tjandluke

2 hours ago, alicat58 said:

 

 

Ron, thank god they dropped the toga parties. Heaven forfend, just imagine running around in sheets at my advanced age.

 

 

To this day I can't hear the words Toga Party without being reminded of the movie Animal House.

On a side note my Mother was so glad when I finished university- her sheets were now safe!

Allegra, Classica and Romantica - before the Classica and Romantics were Neo. I prefer the smaller ship style. Personal but the mega liners are not for me.

Hi Riana,

Yes FINALLY! Its been a long time coming- We just could not make it fit before. Teen swims very seriously and any holidays need to be slotted around training/ competition schedules. But this actually works! 

Hi Ron,

It feels like yesterday.... Luke is now a towering 14 year old... he is taller than I am and Im not short! 

Yes its the Mediterranea for us. Got what seems like a great deal.... we start and finish in Singapore with a stop back in the middle so the way I look at it I can fit in Singapore Chili Crab 3 times. 

Yes Im aware that Costa change things up quite regularly. Im aware that they are also known to cancel. They been doing it for years. At this point there is nothing else around that suits us- either date wise or itinerary wise. 

If its a cancel its a cancel... We have been to all the ports before except for the one stop in Cambodia and to be honest we not really that thrilled by that one anyway. 

This is more a trip to get away and to recharge rather than see new places. 

Flights and hotels not even thought about as yet- well thought about but certainly not booked... 

I have an excellent travel insurance policy that will cover any cancellation if needed. 

If we have to we will just skip the cruise... and do land based instead. 

After many years of land travel and trying to fit a cruise in around school, life and a supremely busy teen I have finally managed to get it together and find a date that suits everyone (well its only the teen and I- but he is the difficult one).

Booked 27th March 2021- yes its a long way off to Asia. 

Its an Easter cruise and teen will have his birthday on board- funnily enough he had his 7th birthday on board too. 

Riana,

Have an amazing trip!

Alicat,

The fruit from the picture is Pomello. It looks like a large grapefruit but inside the white bit surrounding the fruit is much much thicker. It is also much sweeter than grapefruit but not quite a sweet as oranges. The white fleshy bit is very bitter though. It is generally much more chewy than oranges.

I love them. A little old man used to walk the beach in Phuket selling them. I would buy one every morning for breakfast!

WOW! WOW and more WOW!

Riana, you have done an amazing job with this review! Thanks so much!

I have been out for a few days with a streaming summer cold- felt miserable!

Luke managed to get on to read your review as he got sick of me being sick. He does not have my password to log on so could not comment.

I just got to catch up on it today!

Im sure I will have questions but now Im just going to go back and re- read the whole thing. It is fantastic!

Ahhh Bangkok, one of my favourite cities. Been there many times both with Luke and before he was born. I think Im up to about 16 or 17 visits and I still have not seen it all.

Riana, looks like you had a great 2 days- busy but tiring!

It seems you have seen the main tourist areas- the Grand Palace is something else isn't it? There is a whole lot of Japanese tourists somewhere that have photos of me being violently ill in what I thought was a quiet corner- turns out it was quiet one side but open the other side! I have never been so embarrassed in my whole life. I actually got food poisoning from the plane not dodgy Thai street food. There was not a bathroom in sight- anywhere and I was so sick!

No kitten as yet.... but it won't take long....

These pictures are "Super Cool" according to 12 almost 13 year old Luke! That's about the best you can get! He is impressed! So am I!

I had no idea there was so much to see in Koh Samui. We are beach types so our day there consisted of taking a taxi to the beach, lazing in the sun/ shade under and umbrella. Buying random bits and pieces from the sellers wandering by.

Having a massage. I think I got my nails and toes painted. Plus drinking some type of coconut drink- mine had a healthy slug of vodka in it!

For some reason and I have no idea why we also went to McDonalds on the way back to the ship. Its funny the things you remember from a day ashore!

1 Ron is quite enough.

Speaking of which when are you off to HK.

Cant wait to read your review when your back.

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Alicat,

Im so enjoying this review. You are reviewing everything that I love to read about! Im loving the pictures and the comments.

Costa occasionally have an itinerary that starts in Hong Kong and finishes in Singapore and back the other way. We have done it previously but now if they have it its in Hong Kongs winter- I only cruise during warm weather and Hong Kong gets too cool for my liking!

Im a seafood snob! Hate to say it but.... I hardly ever have seafood on a ship- in Australia we are spoilt with the availability of fresh seafood- I just don't fancy the frozen stuff.

I only ever eat dessert on a cruise- not sure why? I just never think to order it here or I'm too full from entrees and mains.

The drinks look pretty good to me!

Question from Luke: He would like to know please- what items are on the always available menu? He often used to order from this menu- he has never really been a kids meal person although he LOVES chips/ fries.

The almond cake would be much more my thing too. I dont mind cream but sometimes it can get too heavy especially after a meal. Im more inclined to have creamy stuff with a coffee in the afternoon somewhere.

I have never tried the Pizzeria on Costa- not sure why? Just haven't. They used to have pizza by the slice sometimes on the buffet at lunch time and I always quite liked it.

WOW! Im so loving this review. I keep logging in to check when the next bit is..... Please keep going!

I did not know that all Calico cats were female- we don't currently have a cat but it is only because nobody has asked me if I would like a kitten recently. Our last cat was a Calico- she was called Blossom Frangipani- yes she had 2 names! She was a very cool cat and was the BOSS- she lorded it over our Doberman!- who was terrified of her.

I like Singapore but to be brutally honest not as much as Luke, he has always loved it. Took him for the first time when he was 4 (just) and we have been back quite a few times since. Hong Kong is more to my liking!

Im waiting desperately for the next part...

Alicat- what was the currency on board? Euros of USD? Previously when I have done this itinerary it was Euros but I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was now USD.

Keep them coming Alicat.

Im loving it.... We have always done a cyclo drive in Malacca- Luke takes great delight in finding the cyclo with the loudest music and the gaudiest decorations. Im just happy to be driven around for a while.

Last time in Penang we were there for a very short time- we did a ships tour that included high tea and some fancy hotel. Not as fancy as Raffles Singapore or The Peninsular Hong Kong but pretty good. I remember Luke as a 6 year old eating so many curry puffs I thought he would be sick- to this day he still loves them!

Wow Riana,

Thank you so much. I am loving this review. The pictures are to die for! and Im so enjoying reading/ seeing what you got up to.

Can't wait til the next part!

We have a large and to my mind a very beautiful frangipani tree in our backyard. They were in just about every Australian backyard in the 1950's- 1970's. We live in the house I grew up in- my parents bought it in 1967! The story goes that one man owned 4 houses in the street and was selling them all. Previously to him selling them they were holiday homes for people to rent- we live at the beach. Anyway when Mum and Dad were buying 3 of the houses were available- they were exactly the same- room size, layout etc. But ours had a frangipani tree. When they were deciding which to buy they decided the only real difference was the tree- so they bought the house with the tree up the back. I love taking my coffee up under the tree in the early morning- the fragrance from the tree is beautiful. Its quiet and a totally relaxing way to start the day.

That photo is indeed Patong Beach- I am a veteran of something like 20 trips there.

Ron, depending on traffic, its about 20 minutes- give or take slightly from Patong Beach to Phuket Town- its is roughly about 18 kms- not sure how many miles that is?

The tenders do run all night if required. Or they used to! Costa and the other ships that port here use not only their own tenders but also hire the local guys and their boats to ferry back and forth. The locals are there all night and leave as required- if a passenger is there they go, if not they just wait for them to come. This is a big party port for the crew as it tends at least on Costa to be an overnight stop.

Phuket also has a deep sea port around he other side of the island- its about 45 minutes from the main strip of Patong Beach- I have never been there. But knowing where it is you would be at the mercy of the taxi touts/ mafia in Phuket.

Riana,

Thanks for posting the email address of your driver. Im wondering if he would be happy to just do a drop off/ pick up with no actual tour. I will email to find out. We want to spend some time in Chinatown, use the monorail and visit the towers, with maybe a visit to Harrods outlet for tea- we dont have Harrods here and its a bit of a thing for us.

How did you pay him- prepaid or at the end of the day. In dollars or local currency?

Riana,

Thank you so much for this review. I am totally loving it. Cant wait til Wednesday to read / see more. I hate it when work gets in the way of cruising and posting.

We have been to Langkawi on a cruise- for us it was a disappointment at the time. It was pretty much the only port we had no plans for and thought we could just wing it. Im sure there is more to it but in our case we missed it totally. I remember being dropped off on a ships shuttle at the Aquarium (it was closed). There was a Duty Free shop next door. I remember the Chinese passengers going crazy buying huge blocks of Toblerone chocolate- yes I like Toblerone but not enough to buy 20 large blocks! per person.

We intended to just spend the day at a beach getting some sun and relaxing. Ended up in a taxi with a family from the cruise but the driver took us to some totally deserted beach- nothing in sight for miles. Probably romantic but as Im a single parent with a then 7 year old and the other family were 2 parents with a 10 year old the romance was lost on us. Kids were thirsty! So were we! Then it started to sprinkle with rain. We were seriously in some beach in the middle of nowhere. After walking for what seemed like ages along the sand and having no idea where we were going we eventually stumbled along a small shop- got a drink and found some dodgy taxi to take us back to the ship. The guy was a maniac driver and we felt like we were in jungle in the middle of absolutely nowhere. To be honest it was one port where I was quite glad to see the ship again!

Im not keen an cable cars but suck it up and close my eyes as Luke likes them. I can do them but don't enjoy it at all. I do draw the line at the glass bottomed ones in Hong Kong!

Ron, a week in Hong Kong? I love Hong Kong! Cant wait to hear your plans! - said with a pleading tone.

WOW! These are stunning pictures. Makes me feel like Im there!

The cricket club is much different to my first trip to KL- I first went in 1993- then it was very much still a cricket pitch with the white picket fence around. The clubhouse was off limits to all but members. Im guessing that cricket as a sport has lost its popularity in KL.

I have also been to Chinatown- remember eating there. From memory it was good but not great so you did not miss too much.

Cant wait for the next installment- I say pleading!

Riana,

DON'T stop posting about your cruise and Singapore. I love reading reviews and getting all the details. Im like Ron in that I also love hearing/ reading about laces I have been and am planning on going to again!.

Ron, its not only the Brits that speak Cockney! My Dad was fluent (born and raised in Australia) and used it throughout his life- mostly to try to confuse my rather posh Mum! Still trying to work out how they were happily married for 50 years. I grew up with it -not to mention the look of horror on my Mums face when I started to use it occasionally as well.

Welcome back Alicat.

Thanks for all the detail on Victoria. Im still tossing on booking for the Fortuna. One minute I think yes, the next I think no. I think I will eventually say yes as the dates and itinerary really work for us. Others just don't work as well.

The offer on the Fortuna is good value and the time in ports is good which is what we like.

Sorry to hear of the once daily room service. I would just ignore the tone of the letter- I can't stand damp towels. Luke apparently does not mind them as he seems to leave his on the bathroom floor regularly at home!

Cant wait for the next installment....

Thanks for the info on the Gala nights and the clothes worn. Luke who will be 13.5 when we go has formal clothes- we go to the races a bit here and he needs them to get in... just wondering if to pack them.... I will keep thinking....Although he is young he is a big strapping young man with a size 10 foot already! So his clothes/ shoes take up lots of space...

Thanks. Yep I have found the same thing with agents not wanting to know or deal with Costa.

Yep Im hearing you.

I always picked Costa for the itinerary plus the bonus of the drink packages!

Im just really torn now between booking on the Fortuna- although the dates fit and the itinerary really suits us. Or looking elsewhere like Celebrity. I have looked at Princess but its not just right itinerary and date wise for us.

Which agency in Australia have you used? My TA has unfortunately for us- been promoted. I have had a quote from someone else but to be honest I want to get a comparison as the one who have quoted me can't/ won't do the hotels I prefer and keep pushing me to the ones they use most often- yes bigger commission for them and I can always book direct with the hotel but I have had some trouble geting other agents to quote Costa.