Rob_H

We had an email from NCL on October 18 telling us about the new port. The change was mentioned after that by several people in the roll call for the October 30 cruise, since there was some confusion about tours being cancelled despite being in the same general area.

Monday we stopped at Muara, the port for Brunei. We planned to do nothing much, maybe look around Muara town or the beach. We had lazy morning and left the ship a bit later than normal. The ship provided a free shuttle to Muara town. It wasn't a good sign that the shuttle coming back to the ship was full, at 9.30am! Those on it told us "there's nothing there" and "we didn't get off the bus". We went anyway. 🙂 At the "town" there were a few local shops around a square. We didn't get time to look as a local bus soon pulled up. It was going to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital, over half an hour away. For $1. We jumped on, along with many others. It was nice to have open windows rather than air conditioning! The bus stopped in the centre, Kianggeh Road, opposite The Brunei Hotel. We were told the return bus was from the same spot, every half hour, number 38 or 39. One of the people in the bus hailed a motorboat on the river alongside. For $4 per person a group of us had a tour along the river to see some of the buildings, and some of the river village. If we'd taken the boat ourselves we'd probably have done a longer tour, but it was fine and fun. We did notice that some tour groups probably from the ship were being given lifejackets to wear when getting on other boats. We didn't have that. The boats are a bit tricky to get on and off at the bow, like a dhow on the Nile. After the boat returned us to the same place, we (by ourselves now) headed across the road and had coffee and snacks in The Brunei Hotel. Looks like a nice place to stay! Afterwards we went along the river, around the main mosque and other buildings including the Chinese temple. With an all aboard of only 4.30, and lots of people needing the half-hourly little bus, we didn't want to stay too long. Around 1pm we headed for the bus stop. Lots of people were already waiting for the 38 or 39, and more than half an hour later, still no bus. Many people, including us, were considering sharing a taxi back. Some taxi drivers were charging too much, we were talking to one taxi driver when a number 36 bus came along. That bus didn't go to Muara, but in the same general direction. The taxi driver helped us (many people) essentially charter it beyond it's normal run. We piled on to maximum capacity and, after dropping locals off at their normal stops (going through interesting suburbs), he took us to Muara Town. Still just $1 each. Then the free cruise shuttle back to the ship. We got there a little after 2.30 so we were glad we didn't leave it till the last minute! We went to Cagney's again tonight, for our last dining package meal. For free at sea, with an inside cabin, there is one dining package meal for cruises 11 days or less, two meals for cruises 12 days or more, plus two latitudes vouchers per cruise. So for these three cruises over 39 days we've had 11 specialty meals included.

Kota Kinabalu is on the island of Borneo, in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. It was our port on Sunday. For a complete change we tried a Norwegian ship excursion as in this part of the world some have a reasonable price (after the $50 rebate and the Ambassador discount). The tour was to a tribal village (cultural theme park) and a minimalist city tour. After using local transport so much we forgot how uncomfortable it is to be in an air conditioned tour bus chilled to arctic levels. We'll have to bring more warm clothes or jackets next time! Cultural village was nice but with so many tour buses it was overcrowded and rushed. There was some food and drink tasting, a show, and a good buffet meal included. While leaving the show in a slow-moving crocodile there was a tropical downpour. Being stuck in traffic a lot of people got very wet (we were ok, had umbrella and rain jacket). Combined with the freezing wind on the bus some people might be sick soon! After the cultural village there was a short tour of the city. Photo stops at a couple of buildings, and half an hour at the market. The market was the "Phillipino Market", based around a former refugee camp for Filipinos. Mostly pearls (not great prices) and clothes. KK looks like the kind of city where we could have done something more interesting by ourselves. Next time! In the evening we went to Chin Chin again (the included Asian restaurant on board). We've found the best way to enjoy it is to order 3 or 4 starters each at the same time (like a dim sum/yum cha) then a soup. The rice dishes and main courses are usually served cold and too salty so we skip those.

Last stop in the Philippines was Puerto Princesa. Not as nice as Boracay, this is more of a working port town. With traveling for a long time there's sometimes a "maintenance day" so this was, partly. Found a doctor to check something out ($9), got good data in a nice coffee shop while waiting, to catch up with various things (mobile data in the Philippines has been nearly unable) Then tuk-tuks to and from the pearl market at Pasalubong Center. Highly variable prices in the market, the sellers are very professional, Boracay had better deals. The Baywalk Park near the ship isn't worth spending any time at.

The Philippines site is on the "free sites" list, like Cruise Critic, so doesn't use minutes. When I tried that it was too slow so I completed them while on a train in Taipei. Not sure for Singapore, we'll find out soon, but it'll probably be faster to do it on land while we're in Vietnam. BTW if you have global roaming on your phone, the Philippines is one of the worst places in the world for connectivity. Late 1990's data speeds (2G Edge) in almost all places, nearly unusable. We're in Malaysia today, back to modern technology!

For us yes, the tender port Cagban is on the island of Boracay. Not really any good beaches in easy walking distance, but an easy tuk tum ride. There's an airport over on the mainland which can be seen from Boracay. That would need a ferry to get to the island, maybe that's where the confusion is.

Our arrival in Boracay made the local newspaper. There are many errors in the article, but the best one: "the passengers are comprised of Norwegian and Asian passengers". 🙂 We're all Norwegians now 🙂 https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/11/03/2308668/norwegian-cruise-ship-arrives-1600-visitors-boracay

Boracay is a tender port. The tenders arrive at the Cagban ferry terminal in the south of this small island. Boracay is very well known in the Philippines as a beach resort. Lots of hotels and resorts. The main beaches are on the west of the island. We took a tuk tuk (for 150 pesos of $3) to D'Mall, a shopping street roughly in the center of the beach area. There's a walkway and shops and restaurants along the spectacular palm-lined sandy beach. We could see why the island is so popular! After some time on the beach we walked over to the east coast. The island is only about 500m wide at this point. The beach on the east side is sandy but also appears to have drains running into it and seaweed and algae growing. It was empty. It's still lined with sone shops and some small resorts (with pools) but nothing like the west coast. It's also very windy, probably most of the time as there was a kite shop there. After returning to the other side for more beach and shopping we took another tuk-tuk home. There's no shortage of them and they're easy to find as there's essentially only one through road up and down the island.

Manila was a very special port for the ship. With 60% or more of the crew coming from the Philippines, it was a chance for many to see family. NCL and their crew agency in the Philippines, C F Sharp, arranged a family day. Many of the crew from the Philippines each had a 2 hour shore leave to meet up with family. Some family members had flown in from Cebu and other parts of the country for the day. One crew member told us it was her "best shore leave ever" and many others had similar feelings. Because of the late departure from the previous port the ship was a little late arriving. We got off early with no real plans. First stop was The Manila Hotel, a grand hotel in the style of Raffles. It was just around the corner from the pier. Spectacular inside (although ugly outside). We had a coffee and a halo-holo local dessert while enjoying the good WiFi. Some tours from the ship visited while we were there but didn't stay long. We realized that most of the destinations for the ship tours were extremely close, such as Rizal Park. Intermuros, the old walled city, started literally across the street. We walked to the park then explored intermuros. Later we moved on to Chinatown, which was much larger than we expected. Eventually that was enough, and we grabbed a cab home. Manila is a very large city so we only saw a tiny corner, but the good thing is there's enough to do within walking distance of the ship.

I've been looking at interesting itineraries as soon as they are released, and booking "maybe" series of cruises. Then deciding later. Sometimes that means we have something nice booked, then an interesting opportunity comes up (such as the Sun 41 day b2b Seattle to Lisbon a year ago). So we could cancel one, but often end up saying "let's do both" then the calendar gets super crowded. The "maybe" series I have booked, beyond Africa, are next October New York to Manila on the Sky (maybe just New York to Dubai), and Auckland to Istanbul in March 2025 on the Sun. Both heavily feature the Middle East through so I do expect them now to be changed or cancelled if, as seems likely, the area becomes more unstable for a while. As to how to cruise for a long time: it's not a vacation, it's home. Watch the expenses (we only book inside cabins initially), don't try to do everything at any port, don't buy the drinks package, don't eat too much. 🙂 Pack for all seasons, but only for a week or so, there is a laundry on board. Make sure your land home is lock-and-leave. No pets (this is a deal breaker for many).

We've done a lot of cruises over the past couple of years, catching up after covid. We've really enjoyed it, but are trying to leave next year mote unplanned so we can be more spontaneous. We may be on the Dawn in Africa in February but that depends on whether she gets there (she has cruises in the middle East that might get cancelled) as well as possible family commitments.

The entry procedure for the Philippines was well planned, with Philippine immigration officials coming on board in Taiwan, to process us in the evening. But it didn't work out. The theory was that people from each deck could go to the Spinaker at half hour intervals, to present their passport copy and completed Philippine electronic entry QR code that they had already filled out. . No instructions or examples were provided for completing the electronic entry (other than the web address to use), so many people got it wrong or simply didn't do it, and had to complete it on the spot. There was soon a massive queue snaking up and down the lift area on deck13. We got done early within 45 minutes, the queue continued to grow after that. Eventually an announcement was made that decks 4 and 5 would have to wait until early the next morning. So on Wednesday the chaos continued, and clearing of the ship was delayed, tendering delayed over an hour at this maiden call for the Jewel in Currimao. We got off as early as we could, not planning to do much. But there was a van going to and from Vigan City, which we shared with 6 others. US$100 per van, so $25 per couple. We didn't have a lot of time there, as the ship was so late tendering, but that's OK, quite a run down colonial place ("heritage city"). Today was a public holiday, with day of the dead celebrations similar to Mexico. So each small town we drove through had a party going on in the cemetery. In Currimao and most of the road south there was minimal mobile coverage, 2G Edge data most of the time. Only Vigan had usable mobile data. We got back to the ship on time, even though we knew the ship tours would be late and we'd have to wait for them. As expected, we left late and will be going at top speed to Manila overnight.

Kaohsiung was the first port for cruise three. It's a big industrial city in the south of Taiwan. The cruise port has it's own station on the new light rail (tram) line, right outside the spectacular modern terminal building. However, the tram ticket machine only accepts coins, no notes. (Or Taiwanese IC cards, but the small stock of those at the information desk soon ran out). So many passengers couldn't buy tickets. We were lucky, had exactly the right amount of coins left over from yesterday to buy a 30 NTD ticket each! We took the tram down towards the ferry for Cijin Island. That stop also has a metro station. We could buy a 24hr pass there for the metro, light rail and ferry for 299 NTD each. For this short port day it didn't save us money but was a lot easier than buying individual tickets. We then took the ferry over to Cijin Island. The ferry leaves every ten minutes, carries motorcycles on the first level, foot passengers upstairs. The crossing is very quick. Cijin has a lighthouse built by a British engineer in the 1800's, and a Presbyterian (Scottish) Church, an early Scottish missionary and doctor came to the island in the 1830's. We didn't climb up to the lighthouse but instead walked the coastal footpath around the headland. On the far side there were cliffs and wild seas, a nice change from cities. Then a tunnel with light installations, and a beach. Cijin Street leads back to the ferry, mostly food plus some other small shops. Back on the mainland we were running out of time so took the metro to sample a few places before the light rail back to the cruise terminal station. Kaohsiung is known for temples and shrines which many would have gone to instead but they're not something that interests us much (after the first few). So many are reconstructions with little historical interest. After we returned to the ship we had Teppenyaki, the same guy as on cruise one, he's getting more skilled!

At Keelung, it was the last day of the cruise for many, but hundreds are staying on for the next cruise, like us. Immigration was done already so we could just walk off the ship for our port day, no queues. We have the same cabin again. I booked these cruises when they were first announced. At that time I used three open windows on the computer to line up matching rooms on each leg, then booked all three in quick succession. It's much harder to find matching rooms later. Keelung is the sea port for Taipei, the dock is right in town. We didn't get much time to look around as we just walked a few minutes to Keeling Railway Station. There we brought from a machine (which took visa cards) a ticket to Taipei Main Station, for an express train leaving in a few minutes. It gave us reserved seats. Around US$2 each, for the 45 minute journey! In Taipei we met up with a friend from another country who is currently working in Taipei. We got out some cash from an ATM and brought day passes for the metro and buses for 180 NTD, under $6 each (cash only) With the friend we went to the spectacular CKS memorial hall and plaza. There were competing demonstrations there, supporting the nationalist hero who fled to Taiwan during the civil war, and against him as a dictator. We may be in the background of some news reports on Taiwan TV, lots of media there! We also went to Taipei 101, and other places, but the focus was spending time with the friend, nice to catch up. Around 4.30pm we got back to Taipei Main Station. Trains left for Keelung every 10-20 minutes, this time a local train with unreserved seats was the best option, fare was 41 NTD (not much over $1!). Got back to the ship before 6 (all aboard was 7.30). Walked straight through the terminal with our back to back stickers, no delays. Later the main dining rooms were super busy so we used a Latitudes voucher at Le Bistro, without a reservation. The speciality restaurants are always quiet on embarkation night, it's a good time to go to them.

We arrived in Taiwan on Sunday. The first time for us here. The port was Hualien, on the east coast. Taroko National Park is one of the main attractions. Norwegian has a couple of tours, at $110 or $150 pp (before discounts) which are actually quite reasonably priced for their length. But as we hadn't done any planning we were far to late to book them. Luckily, the well organized tour port had an information board describing three fixed-price taxi tours, one was Taroko Gorge. US$100 per taxi ($25 each) for about five hours. NTD or US$, but cash only again! One area where the port wasn't so good: no ATM and the busy exchange desk didn't take currencies like Australian dollars that some other passengers had. We joined another couple who were in the short taxi queue, to share a taxi to Taroko. The taxi driver didn't speak English but Google Translate worked well. We went to about half a dozen stops, including a short hike along the road overloading the gorge, and the highlight, walking on a pedestrian suspension bridge high above the gorge. A great tour and good value. The previous evening, the ship kept our passports when we returned, giving us a Taiwan-stamped copy for use here. So no need for face to face immigration. The people leaving at Keeling got their passports back Sunday evening. For the hundreds like us who are back to back for the next cruise, the passports will be kept by the ship until the day before Singapore.

Sorry, photos are a bit time consuming while on the phone. I'm mostly writing these reports while offline then pasting into cruisecritic, photos add a lot more steps!

Our last stop n Japan was Harara, on Miyakojima. We walked into town in the morning. This place has seen better days, very run down and empty and less cared for than most of Japan. We couldn't really find anything to do there, the central markets is about six stalls in one room. Public transport options very limited, often three hours between buses We headed home via a Halloween market in a field near the ship, many stalls and food trucks, and music at times. We were back at the cruise terminal by midday. We were about to give up, then found another passenger who would also like to do a taxi tour, three hours for a fixed price, a quick overview without spending time on beaches or shopping. It was nice to get out of the depressing town. We went over the longest non-toll bridge in Japan, visited mangroves and scenic beaches, and went to the lighthouse at the southernmost point on the island . Good driver for us back to the ship on time. Price we discussed in advance, more than the old price list the information office was using but still reasonable (13200 yen). Worked out at $25 each for us, good value and a great way to see the countryside. On return to the ship, we had to go through Japan exit immigration for the exit label, and passports have been retained by the ship for the upcoming countries.

Friday, we were in Naha, the surprisingly big capital of the Okinawa Islands. There was an infrequent shuttle bus that wasn't signposted at all from the terminal and wasn't mentioned in the Freestyle. We found it by seeing the crowd of people trying to squeeze on. After others gave up we were the last two to get on. Bus went to the main street a couple of km away, for 240 yen each (cash only). The shuttle bus ended near the Prefectural Office monorail stop so we went there and got a day pass for the monorail, and city buses, for 1000 yen each (a monorail only pass was 800 yen). There's only one monorail line. We rode it from end to end to get an overview of the very hilly city, it's high above the ground, often at 4th storey level. Most buildings are white with flat roofs so from above it could be a middle eastern city. We later got off at the Shuri stop, a short (uphill) walk from the Shurijo Castle. This castle was totally destroyed in a 2019 fire and is being rebuilt, but the grounds are nice with panoramic views over the city. Quite busy as it's one of the few things for tourists to do in Naha! After a bus ride we explored the main street, nice markets in the side streets. Running out of time after being in the markets so we headed for the shuttle bus. No sign of where to get the return bus (should have asked when got off!) so took a regular bus (included in our pass anyway) most of the way towards the ship. One thing to mention: there are basically no senior discounts in Japan. All transport tickets, and museum entries, are full price, even for residents. The only discounts are for young people.

Thursday was Naze, in Amami, a group of islands between the Japanese mainland, and Okinawa. Coming out of the ship most people turned left, towards the town, a km or two away. No shuttle, very few taxis. We turned right instead. Went to the small but interesting Amami museum (310 yen). Amami was under US occupation for many years after WW2, a major theme of the museum was the peaceful campaign to be reunited with Japan in the 1950s. Then we walked through a road tunnel that lead to the other side of the peninsula. Had a lunch in a sidestreet restaurant: miso, shrimp fried rice and cold barley tea for 1000 yen. In Tokyo and the other big places most things have English translations and lots of people understand at least a little English. Not so in the smaller places we've been in during the last few days! Google translate has been essential, for reading menus, asking questions, getting answers. Buses don't have Roman letter names of places on them, lifts just have buttons with words but no symbols, road names are just in Japanese. We feel very illiterate! 🙂 But it's a fun challenge. After the small lunch we walked a little further, to the beach. Good beach weather, sunny without being too hot, warm water. Very few people around. Farewell celebration on the dock before sunset with a local folk orchestra playing. First poor meal of the cruise in the MDR tonight. Uncooked potatoes and way too much pepper on everything.

Last night, we had "dinner with officers" with the cruise director, Victor. He really reflects how international cruise lines are: born in Chile, French nationality, lives in Taiwan! Earlier, the port was Sasebo. Small but important naval port. Since we have so many ports we treated this as a bit of a day off, just walked the recommended tourist route down the longest shopping arcade in Japan. We also visited the (free) naval museum which has a nice view from the 7th floor. There are some ship simulators you can play with on the second floor, but as the instructions are entirely in Japanese I only managed to crash into another ship at high speed, rather than dock. 🙂 At Sasebo port there was, unusually, a full customs check for fresh food being taken ashore. Lots was being found. I don't know if any penalties were given to those breaking the rules, but we saw some people returning upset to the ship from customs.

Tuesday was Aburatsu. It was listed on the itinerary as the port for Miyazaki but that's a big city far away. There was a $15 return paid shuttle for the couple of km into the town of Aburatsu from the dock. Queue moved quick and we have onboard credit to use, so took it. Many were confused that they had to pay for it, the price was never made clear. In Aburatsu there isn't really anything, just a couple of very small malls. We took a bus from just across from where the shuttle stopped, to Obi. 500 yen per person each way. Take a ticket when entering the bus in the middle, pay driver on exit. Like many things in Japan, cash only. This is a country where having local cash is essential. At Obi there is a reconstructed castle and other old buildings. Nothing spectacular, but a pleasant walk around. Yanet had time for a nice Japanese hair style from a little local stylist in a side street (2800 yen, $19). In the evening we went to Cagney's, very nice again. Le Bistro was fine a few days ago. Haven't decided on our third meal for this cruise, it won't be Moderno.

In Hiroshima a free shuttle bus was provided from the ship to Hiroden-Itsukaichi station, which is on the JR line and the Hiroshima Electric Railway (tram) number 2 line. We got off early and there was a massive queue for the shuttle bus so we walked instead, a couple of km. We brought a tram and ferry day pass from an information desk outside the station for 1000 yen ($6). A tram only pass would be 700 yen. We rode the 2 tram (red line) many stops until the stop outside the atomic bomb dome. We visited there and other places in the nearby park, and some essential shopping, then jumped back on the tram ro Hiroshima station where we we grabbed a lunch. Then back on the 2 tram, all the way to the far end where it connects with a ferry (every 15 minutes) to the island of Miyajima, a very touristy but peaceful island with an unusual shrine in the water, and a nice waterfront. Stayed until sunset then back to the ferry then tram then shuttle bus. Norwegian offered a tour to the island for $150 (before discounts), or to both the island and the atomic bomb site for $250. We were happy doing both by public transport. It's nice to have a late port (all aboard 8.30pm) which made it possible to take our time!

Osaka is an overnight (day and a half). First day, we got off early, walked a couple of blocks to the Metro at Osakako. 40 minutes later with a change of train we were at Shin-Osaka, the shinkansen (bullet train) station, for 290 yen each. We brought reserved seat tickets to Nagoya, for a train leaving a few minutes later. If reserved seats are not available, or if you want to pay a bit less, there are few train cars with unreserved seats on a space-available basis. Should be fine outside of extremely busy times, there's a train every few minutes, but it can be hard to get two seats together. Our fare was around $45 per person, one way. Fifty minutes after leaving Osaka we were in Nagoya, reaching speeds of 280km/hr on the way. The only intermediate stop was Kyoto. We went to Nagoya to visit a cousin and their family, that Yanet hasn't seen for years. They met us at the station and we had a good day together, with no need to rush back to the ship. In the evening we retraced our steps, then rode the giant Ferris wheel next to the port late at night. So not really a conventional tourist day but our first bullet train rides and a great day with family!

BTW it was "just" 8 sea days from Seward, as Sendai was replaced with the overnight in Tokyo. Those who went on ship tours on Tokyo were generally unhappy. The tours were arranged at very short notice, but that's no excuse for what I heard were poor quality guides and missed stops. As usual, very pricey, $150 for a couple of hours panoramic bus ride, more for anything longer. We have lots of onboard credit on these cruises but we're going to struggle to spend the nonrefundable. We used to do tours but on all our cruises this year the prices have been very poor value. Today (Friday) we're in Shimizu. It's just a short port (all aboard 2.30pm) that is really just for "view of Mount Fuji" tours. We've done that before (and you can see it from the city) so just having a relaxing day in the small city.

Getting a haircut in Tokyo was interesting. There's a chain called QB House (mostly in stations) which specializes in a "ten minute cut" for 1350 yen ($9). You pay at a machine when you enter, take your ticket and join the end of a line along a bench. When the first person leaves the bench everybody slides along. The cut is very fast and good, your head gets vacuumed after to remove loose hair 🙂