Well the accommodation is 1st class, lets look at the boat.
Choosing where to eat is the big decision of the day as there are many restaurants to choose from, 10 in fact. Serving from Pizza to Tournedos Rossini, Burger to Lobster Thermador, Egg & Chips to Rack of Lamb and everything in between. Just in case you get hungry there is a 24 hour hot & cold buffet, afternoon tea restaurant and a midnight eating house and to top it all there is an English pub serving pie & chips and fish & chips . There is also atrium coffee lounge serving nibbles. We spent our in-between hours here chatting and drinking hot choc! Hot choc? I here you say, but we don't care. It’s so comfortable here and the staff are excellent.
To add to the atmosphere a quartet play quietly at the base of the atrium.
Mary liked it here.
Just a few of the many dining rooms.
However, one thing the ship doesn't have? Kippers? I had said to Mary, I will take you on this cruise providing I can have Kippers for breakfast each morning and Lobster for dinner each night.. At dinner one night I related this conversation to half a dozen guests who had joined us, adding that I had not seen a Kipper yet? I had no sooner got the words out when the Maître d Hotel appeared and asked if everyone was happy. One of the guests complained jokingly, where are all the breakfast Kippers? No more to-do, we were asked to attend the International Dining room at 9AM the following morning, We dutifully attended but there were no Kippers, the Maître d Hotel explained most apologetically “not a Kipper to be found on-board” I asked if he had plank? he said he was not familiar with plank and asked what is was. After explaining it was a piece of wood which you fastened to the side of the boat! He guessed the rest. We never saw him again?.
There are 4 swimming pools, 2 Jacuzzis plus a further two outside on the upper rear deck
Diamond Princess boasts a modern theatre seating 750 and has sound and lighting equal to any Broadway or West End Theatre having cost over a million Dollars. The entertainment is excellent with music, singing and dancing of West End quality.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the extravaganzas.
Wheelers Bar, The Piano Bar, Explorers Lounge, Club Fusion, and a large Casino make up other entertainment venues. Quizzes, Games, and, Competitions, one of which was “name that tune”, and was won along with a couple we sat with in the Piano Bar
Finally I must mention the corridors to the cabins (exercise is obligatory). Stood amidships it is hard to see the end of the corridors. Guess what? We occupied the last aft cabin.
Looking Aft Looking Forward
It wasn’t long before we were on our way.
6th Dec was a formal evening, we got dressed up like dogs dinners. The Captain’s Champagne Waterfall Party was the occasion.
Vietnam. We sailed from Singapore overnight on the 5th, not that you would know, there was no vibration and the ships stabilizer systems worked perfectly, the noise levels, apart from the air con, is virtually non existence. Our first port of call was was on the morning of the 7th at Phu My Vietnam. We passed interesting islands before anchoring off and being ferried to the harbour.
The estuary is very busy. Lots of these small displacement vessels seem to be carrying the bulk of cargo up stream.
We waited awhile to have our pass checked before landing on foreign soil, (guess this fishing vessel was in a hurry to land his catch) Then after finding a loo we nosed around the market where you have to bargain for goods, Mary bought a bracelet which eventually was purchased for about 10% of its asking price.
After a long discussion with a fellow passenger, Mary came away, pleased to have a bargain, despite the knowledge that the bracelet was manufactured in China..
Never seen this fruit before?
When leaving the market we were continually pestered by street sellers, selling tee shirts, 2 for 10 dollars was their opening gambit then 3, they followed me to the coach but I refused to buy.
I thought I'd got away as I sat on the coach. 
Next, one of the more enterprising, sat on the shoulders of his colleague and managed to slide my window open from the outside, he through 3 tee shirts onto my lap and asked for 9 dollars, I refused, he then through another on to my lap and asked for 8 dollars, I gave in! Guess the sleeves will have fallen off before I get home. One thing for sure, I will not be wearing one on the boat, as at buffet time that evening , half the men were wearing their bargains, looked like an army of brown & white striped invaders had taken over the ship.
We next visited a needle workshop. This lady entertained us by playing on this stringed instrument as we looked on as young girls attended needlework. The pictures they created are fantastic, here are just a few.
The girls knelt on cushions as they worked, after 30 minutes they were relieved and another girl would take over, work on these tapestries never stopped.
(The quality? almost as good as someone I know! (just in case she reads this)
We were taken to the ex President's home, now a museum, an interesting stop but not all that exciting.
His regalia now stands idle.
9th, 10th and 11th Dec at sea, crossing the Equator on the 10th.
The ship took on an air of excitement as we approached the Equator. The “Pollywogs” who have never crossed the Equator have to go through a ceremony to become “Shellbacks”. The whole ships company and passengers congregate at the Neptune Pool. We have to kiss a smelly raw fish get covered in gunge, then, thrown into the pool we imerge as Shellbacks. Several hours later and worst for wear, we are in urgent need of a shower.The photos tell it all.
P.S. Mary and I chickened out.
An afternoon of great fun.
Bali.12th. After the 3 days at sea, another trip. Again we sailed through some interesting waters before entering the Estuary at Benoa Bali. We anchored off quite away, and was ferried off at the rate of 100 per lifeboat, 1850 people in all but surprisingly things went very smoothly considering the logistics involved, passports, immigration, and enough red tape to sink the lot of us.
The landings were very nice, greeted as we were with music and dancers, dressed traditionally.
After a short coach drive we all piled off to see an art display. Some of the pictures were enormous, can’t imagine anyone taking one home.
Well that’s enough of that, tourist junk mostly. Why do these operators think we travel half way around the world just to buy tack? I want to see people, places, villages, historical buildings, natural landscape that typifies the region, certainly not crude, so called art.
The trip was expensive and we wondered if we should have gone ashore (free of charge) and hired a taxi and done our own thing. We would have seen some of Bali rather than from a tourist’s perspective. Mary was a little disappointed as she had visions of a tranquil place with sandy beaches. We have booked other trips so it’s too late to have regrets on this score.
Well someone must have heard me? We were off to see a religious Hindu village. No bric-a-brac, just a quiet community living their natural way, selling nothing, begging nothing, not looking for hand-outs. You feared to give in case you offended, but then there was no sign of hardship, a contented people.
You climbed these steps to a long drive with sacred temples either side. Mary couldn't make it but here are some photos.
As we started to return to the bus there was a sudden thunderstorm which we could not avoid. Before you could blink women from all the small houses came out with decorated umbrellas for all, bowing gracefully they retuned to their houses before you could thank them.
The bus driver collected them and returned them to the village later.
The houses are very small, one family room, and a washroom, the parents sleep in the outside kitchen (two walls and a roof) the children sleep in the family room. The weather as kind to them, rich soil provides food for all who share their crops with one another. No cars, motor bikes, not even push bikes. the only vehicles with wheels are hand carts to fetch and carry from the fields. Fresh Grapefruits and Mangos were everywhere you looked.
These tiny decorated displays were everywhere, placed on the ground with incense burning, something to do with bad spirits, I didn’t hang around!
Lunchtime, back on the bus. We were driven to the top of a extinct volcano for a free for all hot and cold buffet. Poorly organised, not enough chairs and queues starting at each end and colliding in the middle and not enough room to turn round. But the food was good and the views were excellent.
After we were watered and fed we spent the hole afternoon driving around to a running commentary from a very amusing host. Whilst waiting to board our transport back to ship we were once again entertained by drummers and dancers. All in all a very good day.
We waited some time before boarding the ferry boat back to the ship. What a long day, up at 5am back for 5.30 just in time to see Princess lift her anchor. The next port of call was an overnight sail to Nha Trang, arriving on the morning of the 8th. Nothing to report we were too knackered to disembark.
…..Part 3 to follow.
