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
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