Today was the only tendered port of the cruise. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 AM. I had scheduled a private tour through Viator that was to start at 9:00 AM. I set up my GoPro for a timelapse video as entering the harbor was quite scenic. The ship anchored very near to…
This morning we arrived in Phu My, Vietnam. This is the port for Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), however since I have visited Saigon before I decided to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. The bus ride to the tunnels took us through Saigon, so the trip was over 3 hours each way. Once we…
Today was the second sea day of the cruise. I rested in the morning and woke up in time for lunch. The menu in the main dining room wasn’t too appealing, so I got some pizza and made myself a tuna salad sandwich in the buffet. I was lazy most of the day. I went…
This morning I arrived in Cambodia for the first time. The ship arrived on time, around 9:00 AM. I got the first shuttle bus to the port gate. We were instantly mobbed by locals with taxis looking for passengers. I quickly found my tour guide and was told there were 4 more passengers on my…
Another early morning. The meeting time for my tour was 7:00 AM. The tour left quickly and the bus was on the way to Bangkok at 7:20 AM. I met a couple who also planned to go to the Grand Palace. I got some cash from the ATM and we attempted to get a cab…
Today was the first of 3 sea days. Unfortunately I had to wake up early. The Platinum latitudes ‘behind the scenes’ tour meeting time was at 8:50 am. The tour was very good. We started in the laundry, then visited the dressing rooms and finally one of the main dining room galleys. I was still…
Gardens by the Bay and first day aboard the NCL Jade
Today will be a short day. My first flight departs at 0615 for Los Angeles [LAX] where I will board a flight to Japan that departs at 1030. I won’t get off that plane until after 3pm tomorrow, but it’s only about 10 hours from LAX to HND [Tokyo]. I left the house at around…
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to business class on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo before checking in for the flight. Iwasn’t surprised about the upgrade – yesterday they had seven available seats in business class on the flight, just surprised it cleared before checking in. I have the…
The ship sails in 5 days. My flight leaves in two. I only booked the cruise on New Year’s Eve. From the NCL app: I’m taking advantage of my status on American Airlines and hope to get upgraded most of the way there and back. I’ve been confirmed in business class on the return from…
Today I booked a Hawaiian island cruise. This cruise is special because it only visits Hawaii and no foreign port. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America is a US registered ship. Most other cruise ships are registered in foreign countries and are required to visit a foreign port due to the ‘Passenger Services Act’ which…
This morning we took a short bus tour and made a photo stop at a windmill. The bus tour took us around quite a bit of the city. After the bus tour we took an hour long canal boat tour. We decided not to go back to the ship, but go to Keukenhof Gardens from…
This morning we arrived in Koln in Germany, our last stop before arriving in Amsterdam. Our waking your started at 09:00. We walked around the area near the river and ended at the cathedral. I went into the cathedral, for some reason I think it was closed last time I visited. It’s very large and…
We were delayed a couple of hours this morning because of a malfunctioning lock. They did a good job getting our schedule re-arranged. This morning we sailed through the Rhine Gorge, a very scenic part of the Rhine River. It should be on everyone’s bucket list. After we arrived in Koblenz we had a nice…
This morning after breakfast I was setting up my GoPro on the back of the ship and the door was quite difficult to open on the deck. Only after setting it up did I notice the other passengers looking at damage on the ship. Apparently in the early morning the ship hit a bridge. Mostly…
Last night the ship was held up for quite a while at a lock that malfunctioned (lock wouldn’t open). As soon as we arrived in Wurzburg (at about our scheduled time) we left the ship on buses that took us to the Wurzburg Residence. The ship continued on through the Wurzburg lock and docked in…
We arrived in Bamberg early this morning, but since it was a 30 minute walk from the dock I waited until they took us by bus to the city. After breakfast we departed for the walking tour at 09:00. The cathedral was in the middle of Good Friday service. I popped in briefly, but it…
Today was another afternoon arrival. We sailed through a few locks and even were inside a viaduct (bridge for water) over a road. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 13:00, but we arrived at 11:30, before lunch. After lunch we went to Nuremberg. The bus took us to the Nazi parade grounds and the…
This morning we had a (scheduled) late arrival in Regensburg, Germany. Before arriving we passed by Valhalla. Our guided tour started at 10:30. The tour took us around the old town of Regensburg. There was a large Roman army camp in town and the guide showed us what was left of the main gate. The…
This morning the ship arrived briefly in Aschach, Austria. I walked around a few minutes before getting on a long bus ride to Salzburg, Austria. The bus left at 08:30 and arrived in Salzburg at around 11:00. We took a brief stop along the way for some photos and the bathroom. Once arriving in Salzburg…