“LIVE FROM” 2019 Oceania Insignia World Cruise, Jan. 11-July 11

[cbb]

Oh, forgot to ask....you docked in Naka, Kobe port?  I had info on both places but since you talked about metro being near, that reads like Naka.  Thanks!

 

[grmmybtty]

41 minutes ago, cbb said:

 

My big bucket items are: Fushimi Inari and the Sagano Bamboo Forest.  (we were here ATW16 so I've seen the northern parts.)

 

we have an O EVENT in Kobe " Arima Onsen Gekkoen" from 5-9pm so we'll have to make our way back from Kyoto to Kobe for that.  We really want to go but it does make it difficult to fit in everything we want to see.  We are there overnight so that helps but leave at 3pm the next day.  (I know, I know.....1st World Problems)

 Cynthia, we are on the ATW 2020 and have the same concern about fitting something in on our Kobe stop since the event is smack in the middle of our overnight. Would love to visit Fushimi Inari and the Bamboo Forest too. Maybe we can plan something together (bettytabora at yahoo dot com)

[cbb]

palakika--(this is historical info from ATW16--doubt that it has changed) 

 

you are awarded 15 cruise credits and you assume those when you board--15 credits richer when you walk into your cabin!!!

 

[cbb]

betty--

i posted on our roll call that we have a big conflict.  We've signed up to do the Himalaya Overland and we return from it at 8pm 5/11, but a World Event is scheduled at 11am same day!  An O rep is looking into it after I alerted our TA. 

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by cbb

[grmmybtty]

Cynthia,

I just looked at the overland tours since you mentioned the overlapping times. Oceania has added a few new ones in Africa, and a couple of them begin upon disembarkation from Cape Town so that it entirely overlaps the dinner event that night. I wonder if the planners even look at the schedule of events when land tours are being planned? The Himalayan land tour looks wonderful.

[cbb]

re: conflict with Cape Town Overlands and Event.  I'm not sure that right hand left hand occurs when 'they' draw up these itineraries and offerings.

 

We had ATW20 issues with O earlier--we had signed up for one of their heavily advertised (in cruise lines media) 1st time offerings of safaris. 

 

We signed up immediately and then I began to watch for some other ones we might like only to notice a few weeks later that the "new offerings" were no longer on the website.  A quick note to our TA who called O and was told they were no longer being publicized because of the length of wait list.  But yep, you guessed it, it was because they had cancelled them.

 

there is more to the story, but eventually we got into another safari........sigh

[Paulchili]

3 hours ago, cbb said:

  We've signed up to do the Himalaya Overland 

 

C - this is just FWIW and JMO.

Katmandu is - and has been for some time now - the Tijuana of the region. Rural Nepal is a different story. The true gem of the area is Bhutan - unspoiled, not polluted and not overrun - all of which applies to Katmandu.

If not on this cruise consider that for the future.

[cbb]

Paul-

6 days & 5 nights--Bhutan is there.  Looks like we do some driving out of Kathmandu, early morning fly around Mt Everest area, hike to Tigers Nest, visit all kinds of cool temples, valleys, etc.  Pretty overwhelming when I read what all we're going to do.....

 

this is the site-- https://www.oceaniacruises.com/around-the-world-cruises/miami-to-san-francisco-INS200108H/hotels/overland/3/?sr=%2fcruise-finder%2f%23sailDates%3d2020|01%23destinations%3d180dayworld#land-program-102

[Paulchili]

Cynthia - after reading the details of this excursion it is FANTASTIC!

If your physical abilities are up to it, go for the Tiger’s nest.

Landing in Paro is exciting as well - get a window seat 🙂:

https://onemileatatime.com/landing-at-paro-airport/

Enjoy!

Edited March 31, 2019 by Paulchili

[BabySis]

 We spent a week in Bhutan in November. It was absolutely amazing. If you have the opportunity, do not miss it. And be sure and bring home some of the little “trinkets“ to friends with a sense of humor 

[cbb]

Paul

 

there is a group of us from ATW16 that are on ATW20 and we are going to Tiger's Nest.  We all promised to take care of each other, and also I'm making them promise to record my final words!    But, yeah, we are going to try to climb it. 

 

On the itinerary is also MPichu so we're getting our high altitude adventures off the bucket list with this cruise!

 

Some ATW19 folks are reporting their officers say that Insignia will have ~ 400 worldies on ATW20.  Don't know yet how many of those are veterans, but there are a bunch of us....and they are all nice!!!  Final payment is in July so we'll see how many of the 400 drop out leaving room for more leggers. 

 

[Paulchili]

Cynthia - such memorable places! Enjoy.

[Mura]

Regarding Machu Picchu ...

 

We spent six days in the Andes prior to our Lima-NYC cruise in 2015 -- we had a six person private group.  Some of our group took the pills for altitude sickness religiously but we didn't feel the need for them.  We hadn't needed them in the Ecudorean Andes 20 years earlier, so hoped we wouldn't need them this time.  And we really didn't.  We DID take advantage of the coca tea which is very tasty and not at all "intoxicating".

 

There's an excellent book out there on the rediscovery of MP.  The one I'm talking about is Turn Right at Machu Picchu but there are a number of others out there.  It's great background for a visit.

 

I wouldn't know how strenuous hiking up to the top of MP is since we didn't do it!  But it's very easy to walk around the site and see much.

 

Unquestionably a "must see" if you have the time.

 

Mura

 

 

[rialannah]

9 hours ago, grmmybtty said:

 Cynthia, we are on the ATW 2020 and have the same concern about fitting something in on our Kobe stop since the event is smack in the middle of our overnight. Would love to visit Fushimi Inari and the Bamboo Forest too. Maybe we can plan something together (bettytabora at yahoo dot com)

We were on a segment of ATW18, Beijing to Sydney, which had a day and a half stop in Kobe.  A group of 8 of us had a wonderful day tour to Kyoto which took in Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Gion area including a delightful casual lunch in a tiny restaurant, the Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka district and Fushimi Inari Shrine.  Kiyomizu-dera was originally included but we did not stop due to impossible traffic and stopped at an interesting museum instead.  We were picked up at 08.30 and returned at 18.30.  We used MK Limousines and Taxi Corp.  The driver had limited English but it was more than sufficient and did not pose any problem - in fact he really added to the experience.  Overall it was an outstanding experience and a highlight of the cruise.

[Go-Bucks!]

Getting back to the 2019 ATW cruise, I have a few answers to some recent questions:

 

Tranquility Base...Not sure if the ship had any clearance issues, but in all Japanese ports we have to carry our passports with us and they check them upon leaving the ship.  Most have given mine a quick glance, but twice I had customs/immigration officers question me for 3 or 4 minutes about where I was going, with whom, how was I getting there, what was I planning to do, etc....I must have looked suspicious!  Possibly they just do this randomly.

 

Senior Citizen: Connie got one of those cute cups in a Kobe Starbucks but they charged $36! 

 

cbb...we have had shuttle buses (either provided by O or by the local authorities) in many ports and will have them again in Hiroshima, Kagoshima, and Sasebo.  Sadly, they do not tell anyone in advance so unless you ask more than 48 hrs ahead, you cannot cancel a ship tour and decide to just take the shuttle and DIY.  We asked a couple days ago and were advised of the ones I mentioned...but it is only published in the Currents the night before, which is too late to cancel a ship tour.  So we'll keep up with it far ahead from now on. 

 

Some people did DIY from Kobe to Kyoto but I'm not sure how they did it...no shuttles went to Kyoto since it's quite a distance away from Kobe.

 

palakika....all ATW passengers got 15 credits which went into effect on the world cruise....actually, it started before the cruise because we got the Custom Air Fee Waivers on our flights to and from the world cruise even before we took it.  Didn't matter which port any of the ATW people embarked on...NYC, MIA or LA...all got 15 credits. 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[Go-Bucks!]

On 3/30/2019 at 9:41 PM, Senior Citizen said:

 

 

 

On 3/30/2019 at 9:41 PM, Senior Citizen said:

We really enjoyed our time as segmenters or leggers on the 2019 World Cruise.  The 300-400 World Cruisers were so nice, as were the 200 or so who embarked in Sydney.  We wish everyone well in their continuing journeys. 

 

Thanks for addressing a concern that a couple people brought up awhile ago...we knew this was the accurate answer to the question, but some wanted to hear it directly from a segmenter. 

 

We have enjoyed the company of many of those on the past couple of segments and have already met several of the newest segmenters who just embarked yesterday...had a nice Meet & Greet today.  Looking forward to continuing the adventure with everyone.  👍

[Go-Bucks!]

22 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

cbb...we have had shuttle buses (either provided by O or by the local authorities) in many ports and will have them again in Hiroshima, Kagoshima, and Sasebo.  

 

Possible correction...Connie was actually told that there will not be a shuttle in Hiroshima because we dock right in town. Will know for sure later this evening when we receive the Currents. 

[cbb]

GoBucks-

I didn't remember a shuttle in Hiroshima because most of us either took a shorex or taxi to the Peace Memorial.  We took a shorex because we had read about the traffic and was concerned about getting back to the ship in a timely manner.

 

we aim to ferry over to Miyajima in 2020. 

[See_More]

 

Apr.1.2019 Tokyo (Oceania extension day 2) began at Asakusa Senso-Ji Temple, down Nakamise-dori and on our own to Skytree Tower, charged a Suica card and took JR line back to Keio-department store for the Hilton shuttle.  ... ok the secret is out, we’re foodies.  Lamb vindaloo and Goa fish curry with accoutrements.  “The Japanese spend time waiting; We spend time berating: The Japanese smell the roses; we sell the roses” Gary W. Ferguson

[See_More]

Apr.1.2019  A hint to planners; never ever use the times 12AM or 12PM if you insist add or subtract 5 minutes because anti-meridian and post-meridian do not exist at these singularities.  Ok to use the 24 hour clock.  Best to remove the ambiguity and simply say noon or midnight.

[Senior Citizen]

Some final photos from Tokyo.  I’ll have to do a few at a time or get back on board and have Bob show me how to batch post them.

 

View from Metropolitan Building where entrance is free.

 

[Senior Citizen]

Moat around the Imperial Palace.

 

 

[Go-Bucks!]

18 hours ago, cbb said:

we aim to ferry over to Miyajima in 2020. 

 

Connie's taking a ship tour there tomorrow. Many tours were added after we booked ours and this was one of them.

[Senior Citizen]

This one’s for Bob.  Mission accomplished.

 

 

[Senior Citizen]

It’s interesting what you’ll see in the basement of Japanese department stores.