Live from the Ocean Princess - April 13-29

[paul929207]

Hi Paul,

 

Thanks for posting live from, always nice to see this,

 

 

question what is the age group and mix of passengers

 

with you on this cruise.

 

Is it an older group of experienced cruisers.?

 

 

yours Shogun

Yes, generally older, but a number of 30 & 40 YO. I have seen 3 kids so far.

[paul929207]

Paul ... glad to see your posts. Can you find out, since Princess hasn't provided the information yet. We had an itinerary change posted for the follow-on cruise this morning (Friday), with no notification from Princess (as of yet). Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) deleted, Aqaba (Jordan) moved a day earlier, Luxor/Karnak (Egypt) back on the itinerary. I can only speculate ... but, they probably know why on board. Sorry to see Jeddah removed, since Saudi Arabia isn't really on the beaten path as far as tourism goes; but glad to see the return of Egypt. Luxor appears to be a much better experience anyway. (Previously booked shore excursions for Luxor have be re-instated, and Jeddah shore excursions removed.)

 

Also, Princess hasn't said where the ship will be in Singapore ... cruise terminal or container port. I have previously used the cruise terminal (on the old Regal, a much larger ship), but I know that the larger ships (Diamond/Sapphire) use a container port.

John,

This is the first I have heard of the change. I will try to find out what I can

[paul929207]

John,

This is the first I have heard of the change. I will try to find out what I can

Pia,

We did not get to store with knockoffs, but did get a bunch of invitations as we walked Nanjing Road.

[paul929207]

Pia,

We did not get to store with knockoffs, but did get a bunch of invitations as we walked Nanjing Road.

Sorry I have been slow to post. Internet has been very slow.

 

Day 3 – Okinawa

 

Princess offered a shuttle to town. It was $6 per person each way. We elected to walk and it took less than 15 minutes to town. Very few places take US$ or any other currency other than Yen. The only place you could use a ATM card for a non-Japanese Bank is at the Post Office, which is on the main road. We decided not to exchange money on the ship or at the currency exchange on the pier. We made a good decision, as we did not see anything to buy.

[Kelownabccan]

We had a similar cabin on the Royal Princess and the cabin is smaller and layed out as Paul explains. It was ok, but I'd try for an upgrade.

 

Thanks for the heads up....looking at the plan of the ship you could see they are side ways and doing a search on CC....someone said they are smaller and do not have even a couch to sit on....only one chair....we are going on a 21 day with the Ocean Princess but want to have a decent room with a window...so prob will not do a guar outside.....perhaps go to deck 4 then.....if you get a look at one please let us know what you think....will follow your fabulous cruise meanwhile...Ken

[Shogun]

Thanks for info Paul, you have a great cruise.

 

 

yours Shogun

[5326jan]

Thanks CC friends for the great advice. We will look at Viking Cruises as well as Princess Cruise tours.

[paul929207]

Day 4 – At Sea

Very humid today with heavy rain at times. No problem with chair hogs so far. Princess did put something in the first patter saying they would remove towels that sat unattended on a chair for 30 minutes. Didn’t say anything about personal things like books, clothing, etc. As we head south, we will have to see how much they follow thru.

 

Day 5 – Keelung for Taipei, Taiwan

 

We visited Taipei for 4 days a number of years ago, and we were not impressed. We planned to walk around Keelung. However, it rained heavily, so we stayed on the ship. Both here and the other day in Okinawa, I tried to find fee wifi from my balcony cabin, but could not find a free network.

 

So far, we have not been notified that the itinerary for the next cruise has been changed. We have learned of the changes, so it is not a problem for us. However, there may be others who have private tours and are not aware of the changes. The changes are:

- Drop Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

- Move Aqaba, Jordan to one day earlier

- Put back on the itinerary Safaga, Egypt when it was originally schedule.

[Woobstr112G]

Paul;

 

Thanks for your continued reports. Hope you're having the best cruise ever.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Gypsy025]

John Lauben......Regarding the docking of the Ocean Princess at Singapore......I received the following email from Princess on Mar 08...

"The ship docks about 6 miles from the city center. The pier is located at:

Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC)

1 Maritime Square, #07-01 Harbour Front Centre

Singapore 099253

Phone: (65) 6513-2200

[paul929207]

Day 6 – At Sea

 

Another lovely day at sea. The weather has improved, some sun and temperatures into the 70’s. There were some people at the pool. We had a very long port lecture today, nearly 1 hour and 15 minutes, as Hutch prepared us for two days in Hong Kong.

 

For us, the highlight of the day was the most traveled luncheon. For the first time, we made the cut, which was 230 nights.

 

Day 7 – Hong Kong

 

I was up at 6am to watch as we sailing into port. Since we are in a small ship, we are able to dock at the Ocean Terminal, right next to the Star Ferry terminal at the foot of Nathan Road, in Kowloon. Larger ships have to dock in the distant container port.

This morning, after getting money from the ATM and purchasing Octopus cards (sort of a prepaid debit card for transportation, vending machine, many chain shops (inc. 7-Eleven and McDonalds), we set off for Victoria Peak. We walked thru the Harbor Mall to the ferry terminal. The ferry is free for senior citizens. We just waved our DL’s and they waved us on. We then took a bus to the Peak Tram and road up it to the top and enjoyed the spectacular view from there.

After lunch we set out again for the ferry. This time our destination was Stanly Market, a huge open air bazzar. Jeannie enjoyed it, I tolerated it.

Hong Kong is really a city you can do on your own. If you choose to do so, I highly recommend the Octopus card. It takes some of the hassle out of public transportation. You don’t have to figure the fare or find the correct amount in your pocket of coins.

[sunsetbeachgal]

HI Paul!

 

Is Captain Ravera still at the helm? We so enjoyed him!

[Hoyaheel]

Yes, there are two round plugs in addition to the US style plugs

 

Thank you!

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise - we've looked at and drooled over the itinerary a lot the past year! Thank you for updating us:D

[Pia1913]

Hi Paul.......still cruising along with you. If you get a chance, say hi to Hutch from Pia and Mike. I'm not sure if he'll remember the names, but he sure knows us. Last time we cruised with him was for the 3 B2B's in the Med on the Ruby last spring.

[paul929207]

HI Paul!

 

Is Captain Ravera still at the helm? We so enjoyed him!

Yes, Captain Ravera is still onboard. This is our fifth cruise with him.

[paul929207]

Hi Paul.......still cruising along with you. If you get a chance, say hi to Hutch from Pia and Mike. I'm not sure if he'll remember the names, but he sure knows us. Last time we cruised with him was for the 3 B2B's in the Med on the Ruby last spring.

Will do. I go to all his lectures. I assume the next one will be tomorrow as we are in Da Nang the next day.

[cruiserus]

Now we are really bummed! Glad to hear Luxor has been reinstated. We had so wanted to go there. :( We'll be following along as the cruise progresses, wishing we were there.

[paul929207]

Day 7 – Hong Kong (continued)

Princess had a local folklore group perform this evening. I wasn’t thrilled with it & left after about 15 minutes. My wife stayed till the end.

Then at 8:00pm, there was a laser light show around and above the harbor. We were able to enjoy it from our balcony (starboard side). It lasted about 12 or 13 minutes.

Day 8 – Hong Kong

Our second day in HK was a little less active. This morning we walked a few miles up Nathan Road looking in all the shops. We had about 50 people offer to make me a suit. Many of them were multitalented, and also offered diamonds or fake Rolexes to us. We are waiting to sail to see of one passenger and one crew member will make it. They made it.

Hutch, our port lecturer, did a great job describing the sail in yesterday and the sailaway this afternoon.

[BridgeMates]

Thanks for the heads up....looking at the plan of the ship you could see they are side ways and doing a search on CC....someone said they are smaller and do not have even a couch to sit on....only one chair....we are going on a 21 day with the Ocean Princess but want to have a decent room with a window...so prob will not do a guar outside.....perhaps go to deck 4 then.....if you get a look at one please let us know what you think....will follow your fabulous cruise meanwhile...Ken

 

 

Deck 4 definitely a better choice.

[Pia1913]

Our second day in HK was a little less active. This morning we walked a few miles up Nathan Road looking in all the shops. We had about 50 people offer to make me a suit.

 

When we first went to Hong Kong close to 20 years ago, Mike did in fact have a white dinner jacket made. Very good workmanship; very low price. All in 24 hours. We had time though because we were there for three days, just in case things didn't come out right. We didn't need the time and that jacket saw many formal nights on many subsequent cruises.

[paul929207]

When we first went to Hong Kong close to 20 years ago, Mike did in fact have a white dinner jacket made. Very good workmanship; very low price. All in 24 hours. We had time though because we were there for three days, just in case things didn't come out right. We didn't need the time and that jacket saw many formal nights on many subsequent cruises.

I had a suit made in HK in 1992.

[paul929207]

Pia,

Spoke to Hutch this a.m. He said to say Hi to you two.

[Pia1913]

Pia,

Spoke to Hutch this a.m. He said to say Hi to you two.

 

Thanks. Paul. :D Don't want to bother you, but if you get a chance. can you find out if he'll be on for our Rome to Singapore cruise in October?

[ddgg]

Can you take a look at one of the obstructed view cabins....such as 6039 or any on deck six that are obstructed and see what you think of the rooms....apparently they are smaller than other outside view cabins and have no couch in them?????? we were going to book one of them......Thanks....

 

We were on the Royal in October in cabin 6035. If you can get 6039, it should have a pretty good view for an obstructed. The cabin is laid out sideways as someone else mentioned. There was enough room for my husband and I--about what I expected. There was no couch. I've never gotten a couch in an ocean view obstructed cabin, and those are the cabins I usually try to book. The window well had a surprising amount of room, and we tossed all kinds of things in that space (shoes, cameras, masks & snorkels...).

 

6035 did not have a very good view--it was definitely obstructed!

[Kelownabccan]

We were on the Royal in October in cabin 6035. If you can get 6039, it should have a pretty good view for an obstructed. The cabin is laid out sideways as someone else mentioned. There was enough room for my husband and I--about what I expected. There was no couch. I've never gotten a couch in an ocean view obstructed cabin, and those are the cabins I usually try to book. The window well had a surprising amount of room, and we tossed all kinds of things in that space (shoes, cameras, masks & snorkels...).

 

6035 did not have a very good view--it was definitely obstructed!

 

I think we will stay away from them now......we usually get on obstructed view as they are a good deal sometimes but for 21 days my wife wants somewhere nice to sit rather than on the bed all the time....nice ship though the smaller ones....we like them....Ken