ilovhywd

In Walvis Bay, we did an excellent tour with another couple from our cruise critic roll call. The company we used was Turnstone Tours. They have an excellent website, and their pre-cruise communications were very professional. We chose the tour to Sandwich Harbor because we were interested in seeing the flamingos and other shore birds. In addition, it was fun going up and down some sand dunes in our Jeep. (I believe they also have a desert tour. ) They supplied a delicious picnic lunch for us. That day was one of the highlights of our Cape Town to Rio Cruise!

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We visited Pinnawala elephant sanctuary today. It was the most exciting shore excursion I have taken in 50 years of cruising.

The sanctuary itself is immaculately clean, and it is obvious that the elephants are well taken care of. The reason they are not released back into the wild is that their habitats have been diminished due to development, and there is no adequate area to release them to.

The highlight of our tour was several times this morning when they close the street and stop the traffic in order to lead the elephants down to the river for their bath. Please see photos on the Crystal Cruises thread entitled Singapore to Mumbai - The Adventure Continues.

The shore excursion was a little pricey, but well worth it! It was spectacular!

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Sorry, but I am taking the opposite view. To us, the Yangtze River was somewhat disappointing. The locks were fun, and the side trip up one of the tributaries in a small boat was great, but the rest of the time it was just a wide river. If you are going to Guilin, the river there is much more interesting and you will see beautiful scenery as well as people doing their laundry, water buffalo, and fishermen using cormorants to catch fish.

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Thank you for all this helpful information. We will use it to plan our 3 days in Singapore. We arrive in Singapore the day after tomorrow!

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We are in Chan May today! Visited Hoi An and My Son. Both were terrific sites. We were picked up by a private guide at 10:30 and we were back on the ship at 6:00 pm.

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We were afraid to take a chance with delays caused by the e-visa system, so we obtained the regular visas by filling out the forms on the webpage of the agency that is authorized to process them. It was very tedious and time-consuming, but we hope it will have been worth it. Our first India port is Cochin on April 10.

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It is possible that the tour companies feel that certain tours could be physically demanding (perhaps a lot of walking and uneven steps) and therefore not suitable for many seniors. I have also seen instances where the steps up into the buses are very steep. IMHO, it is more of a liability issue than a discrimination issue.

Check reputable companies such as “Tours by Locals” for driver/guides who can personalize city tours to accommodate the ship's arrival and departure times. For a family, the cost is not much more than the ship's tours.

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Here is another option that we used successfully in various other cities. We booked either a private car service or tour guide (such as Tours by Locals) online and requested a large vehicle to accommodate us, our friends, and our luggage. We did several hours of sightseeing to wherever we wanted to go, and then he dropped us at the pier. In Rio, the price included a driver (in addition to the tour guide) who guarded our luggage while we were out of the vehicle. In Singapore, this would not be necessary.

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Viator offers a one day shore excursion to the Taj Mahal from Mumbai for a very reasonable cost of $500 per person including round-trip flights and transportation to and from the site. Since we will have 3 days in Mumbai in April, this sounds like a good idea for the middle day.

Has anyone done this trip and has anyone had experience with Viator or another tour company in Mumbai? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

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Another policy you may want to consider is MedJet Assist. We bought it this year because our cruise goes to some third world countries very far from the USA. This policy covers evacuation from any hospital in any country to the hospital of your CHOICE - not the nearest hospital.

This is in addition to our normal cancellation/interruption/medical care policy.

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Yes, we were offered 25% off any specialty restaurant on the Koningsdam the first night on our recent cruise. I guess it depends on availability. Definitely a great deal! We loved Tamarind!

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Thanks for the helpful information. It sounds very efficient! Would love to hear about your activities in Vietnam. Please let us know if you post a review. Have a wonderful trip!

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The hotel may be less expensive, but you will have a higher taxi fare from the airport to the hotel and then the next day from the hotel to the port. So you may not save that much!

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A few weeks ago, the Koningsdam docked at Havensight. We were the only ship in St. Thomas that day; however someone told us there was a FEMA ship docked at Crown Bay. Sorry that I can't help with your other question.

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Don -

Why did you quote (and criticize) my post? I never mentioned private tours, much less “trolling for people to join my private tour!”

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DAllenTCY: David, you are right! Sometimes we get 3 from Oceania in one day!

We browse all the brochures during dinner and choose the “cruise de jour”.

I missed the Cruise Log on our recent HAL cruise. I have saved them all for the past 50 years. Our kids will throw them out.

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No bulletin board, but I have seen passengers exchanging cabin numbers and joining up for shore excursions while at the Meet and Greet that was set up on their Cruise Critic roll call board. Another place to meet folks for independent sightseeing is at the taxi stand, train station, or bus stop near the pier. Many friendships begin this way!

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Forgot to say that if you have a Costco nearby, they do the passport photos while you wait. It costs $4.99 for 4 photos. They make sure the photos meet the requirements of your head being 80% of the photo.

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Our instructions from Crystal Cruises also state that we need to bring passport photos for Vietnam and 2 other countries. The visas will be done on board and the fees charged to our shipboard account.

So it looks like Celebrity has a similar procedure.

Ilene

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One small correction to Post #21 above. The Koningsdam does have individual food stations. There are 5 or 6 on each side of the ship. It isn’t one single buffet line. However, because the stations are on the sides, it is sometimes difficult to walk through the Lido during peak hours because of the passengers getting their food at the stations. On the Celebrity S class ships, the food stations are in the center of the ship, and they don't interfere with the aisles. The Celebrity design is much better IMHO.

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We agree whole-heartedly with the original poster. The Koningsdam is a lovely ship with 3 unique venues (especially the World Stage); but the smoking situation was unacceptable.

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Just got off the Koningsdam after a fabulous cruise. No hurricane damage seen anywhere but the lovely ladies working in the stores in St. Thomas still don’t have electricity at home. St. Lucia was especially beautiful.

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This is just a guess, but maybe one time we didn’t have cash with us at the time and we charged $100 to our shipboard account???

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We received casino offer despite our not being high rollers. My husband plays some blackjack and three-card poker, but he usually plays a minimum bet. When we called HAL to inquire about the offer, they assured us that there was no obligation to play. However, they know that once we are on the ship, we will buy drinks, visit the casino, and spend money on other extras. They are right!!

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Joyce - what date are you sailing? I play mah jongg also. I don't know if they have sets onboard, but I can bring mine.

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