MrsWaldo

5 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

 

 

Putting logistical supply issues aside, this ship has relatively recently been in both New Zealand and Australia and it should have been possible to restock locally and avoid running out this early. 

If referring to the Tiki,  I have never seen it in Australia.  Interestingly a google search only shows it in USD so I am wondering if it is like a few Aus labels we see OS, they aren't found here.  

Hi everyone,

I have booked a cruise which starts in LA and has an included hotel night due to flight schedules.

Still playing with whether to keep the flight included option (in March I paid more than the refund for included air) or DIY in which case I may add an extra night.  Don’t need to sight see as I’ve had multiple trips to LA as Mr W worked there 6 months of the year off and on for a few years.

Does anyone know which hotel they are currently using please?  
 

thanks in advance 

DIL was born in Tianjin, still has family there 

Her comment was not suitable for a forum.  Although she said a good tour company would secure a carriage on the train

Catarina (host) asked about local shopping in Tianjin  DIL response was nothing unless you want tea.  

LOL   DIL  thought I was still onboard and was arranging for her dad to get things to the ship 

2 minutes ago, mysty said:

We've been informed that the tour that included the Forbidden City in Beijing has had to be changed.  Unfortunately,  Silversea was not able to get tickets to that venue.  There is an exhibit on display and the tickets sold out quickly.  It is an 11.5 hour excursion with 3.5 hours of bus ride each way.  I am bowing out and Myster is going.

Are they not using the fast train from Tianjin?   It's only an hour using that method...

42 minutes ago, mysty said:

 

I don't know how many are going to Tibet.   Many people had trouble getting Visas for China.

Thanks for that. 
 

The visa issue was one of the many reasons I didn’t stay onboard for the next segment. 
 

Have a lovely time, hope the weather and seagods are kind

Have an awesome time.  Do you know how many are doing the side trip to Tibet?

Or on select tours (ie those that have additional charge)

JP,

I do HHH pretty welll. Sydney has been steamy and I often do time in Far North Queensland in our summer. 
 

The tour was quite sapping but I had packed electrolytes thankfully.  Our bus ran out of water…even the guide was cooked 

I enjoyed the sites but did find it was a lot of standing around waiting and listening to the same bit of information continuously

I was one of the 100 or so that headed to the orangutans.  Positive was we actually saw some, negative was sooooo many people as there were several other buses plus those in cars. 
 

Quick wrap lunch I jumped onto the shuttle into the deserted centre of Kuching.  Kuching is the city of cats.

6 hours ago, DRK0312 said:

Non world cruiser on board Shadow watching WC’ers assemble for their overnight tour! 26 tiny white vans. Temp going up to 86F. Bon Voyage!

Just asked Ms Google for weather on arrival in Sing

33c   Thats OK

Until said feels like 42 .....

will need a few chilled and frequently topped whites

I've essentially just done an essential style of booking after Spirit cxl...

Last minute booking door to door, but all it included was the black lane to, from home because it was too late to do any other items (airfares were refunded from the pricing schedule).  I'd rather see the price upfront if I have to sort it myself.  

I've often left a little "future port cash" for my butler and suite attendant based on service and added to the crew fund. Didn't tip last trip.

Future cash lets them arrive in port with local currency eg after my upcoming Shadow the ship heads to Japan so I was taking Yen.  It's always been well received with a past butler finding me while waiting to debark to thank me.

Recently in Australia a few restaurants have started to add a 5% service charge to the bill.  Some of those restaurants have had exceptional service in the past, so I have shown more than 5% appreciation. Once that obligatory 5% is on the bill, I wont tip a penny more.  

A colleagues daughter has worked long term at one of these restaurants.  Her tip income since implementation has fallen considerably  

The losers in this may well be the staff.  

I emailed Ms Muckerman a few weeks ago.

After about a week I received a very positive (in that it addressed and resolved my concerns) response from Asia Pacific head. 

I would assume at this point she is getting swamped with emails given the current global situation

Thanks folks,

I'm on Shadow out of Singapore and travelling solo.

I'll pack my own reusable water bottle and will take a risk on the cap as i am taking my straw sunhat. 

.

Curious,

I'm about to pack, 5 working days left, and I have been comped a tour caddy.

Would love to know if this is a back pack, back pack with water bottle etc.

Any insights gratefully received as my luggage allowance is 30KG and shoes need space.  If I'm getting a water bottle, baseball cap etc more room for shoes!

Thanks in advance

10 hours ago, drron29 said:

And you get a very much better Singapore Sling at any other Raffles Bar than the Long Bar. Strictly Tourists only.

I was waiting for a female friend who lived in Sing to arrive and I hadn't ordered a drink.  We were meeting there purely because coming into the hotel as a non guest it is the easiest place to meet. 

I had 2 nights of in-house dining, both of which I cancelled.  Singapore is a foodie delight, and I was away for the first time newly widowed, so was just testing the eating  out alone and thought the hotel would be a good start.  The bar experience really highlighted biased as there were plenty of solo men around..... 

13 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

We had an odd experience at Raffles in 2005. 

 

We went to have a look round and found they were serving afternoon tea. Well, that's got to be worth an hour or two of our time. Anyway, we asked the person allocating seats if we could have afternoon tea, that we hadn't booked and they seemed only half full.  There was no further conversation. 

 

The guy called security and we were encouraged to leave the premises. No explanation. Really, really odd. 

IME 

not an unusual attitude for the hotel 

Slightly earlier than 05 we were in house guests with a 7 and 11yo.  Had exited via lobby into a limo to meet with a local friend/dig (Mr W was in long pants ). When we returned by taxi as it was during swine flu and the driver had taken I’ll, we were told no tourists at TeaTime without a booking. Upon production of our key, we were told, normally kids don’t stay here.  No apology, just a shrug.

Stayed a bit later as a solo female and was asked to leave long bar…..not going to say that assumption was wrong but let’s just say  they decided to ESCORT me out 

2015 we debarked and went to airport.  Another guest on same cruise had identical luggage and we were almost last off.  Picked up what we thought were our bags ( not many to choose from) and headed to airport. 
 

Realised at check in the bags were not ours ( so 20 mins later).  Raffles insisted we needed to drive them back because their driver would not have made a mistake …. Thankfully Silversea land sorted it and got our bags to our flight and the others back to Raffles.

In Sing in a few weeks and only one hotel didn’t figure….service history and $3000Aud per night.  Nope 

Oh that looks awesome

1 hour ago, JoGay said:

We are on the WC and just did the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling in Cairns.  It was fantastic!

Assume they took you out on Seastar. 

Pretty sure they will open up other options. Book it just in case.

What are the pay for options? 

10 hours ago, JoGay said:

I went and really liked it.  We thought it was charming.

I think it is all relative. Charming is probably a very appropriate term 
 

There are a number of better options IMHO. I’m not big on the show aspect, it is becoming a somewhat divided discussion among First Nation people especially as certain things which are done are not traditional to country or gender.
 

For most visiting people, it’s a brief overview of culture and of something they have little knowledge and very much like attending a theatre show with a bit of education thrown in at the side.  

1 hour ago, mysty said:

 

The excursion goes to Rainforestation Nature Park.  

Not missing much then 

Pamagirri or Kuku Yalangi?

Missing an awesome opportunity if it's Kuku! Pamagirri is total tourist 🙂  (Another venue trying to recover)

It isn't going to be any better as you head north (one of the reasons I decided not to join in Sydney...  FNQ in Feb March is YUK!

The other thing to take into consideration can be if they have some 3 pax bookings.  That opens up some solo spaces as the ship has a max capacity.  

Watching solo pricing over a long period, they can come and go, so if there is anything of interest it pays to check back.

9 hours ago, mysty said:

 

Thank you @MrsWaldo!  Are you boarding the Shadow in Singapore? 

Yep….  I was a victim of the Spirit cancellations