Join Pete and Judy on their FIRST World Cruise on the Amsterdam

[teamflames]

Enroute to Victoria peak using UberTaxi. Some taxi drivers signed up with uber!

 

 

 

 

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Now that sounds like the hk people I know. The Beijing influx hasn't quite killed off the old Cantonese entrepreneurial spirit

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[The-Inside-Cabin]

How much was that? 50c I am guessing?? [emoji2]

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

50 Cents HK extra- about 6 cents USD

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We received another "Pillow Gift" last night. A very nice Ballistic Nylon Carry On Travel Bag.

 

Here is a picture. I put pillows inside to fill out the shape.

 

It also has 2 wheels for pulling.

 

Very Nice

 

 

Full report for our last day in HK later

 

Cruise log for segment 2 is now posted on the blog http://www.theinsidecabin.com, under world cruise reference. This gives all the distances, speeds and temperatures etc

Edited March 4, 2016 by The-Inside-Cabin

[Cusebarman]

Pete and Judy. I met you two as I did just the first segment, Florida to Sydney. I can say in all sincerity that it was an honest pleasure meeting you and wish you a great rest of your big adventure. I will be following your travels. The only negative I can think of about the entire trip is that Sydney to Boston (ultimately Cape Cod) is one long ass flight. And being in the back of that van in Nuku Hiva had to have been just about as uncomfortable. Enjoy!!! Doug Martin

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Pete and Judy. I met you two as I did just the first segment, Florida to Sydney. I can say in all sincerity that it was an honest pleasure meeting you and wish you a great rest of your big adventure. I will be following your travels. The only negative I can think of about the entire trip is that Sydney to Boston (ultimately Cape Cod) is one long ass flight. And being in the back of that van in Nuku Hiva had to have been just about as uncomfortable. Enjoy!!! Doug Martin

 

 

Glad to hear you made it back safely Doug!

 

We enjoyed meeting you

 

Pete and Judy

[erewhon]

Yes

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for your reply.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 59, Hong Kong

 

 

Around 11 am we left the ship with our tablemates, Rick and Margaret, to head out to Stanley Market for some sightseeing and shopping. Stanley market is on Hong Kong island, across Victoria Harbor and then about 12 miles down a winding road past Repulse Bay. We decided to take public transportation since we had the time and wanted to check out how the system worked.

 

Once again we walked thru Harbour Place, down to the promenade and over to the Star Ferry Terminal. There are three Star Ferry Terminals: Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai. Tsim Sha Tsui is the only terminal on the Kowloon side and Central is the terminal most used by tourists on the Hong Kong Side. The Star Ferry terminal on the Kowloon side (Tsim Sha Tsui) has different piers for ferries going to Central and to Wan Chai. It is important to follow the Star Ferry signs for your correct destination – most likely Central, if you are leaving from Kowloon, or Tsim Sha Tsui if you are leaving from Hong Kong. You will also have a choice of whether to travel on the ferries upper or lower deck – the upper deck is seasonally air conditioned and costs 50 cents HK more (only 6 cents USD). The signs leading to the loading platforms will be marked “Upper” or “Lower” in addition to the name of your destination terminal, so be sure to head to the platform appropriate for you deck preference.

 

There are several ways you can pay your ferry fare which will be $2.00 HK for the lower deck or $2.50 HK for the upper deck. (The price is different on weekends and holidays.) The simplest way is to buy a token with coins at one of the machines near the turnstiles. Follow the directions that are posted on the machine in English. The machine only takes coins, but does make change and you can buy more than one token at the same time. Once you have your token, put it into the turnstile and follow the signs to the ferry. There are ways you can buy an Oyster Card which will allow you to ride buses and the MTR, in addition to paying for you ferry, but please read other resources if you are interested in learning more about those options. The Oyster Card is seems to be similar to the system they have in the UK so if you are familiar with that one, you will probably be right at home here.

 

We ended up on the lower deck because we didn’t know there was an upper deck option till after we boarded and learned more about the differences. After a short ferry ride, maybe 10 minutes, we arrived at the Central Terminal and headed up to the second floor and walked about ¼ mile on a pedestrian bridge until it ended and then went down to the street and into the a building called One Exchange Square where we found the bus stand for bus number 260 – the express bus to Stanley Market. The fare to Stanley Market was $10.60 HK which is listed on the route information sign that also marks the bus stop location. Bus number 6 also goes to Stanley Market, but while a little cheaper, is the local and stops more frequently, but you get there eventually.

 

 

While walking across the pedestrian bridge we saw a huge Apple logo on a nearby building and we could see people scurrying about inside one of the largest Apple stores I ever came across. We would stop there later.

 

Fifteen minutes later a very modern double decker bus arrives and we board, putting our fare into a box near the driver. You don’t need exact change, but they don’t make change, if you only have a $20 HK bill and the fare is $10.60 HK, then you can put $20 HK in the fare box and consider the $9.40 HK a donation to the Hong Kong transit system. The fare box is simply a box with a slot – no need to feed your paper bills or coins into any machine or reader or wait for him to acknowledge your fare deposit. Simply put your money in the box and keep moving. The driver will say something if something isn’t right, otherwise keep moving and find a seat. Head to the upper deck if you want a better view.

 

Once you are on your way, the busses next stop is announced by a recorded voice in English and shown on a sign next to the driver. When your stop is next, press one of the nearby “stop” buttons to alert the driver that you want off at the next stop. This is where the MAPS.ME app helps a lot as you can track your progress on your phone – again no internet or cell service required – and make sure you don’t overshoot your stop.

 

Thirty-five minutes after later we arrived at Stanley Market. The bus followed the waterfront and we had some great views of Repulse Bay along the way. If you wanted to get off, you could do so, and wait 20 minutes or so for the next bus. You would have to pay again, but when full fare is only $1.35 USD, you can splurge a little. The fare is also less the closer you get to Stanley Market so if you do get off, check out the bus stop sign for the exact fare required.

 

Stanley Market is a relatively small area right next to Stanley Bay and you could probably walk up and down every street in less than 20 minutes if you didn’t stop to do any shopping. While the shops are on “streets”, they are really more like wide sidewalks and automobiles are prohibited. There is a wide variety of shops but the big categories are clothing, particularly cashmere, electronics, Chinese garments, T shirts, souvenirs and general Knick-knacks. The market was busy, but not crowded and you didn’t have to fight your way thru any crowds. When you were in a store, there was usually never more than 2 or 3 other people. We wandered thru all the streets with shops and stopped in 5 or 6 in about 90 minutes. We picked up a few souvenir keychains, some pashminas and cashmere scarves. There was much to choose from and the prices were great – a nice cashmere sweater was marked for $27 USD – and that is before you start to bargain. After we were finished shopping we were ready to head up to Victoria Peak but since Rick and Margaret had already been to Victoria Peak, they elected to stay in Stanley Market.

 

We were now a little pressed for time so we summoned an UberTaxi since there were no ordinary Uber cars available. You request an Uber Taxi the same way as any other Uber but the difference is that you are calling an actual taxi – the red ones you see everywhere. Certain taxi drivers have chosen to work with Uber and can so they can tap into to a larger customer base and accept credit cards. Ordinary Hong Kong Taxis only take cash. Our driver arrived in 10 minutes and his car looked like an airplane cockpit with 3 different phones mounted on the dash, each working with a different dispatch service. This guy was definitely working hard to maximize his business. With Uber taxi, the driver runs the meter, as normal, but at the end of the ride, he enters the fare into his UBER app, your UBER account is charged and he gets reimbursed by UBER later. No money changes hands.

 

Victoria Peak is a little village with a couple of pretty good size shopping malls and a modern building, that looks like an anvil, that is home to the Victoria Peak Tram with a viewing platform on the roof. There isn’t much of a view from street level here and we learned that the nearest view point was a 20 minute walk or a $48 HK escalator ride to the top of the Victoria Peak Tram Building. We opted for the escalator ride to the top of the building and in a few minutes we were rewarded with absolutely stunning views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Visibility today was at least 20 miles and the haze was present, but not too bad. We spent about 30 minutes soaking in the view before heading down to catch the Victoria Peak Tram back down the mountain. The tram only takes cash so we needed to visit an ATM in the shopping center before we could pay for our ticket. There wasn’t any line for the tram going down, but to our surprise, the line going up was and least 200 yards long. Taking a taxi or bus to the top of Victoria Peak and then taking the tram down would probably be the way to go to avoid the longer line going up.

 

 

Once off the tram we were planning to take a taxi or Uber back to the Ocean Terminal, but we were surprised to see a bus pole labeled 15C Star Ferry Central right outside the tram entrance. The bus was just pulling up so we hopped on and were on our way. The fare was something like $3.40 pp, and the smallest I had was a $10 HK bill, so I shoved the $10 into the fare box for both of us and we took our seats. $10HK is about $1.25 US so I wasn’t going to complain about overpaying a little bit for a 1 mile or so bus ride.

 

One of our IPhone charging cables quit working so we wanted to stop at the Apple Store we saw earlier and get a new one. We used our familiar MAPS.ME app to locate the Apple Store along with a nearby street so we could press the stop button at the appropriate time. It was now 6:00 pm and with an all aboard of 7pm. We didn’t have a lot of time to shop so we bought our cable and headed back to the pedestrian bridge and down to the Star Ferry Terminal. By 6:30 we were back on the Kowloon side and went thru the nearest 7-11 to exchange our last remaining Hong Kong dollars for Snickers Bars and other odds and ends. 15 Cents was all that remained of our Hong Kong Dollars as we headed back thru Harbour Mall to the ship.

 

Embedded into the tile of the hallway in Harbour Place leading to the ship are a series of silver metal plates, about 18 inches across, that mark the path back to the ship. We hadn’t noticed these previously on our earlier walks thru the terminal.

 

Kate Ross, one of the new lecturers, joined our table for dinner and she will be with us until Dubai. One of our other tablemates got to know her thru Cruise Critic before we left and prearranged her arrival at our table. Another reason to participate in roll calls is that you may find interesting dinner companions in advance and as we all know, having great dinner companions can make any cruise more enjoyable. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and we’re looking forward to many more conversations with her over the next few weeks. After another wonderful dinner, we all posed for our Table 52 tradition – the Jazz Hands photo – and we will add it to our collection.

 

Sail Away was in the Crow’s Nest at 9pm, there were about 100 people still in attendance when I wandered thru around 9:30. The waiters were passing around grilled duck pot stickers which were pretty good. I didn’t stay long and was soon off to the Queens Lounge to see flautist Clare Langan’s 10:00 pm encore show.

 

Clare opened her show by explaining the correct pronunciation of her title – Flautist. She humorously went thru a long list of various names she has been called over the years including Flutist, Fluteter, Flirtist or Florist. Her show was fantastic and the crowd enjoyed her performance of a variety of songs once again.

 

 

Returning to our cabin we discovered our 5th “pillow gift” of the cruise. You can find them all by going to the blog http://www.theinsidecabin.com and looking under the World Cruise Reference tab. You will also find copies of the Cruise Logs and other items future cruisers may find interesting.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day and then we will arrive in Da Nang where we will leave the ship for our independent overnight adventure to Hue and Hoi An.

 

More pictures on the blog along with copies of almost every main dining room menu and every daily on location guide. http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[jig]

It would be interesting to know if they took 30% of the fare as they normally do.

I know you have a rare overnight in Danang. Still, an interesting routing. Hue is to the north and HoiAn is to the south. I hope that is where you are staying. As much of a restored tourist town, I think there is only one guest house within the old city. All other hotels are just outside. Just south of the port there is a fishing area that I can't remember the area. Everyone stops there. If you are there early it's quite a sight.

[jig]

From the first time I was in Hong Kong in the 70s till a few years ago the star ferry was $2 for the upper. Wow, they raided it. It was always said it would cause lots of problems if it ever went up. Like the buckle subway fare in nyc.

[KirkNC]

Regular ATT iPhone. Works everywhere so far

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

What kind of data plan are you using. I would think using your phone for data international would cost a fortune.

[KirkNC]

Ok, I have spent the last hour looking into map.me. Based on what i understand and have seen so far, this might be the greatest app of all time :eek::D:D:D. While the maps take up some space, the ability to use this thing on the fly with no internet connection is awesome! The only thing I have seen that it does not have is the ability to do route planning using public transportation. Still, quite a tool, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

What kind of data plan are you using. I would think using your phone for data international would cost a fortune.

 

 

I use att plan for $60 a month. Gives you 300mb, unlimited text, phone calls 50 cents....300mb is ok is managed closely. Overage is 20 cents a megabyte. Cost $240 for whole cruise - I enjoy staying connected so I think it is worth it. Others may not...ymmv

Edited March 5, 2016 by The-Inside-Cabin

[teamflames]

Wow, looks like a clear day by hk standards, to be able to see the hills is very good. Maybe one of the rare days the wind blows towards the mainland

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Ok, I have spent the last hour looking into map.me. Based on what i understand and have seen so far, this might be the greatest app of all time :eek::D:D:D. While the maps take up some space, the ability to use this thing on the fly with no internet connection is awesome! The only thing I have seen that it does not have is the ability to do route planning using public transportation. Still, quite a tool, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

 

 

I downloaded every country for the cruise....took 3.6 GB of space....then you can delete the countries as you go.....but download them beforehand to save time later...

 

Very useful app....hope they add public transport option....this version is free....maybe there is a paid version with more options....will have to check.

[teamflames]

Ok, I have spent the last hour looking into map.me. Based on what i understand and have seen so far, this might be the greatest app of all time :eek::D:D:D. While the maps take up some space, the ability to use this thing on the fly with no internet connection is awesome! The only thing I have seen that it does not have is the ability to do route planning using public transportation. Still, quite a tool, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

 

 

I downloaded it a while ago but have had little luck with it. I use google maps offline and it's pretty good but you have to download the map prior

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I downloaded it a while ago but have had little luck with it. I use google maps offline and it's pretty good but you have to download the map prior

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

 

Maps.me requires advance download of maps as well. I wasn't aware google maps had an offline version available for mobile phones. Will have to check it out.

[teamflames]

Maps.me requires advance download of maps as well. I wasn't aware google maps had an offline version available for mobile phones. Will have to check it out.

 

 

That's probably where I went wrong. You need to be signed in to google maps to get the offline content.

But even before I discovered that I found the gps would still track me when I was offline especially if I had put in any directions search while online.

Ulmon city maps is another that a lot of travellers use

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[jig]

T-Mobile gives you unlimited internet in most countries. But not in viet nam. Calling the USA is 20c a minute.

[jig]

Just wondering. As most of the pax are Americans, people following the elections? Not caring who anyone supports I it a topic of discussion on the ship. Your missing all the excitement.

[KirkNC]

I downloaded it a while ago but have had little luck with it. I use google maps offline and it's pretty good but you have to download the map prior

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

I use Google Maps a lot but have never seen an offline version. I always use My Maps version of Google maps to bookmark points of interest. Now I can copy those waypoints into the maps.me app. It works great.

 

There is a user guide on the maps.me website that may be helpful.

[KirkNC]

Just wondering. As most of the pax are Americans, people following the elections? Not caring who anyone supports I it a topic of discussion on the ship. Your missing all the excitement.

 

Excitement, is that what this is?;)

[teamflames]

I use Google Maps a lot but have never seen an offline version. I always use My Maps version of Google maps to bookmark points of interest. Now I can copy those waypoints into the maps.me app. It works great.

 

 

 

There is a user guide on the maps.me website that may be helpful.

 

 

Thanks kirk, I am going to have another play with this app, I probably didn't download anything.

In google maps app, you need to be logged in (I had to create a gmail) and then in menu it's called "offline areas", you need to download the area you will be travelling in beforehand.

Will come back tomorrow with a comparison

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[jig]

Maybe I should have put that in quotes

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Just wondering. As most of the pax are Americans, people following the elections? Not caring who anyone supports I it a topic of discussion on the ship. Your missing all the excitement.

 

We get MSNBC and FOXNEWS, plus NYT website is free. People can stay as informed as they choose. But doing a lot of online reading is harder.

 

People make passing references to elections as you would expect but that is about it.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Day 60, Sailing toward Da Nang

 

With the departure of 200 guests in Hong Kong and about 80 checking in, there are some new faces around the ship and the absence of some of the old. We have heard that when more people leave the ship in Dubai we may finish the final segment of the cruise with around 800 guests. We’ll see what actually occurs as there are many rumors about this or that around the ship and some are true, while others are not, like anywhere else.

 

We had a new crop of guest lecturers arrive in Hong Kong: Kate Ross and Revell Carr. We met Kate last night at dinner and Revell Carr was the guest this morning on Good Morning Amsterdam. Revell shared with us that he used to be in the Navy back in the 60’s and promised to show us a photo of him with his ship in Hong Kong when he was here back in 1963. Kate and Revell will be presenting 11 lectures each and are scheduled to leave the ship in Dubai.

 

The weather was remarkably pleasant today, but we spent most of the day inside resting and getting ready for our next two port visits in Vietnam where we will be travelling overland independently.

 

Our third cruise critic meeting was held today to welcome our 2 new couples joining the ship. Attendance has fallen off dramatically and we are now probably down to the hard core group of maybe 35 people. For future cruisers here is how the numbers worked out. 195 people signed up for the roll call prior to departure. 150 were present at the first Meet and Greet, 75 at the second and 35 at the third. I suspect that this attendance pattern is probably about average and I would use these percentages in the future when estimating RSVP’s for the ship. We have two more meet and greets and I suspect we may get a little bump for the last one a few days prior to the end of the cruise.

 

The categories for the third photo contest have been announced: People, Colors and Flowers.

 

Kate Ross did great job with her first lecture on Vietnam as she presented a broad overview of the country and a little of the history. She shared some of her photos and personal experiences from her previous trips to the country that really helped give us additional perspective prior to our own visit starting tomorrow.

 

 

Revell Carr presented an interested lecture in the afternoon about how the search for spices was a driving force behind much of the very first sailors expeditions. He provided one of the simplest explanations of celestial navigation that was very interesting.

 

The theme for tonight’s Gala dinner was the Red Lantern Dinner where we were encouraged to wear our oriental wardrobes. The dining room was decorated with red lanterns and the wait staff wore red oriental style jackets and hats. Most of the men wore their red ties from Valentine’s day while most of the women wore something oriental. We had the Beef Tenderloin with Grilled Shrimp – again very good. Our tablemate, Susan, missed dinner as this was her turn for the Captain’s dinner. She stopped by afterwards to rave about the meal. She stayed with us thru our dinner and enjoyed a glass of wine while we all shared our Hong Kong adventures.

 

 

Soul Mystique, an Australian couple billed as world renowned quick change artists, provided this evening’s entertainment. They were very entertaining at the beginning of the show as the couple dazzled the audience with an amazing display of quick costume changes that were almost magical. After that they performed some rather routine dances and skits and took time to show a video that presented an overview and history of quick change artists. Normally videos like this are shown when the artists give a “behind the scenes” show after their initial performance, but this video seemed out of place and disruptive. However they ended strong with another amazing quick change as Lydia’s costume changed one last time during a glittering confetti shower.

 

 

More on the blog at http://www.theinsidecabin.com