Everything’s Going Splendidly on Splendida - Dubai-Yokohama 2018

[Kelownabccan]

Bea.....just check the tracking....looks like you are on your way to Singapore....temp about 28....very nice....we still have snow in the mountain passes tonight....would like to be where you are.....

 

It seems most of the ports have long bus rides to see things....is that true???....sometimes it is nice to be in a port where you can just get off and wander about at your leisure and see the local culture without spending a bundle of $$$$.....still thinking about this cruise for 2020 but HAL has a really nice one for 30 days also.....on Jan 16th.....but does not hit India....lots of choices......Ken

[Captain-John]

Sorry I've been on a land holiday of late (heathen I know!) and haven't been checking in here. Glad the food is much better for you compared to your last cruise.

 

The ports look wonderful. As usual of course an MSC cruise wouldn't be complete without lots of misunderstandings and inconsistencies in policy - it's half the fun! ;)

[Beamafar]

Our next POC was the first of 3 in Malaysia - Langkawi. It is regarded as being a beautiful tropical island paradise and renowned as the 'Isle of Legends'. It is one place that I would definitely consider for a land-based holiday!

 

We booked the 'Highlights of Langkawi' tour. Our first stop was a Rice Garden/Museum which was really enjoyable and, although it's not rice planting/growing season, they have an area where they create the environment needed for rice cultivation. There was an incredible aura of calm/tranquillity about the place.

 

 

We then headed off to the Oriental Village in the upper northwest of the island where they have a cable car system to bring you to the peak of Mount Mat Cincang (which is the second-highest mountain on Langkawi) and the SkyBridge.

 

 

It took almost an hour to get a SkyCab, so we didn't bother with walking the SkyBridge as we were concerned about getting back down in time so as not to miss the bus. Also, the Oriental Village was very nice to wander about in.

 

From there, we then visited the Budaya Craft & Cultural Complex with wonderful displays of handicraft. Here are some photos of traditional wedding attire:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Beamafar]

Due to the delay at the SkyCab centre, our bus was 15 minutes late back at 2.15pm and was not allowed to enter the pier to bring us back to the ship because it was scheduled to leave its berth and proceed to anchorage at 2.30pm, which meant we had to wait for tenders.

 

However, there was still no sign of the ship moving at 2.30pm and crowds were gathering from other tours returning. It was extremely hot and there was a lot of moaning and no information being given about when to expect the tenders to arrive. Rather than wait in the cramped jetty area, after hearing rumours that it could be 3/4s of an hour before the first tender, we headed down the length of another pier where there was a bar and seating in the shade. We ordered drinks and watched from there as the queues grew longer and longer! The first tender didn't arrive til 3pm and began taking people a couple of minutes later. In meantime, more tenders arrived.

 

We had decided that we would sit out the crowds with a cold Tiger beer for himself and a Bacardi & Coke for moi. The Pringles were courtesy of our mini-bar.

 

10 Ringgits (€2) for beer, 20 for the rum & coke and 12 for rum straight!

 

 

 

 

My 3rd Bacardi was a free pour so I ended up floating back to the ship (when the crowds had dissipated) both literally & figuratively! [emoji3]

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Beamafar]

The second of our 3 Malaysian POCs was Penang. We had decided not to do an excursion for this one as we'd done one on each of the 2 previous days and had another booked for the following day. So we just got a taxi to Queensbay Mall where we did a little shopping and had lunch in a TGI Friday's before returning back to the ship. TBH, we didn't even bother to take photos of the place - it didn't have anything like the feel that Langkawi had. It was much more developed with many skyscrapers, unlike Langkawi, where there is a height restriction on buildings and more traditional living is evident.

 

Port Klang, our third Malaysian POC, is the one for visiting Kuala Lumpur. As we've been to KL before on a 5 night stop-over, we decided to do the 'Putrajaya & Lake Cruise' excursion. This is a city being purposely built to relocate the seat of government and is a really very interesting place, as a result. It is certainly a vast improvement on Kuala Lumpur, which is very run-down in a lot of places with old, ugly buildings and slums among some of the nicer, more modern ones. It, like KL, is 60kms from the port so it was almost an hour's journey by bus. When we arrived, we were taken to the boat which would carry us for a half-hour trip around the man-made lake, from where we would get a sense of the vastness of this new city.

 

 

The 'Floating Mosque' was our starting point

 

 

and the following are a couple of images along the lake

 

 

 

 

When the boat returned, we had half an hour to visit the mosque and take some photos of the surrounding area, where the Prime Minister's offices and those of the ministries are also located. Here's a pic of the PM's offices:

 

 

Parliament still sits in Kuala Lumpur, however.

 

Our guide then advised that, as an unscheduled addition, he would bring us up to a height to get some aerial shots of the city. Then it was time to return to the ship. In my opinion, this was not worth the trip and I would recommend for anyone considering visiting Putrajaya, to arrange a DIY.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[travelberlin]

The second of our 3 Malaysian POCs was Penang. We had decided not to do an excursion for this one as we'd done one on each of the 2 previous days and had another booked for the following day. So we just got a taxi to Queensbay Mall where we did a little shopping and had lunch in a TGI Friday's before returning back to the ship. TBH, we didn't even bother to take photos of the place - it didn't have anything like the feel that Langkawi had. It was much more developed with many skyscrapers, unlike Langkawi, where there is a height restriction on buildings and more traditional living is evident.

 

Port Klang, our third Malaysian POC, is the one for visiting Kuala Lumpur. As we've been to KL before on a 5 night stop-over, we decided to do the 'Putrajaya & Lake Cruise' excursion. This is a city being purposely built to relocate the seat of government and is a really very interesting place, as a result. It is certainly a vast improvement on Kuala Lumpur, which is very run-down in a lot of places with old, ugly buildings and slums among some of the nicer, more modern ones. It, like KL, is 60kms from the port so it was almost an hour's journey by bus. When we arrived, we were taken to the boat which would carry us for a half-hour trip around the man-made lake, from where we would get a sense of the vastness of this new city.

 

 

The 'Floating Mosque' was our starting point

 

 

and the following are a couple of images along the lake

 

 

 

 

When the boat returned, we had half an hour to visit the mosque and take some photos of the surrounding area, where the Prime Minister's offices and those of the ministries are also located. Here's a pic of the PM's offices:

 

 

Parliament still sits in Kuala Lumpur, however.

 

Our guide then advised that, as an unscheduled addition, he would bring us up to a height to get some aerial shots of the city. Then it was time to return to the ship. In my opinion, this was not worth the trip and I would recommend for anyone considering visiting Putrajaya, to arrange a DIY.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

I have liked Penang very much Beamafar. Did you see the beautiful street art?

Ivi

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sidari]

Hi Bea ... Where do ships dock for Phucket ? been looking on Google maps but the only place it shows looks like a wasteland!

[Formula280SS]

Thanks, everyone.

 

Formula ... If you're following this: I read a post of yours on another thread a few days ago asking me a couple of questions. I remember one was about demographics onboard. I can't find it now so If you post them on here, I'll try and get some answers for you.

 

Bea, JUST NOTICED THREAD. :o

 

Trying to catch up reading. Really appreciate your posts on this trip.

 

Back up in NH to open up the homes for Summer prep. Apparently, there will be no Spring. It is freezing. Snow and ice and wind. :mad:

 

We drift into dreaming of sunbathing at the YC pool (well, I do; better half is dreaming of where to plan for the shade :')).

 

Re: questions, pretty general. At this time of year basic weather conditions along the way, demographics of the passengers and crew (language, is English-only going to work?) and the like. Your posts are very interesting. Working our way through them.

[Kelownabccan]

Just looked at cruise tracker /sea scanner..and you are on your way to Hong Kong....left 11 hrs ago with two days at sea still to go......are you booking trips from the ship ????? or are they ones you did before hand..."do your own thing"......like your posts for the info....I guess Ho Chi Minh is your next post...temp in Hong Kong to be 22 or so........Ken

[Beamafar]

Ivi ... we must have missed the street art - I didn't see much of anything of interest on the way to the mall.

 

Ken ... As we were leaving Singapore, the Captain came over the tannoy to announce that, due to bad weather forecast at Phu My, our next 2 days would be at sea and we would be going to Da Nang instead (which is where we are today). So we missed Ho Chi Minh city. We'd been before and had booked an excursion for the Mekong Delta this time, which, obviously, is now cancelled. With very little time to decide on alternative tours, and, with Hoi An getting booked out - being the most popular one (and somewhere we've visited before) - we decided to stay onboard. We've only done ship's excursions. I didn't fancy taking any risks in this region with traffic or dodgy local set-ups.

 

Dave ...We used tenders in Phuket across to Palong. It was quite a built-up area with a beach attached - not a wasteland, at all. The area where we arrived off the tenders is relatively new as in it wasn't there when DH holidayed there 20 years ago.

 

Fortune .. There seems to be many Swiss, Germans and French onboard as well as Australians, Chinese and English - though in much fewer numbers. I've only heard one person say they were from the US. We've had no problems whatsoever as English speakers. As long as you speak slowly and clearly, most of the crew understand - even the (many) Chinese crew, who are wonderful and eager to please.

 

The weather had been very hot, sunny and humid until we reached Singapore, where we had a thunderstorm and rain in the afternoon and evening. It's been quite windy ever since with mainly overcast skies. Here's what it looks like in Da Nang this morning:

 

 

I'll share our experiences in Singapore in my next post. I'm leaving, 'til the end of the trip, the subject of landing cards, visas, etc., when I've had experience of the situations in all the POCs.

 

Also, I want to wait 'til we've disembarked before sharing some of our onboard experiences. One of the butlers has told us that there are more complaints from YC guests than from those in the non-YC area! I'm not surprised at this, but I'd rather not say what I'd really like to about some of our fellow passengers in YC! As the butler said, and we tend to agree with him, 28 nights is too long with the kind of atmosphere that's prevalent in the enclave. That's not to say that we're not enjoying the trip, but there's a bit of unpleasantness and lack of friendliness about, which is having an effect on the overall ambience.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Beamafar

[Kelownabccan]

Bea.......28 days with the same people in a small area....reminds me of a report on TV last night about a group of people who are pretending they are on the way to Mars for months.....yuk....to say the least.....they are doing studies on the interactions between the people....lol......no sex....for sure...ha ha.....

 

interesting comment from you....probably quite realistic....Ken

 

 

I'm not surprised at this, but I'd rather not say what I'd really like to about some of our fellow passengers in YC! As the butler said, and we tend to agree with him, 28 nights is too long with the kind of atmosphere that's prevalent in the enclave. That's not to say that we're not enjoying the trip, but there's a bit of unpleasantness and lack of friendliness about, which is having an effect on the overall ambience.

[Beamafar]

DH is having a pretty rough time of it, too, as the air-con is playing havoc with his sinuses. He's taken a pill, but it causes drowsiness so he's gone back to bed for the morning (he had a bad night last night with his breathing - he's a smoker, which isn't helping!!) and I'll lie out on my sunbed (which I managed to get early on!) reading from my Kindle app on the balcony with this wonderful view:

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Beamafar]

Having the wider cabin, gives us a wider balcony with plenty of room to accommodate the 2 chairs, the footstool as well as the sunbed:

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[sidari]

Bea ... Could Palong be Pa Tong ? there is a long beach there with a large built up area on the West Coast.

Cannot see a pier for this area though, the other place I mentioned is the Deep water port that looks like a wasteland.

Edited April 18, 2018 by sidari

[Formula280SS]

DH is having a pretty rough time of it, too, as the air-con is playing havoc with his sinuses. He's taken a pill, but it causes drowsiness so he's gone back to bed for the morning (he had a bad night last night with his breathing - he's a smoker, which isn't helping!!) and I'll lie out on my sunbed (which I managed to get early on!) reading from my Kindle app on the balcony with this wonderful view:

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

Bea, glad you're still having a good time. Can't wait to hear about a couple of YC experiences that have had you "pause" in commenting. :o It happens. All cruise lines. In the YC a couple of times there was some inconsiderate guests regarding minor matters, and we just adjusted.

 

RE: the sinus issue. I had wicked issue with A/C at night and 'dryness of the air in our stateroom causing sinus itch, discomfort, sneezing and sometime dry drip lying down. I have had this before in hotels (really bad at the Disney Vacation Club Villas @ Vero Beach last year) and on cruise ships. On Seaside, before bed, we always ran the shower on pure hot, left the door open to the shower and put a small powerful fan to blow the moisturized air into the stateroom. It was just enough for Pam (DW). A couple of nights, I stood outside of the shower area and just breathed the steam air for a bit before opening the door to the stateroom. Don't know if such is recommended, but it works for us, and me in particular, when traveling. If it doesn't work, I add a small sip of Mucinex (cold) before bed. Been lucky so far.

 

Again, enjoyed the entire thread. Thanks.

 

Steve

[sverigecruiser]

with this wonderful view:

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

I'm not sure that you really like the view but it's a view I should appreciate! I'm a teacher and I can see many interesting things to take pictures of and show the kids in school!!!

[smoothcruiser]

Hi. Beamafar

Very interesting comments from the Splendida YC. Particularly interested in your comments as we will be doing the reverse crossing from Shanghai to Dubai in November. Like you we have also been able to snag one of the precious square cabins. We are presently on Fantasia crossing from Barbados to Genoa. Our YC experience on this vessel has restored my faith in msc. The head butler is Danny, who never seems to sleep and is everywhere. His attention to detail is marvellous and he seems to have instilled his enthusiasm to all the other staff in YC. We have had no problem with being served champagne and interestingly, it has been served very freely in L'etoile restaurant. Funnily enough there is no sommelier in YC on this voyage. Also of interest, is that being black card members, we were issued with two vouchers for dinner of two in the speciality restaurant, when we arrived on board.

Enjoy the rest of your voyage.

[Kelownabccan]

Bea...hope things are ok....no post for a few days.....looks like you have no internet package.....we leave for "Jolly old England".....mind the pun...in a day......will be over there until the end of May.....checked the weather...typical I guess for this time of the year.....13/14.....cloudy breezy sunny spells....as the BBC seems to say.....lol....you must be close to the end of the cruise.....Ken

[Beamafar]

SverigeCruiser (I can't refer to you as SC as 'SmoothCruiser' has also posted and I will be replying to him, too LOL) ...

 

Yes, perhaps vey interesting from a teacher's viewpoint - not quite the view I relish, though, from my cruiseship balcony!

 

Steve ... We bought a nasal spray in the onboard shop which has alleviated DH's sinus problems, somewhat. It would be difficult running the hower as it's in the bath, so not as feasible a solution for us.

 

Speaking of the bath .... Mark, I've been managing to climb in and out to shower as the bath is quite low.

 

SmoothCruiser ... I haven't had any issues about the champagne since I first dealt with issue. Mauricio (sommelier) has ensured I get a glass every evening as an aperitif (whether I want it or not!). He is also making sure that my favourite wines are available at lunch and dinner. Last night, I asked him if the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that I had enjoyed in Butcher's Cut was available in YC to which he replied "No, only in Butcher's Cut". I said that it was OK, I just thought I'd ask as I enjoyed a couple (or more) glasses when we visited the restaurant for our Black Card benefit. Next thing, he arrived over to the table with a glass - from his personal stock as it's his favourite wine!

 

On the subject of the Black Card benefit - we had let the Cruise Consultant know that we were unhappy with the reduction in the benefit and she had said that she would see if anything could be done later in the cruise. Well, 3 weeks in and we have heard nothing.

 

Dave ... you're right - it's Patong. The guide mentioned Palong (possibly in relation to the temple there as we had just come from the Chalong temple and, between his accent and my not paying too much attention on the way back - it had been a long day! - I misheard it as him saying were returning to Palong). Bytheway, my internet allowance is running low so, if I don't get another chance - Bon Voyage! Hope you and Kerry have a wonderful cruise!

 

Ken ... yeah, I've been very lazy over the last couple of days and chilling out.

 

Today was our second day at sea since leaving Hong Kong. This morning the weather was glorious but it deteriorated by 11am and a fog descended, so the ship has been sounding the foghorn every couple of minutes since then.

 

We arrive in Shanghai, tomorrow, and it seems that a lot of crew are leaving then.

 

After Shanghai, we have 2 more days at sea so I hope to share some of our experiences in Singapore and Hong Kong, then.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[thecruisers6]

Hi Bea

Glad your husband is ok it’s awful being ill on holiday.

That’s great you have the low bath and it’s manageable but far from ideal I guess.

We really liked the showers inside the spa on Splendida.

Hope you enjoy China and have some good experiences there.

Take care of yourselves

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Darcy15]

Nice to hear from you Bea :)

 

I’m eager to hear what the issues have been in the YC.......I hate ‘atmospheres’ and now I’m worried about this happening on my sailing next year :(

[sidari]

Hi Bea ... Thanks for the info, enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Ken ... Hope the weather improves for you guys while you are over here, we get back on the 7th May, you can always contact me on my email which in in the signature below.

[emmas gran]

Hello Beamafar/Bea

I have been following your posts as we have booked this trip for next year. We tried to get a YC room last year for 2019 but they were all taken, I think I snagged the one you mentioned becoming available as I booked on April 2nd. I do like Napa Valley Cab Sav so hopefully there will be some onboard, are there any Australian reds available?

 

Thanks Liz

[Kelownabccan]

Hi Bea ... Thanks for the info, enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Ken ... Hope the weather improves for you guys while you are over here, we get back on the 7th May, you can always contact me on my email which in in the signature below.

 

 

Will put it into my phone.....thanks Dave...interesting to hear how you like the Seaside.....my sister is planning two back to back MSC in January....I bet one is the Seaside.....

 

Cheers...Ken

[Beamafar]

We're currently anchored off Shanghai as the port is closed due to bad weather. When it does open, I wonder if the Port Authorities are going to delay us as was the case in Hong Kong (which I'll share after I get round to writing about our Singapore experience!)

 

Liz ... I haven't seen a wine list in YC so I'm not sure if there are any Australian wines. I'll ask the sommelier tonight. The Napa Valley is only available in Butcher's Cut. The sommelier has a private stock for his own consumption and kindly gave me a glass from that when I asked if it was available in YC. (Last night, I requested my regular Cicogna and later Mauricio asked me why I hadn't asked for the NV cab - I explained I wouldn't even consider it and that I appreciated the gesture the previous night. He's promised to share it with me again tonight!)

 

Darcy ... no need to be too concerned about the atmosphere. There are a few grumps about but there are a few friendly ones, too. There are very few native English speakers which is possibly a factor in how little interaction we're having with people. When I'm home and back on my laptop, I hope to explain a bit more.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Beamafar