"Live" from the Costa Victoria, a monthlong B2B from Shanghai to Singapore

[barante]

I posted the following on the Ask a cruise question thead:

 

Flying from Singapore to Detroit today, I found it interesting that several passengers wore face masks, which are quite commonly sported by some throughout urban Asia. It made sense, I thought, as I and several fellow passengers competed in coughing.

 

We just ended a month in Asia on the Costa Victoria, an experience that I catalogued on a "live from" thread on the Costa page. We booked the cruise as a B2B, but Costa later marketed it in so many installments that it turned into four separate itineraries, each stopping in Singapore.

 

As passengers kept changing, each new group brought in their own coughs. After about the 21-day mark we, too, were feeling unwell. We should have gone to the ship's doctors, of course. Instead, we tried all kinds of old and tried Chinese medicines, to unsatisfactory effect.

 

On our final day in Singapore, before flying back to the U.S.. I looked at myself in a mirror and said to myself: A more rational guy would check into a hospital instead of trying to fly more than 24 hours. Of course, I didn't do that, and now, back in Baltimore, my medicine cabinet has produced an instant improvement. My wife and I will see our doctor tomorrow.

 

This is not an isolated incident. We had a horrid experience in South America on HAL's Veendam and problems also last year on a trans-Atlantic on HAL's Noordam. The turning point, it seems, occurs somewhere around the 17th day.

 

We were mulling over a 30-day South America cruise in 2014 on HAL's Statendam but are now seriously rethinking it. We might not survive a long cruise.

 

Any thought?

[lisiamc]

Thank you for posting your blog - very informative and amusing to read! We're taking our first Costa cruise next week, so your report on the Costa way of doing things will be very handy.

[AnonymousCruiser69]

I posted the following on the Ask a cruise question thead:

 

Flying from Singapore to Detroit today, I found it interesting that several passengers wore face masks, which are quite commonly sported by some throughout urban Asia. It made sense, I thought, as I and several fellow passengers competed in coughing.

 

We just ended a month in Asia on the Costa Victoria, an experience that I catalogued on a "live from" thread on the Costa page. We booked the cruise as a B2B, but Costa later marketed it in so many installments that it turned into four separate itineraries, each stopping in Singapore.

 

As passengers kept changing, each new group brought in their own coughs. After about the 21-day mark we, too, were feeling unwell. We should have gone to the ship's doctors, of course. Instead, we tried all kinds of old and tried Chinese medicines, to unsatisfactory effect.

 

On our final day in Singapore, before flying back to the U.S.. I looked at myself in a mirror and said to myself: A more rational guy would check into a hospital instead of trying to fly more than 24 hours. Of course, I didn't do that, and now, back in Baltimore, my medicine cabinet has produced an instant improvement. My wife and I will see our doctor tomorrow.

 

This is not an isolated incident. We had a horrid experience in South America on HAL's Veendam and problems also last year on a trans-Atlantic on HAL's Noordam. The turning point, it seems, occurs somewhere around the 17th day.

 

We were mulling over a 30-day South America cruise in 2014 on HAL's Statendam but are now seriously rethinking it. We might not survive a long cruise.

 

Any thought?

 

there was a cold-like bug going around on mediterranea, too. several years ago, on a carnival transatlantic 700+ pax came down with the noro-virus. i think this is part-and-parcel with cruising. lots of people jammed into a small area = increased transmission. i wash my hands a lot and touch as few things as possible. sometimes i don't catch anything, sometimes i do.

[barante]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=112124

[black forest]

Thank you - very interesting review - specially as we will visit most of these ports!

 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

[barante]

My best wishes to everyone. And thank you for reading my reports. I'm so happy I did this because it gave me a record of the cruise. Memories fade quickly; was it just four weeks ago we were in Asia?

 

I want to take another Asian cruise. But it has to wait: We will take MSC Poesia in April from FLL to Kiel, Germany. After a three-night hotel stay in Hamburg, we will continue on a different ship to various Baltic destinations. We got super deals on balconies. Next Dec. 7, we'll take Carnival Miracle to Hawaii. Snagged a 4K, an obstructed oceaview cabin that is sold as an inside. Ours has a openable french doors and a nice view of water, according to pictures.

 

There is yet a third cruise on the planning stages. We have done the Atlantic coast of South America twice and would like to do the Pacific side. In March, 2014, HAL Statendam will offer a 30-day voyage from San Diego to Lima and back. I wonder about the ship, particularly after the bug we got during our Asia trip on the Costa Victoria. Lots of coughing. We are only now recovering from the terrible chronic cough. I cannot prove it but I am convinced that it was somehow spread through the ventilation system. We had a similar, but less troublesome, situation on the Veendam. Statendam being a sister ship, IIRC, doesn't make us jubilant. But the itinerary, for my interest in colonial Spain, is superior and well paced.

 

So if all those things happen, the earliest we can return to Asia is in the latter half of 2014. We'll see what is available. I'll keep researching. An ideal itinerary would be from Bangkok to Indonesia to the Philippines. We can dream, can't we?

 

My final comment involves a technical upgrade. I'm just a simple countryboy from Finland who made a great living in journalism with very few other skills. Now that I am retired, I luxuriate, carrying a cell phone that is only slightly smarter than I am. I don't take calls, except in emergencies. I am retired; therefore I don't have to be available unless I want to be.

 

For several years now I have been trying to figure out how to do the upgrade from MacBook Pro. If I were a multitasker and better in technology, I probably would have bought an iPhone because it fills so many needs. But it requires a wireless plan that is too costly for a miser like me. So gradually i came to the realization that what I really need is an iPad. I got a great deal from Apple by buying a refurbished iPad 3 wi-fi 32g. It was shipped from China and carries a full year's warranty.

 

Now, the reality of this situation is that the iPad technology has been available for three years. So I am no early adapter here. But the machine is spectacular. I bought it to do research. I wanted something small enought that i could just take with me to the library's book stacks with me without having to worry about it being stolen. There was another option. But notebook computers, being Microsoft, I hate. So iPad it was, particularly because I want to synchronize my appointment calendar and other stuff.

 

My iPad is the regular-size. Maybe I should have looked at the mini, but I liked iPad3's sharp display screen, its ability to take dictation -- a surprisingly accurate achievement -- and other refinements.

 

My goal is to iPad further cruise reports. So the MSC Poesia trip will be next. Happy New Year, everyone!

[barante]

When I think of impressive sights on our cruise, the list goes on.

 

Here is one. I bought some wi-fi time at a Starbucks in our Taiwanese gateway city. It was in a narrow building, and most seating was on the second floor. The big room was full of young people, girls and boys. But instead of fun, they were using the Starbucks for homework and serious stuff It was as quiet as a library. Kids hunhed over computers and textbooks.

[black forest]

Happy New Year to you, too.

 

I don't like to write too much with my pad (Samsung) as I can write faster on my laptop with a regular keyboard. So I mainly use it when traveling. But enjoy your pad - perhaps your experiences are different. :)

[barante]

I know what you mean. I now have a pretty good real keyboard to go with my iPad. This is the way of the future. I will travel only with the iPad, when we come to Hamburg in May.

[AmoMondo]

I know what you mean. I now have a pretty good real keyboard to go with my iPad. This is the way of the future. I will travel only with the iPad, when we come to Hamburg in May.

 

I adore my IPad and can now key faster on it than I can on my old desktop or work laptop. Iy is indeed the way of the future. There are still a few sites that need flash but by and large my old desktop is used about once every 3 months. It is just so convenient and easy to use.

[barante]

It's amazing what comes to mind now that the memories of this voyage are receding. One of the big surprises of the trip, as I have repeated now several times, was Shanghai. One reason, of course, that I was fascinated with the city and its history. In fact, I had on my Kindle an academic treatment on Shanghai's dance hall culture in the 1920s and 1930s, a topic broad enough to produce a mini-history of the city and its governance.

 

I say governance. Because until the late 1920s, downtown Shanghai was effectively run by the Brits and Americans, in one concession, and the French in another one. The contrast to the "Chinese" city must have been startling. The Western concessions had all modern conveniences, the Chinese didn't. The Western had its own police force and courts where foreigners could get the kind of respect and consideration they deserved.

 

Culturally, all this came to the end when the Japanese invaded and occupied the city. The jazz era ended. Then came the communists and all kinds of convulsions, including the cultural revolution.

 

The amazing thing is that so confident is today's Shanghai, which has a special status among cities, that it actually celebrates that past. I got the sense, passing the magnificent neo-Classical mercantile landmarks on the Bund, that Shanghai it proud that it was the first port where agents of modernization entered.

 

I wrote the above to provide some context to the central message of this post: The rest of the world in about 2090 will probably speak Chinese, but today's Shanghai is surprisingly westernized considering that English really isn't a widely spoken language. An examole: All the highway signs are bilingual, Cbinese and English. Ditto street name signs. And on the transit system, all stops are announced in English. As in all over Asia, a visitor is expected to have a cell phone, however short your visit. A true smartphone like iPhone is a handy resource in navigating through the city.

 

In our three and a half days in Shanghai, we barely scratched the surface. More reason to return one of these days.

[black forest]

I adore my IPad and can now key faster on it than I can on my old desktop or work laptop. Iy is indeed the way of the future. There are still a few sites that need flash but by and large my old desktop is used about once every 3 months. It is just so convenient and easy to use.

 

Yes, compared to a desktop you are absolutely right. But I have a laptop and use it daily - like at this moment. :-) So the pad is only for vacation or if my laptop is too far away.

 

Shanghai - I hope I will get there too!

 

Happy new year to you all :-)

[barante]

Singapore is often the beginning and end point of cruises. It can be a tough town.

 

A key problem is that the Costa Victoria and other cruise ships now are increasingly directed to the Marina Bay Cruise Terminal, a desolute pier complex some 10 minutes -- because of road and other construction -- from the Marina Bay MRT station. Since hailing a cab is impossible whenever it rains, getting to the terminal also can be hairraising. The distance may not be that great, but the curving street design makes it impossible to even consider walking to the terminal. For one thing, you would never find it.

 

This is the situation now. In another year or two, a new city will rise around the cruise terminal. You can shop and do other things in that city, which will be served by public transit. So some of the current weaknesses may disappear.

 

Singapore has such a reputation as a society run by authoritarian disciplinaries that we took all the official advise seriously. We had only three packs of Vietnamese Marlboro cigarettes among the two of us (I don't smoke), in case the authorities decided to charge a $7 U.S. tax on each pack, as was listed in instructions. But there was no inspection other than X-ray machine. So in the end, arriving in Singapore was painless.

 

In our experience the cruise terminal had an adequate supply of taxis, handled by a dispatcher. No problems there. While the free shuttles didn't take luggage, a free (I believe it is) shuttle whisks tourists to the airport with their luggage. If I return, I might just beeline to the airport and get a room there. In principle, though, distances in Singapore are not great and anyone taking a 6 a.m. flight back to the U.S. won't have any traffic congestion problems. Better prebok a taxi so you know you will get a big one to accommodate your luggage. Also, only one cab company, I was told, accepts credit cards.

 

I visited the old cruise terminal, which is next to a cable car route to a nearby island. I believe the terminal still handles ferries to Indonesia. I went there mostly because I wanted to see Keppel Bay next door, a luxury waterfront condominium community developed by Keppel, one of Southeast Asia's leading developers.

 

Doing Singapore on your own is the easiest thing ever. Everything works. The SMRT transit system is exemplary.

 

We first visited Singapore in 1987. Spent the New Year's eve there. Went to Raffles for a Singapore sling. Lousy, we thought.

 

Singapore is never going to be my favorite city. I like more walkable cities. But that's just me.

Edited January 5, 2013 by barante

[barante]

I have basically selected our next Asia cruise. It will be in February, 2014, on the HAL Volendam from Singapore to Kobe, Japan. And therein lies a story.

 

If you have waited this long -- past the final payment deadline -- you may buy this year's identical cruise for half the price. That's what we plan to do. We have a cabin reserved but I will cancel that and just wait. The reason is that if you check any last-minute list, HAL discounts very aggressively in Asia for bookings after the final payment deadline.

 

Overall, the whole Asia cruise scene has improved. Interesting itineraries.

[barante]

Our Costa Victoria cruise looks much better in retrospect now that HAL has told our TA that they have canceled the Volendam's 28-day Singapore to Kobe in February, 2014.

 

Since getting that word, I have been trying to find a substitute. I find nothing I like.

 

For us, seeing more China and Vietnam is key. The Volendam promised an overnight both in Shanghai and Beijing and had two more China destinations, justifying the cost of visas that are not cheap.

 

In effect, then, both the Costa Victoria and Volendam trips shared one common denominator: They were both itinerrary driven. That's a major consideration for us. So the splendid itinerary of the 17-day Costa Victoria cruise made up for other deficiiencies. But Costa also no longer offers noteworthy itineraries, certainly none that was as well-paced as the Costa's 17-day sailing.

 

Since we are looking at only 2014 sailings we are again interested in HAL's 30-day Empires of the Incas from San Diego to Lima and back.

[barante]

Just to update what I already wrote. It turns out that my canceled HAL Volendam cruise will actually take place after all -- but a month later than originally announced. From Singapore to Kobe. March 2014.

 

I am considering this itinerary as well as a 30-day cruise on HAL Statendam from San Diego to Lima and back. Both happen about the same time.

 

This time I will wait until the final payment deadline passes and then decide because air won't be a big issue. I will do this because this year's last-minute Singapore-Kobe bookings on the Volendam are now going for less than half the previous price.

[barante]

Frankly, I am surprised that Carnival permits the lackadaisical way Costa handles business. It just remembered how our stockholders' credit was never acknowledged for our B2B cruises. A rep said the credit was there and promised to send an email, just like the person who had originally processed the request.

 

No email in either case.

[Wilbur1961]

This is a brilliant description of your time in Malaysia - I can't wait to go there now..... Thank you.

[barante]

After the Brits left, Singapore and Malaysia formed a federation. After a couple of years, Singapore, clearly unhappy about the way Malaysia thought and acted, quit the union. So while Malaysia emphasizes its Malay character, Singapore has steadily tried to prevent its Chinese population from becoming too dominant, although they are, of course.

 

I'm glad we had a chance to get a pretty good sampling of Malaysia. It seems to be a country where local customs and practices vary greatly. Islamic restrictions were far more pronounced in Kuantan than in Langawe. And while English is the lingua franca in Singapore -- and the official language in government offices -- it is less known in Malaysia.

 

If I ever go back -- a very unlikely scenario -- I'd like to return to Georgetown. And Malacca. Two fascinating seaside cities.

[barante]

I have now worked on my iPad long enough to take an earlier pledge. I said that I would now on travel with my iPad. Ain't gonna happen. I'll take the Mac Probook instead.

 

iPad is a great communicator. But I can't upload my photos to it, whereas the Mac has that capability. Similarly, if I need to store, or make electronic copies or create/edit PDF files, that's possible only on a real computer.

[sthelder]

We walked a mile to the Monorail, rode up and down its route from the airport to opposite suburbs and peeked at a couple of sleepy commercial areas. At one of them we met two lonely Mormon "elders," young missionaries who seemed as lost as we were. They were happy to speak to someone in English.

 

They were from California. "Have you ever been to California?" they asked. "Have you ever met a Mormon before." Being standup guys we told them the truth. When we lived in an antebellum house on Baltimore's Union Square -- the area where H.L. Mencken used to live -- religious solicitors came by all the time. So we told Jehovah's Witnesses we were Mormons and Mormons we were Witnesses. Nice smiles back and forth. Short and sweet. Worked every time.

 

Gosh, I recall reading a review by a local cruiser (it's on a routine China-Korea-Japan cruise though), he met those misisonaries too...unsurprisingly, he didn't recognise the difference, just like Westerners probably don't know the different Buddhist sects.

 

Well, I believe kettles and double-screen Chinese custom/security checks are local things. Chineses do love to boil water and make teas. And double-screen security checks are applied to air travel here too.

Edited February 22, 2013 by sthelder

[barante]

It smells like early spring here in Maryland. So time for an update.

We'll go to Europe as planned on MSC and just before Christmas to Mexico and Hawaii on Carnival. Beyond that everything is uncertain. What is certain that our month-long cruises will be over for the time being. No repeat of Southeast Asia, or South America.

The reason is that I have started writing a new book. Like my previous book, Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City, it will focus on Baltimore, the city I know best.

Since I will turn 70 in August, I calculate I have five years to complete the new book. This means that we will take a couple of cruises, but no longer than 14 days each, because length can become disruptive.

Edited February 26, 2013 by barante

[sthelder]

It's an interesting read about Malaysia, Singapore and China. As I grew up in Malaysia and am staying in Beijing at the moment. Sometimes, I just sort of got used to the environment and the locals here tend to say I am more like a Chinese than a foreigner, I hope it's complimentary :o

 

The best parts of Malaysia, landscape wise, are in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak on the Borneo island). Georgetown (Penang) and Malacca are both great from a cultural perspective though. Also, a visit to Orang Asli (West Malaysia) or Ibanese (Sarawak) village is definitely worthwhile (think Embera village tour in Panama).

 

Visiting a huge country like China via cruise will only allow a glimpse of what it has to offer. Even a historic city like Beijing, has many things to offer than an overnight cruise stay could ever fill. Imagine if someone could only take cruise tour US from Alaska via Panama to Boston, it will be undeniably great fun but it's just not a complete package.

 

As my DW and myself are in our 30s and we have a 3yo daughter, it's more convenient for us to travel via cruise. More often than not, after a cruise, the cruise was like a teaser and I could not help but hope, one day, time and health permitting, we will be back with a land tour.

[black forest]

Hi Barante,

 

good luck with your book and I am really looking forward to your next cruise review! :)

[barante]

My next "live" thread will be about an eastbound trans-Atlantic on MSC Poesia starting April 20. I may also do a thread on a Baltic follow-up cruise on the Magnifica.

 

I also have a schedule now worked out that satisfies my book-writing demands. We'll do the Carnival 20-day Mexico-Hawaii combo in December, then in April/May 2014 will do a Norwegian repositioning cruise from Tampa to the Caribbean to Boston. We'll stay on the ship and continue for seven days in Bermuda.

 

As you can see from the list suggests, we are not wedded to any particular cruiseline. HAL really should be among the cruises listed because their ships have great libraries and free access to the New York Times on the Internet. But we make our selections on the basis of price and destinations.

 

Lots of years ago we did Bermuda on the old Norwegian Crown. We had a terrific time, thanks to two other couples, all CCers. As small as the group was the captain and hotel manager came to our get-together and stayed. On the final sea day the captain invited us to the bridge for an hour and half of additional conversation.

 

So each line is a bit different. And Costa surely is quite different from American market products.