Live from Ponant Le Laperouse, Intriguing Indonesia! March 7-16 2023

[jpalbny]

9 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Really enjoyed your recounting and I'm wishing you planned a back-to-back for more tales!

 

I'm looking forward to the chance to explore Asia on Le Laperouse and Le Soleal next year...

 

A back to back would have been fantastic! Unfortunately the ship is in drydock until March 30th, so it would have been a long wait... I don't think that I could have pulled that off; my partner back here at work would have missed me too much.

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for taking us along on your fabulous journey. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Thank you, @Catlover54. Indonesia was indeed beastly hot, mostly high 80s with high humidity and super intense sun. We were right near the equator, and almost at the Spring solstice, so the sun was directly overhead. 

 

I actually got some photokeratitis early on in the trip because I must not have worn my sunglasses enough,  while lounging in the shade at the resort. My eyes were killing me for a day and then took another day to feel close to normal.

 

The intense sunshine, heat, and humidity in this region are not to be taken lightly. We drank so much water, and still had trouble keeping up. Too bad that wine doesn't count!

So I think I will restrict my future travel to places where they make wine.  If it's too hot (or cold) for grapes, it's too hot (or cold) for me!!!

[vjt]

JPALBNY,

I admire your style of traveling! You really took advantage of everything on offer…I’m sure you were the favorite guests aboard.  Thank you so much for this diary…I learned a lot.

[jpalbny]

Saturday, March 18th. Last Day in Singapore!

 

We had another relaxing morning and an even more leisurely breakfast, before setting out for some more exploration. Since we'd knocked off most of the major items from Chris's list, we had time to take it (somewhat) easy today. Not like we would actually do that, but we could have...in theory!

 

Today we walked upriver from the hotel. Our hotel is on a busy street but there is an elevated walkway through a mall which we can use to cross easily. Once on the other side there is a Metro stop and an easy path to the river bank. So we came out on the other side of the Fullerton Hotel. Looks pretty! The Cavanagh Bridge is in front of it.

 

 

From here we continued upriver until we reached Boat Quay. Lots of restaurants here, but mostly empty in the mid-morning. Maybe we should have lunch here. These crabs look tasty!

 

 

We continued upriver, and got tickets for a boat ride. Nice scenery.

 

 

So, back downriver we went until we reached the Harbor. The Marina Bay Sands is always a familiar sight. But they have duck tours here? Fun!

 

 

And a different perspective on the Merlion. Glad we weren't fighting the crowds to get a picture today!

 

 

We passed Boat Quay on the way back to the starting point.

 

 

Once the boat ride finished we decided to climb back up to Fort Canning Park. We'd been on the other side on Thursday and it had seemed like a big task. But we figured we'd do what we could. Surprisingly it wasn't bad at all, despite the noontime sun. In a few minutes we had climbed up to the Raffles House and were enjoying some nice shade under the large trees.

 

 

We walked down to the  other end of the park and found this not-so-hidden gem - the Underground Staircase or the Tree Tunnel. There was a huge line of people waiting at the bottom, to get their perfect Instagram-worthy shot while posing on the stairs. But if you enter from the top of the staircase, you can walk down and wait at the head of the line, to get a picture as one person leaves and before the next one takes their place.

 

 

It was still pretty early and we had a few places left to see in Chinatown, so we got the Metro back there and went looking for Blair Road. Some pretty row houses here. Just a small sample.

 

 

Now back towards the hotel to plan lunch. On the way, this statue of mirror balls caught our attention.

 

 

And the Cavanagh Bridge.

 

 

We went back to the hotel for a shower and to check out (we had late checkout at 4PM). We packed up and left the luggage at the hotel, then wandered Boat Quay looking for a place to eat a late lunch.

 

A block away, there were lots of St. Patrick's Day festivities going on, but on the waterfront, it was quiet. We settled in at a seafood restaurant and I ordered the Singapore Chili Crab. I ordered a small one, only 1600g. It was massive!

 

 

Chris helped me. She had some delicious prawns too. Quite the feast.

 

After lunch we took the Metro to the Marina and walked back inland to Gardens by the Bay for one last look. We got there in the early evening, and hung around in the supertree grove to see if we could catch some of the light show.

 

 

As it got darker, the trees started glowing.

 

 

And at 7:45, the real light show started!

 

 

It was very crowded so we started back towards the hotel after about 10 minutes, to avoid getting caught in the crowd all trying to leave at once. Luckily we could still see some more of the show as we made our escape.

 

 

Crossing the Dragonfly Bridge again,

 

 

We made it to the hotel around 8:15 and changed into our airplane clothes. Then we made our way to the Metro station and used our passes one last time, to get to the airport. We were there about 9:20, so we had time for a visit to the Jewel to see the waterfall before it was turned off at 10PM. What a beautiful show!

 

 

Now to find a bus to our terminal - T4. No problem. We checked in and got our boarding passes then headed to the lounge for a long wait. I sailed through the automated immigration lanes so quickly that I didn't notice Chris was stuck until I was already through. So I waited while she had to go through the staffed lanes. Not sure why.

 

We settled in to the lounge to rest, after 26,000 steps today. Quite the busy 3 days!

 

There was decent food and enough wine to make us happy, though it wasn't the greatest as it was a third-party lounge that KAL has access to. Eventually we headed to the gate for our 1:30AM flight only to find that it was delayed. Not great news since we only had a 70-minute layover in Seoul to begin with.

 

We eventually boarded, but didn't push back until 1:53 and after an interminable taxi, we were finally airborne at 2:25. Maybe we'll be OK - ETA is only about 15 minutes late. So we napped a bit and kept track of the ETA, which kept getting later, then earlier again. The drama! One of the FAs came by and asked if we were connecting to JFK. When we confirmed, she said don't worry, we got some information about that flight, and it's running a little late. Finally we landed at 9:08 and were at the gate 10 minutes later. The doors opened at 9:20 and we were off to see if we could make our 10:00 flight.

 

As we exited the plane there was a signboard which said, "KA 81 JFK - Rush to Gate" - guess it's not delayed after all! We hurried to the transfer area and luckily there was no line at security so we were through very quickly. An employee caught up with us as we were leaving to steer us in the right direction to the gate, and we were there at 9:35. Not bad! We were on the plane sipping bubbly shortly after that.

 

For this leg we were on the upper deck of a 747. It was a very pleasant and fast flight home, just a little over 12h in the air. We ate, napped, ate more, and ended up sleeping a fair amount. We landed early at 10:31 and made it through customs quickly thanks to Global Entry. We were on the air train before 11:00. We had a relatively easy drive home and made it at 2:15, just under 24h from the time we took off from Singapore. Our cat was happy to see us, and we were happy to be safely home as well.

 

Goodbye for now, until the next adventure! It's been fun sharing our journey with you. I'll be back later with some final thoughts about the Ponant experience for this, our second trip with them. 

[AussieBoyTX]

12 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

A back to back would have been fantastic! Unfortunately the ship is in drydock until March 30th, so it would have been a long wait... I don't think that I could have pulled that off; my partner back here at work would have missed me too much.

 

Darn the partners -- I understand the feeling. Waiting for fast internet on my favorite ships to mitigate some of that pain.

 

I was expecting you to take Le Soleal. She passed through Singapore about two days later. It would have been your perfect introduction to the Sisterships! 😄

 

You were probably on a  747-8, giving you a rare opportunity to fly on the final version of the Queen of the Skies... 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

As we exited the plane there was a signboard which said, "KA 81 JFK - Rush to Gate"

OK, so now you can crow about only bringing carry-ons!  But it was the way home, so DW and I would have happily let the airline deliver our bags to our home and spare us wheeling them through JFK!  😅

[jpalbny]

14 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

You were probably on a  747-8, giving you a rare opportunity to fly on the final version of the Queen of the Skies... 

 

Yes! There's something special about that plane. And I love being upstairs. With only 24 seats it's like having your own private jet. But you're right, sadly. Not many of them left. Those four engines suck fuel like there's no tomorrow. 

 

I'm wondering if the faster cruising speed of the 747 vs the 777 is enough to explain the much faster journey home, compared to the way over. 13h10 is a lot shorter than 14h40. Must have also had some nice tail winds!

[AussieBoyTX]

11 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

I'm wondering if the faster cruising speed of the 747 vs the 777 is enough to explain the much faster journey home, compared to the way over. 13h10 is a lot shorter than 14h40. Must have also had some nice tail winds!

 

Ah, I can answer this! Prevailing winds are West to East -- on the 747-8, KAL 081 is 14h 10m Seoul to JFK and KAL 082 is 15h 50m JFK to Seoul. On the 777-300ER, it's 13h 59m and 15h 32m respectively, according to flightaware.com.

If anyone's still reading, Asiana operates the Airbus A350-900 on the same route and its times are 13h 49m / 15h 40m. 

 

I have wanted to try Singapore Airlines' Singapore - Newark non-stop on the A350-900ULR. 18h 30m / 18h 23m total time...

[jpalbny]

Some random thoughts on the cruise.

 

Itinerary – this was great. We had some question marks prior to the trip, especially about the stop in Badas. Sometimes these ‘local visits” can seem contrived and uncomfortable. Turns out that we didn’t feel that way at all and we enjoyed that stop.

 

Also in Probolinggo, would there be a real “hike” or just a shuffle? Turns out, it was a nice hike. We’ve found in our two Ponant cruises to date, they tend to work you a little more during excursions than comparable expedition cruises on SS. A positive.

 

Komodo was handled very well. The snorkeling stops were lots of fun. And the orangutan expedition was great. The choice of ports that we visited was very well-done also – not everything was a jungle expedition and we had a great mixture of different types of port calls. Something for everyone.

 

Ship – we really like it. Our second cruise on one of the "explorers" - we haven't tried any other type of Ponant ship yet. The one thing we miss compared to SS is that there isn’t an outdoor walking track. We hate lying around on sea days, especially with all the good food and drink that need to be sampled. So it’s a struggle to burn calories.

 

Other than that, the ships are really nice. The cabin type that we book is small but well-organized. The common areas are very pleasant and everything is close together. The forward observation lounge has a big outdoor area in front for your viewing pleasure. The bar just inside of the pool deck is spacious and was our usual go-to place to hang out, have breakfast/drinks/etc. There are lots of tables outside on the pool deck where you can hang out (as long as it’s not meal time) and most are protected from the sun. And the Blue Eye lounge is such a unique place – I just wish it were open more often!

 

Food – subjective. I think that you can tell from this review that we liked it. If you’re expecting an extensive menu with 10 different choices and multiple specialty restaurants, you will be disappointed. Out of 10d/9n on board there was only one dish that we didn't think was done well.

 

I will say that the included wines this time seemed more repetitive and less varied than I remembered from the Corsica trip. Luckily we had some OBC and we could sample four interesting bottles from the list.

 

Laundry – contrary to what we’ve heard, on this voyage at least the free laundry for Major status was unlimited. We confirmed with the front desk and took advantage of this. When the daytime high is 88 degrees for the entire trip, it’s harder to wear clothes a second day without washing them. We’d put clothes out in the morning at breakfast time and receive them the next day before dinner. Once they came back the same evening.

 

Naturalists – great; comparable to SS. As above, the tours on Ponant are a little more vigorous, which we enjoy. The naturalists really enjoy what they do and their enthusiasm is infectious. Expedition cruises suit us well and Ponant has some great itineraries that we’ll continue to try.

 

Bottom line – Ponant remains an excellent alternative for us. We slightly prefer the on-board experience on SS but that’s nothing negative about Ponant. Consider SS at level “A” and Ponant at level “A-1” perhaps. Ponant has a slight edge with itineraries and excursions.

 

We didn’t book another Ponant cruise yet – we looked long and hard at an Indian Ocean itinerary – but it will happen for sure.

 

Now, 10 weeks until our next (Silversea) cruise to Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Germany. With such short flights, we won't know what to do!

Edited March 24, 2023 by jpalbny

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for the excellent recap.  Still trying to slip a Ponant cruise into the agenda.

[TLCOhio]

On 3/22/2023 at 7:53 AM, jpalbny said:

Friday, March 17th. St. Patrick's in Singapore.  Gardens by the Bay is free to enter, but for some of the attractions you need to buy tickets. You can take an elevator to the top of the tallest supertree for an overview, so that's what we did first.  From here you can see the two glass conservatories, and the top of another shorter supertree. In the distance, the Ferris wheel (which is closed for maintenance at this time).

Next we went on the elevated walkway which connects two of the supertrees.

 

Great pictures and details about your adventures and exploring in and around Singapore.  Wonderful touring there.  Am copying and making notes for our first visit to Singapore in late February 2024.  How long, J.P., did you have in Singapore and what were your top dining favorites?  What did you miss in Singapore that you wish you would have done?  Keep up the great sharing!  Hope you are recovering from the intensity of this travel. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[jpalbny]

Terry - we had pretty much 3 full days in Singapore but only two nights. We disembarked on Thursday morning, and flew out so late Saturday night that it was actually Sunday morning (1:30AM).

 

We did like the restaurant that Ron and Ann had recommended - Whitegrass. Plenty expensive but the food, service, and cooking were excellent. However that was pretty much the only "formal" restaurant meal that we ate.

 

The next day we had both lunch and dinner in hawker centers. On Saturday we had a late lunch at a riverside open-air spot which was much more informal (but not cheap). So Whitegrass is the only restaurant that we tried (and can recommend) in the whole 3 days we were there.

 

What did we miss? Plenty of course; there's only so much you can do in three days. Regarding big-ticket items - We didn't get to Sentosa Island. We missed one of the two conservatories at Gardens by the Bay (the Cloud Forest). The Ferris Wheel was closed for maintenance, which was OK with us. And we didn't get to the top the the Marina Bay Sands. None of these were high on our list but we would have done them if we'd had the time.

 

But, we enjoyed the sights that we did see and I think we got to enough places to wear ourselves out.

[TLCOhio]

16 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Terry - we had pretty much 3 full days in Singapore but only two nights. What did we miss? Plenty of course; there's only so much you can do in three days. Regarding big-ticket items - We didn't get to Sentosa Island. We missed one of the two conservatories at Gardens by the Bay (the Cloud Forest). The Ferris Wheel was closed for maintenance, which was OK with us. And we didn't get to the top the the Marina Bay Sands. But, we enjoyed the sights that we did see and I think we got to enough places to wear ourselves out.

 

Appreciate, J.P., this great background and these follow-ups.  Under our current plan, assuming we can work out the return airline flights with Frequent Flyer miles with AA, we would have four days and three nights in Singapore.  That should allows us to see much, but be able to do it at a reasonable, somewhat relaxed pace for folks who are not as young and energetic as you and Chris.  Clearly, there is much to see and do in and around Singapore.  Look forward to any additional visuals, posts details from your adventures there.  Keep it coming!!

 

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 246,535 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1172051-livesilver-cloud-norway-coastfjords-july-1-16-reports/

[parischris]

@jpalbny I’ve moved over from the Belize thread back to this one so that the thread is on topic. Three pics from yesterday’s Tanjung Puting expedition. I was lucky to get the 6:30 am start as whilst it was a bit choppy on the way out from Le Laperouse to the river mouth, it wasn’t too bad. Lucky to see a stork-billed kingfisher on the way in, storks in flight and a brahmani kite on the way out. The grey monkey in the photos is a macaque that was happy to pose for a portrait. 

 

The way back was dead calm, but the afternoon groups got the full benefit of the increase in wind. I overhead one of the zodiac drivers radio in for towels to be ready, and they certainly looked bedraggled. Overall the sea conditions for the past three days have been so calm Le Laperouse doesn’t seem to be moving at all. 

[jpalbny]

 

7 hours ago, parischris said:

Three pics from yesterday’s Tanjung Puting expedition.

 

Great pix! Thanks for sharing. What a great excursion that was!

 

I hope the rest of your cruise is as much fun as ours was.

 

[MBP&O2/O]

On 3/23/2023 at 3:35 PM, jpalbny said:

I'm wondering if the faster cruising speed of the 747 vs the 777 is enough to explain the much faster journey home, compared to the way over. 13h10 is a lot shorter than 14h40. Must have also had some nice tail winds!

One way you are flying the same way as the earth rotates and one way the opposite so you cover the same longitudinal distance quicker.

[Fletcher]

Just caught up with this excellent thread @jpalbny and very impressed by your Ponant experience.  Looking at a Christmas trip Mauritius-Mauritius on a similar ship.  Thanks very much for all the info and the foodie pics.  

[jpalbny]

There is a great New Years cruise that we looked at but we decided to go to Botswana in November instead. I wish we had time for both!

 

 

The trip before this goes RT from Mauritius. Is that the one you're looking at? I thought this itinerary was better.

[Fletcher]

Thanks @jpalbny.  Yes, in many ways that is the better itinerary as it covers Madagascar more thoroughly.  We fancied the earlier cruise because we would miss Christmas in the UK and we also liked the idea of getting to Rodriguez Island.  We're still in the thinking stage.