anyone been on funchal?

[seabourndt]

i only put onto form matilda as i did not know mitasols cabin number if you give me your full name i will call and see if they can addd yours too. never been to semerang either. shame if its dollar this!dollar that! like bali as i well remember. i was there for 2 days in 2001 on LEGEND OF THE SEAS from singapore to sydney. it was very quiet onboard as it was the world trade centre terrerist. i should have gone on the DEUTSCHLAND a german ship from dubai to iran,iraq,india. so they cancelled it and i booked the legend. loved darwin it was the day of the rainy season, loved cairns barrier reef island. then BRISBANE made my own way to australia zoo where it was very hot, i remember. as to the cruise voucher, i was on the QM2 IN 2004 on a short cruise. we arrived at soton to fiond the ship had not arrived yet. in a hotel for lunch and waited around. finally got on board and had HELL!!! OF A QUEUE TO GET ON BOARD. the breakfast was terrible too 2 hours to get served!! so they gave us a cruise voucher for £374 against another cunard cruise. i wasgonna use it on the qe2 last year until they overbookked me and got this free cruise. so am using it on this transatlantic crossing on the QE2 from soton to new york. still deciding whether to go for a mauritania or coronia cabin. as they can't tell me my cabin number. so you onl;y have an inside cabin. i have not had one of these for a while. BLACK PRINCE was the laast. actually an inside with a porthole that was locked after we sailed. glad theyu did as we hit force 10 and some leaks apperaed in celing nearby. it really felt very frightening even for me, and she is bigger than the funchal. i've heard people say she is a pretty stable ship, ass the seas were quite calm on my cruise. not heard from any of the australians that waas o the trip to liverpool. strange as i did see a post from them.

talk soon

dave

[seabourndt]

1st time theres nothing here whats happened?

could your friend give me your full name so i can call company to gret her on our table. have you got a full itinarary wityh all the times at all ports as mine misses some out. what does it mean some embark on 14th overnighting and some on 15th. i've decided to not do the QE2 on jan 3rd ass its too soon after this one togetyher withg on cabin on a guarantee basis. i'll look for something next year to use my cruises certificate. i'll have to see what flights i can get back before i decide where exactly i'm going.

dave

[matilda]

Dave, this is the itinerary as far as we have been told.

14 Nov Piraeus, Greece

15 Nov Piraeus, Greece depart 2pm

17 Nov Port Said, Egypt arrive 7am depart 11pm

18 Nov Transit Suez Canal

19 Nov Sharm-El-Sheik arrive 9am depart 8pm

20 Nov Aqaba, Jordan arrive 6am depart 5pm

21 Nov Safaga, Egypt arrive 6am depart 6pm

29 Nov Male, Maldives arrive 1.30pm depart10pm

01 Dec Colombo, Sri Lanka arrive 7am depart 5pm

05 Dec Phuket, Thailand arrive 7am depart 5pm

07 Dec Singapore arrive 7.30am depart 1.30pm

09 Dec Semerang, Indonesia arrive 9.30am depart 8pm

11 Dec Bali, Indonesia arrive 8am depart 11.59pm

12 Dec Lombok, Indonesia arrive 6am depart 11.59pm

17 Dec Fremantle arrive 7am.

I hope this helps, and who knows if it will be changed at all between now and then.

Must dash. Cheers, Lesley

[seabourndt]

any idea of annes surname so i can call companny to request a table together. i guess the tsunami is over and a lot of these places arew geeting back to normal, a friend of mine was due to go to columbo but misseedc it and was not as good with the altered ports. a great port itinarary better than original, the weather here is quite warm and sunny but then i changes and it rains, the weather everywhere is strange,. heard on th rugby it was raining in wellington. i won't bother with minyip after ALL and fly straigh to nz io'll call my friend to seeif she will be threre when i am there. more busy weekends. this weekend flying to belfast ireland to see a friend there, i love it there. next weekjend theres a comic convention in london with lots of famous people from sci fi progs, iam a trekkie!

thenon the sunday theres a diesil train going a lovely ol;d western locop hauling it.

do you have email or you dopn't want to send it out, i understand. just quicker to get lettrers at work.

dave

[seabourndt]

any idea of annes surname so i can call companny to request a table together. i guess the tsunami is over and a lot of these places arew geeting back to normal, a friend of mine was due to go to columbo but misseedc it and was not as good with the altered ports. a great port itinarary better than original, the weather here is quite warm and sunny but then i changes and it rains, the weather everywhere is strange,. heard on th rugby it was raining in wellington. i won't bother with minyip after ALL and fly straigh to nz io'll call my friend to seeif she will be threre when i am there. more busy weekends. this weekend flying to belfast ireland to see a friend there, i love it there. next weekjend theres a comic convention in london with lots of famous people from sci fi progs, iam a trekkie!

thenon the sunday theres a diesil train going a lovely ol;d western locop hauling it.

do you have email or you dopn't want to send it out, i understand. just quicker to get lettrers at work.

dave

[mitasol]

Hi guys,

thanks for the invite to sit at your table. Dave my surname is Newman. It would be kind of you to call them and request the table placement. I don't have documentation from them yet.

 

I still am working on the details of the pre and post-cruise activities. Think I will probably just fly home to Darwin from Fremantle. My grand plans for motorhoming to WA for the wildflowers in spring are looking rather grandiose at the moment, and may be better saved for another trip.

 

Regards to all.

Anne

[matilda]

I hope you get to see NZ and your friend, Dave. Sounds better than MINYIP! You do sound busy - Belfast, comics and diesels! Interesting to hear that you are a trekkie. We had two in the family at one time (son and nephew), but other interests have taken over now.

Talking of rain, we have had a nice drop lately, and the farmers are much happier, and have sown their crops. Before that we had our driest autumn on record.

Anne, it is nice to hear from you again, and that we might all be sitting together. It all starts to get exciting! We must stir up our travel agent soon. She hasn't made our booking for a hotel in Athens yet. I like to have it all arranged well ahead of time.

Cheers, Lesley

[seabourndt]

i will call my t/a tomorrow/ not got my confirmation as yet.thanks for the itinarary thought there was a new brochure coming out with the alterrations but not got it yet. yet hope to sort out flight to nz. i'll go to trailfindrs see what they can offer. my friend lives close to qute a few lord of the rings sites. yes doing planty of things glad you are getting rain after so long, heard it was raining in nz during the wellington game. do you live in darwin anne? i went there in 2001 on legend of the seas, it waas the start of the rainy season. my fave t shirt i got theree with a croc on it? with the ozzie hat too?

write again soon

dave

 

do both of you overnight on board ship? i will check if i'm doing the same. i'd like to go there a day early to have a look around. i went thgere a time ago, i was into a program calledHART TO HART filmed many places athens and rhodes included.

[matilda]

We are arriving in Athens at 6.15am on 12th November, staying nights of 12th and 13th in a hotel in Athens, and then boarding the ship on the 14th, overnighting and setting sail on 15th November. We will look around on the 12th, do a city tour and Cape Sounion tour on the 13th, then head for Piraeus and Funchal on 14th, sleep on board that night and look around Piraeus afternoon of 14th and morning of 15th. That should work!

Anne, we hear Darwin is having a busy weekend - voting and AFL football!

Cheers, Lesley

[seabourndt]

callec claccic intl cruises about putting tABLECOMPANIONS but gave up, all he kept saying was waitn until you get on board and tell them who you wantb to si with. so anne can you try your end i can do no more here. so you ate staying in athens a few days i9'm doing a ship visit on 12th in tilbury on =hebridian prioncess so i will plan to fly there on 13th i presume iam vernighting on funchal as you as not got my cobfirmation as yet. offto belfast for the wekend. 90's in london this weekjend

[mitasol]

thanks for trying Dave. No worries, I'm sure it will all sort itself out.

 

Yep, we are having a wonderful weekend. Enough to make you want to leave town!

 

Anne

[matilda]

We can but try. At least we all now know each others' names and can put in requests. On our Jan/Feb cruise on Funchal the seating arrangements were done after we had boarded, so can make special requests then.

Have a nice weekend in Belfast.

The 90's in London sounds pretty good. Melbourne is cold and it looks like getting colder. I was chatting to a new friend who visits her sister at the same time I visit my mother, in their nursing home. She said she doesn't like holidays - after three or four days away she wants to come home again. I said "I am the opposite - after three or four days at home I want to go on holiday again!" We will be wanting to get away from the Melbourne winter soon, but may have to wait until November.

Hey, First Cruise, please talk to us. Don't feel left out just because you are on a different cruise to us!

Bye for now, Lesley

[first cruise]

Hello Everyone, yes I am still talking!! I' not feeling left out at all, in fact I feel that I am on the same cruise as you with all your lovely info!! I've just been watching the postings and thinking how lovely it is that people from everywhere can talk to each other and have a common goal - that is so good. And Everyone, I totally expect FULL reports of every second you are on Funchal - no exceptions. Shayne and I are just so looking forward to our trip that any info, no matter how trivial, is proving to be the best info in the world. Talk to you all very soon, First Cruise (Lea)

[matilda]

Hi Anne, Lea and Dave.

I received a Funchal brochure in the mail today from Classic International Australia, showing all the 2005/2006 Australian Funchal cruises in great detail, with great photos, info etc. It made our cruise seem a lot closer, and very exciting. The brochure is hot off the press, and I love it! I guess, Dave, that your TA would have a different publication available, because this one is definitely aimed at Australians, but Anne and Lea, you should definitely get one from your travel agents. Otherwise you could get one sent to you by Classic International Australian office, toll free number 1800 990 857.

How is Belfast, Dave? And don't mention the cricket!

Lesley

[seabourndt]

yes i'm back from belfast, the weather was not quite so hot as in london, in fact saturday was cloudy ahnd coolish, sunday was much better though. i wen to there tom visit a friend who lives there recently moved there from ukraine quite hard for them to settle in ythere. i love BELFAST. one thing i miss about london is the sea and ships apart from tower bridge where some cruise ships come. would'nt mind moving there as iamm member of the TITANIC SOCIETY they have a dinner everyear to celebrate the launching of the ship, they all dress up in period costume. did a lovely open bus tour of city. harland and worlf is virtually gone but theyt are saving parts to be turned into TITANIC QUARTER. anywayi shall call the company classic intl cruises tomorrow to see if the new brochure is out yet. still awaiting the confirmation they said it was on the way out but nothing yet. aklso doing a 2 nt cruise with them on ARION in august to amsterdam, after the ship visit. do the australian office have a website? then i could order a brrohure fromthem if its better than the british one.

take care

dave

[matilda]

Hi Dave, Sounds like Bristol was good. As for the Titanic Society, we have a Titanic restaurant in Melbourne, quite near where we live, in fact. The roof of the building has the Titanic funnels, and when you book for the meal it is for First Class or Steerage, and the dress is formal for First Class. Then the sinking of the Titanic is re-enacted throughout the meal. I'm not sure how flooded or cold one gets! We haven't been, but have heard about it.

Here is the email address for Classic International Cruises in Australia in case you want to email them and ask for a brochure. I don't know if it is better than what you can get over there, though. admin@classicintcruises.com

From the brochure I discovered that their new ship Athena will be calling in to Melbourne on its round world voyage, at around the same time as Funchal on its round Australia trip. That would be a good day to drive to Port Melbourne. We often drive over our Westgate Bridge and can look down from there to spot any cruise ships that are in. Port Melbourne is 30 mins drive for us.

Enough from me. Bye. Lesley

[seabourndt]

SEE WHAT THEY SAY, TRIED SAME WEBSITE WITH AU IT DID NOT WORK. I CALL OUR ONE AND SAID THEY WOULD SEND ONE, IT IS DUE SOON. AGAIN THEY SAID THEY WERE SENDIONG THE CONFIRMATION, THEY SAID THE SAME LAST WEEK, THANKS FIOR THE INFO ON YOUR TITANIC RESTAURANT, SOUNDS GREAT I'D LIKE TO TRY THAT. SEE IF I CAN GET A STOP IN MELBOURNE ON THE WAY TO nz.

my friend does not answer the phone? perhaps she does not live there anymore as its 2 years since her husband died.

dave

[matilda]

Hi Dave, I hope you get your confirmation soon from Classic International. They seem a bit laid back. As for the Titanic Restaurant, I think you would certainly enjoy it from what I have heard. They would be very booked out that week before Christmas, so once you have finalised your plans I wouldn't wait too long if you want to book. We could probably help you there by making the phone calls.

It is a shame your friend doesn't answer her phone. I hope you can contact her soon.

From Lesley

[seabourndt]

do you have the restaurants phone or email address, i certainly would like to go there. on looking at the itinarary you sent me, the extra ports were very nice but a bit surprised at SINGAPORE originally it was 17hrs now only 6hrs??? that does not make sense??? got the confirmation today so thats ok, i guess my friend is either on holiday or moved out. as her pasband died and might be too difficult to live there. but the phone just rings and rings. i'll keep trying. i'll have to see about the flights soon i guess i'll try trailfinders i used them before when i did a cruise before. as i don't wantb to fly over to australia, hope i can get a flight from perth to melbourne then to new zealand.

dave

[matilda]

Hi Dave, the web address for the Titanic Restaurant, Williamstown in Melbourne is http://www.titanic.com.au

Must dash, Lelsey

[seabourndt]

thanks lesley for the website, yes i can't beleive the short time in singapore can you?

got email from cic in ozzie sending their brochure out, i look forward to seeing it. gor 4 confirmations today 2 for each cruise.what i like about them ios the balance not due to early. god it is hot here!! good luck england v australia sorry lesley? and the brits against all blacks on saturday.hear its crap weather there. looking forwardc to all the cruises coming up, this year certainly is a great year, 5 cruises so far!!

dave

[matilda]

There must be some reason not to stay too long in Singapore. We had several days there a couple of years ago, and had quite a good look around, so are not too bothered about it. Well, we have had a good day here - the Aussies won the cricket (!) and our team won the local Aussie rules football match tonight, which was good because they are lying close to bottom of the ladder.

Getting late. Must go. Lesley

PS You're talking to the wrong person here, with Brits and All Blacks - don't follow it at all. Wimbledon, yes!

[seabourndt]

yes how could you beat us after we did so well in the other game. well done!!

who is your local team in ozzie rules?

sad that tim henman lost yesterdam think he has done the best he can time for andrew murray now!!

yes its such a shame about singapore, guess there must be a reasonnfor it. surprising to see such a lot of ports in asia that was damaged by the tsanami especially hearing how little they've done with the money! my friend missed seeing columbo so will be intersting to see that. singapore i only saw the port as i boarded the LEGEND OF THE SEAS THERE BEFORE MY LAST TRIP TO AUSTRALIA IN 2001. SPENT X MAS DAY IN SYDNEY ON THE BEACH WHICH WAS VERY STRANGE! so would have been nice to have stayedc longer there. found out there is aq titanic restaurant in belfast where i was last week, missed that. thanks for the website as soon as i know the date i hope to be in melbourne i shall contact them, looks a really good place that. written to trailfinders to see what flights are available. i look forward to seeing your posts. shame there is no one else on our cruise, maybe nearer the date. the cic are sending me their brochure better that our i'll bet

dave

[matilda]

Hi Dave, we barrack for the Bombers (Essendon) in the Ozzie Rules football, but they are not doing as well as usual this year.

Getting back to the Funchal cruise, I will be very interested to see Colombo as I was there as a teenager in 1958 with my family. We sailed to England on the Orion and back on the Orsova, with 8 months looking around UK and Europe in between. That was a good holiday! Looking forward to Egypt and Jordan, too.

Yes, Christmas Day on Bondi Beach would be very strange for you. We usually have a very 'family' day, but did spend it on the beach one year, when English rellies were visiting.

How are you going, Anne and Lea? Have you managed to get hold of a Funchal brochure yet?

Lesley

[first cruise]

Hi Everyone, have phoned for our brochure.....stilll waiting......can't wait to get it and show our relatives and brag....and brag....and brag....you know the drill, we are going on the Funchal!!!! Yay!!! Going on a cruise, oh boy, we can't wait! Matilda, Dave and Anne, wouldn't it be great if we all went to the Titanic Restaurant? That would be so good!!! Talk to you all soon, First Cruise - Lea.