"Live" Coral Princess, 32 Days, Oct 17th to Nov 17th, Singapore-Asia-Los Angeles (+Week in Singapore pre-cruise)

[LACruiser88]

 

 

 

Here we go again!  The next few months will be crazy busy for us as we will only be home for two weeks from this trip before we embark on the Majestic Princess for a 51-day voyage from Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale, via South America.  This will be the first time we will miss the holidays with our family and our 10-yr-old Granddaughter is not happy about it! 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, October 9th, we will be flying from our home airport of LAX to Singapore.  This will be our first time visiting Singapore and has been on our bucket list for quite some time.  The same can be said for all of the ports on this itinerary, with the exception of Hong Kong and Hawaii.

 

This will be the Coral Princess' first voyage after a 20-day dry dock in Singapore.  Hopefully, all of the updates will have been completed by the time we board.  In the past, we have been on ships right after a dry dock and some items were completed during that first voyage.  We have sailed on the Coral many times and were last onboard in 2018 (1st time was in 2004).

 

 

 

On this cruise we will be in a Reserve Collection Mini-Suite, mid-ship on Baja Deck, and will have the Plus Package.  We made a decent upgrade bid for a Vista Suite, but have not heard anything as of yet.  Suites have shown as sold out for quite some time now, so we are not expecting the bid to be successful.  Btw, the entire cruise has shown sold out since mid-August.

 

 

The ports on this voyage consist of two in Thailand, two in Vietnam, Taipei, Hong Kong, two in Japan, and two in Hawaii.

 

We booked our Singapore Airlines 17+ hour, non-stop Business Class (BC) flight via our Platinum Amex International Airlines Program.  The price was $800 less than using EZair and $600 less than directly with the airline.  We were also able to apply Amex points towards the booking.  This is the first time in years that we have found an international air fare lower than EZair for BC.  We have also booked our "Blacklane" driver for the ride from the airport to the hotel.

 

 

 

In Singapore, we will be spending the week at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Orchard District.  The Amex Fine Hotels and Resort Program offered a deal that was too good to pass up!  We recently stayed at the Sydney Four Seasons and had an amazing experience.  They excel in providing outstanding service and accommodations.

 

 

We will have several friends cruising with us on this voyage including Debbie's sister and her husband (from Palm Desert).  We also have several friends among the onboard crew.

 

We have received many travel tips as to what to see and do in Singapore from friends that are extremely familiar with the city/country.  I don't think we will be able to see all of the places on our list, but we will give it a shot!

 

We rarely ever book Princess excursions, but because most of these ports are new to us we have booked several transportation only excursions to the city centers, where we will DIY.  In Hong Kong, we booked the HoHo bus.  We enjoy DIY in ports and exploring whatever strikes us as interesting at the time.

 

There has been some confusion on the Roll Call for this cruise as to the requirement of a visa for Vietnam.  We have been assured by Princess that this visa will be provided onboard and the visa fee charged to our stateroom account.  They have not provided the exact cost of the visa, but in the past it has been $50 USD.

 

Feel free to ask questions and I will try my best to provide answers.  I will usually post the "Princess Event Listings" (aka: The Patter) and dinner menus daily.  I'm curious to see if they have the new and improved "Patter" or the Princess Event Listings format?

 

 

 

To our fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences and answer questions on this blog as we all have different perspectives and experiences.  Because we no longer attend shows, games, or lectures, we will count on our fellow passengers to provide information on those events.  We will report on live music, food, and the ship's wine selections!  

 

 

 

Cheers, Debbie & Rafael

 

 

 

 

 

 

The below map is still incorrectly showing us stopping in Lahaina, that has been changed to Kauai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Thu, Oct 17	Singapore		04:00 pm
Fri, Oct 18	At Sea
Sat, Oct 19	Ko Samui, Thailand	07:00 am	04:00 pm
Sun, Oct 20	Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Mon, Oct 21	At Sea
Tue, Oct 22	Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Vietnam	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Wed, Oct 23	Nha Trang, Vietnam	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Thu, Oct 24	At Sea
Fri, Oct 25	Hong Kong	09:00 am	11:00 pm
Sat, Oct 26	At Sea
Sun, Oct 27	Taipei (Keelung)	08:00 am	06:00 pm
Mon, Oct 28	At Sea
Tue, Oct 29	At Sea
Wed, Oct 30	Osaka (for Kyoto), Japan	07:00 am	10:00 pm
Thu, Oct 31	At Sea
Fri, Nov 1	Tokyo, Japan	08:00 am	10:00 pm
Sat, Nov 2	At Sea
Sun, Nov 3	At Sea
Mon, Nov 4	At Sea
Tue, Nov 5	Cross International Date Line	12:00 pm	01:00 pm
Tue, Nov 5	At Sea
Wed, Nov 6	At Sea
Thu, Nov 7	At Sea
Fri, Nov 8	At Sea
Sat, Nov 9	At Sea
Sun, Nov 10	Honolulu, Hawaii	06:00 am	11:00 pm
Mon, Nov 11	Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Tue, Nov 12	At Sea
Wed, Nov 13	At Sea
Thu, Nov 14	At Sea
Fri, Nov 15	At Sea
Sat, Nov 16	At Sea
Sun, Nov 17 2024	Los Angeles, California	07:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29 by LACruiser88

[shellbeachjim]

Looking forward to your impressions from your cruise. We’ve been to most of these ports over the years and looks like a fantastic itinerary. 

[rwest898]

Thank you for letting me know about your upcoming adventure!!! Looking forward to reading!

[LACruiser88]

Yesterday we received the below email.  Medallions are on the way!

 

[EDVM96]

Wow, what a nice itinerary! 😎

 

12 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

This will be the Coral Princess' first voyage after a 20-day dry dock in Singapore.  Hopefully, all of the updates will have been completed by the time we board. 

Does the app still show Bayou Steakhouse? Or has it changed to Crown Grill? They changed it on the Island Princess, so I guess they will do the same on the Coral.

 

12 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

There has been some confusion on the Roll Call for this cruise as to the requirement of a visa for Vietnam.  We have been assured by Princess that this visa will be provided onboard and the visa fee charged to our stateroom account.  They have not provided the exact cost of the visa, but in the past it has been $50 USD.

They collect all passports onboard ahead of the 1st Vietnam stop. You will get it back after 1 or 2 days, and Vietnam authorities (which are onboard) will give you these nice stamps:

 

One for Phu My and one for Nha Trang.

 

I didn't had to pay the 50 USD, as Germans citizen do not need a visa for Vietnam, but I think it's the same stamps for everyone.

 

[LawDog61]

I am looking forward to following along as we have contemplated this cruise.  We were, in fact booked on a similar cruise (HAL) but Covid came along.  

[LACruiser88]

27 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Does the app still show Bayou Steakhouse? Or has it changed to Crown Grill? They changed it on the Island Princess, so I guess they will do the same on the Coral.

The app still shows the Bayou.

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

Unless things have changed, the Vietnam visa is sold on board. We got one ahead of time because we wanted to be certain to have multiple entries (B2B cruises) and we weren’t sure the one purchased on board would give us that. 
 

I always enjoy your Live From reports, and I know this one will be no different. I’ll be cruising myself for part of this and will easily choose following along over reading a book on our many sea days. Thank you for bringing us along. 

[LACruiser88]

57 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

 I’ll be cruising myself for part of this and will easily choose following along over reading a book on our many sea days. Thank you for bringing us along. 

I'll look forward to following along on your blog as well!  We also have lots of sea days.  Happy cruising! 🛳

[RLK33853]

We are also looking forward to your experiences - in regard to your the itinerary (doing most of the same ports next year on the Discovery), as well as how the Coral is after drydock (we get on in San Pedro when it arrives).

 

If you get the chance tell us about Singapore.  We have been there twice but only for very short stops, but when we disembark from the Discovery next fall we want to spend some time there.

 

Thanks and Bon Voyage!

 

Ray and Ann

[Host CJSKIDS]

So excited for you and Debbie and can't wait to follow along on your cruise and see all the pictures!  

 

Bon Voyage and enjoy every single moment!

[leck57]

Singapore is one of favourite places so have a great trip. We are heading there again for a week in a month's time. 

First thing I'd do is cancel the driver from the airport to your hotel. Taxis are clean and cheap and the fare from airport to your hotel would be $30-35 max. The hotel you have booked is great and although we prefer to stay around the Clarke Quay area, the MRT is nearby and the best way to get around.

 

 

[LACruiser88]

22 minutes ago, leck57 said:

First thing I'd do is cancel the driver from the airport to your hotel.

We are spoiled using Blacklane.  We use them worldwide on our airport arrivals.  🙂

[jwattle]

Looking forward to following y'all! 🥂

[pa_snowbird]

8 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Yesterday we received the below email.  Medallions are on the way!

 

Seems like you are cutting it close - especially if you want to spend sometimes in Singapore before the cruise.  Why wouldn't you just pick them up at the port in Singapore?  Probably wouldn't make much difference in boarding time, especially since you are Elite passenger?

[pa_snowbird]

It looks like the ship is inside the dry dock now:

[AVCruzers]

I willl be following you along on one of our favorite ships.  When you disembark in LA, we will embark for a Panama Canal cruise.  

[LACruiser88]

23 minutes ago, pa_snowbird said:

Why wouldn't you just pick them up at the port in Singapore? 

We frequently leave home 10 to 14 days before boarding a ship.  About 95% of the time we receive our Medallions prior to leaving home.  If we don't get them in time, we'll get them at boarding.  No big deal...  🙂

[leck57]

Just a tip on Singapore. If you intend to go up the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel (I recommend it as the view is unbelievable) you need to book if you want to access the bar/meal area. Booking not required if you just want to visit the observation area. We couldn't get a booking when we were last there so I've made sure for our visit in a few weeks. Relaxing with a drink looking out across Singapore and seeing that infinity pool way up there is worth it.

[sailingkiwi]

The food in Singapore is the best! I travelled with my daughter when she was 9 months old. She was so spoiled by all the vendors and perfectly clean highchairs everywhere! They even set a place for her at Raffles with the complete setting (but plastic and not silver!)

[EDVM96]

9 hours ago, leck57 said:

Just a tip on Singapore. If you intend to go up the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel (I recommend it as the view is unbelievable) you need to book if you want to access the bar/meal area. Booking not required if you just want to visit the observation area. We couldn't get a booking when we were last there so I've made sure for our visit in a few weeks. Relaxing with a drink looking out across Singapore and seeing that infinity pool way up there is worth it.

 

Is this new with the required booking? In 2019 I could just walk-in for a nice Singapore Sling. 😎

 

And this is the infinity pool view from the observation area:

 

[EDVM96]

5 hours ago, sailingkiwi said:

The food in Singapore is the best!

I strongly recommend to visit the Makansutra Gluttons Bay hawker stalls in the late evening.

https://makansutra.com/eatery/gluttons-bay/

Incredible food, huge variety, reasonable prices.

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

10 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We frequently leave home 10 to 14 days before boarding a ship.  About 95% of the time we receive our Medallions prior to leaving home.  If we don't get them in time, we'll get them at boarding.  No big deal...  🙂

When you get a chance, I know your busy!! 😳

Would you look at your App, passenger contract, see what it says under smoking, as far as vaping/e-cigarettes are allowed in cabins out of Singapore?  I’d be surprised if it is allowed.  Another thread on this subject.

Appreciate it!

Have a wonderful cruise.

So far, not allowed in cabins sailing from Australia and Quebec.

[LACruiser88]

@PacnGoNow  I found the below in the contract for this voyage.  No bueno!!!

 

Edited September 30 by LACruiser88

[suzyed]

We are leaving home in St. Augustine on 10/09 as well.  We first fly from Jacksonville to JFK and then on Singapore Airline non-stop long haul flight arriving on 10/11!  We purchased our Business class flights with our American Express points! 
We are staying at a fairly newish boutique hotel....well it's new and old! It was once a remittance house where the Chinese immigrants went to send money home to their families...along with "love notes". Today the inspiring words have been lifted from the historical record and they incorporated phrases into the hotel's design! New on top of old!  Can't wait to see it.  We also purchased with our American Exp. points and it included one free night! 21 Carpenter is located near Chinatown and Clarke Quay.
All the ports (except Hawaii) will be new to me but Chuck has been to most since he traveled there with his job.  Except when you travel for work, you don't really get to see the country so it will seem mostly "new" to him too!