Live – Constellation Singapore – Rome 2017

[Hampshire Rose]

Are people getting dressed up for "Chic" nights?

 

Geraldine [emoji846][emoji846]

 

 

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[jannandjohn]

we are also doing the same b2b cruise next yr, so will also be following your every move/post

thanks for taking it on👌

[Jim_Iain]

 

What a fantastic we had to Agra.

 

 

 

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[TommyD3]

Are people getting dressed up for "Chic" nights?

 

Geraldine [emoji846][emoji846]

 

 

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It varies but in general not as much as before (at least in the MDR).

 

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[Jim_Iain]

we are also doing the same b2b cruise next yr, so will also be following your every move/post

 

thanks for taking it on[emoji108]

 

 

My perception are that far more people are dressed "Chic" than on a TA. I've seen only a spattering of Tux but a good 60+% of men with jackets. Very few ties. Many more women in long skirts and dresses.

 

In Luminea about 95% dressed Chic.

 

We have not been to regular dining so haven't really compared.

 

 

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[jannandjohn]

My perception are that far more people are dressed "Chic" than on a TA. I've seen only a spattering of Tux but a good 60+% of men with jackets. Very few ties. Many more women in long skirts and dresses.

In Luminea about 95% dressed Chic.

We have not been to regular dining so haven't really compared.

think this was meant for Hampshire Rose..;)

[villauk]

It varies but in general not as much as before (at least in the MDR).

 

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Tommy, have you stayed in Cochin or have you also took a side trip to the Taj Mahal?

[TommyD3]

Tommy, have you stayed in Cochin or have you also took a side trip to the Taj Mahal?

No, I stayed on the ship. Would have done the Taj Mahal if it were a day trip but not at the cost of an entire cruise!

 

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[Jim_Iain]

Time to catch up. I decided not to bring my laptop with me for our side trip to the Taj Mahal.

 

We booked our excursion to the Taj Mahal independently of the ship. I chose this mostly as the cost was about ¼ of the cost of the ships excursion and wanted to modify some aspects of our tour. Notably we wanted to complete our travel on the first day and spend the night in Agra. The ship’s tour spent two nights in Delhi.

 

Arrived Cochin around 0830 right on time. We were scheduled to meet our driver at 10:00 a.m. Indian Immigration proved to be their beurocratic self. Those taking a side trip could not retrieve our passports until they finished processing passengers who did not have Visa’s. Evidently they had an exception and were giving a temporary visa on the spot but the ship wasn’t aware whether they would be let off the ship or not. Megan (MC Concierge) has been so efficient and when notified we were cleared she picked up our passport and escorted us off to the ship and made sure we connected with our driver. If you ever have the opportunity to sail with Megan you will find her the most personable and efficient concierge we have experience.

 

The driver took off for Cochin Airport through the busy streets of Cochin. The trip to the airport takes about 1 hour and gave us the first experience of Indian driving. It was a hair raising trip and the driver was expert in worming his way through the maze of honking, swerving, honking traffic. Arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare as our flight was not until 1:30.

 

Check-In at the airport was a breeze. You first have to present a printed boarding pass at the front door along with identification. After entering the terminal you need to put your luggage through an x-ray machine. There are separate areas for Check Baggage and Hand Luggage Only. After this you proceed to check-in. We were flying Spice Jet and there was no line for check-in. The agent offered us an upgrade to their Business Class Section (first 4 rows with extra leg room and free meals and drinks) for the equivalent of $15 each. We jumped at the offer.

 

As we did not have any rupee’s we asked for the location of an exchange bank but was informed there wasn’t one at the airport. The agent did point out an ATM machine which worked perfectly. We next made our way through security to the boarding area. Again very quick and efficient.

 

Finally arriving at boarding we were met with a very comfortable waiting area with comfortable upholstered chairs.

 

 

 

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[Jim_Iain]

About 10 minutes after settling in for a relatively long wait, we saw some fellow passengers we had met in MC Club who were on the Celebrity Excursion to the Taj. They were traveling on Indigo Air which was leaving about 30 minutes before us. Celebrity excursion was 3 bus loads of approx. 140 passengers. Most were on the Indigo Air flight with the remainder on our Spice Jet flight.

 

Our flight left about 15 minutes early and arrived early in Delhi. Embarkation was the stupidest thing I have ever experienced. Our plane was parked about 30 feet from the gate but they brought up a transfer bus to take us to our plane. I think the bus moved 15-20 feet before the door opened up and we boarded the plane. It left us chuckling and scratching our head.

 

We were met by our driver, Mahesh, and an agent from the tour company. The agent gave us all the details and vouchers for our trip. The most useful item in the package was a sheet with information on tipping recommendations. I will post a copy so others reference.

 

 

 

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[TeeRick]

Thanks so much for the detailed review and great pictures. We sail on Connie June 5th from Venice shortly after dry dock. Nice to hear about the upgraded Edge-class communications changes. I wonder if that will apply to internet as well? Interesting news about the Edge-class cabin mock-up being installed - great marketing move. We sail on Edge Jan 2019.

[Jim_Iain]

 

We were briefed on our tour and that it was going to take us 3 hours to get to Agra. It is a rather boaring drive on a modern highway. The hotel for our stay in Agra was the Jaypee Palace. My jaw dropped as we turned into the gates of the hotel with Armed Guards and barricades in place. The guards ran mirrors under the car, checked under the hood and the trunk before we were cleared to enter. There were also metal detectors and x-ray atthe front door.

 

 

We were met with the most magnificent hotel imaginable. The hotel, rooms, restaurant and lounges were both elegant and there was always an attendant to assist you with your every needs. The grounds were both beautiful and lush with thousands of native colorful birds and landscaping. Our only regrets are thatwe could not spend more time at this wonderful property.

 

 

The agent who checked us in called to remind us that theBuffet was only open for another 45 minutes and it was not to be missed. c All meals were included in our tour so while not really hungry, we went down to take a look. The buffet was beautifully laid out and wasa mixture of both western and Indian fare. Without any difficulty we found things that appealed to us.

 

 

After dinner we dropped by the bar to have a couple drinks and then off to bed. We were advised that our tour guide would be meeting us at 6:00 AM for a sunrise tour of theTaj, Ugh!!!. Mahesh reminded us when we were dropped off – DO NOT CHECK OUT OF THE HOTEL, as we would return after our tour of the Taj Mahal for breakfast and time to freshen up.

[Orator]

Hi to you both. Interesting thread. I did India last December and quite the experience. Please say "hi" to Tommy and Eric when you see them in Michael's. Eric should be congratulated for reaching the 6000 point mark. You are correct about the MCC, she is wonderful. Continue to have a great cruise.

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks so much for the detailed review and great pictures. We sail on Connie June 5th from Venice shortly after dry dock. Nice to hear about the upgraded Edge-class communications changes. I wonder if that will apply to internet as well? Interesting news about the Edge-I class cabin mock-up being installed - great marketing move. We sail on Edge Jan 2019.

 

 

I'm sure Internet will also be upgraded. It will be interesting to hear of the upgrades when you are aboard. They did tell us the would be beta testing other things on other ships.

 

Also was told the Magic Carpet would not be moved with passenger on it. If used for tender it will be moved first into place.

 

We booked edge for some March of 2019. Looking forward to it.

 

 

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[rollingstone]

It's great to be able to follow your trip. We are doing this itinerary next year. (Hello to our other CC people)

We have booked an independent trip to India pre cruise to see Agra & Jaipur .

It's nice to know that uber & the transit card work well.

Thank you for the info so far & I look forward to following you to Rome

[ecslady]

Following along...Thank you for doing another live thread.

[sarahspeedy87]

Really enjoying the updates on your journey. Quick question, I hear they have changed the drink packages, can you confirm this or maybe get some photos of what the list now contain, i.e the classic and the premier packages? Thanks

 

 

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[Lastdance]

I am enjoying your review and photos...your hotel experience with the armed guards and lights reminded me of when we first landed in Beijing many years ago; the machine guns and huge spotlights were a real special treat!

 

What camera are you using and how are you uploading your photos? Are you using Photobucket or just your phone through Tapatalk?

 

Enjoy your trip of a lifetime and thanks for sharing!

[Jim_Iain]

We were briefed on our tour and that it was going to take us3 hours to get to Agra. It is a ratherboarding drive on a modern highway. Thehotel for our stay in Agra was the Jaypee Palace. My jaw dropped as we turned into the gatesof the hotel with Armed Guards and barricades in place. The guards ran mirrors under the car,checked under the hood and the trunk before we were cleared to enter. There were also metal detectors and x-ray atthe front door.

 

We were met with the most magnificent hotel imaginable. The hotel, rooms, restaurant and loungeswere both elegant and there was always an attendant to assist you with your everyneeds. The grounds were both beautifuland lush with thousands of native colorful birds and landscaping. Our only regrets are that we could not spendmore time at this wonderful property.

 

The agent who checked us in called to remind us that the Buffetwas only open for another 45 minutes and it was not to be missed. All meals were included in our tour sowhile not really hungry, we went down to take a look. The buffet was beautifully laid out and wasa mixture of both western and Indian fare. Without any difficulty we foundthings that appealed to us.

 

After dinner we dropped by the bar to have a couple drinksand then off to bed. We were advisedthat our tour guide would be meeting us at 6:00 AM for a sunrise tour of theTaj, Ugh!!!. Mahesh reminded us whenwe were dropped off – DO NOT CHECK OUT OF THE HOTEL, as we would return afterour tour of the Taj Mahal for breakfast and time to freshen up.

 

Taj 4

 

We set our alarm for 5:30 and our driver (Mahesh) and guide(Sunny) were waiting for us in the lobby at 6:00. We set off promptly for the Taj Mahal. All entrance fee’s had been included in ourtour and there virtually no lines. Another nice thing of arriving early was that the temperature was around75 and virtually no humidity. Sunnygave us the option of hiring a photographer to join us on the tour. The photographer was Fantastic and knewexactly how to place us in the exact perfect place for each tour. He had a very gentle manner and others wouldmove out of the shot. The total cost ran us $125. He shot 125 photos and printed 60 of themand mounted them in an album. The priceincluded all 125 photos on a CD and 200 stock photos of the Taj. As with all of the tour you could use bothUS $ and Rupee’s or any combination of both.

 

Sunny had the most wonderful personality and kept usentertained and enthralled throughout the day. He was constantly asking for my IPhone and would shoot the perfectpicture and probably shot another 100 photos of us. By the end of the day we were shootingselfies and sharing them using Whatap. We were finished seeing every inch of the Taj and returned to the Hotelby 8:30. We were given until 10:00 tofreshen up, have a wonderful buffet breakfast and check out. Sunny let us know that we had him and thedriver for the day and could modify our tour as desired.

 

Contrary to what we had been told that you could not bringwater with you into the Taj Mahal, Sunny purchased water for us at the ticketcounter. The temperatures were perfectfor our visit running abut 75 degrees. While cool it is very dry and I did find that I was thirsty veryquickly. As we walked the grounds Sunnywould have us take a seat in the shade while he gave us a very extensivehistory of the monument. The tour tookabout 1 ½ hour and we took a electric cart back to the entrance gate where wewere met by the photographer with our photo album and our driver.

 

We were returned to the hotel to freshen up and have awonderful breakfast before we set off to see the Red Fort of Agra. I’m not sure what others impression of the RedFort was but I thought it was just a space filler of something to do. We were amazed at the size and grandeur ofthe fort and it’s many places. It wasabsolutely breathtaking and almost as interesting as the Taj. We probably spent 2+ hours there learningthe history and viewing the portions that are open to the public. Much of the fort is used by the present daymilitary.

 

We next visited the Little Taj which I had never heardof. It was somewhat the prototype of theTaj and while not as large as the Taj Mahal the grounds were beautiful and wasinteresting to visit.

 

Finishing off around 3PM we chose to return to Delhi andskip having lunch as we were still full from breakfast. The trip back to Delhi was much longer as wearrived right at rush hour. The returntrip took almost 5 hours. The hotelthey selected to us was the Trident. They try to book you close to the airport as the traffic is always veryhectic. The Trident is a 5* businesshotel and is an ultra-contemporary design. Our room didn’t have a single square angle even the ceilings. You almost felt like you were on a spaceship. We had a nice dinner at the hoteland turned in after a couple drinks at the bar. Surprisingly we were only charged for one drink as it was “Happy Hour”.

 

Next morning we were picked up at 7:00 AM for a 45 minutetrip to the Airport. Our flight to Goawas on GoAir. The plane was only halffull so we were able to spread out for our 2 ¾ non-stop flight. We were met at the front door by our driverfor our return trip to the ship. Theairport is only 15 minutes from the Pier and we were excited to rejoin the shiparound 1:30.

 

As we pulled up to the first security check point, we wererdenied entrance as we did not have an immigration card for the Goa Port. The driver was told to turn around and an immigrationoffice would come to us. After 45minutes our driver took off on foot and was able to walk to the ship. He was eventually given permission to driveus to the ship where there was another security check point. We were relieved that we were now able toget back on the ship as it was about 95 degrees and very humid. That was not to be as the security guardsthere denied us entry and told to sit with about a dozen other passengerstrying to rejoin the ship. Eventuallythe ship sent out some documentation officers who returned our sea passes andtook our passports. We were told tofollow them but were stopped again by security and told we had to wait for an immigrationform from the Port Agent. The portagent was called and we were told he would be there in 5 minutes. After an hour he finally arrived and gavethe agent our Yellow Immigration card for that port. One would think we were finally free to enterbut again denied entry as a guard had to record all the details of each passengerin a manual log book. At that pointthe 3 busloads of the Ship’s Taj tour hit the port. They had been given their cards on the busas the ship had pre-arranged them. As140 passenger’s tried to get through security it was pure mayhem. Eventually a coupe passenger got through andsomeone said if you have a sea pass you can go through. We slipped behind a security agent and justtook off for the ship and made it aboard. Many on the ships tour said it took them 30-45 minutes to get throughthe check point.

 

We later learned that the security people in Goa were reallygiving the ship a hard time. It isnormal that when a Celebrity Ship is in a port where many of the crew residethe families are invited aboard. Thatwas not to be. Families were not evenpermitted inside the first gates and couldn’t even see the ship. Our butler was able to visit his family, but was really disappointed that he could notbring his family to see the ship.

 

We set sail at 5:30 for Mumbai.

 

We arrived promptly at 10:00 AM in Mumbai. Mumbai has a terminal building and we weretold you would have to clear immigration again (ever Indian port has its own immigrationfacility and in every port you have to have a landing card and photocopy ofyour passport).

 

We were on a CC tour arranged by Jeff and Lynn. We met in Café Al Bacio as a group andproceeded to get on line to get off the ship about 15 minutes before when thedisembarkation was scheduled. The lineswere long and once off the ship we had to queue up in a long line outside inthe 90 degree heat to clear immigration. We were met with our guide and while they initially insisted on paymentin rupees agreed to accept Dollars, Rupee or Credit Cards. Jeff arranged large tour buses but limitedthem to 12-14 per bus. We had plenty ofroom to spread out and was very comfortable. We hit all the high spots of Mumbai and had lunch at the RaceTrack. The lunch was at a beautiful 5star restaurant and had an extensive menu of both Indian and Continental fare. The portions were huge and each entry would surelyhave fed two. The lunch was notincluded in our tour but rand approx. $12 a person including drinks.

 

Mumbai is totally different that I had envisioned. It is a very contemporary city, withbeautiful sites, beaches and was very clean. I know that we were in the central hub and that Mumbai has a huge slumbut we only saw only small areas of slum life. After hitting the Rail Station, Fruit andSpice Markets, the Gateway of India, Gandhi Museum, we finished our tour with astop at the Laundry. Jeff and Lynn hadbrought color pens and paper as gifts to the children. The kids were so excited and very polite inaccepting the gifts. I wish that we hadthought of bring something to brighten their life.

 

Jeff and Lynn were the perfect hosts and we had a mostenjoyable excursion.

 

Once back on ship we shared our day with fellow passengersin Michael’s Club. Most enjoyed theships tours but those that took the “City Markets Tour” were very disappointedand said they were on foot in hot markets for most of the day.

[Jim_Iain]

It's great to be able to follow your trip. We are doing this itinerary next year. (Hello to our other CC people)

We have booked an independent trip to India pre cruise to see Agra & Jaipur .

It's nice to know that uber & the transit card work well.

Thank you for the info so far & I look forward to following you to Rome

 

I am sure you will have a wonderful time. I was a bit concerned about the internal flights and traveling but have really enjoyed India. There is so much to see and the people are so welcoming and friendly. Unlike many places we have visited, everyone we have met have been perfect hosts.

 

I have been checking Uber and find it is also available in most places in India, especially in Mumbai.

 

I'm happy you are following the thread. If you or others have any questions I will do my best to get an answer for you. I'm enjoying doing a live blog as it helps me remember our wonderful trip. After a couple days each day begins to meld into another. The ship's staff have been wonderful and are daily cleaning and painting any rust that shows up overnight.

[texanaust]

Jim,

 

Do you know if the internet onboard is good enough for Skype? We are joining the ship in Abu Dhabi. Thank you in advance.

[Jim_Iain]

I am enjoying your review and photos...your hotel experience with the armed guards and lights reminded me of when we first landed in Beijing many years ago; the machine guns and huge spotlights were a real special treat!

 

What camera are you using and how are you uploading your photos? Are you using Photobucket or just your phone through Tapatalk?

 

Enjoy your trip of a lifetime and thanks for sharing!

 

I use my IPhone for many shots and an OLD Canon Powershot pocket camera. The IPhone is the easiest for uploading using CC Forum App. With Forum it automatically hosts your pictures. When I upload from my pocket camera I have to first upload to Photobucket and then have to do a copy and past of the link into the message.

[Jim_Iain]

 

 

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[Jim_Iain]

 

fruit and spice market

 

 

 

 

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[Jim_Iain]

 

 

 

 

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