Bpos

Hi

I want to book a cycle tour in Da nang, is it possible to walk from the ship to the entrance of the dock and pick up a taxi from there and how would I know I was getting into a genuine taxi. A friend of mine was well and truly ripped off after getting in a taxi outside the airport that's why I just wanted to check how to spot a "good" taxi.

Thanks

Research taxis on Trip Advisor - Vietnam forum and you will be able to get all the info you need to help get into a genuine taxi.

Lots of scams with taxis in Vietnam, research and being prepared is essential.

Some of the recent threads on our forum are decidedly depressing for us dedicated cruisers (eg, Where have all the cheap cruises gone, No more complimentary icecream on Australian Princess ships, dangers in Sydney, Australia is a big bust) - to name a few.

Enough to make a grown man cry!

Perhaps it is time for a thread to lighten up and reflect on the characters you have met - after all on the Celebrity forum there is a hot thread - "craziest things you've seen another passenger do" - it's a hoot.

This is my contribution:

As you all know, you always meeting many interesting and lovely people on your cruise.

Then there are some that you don't wish to meet again or leave a lasting impression that lingers long after the cruise is over.

Some years ago, on a cruise on the Dawn Princess to NZ, I met one such character - John.

He was very dapper, about five foot tall and smartly dressed in a suit and Panama hat at all times - originally from Malta so he told me.

After our initial meeting he use to seek me out as if I were his long lost friend - yes I am a little eccentric too, so my wife tells me often.

But is soon become apparent that John was not liked by the other passengers, (he only wanted to take his meals with us), because among other things, he told everyone he met to go to the pursers office to get the gratuities removed as "we Australians don't tip"

Even stood up at the breakfast buffet to loudly inform others sitting around of this fact!!!

On the second night out, John stood next to the pianist in the foyer and proceeded to provide the vocal accompaniment, much to the horror of the musician and fellow cruisers wishing to enjoy the music.

Finally, I went to the first Art Auction (for the free quality champagne of course) and there was John, bidding and buying lots of the expensive, rare and sought after quality art works that were on offer.

Needless to say, at Auckland, he was put off the ship - insufficient funds on his credit card to pay for the art, barely enough for his bar bill.

I don't know how he paid for his fare home, perhaps he is still in NZ?

I've read parts of this before, especially about the drop bears. Ha Ha. Love the Australian sense of humor. Although I think it's Australia that has the top 10 deadliest animals! Still trying to figure out some of your sayings that are so different from the US. Should make for a interesting trip. I'll go back over the above link when we get closer. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yes, plenty of good advice there, pity the moderators closed the threat as I, and no doubt many other Aussie contributors to this forum, had plenty more tips etc to give to help our overseas visitors out.

Overseas visitors should bone up on the following thread for information and advice before visiting Australia.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2362723

Not good I agree. I have just sent them an email to see if they will reply to you and also if they are still operating?

 

As soon as I here back will post again on here.

I sent an email using the website contact page and this is the reply I received.

"Hi Gordon, Yes we still do tours but our email service is not very good at the moment. Please ask you friend to re-send to this email address. I will answer straight away. Peter Taylor

taylor.peetee.peter@gmail.com

I am assuming Peter is an Aussie Vietnam Vet and you can be sure you are dealing with the right people.

Hope this helps

I emailed them one month ago and have had no response.

 

Not a good start!

Not good I agree. I have just sent them an email to see if they will reply to you and also if they are still operating?

As soon as I here back will post again on here.

If you want to stay local (ie Vung Tau etc) try the following.

You do not have to do the Military things as they will organise a tour to suit you needs.

longtannuidattours.com

You should google the web sites for cruise lines like Princess, Celebrity, Royal Carribean and Holland America.

These sites will have search facilities so you can put in your criteria (month/year, departure port etc) and it will come up with the cruises available.

Another way is just to google cruises from Singapore to Aust and some travel sites that book all cruise lines, or specialise in cruising travel will come up listing all the cruise lines available so another way to get the information.

Best of luck

Thank you for responding to my post. Celebrity wants $155.00 for a Vietnam Visa for Americans and the Vietnam Embassy Charges $80.00 for a single entry and $130 for a multiple entry. Just trying to figure out which I need, single or multiple entry.

 

Thank you.

 

Phyllis

You need to research further on this as I have seen very recent posts (probably on this same forum) where the Celebrity charge is/was only $6.

I noted in another post about an RCL cruise on the Australian New Zealand forum that US citizens were going to be charged $156 if they stayed off the ship beyond midnight (probably an overnight stay somewhere where passengers could stay in a hotel). Otherwise the cost was quite reasonable compared to the prices you have quoted

Have you asked Celebrity to give you the facts in writing?. Been to Vietnam twice by ship, both times let the cruise line organize the visa and it was a very simple cost effective way to go.

Also suggest you ask the same question on the Celebrity boards - you may also get updated info there or do a search of that particular forum.

Ooh goodness I'm not sure if you're serious about the drop bears but just in case you are, they're not real, it's a hoax! We do have koalas, they're real, but very docile and not in city areas.

Strewth, fair suck of the sav- you have now made me think perhaps the Yowies, the Bondi Cigars, the Koala's peeing on overseas tourists, the oohmedoodle bird, to name a few, are perhaps sus too!!!

Now feeling totally screwed as to what to believe, its enough to make one chunder as I always believed the drop bears were dinky di,

Not usually one to spit the dummy but is someone telling porkies here???

I hope not, as this is a very family orientated, respectable forum which demands honesty and fortright discussion on the topic. irrespective of the hurt and pain the responses may inflict upon oneself from time to time.

My husband and I will be traveling to Vietnam aboard the Celebrity Millennium in December. We will be staying overnight in Halong Bay aboard a junk. We will also take day tours in Ho Chi Ming City & Da nang. I have been getting conflicting answers on if we need a multiple or single entry Vietnam Visa.

 

I thought if we enter Vietnam once, we would only need a single entry visa.

 

Could anyone who has travelled to Vietnam let me know what visa they purchased. Thank you.

 

Phyllis

Celebrity will organise your visa onboard the ship and is one of the few cruise lines to only impose a small fee for doing so.

Regardless of the fact the story is a furbee, We cannot spare a single dropbear, they are a species endemic to Australia and also protected. Unfortunately due to the increasing number of visitors to Oz in the last 30yrs, the fatality rate of the bears have risin due to the fact that over excited visitors have taken it apon themselves to eradicate the poor animal that has mearly welcomed them to the land down under (to put it lightly), So I can't understand why we would send them to NZ. You guys have an abundance of sheep but dropbears really need to be cared for and not sent overseas as a tourist attraction! ;)

 

cya

bl262000

Well all I can say is that the above quote supports the views I expressed about drop bears in 2016 (reposted below) and now even has been endorsed by the Australian Geographic Magazine.

Posted June 2nd, 2016, 06:22 AM

As cute as Koalas can be - overseas visitors need to be aware of an animal well known to Australians, but rarely seen - that has a bad habit of targeting tourists - of course I am referring to the Drop Bear.

They are found all over Australia and live in trees - even in suburban and city street trees. The bear is about 2 - 3 feet (imperial measures used for our valued American visitors) and really have an uncanny instinct for attacking overseas tourists.

How do they do that you may ask??

Well as the name implies - as you walk under a tree they inhabit, they will "drop" on you - hence the name Drop Bear.

In Sydney recently, I witnessed a Drop Bear target a tourist near the Opera House - the bear dropped from the tree, landed on the poor chap's head and shoulders and began to claw his face - blood and guts everywhere.

Several Aussies (slang for Australians) rushed to his aid and the bear took off up the tree, no doubt to wait for his next victim.

They are a protected species so we cannot kill them.

How did the bear target his victim??

Well the victim in Sydney had a tourist map of Sydney in one hand, a Lonely Planet guide book in the other hand, and baseball cap on back to front and was wearing a "I Love NYC" T shirt. See what I mean.

Plenty of these bears in Cairns so for visitors taking the chairlift through the rainforest canapy, make sure you have all the windows and doors to the gondola closed for added protection.

To ensure your wonderful holiday in Australia is not marred by Drop Bears, you can avoid them by:

Not talking like a tourist (mutter G'Day Mate when walking under trees can help)

Not Dressing like a tourist (wear a Plain T Shirt, shorts and thongs for the feet)

Not Acting like a tourist (don't look at maps in the street etc)

Try to be an Aussie in every possible way and you will not be attacked by a Drop Bear

Visitors to Australia should bone up on the following thread to enrich their visit to Oz and NZ

http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2362723

Those timings look doable if you can get of the ship by no later than 9.00 am. What day of the week will you be arriving as traffic on the weekends is a lot less busy than weekdays although by 9.00 am the morning peak rush is all but over.

Not used paid transport from the Port as we live here but you can check out taxi fares or the cost of booking private transfers on the net.

Yes, I saw it and had to laugh. I saw 'roos and held a koala, and got a picture with one :) I know it was the ship having problem's, and I would have been mad too f it happened to me, but his title was bit much. Not our experience at all.

 

ML

Did the Koala pee on you?

I had the premium drinks package on a cruise on Solstice in November 2016 as was offered Gossips Sav Blanc after a few days into the cruise as a "premium" white wine, which it is not.

I would stick with the Classis drinks package for at least the first couple of days and and see how you go - you may find wines etc in that package that will suit your needs or if necessary can upgrade on the ship.

On Solstice last year the photographs were all digital and they used photo recognition cameras as well so you only gave your name and cabin number once and all future photos taken were automatically allocated to you portfolio..

Apparently you could view the photos on screens around the ship and maybe on your TV room computer .

We don't do photos on ships.

I do not think the repeated story is newsworthy and do not believe that any of the passengers are entitled to any compensation whatsoever. They should dry their eyes and grow up and if they cant accept the fact that the seas can get rough then they ought to not go on a cruise ever again. What happened with that ship is what many sailors in the merchant or military navy have to endure regularly when crossing storms. They are deluding themselves if they think the ocean is one calm smooth easy thing to sail on.

Be nice

The cruise went no where apparently, and returned to port, without continuing with the itineary according to earlier posts.

While not a supporter of compensation generally, I believe it was warranted in this case.

Merchant and navy ships are staffed by fit crews, not like the usual old passengers and in many cases infirmed one usually finds on cruise ships. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Hi,

 

 

I vaguely remember reading that some overseas places don't accept PIN numbers starting with zero or ones longer than 4 numbers. Is this correct?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You should check with your bank but best to have only four digit pin number. I had a Wespac card some years ago in Europe with five number pin and could not use it in ATM's. It was really inconvenient as it was our primary card for withdrawals and had to go inside a bank to make the transaction with a teller. Was told at the bank in Paris that ATM's in Europe only accept four number pin.

everyone needs to realise that if you are going to another country other than your own that that is there law.

google all the info before you go and if you don't like it, ''don't go'' / or don't get off

 

my wife and I have travelled to over 30 countries and if you comply and show that you are willing to co-operate then there is never a problem.

 

mark my words the day will come when we are as strict as most other countries are now around the world.

 

expect some to be arrogant, but you are going into their country, and right or wrong they rule roost

No excuse for the rudeness, outright hostility and nastiness that we have seen and been subject to on some of our entry experiences to airports in the USA over many years.

I tend to book as early as possible for Singapore and we have found in the past quite often prices skyrocket in the last couple of weeks before arriving, especially if there are events planned and you will be there around Xmas time.

Try and book a hotel that has free cancellation policy and then keep checking as that is what we usually do unless the price initially offered is too good to pass up.

As you are probably aware Singapore hotels are quite expensive (for what you get) when compared with a lot of other Asian Cities.

Hi all

 

Sorry for posting such a trivial question. I was thinking about our shopping trip to Aldi/Coles/Woolies in Sydney and realized I wasn't sure about the bags at groceries. Is it like Europe where you either bring your own or they charge for the bag? Or like here in the US--bag is free, paper or plastic? I have a canvas bag I will bring for wine, can easily pack another for the market, just want to know which.

 

Thanks for your help

ML

The most important bag to take along to the supermarket is your handbag, because that is where the funds are to pay for your purchases that will fill the other bags.

But for goodness sake don't call anyone an "Old bag" as that will just invite trouble.

HI Guys, wondering if anyone has been recently and know what the drink package prices on board were ? Specifically interested in the Premium Non Alcoholic Package. Do you also know if they were offering any discounts on specialty dining restaurants booked onboard ? I am used to travelling on Royal ships and found the prices of the specialty restaurants on Solstice expensive to book through our cruise planner. Thanks in advance :-)

We were often invited to dine at the specialty restaurants while on board Solstice in November 2016 at discounts so I would probably wait till you get onboard.

On one occasion, we were asked to "name our price" for one of the restaurants, and it was not busy the night we went.

I'm thinking I won't be spending my money on your shores either! Cruise cancelled...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I hope your decision to cancel your cruise to the downunder is not based on the comments on this thread. After all I still will continue to visit the USA regardless of the reception I get at the airport and most Aussies will continue to go there irrespective of problems that they may have/have not getting in.

Unfortunately will you miss out on the big grin from the Immigration Officer processing you into Australia and a "Goodday Mate, welcome to Australia " greeting as well.

I guess my "file" will now be marked by the USA Homeland security apparatus and I can expect a more that hard time on my next visit.