Come sail with me on a virtual cruise on Majestic Princess to Fiji!

[Texter2]

Ellie,

 

Thank you for taking us on this lovely cruise with you! I have been enjoying the trip very much over the last several months. Each day, I look forward to stepping into the Tardis and learning something new or seeing somewhere new. 

[ellie1145]

Something went wrong!

 

We should have landed at the front entrance of the Jurong Bird Park but I must have inputted it incorrectly, as we have arrived at the cake shop near the Jurong railway station! Oops!

 

But hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth...... let’s have a quick cake before we start our tour of the park.

 

 

Which one will you choose?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

7 minutes ago, Texter2 said:

Ellie,

 

Thank you for taking us on this lovely cruise with you! I have been enjoying the trip very much over the last several months. Each day, I look forward to stepping into the Tardis and learning something new or seeing somewhere new. 

 

It is such a thrill to hear that this adventure has given so much pleasure to so many people. I’ve really enjoyed doing it and I am so glad you have enjoyed reading it and joining all of the Cruising Adventurers on this journey. 

 

Thank you for reading along. 

[ellie1145]

Here we are at the Jurong Bird Park! At last, I hear you say.....

Well, I really must apologise for that little detour, but I'm sure you enjoyed your unexpected cake stop. 

 

 

Our Singapore Explorer Passes once again prove invaluable and we are soon making our way into the park. We pay a few dollars for the little tram which will drop us off at various points, and with the high humidity and heat we will certainly be glad to make use of it. 

 

It is such a beautiful park, like walking through a tropical paradise. There are beautiful flowers at the entrance and a little pond with huge fish swimming about. 

 

 

 

 

 

We watch the fish for a while.

 

A turtle swims past.

 

This exotic creature walks past and makes me jump! 

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

Hop on the tram and let's have a tour round the park!

 

 

 

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

What ship and where is it going to?

 

 

We will be on the Sky Princess leaving Southampton on the 19th of June 2021, Covid permitting!  We were supposed to be on the Sky sailing to the Baltic from Copenhagen on June 18th but Princess swapped ships.  The Baltic itinerary from Southampton was lean on ports so we decided to give the British Isles a go.

[ellie1145]

Sit back and enjoy the ride

Now as you have probably gathered, Singapore, despite being so small,  likes to be the biggest and the best - best airport, largest bird park, tallest indoor waterfall, and the Jurong Bird Park is no exception.

It is, apparently, the largest bird park in Asia, and the largest bird park in the world in terms of numbers of birds, but the Singaporeans have decided that it is  not good enough and they are going to move it next to the Zoo. 

At the moment it is quite a long way out, and a bit of a mission to get to, but when it moves it will be much easier to access. 

Moving over 5,000 birds, from 400 species, is no mean feat, but I am sure that it will not prove too difficult for the innovative Singaporeans. 

The park covers an area of 49 acres on the western slopes of Jurong Hill, with giant walk-in aviaries and natural habitats, as well as bird shows. 

 

Royal Ramble is a small aviary and the home of  four species of crowned pigeons. 

 

This tall aviary covers an area of 2,000 sq metres, and houses the park's hornbills and toucans. There are 19 different species including the  black hornbill, which was the first to breed in captivity. You cannot miss this aviary as they are very loud birds.

 

The Lory Loft is like walking in to a rainforest valley in tropical Northern Australia. It covers an area of 3,000 sq metres and is the  world's largest walk-in flight aviary for  lories and lorikeets. It is nine stories high, and flying free are 1000 lories as well as parrots, cockatoos and  various parakeets. 

 

 

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

3 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

We will be on the Sky Princess leaving Southampton on the 19th of June 2021, Covid permitting!  We were supposed to be on the Sky sailing to the Baltic from Copenhagen on June 18th but Princess swapped ships.  The Baltic itinerary from Southampton was lean on ports so we decided to give the British Isles a go.

 

Would LOVE to sail on Sky Princess, but sadly, for us, sailing round the British Isles would be 'like taking coals to Newcastle' as the saying goes! 😉  Bit like a Floridian cruising to Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Key West...🤣

 

But I hope you have an amazing time, I'm sure you will! 

 

[Aussie Gal]

I cannot believe that I have nearly come to the end of our wonderful adventure with you. I started on Page 1 on Monday and it is now Wednesday afternoon and I am on page 66.  It has been great to revisit Sydney - our 2nd home - and has filled in many hours which has helped to make the days go by quicker.  We are on the last 3 weeks of a very severe lockdown, I think it has been one of the most stringent in the world. Thankfully Covid cases in Victoria are coming down. 

I do have a question Ellie, and that is regarding your stay at the Crowne Plaza.  We have stayed there many times but in the older part where the passages to our room were out in the hot, open air.  I could see that your room ran off a carpeted hallway so I am presuming that you were in the newer part of the Crowne.  Also, how far away is the Jewel from the Crowne Plaza? You mentioned that you visited Jewel when you were at the airport on your way to Sydney where you saw a sign directing one to the Crowne.   At this stage, we are booked to visit Phuket in June next year all being well, - it was moved from June this year - and we always have a night at the airport after we have arrived from Melbourne before boarding our plane to Phuket and the same on the way home. We would love to visit the Jewel and we will have some time to make the visit. 

Thanks again for taking us along. We love the Pacific Islands and I have some great photos that we have taken over the years of 

Savu Savu, Lifou, Dravenu and Mystery Island.  By the way, Suva is always wet!  We have been there a number of times and that is one place where you can expect rain unfortunately. It is under a rain cloud from the surrounding mountains.  Once you drive a few kms away to the Coral Coast, the rain does stop and you get the sunny weather. Living the cruise life on the Majestic brought back so many memories of our times on board a ship,, our last being back in Jan/Feb this year.  We are booked on a cruise in 2022 and have our fingers crossed that there will be a vaccination by then. We usually cruise at least twice a year but unfortunately, that is not to be at the moment. 

Jennie

[ellie1145]

15 hours ago, Aussie Gal said:

I cannot believe that I have nearly come to the end of our wonderful adventure with you. I started on Page 1 on Monday and it is now Wednesday afternoon and I am on page 66.  It has been great to revisit Sydney - our 2nd home - and has filled in many hours which has helped to make the days go by quicker.  We are on the last 3 weeks of a very severe lockdown, I think it has been one of the most stringent in the world. Thankfully Covid cases in Victoria are coming down. 

I do have a question Ellie, and that is regarding your stay at the Crowne Plaza.  We have stayed there many times but in the older part where the passages to our room were out in the hot, open air.  I could see that your room ran off a carpeted hallway so I am presuming that you were in the newer part of the Crowne.  Also, how far away is the Jewel from the Crowne Plaza? You mentioned that you visited Jewel when you were at the airport on your way to Sydney where you saw a sign directing one to the Crowne.   At this stage, we are booked to visit Phuket in June next year all being well, - it was moved from June this year - and we always have a night at the airport after we have arrived from Melbourne before boarding our plane to Phuket and the same on the way home. We would love to visit the Jewel and we will have some time to make the visit. 

Thanks again for taking us along. We love the Pacific Islands and I have some great photos that we have taken over the years of 

Savu Savu, Lifou, Dravenu and Mystery Island.  By the way, Suva is always wet!  We have been there a number of times and that is one place where you can expect rain unfortunately. It is under a rain cloud from the surrounding mountains.  Once you drive a few kms away to the Coral Coast, the rain does stop and you get the sunny weather. Living the cruise life on the Majestic brought back so many memories of our times on board a ship,, our last being back in Jan/Feb this year.  We are booked on a cruise in 2022 and have our fingers crossed that there will be a vaccination by then. We usually cruise at least twice a year but unfortunately, that is not to be at the moment. 

Jennie

 

My goodness, Jennie, did you stop to eat or sleep? Thank goodness we had the cake stop or you might have starved.....🤣

 

I’m really pleased that you have enjoyed our adventure and that it has passed the time during lockdown. I hope that things improve soon for you in Australia.

 

To be honest, Jennie, I didn’t realise there was an ‘old part’ of the Crowne Plaza, so we must have struck lucky. It certainly looked pretty new and was really lovely. If you return one day then it might be a good idea to email them ahead of time and request one of the rooms in the newer part of the hotel.

 

The corridor leading to the Vortex is right next door to the Crowne Plaza. It’s a bit of a walk but very convenient. 

 

Opposite Floral Inspirations is a corridor which leads directly to the Vortex.

 

The blue section in the bottom right hand corner is the Vortex. 

 

I would be interested to hear about Mystery Island as that is one place we didn’t visit. It sounds lovely. Do you have any photos of it? i noticed that the Majestic Princess Fiji cruise, due early next year, had cut out Vanuatu and replaced it with Mystery Island.

 

The first time we visited Suva it was really hot and sunny but we didn’t book a trip and regretted it. Last time we booked a beach tour and it was cancelled due to the rain. So maybe we will be third time lucky! 😉

 

I really hope that you, like so many of us who are waiting and wishing, will be able to cruise in due course, so fingers crossed for 2022. 

[ellie1145]

Let's visit the Waterfall Aviary

 

We stay on the tram and get off at the Waterfall Aviary. We walk through the entrance where there is a cafe, called, of course, the Waterfall Cafe.

 

This is our favourite aviary, as it is simply huge, and it's very easy to forget that you are in an enclosure.

 

It towers above us to a height of 35 metres and covers nearly 5 acres. It is the second largest in the world.

 

Of course the piece de resistance is the spectacular Juron Falls, one of the world’s tallest man-made indoor waterfalls, which cascades down over a cliff 30 metres (98ft) high.

 

We get our first glimpse of this waterfall.

 

The water from the waterfall feeds a meandering stream which tumbles over a series of little waterfalls.

 

 

 

There is a suspension bridge from which there are outstanding views of the panorama below.

 

 

 

This stream is an ideal environment for the various fish, water birds, and plants to flourish. 

 

In the aviary there are over 1500 birds from 80 African species which fly free. 

It is a luxuriant tropical paradise, with more than 10,000 plants. There are 125 species of trees, palms and bamboo, as well as ground cover vegetation. 

 

 

[ellie1145]

It's rather late, so I'm afraid I must wend my weary way to bed, but next we will explore the waterfall aviary and meet some of the beautiful birds that live there. 

 

So glad you are all still following along, nothing worse than talking to yourself! 😉

 

So goodnight, sleep tight. 😴

[Aussie Gal]

Here are my photos of Mystery Island which we visited in January, 2015 on Celebrity's Solstice which is a lovely ship. We have been on her twice and have enjoyed both experiences but like you mentioned Ellie, when boarding a Princess ship, you do feel you have come home! We did have fantastic weather on that cruise with sunshine every day but we didn't go as far as Fiji. Just to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Our mini suite was at the rear of the ship, our favourite place to be, though on Princess we have been lucky each time to have a Vista Suites on the corner aft. 

The sand on Mystery Island was just so soft and the water was so very clear and pristine. It is truly a Mystery Island and I am not sure if Princess visits there though Celebrity certainly does.   

Edited October 1, 2020 by Aussie Gal

[azbirdmom]

Princess does indeed visit Mystery Island.  They will swap that port for Vila on some itineraries.  Ellie's virtual (and our real) cruise just went to Vila.  It does look lovely!

[Aussie Gal]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

Princess does indeed visit Mystery Island.  They will swap that port for Vila on some itineraries.  Ellie's virtual (and our real) cruise just went to Vila.  It does look lovely!

Thanks for the info.   We did a cruise last year in January on the Sun Princess - a lovely ship that has now been sold - which we loved as the mini suites are nearly as large as the full suites on the newer Princess ships. We went to the same ports as you did except we didn't visit Vila but instead went to Champagne Bay which was lovely but not quite as delightful as Mystery Island. 

Jennie

[ellie1145]

19 hours ago, Aussie Gal said:

Here are my photos of Mystery Island which we visited in January, 2015 on Celebrity's Solstice which is a lovely ship. We have been on her twice and have enjoyed both experiences but like you mentioned Ellie, when boarding a Princess ship, you do feel you have come home! We did have fantastic weather on that cruise with sunshine every day but we didn't go as far as Fiji. Just to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Our mini suite was at the rear of the ship, our favourite place to be, though on Princess we have been lucky each time to have a Vista Suites on the corner aft. 

The sand on Mystery Island was just so soft and the water was so very clear and pristine. It is truly a Mystery Island and I am not sure if Princess visits there though Celebrity certainly does.   

 

Thank you for posting those beautiful photos, Aussie Gal. Mystery Island looks absolutely idyllic and I would love to visit it one day, so fingers crossed! 

 

Your views from the aft corner suite must have been awesome. Azbirdmom has shared some of her photos of her suite on Majestic Princess which were amazing. 

 

 

[ellie1145]

The Golden Weaver

 

This busy little golden weaver is making a nest. It's fascinating to watch as it flies backwards and forwards bringing strips of grass to complete the structure.

 

At first it looks quite messy, but by the time it is finished it is a neat nest, where the female will lay two to three greyish white eggs.

 

It is the male who initially creates the nest, but the female will help complete it. However, it is the female who will incubate the eggs, and once they hatch, she feeds the chicks with a little assistance from her mate. 

 

The male chooses a suitable patch of reeds or bulrushes and then it weaves this amazing round nest, with a side entrance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

Roseate Spoonbill

 

 

We walk round the edge of the stream and see some beautiful roseate spoonbills. 

They are named for their unique spoon shaped bill which they use to catch their food. They sweep their bill from side to side in the water and scoop up insects, small fish and crustaceans. 

 

Here they have bowls of food which they can access. 

 

Their natural habitat is marshy areas such as mangrove swamps and mudflats, and they can live up to 28 years. 

[ellie1145]

 

Feeding close to the spoonbills there are several ibis with their huge curved beaks, which they use to pick up food which has been left in dishes by the water.

There are silver bowls of food placed at the edge of the water which they can feed on. 

 

We can see one of the bowls is full of silver fish.

 

There are large fish swimming in the water, too, some of whom break through the surface of the water.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by ellie1145

[cnd crsr]

Hi Ellie,

 

What an adventure! I haven't been to the bird park before and this is absolutely a place I must visit in person. The scenery is as beautiful as the birds.

 

So glad we are doing this before we fly back to London.

 

Gail

[azbirdmom]

21 hours ago, Aussie Gal said:

Thanks for the info.   We did a cruise last year in January on the Sun Princess - a lovely ship that has now been sold - which we loved as the mini suites are nearly as large as the full suites on the newer Princess ships. We went to the same ports as you did except we didn't visit Vila but instead went to Champagne Bay which was lovely but not quite as delightful as Mystery Island. 

Jennie

 

We were booked in one of the aft facing mini suites on the Sun for next April but sadly it was not to be.  I was really looking forward to experiencing the almost suite like mini suites!

[Aussie Gal]

46 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

We were booked in one of the aft facing mini suites on the Sun for next April but sadly it was not to be.  I was really looking forward to experiencing the almost suite like mini suites!

They were lovely.  We had an aft on the Sun returning back from Hong Kong this time last year.  We really enjoyed it though it was a different setup to the mini's on the side of the ship and not nearly as big though it had a long hall leading into it.

I will find a couple of photos and post them here.  The bathroom was identical to a full suite and the minis on the side.  The second lot of photos are of the side mini's, which are so much larger.

[azbirdmom]

Thanks for the virtual tour of the Sun mini suites, @Aussie Gal.  In terms of square footage, the one that we booked indicated that it was quite a bit larger than the one we had originally taken on the side.  From your pictures, it looks somewhat similar to some of the full suites on the Coral Princess.

[Aussie Gal]

Here are the photos of the mini suite on the side of the ship. As you can see there are two rooms, one with the lounge and one with the bedroom.  Same bathroom though with the door leading from the lounge area into the toilet and wash basin and the door from the bedroom leading into the spa bath and separate shower. 

 

Jennie

[ellie1145]

12 hours ago, cnd crsr said:

Hi Ellie,

 

What an adventure! I haven't been to the bird park before and this is absolutely a place I must visit in person. The scenery is as beautiful as the birds.

 

So glad we are doing this before we fly back to London.

 

Gail

 

It is certainly worth visiting, Gail. We would return in a heart beat. It will be interesting to see what it is like when it is moved to its new site.