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


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12 hours ago, Southendweather said:

That sounds promising. Is there any even flow (or what ever they call it) from the stern, if there is all engines must be running. If they are back up to speed then surely Malacca will be reinstated on the current cruise. Lets hope so for all who are on it.

 

Just wondered what advise they were giving on the ship regarding the virus situation, are they screening people at the airports or when they embark.

 

Keith (Southend)

Captain Chris, who has now left the ship for a fortnight, said that three out of the four turbines were working. He claimed that he had been able to reinstate Koh Samui because he had used the winds and tides. But that is surely what all Captains do?

 

There was thermal screening at all ports, and on arrival at U Tapao. We were delayed disembarking at Singapore because, in part, of it. Some missed their tours, waiting for over an hour and a half in the stairwells.

 

If things continue as they are, I cannot see Singapore remaining on the itinerary. That would pose a big problem for TUI. I was not bothered about missing Malacca, I would have been bothered if I knew in advance that Singapore was off.

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2 hours ago, xerxes1 said:

Captain Chris, who has now left the ship for a fortnight, said that three out of the four turbines were working. He claimed that he had been able to reinstate Koh Samui because he had used the winds and tides. But that is surely what all Captains do?

 

There was thermal screening at all ports, and on arrival at U Tapao. We were delayed disembarking at Singapore because, in part, of it. Some missed their tours, waiting for over an hour and a half in the stairwells.

 

If things continue as they are, I cannot see Singapore remaining on the itinerary. That would pose a big problem for TUI. I was not bothered about missing Malacca, I would have been bothered if I knew in advance that Singapore was off.

Thanks for the update. We fly to Langkawi Thursday and so far have had no notifications of any itinerary or anything changing yet. The whole thing has been surprisingly stressful, I guess having booked 9 months ago because getting leave I have to book a long time in advance, I fear missing out on a break we have looked forward to for so long. However, I still think it will happen 🤞🌴🥃🛳🌊

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Can anyone tell me when Gavin Carroll CD left Discovery please He has been posting on Facebook trips in the Far East but on Thursday posted a photo of himself in La Romana Dominican Republic which was puzzling Just hoping its an historic photo and Gavin is still on Discovery He has been moved to another ship historically in January for a couple of months before so I'm hoping he'll still be on for the repositioning back to Palma

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Well I'm going to be knackered by the time we get on the plane on the early hours of Thursday. working Late, Late then Early Wednesday, a few hours at home, then dinner, then off to Gatwick. It's going to be strange arriving on the ship after 10pm local time, but better set the alarm for the morning as probably won't know where we are 😂

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12 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

We had a similar experience on a flight from Barbados in 2018, just a few mins over six hours😊

Some years ago when, I think it was when the Railway at Dawlish got washed away we went to Mexico (Cancun) and becasue of a 300mph jet coming across the Atlantic we flew from Gatwick upto Iceland and then down the east coast of the USA. The Captain said we wouldn't have had enough fuel to fight against such a jet stream.

 

And here's todays jet:

image.png.cb729677ccd06d6fc2f57438a01ace33.png

 

The pink is 150knot wind speed which = about 175mph. Speed of sound is 767mph, so in theory that BA flight broke the sound barrier, but I guess the 825-175=650mph, if that's how it works.

 

Keith (Southend)

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Thanks UnHappyShipmate - I'm gutted and can't understand which ship he's now on Explorer is visiting Dominican Republic but only Santana and Amber Cove and also Gavin is contracted via Peel so unless he's jumped ship (sorry about the pun) he couldn't be on Explorer

Love to hear from someone who knows which ship he is on 

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Hi everyone.  Finally got WiFi at the beach resort in Vietnam.  We sailed through rough seas last night but got here with little sleep.  Langkawi is a good starting point and easy to stroll off ship, the hotel pool is right on the path, small and easy to miss.  We saw Toucans here and a monkey.  Penang, we used our masks to get through the port building as it is dark and congested. We got through the pests and had a nice walk along the sea front then back through the town.  There is an interesting cemetery where you learn more about the history from the headstones than a trip.  Kuala Lumpur is a high rise city if you like that sort of thing, we don’t and it’s a long trip, another needless market trip.  The Batu Caves are scenic but arduous up the steps.  Singapore is heaven and hell.  The hell is getting off the ship, it took an hour to get through the port so our trip was very late, same getting back in.  The city is the best of the cruise, lovely botanical gardens, not enough time here at one hour, and the river front is spacious, scenic and clean.  Thailand, we did Bangkok by night, two hours on a featureless drive, nice temples but too long in the markets which we avoided.  Ended up in the seedy area for two hours, never again. Bring masks and nasal spray.  Pattaya beach, Benidorm like with high rise hotels, a road then the beach.  Not impressed, again very seedy.  The port is a container shipping port miles away from anywhere. Sihanoukville is practically derelict. Throughout all of this the ship is saying nothing about Coronavirus or how to be hygienic and are allowing passengers to go into crowded markets on trips.  The ship is functioning as normal as far as we can see.  It is breezy on the top decks while underway but the side balconies are fine and we have been sitting outside late in the evening, bring very light clothes as it is humid ashore. The junior suites have no coffee pods as advertised and we had to find out for ourselves that we could have coffee in the coffee pod and charge it to the ship.  This beach at Vung Tau is very nice, no chance of walking anywhere off the ship so a trip is essential.  Now for a rest.

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I forgot to say, Koh Samui is a tender port but plenty of beaches to walk to, we went early and saw sea eagles flying low over the sea.  Change money to Thai Baht on the jetty, you will need this currency inThailand and the ATM machines are incomprehensible.  Same applies to other countries, we have only used our US dollars in Langkawi and it has been a problem, we changed 30 dollars in Bangkok for a drink and it didn’t go far.  You will need a photocopy of your passport at some change places but not at others.

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4 hours ago, ekco said:

I forgot to say, Koh Samui is a tender port but plenty of beaches to walk to, we went early and saw sea eagles flying low over the sea.  Change money to Thai Baht on the jetty, you will need this currency inThailand and the ATM machines are incomprehensible.  Same applies to other countries, we have only used our US dollars in Langkawi and it has been a problem, we changed 30 dollars in Bangkok for a drink and it didn’t go far.  You will need a photocopy of your passport at some change places but not at others.

Thanks echo for all the information, much appreciated 👍🥃🛳

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22 hours ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Thats a bit of a worry if Tui are not having any input on the virus particularly with the ever increasing areas affected. 😕

 

   
 
*Asia 'Enchanting Far East Cruise' weather overview*    
                   
9th February 2020              
                   
Max °C Min °C Rain (mm) Bar(mb) Trend Hum% Wind (mph) Weather Location
33.0 24.8 - 1014.2 F 60 SW 6 Haze Laem Chabang(81m)
34.3 25.6 - 1013.6 F 53 NW 2 Haze Bangkok Metropolis(3m)
30.5 24.0 - 1014.6 F 45 E 9 Haze Ko Samui(7m)
34.5 24.7 TR 1011.8 Fs 57 SE 9 Cloud Incr Langkawi(8m)
32.3 25.5 - 1011.8 F 62 SW 8 Haze Penang(4m)
33.1 24.8 17.0 1011.5 F 56 NW 3 Haze Kuala Lumpur(27m)
32.7 22.8 6.0 1011.7 * 57 N 3 Haze Malacca(9m)
29.8 25.3 14.6 1011.6 * 76 N 5 Re Rain Singapore(22m)
30.5 25.3 TR 1013.4 F 61 Calm 0 * Ho Chi Minh City-Nha Be(2m)
               
                 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
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On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2020 at 2:17 AM, ekco said:

Hi everyone.  Finally got WiFi at the beach resort in Vietnam.  We sailed through rough seas last night but got here with little sleep.  Langkawi is a good starting point and easy to stroll off ship, the hotel pool is right on the path, small and easy to miss.  We saw Toucans here and a monkey.  Penang, we used our masks to get through the port building as it is dark and congested. We got through the pests and had a nice walk along the sea front then back through the town.  There is an interesting cemetery where you learn more about the history from the headstones than a trip.  Kuala Lumpur is a high rise city if you like that sort of thing, we don’t and it’s a long trip, another needless market trip.  The Batu Caves are scenic but arduous up the steps.  Singapore is heaven and hell.  The hell is getting off the ship, it took an hour to get through the port so our trip was very late, same getting back in.  The city is the best of the cruise, lovely botanical gardens, not enough time here at one hour, and the river front is spacious, scenic and clean.  Thailand, we did Bangkok by night, two hours on a featureless drive, nice temples but too long in the markets which we avoided.  Ended up in the seedy area for two hours, never again. Bring masks and nasal spray.  Pattaya beach, Benidorm like with high rise hotels, a road then the beach.  Not impressed, again very seedy.  The port is a container shipping port miles away from anywhere. Sihanoukville is practically derelict. Throughout all of this the ship is saying nothing about Coronavirus or how to be hygienic and are allowing passengers to go into crowded markets on trips.  The ship is functioning as normal as far as we can see.  It is breezy on the top decks while underway but the side balconies are fine and we have been sitting outside late in the evening, bring very light clothes as it is humid ashore. The junior suites have no coffee pods as advertised and we had to find out for ourselves that we could have coffee in the coffee pod and charge it to the ship.  This beach at Vung Tau is very nice, no chance of walking anywhere off the ship so a trip is essential.  Now for a rest.

 

Well done for spotting the "Toucans" - probably in a tree near the pool? Not many people seemed to be noticing the wildlife. The brown eagles were also flying around quite low.

 

When we got home we checked and found they are not Toucans but instead Hornbills.  Looked the same to me but Toucans are only found in Central and South America https://blog.zoo.org/2013/03/wonderfully-wild-wednesday-toucan-vs.html

 

That virus is making things difficult - we walked straight off at Singapore and were soon on the MRT (after buying some Singapore dollars).

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3 hours ago, idh2019 said:

 

Well done for spotting the "Toucans" - probably in a tree near the pool? Not many people seemed to be noticing the wildlife. The brown eagles were also flying around quite low.

 

When we got home we checked and found they are not Toucans but instead Hornbills.  Looked the same to me but Toucans are only found in Central and South America https://blog.zoo.org/2013/03/wonderfully-wild-wednesday-toucan-vs.html

 

That virus is making things difficult - we walked straight off at Singapore and were soon on the MRT (after buying some Singapore dollars).

MRT?

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