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

[QueenCruiseAlot]

We were also on the Royal Farewell Cruise. There were a lot of sea days, 11.5 of them and of course we missed Easter Island and were late into the first port in Peru where we missed flying over the NAZCA lines.

 

I didn't realize there was a virus going around though as we were all well. We couldn't believe that the shops closed down 10 days before the end of the cruise and quite a few other other unusual things happened which we passed on to Princess. As you said, it was a weird cruise, certainly not our best.:(

 

Jennie

 

It was that coughing thing that went around. Remember how about 2 weeks into it all of a sudden they were requiring the sanitizer to be used? Arturo caught the flu, or something, and was quarantined for a while. It was after the Pitcairn Island people came on board.

 

I know, I was upset at the stores being closed, tea running out, wine running out. By the time we got to Panama, the MDR didn't even care if I brought my own wine in... It did get ridiculous that last week.

[ssbeagle]

Still at sea and completely confused as to time. We moved our clocks ahead ½ hour last night and were told the next half hour ahead come after we leave Cochin on Sunday. We had the CC cocktail party last night, got our champagne and our 3rd place award and then went back to the cabin to read after dinner. There is no way we wanted to see Do you Wanna Dance again for the umpteenth time. The Captain was his usual personable and eloquent self, including some very funny lines. He mentioned the new Royal for 2013, but said no additional information is available since the interior is still under major discussion.

 

　

 

Two movies being shown today - afternoon is “The Help” and at 10:00 PM “The Lincoln Lawyer.” There’s a matinee performance with last night’s pianist Brett Cave (guess he’s getting off in Mumbai) and for the first time I see a notice for the Chef’s Table. I didn’t think they were going to offer it at all. Yes, it’s $95. Tonight’s entertainment is the comic Al Brown again. He was pretty good, so we’ll attend his 2nd show.

 

Drandyl, what you stated is false. Please don't quote Peter when you weren't there. Neither was he. We were. He never bothered to find out what really happened. :rolleyes:

 

How can you lose only 30 minutes of time? I thought it was all in hour increments. Strange; never heard of that.

 

I hope you got to see The Help. That was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Many northerners don't quite understand the full gist of it if they didn't grow up in the south. I loved the part with the pie.

 

It seems like on every cruise lately someone gets upset with the trivia person. It's just a game and most people know it. Some just take it too seriously and they shouldn't. I know once I had the right answer (unless the internet was wrong) to a trivia question and they said it wasn't correct. But I didn't argue with them because it's only a game and who wants those cheap ship prizes anyway.

[paul929207]

How can you lose only 30 minutes of time? I thought it was all in hour increments. Strange; never heard of that.

 

I hope you got to see The Help. That was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Many northerners don't quite understand the full gist of it if they didn't grow up in the south. I loved the part with the pie.

 

It seems like on every cruise lately someone gets upset with the trivia person. It's just a game and most people know it. Some just take it too seriously and they shouldn't. I know once I had the right answer (unless the internet was wrong) to a trivia question and they said it wasn't correct. But I didn't argue with them because it's only a game and who wants those cheap ship prizes anyway.

Nope, India is 30 minutes off the neighboring countries. And Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of it. Also central Australia is 30 minutes behind eastern Australia.

[saratoga]

Nope, India is 30 minutes off the neighboring countries. And Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of it. Also central Australia is 30 minutes behind eastern Australia.

 

Newfoundland is 30 minutes ahead of Eastern Time, the Newfoundland Standard Time Zone.

[QueenCruiseAlot]

How can you lose only 30 minutes of time? I thought it was all in hour increments. Strange; never heard of that.

 

There's also a province in Canada, Newfoundland, that is 1/2 hour ahead of eastern time. Odd, but true.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Mumbai..(Bombay)

 

 

 

[Pia1913]

Hot. Hotter. Hottest. That was today. With humidity. Our day started in line at 6:45 AM and immigration didn’t get started until almost 8. Yes, we left an hour late, but we came back an hour later. All’s well that ends well.

　

We were 26 passengers on a coach that took us a short way to the Gateway of India where we boarded a motor launch for our one hour trip to Elephanta Island. When we got off the boat we had to take a small locomotive type tram. Maybe diesel. After that we arrived at Elephanta to meet our 120 steps. Steps would be fine, if they were just steps. It’s all stone. And steep. And you are walking uphill all the way. This is not for the fainthearted. There are vendors on both sides of you as you climb; and climb we did. Our guide told us there were clean restrooms at the top. She was mistaken. :(

 

　

The caves themselves are awesome, with sculptures of Hindu deities carved from solid rock. This is a World Heritage site which they think dates back to the 6th century. There are three areas; a main room, east wing and west wing. The main guy is Mahesamurti, an 18 foot high image representing three deities. As we made our way down we had photo ops of dozens of monkeys and goats. I got a shot of one goat having his lunch. Then back to the tram and the boat and the coach and finally the ship. We were hot and tired and hungry, but really too tired too eat. It’s almost time for dinner, so I can make up for it. ;)

 

 

Caryn: one of those prizes came in very handy today. A small battery operated fan. Hung around my neck on a cord and helped a whole lot.

 

See you all in the morning. Mine anyway.

[mmwc]

There's also a province in Canada, Newfoundland, that is 1/2 hour ahead of eastern time. Odd, but true.

 

Newfoundland is 30 minutes ahead of Eastern Time, the Newfoundland Standard Time Zone.

 

With respect to both these posters, Newfoundland/Labrador time is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic time, 90 minutes ahead of the Eastern time zone.

[QueenCruiseAlot]

With respect to both these posters, Newfoundland/Labrador time is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic time, 90 minutes ahead of the Eastern time zone.

 

Ok. My point was it was a 1/2 hour, not a 1 hour change.

[DonahCBrown]

The side trip-part one

We left the ship in Dubai – not without some drama, as, in spite of having our ‘permission slip’ from corporate, the details of our plan had not been fully shared with all those who needed to know – like the security folks at the gangway. Once we went through the details a couple of times, we were off to the new Dubai airport – very impressive, huge, lots of shopping and food opportunities, if you happen to be there on a long layover. Our flight on Emirates, even in the coach section, was very comfortable, really good food – not just good for airline food, but actually good. We were a little late getting started, and consequently a little late getting into Delhi, but our tour company was on hand waiting for us and whisked us to the Hilton Janakpuri, a relatively new hotel about 30 or so minutes (depending on traffic) from the airport. Security getting into the hotel was stringent, with an armed guard at the gate who checked the vehicle thoroughly as well as our passports and the driver and escort’s paperwork, and there was an airport style x-ray of luggage and a ‘wanding’ before we could enter the lobby. Check in was totally handled by our tour company representative and we were settled in our room by around 10 PM.

 

The next day was devoted to touring Delhi, and we also got our first real taste of life in India. This is our first time here, although we’ve been to a number of other places in Southeast Asia and Asia, none of which quite prepared us for this experience. I must admit to a good bit of ‘culture shock’ in spite of reading and viewing a good bit of information prior to the visit. Nothing quite prepares you for the immediacy and reality of India, however, and there were aspects that I found emotionally wrenching and very difficult – from the street children begging in traffic to the starving and overworked animals, the people sleeping wherever they can find a spot, the huge amounts of rubbish everywhere being scavenged by people, cattle, dogs, and pigs simultaneously. The smog is also very bad – our guide said India’s greatest problems were the ‘Three Ps’- Pollution, Population, and Politicians. In stark contrast are the beautiful monuments and archeological sites – many UNESCO World Heritage Sites – and the stirring and moving Gandhi sites that we visited, and the colorful and cheerful local tourists. All in all, India is a very intense experience on a lot of levels.

 

On our ‘Delhi Day’ we visited the Red Fort – only from the exterior as we had planned a more extensive visit of the Agra Fort which is better preserved, then a pass through the Chandi Chowk – the main street of Old Delhi and a total mad-house of bicycle and motor rickshaws, ox carts, horse carts, the odd camel cart, pedestrians, cars, buses, goats, cattle, pushcarts and vendor stalls. We saw the Great Mosque of Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, and then moved on to New Delhi and visited the Tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, built by his widow and the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, the India Gate – the memorial to India’s war dead, the President’s House, Parliament and Secretariat buildings, and the Qutab Minar Tower Complex. It was a long, interesting, and tiring day, interspersed with the emotionally wrenching slums, beggars, a funeral procession, and an explanation by our guide as to why there were so many flocks of goats on the sidewalks (a Moslem celebration on Nov. 7 that requires the sacrifice of goats…) Our last stops of the day were a ‘drive by’ photo op of the B’hai Lotus Temple that looks a lot like the Sydney Opera House, and an unexpected and not very welcome ‘shopping stop’ that our Kashmiri guide had framed as an invitation to have a Kashmiri style tea. I don’t actually mind shopping stops if they are pre-announced as such, but having one sprung on us, especially at the end of a long and tiring day was not a happy experience, and we cut it short when it became apparent what was actually happening. When we shared this with the tour company owner during his visit with us at the end of our trip, he basically said that the guides were all free-lancers who were licensed by the government and, although he asked them not to do the shopping stops, they don’t always comply. On that topic – we found the folks actually employed by the tour company – the ones who took care of the logistical stuff - to be excellent and our Delhi/Agra driver was amazingly good, but the guides were sometimes difficult to understand and seemed to have a very set patter and more of a ‘facts and figures’ orientation than an analytical or reflective orientation.

 

On return to our hotel, we opted for the fixed price Indian dinner in the hotel restaurant, that our tour representative told us even local people come to – which seemed to be true as we saw what appeared to be other than hotel guests there. It was a long and quite delicious meal with a sampling of several regional specialties, but since dinner isn’t served until 7:30 PM, it made our 4 AM wake up call to make our 6 AM train to Agra really early.

 

More later when I get some rest from TODAY'S 4AM wake up call...

[Waynetor]

A few more observations from the previous few days.

This is the third year in a row we have been on Princess for Halloween. The last two were on the Star and the Grand. Despite the Ocean being a ‘small’ ship the staff here did a much better job. They did a great job of decorating the dining room as well as the bars, casino and other areas. All the wait staff in the dining room wore different Halloween outfits for the night which was a nice change for them. The night show was a combination show. Guest that wore a costume to the show got a Princess key chain. We had a half hour of British comedian Al Brown followed by the CD and assistant CD combined with the production show dancers doing a few Halloween numbers such as Monster Mash.

Muscat Oman was only a half day port stop. It rained before we got up in the morning but the rest of the day was fine. They only get 1 or 2 days of heavy rain there a year. We did a Princess tour in Muscat that included a walk around the Grand Mosque, a museum that had many historical items (no photos allowed inside), a stop at the Sultan Palace (not where he lives but more a fancy, massive office for when he is in town and has business to do and then a stop at a Souk (market). The Sultan has 5 large yachts two of which were in port. They were almost as long as the Ocean Princess but a couple decks shorter. The show that night was pianist Brett Cave who was very flashy doing songs from the 50s and 60s. Later there was an Arabian deck party starting at 9:30 with a buffet consisting mainly of deserts and fruit with very nice carved fruit animals starting at 10:30 (the timed changed an hour that night so it was almost a midnight buffet. Quite a few people bought clothing items in Dubai or Oman that locals would wear and wore them to the party. It was nice to see that while staff was there quite willing to sell drinks they weren’t running around with trays of drinks in overpriced souvenir glasses.

The next day was the Captain Circle party as Pia has mentioned. A few stats – 493 or 80.16% of guest are repeaters – 133 gold, 207 platinum, and 153 elite. This means there are 123 first timers for a total of 616 passengers. There are a few cabins with 3 guest and some with singles but also some empty cabins. The top 3 number of days were 835, 781 and 630 – not as high as I expected but still very nice numbers for those passengers. There are only 2 passengers from the previous cruise but 119 staying on after Singapore.

Today (Mumbia) was another nice day for weather – hazy sunshine and mid 80’s. We had to clear Indian customs on board but that was a quick process at the time I did it. We went with 9 others on a CC organized tour for 7 hours that cost only about $45 with the conversion and included a typical Indian lunch. We went to a wholesale fruit and vegetable market, a retail spice, and fish market that also had a few hard goods and one large stall selling puppies and birds as pets. We also stopped for a tour of the Gandhi Museum, the Jain Temple, a botanical garden and a few other quick stops such as the Taj Mahal Hotel where the terrorist attacked a few years ago. Tonight’s dinner broke away from the traditional Princess menu and was very Indian based. The appetizers included Carrot Raita with Naan Indian bread, and Mysure Rason East Indian Tomato and Lental Soup while main courses included items like Shrimp Jingha Madrasi, Roast Leg of Lamb Kashmiri Style and Sedaninial Currry Con Gamberetti. The pool has been closed today for repairs (new ladder and other work) but should be up again tomorrow.

[Aussie Gal]

Waynetor,

 

Thanks for giving us such great descriptions of the Ocean Princess. We were on her last year for 31 days when we cruised from Capetown to Dover and loved every day on board her. We will be back on board in March for 20 days and can't wait. She truly is a lovely ship.

 

Jennie

[Pia1913]

Good Saturday morning where the seas are smooth and the skies are sunny. We did nothing last night; didn’t have the strength. I have an annoying pain in my right calf; guess I know what caused that. It was ok on the treadmill a little while ago, but annoying now. Had dinner last night and went back to our cabin to read. Lights out for me was pretty early; Mike OTOH is more of a night owl and even he was asleep by 10. Yesterday just wore us out.

　

Another two lectures on today’s schedule. In the morning, “The Japanese Empire and her Asian Ambitions in the 19th and 20th Centuries,” and in the afternoon, “World War II: Japan’s Invasion of Malaysia, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies.” Also in the AM, other than trivia, is the movie “The King’s Speech” and the always popular, 3 hour only……………Up to 75% off sale. Yes, I’m smiling. Nothing much of interest for us in the afternoon (other than the lecture and trivia) and Showtime tonight has a comedienne - Rikki Jay, which we will attend.

　

Stay tuned for the rest of Donna’s overland adventure.

[ssbeagle]

Hot. Hotter. Hottest. That was today. With humidity. Our day started in line at 6:45 AM and immigration didn’t get started until almost 8. Yes, we left an hour late, but we came back an hour later. All’s well that ends well.

 

Caryn: one of those prizes came in very handy today. A small battery operated fan. Hung around my neck on a cord and helped a whole lot.

 

See you all in the morning. Mine anyway.

 

Guess the prizes are getting better but still not worth fighting over.

[DonahCBrown]

Getting to Agra:

We had a 4 AM wake up call for a 5 AM pickup to go to the central Delhi train station and the ‘tourist train’ from Delhi to Agra. We had first class reservations, made by our tour company. We were met promptly at 5 by our driver and escort and made our way through the early morning streets of Delhi (less traffic, but still pretty busy, especially as we got closer to the train station.) The train station was another slice of culture shock – huge crowds milling outside and in, homeless people sleeping on the floor inside the station, a bewildering array of tracks, platforms and so on, and more heavy security with xray for our bags and wanding for us and separate lines for men and women, which is common all over the country. We were grateful for our escort who negotiated the whole process for us and took us to our train car, found our seats and stored our baggage in the overhead.

 

First class basically means the car has cushioned seats and air conditioning, and that food is included with your ticket. The first service was a large bottle of water for each of us, followed by ‘tea’ which consisted of either instant coffee or tea bags, hot water and a packet of two ‘biscuits’ – semi-sweet cookie/cracker. A short time later, breakfast appears – this consisted of two pieces of brown bread in a sealed wrap, packets of butter and jam, corn flakes and a choice of heated or cold milk, and a hot entrée called Paneer cutlet with vegetable finger chips and green peas or boiled vegetables – had the corn flakes, passed on the Paneer. The train car was comfortably air conditioned but felt tired, and the seat and foot rest at my seat didn’t operate properly – the seat was stuck in a semi-reclined position, and, in spite of my and the person behind me, and the attendant’s best efforts, it wouldn’t move to upright. The footrest likewise was unresponsive. Still, it wasn’t bad and the trip was only a couple of hours. The car was about 90% foreign tourists – about half and half North Americans and Japanese, with the remaining passengers apparently local folks – most of them stayed on the train when the rest of us exited at Agra. The final destination of the train was Bophal.

 

Agra and the Taj:

We arrived in Agra at around 9 AM, and were met, somewhat to our surprise, by our driver from Delhi, and a new escort. Turned out that, because we were returning to Delhi by car, our driver had been sent ahead to meet us in Agra, be our driver there, and return us to Delhi on the following day. We proceeded to the hotel, the Grand Imperial – a classic Victorian era hotel which was full of character and quite charming and an interesting contrast to the Hilton. Our room wasn’t ready, but the escort took care of the checking in process and then we loaded our bags back into the car and went to meet up with our guide for the day.

 

We arrived at the Taj at around 10 AM. The parking area is fairly remote from the site itself, to help reduce damage to building from pollution and fumes, and access to the site is by electric tram (included in the admission price) or horse or camel cart (extra charge.) Vendors also abound in this parking/transfer area, but appear to be forbidden closer in to the site itself. It wasn’t terribly crowded at that hour and the morning mists had just about cleared, and our guide indicated that it was pretty much the ideal time to arrive, in his opinion. We again had some difficulties understanding the accent, but did manage to get the basics about the building and its history. The entry area is a combination of red sandstone and marble and shields the Taj itself from view until you make your way through a series of arched gates. Our guide did most of the background information during our transit from the parking lot and walk through the gates, and then, suddenly, it is there – and it is breathtaking. No matter how many times you have seen pictures and films of the Taj Mahal, nothing does it justice – it is simply a mental and emotional ‘full stop’ as you attempt to absorb the beauty and the grandeur and the sheer size and magnitude of the complex of buildings and pools and gardens. After a few minutes more of commentary, we proceeded to the mausoleum platform, where you have to either remove your shoes or put on shoe coverings so as to minimize damage to the marble. Our guide walked us through the building, pointing out various items of interest and then left us on our own to simply appreciate the experience. The complex includes the central mausoleum, the four towers, a mosque and an identical building on the other side that functioned as a guest house. Everything is totally symmetrical, perfectly balanced and the overall feeling is one of peace and serenity and it is surprisingly quiet in spite of the crowds.

 

Following our visit to the Taj, we went to the Agra Fort, most of which was built by Akbar, Shah Jahan’s father, out of the red sandstone that is typical of the Mughal era buildings. The fort is still partially in use by the Indian military, but the older portions and the parts used as palaces by Akbar and Shah Jahan are open to tourism. Security here, as with all the monuments, is strict, and there are three screening lines - men, Indian ladies, and other ladies – not sure why there is a distinction between Indian women and foreign women and there didn’t seem to be any difference in the levels of scrutiny. The Akbar portion of the palaces was called the ‘Fish Palace’ – according to our guide, because the concubines – there were hundreds – walked about along the terraces in their colorful dresses, looking like tropical fish on a reef and from time to time the ‘emperor threw in a line and drew one out’ – don’t know if this is true or ‘tour guide history.’

 

Adjacent to the red sandstone portion of the fort complex is the palace that Shah Jahan built, which, like the Taj, is in white marble. It has a view to the Taj, and is where Shah Jahan spent the final years of his life imprisoned by his youngest son, who was the last of the Mughal emperors and who killed off his siblings and imprisoned his father and refused to complete the ‘Black Taj’ that Shah Jahan had planned to build replicating the Taj Mahal in black marble, across the river from the Taj Mahal. The foundations of the building are located in a formal Mughal style garden called the Moonlit Garden, which was on our tour schedule for the second day in Agra for our early morning viewing of the Taj.

 

The city of Agra has no heavy industry, in an attempt to reduce the air pollution and damage to the Taj and other monuments in the area, so handicrafts are promoted and many of the hand made items for sale throughout the region originate in Agra. After or visit to the Agra Fort, our guide took us to an inlay workshop which was set up for demonstrations to the tour groups (and of course, equipped with extensive sale rooms) and then, we were able to check into our hotel. We had a very nice, large first floor room with a double set of doors secured with a huge bolt and large brass padlock which you moved from the outside doors to the inner doors – strange but interesting. Lunch and dinner were both very good – dinner being an Indian buffet enlivened by live music, again service starting at 7:30.

 

We made an early evening of it as we had another early start to go to the Mehtab Bagh gardens for our early view of the Taj and our visit to the ‘baby Taj’ – the Itmad-ud-daulah – another white marble mausoleum of similar style to the Taj with extensive inlay work, intricate marble lattice work, and arched entry ways and octagonal towers. After our visit there, we started the long drive back to Delhi, through the agricultural region between the two cities. Agricultural practices span the centuries with farms with mechanized equipment and irrigation systems side by side with farms being worked with hand labor and water buffalo pulling plows. The drive takes about 4 hours and we made a stop about mid-way at a combination shop and restaurant – our driver ate, we shopped, and we were back to the Hilton by around 3:30 or so.

 

We checked in again, this time on our own, and then got a call from the owner of the tour company we were using telling us he wanted to meet us so we arranged a time to get together with him in the hotel lobby. It was a little confusing at first, as we thought it was either a social call, or a check in to see how our tour had been so we talked over how to handle it – and how candid to be about some of the less than good things that had happened. In the end, it turned out that it was neither social nor quality control that he was interested in – evidently there are a lot of counterfeit traveler’s checks in India, and his money exchange guy wanted to have me re-sign the traveler’s checks we had used to pay for the tour in front of him. In the course of waiting for the money exchange guy to show up, we did learn about the practice of using contract guides – required by the government for taking foreigners to any of the monuments and historical sites – and their practice of a ‘shopping stop’ which the company, at least officially, doesn’t condone. Finally, after about 45 minutes of somewhat awkward conversation, the money guy showed up, checked our passports, and had me re-sign all the travelers checks, then handed me a wad of local cash to count and verify – in all, we figured out that the tour company made about $130 additional over having me cash the checks with the hotel.

 

The next morning – another 4AM wake up call, and our wonderful driver was waiting to take us to the airport for our domestic flight to Mumbai. Only slightly less chaotic than the train station, after a false start (we got into the India Go line and belonged in the Go India line) we got checked in and headed to our gate area, finally getting sorted as to which group – you can’t really call it a queue – to herd in with – and onto buses which take you out on the tarmac to the planes. The flight was short, amenities were sparse, and water and soda were purchase items. By 9, we were in Mumbai, again met at the arrivals area by our new driver. Our guide directed the driver by cell phone to take us to the Dhobi Ghat before meeting up with her at the Gandhi Museum. Our driver was a very nice gentleman from Nepal who spoke 9 languages and he escorted us to the Dhobi Ghat to see the laundrymen doing massive amounts of Mumbai’s laundry in huge open air vats. As we exited the stairs there, we ran into some Princess tour passengers, which relieved us as we then knew that the ship was indeed there in Mumbai! We made our way to the Gandhi Museum and met up with our guide, the first female guide we had on the trip, and explained to her that we were really tired and would be cutting our tour program back to a half day – didn’t seem to be a problem, although she also suggested the shopping stop, which we turned down. We toured through the Gandhi Museum in the middle of a Princess tour group which was a little confusing, and then went on to the Jain Temple – another World Heritage site, and the India Gate and then called it a day and headed to the port.

 

On our arrival there, the driver didn’t have the right documentation to go into the port area, so we started at the ‘walk in’ gate where our first set of difficulties arose – we didn’t have the ‘yellow landing card’ that had been issued to exiting passengers from the ship. After our guide and driver both explained (I guess) to the officials that we had been on an overland trip in India for several days and everyone looked at our cruise cards and passports and itineraries several times, we were allowed in, and had our bags xrayed and were sent on to walk to the terminal building, where we went through the same thing with the guys at the door there but without benefit of our native speakers to interpret. Finally a guy came out of an office in the back bearing our yellow cards that (we found out from the security folks on the ship) were supposed to have been left at the gate for us. Much talk ensued between the officials, we signed our cards, everyone looked again at our passports and cards and copies of our passports that were attached to our cards and we headed to the door leading out to the ship, where we got stopped again (mind you this is not 50 feet from the last batch) to have all the paperwork examined again, our passports taken by a lady who appeared to work for immigration, everything entered into her big book, and finally we were allowed to proceed to the ship. We got to the door way, dropped our cruise cards into the machine, which then rejected them. Security called the passenger services desk, and someone came over with new cruise cards for us, and at last we were “home.”

 

It was a very worthwhile adventure, we are glad to have done it, and felt that the visit to the Taj Mahal was worth it all, but as our on-board lecturer James Rowe had said in his talk on India, it is a land of extremes and it will not leave you untouched. It will take a long time, I think, to process the experiences, the sublime and the horrific, at both an intellectual and emotional level.

[DonahCBrown]

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.

[Seabourn911]

Welcome aboard the Ocean Princess; live from Civitavecchia, Italy. I hope you will join me for the next 28 days as we cruise along from here to Singapore.

 

　

Just a short blurb before we get started, which by itself is fortunate because we almost didn’t get here. Our first flight left an hour and 20 minutes late for no apparent reason except we were told “air traffic control had a problem.” That problem got us into Philadelphia with less than ½ hour to make our Rome flight. That is one monster airport and without hijacking two guys with those handicap transport vehicles, we would still be there. Plane was already loaded and ready to close when we reached our gate. They left exactly on time fully knowing that there were many passengers who had yet to make their connections. This is why you never fly internationally the same day you board a ship. We had bought an all inclusive package from Hotel SanGiorgio and they were there to meet us upon arrival. Transfers, hotel room, dinner, breakfast and transport to ship. Easy peasy.

 

　

I am creating this masterpiece off line since there is no internet available. In fact, there is no system running at all, since we checked at the purser’s desk for our first printout and were told it was all out and probably would be until after sail away. We got on board about 1:00 PM, which at that time was a 5 minute operation. We grabbed some lunch and by 2:30 our bags had been delivered. We are in a BC balcony on deck 7 and on this small ship you get from here to there in 2 seconds. It is now 5:40; muster just completed and we have 6:00 PM dinner seating. Will check in later and hopefully be fully live at that time.

 

 

Hello…… and really LIVE now. It’s almost 9:30, we walked out of the welcome aboard show and shipboard life has begun. Our captain is Roger Bilton whom we’ve had the pleasure of sailing with previously and our maitre d’ is one of my very favorites - Guiseppe Franchina. We have a great table; table for six set for four and this is the way it will remain. Our friends with us are Donna and Dennis from Hawaii. The CD is Peter Roberts; don’t know a thing about him since I’ve never seen him before.

 

 

Since we are still a little “off” because of our travels and travails, this opener will be a bit brief. I’d really like to try and get a good night’s sleep and our first port is tomorrow morning; Sorrento. We are due to arrive at 7:00 and it’s a tender port. Our friends are planning to take the ferry to Capri and since we’ve been there twice before we will probably walk the town and reminisce. We spent a wonderful week in Sorrento about 15 years ago and hope it hasn’t changed too much. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I wonder whether anything will be open.

 

　

I am going to bid you buono notte for now and see you again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I did manage to blow $10 in a slot machine in a m atter of 4 minutes. Who said the machines are loose on the first night? :mad:

 

Say hello to Giuessepe for me...from you know who!;)

P.S. is Mike still stocking up on cookies?:D

[Pia1913]

Just jumping in with a short note. Last night we received new landing cards to present to the Indian authorities when we get off the ship in Cochin. For those staying aboard, you just needed to sign them and turn them in. Just a few minutes ago the captain made an announcement that the Indian authorities have told him we all need to do another face to face; just like in Mumbai. We will receive instructions later tonight, but this time we are not going to get in line early. We know from the previous fiasco that nothing is going to happen until everyone is inspected. Oh well.

 

Also, my computer is acting up again. Same thing that happened previously. Cafe mgr. says it's a microsoft problem, so I expect it will again straighten itself out. Eventually.

[Pia1913]

Say hello to Giuessepe for me...from you know who!;)

P.S. is Mike still stocking up on cookies?:D

 

#1. OK

 

#2. No more cookies. ;)

[Seabourn911]

#1. OK

 

#2. No more cookies. ;)

 

Anymore Starbuck mugs to add to your collection on this trip:D?

[paul929207]

Donna,

Thanks for the postings of your overland. India is a truely special place, but you must be prepared for anything. We spent three weeks there in 2008. We woke up in Agra to the news that the terrorists had attacked the Taj. Took about 30 seconds to realize they were talking the hotel in Mumbai.

[High C's]

Donna - thank you so much for your review of your journey in India. I found it fascinating.

[ibfern]

Donna: Thanks for your wonderful review of India, I've never been there and its definitely on my list. Your descriptions were incredible!

 

Pia: Thanks for keeping this thread going in spite of a Microsoft problem, maybe this will convince you that an iPad is good! ;)

[hmh60]

Donna,

 

Thank you so much for taking me back to India. Your accounting of your trip was so much like our trip there several years ago on our way to Nepal. India is a country that you either love or hate, no room for indifference. I'm in the love category. India is an amazing place and it is truly a sensory overload. India is an experience not just a place you visit. You must go there with an open mind and accept what you see as their way of life. India is India and like nowhere else in the world.

 

Thanks again,

Helen

[Pia1913]

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.