Norwaylady

I’m on the same sailing as you. if you are in the retreat, you could go there and they escorted you off in Mumbai. You still needed to stand in line for immigration. They did the same in Cochin if needed. They delivered a letter (same morning as arrival). And they don’t have a red carpet on return. But in Mumbai, we just raised our cruise cards and we were told to just go in front of the line for boarding the ship. as for Phuket, its tender operation. You can again just ask the retreat and you will get priority to go off the ship. If you are Elite or higher in Captain Club, you have priority tender in Phuket.

Negombo beach 🏖️ Not a bad choice. Just saying…. So, we meet in the theatre 07.45. By 08.00 we had board the bus to Negombo beach. It’s only 30km to Negombo. But roads are not great. So it takes time…. We used 1h to and 1h 05 back. The poorest condition of the road is the port area. The port is 16km long. So a big port! Back to our tour😎 The drive has a view of the area. There’s lots of wild birds and constructions going up. In Negombo we were taken to JetWing Blue. JetWing is a hotel chain. They have several hotels in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰. Hotel is ranked as 5*. It’s located on the beach and has a nice pool. It was sun loungers to everyone in the hotel area by the pool. Lunch was a buffet style and included a beer or soft drink. Buffet was food from Sri Lanka, India, continental, Chinese and sandwich station. The dessert table was local dessert and international. We started the day at the beach 🏖️ The fishermen was harvesting the nets during the first hours of our visit. So we could follow the process from start to finish. IMG_1303.mov IMG_1310.mov IMG_1317.mov Big nets are taken out as a half moon. And they drag it in from each end. They have tractors to help dragging the nets in. Someone is following the nets by kayak/canoe from the water. They catch sardines, herring and flounder. It’s a fun process to overlook. We took a swim in the ocean. Lovely temperature❤️👍🏻 almost as a bathtub. After our beach adventure, we moved over to the pool area. Lunch was served from 12.30. Departure to the ship was 14.00 We arrived back by the ship 15.05. A decent tour and okey way to spend the day. Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 seems like a really cool country for further exploring! We need to come back and do a land tour. A safari tour is definitely on my wish list.

Rise & Shine from port of Colombo, 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka. This is a industrial port, so it was full action during the night. We are going on a ship tour. Meeting time 07.45. Beach tour to Negombo. Negombo is the beach resort area, about 45.minutes outside of Colombo. Tourist loves to stay in this area for sun, beach and relaxation. Fingers crossed for the weather and that it will be a great day😎🤩👍🏻 Breakfast ordered by the paperwork.

Cruise Compass day 8, Colombo

Tonight’s dinner was Luminae. We had asked yesterday if we could get something a bit more spicy 🌶️ and leaning towards India….🇮🇳 Either vegetarian or chicken. Today’s menu: Chefs taste We had our Indian food😋 Chefs Choice it tasted really good 👍🏻 plates was wiped clean😋😋😋 It was a tandoori chicken, papadums and spicy mango chutney. For dessert we had the chocolate soufflé and macaroon. Both was a perfect ending to our evening.

We have visited Singapore twice. So this time we are arriving in the morning by ship and fly home in the afternoon🙃 need to go back to work on Monday morning😅

we can’t do anything about the weather☔️😂 I had my umbrella and camera in hand👍🏻 skilled for ☔️☔️☔️ days photos😂 The light was my biggest concern before departure of the tour… I knew the timing was not great for daylights🫠 (I have a feeling shorex gets the hardest round😅🙄) Lucky us, we have a new day tomorrow for adventure❤️

Welcome to Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 Meeting time was 15.15 in the theatre. Our ship was cleared close to 16.00. So we walked off into our bus and guide around 16.00. The bus was taking us from the port area to the old town. This port is BIG. It’s a Chinese transit port. So it’s lots of containers and activities 24/7. Back to our tour! X walking tour means many people, 25+. Guide did a great job. But the premise of the tour was really not optimal in any ways. Since we docked later, the remaining time in daylight was minimal. This meant problems for foto of buildings and details. Next issue was a Sunday evening… Market was closed since it was late. And to top it off, cricket final is today. Sri Lanka is a cricket country! So everyone was home watching final and everything closed all over old town. Ghost town👻👻 Since we had a large group, it was hard for people to hear him. And after the tour started, it began to rain ☔️ So lots of odds against our guide😵‍💫 Very sorry for him🫠 We walked by the mosque outside, it’s very special from outside. No market, closed. We went onward to old town/fortress. Lots of colonial buildings and details. it’s a lighthouse But lights were not on(not installed). So detailed and everything, but not very visible. We continued to the hospital. It’s a restaurant area. There we had a beer 🍺 for everyone. a happy ☔️ camper 🍺 but guess! It gets better… Cheers to my non-beer drinking wife😂❤️🍺🍺 Then it was back to the ship. We passed security screening onboard 18.45, so not a very long tour.

What to do? Weather was not the best this morning.. showers and windy. Luckily it cleared up a little more from 06.00 until 11.00. So I could go for my walking outdoor😌👍🏻 After my walking tour we decided that a tour in the hut tub was a great idea🙃 So we walked to an empty Retreat pool deck😎 A little drizzle, cloudy and spots of blue skies cocktail🌥️🌧️☁️ Perfect for a dip😌 After changing and drying off, we decided that a little walk and the Sri Lanka themed buffet was a good idea. Since we are going for a walk in the city centre of Colombo. They had Sri Lankan cake, desserts, rice, curry, fish, pork, chicken and vegetables. I had a taste of the cinnamon rice and chicken curry. It tasted really good. Mr had some stir fry and devils pork from the Sri Lanka selection. If you can’t find anything to eat in OceanViev…. You are really not hungry😅 Today we are doing a walking tour by the ship. Exploring Old Colombo on foot. Tour says 4h duration, strenuous and you need to be able to walk on uneven surfaces.

We started our day in Luminae! Yes, Mr was up😊 Mr had some fruit and eggs. I had my usual yoghurt, berries and my cereal😊 No letter or announcement was made before Captain Matts 10.00 announcement. We are delayed into Sri Lanka. New arrival 16.00. They have put on a matinee show 14.00. Charlie Pottery & Stephen Barry. We are booked on ship tours for both days. So as of now, we just breathe in and say Namaste❤️ We knew already during dinner yesterday that the distance and time was running out. We have sailed for full engines. But we left too late from Cochin. Yes, it’s not fun for anyone. And it makes lots of problems for people🙄🫣 But this is life🫡 Don’t go crazy on the crew and yelling at them! We have witnessed some really nasty comments about all our fantastic crew that was allowed to have family onboard during our stops in India. Not everyone found it approved that we had visitors onboard. Personally I found it very nice and I know this is a very highly wish for the crew. It’s not often this happens❤️ I meet a lovely Indian lady and a little toddler (same age as captain Matts daughter) in the stairs on the sea day between Mumbai and Cochin. I was going up for my walk in aft stairs and she asked me if I new where to find Luminae. I told her you are on the correct deck, but you are aft and need to proceed to the front of the ship. Then you can find it😌 She was so happy I told her and pointed where to walk. On my walk, I saw the lady, the crew and the toddler out on deck taking pictures. You could see that it means a lot for them🥹 (and this lady belongs to a crew in Luminae🥰) Make the best of it❤️

So, a very good morning from the ocean! We did leave port of Cochin late yesterday…. We left around 22.40 ish… So many hours over departure time. It was no notification or any info after departure. We left port so late that elementary math told us, that we really need to speed up and still it will be hard to get to Sri Lanka on time🙄 Well, a quick look on speed, distance to Sri Lanka…. Tells me that we will probably not be docked before 14.30 local time at least. We have 130.6nm left to Sri Lanka and we are sailing at a speed around 21.5-21.7.

❤️ Thank you Mr love the opportunity to have a date by the ducks 🦆 More then that, I will not say yet🙃

Disembarkation Sri Lanka

CruiseCompass Day 7 Sri Lanka

Tonight’s show is production show Kaleidoscope. We decided that we would skip the show tonight. We wanted to just land our wonderful day a bit❤️ Our passports was delivered to the retreat as asked. Fingers crossed for smooth process in 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka. So we took a shower and took it slowly before we headed to the Retreat for a pre dinner cocktail 🍹. We had all onboard 16.30 and sail-away 18.00. Well, lest just say we hit a snug in the machinery… It’s 22.15 and we still haven’t left port of Cochin🫣 Well, back to our evening! We had a pre-dinner cocktail in the retreat. Cheers to a great adventure in India 🇮🇳🥂 ( what is going on? Some people are sitting on their phones watching reels or tv shows LOUDLY🙄🙄🙄🙄 in public in the retreat) Not to be Ms Trunchbull from Mathilda…. But WHY? Well, after a pre-dinner cocktail we decided it was time for dinner… We asked for a window table, since we still were in port. Request approved😉 Today’s menu: chefs surprise Mr had the crudo, lamb taco and New York strip. I had the crudo and lamb taco. all tasted well😋 Tonight’s dessert menu: We went for ice cream 🍦 Raspberry and vanilla gelato😋 Mr asked for a dessert fernet bianca😅 they didn’t find it asap… so a Cognac was dropped off😅

Passport Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

For those wondering about coverage on phone/prices…. Norway has nothing like T-Mobil world plan or anything like this for outside Europe for us. But you have Airalo e-sim🤩👍🏻 working like a clock for travel. Just download the app, and you are good to go anywhere in the world I booked an Indian data sim 10$ 5gb. https://www.airalo.com So that’s how I have had internet in India 🇮🇳

🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 Do we like India? YES We loved this teaser of incredible 🇮🇳 India. 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🤍 We need to come back for more! For us, this is okay 👍🏻 But I do fully understand and respect that this is not a destination for everyone. You need to think about this before you go. It’s not USA, the Caribbean or Mediterranean. It’s Asia at its best🩷❤️🧡💛 Controlled chaos😝😂🤩

Kerala- Cochin🇮🇳 Breakfast by room service order form: Our ship was cleared from local authorities a little over 08.00. We were downstairs and ready to go off, but we got “stuck” for 5.mins on the destination deck. After getting off the gangway we had a welcoming party on the pier. The local tv, folkloric outfits etc. Today we had a new private tour by Lijo. Today’s program was a boat trip, the famous Chinese fishing nets, church visit, lunch, Deutsch palace and a little shopping time. We started by the boat trip. The harbour cruise was 2h. It takes you around the islands of Cochin and you see fishing nets, fishermen, birds and houses. It’s a very busy harbour/sea way. So lots of things going on. We boarded at one pier and was docking by the Chinese fishing nets. Forth Cochin. From the fisherman’s nets, we walked by the ocean to the church, St Francis. It’s Vasco-da Gama place of burial before he was moved home to Portugal 🇵🇹 After our church visit, it was time for “Hige Tea”. Our guide told us in the morning that hige tea was swooped for Indian buffet. They took us to Fragrant Nature Kochi. It’s a lovely hotel and its a hidden gem from outside looking….🤩 Buffet was different Indian dishes, sweets and currie dishes. We eat lemon fish and vegetable korma. All tasted excellent and fresh. Mr had his 🍺 by lunch. After the lunch it was time to go to the Dutch palace. Deutsch palace (The synagogue is their neighbour) Is very hidden/not visible. The ceiling is really worth a view and the carrier carts for women. The big thing are the pictures on the walls (no photos) After the palace it was a little time to walk the streets for shopping. Then it was back to port. We arrived the port 15.45 and after 4.mins! YES 4.minutes thru security, immigration for stamping out and ready to walk the gangway! This was for everyone when we arrived. That went smoothly🤩❤️👍🏻

It said clearly: read the paperwork for immigration…. Well, not in bed or in mailbox before during the night😝 Welcome to Cochin! We are soon docked🙂

cruise compass day 6- Cochin

After some downtime and just enjoying the balcony I had notified on my “will attend” list today: the 2025 release European cruises in Eden at 16.00. Well, I was really surprised and a bit underwhelmed of this “thing” One from NextCruise was walking out printed lists of the new releases for Europe 2025 and that was it…. I really thought they had something more going on…. No talking, no, no, no, nothing…. If you wanted to reserve or confirm something. You need to go to NextCruise🙄 What happened to a little more action? Oh well….. I returned to our stateroom to get ready and pick up Mr🥰 We went to sunset to see if the sunset was a winner tonight. It was a hazy red sunset. We continued onward to the retreat. It was quiet and not much going on tonight. Tonight’s show is Chaw, trumpet player from Thailand 🇹🇭 together by the orchestra. He has earlier play onboard as a trumpet player in Summit and Infinity orchestra. And as the orchestra leader. He played Louis Armstrong songs. Orchestra was really able to shot off their skills🥰🎶🎶🎶 👍🏻 After the show, we went to the famous YES/NO gameshow in the club. Dom & Giuseppe was ready to tackle the guests🤣🤣🤣 It’s hilarious 😆 After getting some belly workout, it was time for dinner. We went upstairs to Luminae. Today’s menu: Chefs taste: Mr had the lamb chops for starter and we ordered lobster and a veal for dinner. I went for the ceviche to kick off the evening. The lamb chops was very dead (overdone) The ceviche tasted good. The lobster was good. The butter is very tasty and gives a very soft sweetness to the lobster. The veal was excellent cooked and tasted perfectly for veal. The sauce accompanied was not killing the taste of the veal and a very good dish. For the dessert: We went for Sundae and the lemon mascarpone cream Mr said that the Sundae was the best choice for dessert🙂

Congratulations on your anniversary🥳 and Bon Voyage 🤩 Looking forward to your adventure🥰

Sea day! What is the the plan? Sitt back, relax and enjoy! I went for breakfast in Luminae around 09.20. Mr was sleeping 💤 I wanted natural yoghurt and fresh berries. (No fresh berries in OCV🍓🫐 only some half frozen watery strawberries) And real OJ. So off I went for breakfast for 1❤️ I had my coffee, yoghurt, berries and OJ. After breakfast I went downstairs to see if it was starting to be some movement in bed…. Mr was starting to open his eyes 👀 So I changed into walking outfit and went for my walk. I told Mr to take his time… I will come to the retreat area in about 1h 20.mins… Hopefully I see you😎 I set off on my walk😎 Perfect temp and a bit hazy. I was walking around in my speed. And I know this is a bit controversial… (we all know everyone has a fart or two💨 even the Queen😅) As I was walking/speeding my laps, a man in front of me was really “letting go”🤭 not a little wind…... A really 😱😱😱: Sir, do you need toilet paper 🧻 and I assumed he would rush away to the toilet….. This didn’t just happen once or twice😳 but 3 times as I passed him on different rounds😳😳😳 The pool attendant walking by on the 2 💨 wind looked at me and then straight into the ocean 😳😳😳🫢🫣 In this situation I do understand that you need to went through…. But in public, loudly🫢🫣 on the jogging track in prime time? Maybe not🤔🤔🤔 Please rethink it a bit… So after my walking tour I meet Mr in the Retreat pool area. He was seated comfortable in a sun lounger reading 📖 So I joined him for some relaxing time in the shade😎 Around 12.45 Mr said I need some breakfast/lunch… So we moved to a dinner table. Mr was ready for “bring it on” 🍺 Guinness & burger 🍔 I wanted some fresh fruit 🍉 After the little lunch date I was ready to go downstairs…

So back to yesterday…. I went to the Indian dance show and Mr dated the ducks 🦆 So we agreed to meet afterwards for dinner. We went to Luminae close to 21.00 it was several other late dinners😊 Today’s menu: On this set they have several options for fish/seafood compared to yesterday. Great👍🏻 Chefs delight I wanted the Tuna Ingot and the green salad. Mr had the seafood veloute and the black bass. All tasted good, the black bass was perfectly cooked. Dessert menu: We asked for sorbets, since it was 2 types on the dessert menu😋 Strawberry and Hibiscus. We got an extra bowl of mint chocolate sorbet😅 since I had asked on day 1 if they would have/do the after eight ice cream. The hibiscus sorbet was really perfect😋