cashmeremypuppydog

On 9/30/2019 at 1:10 PM, PSU said:

We will be getting off a cruise in Bali and need to be transported to the Ritz Carlton. Are there usually taxis at the cruise port or should we arrange private transportation?

Thanks.

This might be helpful:  

Good luck

The Canadians!😎

On 10/3/2019 at 4:47 PM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

There isn't much information on here about Bali, and now I can't find a post that I found earlier this year that I found helpful.  I was looking for a thread in which a driver was recommended for touring around the island.  In addition to the driver recommendation, there were comments from other people who had used this driver, some general information about touring around the island, and a link to a video and blog that I was hoping to look at for ideas and inspiration.  Did this thread disappear, or was it taken off for some reason?  It's now finally getting close to my cruise date, and I want to hire a driver and make some plans before it's too late.  Therefore, if anyone can point me to that post, I would be grateful.  If not, if you could provide basic information on the following, I would really appreciate it:

 

What is the cruise port in Benoa like (wifi? port terminal? taxis available? drivers available? shops available?)

What is the airport like - very congested? Allow extra time? Wifi?

In the absence of recommendations for a driver that I can arrange from home in advance, how do you hire a driver?  Should this be done before you arrive in Bali?  Is there a limit to how far the driver can travel?  Is there a standard price or standard hours?  Can you use the person for multiple days, even if you want to move from one city to another?  How do you know if the person's English (or your desired language) is good?  

 

Thank you for any help you can give me. 

Hello IWantToLiveOverTheSea,

I really don't know what happened to my account but some of my posts got deleted without explanations...

I posted this post a few minutes ago.  I hope it will help you.

The Canadians!😎

On 10/13/2019 at 9:29 AM, hallasm said:

I’m just about to finalize my Bali blog with reviews, video and pictures (post for each day of my 14 days stay.) Plan to add more videos over time.

I did five day-tours during my stay -  posts with those tours are marked excursion - other days I stayed at the hotel, did som shopping or went to the beach.

The blog is still under development and I’m trying to improve my English writing - sorry if something is still reflecting my Danish origin.

Link to The Magical Island of Bali - Blog and review

 

Hello Hallasm,

I believe you found Dewa through one of my posts on CC.  

I just posted a new post a few minutes ago so composer, this is the same Dewa...  Hope you hire him as you will not be disappointed...

The Canadians!😎

Hello there,

First of all, I just want to point out that this post is in relation to a 2015, 2017 AND 2019 trip to Asia.  This is a beautiful story but quite long.

In March 2015, after a 28-night cruise, we flew to Bali.  We had the driver of our hotel (Ubud) picked us up from the airport. His name was Dewa. He was very professional, spoke great english and was very knowledgable about everything: life, history, customs... He had dealt with different personalities over the last 3 years (2012-2015) working for the hotel and he is very patient and knows how to "deliver". We loved him so much that we booked an 8-hour tour. Well, it was better than I could have imagined. I don't want to write too much details but we travel like "Rick Steves" and love the off-the-beaten-track experiences. His bubbly personality contributed a lot to our experience. We booked him for 3 more days... He then drive us to Seminyak where we were supposed to spend 10 days then fly back home (Canada). Unfortunately, my husband got very sick (read: almost died) and ended up 2 weeks at the hospital. Twice, Dewa drove 45 min from Ubud to visit with my husband at the hospital! By this point, we were like family.  After our return from Canada, we pounder on what had happened and decided to sponsor Dewa’s daughter (Ayu) to English school to better her schooling.

Feb 8-9, 2017   Our cruise ship stayed overnight in Bali.  Dewa was there to greet us.  Our reunion was very touching as the last time we had seen him was just before DH was released from a Bali's hospital.  Dewa had rented a nice van and a driver as we had 3 other couples who wanted to join us on our 2-day adventure in Bali.  As we are sponsoring Dewa's daughter, Ayu, to go to English school, we feel she is a grand daughter to us.  Her birthday is on Feb 10 so we had asked Dewa to organize a birthday party for Ayu at our expense.  Each year, Ayu is asked what she wants for her birthday: go to Mc Donalds or a party with 2-3 of her friends.  She always choose McDonalds.... So this year, it was her first ever birthday party...

We started by touring around Ubud until 5pm.  Then, it was party time.  We drove to Dewa's house and the birthday girl was already celebrating with 30 other children from her class and relatives.  It was so exciting to see big smiles on their faces.  A clown had been hired to entertain the kids.  He did an awesome job.  DH and I met Dewa's family: mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, cousins, nieces....... The compound was filled with people.  It is an evening DH and I will never forget.  Later on, Dewa drove us to a small Balinese hotel (in Ubud) where the 4 couples slept.  The next morning, Dewa picked us up at 9 and we toured around until it was time to get back to the cruise ship.  We have only one regret: not enough time with Dewa, his wife and his 2 children.

Over the past 4 years, we have been in contact with Dewa on a weekly basis.  This is very special as many of us do not hear often from our own sons and/or daughters...  Dewa does not know it but he is giving us so much.  It's hard to explain in words, I think we see in him the beauty of human beings.  We keep telling him he gave us so much when we were in Bali: he did not give us materials but he gave us his time without making us feel rushed.  His dedication in leading us exploring Bali to the fullest was out of this world (remember, he has seen the rice fields, the waterfalls, the temples... a thousand times).   But we could see the fire in his eyes/his passion as he explained Bali to us...it was truly beautiful.    We have a tremendous respect for Dewa.  We consider him like our son. 

This is why I decided I wanted to celebrate my 50th birthday in Bali (Sept 2019).  It might be our last time in Bali and I want to spend time with Dewa who showed us what love is all about by giving us everything he had in 2015: precious time.

Dewa is truly a special person and I would like the whole world to find out about him. We love him and are so blessed to have him in our lives.  Hopefully, you can find out first hand for yourself.  If you know of anyone travelling to Bali, please let them know about Dewa.  Thank you so much everyone,

Dewa Purwadinata  Email: dgrock1140 at yahoo dot com Phone: 085238493089

This is is new blog: https://dewadriverinbali.blogspot.com 

The Canadians!😎

Update

We are back from Bali!  We had an amazing time with Dewa and his family.  We brought friends with us and they loved Dewa as much as we do.  Also, Dewa was our translator when we met Olin, the 6 y.o. girl we are sponsoring through Compassion Canada.  A week later, we met with her parents and visited the project in Denpasar.  These 2 days were without stress due to Dewa taking care of everything….

If you have hired Dewa in the past, please post here.  If you have any questions, please post as well.

2 photos are attached: 1-) Dewa and Ayu (his wife) giving me a gift on my birthday    2-) Dewa, his family and The Canadians! having supper on our last night in Bali. 

1 hour ago, inmyfootsteps said:

Hey My Fellow Canadians,

 

Can you provide me with the website for this tour that you arranged? We are on a Japan cruise in November of this year and Kagoshima will be one of our ports. How much did the bus cost you? and is 20 people the max, or can you have a smaller group? I personally don't like travelling in large groups.

 

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

 

A fellow Canadian...Go Raptors! Go!

Hello friends!

I personally booked & paid for the bus.  To keep the cost down, I organized a group of 20.  I can’t remember the cost but about $50 USD for the transportation and ferry cost.  Extremely affordable.  Ken will send you the itinerary I used.  I was extremely lucky to find him.. Actually, I had reserved the only English speaking tour guide at Chiran Museum.  He is the one who gave me Ken’s email: Ken at nansatsu dot com

Good luck

P.S.  I think our friends Irene & Richard from Sault Ste Marie will be cruising with you.

P.S.S.  Watching the basketball 🏀 game right now and the Raptors are ahead 7 points!

CHIRAN & SAKURAJIMA from Kagoshima cruise port   

I organized a FANTASTIC tour for 20 people to visit Chiran (50 min away from Kagoshima).  Finding affordable transportation in Japan is really hard.  With perseverance and luck, I found “Global Sales E” and corresponded with Ken.  Ken was an awesome young man (we met him in Chiran) and his English is impeccable.  He replied to my emails very quickly.

This was our 8.5-hour itinerary:

1-) Chiran Museum

2-) Chiran Samurai Houses/Gardens

-Bought lunch at convenience store and ate in the bus so we would not lose time...

3-) Ferry from Kagoshima to Sakurajima

4-) Sakurajima volcano (3 stops)

5-) Ferry from Sakurajima to Kagoshima

6-) Back to the cruise ship

I would recommend this bus company to anyone.  I had to pre-pay for the whole bus and the other cruisers mailed me cheques or paid through PayPal.  It was quite easy and we could not have had a better quality/price tour.

Tour includes: bus- gas- parking- highway fees- ferry for mini bus and passengers-insurance

Tour does not include: Chiran Peace Museum entrance fee of ¥500, Samurai Residence entrance fee of ¥500 and lunch.

Holland of America did not offer both attractions: Chiran and Sakurajima.  We did not have a guide but we did not need one.

The Canadians!😎
 

VLADIVOSTOK 
I organized a tour with ‘Explore Primorye’ in April 2019 when our cruise ship was in town. It became so popular that we had 6 buses of 20 people in each bus. 
I was really pleased with the owner, Sergei, as he answered all my communications quickly.

Vladivostok is not Tokyo, Kyoto or even Nagasaki but the guides showed us around and explained the history of this part of Russia. It was a valuable tour.

I would recommend ‘Explore Primorye’ as Sergei is a young man that delivered what he promised. A Russian lunch was included and it made you feel right at home! Sergei even gave a gift to cruisers after the great tour (I am not telling you what it is)!

Thank you Sergei and 'Explore Primorye'.
The Canadians!😎
P.S. Our knowledgeable guide made the driver stop at a grocery store as some wanted to buy Russian beers and chocolates!

On 3/25/2019 at 11:15 AM, sally44 said:

Has anyone done shore excursions in Vladivostok with Diamond Princess? Need some advice.

VLADIVOSTOK 
I organized a tour with ‘Explore Primorye’ in April 2019 when our cruise ship was in town. It became so popular that we had 6 buses of 20 people in each bus. 
I was really pleased with the owner, Sergei, as he answered all my communications quickly.

Vladivostok is not Tokyo, Kyoto or even Nagasaki but the guides showed us around and explained the history of this part of Russia. It was a valuable tour.

I would recommend ‘Explore Primorye’ as Sergei is a young man that delivered what he promised. A Russian lunch was included and it made you feel right at home! Sergei even gave a gift to cruisers after the great tour (I am not telling you what it is)!

Thank you Sergei and 'Explore Primorye'.
The Canadians!
P.S. Our knowledgeable guide made the driver stop at a grocery store as some wanted to buy Russian beers and chocolates!

57 minutes ago, Lunenburg said:

It was a great trip.

We took an overnight semi sleeper bus from Montevideo to Foz de Iguazu....

janway@tallships.ca

 

Hello Lunenburg,

Thank you so much for all the details.  I will study this soon (I copied and pasted your post).  We are heading to Japan for 62-days (17 days on our own and 42-days on the Westerdam) on March 12 so I will keep all my planning for our South America trip for this summer.

I will surely email you in the future.  From your CC’s name and email address, I am positive you live in Lunenburg...  Last week, I was telling the story of the Blue Nose and his print on the dime to my “students” (I just volunteer) at a school where immigrants learn English.  

Thank you again.

The Canadians!😎

On 2/8/2019 at 12:28 PM, Lunenburg said:

We were on a week long bus tour from Montevideo to Iguazu Falls and everyone on the bus was Uruguayan except us. 

Hello Lunenburg,

Would you be kind enough to write a bit about your one week bus tour and could you share the name of the company and web site?  I would really appreciate.  Would you share your email address as well?

The Canadians!😎

Hello cruisers,

I would like to warn you against a web site that takes advantage of foreigners travelling to Japan.  The web site is Jrailpass.

Part of the problem is that I assumed it was the official web site of Japan Railways.  It is not!  They are only an “Official vendor”.  Last Sunday, I proceeded to buy our train pass on this web site and did not question all fees added to the price of the train pass as I believe it was the official web site to buy the Japan Rail Pass.

The next day (last night), I found out a friend of mine on CC used another web site!!!!  Through that web site (Japan Experience) they paid a lot less than using Jrailpass.  Japan Experience charges $12 CAD for shipping fee and no handling fee.  Jrailpass charges $26 CAD for handling fee AND $29 CAD for shipping fee.  This is a difference of $45 CAD.

I contacted Jrailpass for a resolution of the “rip-off” but they basically told me the fees were shown on the screen when I purchased.  This is all true but I feel they are taking advantage of travellers like me by using Jrailpass who can easily be mistaken for the official web site of Japan Railways AND ask exorbitant unnecessary fees.

I want to help people to not make the same mistake I made.

I learned something: never assume and investigate everything thoroughly. 

The Canadians!😎

Hello cruisers,

I would like to warn you against a web site that takes advantage of foreigners travelling to Japan.  The web site is Jrailpass.

Part of the problem is that I assumed it was the official web site of Japan Railways.  It is not!  They are only an “Official vendor”.  Last Sunday, I proceeded to buy our train pass on this web site and did not question all fees added to the price of the train pass as I believe it was the official web site to buy the Japan Rail Pass.

The next day (last night), I found out a friend of mine on CC used another web site!!!!  Through that web site (Japan Experience) they paid a lot less than using Jrailpass.  Japan Experience charges $12 CAD for shipping fee and no handling fee.  Jrailpass charges $26 CAD for handling fee AND $29 CAD for shipping fee.  This is a difference of $45 CAD.

I contacted Jrailpass for a resolution of the “rip-off” but they basically told me the fees were shown on the screen when I purchased.  This is all true but I feel they are taking advantage of travellers like me by using Jrailpass who can easily be mistaken for the official web site of Japan Railways AND ask exorbitant unnecessary fees.

I want to help people to not make the same mistake I made.

I learned something: never assume and investigate everything thoroughly.

The Canadians!😎

9 hours ago, ithaca gal said:

Now that’s a bit of a stretch there .... medallions versus Oscars!  lol 

And one can be bought but the other can only be earned!  

The medallion program doesn’t “bother” me ..... I merely said I’m willing to bet that the majority of people don’t care about having that medallion and even fewer want to wear them after the presentation day.  If HAL needs a cost cutting measure, have at it!  

I have to confess...  I am not a junk collector so we threw ours in our cabin garbage can the same day we received it!  

The Canadians!😎

SHIMIZU PORT

I am looking for a taxi driver as well but it is not easy.  Did you find one?  Do you have someone to recommend?  Were they plenty of taxi at the port?  

Thank you for your reply.

The Canadians!

Hello all,

We always book inside room (love the dark cabin & never spend time in by cabin but it is us) as we do B2B and pre-post cruise instead than spending $$ on a veranda.

We only booked a veranda once when we took 2 of our grand children on a 7-night Caribbean cruise. We wanted the extra room of the balcony. We spend a few minutes on the balcony when we left Miami and that was the extent of it. The kids (12 and 9 at the time) truly enjoyed Celebrity kids club and the game room which was by chance located very near our cabin...

Now the secret is out, travel longer in an inside room over shorter stay in a veranda room. A cruise is great and you always need to do a pre and post cruise when you start exploring distant countries I never the world.

We all have a budget and this is how I stretch it! But please, cruisers, keep buying verandas pleaser.;p

The Canadians!:cool:

We booked it with Dewa...I think he's the best choice [emoji7][emoji41]

 

Sent from my VS990 using Forums mobile app

I am glad. Keep us posted. Please, write a post after your cruise if you can. He is now like a son to us. He has a beautiful soul.

Chantal:cool:

So, we have been steered to Dewa. Great recommenation. It is for our Nov 2018 Cruise. Can he take 2 couples? The husbands are both 6 ft and ladies small but don't want to be over crowded. I've emailed him to inquire as well.

Caryn in USA

 

Sent from my VS990 using Forums mobile app

Hello Caryn,

Ask Dewa to email you a photo of his vehicle. He could take 2 couples but I am not sure how big is his vehicle. He will reply very quickly.

Good luck and you will not disappointed. He was a real angel for us when my husband almost died in March 2015 and spent 2 weeks at the international hospital...

Let me know if you need more info.

The Canadians!:cool:

We are on the Maasdam on Oct 28 and eventually to NewZealand on Nov. 26. I do not know what the roll call is. Can you explain? Will also be looking for drive around Hiva Ona.

CentralOntario,

I am so glad you found us on the MAasdam roll call. You will love CruuseCritic...

The Canadians!:cool:

I just received an email from HAL about this future new addition and I watched the video. Finally, they really get my attention. I will not be going to bed at 9pm!

There Canadians!:cool:

We enjoy both lines. But for us, it is all about the itineraryies and you can not beat HAL. We usually do B2B for total of 28 days and Celebrity does not compare to HAL.If you are heading to the Caribbean then I would pick Celebrity as the evening shows are much better than HAL. But anywhere else in the world, if you analyze the itineraries, you should see that HAL have superior B2B.

The Canadians!:cool:

I just got the private specials on Friday and booked a Signature Suite for November, super cheap. It wasn't a planned vacation, but had to take this rate.

Sorry for my ignorance but what is a private sale?

The Canadians!:cool:

DH and I will be in Moorea on a cruise from 8AM to 5PM. We've been there previously and have done everything we find interesting on the tours that are offered. We would have booked a dive excursion, but the ship's time in port doesn't allow that.

Is there anything to do/see within walking distance of the tender dock area? (shopping is not a priority)

 

If not, can we count on finding transportation there or must we book a rental car in advance?

What ship and date are you on?

The Canadians!:cool:

Are you by any chance on the Maasdam??

Hello again,

I think I figured out your are boarding the Maasdam on Oct 28. I posted tons of info the last 2 days on the roll call. Talk to you on the roll call... Do you know how to view it? If not, let me know.

The Canadians!:cool:

P.S. We were in Auckland in Jan 2018 and LOVED New Zealand. I feel in love with the sheep. We really enjoyed Paihia as well as we stayed there for 4 nights.

Hello Canadians. Don't have your answer, but I speak for most if not all Americans, that we are horrified by the way our POTUS behaved, and your PM and wonderful people were mistreated and dissed. We love you as friends and allies and appreciate all you have done with us and for us. Hope that you get your answer and your cruise is delightful.

The Americans

Thank you so much Petoonya! It is such a sweet post. You are making my day. Well, it is water under the bridge as tomorrow President Trump will piss off someone else. We, all Canadians, know how much our neighbours from the South appreciate our politeness (Sorry!), our friendliness and us as kind human beings. Things will get resolved. It has to. We all want to live in a peaceful world and there is nothing better than friends in this world (even better than family).

I have a funny story. Years ago, I was in Disneyland with our grand children. To kill time before the "Show of Lights", we played "I spy with my little eye". After a while, a lady and her daughter asked if they could play. I was happy they were joining us. A bit later, she asked me to guess where she was from. I guessed and received hints and finally found they were from Napa Valley. Then it was her turn to find out where I was from. As I have an accent (I am French Canadian from Quebec), she guessed SEVERAL countries in Europe. Finally, after this hint "My country is your best friend and best neighbour of USA", she replied "Oh, Mexico!" The game ended abruptly!:o Her husband apologized and said it was because there were a lot of Mexican working in the Napa Valley. I still tell this story 20 years later...

Thank you for your nice port!

The Canadians!:cool:

Are you by any chance on the Maasdam??

Yes we are. We are doing the same cruise!!!!!:eek: Oct 14- Nov 11

Are you following the roll call? Which cruise are you on?

The Canadians!:cool: