Port of Semarang and Borobudur temples

[lovetocruise16]

Has anyone taken a private car/driver to the Borobudur temple complex outside Semarang? We are on the Feb.8 Nautica cruise which has us in port only from 8am to 5pm. Oceania does not have an excursion to this complex, but rather to a lesser one called Gedong Songo. The photo on the Oceania site, however, is of the Borobudur complex which is THE place to see when in Semarang. We anticipate hiring a private car/driver but have heard horror stories about the traffic, and do not want to jeopardize our return to the ship in time. Can this trip be done in the 8-5 time frame? We get the impression that Oceania does not offer it because Borobudur is too far from Semarang, though we have read past posts of cruisers who made the excursion through Oceania.

[mgsail]

L T C 16
we were on this cruise last year....'O' did borobudur... if I remember correctly with police
escort, but I do remember complications , injuries & ugly stories not all traffic related.
we had 46 days onboard... semarang ..top of the list 'not to go back to' albeit
Borobudur is one of 'THE' places to go in the temple world. I would not be worried about
being back on time. I would worry about getting back.. .. have done 7 with 'O' & 2with Seabourn. incl. South America and most of Asia this port is. on its own..different.!!!
this could be the place that care and caution with arrangements may not work..
.......my wife read the above and said.Just tell them don't go!!
all the best to you either way have a great cruise
hraeme

[Paulchili]

Originally Posted by mgsail

L T C 16
we were on this cruise last year....'O' did borobudur... if I remember correctly with police
escort, but I do remember complications , injuries & ugly stories not all traffic related.
we had 46 days onboard... semarang ..top of the list 'not to go back to' albeit
Borobudur is one of 'THE' places to go in the temple world. I would not be worried about
being back on time. I would worry about getting back.. .. have done 7 with 'O' & 2with Seabourn. incl. South America and most of Asia this port is. on its own..different.!!!
this could be the place that care and caution with arrangements may not work..
.......my wife read the above and said.Just tell them don't go!!
all the best to you either way have a great cruise
hraeme

As we are on the Dec 09 cruise and plan on doing this tour on our own (with a local tour company), I would be most interested in more details as to what exactly happened.
I would appreciate your input.
Thanks.
Paul

[bigdipper]

We were on ship tour to Borobudur with RSSC Mariner last fall. We were in front bus right behind police escort. Bus repeatedly forced oncoming traffic off the road. We made good time both ways as a result, but not a pretty picture. I would not want to chance private conveyance getting transportation done on time. There was some sense that Western tourists were less than completely safe on their own. Since Prince Charles was visiting that day, the security might have been more impressive than usual.

[willmschen]

We did Borobudur with a private tour company last year. We arrived at Borobudur long before the tour buses from the ship arrived. The only traffic problem we had was when we had to pull over on the way back to the ship while the tour bus caravan sped past us.

[SeaCCruiser]

When we took a ship's tour to Borobudur, we were accompanied by a police escort and an empty bus, which came in handy, when one bus/coach plowed into something on our return to the ship, and all the people had to be quickly evacuated to the empty bus. I don't know if they expected to have an accident, or else just brought along the additional bus in case of engine problems. The drive to and from Borobudur was at break-neck speeds, so I actually wasn't too surprised when a collision occurred.

[lovetocruise16]

Originally Posted by mgsail

L T C 16
we were on this cruise last year....'O' did borobudur... if I remember correctly with police
escort, but I do remember complications , injuries & ugly stories not all traffic related.
we had 46 days onboard... semarang ..top of the list 'not to go back to' albeit
Borobudur is one of 'THE' places to go in the temple world. I would not be worried about
being back on time. I would worry about getting back.. .. have done 7 with 'O' & 2with Seabourn. incl. South America and most of Asia this port is. on its own..different.!!!
this could be the place that care and caution with arrangements may not work..
.......my wife read the above and said.Just tell them don't go!!
all the best to you either way have a great cruise
hraeme

MGSail --could you elaborate a little about the difficulties encountered? What complications, injuries, etc., did you experience? My husband and I have lived in Jakarta for several years, but long ago. We know Semarang to be not our first choice for a port, and wonder why Oceania would choose it if NOT to go to Borobudur. I have a tour company ready to go for this excursion, but would like to know what else (besides the traffic) was a problem? Why the police escort? Thanks!

[willmschen]

The police escort is there to flash their lights to get other traffic out of the way so the busues can get through the narrow streets.