Norwaylady

Letter on the door: Eveyone must fill out the digital landing card to Sri Lanka. This is the landing card I filled out 2days ago.

Cruise Compass Day 5, Sea Day

I / we see this as a teaser to 🇮🇳 India. There are some really incredible destinations/things to see and do in India. One thing is the pictures, but it’s so many details when you walk around and see things live. Just the railway station outside is a masterpiece in details. You can heavy feel the influence of the British empire. On the same side you have the Indian culture. It’s a potpourri of things. We only scratched on the surface of Mumbai yesterday. And it will be the same in Cochin. But it is a warning by going to India…. I totally respect those that would not like India or find it incredible❤️ the culture is very different, how things work, food, level of life etc. So it’s not for everyone. Personally I felt safe, I felt “home” and my inner drive is to we need to see more of India. We have visited several places around the world and I have travelled alone as a female. So I do have places/areas not tempting me or I really need to think twice about going…. We have visited China several times, after first visit I was not “sold” but not NO-go…. We have visited again and again…. But after our last visit I had a really bad taste in my mouth. I felt it after a few hours, this is my last visit for a long time. So I do have places that I don’t feel for🙄

So our “Street Food” was in Sea Lounge on Taj. link to the menu of Sea Lounge: https://www.tajhotels.com/content/dam/restaurants/taj-mahal-palace-tower/festive-sea-lounge-menu-dinner-2023.pdf We had no clue how much food a small plate was and we do eat Indian at home from time to time….( it’s my ultimate favourite ❤️) We ordered: Samosa Chaat - a touch of sting from spicy Pani Puri -You add the mint and seasoning water inside the pieces just before you eat. (So they keep crispy and fresh) Not spicy, a round minty taste. Bhel Puri -Puff Rice and coriander. A bit sweet and flavour from seasoning. Not spicy It’s all vegetarian dishes. It tasted really good😋😋 The samosas was really🤩 The last samosa I had in Bergen (on an Indian restaurant) was pale in comparison😝

Indian show They were supposed to do an Indian show for guests staying onboard 16.00 in the theatre. Due to logistical difficulties in immigration etc the show was postponed to 19 and 20.30. So it would be tonight’s head entertainment. They announced it just after we returned. So I run thru the shower and changed clothes. (Mr said he needed a date by the 🦆 ducks 🦆) I was downstairs to 18.50 ish and the line to the theatre was long and not opened yet. They needed a few more minutes before they could let people in and preforming. Closer to 19.15 it was time to hit the show on the road. It was an Indian dance, music, folklore show.

Mumbai as local by Lijo After our bumpy start of the day, it was time to put it behind and focus on WELCOME to 🇮🇳 INDIA! (I have waited for this in a long time) We had a group of 15.guests in our mini bus. (Due to immigration and timing they decided to send us off in a group of 15. Rather than waiting for the next people. Okey for everyone. They had 5 mini buses of people) Our guide did a great job and we had nothing to complain or worry about. We had a person on our bus wearing a walking plaster…. Not a good decision to attend this tour. Guide really did the best of facilitating. Keep in mind we are in India🤔 Back to tour, we started the day in Dhobi Ghat, laundry district👖👚👖 After our walk and visit we continued onward to Gate of India. A bit hazy view. We had drive by thru the art deco district, colonial houses and different buildings of statements. From Gate of India we continued to the spice market. All you need for cooking, pets, toiletries etc…We stopped underway to see the train station from outside. From the market we continued to Gandis house. It was literally a full house😝 (all cruise passengers and other tourists) From Ghandi we went to the botanical garden for a view of the beaches and have a look. We did stop at the train station for pictures. The details on the building is really a study of its own. From her it went for a lunch stop for the group. Mr & I had planned that we could go to Taj Mahal to visit the Sea Lounge. So we had something to drink and just relax. You see??? A Kingfisher 🍺🍺🍺 You paid/ordered lunch by your self. The place our guide took us seemed nice. After the lunch it was time for a visit to a shop. They took the group to a fancy store close to Taj/Gate of India. Perfect for us🙌🏻 We left the group and walked over Taj Mahal. This hotel is fabulous🤩 the details inside the building, the personal touch and the overall impression was really good. We had blinked out Sea Lounge as our designated place for food in Mumbai. It’s live music by pianist during afternoon tea from 14-18.00. We went for Indian street food😋 (the afternoon tea tower looked amazing🤩) We didn’t regret that! It tasted so good😋😋😋 We ordered 3 small plates. Believe me, it was lots of food😅 Service and everything was perfect🥰 After our street food bonanza it was time to start our journey back to the port. Our guide was happy that we wanted to walk back. But he gave me his number and asked us to please send a message on WhatsApp when we returned to the ship😇 (as the good guy Mr are, we did text him😉) The walk from Taj hotel to port is only 30.minutes according to gps and a flat walk 2,4km. We had a great time walking as a local😊 Watching windows, people and take in everything🤩🥰 my favourite ❤️ We returned to port around 17.30. It was a long line to enter the ship. People looked tired after the day. I went in line. It’s only 1 gangway and crew signing on and family of Indian crew was leaving the ship after the visit🥰( our stateroom attendant had his 2 daughters and grand child on visiting. It’s the first time in his career at sea that he had the opportunity to have relatives onboard) So it was a logical traffic jam of people walking on/off😂😂 Mr walked up front asked if we needed to stand in line, since other suite card holders just walked straight past the line…. They said please come up front😁 Mr was running back… come on! No need to wait, we have the magic cards🤣🤣🤣 Well, what happens…. We are let thru and told to follow on the group of people they just sent up the gangway. A couple and a man started shouting at security and cursing at us. Yelling at us: you don’t own culture, you lousy queue sneak’s! The people behind us from the line standing on the gangway loudly dedicated how bad we behave and that we really deserved to vanish from the surface of the earth….🫠 Overall a great day! 🇮🇳 as the tourist slogan says: incredible 🇮🇳 India

We had a smooth process in immigration today! according to fellow passengers while waiting in line to the theatre, it was a light nightmare after we left🫣 The entertainment from India that was supposed to entertain at 16.00 on the ship, couldn’t walk onboard as planned due to Indian immigration/paperwork inspection etc. I know from a family member as @Shiba_Lover describes❤️ I will come back to it later😉

Yes, we are in 🇮🇳 India! So the process of getting our landing cards/information/ALL paperwork necessary for immigration was not approved. Big 🤯😳 chaos! We had no information or paperwork on our door/room by 23.30 last night. This morning at 06.30 we had received landing cards (the yellow card) on our door. But now other information or other things. Room service arrived by breakfast as ordered between 06.30-07.00. It was on the door 06.50. It’s Japanese style serving in our stateroom😂😂😂 (don’t recommend non-flex people to sit like this😅) Breakfast was okay. Omelette was hot and bread nicely toasted. The yoghurt was red fruit something. (Same as in buffet) Not my favourite. Melon was good. (I was supposed to go down to Al Bacio to get coffee…. But it was a bit stressful and frustrating that we hadn’t received ANY letter and information how to proceed today) So we decided to have breakfast quickly and go upstairs to the Retreat to see what’s the arrangements… When we were ready to leave 07.25 we had received 2 more papers on our door. The important information about how to process immigration today( go to the retreat between 07.30-10.00) and a copy of my visa, not Mr (but I was prepared🤓 had 2x printed copies of each visas for both of us! Since we assumed that the ship wanted 1x copies of each visa to collect on check in) NO arrival card delivered to room or mailbox outside of the door! We went upstairs to the retreat and was walked downstairs to the gangway. It was on deck 4 and the gangway was steeper than usual… so was is a problem if you are not able to walk well. The terminal is under construction. So it’s only set up immigration desk’s and the rest is a pure construction site. We went in line and it was slowly moving forward. I was starting to get a little worried… I spy «ugler i mosen» as the Norwegian say… What does it mean? Ugler i mosen means 'owls in the moss' and is a phrase Norwegians use to say that something is 'fishy'. Her er det ugler i mosen.. - There's something fishy going on here. Jeg aner ugler i mosen! - I smell a rat! Because all people around us had the passports, the yellow landing card AND a small other paper filled out…. Hmmmmmm 🤔🤔🤔🤔 (My inner airline employee came rushing🥸) Our turn in immigration….. Sir Madam! Where is your arrival card for passengers? 🫡🫥 No arrival card was delivered to our room. Only the yellow landing card. So it was missing an important paper! We were escorted to the entrance of the terminal by a worker and after 5.mins one of the local employees handed us 2 arrival cards to fill out. I filled them out asap and we walked back in line. The person escorting us back to the entrance spotted us and took us back to the front of the immigration line🙏🏻🙏🏻 After taking our picture, leaving finger prints and check of the yellow card and delivery of the arrival card, we where cleared🙌🏻 India 🇮🇳 Our tour had meeting point just outside of the terminal. Same place as X tours picked up. We had a shared tour by Lijo.

CruiseCompass Day 4. Mumbai, India 23.30 haven’t received any information about tomorrow morning or landing cards.

I always put cream and then jam😉

Just a big reminder for everyone! It was a small notification I. The cruise compass Day 1. WiFi/star link is not working in India. So no WiFi tomorrow or in Cochin. (I will be back😜)

Tonight’s show is Jo Rochell. Theatre was full of people but a little dead…. Orchestra delivered a great presentation and it was a good show. We went to the club after the show. It was officers vs guests game show. Great fun and the officers lost😝 (they need to play more beer pong🤣) We went for dinner after the game show. Originally they wanted us to sit on the dreaded I-95 exit table…. My eyes and Mr convinced the seating service to offer us a table on the opposite side, so we still was in I-95 but not in the exit…. Fair enough. Today’s menu: chefs tasting Mr wanted the pig, kale and cod. I went for short rib and lasagna. Mr was very happy. (He had a full 7-course meal by the end of the day😂😂) For me, the dinner set was blah….. It’s a very “male” set. Nothing appealing to me from start. Mr said all his food tasted good. I was not sold in many ways…. It’s no Fish/seafood starter and the cod on the main course it’s not to tempting (tomato base) My short rib for starter was tender as butter… but nothing spectacular. My lasagna was so blend in taste. Really lacking flavour in my opinion. Mr likes the short rib and likes less flavour the me. Dessert menu: I had the hazelnut cake and Mr the chocolate napoleon. The dessert was the highlight of my meal. It was no letter on our bed or by the door when we returned to our stateroom after dinner…. 22.20…. We called guest relations…. Looooooong wait. They said frenetic you will receive letters and landing cards 23.00. Well…. No paperwork on the door 23.00… So I think it will be a fun day tomorrow🤪🤪🤪 We haven’t heard a word of how things will be tomorrow. CD Guiseppe had a call out to all public areas around 13.00 today. He said everyone will receive landing cards and all information in their stateroom soon… Well, soon in my opinion is before I go to bed🥸 We have ordered breakfast on the paperwork and crossing fingers that things will go smoothly… We do have a tour tomorrow private. It has meeting time 08.30.

Mr wanted a swim by the ducks 🦆 I decided that the matinee show by Stephen Barry was a great option🥰 So I run downstairs to get there in time 14.30. The show on Monday was 🤩😆🎶 And again, great show! The orchestra is doing a fantastic job🎶🎶 Even as a matinee it’s a full house. After the show I went upstairs to find Mr in the tub…. He was still having a date by the ducks 🦆 I said I wanted a little snack before dinner. Had only some fruit earlier, so need something to snack on….. We ran upstairs to the retreat to try out the afternoon tea. We made it by 2.minutes😅 They have their version of buffet Afternoon tea. It’s scones, some sandwiches and something sweet. I tested the salmon bread, chicken empanada and scones. It all tasted good 👍🏻 Mr tried a salami sandwich bite and tomato mozzarella. He said it was 👍🏻

Oh, what a comfy lounger😎 A little halfway 😴😴😴 nap enjoying the front view and the sound I enjoy on S & M class🥰 (you see where I usually go🙃) Our arrival cards for Sri Lanka is filled out. https://eservices.immigration.gov.lk/emb/eEmbarkation/'#/home-page You need your passport number and last name. (Remember you must have a visa already, it’s connected to your visa application) Very easy, straight forward to fill out. Enter date of arrival, ship name and port of Colombo. And your initials. Mine is ABRB🙃 and Mr JO After it’s registered, you get a email. It contains your reference number: We had some fruit and Mr wanted to try a drink🙃 Cheers to a great day so far😎

After breakfast it was closer to 10…. So we went downstairs to get ready for a trip outside. I was quickly ready and said to Mr that I will go and collect the passports. Remember…. We received this letter on the bed last night: Pickup location AFT staircase your deck. and then a similar letter during the night, telling us to collect the passports in the Retreat area. Off I went to the Retreat! Oh my….. A big group of people standing inside🤪🤪🤪🤪 I know it’s more suites on E-class but are everyone in Retreat? Then the error started… 50% off the people in line was not Retreat guests. They had received the letter we received during the night on their bed last night. Instructions stated that they would collect their passports in the Retreat lounge🤪🤪 So wrong letter, to wrong staterooms… So then the “party” of trouble was on🤪 A man in front of me refused to accept that he needed to go downstairs to his floor to get the passports. So he physically needed to be escorted downstairs to his pickup point from one of the employees in the retreat. Our passports was waiting in the box. I could see them…😇 They are red, so very easy to detect in a boxed filled by blue NZ, Australien and USA passports😎

So, I was an early riser today. at 06.00 it was impossible to sleep 💤 So I had the newspaper and stretch my time in bed until 7.00. I forgot to say, yesterday evening we had received the “captain’s club” flower 🌹 We had a letter on our door. It was a new letter for passports… This one said we need to collect passports in the retreat. I went for a walk from 07.20 to 08.20. A bit windy in some areas of the walking track💨 but excellent temperature. After finishing my walking, it was time to say: Good Morning Mr! It’s time to rise & shine🤩 Mr understood that it was wise to get out of bed before 09.30…. So he could join me for breakfast in Luminae. We went for breakfast at 09.15. Breakfast menu: I asked for plain yogurt and berries (YES, finally) and my lovely “cat pellets” went together by it🥰 Mr had a grapefruit, blueberry smoothie and the crépe. They walked pastries around. So Mr decided that we needed to try croissant and the pistachio pastries. All tasted well and everything was fresh.

Yesterday during the mingling in the retreat, we had to ask about breakfast… Do we order by the phone or by the paper form? We had searched the stateroom for an order form…. But couldn’t find a thing😝 Janelle said the best option is if it’s planned, use the paperwork. Otherwise you need to wait until it’s ready after you call room service… So she said she would notify our stateroom attendant to deliver paperwork for orders. It was on the bed last night. It’s the same as in concierge cabins. I don’t know if we must pay for premium delivery? As for coffee…. We don’t have a butler. So I really think it’s something you need to go downstairs or up to OceanViev Al Bacio to get…. Or the Retreat lounge self service.

Cruise Compass Day 3 Sea Day 2. Time change +30.min. We are now on Indian time. Letter for passport delivery for us that had our passports taken in Dubai. And information for those who don’t have visas in order.

So tonight’s show was Feel the Funk. Production show. Captain Matt had the pleasure of welcoming new and old guests tonight before the show. We went back (since this is the same show as last cruise) The cast was more on 🔥 fire this night( don’t know if it is the champagne kicking in😂) But Mr also addressed it. The cast was even more on target tonight❤️ We had made a game plan for tonight. Eat later than yesterday! Hopefully the crowd has left the building and it will be a little calmer👍🏻 After the show we took a walk over to the Martini Bar/grand atrium. It was live music and good mood. We had a martini and enjoyed our time. At 20.39 we said it was time to go for dinner. It was definitely calmer when we arrived Luminae and we received a table off I-95👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Mr wanted to try a cocktail from the dinner menu🍸 Today’s menu: We both had the lobster for starter. Mr asked for a green salad. For main i had the red snapper and Mr wanted the ribeye steak. Somalier service was at our table asap. He received our taste preference and then it was time to hit the show on the road🙃 Mr received red wine as decried and I got a dry white ( Chardonnay) as asked ❤️ The meal service was more to our liking tonight. It went in a decent rhythm. Time to talk and enjoy our food. So much better then yesterday 🙌🏻 Chefs Taster The lobster starter tasted excellent. Really my cup of tea🦞😋 Mr asked for a plain green salad and it was as described👍🏻 My red snapper was tasty and the fish was nicely prepared and fits the purée well. Mr ordered the rib-eye steak and it looked good 👍🏻 He said it tasted very good . tonight’s dessert menu: Mr tried the carrot 🥕 celebration I went for ice cream and macchiato. The chef stopped by our table after our dinner. He got the “list” of what’s going on for the last 15 days…. So they can address where it was hiccups and what has worked excellent 👌🏻 ( lots of great meals has left the galley in MDR🙃) But it’s better for them to know what they can work on and keep an eye on some details. After dinner it was time for bed😴

Fingers crossed it will smooth out❤️ We had a chat by Mihail, hotel director and he said call me if things go wrong. So I’m confident that it will get better from now❤️ We have not talked to many people. We don’t approach people up front. If it’s social appropriate (type in one off the bars or you’re sitting in a mixed table we do speak and chat. But we don’t walk up front to folks and start a conversation) It’s a cultural thing different from USA/Nordic country😂😂👍🏻 And I’m a “burned” child….. I was bullied and harassed heavy because of my younger brother not being A4 so I’m not shy, but I don’t take the first move. I was beaten so it gave me a concussion 🤕 and several other very gravy events. I need to feel comfortable in the situation. It’s a very strange thing, this doesn’t go away. So I’m very easy to talk to and have a conversation with. But it’s very hard for me to jump into the table❤️

Mr had a short walk… (im convinced he walk thru the buffet and back to the retreat pool😂😂) They walked cassis sorbet today in the retreat. We ordered from the pool menu. (Mr said let’s get some 🍉 fruit and what arrived😂😂) Fruit for me and a retreat burger for Mr😂😂😂 Well, it tasted good. Fruit was fresh and Mr said the burger - bread tasted excellent. (I had a bite and completely agree👍🏻) After our fruit/lunch fiesta it was 15.00…. So I was ready to go downstairs to my BALCONY! Yes! A real balcony! I need to change my nail polish 💅🏻 and Mr wanted to have a dip in the tub by the ducks 🦆. It’s approved👍🏻 Time run off and before you know it, it was time for the officer soirée in the retreat. We went upstairs and people started to arrive. We found a table and enjoyed the canapés. They had 4 types. Mr was very happy🥰🥂 Cheers to a great cruise! tonight’s sunset

Glad that you managed to attend🥰👍🏻 We will go on the next. The senior officers party. It was in tiny, tiny text and all very compact in the letter of events… So it’s my own fault😂😂 Normally I check and have a planning routine. But yesterday was a bit “off” in many ways…. So I didn’t read it properly, just took pictures of the paperwork and put it aside for later reading🙃 I hope they take good care of you Zenith’s❤️🥂❤️ At least our card has reprinted to the correct status😎 so that’s one thing less to think about. It was busy when we stopped by around 3’o clock to ask for this. And the other humps will hopefully smooth out during today or tomorrow🙃

Off to a very late start of my day. I went downstairs to Al Bacio to get some coffee and just enjoying a round of walk. I didn’t check the paperwork too well yesterday, so discovered today while waiting for Mr, that the first captains club event was today at 10.15…. (Before Mr had went out of bed🤪) So we didn’t attend. We will go for the senior officers party. Mr was all “dead” so I kicked him out of bed at 10.45. I said to him, you wanted to try Luminae for breakfast… Well, that train left…. And if don’t hurry up, the late breakfast service in OceanView will close… So we made it by a minute before they closed for breakfast 11.00….🤪🤪 Mr had his usual omelette and herring. I had a bowl of milk and my cereal… After breakfast Mr needed to do some work. So I parked him in the room and I went off for a power walk. I did a decent hour from 11.45. I returned to our room to check on Mr plans for the day… He said that he wanted to go for a walk and enjoy some outdoor time. And housekeeping had not visited yet. So I sent him off for a walk and found a sun lounger in the retreat area by the pool for me😎

Lots of crew signed on in Dubai. The lineup of crew was next to where we cleared immigration in the morning. So hopefully it solves some issues.

I find and feel this a bit hard. When we visited the Retreat yesterday afternoon for look around. No crew said hello or welcomed us. It was very busy. One was constantly on the phone and one was occupied by others. So we will see if it’s different today. Mr went to the outdoor bar to get us a glass of champagne 🥂. Now it’s time for me to go get some coffee🙂 Mr is all dead in bed😂😂😂 He was SO clear to try Luminae for breakfast and I tried to wake him up… but it’s nobody’s home😝