Kristal Blade

Hi Bill Y,

we are going to be on Capella later this month. We cruise from Budapest to Bucharest return. 
Are there any tips or tricks we need to know before boarding? We are good walkers and are ready for some 10K plus days. 
Thanks for any info.

Thanks for posting, we are on Westerdam round Japan in March so interested to read your journal. 

We are jealous of your aft cabin, we love that location but on our cruise we have OV. Not sure there will be much sitting out in March, but we can use the open decks then. 
 

Will there be any guest speakers on board as you cruise to Japan? Enjoy yourselves and hope 2 beds have become 1!

On 9/26/2023 at 5:13 AM, philliesphan said:

On our 2023 Westerdam circle cruise of Japan the menus had many of the familiar choices, but there were frequent dishes with oriental ingredients and flavors at most meals in the MDR and sometimes in the Lido. In addition, the Canaletto space hosted a Tamarind pop-up with a number of Asian influenced dishes from the regular Tamarind menu.  It was held on seven of the fourteen nights.  Also, the taco bar near the Dive In was converted to an Asian style noodle bar on several days.

 

As others' have posted, for true authentic Japanese food (and other great food from around the world) there are great options in every port you visit.  We also used our time in Japan before the trip in sample the local options.  We had  an amazing trip.  Wishing you the same.

This is great news, philliesphan, we will be on Westerdam in March so hopefully we will get to enjoy some Japanese choices on board. But like benny ear and sciencewonk we will be eating ashore too. It’s great to get a real taste of Japan!

I just checked up on the afternoon tea at the Ritz. It’s now £72, that’s about $90, I think.

28 minutes ago, ladyj1138 said:

It's such a shame how little attention HAL pays to their afternoon tea.  There is so much they could do to make it much more of an event, something to be truly looked forward to, at very little extra cost to them.  Improvements to the food, an actual selection of teas (one of which could be a HAL specific blend), more attention to the table settings/atmosphere, and tie-ins to the locations the ship is visiting.  

 

It's also disappointing that a table for two and a table for four both receive a single set of (very) small bites to share, no duplicates.  Hard to split those little finger sandwiches four ways... 

 

Lots of room for improvements.  We have so many ideas at our house after our Alaska sailing a couple of weeks ago, I wish they'd listen. 

These are terrific ideas. You need to get on the board of directors, Ladyj. Or maybe get a position as F&B consultant.

This is a great thread, so many terrific suggestions for tea time venues in ports.

49 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Well, it certainly didn't happen this year during my 28-day journey around Japan....

 

But then again, Japan had just reopened to tourists and there was a lot of red tape (and Covid concerns), so perhaps it would have been difficult to bring anyone onboard to do it. 

 

Plus, it's usually more of a small group experience. You can book such experiences in Japan itself -- just not sure you'll see it happen onboard.

The tea ceremony comment was said tongue in cheek. We have visited Japan before and had a wonderful tea ceremony experience in Tokyo along with a lesson in writing Japanese characters; very complicated but interesting and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I live in Devon. There the jam goes first, then the cream, in Cornwall it is cream first then jam.

If you have ever tried proper clotted cream then you know it is nothing like “whipped cream”. Whipped cream in a cream tea is unthinkable! I don’t think it would be allowed to be called a cream tea if it didn’t have clotted cream.

As for the high tea chat, I’m originally from Scotland and there a high tea is a hot dish, such as fish and chips, quiche or pie and veg served with bread and butter, then cakes and other sweet treats served with a pot of tea. As described in an earlier post by a Canadian aficionado! 
 

we are sailing HAL next year round Japan. I’m hoping they might do tea ceremony for us!! What are the chances?

On 9/5/2023 at 7:14 AM, davidgv said:

Are there any tips for getting a tourist visa for India - I have a UK Passport.

Be patient! There are lots of questions to complete.. parents names, list of countries you have visited. 
Plus sometimes the website can be very slow. 
But so worth it to get to visit India! A beautiful country with lovely people and sights you will remember forever! Enjoy your trip.

We had an AMA cruise earlier this year, our first river cruise. We sailed from Amsterdam to Budapest and enjoyed it so much we are going to do the follow on cruise, Budapest to Bucharest next month.
When I boarded I thought our cabin was a bit small, but it had everything we needed with lots of drawer and wardrobe space. 
We were on AmaStella and had a cabin with a balcony, it was gorgeous sitting out, watching the scenery.

The staff were all brilliant and the food was great.
I agree with texasstar, AMA excelled for us too.

Now I know the Douro cruise is good we will look at that too, even though we have visited Porto ourselves. 

27 minutes ago, Wispa72 said:

Thank you so much for responding, I think we will opt to go to Crab island something a bit different but your post is reassuring / helpful to know it is possible. Thanks again.

I checked my diary! The trip on the boat is about 45 mins. The boat is air conditioned, which was great.

We were on a P&O cruise and they had laid on a free shuttle to a shopping centre. We got the taxi, from the ferry port, to drop us at the shopping centre then we took the free shuttle back to the ship. 
I’m sure you will enjoy it, the island is very calm and very different from the bustle of KL. 

We were really chuffed to go somewhere that NONE of the other cruise passengers had done!

2 hours ago, Wispa72 said:

Hi Kristal Blade, How was "Crab Island", I have been to KL before so not really fussed about sitting in the traffice & sight seeing in KL but would like to do something and get off the ship, I wondered if Crab Island was 'easy/ do-able' and reasonably interesting. Thanks 

Very easy.

We took a taxi to the ferry port, boats were leaving about every 20 minutes, I think. It was an interesting ride to the island, took half an hour. You can stroll round the island freely. There are a couple of temples, “streets” on stilts with crabs burrowing in the mud below. We took several photos of the houses, temples and little shops. We didn’t eat there, just grabbed a cold drink (it is really hot and humid) then took the ferry back. Once there we walked to a big temple complex with some very colourful statues, more photos there. If you want to know the name of the temple let me know, it’s written in my holiday diary, but I don’t have it right here.

The ferry port is close to the railway station and we went to the station to get a taxi back to the ship. I think we were off the ship for 4 or 5 hours. We enjoyed it.

Like you we had been to KL a couple of times before and seen the main sights there.

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Turkish Airlines is outstanding. We booked our flights ourselves on Turkish for our recent Vista cruise. Easy to book, easy to get seat assignments if Business Class. Turkish is not your problem, and probably neither is your TA.

We booked Turkish Airlines Business Class round trip ourselves and had a wonderful experience and flights.

I agree! Turkish Airlines business class is wonderful. It’s the best food in the sky with great service. We are flying U.K. to Japan next year and we’re offered either a direct flight with BA or fly Turkish and have a 2 hour stopover in Istanbul. We chose Turkish!

35 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Don't blame Cunard for Brooklyn embarkations. The staff there can be very unpleasant (especially the ones who guard the door to the priority lounge), but they are port employees and not Cunard employees. Adding the covid checks resulted in a complicated process and more steps in the process, resulting in an odd pathway through the terminal. I boarded in Brooklyn last fall for a Canada cruise, and it only took a few people who hadn't done or couldn't find all their covid docs to gum up the works. 

The staff were all polite to us, but then we, as Brits, don’t mind a queue so long as everyone obeys the rules! However, as Cunard prides itself on its great customer service I think they could have helped out. Standing for all that time with no drinks being offered was awful. We thought that some of the Cunard musicians could have come and played a bit of music to cheer us up and help the time pass.

Maybe I need to get on the board of directors and shake them up!!

Just want to add that it’s not just HAL and it’s not just Vancouver that can be terrible for boarding.

Last year we sailed Cunard from New York. We queued for 3 hours, but that was mostly due to checking Covid passes. However Cunard is now off my list of lines to use.

When we have a transfer from a hotel it can be difficult to achieve our assigned boarding time, we often arrive outside our booking time and just get in line. This happens even with transfers organised by the cruise line. Just so you know it’s not because we are desperate to board early.

Just now, Haljo1935 said:

Awe, thank you! In Europe, price seems to be $35/bag.

You can fit a lot in the bag - roll items before stacking them in the bag. You'll be surprised how much will fit. We have been known to fill so full the return has come back in 3 baskets plus hanging items. I'm sure it was like the clown cars of laundry bags as they unpacked it. 🫣

Excellent news! My other half will take it’s a challenge to fit as much as possible into the bag! We are sailing round Japan in March, but I expect the price will be the same. I mean, why would it be more as you travel east?

4 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Unless there's something different about UK pricing, laundry isn't less expensive once onboard. You can see the price for unlimited in your booking under "Packages." You will be able to do it by the bag - that price will be on the form in your cabin.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

I love your cute puppy, Haljo1953,

Thanks for the laundry info. I’m not going to buy a full laundry unlimited package. I can wash smalls out overnight then send bigger items in my bag.

Does anyone know the bag price, please?

I just added HIA to my March 24 cruise round Japan. We booked through a U.K. agent which offers reduced rates combined with pre and post cruise packages.
I rang the agent and was quoted £65pppd. I told her I had seen it for £40pppd on the HAL website. She was adamant it would be at the higher rate. However, she did a trial booking. It came in at the lower price so I added it and paid right away, just in case it changed!

hopefully now it’s just gratuities to pay for on board and maybe some laundry. I’m hoping to get a “stuff a bag” offer.

Can I just add that you can eat cheaply in Singapore. Most shopping malls have a food court in the basement with a wide variety of options. Think burgers, Chinese, Japanese, pizza, Thai and more …. It’s all available. For a quick eat at a cheap price you will be spoilt for choice!

Enjoy.

I’m not sure if you will be able to move to a rearward facing (sunset) cabin but we had that location on a RCI ship and we sat out on the balcony watching the scenery and it was just dreamy! 
Be prepared for rain. We got misty views in the early morning but it brightened up as the day went on and we saw several seals and dolphins too.

I’m sure you will have a wonderful time.

On 7/14/2023 at 2:13 PM, ravenjls said:

Right now I have a front of ship cabin on Royal Princess in November.  I have read reviews saying that this cabin can be noisy at night (due to wind) and the balcony can be very windy.  Although very large balcony, you need to be standing in order in order to see the water.  Would you risk the noise and the windy balcony in order to have a front view of Fiordland National Park (scenic day) and arrival into each port or would being on the Lido deck give you a good enough perspective and book a more useable balcony.   

7 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Let us know if you get  one on Oceania

Will do.

when I was given one on RSS Splendour last Christmas I had to keep it secret, just in case everyone wanted one!

31 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I would not  think that will happen anytime soon  but good luck

Well, they can do it on Cunard, Princess, P&O, Azura and Regent Seven Seas!

I always ask for a kettle and it’s amazing how often I get one. 

38 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Baristas is on deck 5 (entry to GDR) on the R-ships. It has the same types of goodies as the lounge from early morning to late afternoon. If you just want espresso drinks or tea, there are machines in Horizons and Terrace Cafe. It's not as convenient, but at least there is something.

Oh yes, I remember that from Sirena. Nice little post land excursion snacks or pre dinner nibbles! And the tea was pretty good too, but I’m now keeping fingers crossed that I might get a kettle in my room…..

9 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

Menus for all restaurants are available on your TV in the cabin.

Thanks sunlover12,

good to know. I expect a lot of things have been modified post Covid. Maybe it was already done before, but I wasn’t aware.

9 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

You're welcome. I really do prefer the O ships, but the smaller R ships have their own charm.   I've never lacked for snacks and drinks on any O ship and read newspapers online so for me it isn't an issue.  

 

Enjoy your cruise.

We were on Sirena last year and really enjoyed it so I’m sure we will have a great time. We don’t sail till December 2024 and by then we will just be mega excited to get on board Oceania again.

9 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

No, there is no concierge lounge on Regetta.   There is a concierge desk on deck on deck 4 available to all passengers. 

Thanks for letting me know,

I must admit I’m a little disappointed as we really liked that facility on Riviera. We could get snacks, drinks and check menus as well as get copies of newspapers.

Oh well, there are worse things that happen at sea!