DISEMBARKING IN SINGAPORE

Well here we are already at the end of this wonderful experience.  Can't believe it's time to disembark.

The new Cruise Terminal in Singapore is absolutely HUGE and quite something to look at.  It's more like an airport in fact. There were dozens watching in the dark as we sailed in at 5.00am docking at about 5.45am. As we disembarked there we staff everywhere offering us help and welcoming us to Singapore.  We were all given a little momento pack as we were the first to ever use the terminal.
As it is closer to the airport it is only a short 15 minute drive which makes it all so easy.

The ship is now on a 3 day sampler cruise with all the 'big shabangs' of RCCL, Singapore and other Asian country representatives on board.  I'm sure Voyager of the Seas will be a great success in Asia, and we look forward to it visiting our shores in October.

I do hope you enjoyed me prattling on over these past few weeks. I loved sending my little reports to you all and hope you feel like you've been on this wonderful cruise with us both.  I'll be putting up some photos shortly.  First I have to unpack, wash and iron......oh well back to reality.

Thanks for all your comments, apologies for not being able to reply to you all but I did read every one of them. :)

See you on our next cruise...................

DAY 40 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The ship docked early at 7.00am.  We ordered Room Service as we had to be up and about early and ready to go by 8.15am. Our ships transfer to take us to the Midway Megamall which is about a one hour drive from the port had to leave promptly due to the horrendous traffic here. What a huge mall it is.  I would recommend this transfer to anyone visiting Port Kelang because there is absolutely nothing at the port itself, and I mean nothing at all. 

The traffic wasn’t too bad according to the guide and driver of our coach; it looked pretty busy to us….lol. Once we arrived at the mall everyone was off like ants everywhere.  There are shops from all over the world, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Harvey Norman, Pumpkin Patch, just to name a few. Then there were the dozens of restaurants and fast food restaurants, all very cheap.

Everything is extremely clean and the choices in the stores were excellent.  It felt and looked like one of the big mall in the USA.

We had to be back at the ship by 4.30pm ready for our sail away at 5.00pm, but we actually left at 6.00pm.

The final dinner in the dining room was finished off with a song sung by all the Waiters, Assistant waiters, Head Waiters and the various ranks of Chefs.

One final drink up in the Diamond lounge then it was time to pack…..what a marathon that was after such a long time on the ship.  I had forgotten just how much we had purchased along the way.  Just as well we had an extra empty bag with us as we filled that up easily. Finally by 11.00pm we had squeezed and sat on our suitcases enough to finally close them up and put them outside the door ready to be picked up.

By the time we had said goodbye to everyone we have met it was nearly midnight. We can honestly say these past 42 nights have flown by, yet our time in New Orleans seems like years ago.

The ship was in full swing preparing for tomorrows arrival into Singapore.  We will be the first ship to dock at the new Cruise Terminal which has just been completed at a cost of $500 million. There will be TV, Media and Dignitaries to welcome us in at 6.00am. Voyager will be based in Singapore until October doing short cruises around the Asian waters before leaving for the Australia and New Zealand Summer season.

Tomorrow, time to disembark after a wonderful 42 nights leaving us with some most memorable moments from the wonderful places we feel we have been so privileged to have visited. 

PS. Just noticed  I missed a couple of days along the way as I’m only on Day 40, so you’ll have to just imagine those two missing days….lol. J 

DAY 39 in Penang, Malaysia

It was a short day here today.  We arrived at the port which is right in town at midday.  The weather was perfect again and very hot.  Only a short stroll from the port is a large shopping centre.  Everyone from the ship seemed to have the same idea and went to the mall.  Must say it was nice to be in the air-conditioning. As it was our first visit to Malaysia I must say we were surprised just how cheap things are here and therefore had to add a few more kilos to the baggage weight. J

Penang, not being a big place was easy to walk around, even in the heat. Some of the buildings are rather lovely with a touch of Asia, a touch of Portugal and a touch of Dutch and English, as they have all been a part of Penang’s history over the years.

At sail away we ventured down to the aft of the ship to check out the new area behind Johnny Rockets.  It’s a lovely place enjoy the view at sail away.

We decided to have a quiet night and we did, which surprised us, a first for us on this trip.

Tomorrow Port Kelang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia

DAY 38 at sea

Today is our final sea day of the voyage.  Tomorrow Penang, then it’s on to Port Kelang and then our destination, Singapore.

Its official, our Voyager of the Seas Chef makes the best Bread and Butter pudding ever. J Every now and then it’s there up in the Windjammer with lunch. It’s a favourite of everyone. Some Mums and Grandmothers won’t want to hear this….lol.

We had a very relaxing day; this is becoming a habit on our sea days.  Getting up late, enjoying ‘brunch’, maybe having a game of golf or table tennis then suddenly the day has gone.

Yesterday we had the final of our Progressive Trivia.  We didn’t win but came in 4^th, we were happy with that as there were 16 teams playing.

The first full DreamWorks parade was excellent with all the characters of Madagascar. The lightening, music and characters really looked good. The kids are going to love this, we only have a few kids on board, maybe less than 20 and they all looked so excited as the characters came by and always stopped by them so they could see them close up and touch them.

We decided not to eat in the dining room and just have an early casual meal at the Windjammer after our drinks in the Diamond Lounge. Go chatting to people in the lounge and before we knew it we had just enough time to go down from Deck 14 to Deck 11 to the Windjammer and grab a bite to eat before it closed.  It’s so easy to lose track of time. The only time we watch the clock is when we are ashore as we know we have to be back by a certain time.

Our early night turned into a late night again because having eaten so late we didn’t want to go straight to bed on a full stomach so went off walking around the ship and by the time you stop and chat here and there it’s midnight again.

Shopping in Penang tomorrow J J

DAY 37 at sea

We continue to enjoy smooth seas and sunshine with the odd cloud here and there and temperatures in the low 30’s. Our wonderful poolside band ‘Riddim Wave’ play all types of music to entertain us around the pool. Gordon, our Cruise Director, said he’d walk around with a fork and prick everyone to see if they’re done so they can turn over and do the other side. J The entertainment on board is excellent with several bands as well as the Voyager of the Seas Orchestra, a pianist and violinist, Robbie in the Pig and Whistle who used play guitar with Jerry and the Pacemakers, if you remember the songs ‘Ferry across the Mersey’ and ‘You’ll never walk alone’, you’ll know who I mean. Every bar has some music going on as well as ‘The Vault’ which is the nightclub and last to close every night. Since we boarded this ship in New Orleans the earliest we’ve been to bed is midnight and that’s something for us! Must say we’ve been getting up a lot later than we do at home, like this morning 11.00am …..that is what is good about being on a ship breakfast doesn’t finish until 11.30 and lunch begins at 12.00 so we have ‘brunch’. J

A very lucky couple from Russia won US$20,000 in the Royal Casino yesterday afternoon playing video poker and got a Royal Flush. It’s a wonder you didn’t hear their screams of excitement. J Guess what we won?………….a tee-shirt and key ring…. True. We did win US$30.00 on the Roulette the other night……last of the big gamblers here...lol.

We’ve finally completed putting the clocks forward one hour each day and I think we’re on Singapore time now.  Since we left New Orleans we have had at least 10 time changes putting our watches one hour forward. They only do it on a sea day and at midday but when we have been going ashore we’ve been asked to keep our watches on ‘ship time’ so as everyone gets back to the ship on time. I must say no-one has delayed the departure of the ship in any ports on this leg of the voyage possibly because the last place anyone would want to be left behind would be Egypt or India…. ;).

Karaoke has been huge they’ve had to hold it in Cleopatra’s which is a big lounge. There are some great singers.  Barbara from the UK who is also on our Trivia Team sings beautifully.  I was asking her about her singing and she was saying she used to be a resident singer on the QEll.

Last day for progressive Trivia tomorrow, did you notice I haven’t mentioned it recently?  I would have if we were winning…….. J

Tomorrow, our last sea for the voyage and the day before we reach Penang.

DAY 36 at sea 

The ship is still buzzing in conversation about Cochin. So many really enjoyed the city and its people.

The outside temperature is still very hot and humid and the seas continue to be smooth apart from the odd bump now and then as if we have just run over something on the road. We are current cruising around the bottom of Sri Lanka.

Everyone is enjoying the days at sea, especially after being ashore in such heat which is quite exhausting and we’ve had extreme heat since we began sailing through the Suez canal which seems like ages ago.

The ship is still undergoing refurbishment here and there. They are re-carpeting the cabins at 20 per day. The RCL brand shop has been closed for refurbishment since Barcelona which I think is pretty poor. Many like to purchase the Logo merchandise and not all the merchandise has  been on offer as it was on our first leg of the cruise from New Orleans to Barcelona when the shop was open. Many are not happy about this considering they managed to refurbish the Casino including adding new tables and slot machines in 7 days, yet it has taken 3 weeks so far to refurbish the shop and it’s still not finished.  Everyone understands maintenance has to occur during cruises but you would think the Management on board would ensure that the work is done in a timely and efficient manner so as not to affect the guests for too long. The word is the left hand doesn’t always know what the right hand is doing on here, and I must say those words are mild compared to what some are saying. The only thing that matters seems to be the Asia market.  We just hope the Asian market respect this wonderful refurbishment and trust it still looks as good as new when the ship arrives in Australia for its season. They have taken on many Asian crew  which is  good for the Asian market but sometimes proving very difficult for a ship with the majority being English speaking especially when Trivia is conducted in English by an Asian speaker who can’t be understood as their pronunciation is not good so it ends up with everyone asking for the words to be spelled out, and even that makes a bad situation worse.  I must point out our Progressive Trivia is taken by the Activities Manager who is English speaking and he is excellent and a lot of fun. 

The most laughable everyone will have seen on here is beautiful photographs taken by the ships photographers whilst we were at the Pyramids.  Printed at the bottom of each person’s photo, which is available for purchase is “The Pyramids of the DESSERT” not ’DESERT’ J. I hope they offered to reprint them for those who wanted to purchase them.

The introduction of the DreamWorks characters has been successful.  We are the first ship to have these characters, and I must say they’re very big but quite cute.  In the future for those travelling with families Royal Caribbean have introduced for the children and their parents breakfast with Shrek, Fiona, Puss in Boots and others in the main dining room a couple of times each cruise. The menu is specific to the characters and they are all there to entertain and be photographed during breakfast.

Gordon Whatman our Cruise Director has worked for 22 years for Royal Caribbean.  He has such charisma and a wonderful sense of humour, has everyone in fits of laughter everywhere he goes and he’s an ‘out there’ Cruise Director and can been seen all around the ship. He even has a ‘chat with the Cruise Director’ at 10.00am every morning in the Pig and Whistle which is very popular.

Early afternoon yesterday we had an airline get together.  A guy by the name of Blair put a little notice up on the board asking if there were any others who had worked or currently work for an airline and from that about 12 of us turned up for a chat. We had a couple of Qantas ex airport Managers, a retired American Airline Pilot, Ansett/TAA staff, Delta staff all retired and ourselves Air New Zealand. Tomorrow we are meeting for lunch in the dining room.

A tip for those booking on Deck 6, we are able to get an internet connection from our Cabin…yay. The Guest Relations staff who are all an excellent bunch  are very helpful with any internet problems or any other problems you may encounter on the ship. We’ve had no problems at all except for some internet issues which they have rectified for us promptly.

Tomorrow is at sea cruising toward Penang Malaysia.

DAY 35 in Cochin, India

We docked early at 7.00am at the cargo port. There is not a Passenger Terminal here.   Before disembarking we were all required to do a face to face with the Indian Immigration Officers who had boarded the ship. A Visa is required for everyone visiting India.  Once the formalities were completed we were able to disembark the ship.  We weren’t in a hurry so took our time and finally went ashore around 9.45am. Two of our barmen we’ve got to know well were with us and they spoke Hindi to a couple of people who advised us to get our TukTuk from outside the gates of the port as they’re much cheaper. He was right, it was heaps cheaper and we ended up with a wonderful 5 hour tour of Kochi (Cochin in English) for US$20.00 for the two of us. Our driver, Sanjesh was in his 40’s married with three children.  Were learnt that within the first 5 minutes. He had an arranged marriage and was introduced to his bride at the age of 19. We left it in his hands to show us around and I must say he showed us everything there is to see in Cochin. Being a Sunday it was very busy everywhere and the traffic was horrific with absolutely no road rules whatsoever.  I have never seen so many buses, cars, the odd truck and other TukTuks head on before!  Somehow at the last minute all turns out well and everyone squeezes into the narrow road.

We saw some homes of the very rich and some existences of the very poor, and there’s quite a few of the latter. Even visited a laundry operated by very poor people, it looked more like a cowshed with many stalls where men and women were hand washing, sheets, towels, clothes and tablecloths from hotels.  They get paid a pittance, something like 20c for one sheet. Then they also have to iron them as well with antique irons that weigh 7kgs but they iron perfectly. The clothesline where everything is hung out to dry would be an area as big as football field. They looked so hot standing there washing and ironing in the humid conditions with the temperature today reaching 39C. We continued our TukTuk tour visiting the Army and Navy Barracks, churches, museums, the famous traditional fishing nets, and stopping at various shops along the way. Our purchases were very cheap and there’s a huge choice of everything.

We were TukTuking along another narrow street when our driver suddenly turned down this little driveway only just the width of his TukTuk with the side mirrors turned in.  We began to wonder where he was taking us when suddenly here we are outside his house and there’s his wife, three children, 86 year old Father and his sister all there to greet us. Next thing they’re offering us Indian Coffee, Jack Fruit and a pastry thing, no idea what it was. Roy the brave, ate and drank what was on offer, I’m a bit dubious about eating in India so managed to gracefully decline. Their daughter aged 12 appeared with Indian make up for my eyes and before I knew it I looked like someone out of a Bollywood Movie. J They were very welcoming and interested to hear about our life compared to theirs. They didn’t have a computer; you have to be quite wealthy to be able to afford the internet in India. Made me remember or should I say cringe at all the calls I’ve answered at home from India talking to me about my computer!!! 

We took photos of this happy family as they proudly showed us their little home. Then it was time to go, so off we went in our little TukTuk once again.  This time to a little area called Jew town, an old town full of tiny little shops where Tailors are making their clothes to sell.  I bought a pair of white pants for only US$2.00 and Roy two shirts for US$18.00, shirts are more expensive because they have button holes we were told.

Our driver was prepared to stop wherever we wanted him too, and that included the times when I’d say “that shop looks interesting” and suddenly we would come to a screeching halt holding up all the other traffic so we could get out and look in that shop. J

Before arriving in Cochin we were pre-warned that it wasn’t a nice place by some who had visited before but I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s full of character and history and the people waved and said hello everywhere we went.  Even the people on the zillions of motor scooters managed a wave and a hello whilst they dodged in and out of the traffic.  Somehow they can fit 4 to one scooter….easily!! No Helmets required here. In comparison it was so much cleaner than both Alexandria and Cairo.

As we re-boarded the ship at the end of our tour we felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit this most Southern city in India. 

As I sit out on the balcony typing this we are just about ready to sail and I can hear the chanting from the Mosques calling the Muslims to prayer at 6.00pm. In all the countries of the East we’ve visited on this voyage we’ve heard the chanting from the Mosques booming out at goodness knows what decibels. You could never ever say you didn’t go to prayer because you didn’t hear the call….lol

The predominant religion in Cochin is Catholic and the balance Muslim. Same goes for Goa as well. Whereas Egypt, Jordon and the United Arab Emirates are predominately Muslim.

What a great day exploring Kochi (Cochin) and well worth it too.

Tomorrow we are at sea en-route to Penang.