ATW Day 47 - Bali Baby

Wednesday we arrived in Bali.  It's always an interesting sail in.

Since this was our 4th time in Bali and we've done most of the tourist highlights, we decided to book a room for an overnight stay at a resort.  The Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is along the oceanfront in this photo.

Getting to hotel from the port proved to be a bit of a challenge.  I downloaded the GRAB app (the local Uber equivalent) and booked a ride that was supposed to be just a few bucks.  The app directed us to walk outside of the port.  Following the instructions, we arrived at the driver's car only to find no driver there.  I sent him a message telling him we were at his car and, eventually, he phoned me.  I explained again that we were at the car and he ended the call and never showed up.  So, we got a ride from another driver who was right there and paid him a whopping $11 to take us to the hotel.

The hotel was just great.  I had splurged and gotten an Oceanview suite.

The grounds were also quite nice.

There is a spa in the hotel.  Being such an upscale property, I figured that treatments at the spa would be a bit expensive.  Wrong!  That afternoon I got a 1 hour massage and Linda got a 1 hour massage plus a 1 hour facial.  That splurge cost us $82!

The hotel has 2 restaurants for dinner - 1 Japanese and 1 Italian.  We have those types of restaurants on the ship so we decided to go across the street to Coco Bistro which serves Indonesian food.  We had grilled snapper and gado gado (did I ever mention that Linda must have gado gado when we are in Bali?).  It was another splurge.  Including  2 drinks, the bill came to $32!

This morning, we took a short walk along the street in front of the hotel.

We then went and lounged by the beach and swam in the pool for about an hour.

It was then time to check out and head back to the ship, but Linda needed another gado gado before we left.  That lunch cost us another whopping $15.  You have to love how inexpensive Bali is!

Our overnight stay in Bali proved to be a perfect break from the ATW cruise.  Great for an attitude adjustment.

Tonight we sail to Surabaya, Indonesia before a day at sea and then our arrival in Singapore which will mark the end of this segment.  Then it will be off to Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and points beyond.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

ATW Day 45 - Watch Out for Dragons!

Today, Tuesday, we are anchored off of Komodo, Indonesia, home of the Komodo Dragons.  More on that later.  After a sea day on Sunday, we were in Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia.  It was our first time at that port.  After looking over the offered excursions, we opted to just go into the city itself.  So we waited on line for the shuttle bus.

In the city of Kupang (and I use the term city loosely), we walked around for somewhat less than an hour before taking the bus back to the ship.  Not much to see or do there other than watching some fishermen, a man swimming in the not so appealing (or should I say filthy) water, and a mounted porcupine fish.

After that, we wondered if we should have done an excursion.  But we talked to a couple who did one and they told us that it was not very good.  So, in conclusion, I would say that Kupang should not be on your bucket list of places to visit!

Later in the day on the ship we did get another rainbow to add to our collection.

Now, let's talk about the shower on our veranda.  There is a drain hole over the railing that floods part of the veranda whenever it rains hard, which has been often on this cruise.  I mentioned it to the GM, Evan, and they spent a couple of days trying to figure out where the water that drains through there comes from.  It is a unique feature of our veranda - none other like it on the ship!  While we were out yesterday, they inserted a probe in the hole and decided that they could plug it up.  So, in the afternoon, that's what they did.

We were hoping for a good shower to test it out, but all we got was a few sprinkles (enough for the aforementioned rainbow) and a nice sunset.  

Now we are sitting on the veranda (hoping for that good rain storm) watching the tenders go back and forth to the island.  We have opted not to go on excursion since we've done it once and it's therefore checked off of our bucket list.  Due to local restrictions, you can't go ashore unless on an organized tour.

With our high powered binoculars, I was able to spot a Komodo Dragon sunning herself on the beach!

And now, Dear Reader, if you will allow me, I'd like to muse a bit about the Around The World experience.  As you know, we have done many Oceania cruises but this is the first "full" ATW that we have done.  We did the last 54 days of their first around the world cruise 11 years ago and came away from that with reservations about doing the full one.  At the time, they used a smaller ship and then there was the attitude of the ATW guests towards what they called seggies - those who came on for just a segment of the cruise.  When they announced that the 2026 ATW would be aboard Vista and that there was a 120 day option offered, we decided to do it.  After about a week on board, I had the feeling that the dynamics among the guests was definitely different from what we were used to.  There are 197 day people, 180 day people, then the lowly 120 day people and, of course, the lowliest seggies.  We have heard that some "full" ATW folks complained to the GM that us 120 day people should not have been given the same amenities (the ATW vest, the ATW cap, and the ATW tote bag) as they received.  How petty is that!  Well, after a while I decided to overlook that stuff and enjoy the cruise.  Then, a couple of evenings ago, we had dinner with the GM Evan, his lovely wife Samantha, and 3 other people - a couple and a solo traveler who were "full" ATWs.  To get right to the point, some of the comments that they made were truly disturbing to us.  The solo traveler, who is a first time Oceania guest, complained that he didn't like the seggies because he didn't like them asking him the typical questions that guests ask each other!  Huh?  And then he suggested to Evan that there be a dinner for just the 197 day people.  I guess the rest of us don't deserve it.  The other couple said that the future ATWs should be on the smaller ship so that they would have it exclusively for ATW people - none of the seggie riffraff!  And they also suggested that the entire crew stay on for the full 6 months.  That would be a real stretch for much of the crew.  So, Linda and I came away from that dinner with the agreement that there will be no more ATWs for us!  We'll just enjoy Oceania as we always have.

So there's my somewhat lengthy muse.  Thanks for reading it.  Next time, I might throw in my musing about old age.

Tomorrow, we return to Bali.  The ship will be there overnight and we decided to do an overnight stay, on our own, at a resort not far from the port.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

ATW Day 42 Au Revoir Australia

Today, Saturday, we are in Darwin, Australia.  Before I catch up on the past 3 days, I have to show you the incredible rainbow during this morning's sail in.  It was definitely the best of the many good rainbows we've had.

Now, back to the past.  We had 2 sea days after we left Cairns.  The first of those 2 days took us around the northern tip of Australia and through the Torres Strait.

The second day was fairly quiet except for the good rain storms we sailed through.  That has been typical on this part of the cruise.

I can't resist going back to this morning's sunrise and rainbow!

We docked in Darwin at noon and Linda and I went off to have our last barramundi fish and chips.

After that, we walked up and up to Bicentennial Park.

After that, we walked into the CBD to pick up a couple of provisions.  A walk back to the ship ended our day just in time  - the afternoon rain storm hit shortly after we got back.  Tonight, we are in Port until 11:00 pm.  Weather permitting we'll have time for another walk before a sea day that will bring us to Kupang West Timor, Indonesia.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry