questions about bali

[feedmytummy]

hi, everyone! just booked a princess cruise (yay!) that has a stop in bali and have a few questions...

 

1) how does the tender system work, specifically getting back on the ship? i assume if there is a last tender scheduled at say 4pm and everyone decides to wait until that time to show up at the port, then they will run as many as needed to bring everyone back to the ship? (having actually typed that out i realize now how stupid the question sounds but sort of worried as i plan to book a private tour. obviously, i won't wait until the last minute to end my tour but still curious re the tendering process.)

 

2) there seem to be a ton of private tour/driver options in bali from what i've read here and on tripadvisor. i've narrowed down to mr. bedu and safe bali drivers. curious if anyone has had personal experience with either?

 

3) our cruise will be rt from singapore, and i believe bali is one hour behind. does anyone know if the ship changes its clocks to match the local time when docked in bali? would be helpful to know when setting up a meeting time with my tour guide.

 

thanks in advance for any help and insight!

[Orlando Vic]

"2) there seem to be a ton of private tour/driver options in bali from what i've read here and on tripadvisor. i've narrowed down to mr. bedu and safe bali drivers. curious if anyone has had personal experience with either?"

 

No, I have not had any experience with either of those two. However, I do have an excellent tour guide recommendation for you - Dewa Marco.

 

Read this: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51209991&postcount=6

[feedmytummy]

"2) there seem to be a ton of private tour/driver options in bali from what i've read here and on tripadvisor. i've narrowed down to mr. bedu and safe bali drivers. curious if anyone has had personal experience with either?"

 

No, I have not had any experience with either of those two. However, I do have an excellent tour guide recommendation for you - Dewa Marco.

 

Read this: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=51209991&postcount=6

 

thanks! will check it out...

[John Bull]

"Last tender time" is the time you need to be at the tender pier, waiting to board a tender.

If there's a line at the pier, the tenders will continue to run until the line has been mopped-up, no worries. :)

I've seen folk run to join the line well after the due time - no problem, but they're pushing their luck because surprisingly the pier is often almost-empty by "last tender" time.

 

The "back-on-board" time, usually advertised in the daily newspaper & on the sign at the gangway when berthed, will say "last tender time" when moored- but as a general rule back-on-board is 30 mins before the scheduled sailing time, whereas the last tender is usually 60 minutes before.

 

I don't recall whether ship's time matches local time in Bali, but in any case it's not hard-and-fast.

As a general rule it follows local time, but if local time at both the previous port & the next port are the same and the middle port is an hour different, a lot of ships avoid the confusion of changing ship's time for just the one port.

No worries, you'll be told the evening before.

But especially if you're as technically illiterate as me, do use a regular wrist-watch for the time - some phones don't change automatically & others do - but might not do so until you're ashore due to weak signal.

 

There will be a stack of taxis & vans at the pier. Cheaper than pre-booked. but pot-luck on the quality of the guide & vehicle - and Bali is silly-cheap anyway

 

JB :)

[4774Papa]

We were in Bali in 2013 on Celebrity Solstice and the tendering was a nightmare. The locals required the ship to use local boats, one that was huge and took 45 minutes to fill up and almost that long to release everyone.

 

Also, we were more than two hours late being cleared by the locals on arrival to start the tendering. We heard that palms had to be greased.

 

Bali was nice, we had an overnight there, but it left a bad taste in my mouth about the place. Also, traffic was terrible. Still, once you got out of the city the countryside was beautiful.

[karenbeanpole]

Go get a cheap massage and facial!

 

There is quite a bit to see in Bali. However the traffic is pretty bad so you have to allow time.

Some suggestions: rafting on the rapids

ATV ride

Terraced rice fields

Brilliant waterpark in Kuta extremely well run and fun

 

I think you can get local taxis when you arrive - they like negotiating in US dollars but you can choose to pay in IDR their local currency

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[wtgr2]

Bali and Singapore have same timezone, GMT+8

please be informed that transaction using USD (basicly other than rupiah, including cash trx) is against the law in Indonesia

 

as for Bali, traffic is bad in kuta area (near airport); some interesting place maybe seminyak/kuta beach, dreamland beach, uluwatu, & ubud.