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Indonesians are very polite and usually want to be positive. So our driver would always ask where we wanted to go next, even though we had no clue. So what I did was write down what I wanted to see and the time we had to be back to the ship. Fortunately for us, we started from Kintamani, so we had a more leisurely drive that what you will have. I would tell the driver that I wanted to see the monkey forest (you will see a lot of motor scooters getting there as well native shops that carve wood, stone, make furniture, etc. Then the Water Temple after which you want to see the rice patties (Tegallelang) and country side. Tell the driver that you would like to see Kintamani ONLY if he thinks he can get there and get you back to your ship on time. You will see some amazing agriculture when you venture out into the country side. The one site you may not be able to see is the Tanah Lot Temple that sits on a rock in the ocean. It is out of the way unless that is all you want to see. Plus you have to drive through the city to get there.

If you arrive by cruise ship and have only a day there, definitely take the ship's tour to Phi Phi. You have to cross the entire island to get to where the speedboats take off for Phi Phi. Even then the tour was real fast because of the need to return to the ship before sailing time.

I was in Bali for three days beginning January 15. I loved it! The people were nice, we had a great driver on two separate days. We spent one night in the mountains (volcano), one night at a hotel on the beach and one night on our cruise ship. I would go back anytime and stay there as long as I could.

My ship stopped at Kelang on January 27. There is nothing at Kelang except the terminal. I hired a driver for 4 of us and he took us into Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is not really a tourist city, however it is interesting to see a major, modern city in Malaysia. The highlight of the tour was the Pretorius Towers. The bottom level of the Towers is a multi story shopping mall with just about every designer store in the world. Our driver dropped us off and went to a parking area to wait for us. I traveled with my sister and two of her friends and had to almost force these three women out of that mall.

We told the driver that we wanted to be back to our ship at least 2 hours before sailing time. He knew his way around and we were back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. The driver's contact info is zaidii73@yahoo.com. He was informative, friendly and spoke good English.

I just got back from an Asian tour that started in Bali. First, let me tell you that you will not want to leave Bali after you have seen it's beaches and country side. I hired a driver whose name was Pinah, info@kintamanitour.com. We actually stayed at one of his cottages, but he provided us with a full day tour at a VERY reasonable price. Our interests were the country side as well as one or two temples and other must see places. The county side was phenomenal with rice fields and just about every type of fruit and vegetable growing on every square inch of land. It also tended to be one small village after another which we enjoyed more than the heavily populated coast line (except for the beaches). Enjoy

I got lucky (maybe) and was able to sign up for the last excursion spot from the ship. My sister and two other travelling companions waited to long to sign up for the excursion. I might cancel my excursion and join them if they chose to join you on a private excursion.

I will be on a Crystal cruise in January that will include a stop in Phuket Thailand. I really want to go to the Phi Phi Islands for snorkeling, however all the tours I have found will not fit the ship's timeframe in port. The ship, Symphony will be in port from 8:00am to 5:00pm.

Can anyone recommend a tour company that works around cruise itineraries or that offer less than full day tours to Phi Phi? Most of the tours I have found seem to expect tourists to be staying in hotels.

I have not been there yet but I have researched it plenty here on Cruise Critic. You can walk down to the water and you can do whatever you feel like you want to do. I'm excited because I will do whatever challenge is presented

I'll try that. I'm a new cruiser and not up on all the tools and procedures (and acronyms) used by experienced cruisers.

I'm planning on going to the Blue Hole with Courtneytaylortours.com on October 1st. If anyone else is planning to do the same but have not made arrangements, please sign up for this tour. I do not want to pay the full price for just two of us. If more people sign up, the cost will only be $35 pp. The admission to the Blue Hole is $15