NorthernJoey

Check your bank / CC statement. I guess those are holds, not charges

Hi Nipo, Just checked the site you referred. Policy seems like gratuities/service gharge are included but once you go until the end of booking it will appear. Example I tried is NCL, transatlantic 3rd dec 2024 from Southampton to Miami. Club balcony (MC) base fare for 2 pax is 2431,52 USD + beverage SVG 523,20 USD + Specialty dining SVG 55,60 USD, total sum is 3010,32 USD NCL directly, total is about 2992 USD

Singapore Changi airport is very well organized. So. you should be out from the airport in an hour or so. Only thing I would never do is to fly in the same day the cruise departs. (assuming you are not flying in from neighboring countries) There are numerous reasons for flight disruptions and cancellations. I don't mean to scare you, but so many travelers have been at least stressed out for delays and some miss the cruise. Singapore city itself is quite compact and you'll be fine seeing quite a few sights there within city. Suggestions, Orchard road area, Chinatown + Hawker center for lunch, Clarke Quay combined with Fullerton Hotel (old post office) and Merlion, then maybe Marina bay from where it is a short drive to MBCC. If you have spare time after Marina Bay, it will be less than 10 min drive to Raffles Hotel and perhaps try the well known drink, Singapore Sling. I don't know about Celebrity policy for latest embarkation time, my advice is to be in MBCC latest 2.00 PM - 2.30PM.

Thank you Maria I think I just need to wait and see which way it will be.

Hi, I booked this one for our January stop. klangtaxi@yahoo.com Quick answering and not too expensive. Check it out:

Thank you NeilonBoard, this is what I presumed. NCL just states that Phuket is a tender port, that's all info I was able to find. Any idea, when the last tender will be? 60 or 90 mins before 6PM when ship departs?

Hi, I cannot find information about Phuket / NCL Jewel. So, which one it will be, tender or port near Cape Panwa ? And if tendering will it be by tender to Patong Beach or where? Visit to Phuket is 7th January 7 AM - 6PM or

There seems to be mixed information in internet when arriving to Vietnam on European/Schengen-area passport on a cruise ship. So, here you may find some useful information if any other Scandinavians are on a cruise to Vietnam. I sent e-mail to Vietnamese embassy and asked about type of visa for Finnish and Swedish citizens. E-Visa, single entry, multi entry At least Finnish and Swedish passport holders can arrive without hassle. Here is embassy's answer below: _______________________________________________________________________________ Vietnam Embassy in Finland <vietnamfinland@gmail.com> Both Swedish and Finnish citizens can enter and stay in Vietnam for 45 days without any visa. Embassy of Vietnam in Finland Kulosaarentie 12 00570 Helsinki Tel: + 358 9 6229900 Fax: +358 9 62299022 Email: vietnamfinland@gmail.com Vui lòng đặt lịch hẹn trước qua email ________________________________________________________________________________

So, two different scams, both in a small exchange vendor. First one happened in Nusa Dua. I handed to the man behind the counter 500 Euros in 50 Euro notes. So ten notes, and I knew it was ten. He then, without counting laid the € notes on a desk next to him and started to count Rupiahs. Then he counted my € notes and said there is only 450€. I told him for sure there is 10 notes. He re-counted and only 9 notes was there and I saw it. Asked to count it myself and same result. Then I demanded him to stand up and open the top drawer of the work desk. He refused. I went around the work desk and opened the drawer. Surprice ! There was one single crispy 50€ note on top of the stuff. End of story. Another happened in Seminyak. I changed 1000€ to Rupiahs. Great exchange rate btw !!! 1€= 16 000 IDR. I got told that they will give me all of that in 50 000 IDR notes since they don't have any 100 000 IDR notes. Okay. This means that it was more than 16 000 000 IDR. This means that I got 320 notes of 50 000 IDR. Or, I should have gotten that. The man counted this by hand in front of me and then handed the big pile to me. I did not have time to count this big pile there, but counted later at our villa and found out that there is only little more than 13 000 000 IDR. So, I lost roughly 100 € there. No point going back since it was more than two hours since it happened. Lesson learnt !!! Here is a link of another scam from 2022: https://thebalisun.com/bali-fraudulent-money-changing-scams-now-showing-up-in-canggu/

Another thing to remember when travelling to Bali. You will most likely find way better rate in some small shop. Even 20% better. Don't get tempted to use it. Bali is notorious for money changing scams. I have personally learned it there in more than few places. Only once I got scammed but it was quite a fight to get my cash back. I would strongly recommend to use only official exchange places.

You'll be alright using card but especially smaller vendors prefer cash. So, card + go to an ATM and get some SGD

I have visited once, it was fantastic last trip to Egypt ! I say no more 😎

I have been to Taj Mahal few times but never from Cochin 😲. It is doable but the distance is so great (well over 1500 miles) that you will need to fly. Flight time is minimum 5 hours with connection in Bangalore or Delhi. This tour would take three days even if you are flying. 1. day outbound flight 2.day in Agra and 3. day flying back.

Yes, thank you and congratulations !!!

Thank you, great review bundtkate. We will be having the same Joy PC cruise (Miami-LA) in January. For Cabo our plan is to buy a whale tour from the pier, not NCL. You wrote that the boat was small. How many was on this tour and do you remember the duration?