Day 14 Port Kelang

We did not have a tour organised as we have been here before and did the Towers visit. So Princess put on a shuttle bus to the local shopping centre, $7 each way per person which was ideal for us. About a 30 minutes drive and we were there. Lovely shops, cheap as chips for shoes, I was restrained and only bought 1 yes 1 pair. I could have gone crazy and brought enough back to open a shop but I have had enough of George calling me Imelda!!.Got back onboard around 2 p.m., relaxed and had dinner then went to a show. A mexican singer who really should have stayed in his nursing home. He was woeful, but that is just our opinion. We have a tour organised for Langkawi so had a reasonably early night, well 12.15 .a.m.

Day 13

 

Day 13 Singapore

What a fantastic day! Singapore is simply amazing. We began our adventure at the train station, which is just outside of the port, very handy. The weather was rainy and humid but did not dampen our spirits. It is a bit confusing to know where to go but we came across people queuing at the ticket office so we just joined them. It was to purchase an all day ticket for $8 with a $10 deposit, not sure what this is for but good idea I think, and this allows you to use any train or bus anywhere all day. I wanted to go to Sentosa Island and as we were looking around for the platform we bumped into Jill and Ray also looking a bit lost like us so we joined forces. It was a great move as Jill turned out to be a human GPS system. Off we went to Sentosa!! Hopped onboard the monorail and whoosh off we went. So fast and efficient and the lovely guard at each station waves you off with a smile, so nice. Sentosa is a place you need several days to explore not just a couple of hours. Its stunning, a bit like Disney World, Movie World, and everything in between rolled into one place. George and Ray took the sky rail up to the Luge and had a great ride down the mountain.

Back onto the mono and whoosh, (in fact I felt as though we could have ended up in Vietnam due to the speed we were travelling), we stopped at Raffles Hotel. One of the things I can tick off my Bucket List. I think most of the ship's passengers were there at the same time lol. Beautiful old building, so quaint. Had the Singapore Sling, took out a small mortgage to pay for it, and I was a happy person. Its tradition to eat the peanuts and throw the shells on the floor, I actually couldn't do that so I had a little neat pile on the table. Next stop was some shopping in Bugis Street, some markets and shops mixed together. The locals are so friendly and helpful which is refreshing. We had lunch in Burger King, mm George had to have his junk food fix, and we were so surprised at the age of the staff, honestly the average age would have been 70 years young. So George has me booked in for my retirement. We were getting a little concerned as time was going by and we had to get back onboard by 5.30 and it was nearly 3 p.m. and it seemed to be home time for the locals as suddenly there were millions of people all rushing around. So we headed for the MRT, (train), and it was really easy to navigate our way back. Did some browsing at the shopping centre at the terminal and headed home, we now call the ship home. We had a fantastic time, absolutely loved our day in Singapore.

Food Glorious Food

I thought I would make everyone green with envy at the delicious food we are being served. The desserts are to die for and the main courses are varied and yummy. The picture of the handsome young man with moi is Arkie, my personal gluten free waiter. He is a gem, in fact the ladies at my table all want to become gluten free just to get his attention. I have to limit myself to desserts just once or twice a week as I already feel my clothes are getting smaller, I m convincing myself the clothes have shrunk in the wash, but cant be as they haven't been washed yet lol.

More Food Glorious Food

 

Day 12 More Pics

Lunch with some CC'ers

Day 12

We are feeling better today, thank goodness so we began the day with an early morning swim followed by a hot tub, boiling actually, dip. George accompanied me to breakfast, this may sound normal but it was his second breakfast! There was a shopping event in the Dining room so I thought I would have a look, wow it was a scene straight from a Balinese market, t shirts flying everywhere, all that was missing was the haggling. I left quickly. We had lunch with some of our CC group, and my lovely waiter came flying across the room to make sure I was ok, as I had missed the previous 3 nights for Dinner. He ordered my lunch and the delicious panacotta dessert, see the pics.

Today at noon was the Crossing the Equator ceremony, George braved the humidity and took some pics. I decided to read on a lounger in the shade, watching the sea go by.

Day 10 Bali Hai

We sailed into Bali, and it was raining! Had a quick breakfast and headed down to the Vista Lounge to collect our tender tickets, as the ship is much too big to berth close to the dock, We chose to do Kuta on our own with Paul and Kim, a 45 minute boat ride then 20 minute bus ride into the main part of Kuta. As this was our first time to Bali we weren't sure what to expect. In hindsight I wish we had done the traditional village tour which would have given us a better insight as Kuta is all about haggling and George an I don't enjoy that, although some people do. Anyway the Bintang beer really helped us to chill out! It is an interesting place with the contrast of beautiful monuments and run down shacks. We only had 2.5 hours to shop and all we bought was 6 beers for less the $10, to bring back aboard. Arriving back at the dock, the scene was hilarious as there would have been about 1000 people all waiting to catch the tenders back to the ship. However it was only about 1.5 hour wait, in the heat and starvation setting in, we finally got on our way. Well this proved to be the most exciting part of the day as we had some BIG waves rocking the tender boat, so much that a huge wave caused water to pour in through the hatch on the top. Yes, it landed on George and his bag. My first thought was NOT ANOTHER CAMERA GONE, but thankfully it survived. I have to say that I was quite terrified on the tender. We were so exhausted we fell asleep after we got to our cabin and missed dinner.

Day 11 More pics

Location of ship.

Each night we receive a newsletter called The Princess Patter, and chocolates, also tonight there was an invitation to the Captain's Cocktail Party.

Day 11 Sailing toward Singapore

Its good to have 2 days at sea, time to relax and do a few activities offered on the ship. Today we were offered to have our washing done for $25 a bag, which is really good as it's a fair amount of clothes. Its a special price for WC. After breakfast went to Trivia, 14/20 not bad. The weather is lovely, we intend to swim later. We both have the ship virus, sore throat and no voice for me, which is good according to George. We have the Captain's Cocktail Party tonight, prior to this we are having drinks with Tom and Shirley, who we met on the first night.

We have been told that we will get a new flat screen TV sometime during the voyage but knowing our luck it will be on Day 103! We have taken some pics of the cabin for you to get a feel of the closet like condition, only joking, its really cosy and nice. `

Day 10 More pics

Pictures of the tender boat, some Bali statues and us waiting for tender at dock.

Day 9 at Sea

Had a relatively quiet day, we both have the tickly throat bug which is doing the rounds. Trivia was a laugh, I managed to answer 3 correct answers so its certainly improving the grey matter. We spent most of the day bumping into people and talking all day! Now wonder we have sore throats. It's the people we have met that are making this cruise so fantastic.

There was a Cruise Critic meeting however we managed to lose each other and after an hour of searching the ship we had managed to miss it altogether. Never mind there will be more organised. Weather is still lovely, humid but quite sunny. The Captain has told us that from now on there will be a chance of showers all through Asia. We organised out tickets for Bali tomorrow, we decided to just do the shuttle bus to Kuta. Nice and easy.

Day 8

After breakfast we went to trivia and I, yes me, actually answered a correct answer. Where it came from I have no idea, it was Freddie Mercury's real name and it just popped into my head. We got 13.5 out of 20, once again thanks to Gail. Our ex policeman friend, Barry got me a beauty. He said, "have you heard the news"?. I said "no". He then said the local Darwin police are on the lookout for 2 albino indigenous last seen in the local park heavily drinking and disposing of many bottles. We all went to a lecture on our upcoming port of Bali. George almost feel asleep. Had coffee in the Patisserie, just getting ready to have lunch, more food!! Life is tough.

Day 8 Sail Away from Darwin

Last night we sailed away from Darwin and Australia too! Beautiful calm seas and full moon to send us off. We stood on the top deck with Roy and Marg from Tassie. We had an early night as we were pooped from shopping in Darwin. But not before George had his gorgeous dessert at dinner, we are saying that we will only eat dessert once a week from now on, that's the idea anyway. There is just so much lovely food that already we have have gained the kilos.

We chose not to do any tours because of our shopping expedition but many people did do crocodile tours and loved it. Lots went to Casuarina Shopping Centre, $2 return for non pensioners and free for pensioners.

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Day 7

Arrived in Darwin and lovely rain greeted us, but the humidity was stifling. Had a quick breakfast and headed off to the big city to load up with supplies. There was a $7 each way Shuttle bus offered but it was only a 15 minute  walk and with all the desserts we have had we figured we needed to walk. I don't think Woolies knew what had hit them, they were running out of things like Hand Sanitizer. We got all the usual things like shampoo etc, then off to the booze shop. As we had heard lots of conflicting info regarding how much booze you could get on the ship, we had a plan! However the stress involved wasn't worth the substantial saving, I don't think but George thinks it was. Sitting in a park in Darwin, trying to decant Drambuie and Baileys into choc milk bottles, with the local indigenous nearby watching us, well you get the picture. The hilarious part was trying to dispose of the bottles discreetly into the rubbish bin......they wouldn't fit without a struggle and a lot of clinking which drew attention. We noticed the bin being pounced upon after we had left. We had made 2 trips into town to get more supplies, if you know what I mean. Had a couple of pints of beer, wow only $8 for 2, what a bargain and it went down well too. Back to ship and straight for a swim to cool off.

Note to any future cruisers: may be worth just paying the ships booze prices if you are a nervous person.  We purchased a trolley which was great for all the stuff we bought and then we can use it for our laundry onboard.

Our Cruise Director, Warren and his Assistant Colin (from Scotland so we love hearing his voice lol) are really fantastic.

 I have included 2 photos from the Ship's Tour, one of the Captain and the other is 2nd in Command.