Jim_Iain Live - 2nd Half World Cruise - B2B Singapore to Down Under 11/25 – 12/21

[maggie.1008]

Same menu shows for our December 1 cruise on the Eclipse 

[cachouonacruise]

@Jim_Iain

 

Hi Jim, 

 

I am wondering about the use of the Magic Carpet while at sea.

 

Is it mainly a restaurant with reservations required?

 

Is it sometimes a bar, where you can just pop in and have a drink?

 

is it normally accessible or too crowded? Too windy?

 

Did you and Lain try it? What are your thoughts on the Magic Carpet Experience? 
 

 

[Whinenowine]

On 11/24/2023 at 6:32 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Let's move back in times to last night.    Since my failure at finding and acceptable Cantonese we decided to walk over to  Liang Seah St.  The street is blocked off and about 100+ restaurants of all types of food.   We window shopped until we found Pot Pot Clay.   When we got inside (they moved us to adjacent room which was also a Korean BBQ)   Really funny as same place but two different types of food.  

After looking at both menus decided to do Korean BBQ.  Even though my Father's 5th wife (who was 5 years younger than me) was Korean.    I never had tried the Kim-chi after smelling it fermenting.   I did have it last night and loved it.

 

 

 

Jim--sorry I'm so late to the game.  First, happy belated birthday!  Second, is that a Sitges t-shirt that Iain is wearing in this photo at the Korean restaurant?  We love that town/beach!  Looking forward to many more posts on this (extended!) cruise.

[clochette]

Finally caught up with your report, happy belated birthday,  I am really looking forward to your report especially after reading @Norwaylady trip.  I feel like I am vicariously travelling the world.

[Jim_Iain]

Bali, Indonesia 11/29/2023

 

What a beautiful Island!    I think I have enough time to post a little.   I believe I mentioned that Mertha the fantastic bartender on Ponant just got home in Bali and is wanting to take us out today.       He was always so good to us and is so proud of his Country.  How could we refuse.

 

I may not be able to get much posted as we have only 45 minutes to meet him at 8:00 AM.   Ya'all know how much Iain likes getting out of bed before 9:30.  

 

The Ya'all -  twang comes out of me at times because my family came from Tennessee and I'm a country boy at heart.

[Jim_Iain]

https://fb.watch/oCb8aUcc6i/?mibextid=GU5Oaz
 

 

Good video of Mertha in action. Click hype link for a YouTube video of his juggling 

[Jim_Iain]

Yea we cleared and off the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of private tour guides.  price from Tours by Locals.  $140 for 9 hour in van 🚐 large enough for 6. 
 

 

 

Recognizing the background found him after searching.   

Edited November 28, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That looks like the exact same menu we had on Apex in September, I was hoping for a change in Luminae menus for the Edge when we board in January. I tried the grilled beef sirloin, and it was so tough and inedible. I should have tried the cod and will if this is our menu in January.

 

Stay tuned.   They have rolled out the new menus and I have asked for a full set  for easy posting.   Noticed a couple new items but not a full new menu.   They have swapped out some things like a White Wine Poached Pear to a Red Wine Poached Pear.   Possibly only one new entree per night.

 

Not sure whether it will be fleet wide but Maitre 'd confirmed that with some advance notice preferably by noon we  could get any menu item from  MDR, Blu or Children's Menu.   Yes the 4 Ounce Filet is back.

 

They also have all the anytime - escargot, french onion, Chicken, Salmon and Steak.

[Jim_Iain]

Sitting in room have breakfast saw this.  A picture just waiting to be posted 

 

[Jim_Iain]

First stop Batik a Factory. 
 

 

 

 

she told us she can weave 1 meter a day. 
 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

@Jim_Iain

 

Hi Jim, 

 

I am wondering about the use of the Magic Carpet while at sea.

 

Is it mainly a restaurant with reservations required?

 

Is it sometimes a bar, where you can just pop in and have a drink?

 

is it normally accessible or too crowded? Too windy?

 

Did you and Lain try it? What are your thoughts on the Magic Carpet Experience? 
 

 

 

95% of the time - Magic carpet is a bar and is parked poolside right in front  of the Cabanas which of course block the views.  The sometimes move it up to the level of the Martini Glass Hot tubs.

 

They only have dinners 1 or 2 times a cruise and is a Specialty Dinner.   I have also in the past seen them have a Specialty Taj Majal Dinner and  a Seafood Dinner and they do it Adjacent to Raw on 5.    I will look up the price on the App. 

 

Usually at sea it is far to windy to serve a dinner and on Apex they moved it inside to the Spa -  My idea of fine dining with heavy chlorine smells.

 

Got to run our friends is here.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Not sure whether it will be fleet wide but Maitre 'd confirmed that with some advance notice preferably by noon we  could get any menu item from  MDR, Blu or Children's Menu.   Yes the 4 Ounce Filet is back.

 

 

 That is great news and I hope it does extend fleet wide, especially the 4-oz filet.  

 

 

[JazzyV]

Oh my gosh, just found your Live thread Jim, 21 pages along (I'm all caught up). First, a belated Happy Birthday! I will travel vicariously through you for now. And admire your great photography. I'm suffering with a pinched nerve, so no traveling for now, and hoping surgery isn't required.

[Cap_D]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 That is great news and I hope it does extend fleet wide, especially the 4-oz filet.  

 

 

Indeed.  The filet and a salad, and whatever else from the menu, make for a nice dinner for a child or adult.  Very welcome news.  We had it on Apex in March/April, but had read it's been hit or miss in terms of availability and cutbacks.  

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, JazzyV said:

Oh my gosh, just found your Live thread Jim, 21 pages along (I'm all caught up). First, a belated Happy Birthday! I will travel vicariously through you for now. And admire your great photography. I'm suffering with a pinched nerve, so no traveling for now, and hoping surgery isn't required.

Sorry about your pinched nerve.   I had that occur on a cruise in my back and pain was incredible.    Hope you recover quickly.

 

[Jim_Iain]

48 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Indeed.  The filet and a salad, and whatever else from the menu, make for a nice dinner for a child or adult.  Very welcome news.  We had it on Apex in March/April, but had read it's been hit or miss in terms of availability and cutbacks.  

 

The 4 ounce Filet  is perfect for us.   I often request a Baked Potato with the works...  A salad would be a nice addition.

[Jim_Iain]

11/29/2023 2:00 PM. 

 

We were out today for a second day in Bali -   While Iain naps I will have some nice uninterrupted time to try to get caught up.

I got a kick out of this sign.  Looks like a Big Foot Crossing. 
 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

After the Batik store we decided to have a nice lunch as it was about 1:00 in the afternoon

 

Our guide suggested Bebek Umasari Resto  in Ubud.

 

Not only was the food nicely presented but the gardens were an added treat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

To help out.  I had the BBQ Pork Ribs.    RP 146,000 is $9.49 

 

 

Everyone else had Sate

 

 

 

When traveling I use  XE. Free and Easy to use.  
 

[Jim_Iain]

I strolled around a little to capture the feel of the area. 
 

 

 

Rice Fields 

 

 

 

Time to say goodbye.  We felt so humble and welcomed 🙏 
 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Off we went in  a 8 Passenger Van -   We just had our driver and guide and the four of us.

 

Next stop was Tegenungan Waterfalls -  admission is around 20,000 IDR (all those digits make it difficult -  ( about $1.30 per person).

 

 

 

 

 

Air Terjun Tegenungan is located about 30 minutes from Ubud.    It is a lush and picturesque park falls.   They also have a night club, restaurant and a swimming spot at the base of the falls. 

It's a great people watching area. 

 

I’ll fix Iain for making faces and post it. 

 

 

 

 

One warning the stairs are extremely  steep and  high.   Robert and I made it down and up.   Coming up I took a rest as my pulse had climbed to 158 bpm .    Thanks Fitbit for alerting me. 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Shortages of all kinds of things on Edge.

 

Really surprised at the number of shortages there are on the ship.    From reading the Roll Call from the first two legs I knew there were supply chain issues.   Dubai didn't allow multiple container loads to be loaded -  included many wines, beers etc.  

 

Some of the remarkable ones that I see as a Celebrity issue are things like Brown Raw Sugar in al Bacio and the rest of the ship.    Continued outages of many of the wines on the Premium Package is apparent every evening.   One would have thought Celebrity could have locally sourced most anything in Singapore.

[colourbird]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:04 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Got to room to Iain shouting 

 

Happy Birthday

 

 

 

 

 

Do you need to let them know about a birthday in a restaurant to get something like this or does it come up on their console? My wife will be celebrating a birthday on the ship in December and i'm not sure if I need to let anyone know in order for her to get a surprise dessert.

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Continued outages of many of the wines on the Premium Package is apparent every evening. 

Certainly not new, I have heard people complain over the years that they cannot get Champagne on Silhouette and are served Prosecco instead.

[darsura]

“Continued outages of many of the wines on the Premium Package is apparent every evening.”

 

We had the same experience on the Edge in July.