Marella Discovery Itinerary Change. Colours of the Far East (Merged threads).

[ekco]

That must be it, not for the first time on this cruise they seem to be making it up as they go along.  We have supposed priority boarding on the ship, that should be fun.  We had it sailing out of Newcastle last year, nothing and no one to say where to go.  We were given a number right down the list, meaning a wait of at least two hours, OH went to ask and was told by a Tui rep to go and sit down and wait our turn.  Five minutes later an announcement for the next set of numbers, plus priority.  Dashed up and got through, worked out in the end but promises made on booking a junior seat were ignored and we had to sort ourselves out.  By the way, if anyone orders the room service breakfast allowed, one per week, in the junior suite don’t forget to order milk otherwise you will be eating dry cornflakes.  You couldn’t make it up, no common sense.

[Southendweather]

[thepeb]

18 hours ago, Margaret Rees said:

Arrived in Langkawi before 8 am !

 

Thats good to hear hope you had a good day there. Fingers crossed will be same for us

[Southendweather]

On-line all the excursions have gone for our first day at Langkawi for us, plus not really sure how long we may have there, so I did a search for beaches at Langkawi and found Pantai Tengha. It looks stunning and no more than about 5 miles away from where this ship is. Maybe a good idea, but better not fall asleep in the sun on the first day 😎🌞🌡️

 

http://www.langkawi-info.com/pantai-tengah/

 

Keith (Southend)

[Southendweather]

As I type she's still in port at Langkawi and it's 4 in the morning of the 17th January?

[Pensioncruiser]

24 minutes ago, Southendweather said:

On-line all the excursions have gone for our first day at Langkawi for us, plus not really sure how long we may have there, so I did a search for beaches at Langkawi and found Pantai Tengha. It looks stunning and no more than about 5 miles away from where this ship is. Maybe a good idea, but better not fall asleep in the sun on the first day 😎🌞🌡️

 

http://www.langkawi-info.com/pantai-tengah/

 

Keith (Southend)

Don't forget Keith they hold back a quantity of the excursions to sell onboard just be on the ball when you first arrive😉 do it before you get that first drink🍻

[idh2019]

43 minutes ago, Southendweather said:

As I type she's still in port at Langkawi and it's 4 in the morning of the 17th January?

 

 

Ship will be in Langkawi on Friday waiting for Manchester flight to arrive - check the itinerary = 2 days (or parts of!) at Langkawi.

 

Currently 3 x TUI Dreamliiners over Central Asia. From left to right:

 

Langkawi to Birmingham

Manchester to Langkawi

Langkawi to Gatwick

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by idh2019

[Southendweather]

1 hour ago, idh2019 said:

 

 

Ship will be in Langkawi on Friday waiting for Manchester flight to arrive - check the itinerary = 2 days (or parts of!) at Langkawi.

 

Currently 3 x TUI Dreamliiners over Central Asia. From left to right:

 

Langkawi to Birmingham

Manchester to Langkawi

Langkawi to Gatwick

 

 

Ah yes, she doesn't leave until 22:00 17th... an interesting route of Country's they fly 😨

[Southendweather]

1 hour ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Don't forget Keith they hold back a quantity of the excursions to sell onboard just be on the ball when you first arrive😉 do it before you get that first drink🍻

Oh yes, we did that on the Cuban Fusion cruise in 2018, I just like to have a plan B. I actually fancy the cable car, but that was sold out the first time I looked on line, so that's what I will look for as soonas we're on board.

[Pensioncruiser]

42 minutes ago, Southendweather said:

Ah yes, she doesn't leave until 22:00 17th... an interesting route of Country's they fly 😨

Looking like the Birmingham flight is over 7hrs delayed. 

[ekco]

They seem to be avoiding Iran, I wonder why!🤔

[Pensioncruiser]

16 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Looking like the Birmingham flight is over 7hrs delayed. 

Stranger and stranger the flight out on Wed had an 8hr delay as did the London flight. Last week our friends left on time🤔

[Margaret Rees]

You can easily get a taxi from pier to cable car and beaches .All very organised and easy in Langkawi .

[ekco]

That’s good to hear Margaret.  We would like to go to the mangroves at Kilim Karst Geoforest Park but sold out online.  Does anyone know if we can go independently?

[Bertie Doe]

19 minutes ago, ekco said:

That’s good to hear Margaret.  We would like to go to the mangroves at Kilim Karst Geoforest Park but sold out online.  Does anyone know if we can go independently?

Hi Ekco, does this help ? Regards Paul

https://www.viator.com/searchResults/all?text=Kilim%20Karst%20Geoforest%20Park&destId=

p.s. If interested - check that they do a pick-up from Cruise terminal first, as taxis could be expensive?

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by MrSilversurf
ps

[ekco]

Thanks for that Paul, very interesting.  I’ll have a good look later, the problem is that this stop is a bit volatile with arrival times.  First it was changed to 18.00 which would be useless, then the ship arrived at 11.00 last week, better.  Margaret said they docked at 8.00 this week, perfect.

[Bertie Doe]

26 minutes ago, MrSilversurf said:

Hi Ekco, does this help ? Regards Paul

https://www.viator.com/searchResults/all?text=Kilim%20Karst%20Geoforest%20Park&destId=

p.s. If interested - check that they do a pick-up from Cruise terminal first, as taxis could be expensive?

 

 

Ref above, Saturday still available. If you look at the Review April '19 from Nekolover "Very Informative Tour" She said that guide made sure they arrived back at ship. Lol our posts crossed, there's free cancellation.

Edited January 17, 2020 by MrSilversurf
another ps

[Margaret Rees]

Mangroves ,cable car ,boat trips all very easy and cheap from pier so dont worry. Langkawi in general very reasonable prices. There is a hotel just along the pier with a beautiful infinity pool where you can sit and relax and swim as long as u want. Sunbeds in the water ,its stunning . Bucket of 5 beers £8 ! We spent a lot of time there before and after trips ,no charge for using facilities . 

[ekco]

Good information, thanks everyone.  I’m liking the hotel, is it easy to find?

[ekco]

Here we go again with Tui.  28 days from 20/12 when we received the email and no refund yet.  Phoned to be told they didn’t start processing until 5/1, 2 weeks later, so that means it should be back in the account after we set sail with no chance of checking banking on insecure internet.  That is not what it said on the email and will take 6 weeks from that to get the refund if they go by the ‘up to’.  They don’t mess about when they want the money off you though, straight away.  Worst customer service ever.  How many phone calls do we have to make over this cruise?  It’s supposed to be a holiday.  On the plus side I have collected my order of super strength mosquito repellant from Boots and found mosquito spray and bite relief in Wilko £3.50 the two.  Good for spraying clothes and pillows.  The little monsters love me.

 

Back to looking at Langkawi trips.  

[Bertie Doe]

 

32 minutes ago, ekco said:

Back to looking at Langkawi trips.  

 

We were on Discovery in March '19, similar itinerary, we were in Langkawi on the 28th and 29th. My wife prefers longer trips and she chose the Kilim Karst Geoforest, river and bat-caves, you mention.. I picked the rice museum with attached paddy field and working buffalo. It was ok but I think Theresa had the better value. Incidentally, we booked thru' Marella, so don't know what service the above Viator Tripadviser is like - obviously a lot cheaper than the ship.  

Edited January 17, 2020 by MrSilversurf

[Southendweather]

[idh2019]

19 hours ago, ekco said:

They seem to be avoiding Iran, I wonder why!🤔

As we were taxying out last week from U-Tapeo (Bangkok), Captain mentioned re-routing to avoid Iran "for obvious reasons". Having been internet-free for two weeks (bliss!) we had no idea what had happened. Back in the UK we found out

[Margaret Rees]

The Captain announced this evening that we are now going to Koh Samui on Wednesday. The weeks schedule has now been revised with 8 am arrival in Singapore departing at 19.00. We all got a letter saying we will still be getting £250 each even though we will only be missing Malacca this cruise. Really pleased with this news .

The hotel in Langkawi couldnt be easier it is between the ship and the taxis.

[Southendweather]

26 minutes ago, Margaret Rees said:

The Captain announced this evening that we are now going to Koh Samui on Wednesday. The weeks schedule has now been revised with 8 am arrival in Singapore departing at 19.00. We all got a letter saying we will still be getting £250 each even though we will only be missing Malacca this cruise. Really pleased with this news .

The hotel in Langkawi couldnt be easier it is between the ship and the taxis.

Excellent news Margaret, you've made my 60th birthday even better 😀 Currently we haven't heard anything from TUI and on the tracker website no change, but still plenty of time to change yet. I'm happy for everyone if this is the case.