Myanmar Itinerary Changes

[Stumblefoot]

We received notice today that Silversea is removing Myanmar from itineraries henceforth.  Obviously, a very good decision.

 

My question for those who have traveled throughout the Indian Ocean, what are your thoughts on our voyage's revised itinerary?  Specifically:

• Addition of Langkawi, Malaysia
• Addition of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
• Spending 1-1/2 days in Cochin, India
• A sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo, Sri Lanka?  I'm really surprised SS is taking this long to travel between Sri Lankan ports.  Is it in order to possibly transit slowly via the Palk Strait and if so, is it visually interesting?

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Stumblefoot
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[Roger88]

Thank you so much for this information. I am sure it will be usefull to many people planning this trip. I also like the format of your post - very informative

[mysty]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

We received notice today that Silversea is removing Myanmar from itineraries henceforth.  Obviously, a very good decision.

 

My question for those who have traveled throughout the Indian Ocean, what are your thoughts on our voyage's revised itinerary?  Specifically:

• Addition of Langkawi, Malaysia
• Addition of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
• Spending 1-1/2 days in Cochin, India
• A sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo, Sri Lanka?  I'm really surprised SS is taking this long to travel between Sri Lankan ports.  Is it in order to possibly transit slowly via the Palk Strait and if so, is it visually interesting?

 

 

 

 

Stumble I can't speak to all of the itinerary changes.  I can answer the question about the sailing time between Trincomalee and Colombo.  In 2019 it was a sea day between the two ports.

 

 

Have you been to Trincomalee before?  We did an interesting tour there.  Here's a pic from Koneswaram Temple.

 

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[Stumblefoot]

33 minutes ago, mysty said:

I can answer the question about the sailing time between Trincomalee and Colombo.  In 2019 it was a sea day between the two ports.

 

Good to know you experienced a sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo.  Do you remember the route your ship took (north through Palk Strait or south in the Bay of Bengal) and whether there were any interesting sites you saw while sailing? 

 

40 minutes ago, mysty said:

Have you been to Trincomalee before?

We haven't been to any of the ports on this voyage other than Singapore.  We love Singapore, so have already booked our air to spend 6-days there before embarking.  Looks like we're now going to have an extra day now since we'll overnight in port on the ship. 

[mysty]

3 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

 

Good to know you experienced a sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo.  Do you remember the route your ship took (north through Palk Strait or south in the Bay of Bengal) and whether there were any interesting sites you saw while sailing? 

 

We haven't been to any of the ports on this voyage other than Singapore.  We love Singapore, so have already booked our air to spend 6-days there before embarking.  Looks like we're now going to have an extra day now since we'll overnight in port on the ship. 

 

Sorry Stumble we sailed mostly in the dark.   I wasn't paying attention to the map of route on the TV.   I think Myster and I went to the bar at 7:00 pm then to dinner and then to bed.  We're exciting folks all right!  🤣

[mysty]

8 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

 

Good to know you experienced a sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo.  Do you remember the route your ship took (north through Palk Strait or south in the Bay of Bengal) and whether there were any interesting sites you saw while sailing? 

 

We haven't been to any of the ports on this voyage other than Singapore.  We love Singapore, so have already booked our air to spend 6-days there before embarking.  Looks like we're now going to have an extra day now since we'll overnight in port on the ship. 

 

Oh and Penang is awesome!  I loved that port!

[Stumblefoot]

23 minutes ago, mysty said:

Oh and Penang is awesome!  I loved that port!

Great!  Glad that we've been given an extra hour there.

[Emtbsam]

3 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

We received notice today that Silversea is removing Myanmar from itineraries henceforth.  Obviously, a very good decision.

 

My question for those who have traveled throughout the Indian Ocean, what are your thoughts on our voyage's revised itinerary?  Specifically:

• Addition of Langkawi, Malaysia
• Addition of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
• Spending 1-1/2 days in Cochin, India
• A sea day between Trincomalee and Colombo, Sri Lanka?  I'm really surprised SS is taking this long to travel between Sri Lankan ports.  Is it in order to possibly transit slowly via the Palk Strait and if so, is it visually interesting?

 

 

We took the overland in Sri Lanka and thought it was well worth it.  If they offer it, you should consider it.

[QueSeraSera]

Have spent several (working) months in Malaysia.  I don't think you will be unhappy with the extra day spent visiting there.  

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, Emtbsam said:

We took the overland in Sri Lanka and thought it was well worth it.  If they offer it, you should consider it.

Oh, that sounds cool!  We’ve done a few mid-voyage overnight land tours with SS (Hanoi, Patagonia, and Siam Reap) and although expensive, they were all exceptional.  So, I will definitely have to investigate what they have planned.

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Have spent several (working) months in Malaysia.  I don't think you will be unhappy with the extra day spent visiting there.  

Awesome!  Thanks Q.

[drron29]

I though think the situation for foreign tourists will be fine in Burma next year but dire for the locals.I call it Burma as when we were there we were told not to use the title Myanmar as it was the General's name and the majority of locals are burmese.

I am not unhappy with the deletion as we have been there and it would be sad to see the changes.

 

I would rather an extra day in Mumbai at the end rather than an extra day in Singapore at the beginning.But then we probably have visited Singapore 50 times.

 

I would also like to see the days in Phuket changed to 2 more days in Sri Lanka or India.

 

We have stayed in Phuket twice and did not want to ever go back.Full of elderly Russian,German and Australian men there for only 1 thing.

[turtlemichael]

36 minutes ago, drron29 said:

 

We have stayed in Phuket twice and did not want to ever go back.Full of elderly Russian,German and Australian men there for only 1 thing.

As an elderly Australian man I enjoyed Phuket for one thing too - I found a tailor who knocked up some great shirts that lasted me years. 🙂

[turtlemichael]

Stumblefoot, on the cruise mysty is talking about the pre-cruise map shows we were to go down the Bay of Bengal side between the two Sri Lankan ports. However, I have a recollection that it was the Indian side we sailed and I recall being disappointed that we couldn't actually see too much. I am not 100% sure (I could have been in the bar with mysty) and stand to be corrected.

 

I'll be interested to see how far forward Silversea go in cancelling Yangon as there are many cruises scheduled in the forward itineraries.

[Fletcher]

I always think Burma is a river trip, not part of a sea cruise.  A shame the revised itinerary doesn't visit the Andaman Islands but I guess the ship is too big.  Langkawi is a bit like Phuket nowadays with too many big resorts.  I'm not sure the Palk Strait is navigable for large ships.

 

Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  We did three weeks in hotels about five years ago and are keen to return.  There are some gorgeous places to stay, especially the group of tea plantation bungalows called Tea Trails -

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Fletcher

[mysty]

@Stumblefoot as you so eloquently requested in the Water Cooler (where angels fear to tread 😁), here are bits of information on some of the ports you will visit on your itinerary.  Keep in mind that one man's (or woman's)  trash is another man's (or woman's) treasure.  These snippets are based on my experience and perceptions and may differ greatly from those of others who have made the same visits.  In most of these places we took ship excursions.  These places were new to us and we felt more comfortable with the idea that we would be traveling until Silversea's wing.

 

Kuala Lumpur - we visited in 2016.  The first link provides a description of the ship tour we took and the second link describes our day.

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2015/08/138-days-and-counting.html

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2016/03/day-77-kuala-lumpur.html

 

Penang - We visited in 2016.  We both really enjoyed this port.  The first link provides a description of the tour.  The second link describes our day.

 

 https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2015/07/162-days-and-counting.html

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2016/03/day-78-penang-malaysia.html

 

Trincomalee - We visited in 2019.  The link provides the tour description and the actual day.

 

https://mpworldexploration2019.blogspot.com/2019/03/day-76-trincomalee-sri-lanka.html

 

Colombo - We visited in 2016 and 2019.  In 2016 we took a private car tour (Silversea) with another couple.  In 2019 we didn't tour during the day and we went to a Silversea event at the Kingsbury Hotel in the evening.  It was spectacular!  The first link describes our day in 2016.  The second link describes the Kingsbury Hotel event.  The third link provides video of the Kingsbury Hotel event.

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2016/04/day-87-colombo-sri-lanka.html

 

https://mpworldexploration2019.blogspot.com/2019/03/day-78colombo-sri-lanka.html

 

https://mpworldexploration2019.blogspot.com/2019/06/vdeo-from-colombo-sri-lanka.html

 

Cochin - We visited in 2016.  The first link provides a description of the tour.  The second link describes the day.

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2015/09/106-days-and-counting.html

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2016/04/day-88-cochin-kochi-india.html

 

Mumbai - We visited in 2016.  We flew from Mumbai to Agra for a visit to the Taj Mahal.  This was a Silversea event.  The link below describes the day.

 

https://mpworldcruise.blogspot.com/2016/04/day-90-mumbai-and-agra-india.html

 

I hope this is the kind of thing you were hoping for Stumble!  If not, knock on the Cooler door and let me know 😁

[crusinbanjo]

I see they are planning stops in India, that could change as India will be the world hotspot for covid very shortly!  From the Wall street Journal

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-hits-global-record-for-daily-new-covid-19-cases-11619074547?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 

no telling what this will look like in 8 months!  Hope it works out well!

[Stumblefoot]

8 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

 

Stunning pic.  And, your very high praise gets me even more excited for a potential overland tour off the ship for a couple of nights.

 

3 hours ago, mysty said:

...here are bits of information on some of the ports you will visit on your itinerary.  

Mysty, thank you for taking the time and making the effort to post these links with context.  Can’t thank you enough.  I’ll let you know if I have any other questions.

[A Tucson Guy]

Humm? I wonder what SS will do regarding our Nov. 2021 Dubai to Mumbai. I just booked the excursions and final payment to get the 10% additional off is due 5-31-21 and I was planning on paying in May. I was also hoping for Taj Mahal post cruise but that may be problematic. SS has not booked our Bus air yet either. If they change itinerary, I am OK. We shall see or should I say we shall HOPE!

[turtlemichael]

19 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

I'll be interested to see how far forward Silversea go in cancelling Yangon as there are many cruises scheduled in the forward itineraries.

It appears that Silversea has cancelled Yangon stops out to just before Christmas 2022 leaving intact cruises on Spirit in late December and WC2023 on Shadow the following January.

[Stumblefoot]

This article out of Australia sounds just awful for a people who are so accustomed to traveling the world over.  At this stage, it is so hard to fathom they may not be able to travel internationally until late 2022.

I do hope the Australian government develops a plan quickly to let vaccinated Australians travel as they please.  We want to see our friends, Dr. Ron and Rojann, in Singapore in 9-months!

[TLCOhio]

On 4/22/2021 at 3:10 AM, Fletcher said:

I always think Burma is a river trip, not part of a sea cruise.  A shame the revised itinerary doesn't visit the Andaman Islands but I guess the ship is too big.  Langkawi is a bit like Phuket nowadays with too many big resorts.  I'm not sure the Palk Strait is navigable for large ships.  Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  We did three weeks in hotels about five years ago and are keen to return.  There are some gorgeous places to stay, especially the group of tea plantation bungalows called Tea Trails -

 

Appreciate this great picture, info, comments and follow-up from Fletcher and others.  Wonderful background and insights provided on this interesting thread!!  

 

Have Sri Lanka, Burma/Myanmar, India, Malaysia, etc., on our future, to-do wish list.  Would have desired to do the early 2022 Silversea sailing from Singapore to India.  BUT, my wife is too pessimistic now to try India given their current Covid-19 challenges.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 241,851 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[TRIPACIAN]

We had a wonderful visit to Myanmar in 2019.  Toured Yangoon and flew to Baden for the hot air experience over the many temples.  If we went back we would love to visit Mandalay.

[Fletcher]

34 minutes ago, TRIPACIAN said:

We had a wonderful visit to Myanmar in 2019.  Toured Yangoon and flew to Baden for the hot air experience over the many temples.  If we went back we would love to visit Mandalay.

The temples are at Bagan.  Mandalay sounds exotic but it's a terrible place, searingly hot, dusty, sprawling, hardly anything to see.  However, we did visit a market area and there was lots of child labour on display -

 

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Would have desired to do the early 2022 Silversea sailing from Singapore to India.  BUT, my wife is too pessimistic now to try India given their current Covid-19 challenges.

Don't rain on my parade quite yet, Terry.  Lots can change over the course of 9-months.