Livish from the Solstice Singapore to Sydney, maybe more

[Ciaranaman]

🤞🤞 on a high score for your finals!  24/25 on the multiple choice is probably a good indicator of how your essay answers scored.  I sense a celebration in your near future 😉

~Bernadette

[JackE]

7 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

Mega trip - day 3 Singapore 3 -Tuesday 1

 

Today was to be a low key day, as I have a final to take.  I’ve been taking a US History class, and this is finals week.  The test was supposed to be open on the 26 and 27.  My first thought was great, as I could finish it before getting on the ship.  But due to the tine difference, it would open around midnight on the night of the 26th, so I’d pretty much have to do it on the ship.  I emailed the teacher, and he was happy to open it from the 25-26 for me.  So it opened at Midnight between Monday and Tuesday for me.

 

We began by going to breakfast.  I took my folder of teachers lectures with me, because for tests, I do best if I reread them.  There were a lot for this class, so it took about 2 hours.  After that, I went back to the room to take the test, which was 25 multiple choice questions, and 5 essay questions (you only do your choice of two essays).  We have 2.5 hours for it.  

 

I did get 24/25 multiple choice correct.  He’ll have to grade the essays, but there are some advantages to being a highly educated older person, rather than a 19 year old community college student.  

 

After that we decided to take a walk.  The Merlion statue was just over 1 kilometer away and about a 15-20 minute walk.  Seems doable.  

 

About a block from the hotel is a major intersection.  In order to cross, you can go to a pedestrian underpass.  What’s nice is that it’s air conditioned.  We crossed that, and came up near the “Esplanade Theaters.”.  There’s a cool water feature in front.

 

 

 

After that, you cross a bridge and there you are.

 

We noticed some food stands nearby, so thought maybe we’d get something, but nothing appealed.  Again, the heat made it difficult.  

 

So we walked back.  On the way, a group of young girls in matching tee shirts asked us to take their picture.  Glen was happy to oblige.  Apparently, they’re a school from Thailand.  

 

Once back at the hotel, we stopped by the lounge for their high tea. I had a little bit of food, including something they called a Chicken Fluff Bun.  It was OK.  

 

Our next event was a dinner with our friends plus two others from our roll call.  We decided to go to a steak restaurant that apparently is related (franchised maybe) to a chain in Paris and New York that we like, called L’entrecote.  It’s about a 20 minute walk, but an easy metro ride.  We’d been told that we can use our phones for metro, so that should be easy and quick.

 

Our reservation was at 7:30, and Google maps said it was a 7 minute train ride.  So we figured that 40 minutes should be enough to get there early.

 

Wrong.  First, it turns out the station at our hotel, doesn’t hose the line that goes to the Customs House (where the restaurant is) - for that, you have to walk through the mall to a different station (at least it’s underground and air conditioned).  Next we had to find the right track for our destination, and get into the system.  (My phone had some issues, so it took a couple of minutes).  

 

The train itself came quickly and we only went two stops.  Once out of the train, however, we had to find exit J as that was where google maps told us to get off.   J was a fairly long walk from the train, and so it took us a total of 35 minutes to get there.

 

We found the restaurant with 5 minutes to spare, and we were the last there.  They had us at an outside table, and apparently Singapore hasn’t discovered the misters that they have in Arizona.

 

I asked about moving inside, and, while it was a small inside, they were able to accommodate us.  

 

A bit about the restaurant.  It’s got one menu item - steak frites, with a simple salad.  They have a secret sauce on it that’s really good.  All they ask when you order is how you want your steak done.  

 

The salad was good, but a little underdressed.  The steak was also good, but the sauce wasn’t quite right, and I can’t put my finger on what’s different.  It was a very pleasant evening in any case.

 

Originally, since it said a 20 minute walk, we thought we’d walk back.  Jodi and Rich were at a hotel by the Merlion and that was on the way, so we decided to walk back with them.  It turns out that their hotel had a sister hotel by the restaurant, and there was an underground tunnel linking them, so we waked back to their hotel with them.

 

Once there, it was a little confusing trying to figure out how to get to the Merlion to get back, so we just used map routing.  We walked a slightly different route, but ultimately ended up at the theater where we took our underground tunnel under the intersection.  We did get to watch some young men showing off their breakdancing skills.

 

We were back at the hotel by 10, did some packing and called it a night.  Luggage tags went on, as tomorrow, we meet the Solstice.

Abby, it's so impressive that you are continuing your education! Would love to know more when we finally meet and connect. Enjoy embarkation day!  

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

Chicken Fluff Bun

 

I think the correct name is Floss Buns -   They are very popular in Singapore

 

Chicken floss is made by stewing finely chicken in a sweetened mixture of soy sauce and various spices until individual muscle fibers can be easily torn apart with a fork.

 

Kinda like Pulled Pork but made with Chicken

 

Glad you got to see the Merlion.   When we were there it was shut off for maintenance. 

Edited March 28 by Jim_Iain

[Baynanno1]

10 hours ago, JackE said:

 Enjoy embarkation day!  

 

Apologies to @abbydancer2003 for jumping ahead of your narrative.

 

Embarkation was a shambles, lacking direction, incorrect information, show us this, that and the other numerous times. Pulling things out and putting them back, several people suffered the stress of temporarily "lost" items going through security.

Some direction from Celebrity staff would have gone a long way towards improving the experience of those attempting to board during their assigned time!!

 

Day three now cruising on smooth seas between Singapore and Bali on a lovely sunny day.

 

Unlike the reverse cruise last year (Sydney to Singapore) the casino has not yet been open and will not open until after we leave Bali. It appears some regulations have changed over this stretch of water.

Edited March 29 by Baynanno1
additional information

[abbydancer2003]

Here's our boarding experience.  @Baynanno1, this was not our best suite boarding, and thanks for adding your perspective.  I appreciate it.

 

Mega trip Day 4 - Boarding Day - Wednesday 1

 

Today, we board for our 41 day adventure.  As mentioned, I will see what I do after we arrive in Sydney.

 

We’d booked a transfer.with MySingapore-Holiday, the company who picked us up at the airport.  We’d booked a shared transfer with our new friends Brenda and Robin from Ottawa.  They’re at a different hotel, so they created a custom two hotel transfer for us.

 

Their hotel is in little India, and ours near they bay, yet the company said we should be picked up first.  They told us to be ready at 11:00 am.  

 

We got up in time for breakfast at around 9:15.  I had my last very well made omelette and enjoyed my usually latte.  I do miss brewed coffee in the morning, which I will get on the ship. 

 

We got back to the room at about 10:15, and packed up everything left.  At about 10:40 we did one last check and headed to the lobby to wait for our ride.  A few minutes later I decided to tell the bell staff that we were expecting a ride, When I gave them my name, they said my ride was there.  So we brought our bags out and loaded into a 8 seater SUV, with the back row down.  

 

I texted Brenda to let her know we were on our way.  It took about 15 minutes, and we seemed to be going away from the port area, but what do I know?  We picked them up a little after 11 and they were ready.  We then drove back the way we came, and eventually reached the cruise terminal.  There was another ship there - the Genting Dream (yes, that Genting that folded a while ago).  I think that was, however, not a turnaround for them.

 

We were dropped in the basement of the terminal, where there were some workers taking luggage.  This area was for bus/coach drop-off, which turned out to matter.  We joined the queue to check our bags which took about 10 minutes, because the people ahead of us didn’t have tags.  When it was our turn, they noticed we had tags, so they put some stickers on a told us to go upstairs.  Upstairs we found the checkin area.

 

This is the chaotic check in area.  We found an area that said retreat, and we asked.  They seemed confused, and just told us to go sit down in the chairs with everyone else.  I asked another guy and he asked why we didn’t have stickers?  (I explained we checked our bags downstairs, and there was nothing about stickers).  He took a picture of my boarding pass and left.  A few minutes later, he came back with two sheets of stickers, and gave us one of each to put on. He then took us to an elevator and took us to the mezzanine, opening on the other side.  

 

There we found the retreat checkin area.  We were seated and then checked in.  Eventually Johna, the retreat manager said hello.  Mar, one of the concierges, who’d been my concierge last time I was on the Solstice, said hello , too.  We grabbed some coffee and Mar came back and told us to head down the nearby escalator to the next step when we were ready.  We waited until a group had gone down, and then headed down into a line for immigration.  Mar caught up with us there, and told us she’d meet us at the other end (no priority) and take our passports and Bali Visa.  It took a few minutes to get to the front, and while my passport scan went fine, the thumbprint and “look up” took a few tries.  

 

Mar met us after we got through, and walked us up to the front of the line.  She took our passports and visas, She handed us off to Leticia from Argentina who is an Effy rep.  She took us onto the ship, by our muster station and then to our room.  

 

Walter, our butler was putting something in the room when we got there, so he introduced himself, and went on his merry way.

 

Glen still thought we were in a sky suite, and was very surprised when she opened the door, and there was a second room.  We got the move up in late February and I managed not to tell him.

 

He is actually surprised.

 

We looked around, and then decided to get lunch at Sushi on 5, since our room includes unlimited specialty dining.

 

The restaurant was pretty empty and we were seated right away.  I started with chicken gyozas, and Glen had their miso soup.  He had a triple roll set (not sure what that is), and I had shrimp tempura roll.  Thats about the only sushi I eat.  For dessert, I had their gingerbread with Wasabi ice cream.  It was surprisingly good.

 

After lunch we went to the retreat lounge to meet the concierges,   While there, we ran into our friend Ann from Vancouver, so we sat and chatter with her, her husband, and their friends.  Glen went up before I did and mid afternoon texted that the bags were there, 

 

Next up was unpacking.  There’s not a ton of drawer space here, but we managed.  

 

At 4, I went up to do trivia with one of our cruise critic people.  She’ll be there every day.  We did OK, but there are no prizes now, so it’s just for fun.  

 

Glen and I then wandered around for a while waiting for the ship to leave.  At about 7, we finally did, and we went to a public deck to watch. We noticed that on the Genting ship, there there were colored lights flashing.  We also noticed that the ship was now run by World Resort cruises, which I guess took it over after Gentings bankruptcy.  

 

After we pulled away, we noticed the flashing lights spell out Dream Cruises.  

 

You can kind of see it.

 

We then dressed for dinner, our first meal in Luminae.

 

I started with the Roasted Apple Salad, and had the steak fries from main dining.  For dessert I ordered the Vacharin, but our waiter brought the chocolate ganache by mistake.  He left it and then brought the correct dessert.

 

After dinner we went back to the room and called it a night.

 

We’re off and running.

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

I started with the Roasted Apple Salad, and had the steak fries from main dining.  For dessert I ordered the Vacharin,

Sure sounded like you had a easier time than we did boarding Edge in Singapore in December.    With two ships in port --Imagine the confusion with over 2X the passengers.   On of the worst ports I've ever boarded at.  

Tell me it's true that they still have the Vacharin.    I can't wait

[abbydancer2003]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Sure sounded like you had a easier time than we did boarding Edge in Singapore in December.    With two ships in port --Imagine the confusion with over 2X the passengers.   On of the worst ports I've ever boarded at.  

Tell me it's true that they still have the Vacharin.    I can't wait

They do as of now.  The breakfast menu has rolled to the new weird one, and I've seen a couple new things on this menu, but the DB specials are still the old one.  Glad to be the bearer of good news.

 

[abbydancer2003]

Mega Trip - Day 5 - Sea Day 1  - Thursday 1

 

We’re still waking up early, so we decided to go to breakfast today.  We called our room steward for some laundry bags.  Since we’re in an RS, we get two bags of laundry for that, plus our 4 bags for our status.  We also called Walter for some coffee.  No sign of Ellen, so asked him for bags, and got 2.  We filled out the laundry slip and headed to breakfast.

 

We had the same waiter as last night, so I suspect he, Pratip and his assistant Desire, will be our team for at least this cruise.  I asked for one piece of the the special French Toast, and  a grapefruit half.  

 

The grapefruit was not cut well, in that it was cut with pulp on it and hard to get out of the skin.  Glen had to cut it for me.  But the French Toast was perfect.

 

After breakfast we were having a meeting for our tour in Yorkie’s Knob.  I’m hoping I’ll learn why it is called that on the tour.

 

We made our way back to the room to be ready for the group.  Walter was supposed to show up before 11 with some snacks, but no sign of him.  People arrived, and so I called Walter.  Apparently, he’s waiting at the bakery.  He did arrive at about 11:15.  We had a nice time meeting the people we’ll be going to Cairns with, and they enjoyed the snacks.

 

As the were leaving I got a text from my friend Brenda, and they were at Al Baccio.  I did tell them to come up for a while, and so they did.  We chatted until it was lunch time.  

 

We headed to Al Baccio mourned 1:00, and were seated in the front room.  We had the same team we had for breakfast, so I think they’re it.  I started with the mozzarella sticks from main (I do like one of the salads in Luminae, but today it was mozzarella sticks.  For my main, I had the petit filet

.

 

It was good.

 

Glen had the feta salad and a Luminae burger.  Our waiter actually asked if he wanted truffle or plain fries.  He chose plain.

 

 

After lunch we went back to the room for a bit to clear email, work on this, etc.  At 4 we went to the Sky Lounge to find our trivia team, but they were full.  So back we went.

 

At 4;30, I went up to to find the meet up, but it was hard to find people.  I did find a couple that will be on our Cairns tour, so I talked to them for a while, and then found a few people from the FB meetup.  It was hard to find anyone there, since the lounge was crowded.  I really miss the officially sanctioned cruise critic meetings.  

 

We were meeting in Ensemble  at 5:30 with our group for the Bali tour, so I headed there.  When Glen didn’t show up, I tried calling the room from the house phone but it didn’t work.  I didn’t want to go into the lounge, because there was the officers Soiree going on (we’ll go to the next one), so I went to Murano and called.  He showed up soon after.  We had a very nice time talking to the other two couples, both from the San Diego area.  We agreed to meet at 8:30 at the Passport Bar on Saturday.

 

We then got dressed for the first specialty dinner of the cruise, Murano.  We stopped at the lounge for a while and tried to work with the concierges to fix Glen’s app, which showed he had 0 OBC.  The net result was that mine also reverted to 0.  They tried to fix it, but couldn’t so we gave up and went to dinner.

 

We were seated quickly,.  I started with the spinach salad.

 

 

Generally, I don’t eat the egg and whatever it’s on top of. We had the chateaubriand for our main, and it was a little underdone, but still very good.  I finished with the grand Mariner soufflé’s and a latte.  The latte is very pretty.

 

 

We called it a night after that.

 

 

 

[hcat]

Bon Voyage..Hope you have a great time!

 

Glad your secret surprise worked..

Looking forward to your blog!

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, abbydancer2003 said:

They do as of now.  The breakfast menu has rolled to the new weird one, and I've seen a couple new things on this menu, but the DB specials are still the old one.  Glad to be the bearer of good news.

 

 

Thanks... Just looked at the Menu for SYD-HNL and they are still showing it.   It is so much better than the new menu with new Chef B items.   Personally I think they went on Chocolate Overload on the new menu as well as Kale---

[abbydancer2003]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks... Just looked at the Menu for SYD-HNL and they are still showing it.   It is so much better than the new menu with new Chef B items.   Personally I think they went on Chocolate Overload on the new menu as well as Kale---

Yup. Agree.  You are my people.

[kluv2cruz]

abbydancer2003 if you have time and don’t mind researching a question for me… can you scope out the bicycles and specifically the spin classes? Would love a picture of the fitness schedule, and also of the bikes (there are likely a few near treadmills, but I’m wanting to know about some that are probably in a separate area or room that are used only for spin classes.) For the bike pictures I’m curious whether the pedals have cleats, whether shoes are provided (HAL does, but pretty sure Celebrity doesn’t), and a general overall pic. Could you also find out the per class cost and whether there is an unlimited class pass or a bundle cost?
 

THANK YOU in advance!! I board in HNL in April and am planning what to bring and timing of classes etc.

[abbydancer2003]

29 minutes ago, kluv2cruz said:

abbydancer2003 if you have time and don’t mind researching a question for me… can you scope out the bicycles and specifically the spin classes? Would love a picture of the fitness schedule, and also of the bikes (there are likely a few near treadmills, but I’m wanting to know about some that are probably in a separate area or room that are used only for spin classes.) For the bike pictures I’m curious whether the pedals have cleats, whether shoes are provided (HAL does, but pretty sure Celebrity doesn’t), and a general overall pic. Could you also find out the per class cost and whether there is an unlimited class pass or a bundle cost?
 

THANK YOU in advance!! I board in HNL in April and am planning what to bring and timing of classes etc.

I'll do what I can.  Especially since I should go to the gym occasionally.

[dctravel]

Following along to learn more about Solstice in advance of our Alaska cruise this summer!

[abbydancer2003]

Mega Trip - Sea Day 2 - Friday 1

 

 

We woke up in time for breakfast today, since we’re still a little jet lagged and time is still wonky.  

 

Today I ordered scrambled eggs with cheese, shared fruit and bacon, and hashbrowns.  

 

I got the eggs, and a total of two strips of bacon.  Not enough to share and the hashbrowns weren’t there.  We got more bacon, and that was fine.

 

From there, we headed to the lounge to drop off our confirmations for the Bali Tourist tax, as the concierges had asked for them.  We’re all still fiddling with our OBC, so they played with that for a while.

 

I got a text from Brenda that the were done in the theater, so we met for coffee in Al Baccio.  I was able to snag a table, and while I was there, I noticed my OBC was back.  We talked until lunch time, 

 

For lunch we went to Luminae.  I started with Mushroom soup from main dining (quite good actually), and then had the herbed chicken breast, which was surprisingly good.  (First time)

I have no idea what the risotto like thing is but it was good.

 

For dessert, I had the poached pear.  Glen had the cafe latte panna cotta, which had some chocolate on top.  I tried it and it was good, so maybe I’ll get it next time if they can remove the chocolate.

 

After lunch, we went back to the room.  I got a call from Dorinda about trivia, so I said I’d meet them upstairs for 3:30 music and then general.

 

Walter showed up with some surprises.  First, a try of sweets.

<6986>

Glen ate one by the time I took the pictures.

 

Also these:

 

 

Apparently in the Penthouse Suite they’re monogrammed, not so much in the Royal.

 

 

At 3:25 I headed up and found Dorinda and husband, as well as one of the couples we’re going to Bali with. We did decently on music, and Glen joined us for general, where we also did Ok.

 

After that, it was back to the room for our next gathering.  Ann, and her entourage, most of whom I’d met on our Silhouette transatlantic came by.  Walter brought some shrimp, chicken skewers and cheese and meat; we opened a bottle of champagne and it was very nice.  They stayed until their dinner time and a good time was had by all.

 

We dressed for dinner, and headed to Michaels club for a drink.  

 

Tonight we have a reservation at Tuscan Grill, so at 8:30 we headed down.  We did get a window table, for whatever that’s worth at 8:30 at night.  Our server was named Les, she’s from Bali and shared that she’s excited to see her family, especially her niece tomorrow.

 

I had a Caesar salad to start and then the Ribeye with a side of Spaghetti cacao e Pepe - cheese and pepper.  The steak was great - I but the spaghetti was a little too garlicky.  

 

We ended up skipping dessert.  We’ll have it next time.

 

We headed to the room after that, as we have an early start tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Texed]

Abbydancer,

Thanks for posting. 😊

[Jim_Iain]

Is Walter handling all of the Royal Suites?   Curious how many Butlers they have for CS and above. 

[billc23]

43 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Is Walter handling all of the Royal Suites?   Curious how many Butlers they have for CS and above. 

Walter and Bart for PH and Royals at least on deck 11. Walter has port side and Bart starboard. Dominic, who was the head butler, debarked  Singapore as planned and will return as a regular butler - he desires that position. Instead of a head butler, they are going back to a supervising butler with all suites having a named butler to call. I'm not sure how many suites the upper suite butlers have and there are 2 butlers for all the sky suites. This is what I have been told but Celebrity may change things... As an aside, your buddy Mar is debarking in Sidney. 

[Jim_Iain]

15 minutes ago, billc23 said:

Walter and Bart for PH and Royals at least on deck 11. Walter has port side and Bart starboard. Dominic, who was the head butler, debarked  Singapore as planned and will return as a regular butler - he desires that position. Instead of a head butler, they are going back to a supervising butler with all suites having a named butler to call. I'm not sure how many suites the upper suite butlers have and there are 2 butlers for all the sky suites. This is what I have been told but Celebrity may change things... As an aside, your buddy Mar is debarking in Sidney. 

 

Thanks... I'm on 10 in 1116 RS out of Sydney - so guessing Dominic.    Have you heard any comments about him?   I don't recall ever meeting either.

 

Mar had messaged me that she was leaving in Sydney.   She said she was considering extending but her replacement had already been assigned and was coming on with her Partner/Husband.   I really enjoy sailing with her. 

 

Who's the Captain?

 

Have you met Erin - part of the Activities staff.   I've known her mother's for years and she asked me to pick up a surprise for her.  Looking forward to meeting her for the first time.   Her Twin brother is in the Services..

 

[billc23]

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks... I'm on 10 in 1116 RS out of Sydney - so guessing Dominic.    Have you heard any comments about him?   I don't recall ever meeting either.

 

Mar had messaged me that she was leaving in Sydney.   She said she was considering extending but her replacement had already been assigned and was coming on with her Partner/Husband.   I really enjoy sailing with her. 

 

Who's the Captain?

 

Have you met Erin - part of the Activities staff.   I've known her mother's for years and she asked me to pick up a surprise for her.  Looking forward to meeting her for the first time.   Her Twin brother is in the Services..

 

Dominic left for vacation so he is not on the ship currently. He was our butler on several sailings and we thought he was excellent. He was waiting to greet me when we joined the ship in Hong Kong to say hi and gave me the current info on the butlers for the SS - as he knows. Captain Theo was the Captain at the start of this sailing who was replaced by a different Captain Theo in Bali - go figure? We have seen Erin but not really met her as in having a conversation. She is very friendly and brings enthusiasm to any event she is involved with. Jhini, a former butler, is a retreat concierge and I'm not sure who will replace Mar. 

[abbydancer2003]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks... I'm on 10 in 1116 RS out of Sydney - so guessing Dominic.    Have you heard any comments about him?   I don't recall ever meeting either.

 

Mar had messaged me that she was leaving in Sydney.   She said she was considering extending but her replacement had already been assigned and was coming on with her Partner/Husband.   I really enjoy sailing with her. 

 

Who's the Captain?

 

Have you met Erin - part of the Activities staff.   I've known her mother's for years and she asked me to pick up a surprise for her.  Looking forward to meeting her for the first time.   Her Twin brother is in the Services..

 

Erin does the afternoon trivia.  She's good, but spends a little too much time between questions, but that could be just me.

 

Mar told me yesterday our sky suite butler is Dino.  I saw him once.  We'll see how it goes.  There are two butlers for sky, and prior to butler gate there were 3.  I guess they'll see how it works out.  And Water has starboard, and Bart I guess has port.  

 

And Bill is correct on things.

 

See you soonl

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Mega Trip - Day 7 Bali - Saturday 2

 

Today is Bali, our first port stop of four.  We’re joining two other couples on a tour with a guide.  The content is flexible, and it doesn’t include lunch or admissions, but it was very inexpensive (23.00 per couple) so that’s fine.  I have about 100.00 in Indonesian money (over 2M rupia) which will cover our admissions, etc and probably the others as well.    Our meeting time was the passport bar at 8:30.

 

We decided to get up at 7:15 and we put the hang tag out for breakfast of coffee, orange juice, fruit and pastries at 7:30 - 8:00.  Walter arrived at about 7:50 with everything.  By then we were mostly ready, so we enjoyed our breakfast and headed to the passport bar.  

 

We arrived a little before 8:30 and headed out.  At the bottom of the gangway, some Balinaise dancers I guess were posed.

 

The required sign was there, too. 

 

We met our guide, Pong just outside the gate, and went to his very comfortable van.  Our first stop was to be a coffee plantation for a taste and tour.  Bali’s big coffee thing is Luwok Coffee.  It’s coffee that’s been harvested from the droppings of a small animal called a palm civet cat (thanks, wikipedia).  The animal eats the coffee cherry and the undigested inner part is harvested, cleaned and brewed.  It’s considered one of the most expensive coffees in the world.  Pong let us know that there was free coffee and tea tasting, but if we wanted to try the luwok, there would a charge of 45,000 rupee.  (That’s just under 3.00 US - you can’t get a run of the mill coffee at home for much less).

 

It took about 90 minutes to get there, as it was both a ways away, and traffic in Bali is terrible. Once we arrived, he turned us over to one of their employees, who guided through a jungle walkway, explaining about the various plants, etc that they grow for their teas and coffees.

 

 

 

 

We also saw a civet cat.  Apparently they borrow these each day, and release them each night, so different ones every day.  They are not mistreated, as they’re nocturnal.

 

I also saw trays of spices, and someone roasting beans.  They also do the grinding with a very large stick.  Glen said our neighbors would probably object if we did that.

 

 

After the tour, we were seated at a picnic table and they brought out samples of many teas and coffee, including one they call Bali coffee - no digestive tracts involved.  Glen and I split a Luwok coffee.

 

I couldn’t really tell the flavors, because I don’t like black coffee, but it didn’t seem that much better.  We did enjoy most of the teas and flavored coffees.

 

Once we were done with tasting we went to the gift shop.  All of us bought a little something.  We got a box of tea and a small bag of Bali Coffee.  The Luwok was about 100.00 for a small bag if I read the price tag correctly.

 

We then got back in the van for about 30 minutes to the Monkey Forest.  This is a Monkey Sanctuary in Ubad Bali.  We parked, and walked to the very nice visitors center.  They have posted “guidelines” about staying away from the monkeys, not feeding them, etc.  

 

After we paid the entrance fee (about 6.00 and change each) Pong took us through the forest.

Here are some of the residents:

 

 

They are all over, as apparently being fed regularly and being safe have great appeal.

 

 

And they pretty much ignore humans.

 

 

The sanctuary provides them with all amenities, including a swimming pool.

 

They like to jump off the branch into the water. 

 

The sanctuary also hosts a very old Banyan tree.

 

 

And, no sanctuary would be complete without a temple.

 

Apparently it is a working temple, so we could only look from the gate.

 

After the sanctuary we drove to lunch.  Along the way everywhere are these religious hangings.  Bali is mostly Hindu.

 

Our restaurant was on a small cliff overlooking a working rice paddy.

 

 

Just below the restaurant was a terrace, which was good for pictures.  There are also swings over the paddy and from the restaurant, we could see a zipline.  

 

 

After lunch it was too late to really see anything else, because traffic is so bad, it would take about 90 minutes to get back to the port.  There are religious statues all over Bali in the middle of intersections.

You can see the top of this one from the car.

 

We got back to the port around 4:30, and once on board we headed to Michaels club.  We ran into Ann and company so we talked to them until they went to dinner.

 

After that it was back to our room to watch sailaway.  We saw more of the Island as we left.

 

Tonights dinner was at Luminae., and I ordered from Main mostly.  I had an eggplant brochette which was pretty good, and flank steak.  The steak was good, but their idea of Lyonniase potatoes and mine didn’t match - there were just thin slices, but they were good.  For dessert I had the hibiscus parfait from Luminae.

 

It was an early day today, so we called it a night after dinner.  Two more sea days starting tomorrow.

  

 

 

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Megatrip day 8 - Sea day 3 - Sunday 2.

 

We thought we might  make breakfast today, but we missed that the clock went forward an hour (reminding me why I love Westbound TransAtlantics).  So we called Walter for coffee (man, we are spoiled, we’ll miss him soon) and then decided to see what Michaels Club offers.  Turns out we could get juice and espresso drinks.  I asked Lucy, our outstanding bartender about regular coffee from Luminae, and she got me a cup.  It was appreciated (on Constellation, they sent a full pot).  

 

 

When I went back to the room I saw Walter, and asked him about drinks and the mini bar on the sky suite.  He told me the new bean counter president doesn’t want butlers to do it anymore.  So, I will ask my new butler/room steward to empty the fridge, and will put my own drinks in it.  (I might ask him if I can just pack up the 8 or 9 cokes we have, plus a couple of beers and the water and bring them.

 

Walter was there to actually tell us that tomorrow, when we have to do Australian customs on the ship, to call him and he’ll take us up there to skip the line.

 

After that it was time for our now regular coffee with Brenda and Robin.  They go to the 10:30 talks in the theater, and then we get coffee.  No snagged table, so we went down to cellar masters where it’s quiet.  

 

They went to lunch around 12:15, since they have to do customs this after and I went up there to check out the line.  It went from the entrance to the sky conference center, past the sky lounge, and wrapped around to the door to the conference center.  People told me it was about 30 minutes.  I texted that to Brenda.

 

Next stop was the casino.  It’s finally open, since it was closed from Singapore through Bali (that’s gotta hurt).  They have now, as mentioned, changed from the cashier vouchers, to the card at the machine.  On newer casinos, you tap your card, here, you insert your card and download money.  Until you’ve gambled 50% you can’t download more.    I check, and all I can see when I got to my personal banker is my reward total.  (Hint:  Gamble more than I do to get a free cruise).  Once I’ve bet 50% (10.00 on a 20.00 download) I can transfer again, and that’s where I usually cash out.  So far, not so good - I’m above 10.00 but below winning.  That’s all I’ve done so far.

 

We went to lunch next.  I had my modified Luminae burger, and it was good and done right.

 

I spent the afternoon enjoying the ocean and working on the blog.

(yes, there is an ocean out there)

 

At 3:30 I went up for trivia, I did jet out at 4:30 because we had our cruise critic friends coming over at 4:30.  It was small but nice.

 

After that we dressed for dinner and headed to the lounge until our second dinner at Murano.  We’re front loading our specialties, since we have to buy them after this, and we’ll have lots of repeat nights on the next two cruises.

 

Glen started with the heirloom tomato salad.

 

I started with what they called mushroom cappuccino, because they put a layer of milk foam on top.  It was really good.

 

We both had the rack of lamb which was excellent.

 

For dessert, we both had the strawberry crepe

 

And a close up.

 

 

After that, it was time to call it a night and check email, and chatting with Jim about shipping a new router to him, but it won’t get there before he leaves.  We’re having problems configuring ours.

 

Before I go, one thing I forgot last night at dinner, That was the night Luminae has their beef sirloin, which is two slices of steak.  Glen’s ordered it a few times, and it’s always been well done on the outside, and almost raw in the middle, and we’ve met several chefs because of that.  We told our waiter this, and he took it as a challenge, and brought just the steak.  This ship did it right, so Glen will probably order it next cruise.

 

 

 

 

[jkutravels]

I enjoy reading your travel. 

[Jim_Iain]

Abbey -- Been watching your progress on Cruise Mapper as you make your way to Sydney. 

 

Enjoyed the photos of Murano.    We have already booked it for the first night.   I've always found the first night in all the main menus a mess so usually try to get Specialty for the First Night.

 

Curious --- how would you say the food has been in Luminae?    Been getting a number of positive reports.