought us a slip of acactus, and we put it in water on the windowsill. It has developed some nice roots, so wethought it might be fun to find a potted plant, so we can add it to thesoil. So we picked up an anthrium withred blossoms, as we know they are hardy. At least this year, we will have a mini-garden.
Right next to the Flower Market is the Yuen Po Street BirdGarden. Seventy bird stalls are providedin this garden setting for the birdtraders and buyers that live here in Hong Kong. There are side courtyards with about 50 treesplanted near the bird stalls. It is acommon practice of bird owners to bring their caged birds here for a couple ofreasons. One is sharing info with each other,and the most important factor is that their young songbirds can learn to sing. Every type of bird feed is sold here, as wellas live crickets for the larger birds. One vendor even let us hold a young lorikeet, as he had a chain on hisleg. Then the vendor offered his blueand yellow macaw to hold, but we declined. That gorgeous bird had a very large and scary beak. One that could sever a finger if he chose todo so. Taking a lot of photos, we saidthanks and moved on. The decorative birdcages they sell here are always tempting to buy. But we already have a few at home….don’t needmore.
Heading back downhill, we strolled through the Ladies Marketfor several blocks. They sell mostlyclothing and household items here, but we did manage to find one of the foldedcloth sacks that are so useful for shopping. They never wear out, and fit in your pocket. This time we found a larger one for 30HK$,the equivalent of $3.85 USD. Good deal.
It was starting to get darker by now, and also starting todrizzle lightly. It has been ourexperience that sudden thunder storms can occur at any given moment. Not wanting to get caught in that possibledeluge, we continued going back. It wasalready 4pm, and we thought we would check the Night Market at Jordan Road tosee what was opened. Even though theyadvertise they open at 7pm, we know from past trips, that the stalls are set up around4:30pm. About half of the vendors wereready with their treasures to sell. Wedid locate two small “sort of” Izzy Miyake clutches at a very decent price. Can never have enough purses, right? Again, the price was right.
Back at the mall at Ocean Terminal, we decided to go to BLTBurger, and get a couple of ice cold beers. A bit late for lunch, we thought a small order of nachos would befine. So we ordered one appetizer, andit was a larger mound of chips, BBQ brisket, tons of cheese, sliced jalapenos,and plenty of sour cream. They were thebest we have eaten in a long time. Somuch for keeping it light. Being able to relax for an hour was wonderful too. We have to admit, it was pricey, since thepint beers were over $10 USD each.
Finally back at the bus stop, we boarded the waiting coachand the ride back was only 20 minutes. Surrounded by many cruise buddies, weshared our adventures of the day. Lovedoing that, since we all did something different. Now the walk through the terminal seemed totake forever, but we did get the xray check out of the way in the terminal, notthe ship. Sure was good to get home, asit had been one long day for us.
Dinner time came within an hour, and we did not know forsure who was coming. No one had saidthey were not coming tonight, so when two couples came over to the table to askto dine with us, we said probably no, because our table is really a “fixed”table. We are not at liberty to give ourtablemate’s seats away. Whether theywere insulted or not, we shall have to make that clear with the staff. They were just as happy to share a table forfour at the window, as there were many empty tables available.
We both ordered the sweet and sour chicken with rice. Excellent as always. A local Chinese Cultural Show was planned at9:30pm, so finishing dinner before that was perfect. It featured Chinese music, a spectacular dragonand Chinese dance, and the mysterious Sichuan face-changing show. That one always has us wondering “how didthey do that?” It’s always acrowd-pleaser, no matter how many times we have seen it.
Hope to get some quality sleep tonight, because tomorrowwill be another great day in this marvelous city. And we plan to walk until we drop once again.
Bill & Mary Ann
I believe the HK gov wants ships to use the new term. They spent a fortune building it and in reality no one wants to use it. They are probably forcing them to.
Star cruises gets it as they sell the cruises on the street outside the mall. There are touts with clipboards outside selling cabins to the next cruise on the street. Sight I had not seen.
Macau ferry’s run all day but maybe more often in the morning. And when we arrived on the Volendam at the ocean term just a short walk away.
BLT brand is great.
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Very interesting report. We went through the same seas last year at this time. If the crew had a safety pirate drill, it would have been done when we were ashore in Pare Pare on Sulawesi. We did not have a temperature check and no green card to go ashore, no passports taken ashore either. Different cruise line.
Our excursion director told us that a few years ago they could not dock in Sandakan (in Malaysia at the tip of Borneo) because terrorists/pirates/kidnappers had come over from islands south of Mindanao on boats. The islands form a choke point your captain was mentioning.
Was that on the last statendam? I saw that was a port stop and it’s very rare. Great little place much closer to the Monkeys and orangutans the Kota Kinabalu. Sorry you missed it. We spent 4 days there.
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I don’t believe it’s discrimination to allow people on wine tours be allowed to bring back one bottle. The reason wineries ar open to the public is to sell wine. If you can’t bring at least one back then they will not open for HAL guests. Other wise you can pay the $18. As 4*+ get 50% off the wine packages it’s like shopping in your home wine shop.
I believe that Disney allows liquor and wine onboard. Their buy in price is so high that they don’t need to make that much more per room.
I think the idea that they give you a choice about cruises has always been a scam. You can go to Sydney ports and you can see HAL reservations into 2021 for HAL ships. When I had dinner with the captain he said the cruises are planned 3 years in advance.
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We were just in Hobart and kangaroo island on the Noordam. In Hobart we took the public bus to Richmond. Quaint old town with an old stone bridge and several churchs. There are tours to it but the public bus was fine.
Kangaroo island was fantastic. We rented a car. If nothing ore booked then you see nothing. No public trans and nothing at the pier. Seal bay and flinders chase park are the big draws.
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A Woolworth's?
Haven't seen one of them in our area for over 40 years.
Great pictures and blog.
It’s not the Woolworths of America. It’s one of the two big supermarket chains in Australia.
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Report # 39 Day atSea February 8, 2018 Thursday Partly cloudy & 79 degrees
Not only did we get an extra hour on the clock last night,we will get another one tonight. Headingnorthwest will do that. Also noticeable wasan increase in the temperature, as the chill in the breeze was gone. Suits us just fine.
The seas have remained rocky, but nowhere near as rough aswe have seen it on past cruises. Theskies were 100% cloudy this morning, but they cleared later in the day, and thesun actually did peek out. Regardless ofthe conditions, we walked several times during the day, keeping our eyes peeledfor albatross. We were not disappointed,when we saw two or more of the large birds flying alongside the ship. For a brief second, we saw some dolphins justas they dove under the surface…..gone as fast as they appeared.
Our big job of the day was filling out the Australianimmigrations incoming passenger cards. Thenwe were required to pick up our passports at the front desk. When we arrive to Sydney, our very first portin Australia, we will have a face-to-face inspection in the terminal building. This will be a “zero count” inspection, whereeveryone (including crew) on the ship will need to clear before anyone isallowed back on the ship. For this reason, we will go off last, or else wewould have to debark with the first group at 8am, as we got a priority letterA.
We picked up some Australian dollars, even though we mightpay a bit more on the ship, we won’t have to waste any time in town. Then we stopped by Barbara H’s desk andinquired about internet in White Harbour , where we will be docked while inSydney. She thinks there is nothing atall in this terminal. Hope she is wrong,but she seldom is.
Tonight was a gala evening with the theme of Under the Sea. Tokeep with the theme, the dining room was lit with blue lights, and the chairswere covered with green and turquoise covers. The waiters were wearing blue vests with turquoise ties. The only thing missing were the fish mobilesthat used to hang from the ceiling. Guess these have been eliminated because they were flammable. The centerpiece of flowers was replaced witha vase of sand and seashells. In thecenter of that, was a battery-powered candle.
Entrees were more focused on seafood, but we both had theveal chop, which was excellent. Phillipmade the rounds with Petr, the head chef. Asking how we have been enjoying the cuisine, we gave him high marks. The only concern we had was with some of thesoups, which have been a tad on the salty side. Easy to fix, Petr said he would pass this message over to the soup chef. After the meal, one of us ordered the soufflé,finding it under-cooked. Slam quicklyfixed the problem with a stand-by of Snicker’s cake.
Another day crossing “The Ditch” (aka Tasman Sea), asCaptain Jonathon said in his talk today, and we will be in a new country.
Bill & Mary Ann
There is a coffee shop in white bay and a ferry service into the city. If you had or have TMobile you have free internet in Australia.
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With all due respect you have no idea what you are talking about.
insurance for a rider is not an issue with uber/Lyft. You are covered. As a driver for Lyft/uber, you might be SOL with your own insurance if you don’t report that you are driving for them, but as a passenger you are fine. Alaska is getting plenty of my money, and the drivers live in alaska, so I am not losing any sleep.
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With all due respect you know nothing about that. All the drivers are independent. They “work” for all the companies. But they don’t. Those companies have nothing to do with the ride. They are nothing more then a broker putting together some who wants to go somewhere with someone who will take them. If you believe the
At those companies will cover you in a horrible accident you have some interesting learning to do. And I hope it never happens.
Next time your in nyc let me know. I’ll show you the ubervilles in Manhattan. Where the drivers sleep in their cars. There is one 30 blocks from me.
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Yes I was. I’ll not argue with some of you. I was almost killed by one the day before thanksgiving. He was playing with the buttons on his giant tablet in his window. The police were right there and saw the whole thing. The driver was given 5 tickets. Running a red light, distracted driving, obstructed windshield, reckless driving and at my insistence a criminal reckless driving ticket in lieu of having him arrested.
I had friends killed by them. I’ve had friends maimed for life by them. Maybe you feel comfortable with someone driving not knowing where they are going watching a screen rather then the road.
If you operate a car and are conveying people for money you must have ins for that. Your ins goes up from $1000 a year to $6000 a year. No one can afford that. So they don’t tell them. These companies don’t check.
Hey, do what you want. But understand what happens if something goes wrong.
And yes, I do care where the money goes.
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You mean those cars moonlighting as taxis with no ins to convey passengers? God forbid you were ever in an accident in one of those. The insurance company will void the ins in a second. Try making a claim. Remember every cent you spend in Alaska in an Alaskan business stays in Alaska. In those other things as you close the door 30% vanishes to a bank in San Francisco.
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Just a heads up - a lot of shops and restaurants in Australia and New Zealand have stopped accepting AmEx due to extremely high fees that the retailer has to pay. For a while the retailer was passing this fee on to the customer, but recent law changes mean the retailer now must pay these fees themselves. Their solution - not to accept AmEx as a form of payment. Visa and MasterCard are readily accepted, although often with a minimum spend.
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Not sure what law your talking about as they are charging surcharges in Australia today.
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Thanks.
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When I was on the volendam a few years ago the cat D had the useless bathtubs removed and replace with walk in showers. Did they do this on the Massdam as well. We are booked on it and the future cruise person did not know. Thanks.
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Saw the pics of Greg and Heo. I guess you’ll see them in Sydney.
Are you implying that you can’t decorate your door anymore? That would be a shame.
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Beijing is 144 hours and like Shanghai it covers various ports in nearby provinces such as Tianjin cruise port , Shujiazhuang, the Qinhuangdao port and the Beijing west railway station. At airports in Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin , Wuhan, Xi'An, Xiamen the maximum transit time is 72 hours starting at 00:01 on the day following the day of entry, making it effectively more than 72 hours.
We arrived in Guangzhou at 5AM and my Australian wife was using the 72 hour. They counted from 12:01 that morning , not the same day. So they told us. You never know when there are so many different rules in different places.
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The Guangzhou one is interesting. China Southern is a major player and China’s best and business class cheapest airline. I use it a lot and will continue. I stop over on way. Ack to the USA for several days but I have my regular 10 year visa. Thanks for the info.
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Yes, I am 100% sure. It is not about how it is enforced, every place has different rules.
Firstly there is no 72-hour visa exemption, it is 144 hours. Then you can travel to 2 nearby provinces and enter and exit from various ports. It has been like this for 2 years and it has been discussed at length on this board
Here are the official rules again: http://www.sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4421
I just read the rules and they are for Shanghai and ajoining areas. I never dealt with that. I wonder if Beijing is covered in its own right. Canton is not. And 72 is not 72 there.
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Vietnam Visa for Cruise Ship Passengers
in Asia
Posted
Funny we did the same thing except we did a 2 night cruise on Bhaya and 3 nights in Hanoi flying back to the ship in Saigon. It was an identical B2B.
As far as the visa if you are going north and HaLong is your last stop then you might be ok. If you are sailing south and it’s your first stop you best get your own visa. You will need your passport for the cruise and it’s best to have a real visa at the first point if you want to get off. But you will have time because they will pick you up around 11am.
Great line. We had a rear suite with a wrap around balcony. Fantastic. One night a bit rushed but nothing like a day trip.
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