LIVE from the Diamond Princess - 35 days Singapore to Vancouver

Hello from the Diamond Princess where we will spend, if you choose to do so, the next 35 days together sailing from Singapore to Vancouver. First, a bit of what we encountered the past few days.

We left home on Tuesday the 10th at 5:00 AM and arrived into Singapore Thursday the 12th; 4 flights and lots of layovers later. Princess rep was there to meet us and we were at the Fairmont Hotel shortly after 6 and showered and in bed by 7. Five hours of sleep later we decided to find something to eat and then go in the pursuit of wine. There is a mall attached to this hotel; a very BIG mall with several different food courts on seven levels. You need never go outdoors into the hot and humid city. We found a Starbucks, shared a sandwich, and found Jason’s supermarket where we also found wine prices to be exorbitant. 7-11 was OK for some small bottles, but at these prices we may as well buy on the ship. Back to the hotel, met our friends, had wine time late afternoon and wandered about; a little hungry but still tired. Grabbed sandwiches and coffee and decided our bodies really did need more sleep. I was able to use credit card for Starbucks, seven 11 and any major chain, but small places want Singapore dollars so I exchanged some. Better prices at money changer than with ATM whereby service charges would eat up the difference on small amounts.

Next day, Friday the 13th, woke up early, made coffee (there’s a Keurig type machine in our room), had some cheese we had brought with us, met our friends and went to find the HOHO bus which was very conveniently located across the street. We took 2 different routes on two different buses; could have done more, but it was so hot and we just wanted to go back to the hotel and relax. We did find an Asian food court; ordered lunch looking at photos. Very inexpensive for soup with noodles and dumplings and some kind of Korean noodles with cabbage and pork. Total for both of us; $8.50. Since it was already 3 PM, we decided to relax prior to our evening excursion to the Night Safari.

SINGAPORE NIGHT SAFARI: One of our roll call people had made prior reservations for our group of 11, so we were picked up promptly at 6 PM for our zoo visit. The zoo itself is open daytime only until 6 and then the safari part opens at 7:30. There are over 1000 nocturnal creatures; various animals from different parts of the world. Our guide told us it would be quite crowded being a Friday night and she was certainly correct. However, we waited in a fast moving line and boarded our safari vehicle (a tram) for the 45 minute excursion through the “jungle.” Other than lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes and zebras, we also saw some unusual species such as spotted hyena, bearded pig, bat-eared fox, civet, barking deer (he was silent), mousedeer, Gaur and lots of others I’ve never heard of. Afterwards we watched part of a fire eating show, and then took a 20 minute trail walk where we encountered pelicans, otters, pangolin, binturong, tahr and a black and white chubby animal resembling a warthog; a Malayan tapir. All in all very interesting and so happy we did this. The one thing we didn’t do was dinner. At 10PM we realized that we hadn’t eaten, but missing a meal here and there is good for the soul. At least for mine. J

Saturday; so hot, so early. Breakfast at Subway, and we four took a taxi to Chinatown for bargains. Having only been here in November, we already bought all the “bargains.” The sun got us; the crowds got us, so after about 2 hours we just taxied back to the hotel. Check-in for the cruise was scheduled between the hours of 5:00 to 9:00 and since we had been hanging out in the hotel anyway, decided to go early. We elected to be one of the first at 4:00 and good thing we did that. By 4:45, when they opened, there were over 100 people already gathered. Since we were first and second, we were finished within 10 minutes. We also received Thailand Visa(Bangkok will be our first port) entrance and exit cards, which will be collected with our passports upon check-in at pier. Quickie dinner in order to repack, because suitcases will be picked up in our room beginning 8:00 AM tomorrow.

Sunday: Cruise embarkation day has finally arrived. Much excitement abounds, for most have never been to this part of the world. We had breakfast this morning at a very expensive establishment; McDonald’s. Hey…….they had free wifi too. Priorities, you know. Anyhow, we were scheduled to leave on the first bus at 11:30, it left earlier and we were in our cabin at 12:07.

I tried to get on line, but alas, internet not working.

I am sort of live right now, getting ready for the muster drill at 5:00 PM. Internet still not available so will start the actual LIVE whenever I can.

Back from muster; can load now. And of course it’s time for dinner. Will check in again later.

Pia, Glad you are off to a great start on your cruise. I always enjoy reading about your adventures. So thank you in advance to what will be an an exciting cruise and experiences. I will be on the Crown on Saturday so I will be cruising while reading about your cruising.

Sali

Thanks for taking us along with you again :)looking forward to your posts.

Looking forward to sailing with you for the next 35 days:)

Cheers

Tanya

Hi Pia, I've been looking for your Live as you usually start it early. Looking forward to "cruising" with you for the next 35 days.

What is the difference in Singapore temps now vs when you were there in November?

Smooth seas and enjoy your cruise.

Bon Voyage from us both!

Looking forward to the Live! :D

Enjoyed your review so far, looking for more.

Hi Folks:

Back again same day post dinner, which for our party of 8 was in Vivaldi. We like to eat at 6:00 and this should work out very well. We don’t have a table for 8, but we are side by side at 2 fours.

A little ship info as follows:

Captain is Dino Sagani

Staff Capt. is Paolo Ravera ( his brother is Capt. of Ocean)

CD is Kelvin Joy

MD is Francisco Patricio

We are not even attempting to make the welcome aboard show; the usual intros and a guy playing the banjo. We have lots of show days ahead. Need to finish unpacking, so will see you tomorrow.

Internet very slow.

Mary: hotter now than Nov.

Hello from the Diamond Princess....snip......

Pia

We are looking forward, as usual, to your live.....especially this adventure. This will definitely whet our appetite for next year, hopefully we will make that one.

Thank you.

John and Rita

Hi Pia,

I've been waiting for your live thread, so glad you all made it safe and sound. I'll be reading along with you until I leave to join you in few weeks.

Does the Diamond have the IC yet?

particularly looking forward to this thread as very good friends of ours are sailing with you, from the UK

Terry

As usual a great start...

Have a great cruise :)

Pete

Does the Diamond have the IC yet?

No.

It had been originally scheduled to be installed during in 2010 drydock but it did not occur.

Glad to see your off to a good start, may the rest of your trip go as well if not better.

Bon voyage Pia! :)

Hi Pia!

Glad to hear you, Mike, Gloria and Lew are safe and sound. I love the shopping in Singapore and can't wait to get back, so I will live vicariously through you, for now! Enjoy your Pinot Grigio!

denise (and brian)

Thanks Pia, You helped us wait for Cape Horn trip with a live and now we are going to be ready for our Diamond Princess adventure Bangkok to Beijing in Oct.

Thanks for all the details.

Looking forward to your live reports as we have never sailed that part of the world. sounds like you're off to a great start. Bon Voyage!

Looking forward to your posts Pia. We are sailing on the Diamond from Beijiing to Vancouver in May 2013. Really looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the weather on that part of your cruise.

Michael and Midge

Cugina Pia...glad the long trip to the Diamond went smoothly & looking forward to once again having you so generously take all of us along with you. :)

Buon Viaggio Cugina Pia! :D

Bon voyage Pia!

You and Mike have a great cruise. I would imagine you didn't do any vino shopping before embarkation?

Bon Voyage to you both...

Have a wonderful cruise.

I like Singapore. Its a great place to join/end a cruise and have a few days sightseeing.

Heres the itinerary

Itinerary

Date Port Arrive Depart

Sun 15/04/12 Singapore / Singapore 18:00

Mon 16/04/12 At Sea

Tue 17/04/12 At Sea

Wed 18/04/12 Laem Chabang / Thailand 07:00 19:00

Thu 19/04/12 At Sea

Fri 20/04/12 Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam 07:00 18:00

Sat 21/04/12 Nha Trang / Vietnam 07:30 17:00

Sun 22/04/12 At Sea

Mon 23/04/12 Hong Kong / China 09:00 23:59

Tue 24/04/12 At Sea

Wed 25/04/12 At Sea

Thu 26/04/12 Shanghai / China 07:00 18:00

Fri 27/04/12 At Sea

Sat 28/04/12 Nagasaki / Japan 07:00 18:00

Sun 29/04/12 Busan / South Korea 07:00 14:00

Mon 30/04/12 At Sea

Tue 01/05/12 Tianjin / China 04:00 18:00

Wed 02/05/12 Dalian / China 09:00 18:00

Thu 03/05/12 At Sea

Fri 04/05/12 Busan / South Korea 08:00 17:00

Sat 05/05/12 At Sea

Sun 06/05/12 Vladivostok / Russia 04:00 19:00

Mon 07/05/12 At Sea

Tue 08/05/12 Muroran / Japan 06:00 17:00

Wed 09/05/12 At Sea

Thu 10/05/12 Date Line 12:00 13:00

Fri 11/05/12 At Sea

Sat 12/05/12 At Sea

Sun 13/05/12 At Sea

Mon 14/05/12 Seward (Alaska) / USA 09:00 17:00

Tue 15/05/12 Hubbard Glacier (cruising) / USA 12:30 17:30

Wed 16/05/12 Juneau (Alaska) / USA 09:00 16:00

Thu 17/05/12 Ketchikan (Alaska) / USA 10:00 17:00

Fri 18/05/12 At Sea

Sat 19/05/12 Vancouver / Canada 07:30

Traveled Distance: 19,870.22 km/10,729.06 nm

Itinerary may be subject to change at any time.

Mind if I chime in on your thread rather than opening a new one? (Conserving electrons and brain cells...)

Hi Pia

Thanks for your live updates. Have a great cruise.

We will be on the Diamond in Sept from Alaska to Beijing.

Mike and Marie

i am so excited that you are doing a live thread, this a cruise we really want to do, maybe 2014, but for now we will follow along via Cruise critic

vickie