LIVE from the Ocean Princess - 28 days from Rome to Singapore 10/15 - 11/12/2011

[Seabourn911]

Seabourn: Giuseppe will email you. No more mugs

 

Amelia: Hanging in there. Can't copy and paste so all is very live.

 

Nothing new to report folks. Early departure in the AM to Cochin tour. For us it's a repeat, but just wanted to get off the ship and maybe find some Diet Pepsi to replenish my supply. Nothing happening on board during the day tomorrow and evening entertainment is a Scottish singer Kaitlyn Carr. We will also move our clocks ahead the other 1/2 hour.

 

ahh yes Cochin...the armpit of India!

I'll be in India myself in less than a month's time;)

Poor Mike....I hope you didn't cut him off on his "nightly" cookie runs?:eek:

[Donyb]

Donna...I was transported to India with your journal. Thank you and we're so happy to hear you are back "home" on the Ocean Princess.

 

Nancy

[Kiwi Kruzer]

 

Nearly at Cochin, Kochi.

 

From the map you can see the vast distance Donna travelled on her excursion.

Its a long way to the Taj from Mumbai.:eek:

 

 

Donna,

Your report on India brought back vivid memories from 2005 when we did the Princess Overland trip from Pacific Princess. On that cruise the trip was 4 days and 3 nights from Colombo, via Chennai, New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

New Delhi to Jaipur section was done that year in mini busses as the year before the train they used, derailed and everyone spent the night sheltering in fields under sheets of corrugated iron.:eek:

 

That first sight of the Taj is something I will always remember.

Truly a wonder of the world.

 

 

[icat2000]

Donna - Thank you very much for your review on India. It reminds me a lot of my three week tour of the Rajastan area. The train to Dehli from Agra was delayed because of the fog and was going to be about 14 hours late which would have cause us to miss international flights home so our group arranged for vans to drive us back. That trip took 7 hours cause of all the traffic.

 

Its a shame you didn't go inside the Red Fort. However, I thought the Amber Fort in near Jaipur was the best of all the forts we visited on our trip. India is a place that will leave you in awe but also equally frustrated. Our guide reminded us that was simply 'India'. Meet some wonderful people during my journey.

[ssbeagle]

I enjoyed Donah's review of her trip to the Taj so much that I sent it to a friend of mine who has been wanting to go there for her to read.

 

Pia, what is there to do in Sorrento? We've been to Pompeii and don't want to go back there. I want to see something different.

[paul929207]

I enjoyed Donah's review of her trip to the Taj so much that I sent it to a friend of mine who has been wanting to go there for her to read.

 

Pia, what is there to do in Sorrento? We've been to Pompeii and don't want to go back there. I want to see something different.

In Sorento, in addition to Pompei, there is the Isle of Capri and its Blue Grotto. There is also the Amalfi Coast. When we were there in the spring, we took a tour to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. The scenery was spectacular.

[Maryandi]

Thanks, Donna, appreciate all the detail. That was some trip and some country !!!

 

All the best to you and DH, MaryAnn

[Pia1913]

Just a quickie; ship now docking. Last night's comedienne turned out to be a comedian. Rikki is a guy and not very good.Caryn: for us Sorrento is looking at the shops, going to the supermarket to buy wine and then back to the ship. We've been to Sorrento many times and stayed there a few years ago for a week.Bye.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[Pia1913]

We're baaaaaaaaaaack. What a difference in debarkation today compared to Mumbai. Everything was orgnized and orderly and moved quickly. The officials even smiled and said good morning. In Mumbai, they grunted. Our landing cards were checked only once after we got off the ship; before entering the tour bus area. Same thing upon return, though an official did board the bus before we returned to the port and checked our docs there. We were here 6 years ago on a private tour, but the price was right for us to do it again. $29/pp. Besides which, I had to hunt for Diet Pepsi.

 

 

　

We started with a visit to St. Francis Church, built by Franciscan friars in 1503. We couldn't stay long, since this is Sunday and services were in progress. We then went to the harbor to see the Chinese Fishing Nets; cantilevered nets that were introduced in the 14th century by Chinese traders in the court of Kublai Khan. Afterwards, back on our air condtioned bus to visit the Dutch Palace (built by the Portuguese), the spice market and the Jewish Quarter. This synogogue dates back tp 1568 and is still in use today. Plenty of hot and humid shopping time before heading back to the ship. This heat just wipes you out. We are looking forward to the next four days. Sea days.

 

 

I just hope the signal gets better, because it's awful today.

[qld cruiser]

Hi, Thank you both... Pia and Donna, for taking the time from your cruise and give us the info about the places you go, and what is going on onboard ship.

I am having a great time here , almost...just... almost as good as being there..

Also thanks David for the maps you put up daily.

 

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[coo359a2]

Donna - what a fantastic tour ya'll had. Don't know if I could have handled some of the food or not. Will be keeping up with you Pia from home now. Waiting to get off the ship and on to our hotel. Will be home Monday. Keep winning at trivia.

[murfisto]

Donna, Let me add my kudos to your sketches; very well done and i could almost smell and taste the air while reading of your Indian travels.

Pia, we will be neighbors but across the ship: 7031. Keep reporting, please!!!

[hillslife]

Having a great time 'travelling around' with you guys....have been to many of the places, but love getting your perspective too....thanks for all this info you are sharing.

 

You guys are the Princess Destination of the Day on Facebook - Ocean Princess in Cochin, India....congrats...see below...

 

Destination of the Day: Today, Ocean Princess is in Cochin, India. Cochin is a series of small islands and peninsulas linked by bridges and has been a major trading center since before the Roman Empire. Fill in the blank: My favorite thing about discovering a new country is ____.

Cochin, India

http://www.princess.com/learn/destinations/asia/index.html Visit India on a cruise vacation with Princess.

 

Keep the great info coming - enjoy!!!!

 

Dolores

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They are off to cross The Bay of Bengal on the way to Malaysia.

 

[tequilasunrise]

This thread just keeps getting more interesting...thanks to Pia and Donna and others for writing (and to Kiwi Kruzer for posting pics of where the ship is, etc). I was exhausted after reading the overland journal, but loved it. Very interesting!! :D

[ssbeagle]

Just a quickie; ship now docking. Last night's comedienne turned out to be a comedian. Rikki is a guy and not very good.Caryn: for us Sorrento is looking at the shops, going to the supermarket to buy wine and then back to the ship. We've been to Sorrento many times and stayed there a few years ago for a week.Bye.

 

I forgot we have a tour booked in Sorrento. It's Genoa we can't decide what to do.

 

I wish we had some of that heat that you are getting. It's been very chilly here in northwest Florida.

[TracieABD]

post script to anyone flying through Dubai Airport - by accident, I had left my luggage scale in my carry on bag when we went to the airport to go to Delhi - it got shunted aside for inspection when we went through the security check and the lady doing the inspection clipped the tape measure off and gave me back the scale part. If you have a similar luggage scale, you might want to be sure to put it in your checked bags. Security is VERY strict in Dubai so if in doubt, check it.

Thanks, Donna, for the details on your side trip to Agra and Delhi. I was just there about 6 months ago... both beautiful and haunting.

 

I had a similar experience in Dubai. They confinscated half of my rechargable batteries... Very strange, but who was I to argue when they were holding me in detention. I felt lucky to get out of it only losing 12 batteries!

 

Safe travels and thank you for all of your detailed posts.:)

[lovevacadays]

Thanks again for this wonderful thread and sharing all your experiences Pia and Donna. It's so interesting to someone like me who has only traveled in the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

[Pia1913]

And a very good Monday morning to you, where it's sunny, the seas are smooth and many of you are just having dinner on Sunday night. We are now 10 hours ahead of EST and lose another hour tonight.

　

Quiet night for us last night; decided to watch an Ashton Kutcher movie "Killers" on the stateroom TV. Will probably do the same tonight, since the show is the lead male singer Luke Sabatino only. Luke sings well, but we don't care for a whole show of one solo singer. Except for Neil Diamond or Barry Manilow. Or Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand. :D

　

There will be two lectures this morning; "Tropical Forests of India and Malaysia" and "World War II: Slugfest in Southeast Asia." There's a Liar's Club at 2:00 and "Larry Crowne" movie at 4:15.

　

The internet had little to no signal yesterday, so hoping that back out at sea it has improved. Going verrrrrry slow.

[paul929207]

Pia,

 

You mentioned that Luke is the lead male singer. Is Ruth the dance captain? We spent 96 days with them in 2009.

[qld cruiser]

Hi, I have also spent many nights with Luke and Ruth, when they were "down under" on contract with P&O, a lovely couple.

 

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[DonahCBrown]

I'll add a couple of quick notes about this and that. Cochin - VERY hot and humid and this is the 'cool season' - wouldn't want to try it in August! One of our trivia team, Keith, and his wife Judith picked the 'good tour' of the day - the Kerala Cruise - Keith said it was relatively cool (at least until their lunch stop) and his pictures were fascinating. It is also the tour that Petra, the port lecturer, said was the best. It was an all day one, though and we weren't really up for another long day at the time we picked the shorter old city one. Looked like it would have been interesting to cross the river over to the newer part of Cochin, and it also appeared that there was some kind of ferry service, leaving from somewhere close to our berth and calling at both the other sections of the city - the old one where our bus tour went, and the new city across the river. Might be worth looking into if you are calling here.

 

We were all awakened last night around 12:45 or so with a broadcast announcement calling for an assessment team. Nothing else came over the PA system so settled back in to go to sleep, since we didn't hear any Sierra Papa code - but as you can imagine, rumors of all kinds ran rampant until the Captain made an extensive announcement at 9AM today explaining that there had been a small fire in one of the generators, quickly noted, responded to, contained without serious damage. He gave a lot more detail than that, but the upshot is that all is well, damage is minimal, and repairs are being done and the generator (one of four, we can get by on two) should be back online sometime during the day.

[Pia1913]

Yes, Ruth is dance captain. She's very nice. Have cruised with them previously. Just celebrated her 30th B-day a few days ago.

 

To add to Donna's post, we can now sleep with our drapes open and even with our balcony lights on.

 

And to Seabourn: Mike doesn't eat cookies anymore; his choice. The treadmills are fine. Nobody hardly uses them. We go up at a little past 7 and sometimes the only people there. Not everyone is as disciplined.

[Seabourn911]

Yes, Ruth is dance captain. She's very nice. Have cruised with them previously. Just celebrated her 30th B-day a few days ago.

 

To add to Donna's post, we can now sleep with our drapes open and even with our balcony lights on.

 

And to Seabourn: Mike doesn't eat cookies anymore; his choice. The treadmills are fine. Nobody hardly uses them. We go up at a little past 7 and sometimes the only people there. Not everyone is as disciplined.

 

Poor Mike....I remember the good old days when he and I would run up to the Horizon Court and bring back a bowl of cookies! DO you think the "Internet Hogs" are slowing down the bandwith with using skype etc?:eek::cool::eek: