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EllaDuChien

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  • Location
    North Carolina
  • Interests
    travel, wine, food, family
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Viking, MSC
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Europe
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    www.soccermomtravels.com

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. So it is official. I am the WORST Live reviewer ever! My apologies for taking so long to get to the best part, all I can say is that Life Happened. We headed to the Green Elephant Sanctuary Park. First we were ushered into the covered picnic area for a chat about how the visit would go and a frosty beverage if wanted. We then headed over to watch the elephant parade as they brought in the ladies that we would be interacting with. We had baskets of sugar cane to feed them and they were always willing to accept! There were two elephants that we were not allowed to feed. One was still scared of most humans so she stayed off to the side, and the other was Mama and baby! Apparently Mama gets a bit defensive when people come too close to her little. After a good amount of time feeding the elephants, we then went "backstage" to see where the elephants and the mahouts lived. In case you don't know (and why would you!) a mahout is an elephant keeper and there is one mahout per elephant at the sanctuary. They live there full time in huts right across from the nighttime elephant pens. They can have wives and kids live there with them if they want. The wives work in the kitchen and manage other jobs, like laundry for the mahouts, etc. The kids will go to a local school like any other kid. Then it was time to go get muddy with the elephants! No one had to go in the mud pit if they didn't want to. They had elephants stay outside the pond but still close enough to get dirty. I don't know why I only have pictures of me outside the pond, I assure you I got in and muddy! Next up was a different pond to rinse the mud off. The water was a smidge chilly, but not too bad, and pretty refreshing considering how hot it was! Then we went to the showers (not the actual get clean showers) to fully rinse and scrub the elephants. After this, we went back to the covered picnic area where they were setting up the buffet still so I headed straight for the shower. They have 3 or 4 large shower stalls (like big enough for two at a time if you are so inclined). I had about a 5 minute wait for a shower to open up. The water is hot and they provide basic body wash and shampoo. I washed, dried, and dressed as quickly as I could so as not to hold up the line then headed for some lunch. Lunch consisted of Chicken and Noodles, Spring Rolls, and fresh fruit for me. There were other options, but I am a spice wimp so I stuck with things I knew would not hurt me! It was all delicious! This excursion is pricey, but I think it was totally worth it. I really wish my DD had come, she really would have enjoyed it. After the obligatory shopping stop on the way back, I made it back to the tender only to run into the rest of my family coming back from their excursion as well! Dinner was my daughter's favorite on any ship, Teppanyaki. It was really good, same as on many other ships. And then we were back in Singapore. Thank you so much for following along, we did spend two more days in Singapore and had a couple of amazing tours. Kudos to all the folks that manage to do Live reviews, its really tough! Until next time...Smooth Seas. And one last pic of the baby girl getting to play in her own pond!
  2. Phuket, Thailand. Our final stop before a sea day back to Singapore. No one wanted to join me at the elephant sanctuary so they all booked a city tour. I certainly don’t mind doing things on my own, but hindsight 20/20 I wish I would have pushed harder for my DD to join me. She would have loved it! Phuket is a tender port, but since I was on a ships tour, I didn’t need to worry about getting tender tickets. The rest of my family had to head out super early for their tour but mine was not until 9:30am so I had a nice leisurely morning and then headed to the theatre to get my ticket. I did what you are not supposed to do and just hopped on the next tender after I got my ticket, not waiting for my group to be called, but I had some things I needed to do before the tour, like getting local cash for tips. The tender ride was easy enough and the landing spot is right on a beautiful beach. I wandered down and found my group meeting spot, then since I was 45 minutes early, I went off in search of an ATM to get some local cash. I made a couple of rookie mistakes here. I forgot to check the exchange rate of the Baht before I left the ship’s WiFi. When I got to the ATM, the choices were either 1000 Thai Baht then it jumped to 10,000 Thai Baht and went up from there. So I chose the 10,000. That was WAY too much!! About $275. But I didn’t realize that yet. Then I headed back to the meeting spot. I was still 20 minutes early for the time we were supposed to meet, but when I got there, they had already left! I could see them in the distance so I sprinted to catch up with them. Not to keep you in suspense, I made it and got in a minivan with part of our group. Because we were leaving so early, the Elephant Sanctuary was not ready for us. We made two stops to kill some time. First at a scenic overlook for a photo stop… Next at a temple. The temple was closed so we couldn’t go inside, but the grounds were really pretty and we could get close to all the buildings. then we were finally ready to head to the ELEPHANTS!!!
  3. Oh. My. Goodness! I am so sorry for the delay in finishing this! I got home and promptly got sick, then my father went into the hospital (now in a rehab facility) so it has been crazy! I really appreciate @mil76 jumping in with some ideas for kids! I really wanted to do the night zoo but it never fit into our plans. I am finally well and my father is recovering so look for the elephant experience write up tomorrow! Thanks for your patience!
  4. Yes, the cruise has ended. We spent three days in Singapore after the cruise and then spent 34 hours making it home!! I plan to write up the elephant sanctuary as well as my final thoughts as soon as I catch up on some sleep! 🙂 Thanks for following along!
  5. Yes! Just haven’t had a chance to write that part up yet! Here’s a few quick ones until I get a chance to finish:
  6. Hi mug, No, we ended up choosing teppanyaki instead. I lobbied for Sechuan, but I was overruled! 😁
  7. I would say the food was “okay.” There is not a stir fry station in the buffet, but there is a noodle bar. It looked like they were custom making ramen. We ate in the main dining room several nights and always found something to eat. I will say that every single meal that we had off ship, either on our excursions or in Singapore before the cruise, was way better than the ships food. I’m not complaining, the ship has to cook for thousands at every meal, but the local food was exceptional. No. The only show that requires reservations is Silk Road. The rest are first come first served. Yes, the tender came ashore at Patong Beach. Way down on one end.
  8. Our final port stop was Phuket. More than anything, I wanted to visit the elephant sanctuary. I had held off on purchasing the excursion while I tried to convince anyone else to join me but by the time they all flatly refused, the excursion was sold out. I resigned myself to a less exciting tour and was just browsing on Black Friday when the elephant sanctuary popped up with one spot remaining, I grabbed it! The rest of the family did a Scenic Tour with Lunch. Phuket is a tender port so of course everyone has to hop on a small boat to get to shore. That process, for me at least, went very smoothly, no issues at all. Once ashore, you run the gamut of taxi drivers and tour hawkers as well as typical pushy vendors. I met our guide and we headed to the bus area, which is a schlep from the pier…this will come more into play on the way back to the ship. The morning started with a bit of a SNAFU for me: I hopped on a tender and met my group guide about 45 minutes early so I decided to go to an ATM and get some local cash. My mistake was in not checking the exchange rate while I was on ship’s WiFi, but I didn’t so I had no idea what was an appropriate amount of money to take. The options were 1000 Baht or 10,000 baht. Guess which one I chose! Then, armed with an obscene amount of Thai money, I headed back to the meeting spot only to find that the group had left 30 minutes early to head to the bus!! Fortunately, I could still see the group so I was able to hurry to catch up with them. Our group had a bus and a van. Since I was trailing behind I got directed to the van, which ended up having just a family of six and me. They were super nice but I certainly felt like I intruded a bit! Since we were early, we stopped at a scenic overlook for photos… and a Buddhist temple for a bit before heading to the sanctuary.
  9. Hi Aaron - yep, we really left at 8pm and we did not see any fireworks. They had virtual fireworks at the 270 theater, but that was all. There was a big party in the esplanade and other venues with balloons and champagne. My daughter loved the pools, she swam every night after our excursion,
  10. Yesterday’s tour in Penang was called “Taste of Penang.” What I expected was several stops with small tastings at each stop. What it actually was, was a couple of stops at local Malaysian stores, then one final stop at a hawker market for lunch. That being said, while it wasn’t what I expected I really enjoyed the day. First up was a stop at a nutmeg shop. We learned about the medicinal uses for nutmeg as well as the many ways to use it in food. We started with a nutmeg/garlic soup that was savory and delicious. Then we were given the chance to try a medicinal nutmeg balm if you had aches and pains. I didn’t try it but those who did said it got HOT! I ended up buying some unique nutmeg products…although there were some that were just too unique for me! Next up was the Malaysian chocolate experience. I thoroughly enjoyed this stop at the chocolate experience and spent way more than I needed to considering I don’t really like sweets. At least the kids will like it when I get home! Our third stop was two separate stores: a batik shop and a tea shop. The batik process is interesting, but I did not end up buying anything there. However the tea store got a good bit of money from me. I am thinking I may need to get a second suitcase for everything I’ve bought! Finally we stopped at the hawker center for lunch. We wandered around and got the lay of the land, then we ordered enough food for a small army. Every single bite was delicious! We left uncomfortably full and were delivered fat and happy back to the ship. I had dinner at Wonderland, while the rest of the family stayed in the MDR as the Wonderland shtick is not their thing. After dinner, we had reservations for Silk Road. I thought it was a good show. The lead female singer was absolutely amazing. There is a lot going on and it is sometimes overwhelming but still worth making the reservation. One more port day, Phuket, before a sea day heading back to Singapore.
  11. It took me about 10 minutes to climb up the stairs, and 15 minutes to come back down. On our tour, we were given an hour and fifteen minutes at this stop. Our guide told us that this would be the best place to eat lunch as we had the most time there. Be aware that since it is a Hindu temple, the only food offerings are vegetarian. I did not eat, but my mom and BIL had a delicious dessert roti while they waited for us.
  12. No reservations needed for Showgirls, only for Silk Road. That being said, show up early enough to get a seat. 15-20 minutes or so is plenty of time.
  13. Port Klang, Malaysia is our first stop. I have reserved a ships tour called Instagramable Hotspots of Kuala Lumpur. After about a 90 minute drive from the port to the city, our first stop is a Chinese temple. We had about an hour here. If you take this tour, please note that you must take off your shoes to enter the temple, plan your sock wear accordingly. Next we headed to Chinatown for about an hour. Here you could get lunch or shop for authentic fake designer fashion and other trinkets. Or if you wanted to, you could get something to eat. The “Instagramable” part of this stop was some murals painted on the alley walls. That part was cool. The rest of Chinatown was like many other tourist shopping areas: pushy vendors, the same merchandise at every stall, and crowded. We tried to get something to eat, but none of the hawker stalls took credit and we were unable to find an ATM to get local currency. we ended up at a tea shop outside of the pedestrian area for cold brew teas and sesame balls, both were delicious! Next we had a photo stop at the Patronus Towers. There were tours that ventured inside the towers, but for us just a stop then on to Batu Caves for our final stop. The Batu caves house a Hindu temple and if you want to go pray to these Gods, you’re gonna have to sacrifice. 272 steps to the top only to find more steps into the actual cave. Two small notes on this: first, ladies must have their shoulders and knees covered. There are guards at the bottom of the steps enforcing this. There are sarongs available for purchase but not for free. Second: 272 steps is NO JOKE!! They are steep and keep in mind that once you get to the top, you have to climb back down. While the climb up was exhausting, the trek back down was kind of scary. The steps are narrow, only about the length of my foot. By the time I made it up and back down, I was done for the day! Fortunately, that was our last stop so I had an hour’s ride back to port to catch my breath. Dinner was MDR again. Coconut shrimp was delicious as an appetizer but the pesto tagliatelle was a miss. No discernible pesto sauce, but a weird combination of tomatoes, mushrooms and red and green peppers. We went to the production show, Showgirls, which was good. Then off to bed to recover from the day and get a good night’s sleep before Penang.
  14. Well it was pouring down rain during sail away so festivities were in the 270 area. I am still not totally acclimated to the time change so we pretty much just had dinner in the MDR, and went to bed. Here are some pics around the ship. Main Dining Room Music Hall 270
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