Part 9 – Bangkok to Dubai

Internet has been really hard to get to of late, which is why it’s taken me so long to post an update. So I’ve finally just uploaded Part 8 – Hong Kong to Bangkok and now here is Part 9 – Bangkok to Dubai.
Hopefully at some point soon I can do Dubai to Athens.

Our first port after Bangkok was Singapore. Being there brought back lots of memories of the two days Chris and I spent there exactly 4 years ago on our honeymoon. This time I spent the day with Amanda and Rachael. We had a fun girlie day… an Englishman, a Canadian and an Australian… what a fun mix. First off we went across in the cable cars to Sentosa to see the pink dolphins and to the aquarium. The remainder of the day was spent shopping… naturally.

Next port was Kuala Lumpar. I did a ships tour that day and made a lovely new friend called John. John has cancer and has had since 2002, but is one the most fun loving, full of life men I’ve met. There was only one spare seat left on the bus when he got on and that was next to me so we became tour buddies for the day. Kuala Lumpar is a beautiful clean city. We had lots of photo stops, visited war memorials, went up the tower, had a fabulous lunch. All in all it was a fun day.

As we travelled to Mumbai we stopped off in the Andaman Islands at Port Blair. This was interesting. I’m not really sure how to explain except, dirty, congested and hot.

Four sea days later we arrived in Mumbai. Personally I was expecting it to be a lot hotter than it was. I had a great day in Mumbai. It’s certainly the biggest culture shock of all the places I’ve been to thus far. I did a ships tour in the morning that visited places such as the Prince of Wales Museum, Gandhi’s house and the Gateway to India. In the afternoon I meet up with some of my cast mates at the Taj Mahal Hotel before heading out for some authentic Indian Curry which was delicious, and then shopping for a Sari. My memories of Mumbai will be visiting the beautiful Taj Mahal Hotel only 4 months since the terror attacks there; gaunt dogs everywhere; dirt; black and yellow taxis and the multitudes of beggers of all ages and deformities…. particularly the small small children. Where ever you go people don’t leave you alone. You are constantly being hounded.

One of the main reasons we all wanted to buy a sari was for the Indian Deck Party that was coming up. We all had such fun dressing up. I’ve included some colourful photos. I so love a good deck party.

Other ship life events have been celebrating Rachael’s 25th birthday and dinner on the formal night with Lorraine which I’ve included a photo of. We also performed our second show for on here, Shake Rattle and Roll, which was a pleasing success.

We have been travelling in pirate waters, so the ships security is higher at the moment. We have water canons set up on deck and as I understand a British Military escort not far off from us that can be with us in 25 minutes in necessary. Not that we’ve been in any immediate danger by any means.

Eric and Olga (my in-laws) will be joining me in Athens soon.

Lots of love
Jess xx

Part 8 – Hong Kong to Bangkok

On Friday, March 20th, Chris, the Cast and I joined the Royal Princess in Hong Kong. Seeing as most of the cast and I left the Royal less than 5 months ago, it felt really surreal to join the ship so soon after and also to take over from the cast that had taken over from us last October. What’s nice is that there are so many familiar faces onboard here still and I’m settled back in my old cabin again.

After 6 full days in Hong Kong we welcomed two days at sea as the ship cruised to Vietnam. Chris and I enjoyed sunning ourselves by the pool, we went to the Steakhouse on the formal night with Dave, Loren and Amanda and were entertained by the shows of some of the visiting Guest Entertainers.

On Monday, we arrived in Ho Chi Min City where Chris and I went on a tour of Saigon by Tuk Tuk. This was a great experience. The city is full of motorbikes and bicycles and is just bustling! It was so hot, I really felt for the poor Vietnamese men that had to cycle their tuk tuks for some of the larger American passengers. Do you love Chris and my hats we’re wearing on the tuk tuks? It was so hot we decided it was going to be a necessity in the heat.

On the following sea day, Chris and I had a lovely dinner with Milly and Jim and their table mates in the dining room. Milly and Jim were passengers on here last year when Chris was on, so they really wanted to catch up with him while he was on here for a short time.

The next day we arrived in Cambodia. Chris and I had a really great day. First off we took the shuttle downtown to see what that was like before heading to the beach. At the beach we were bombarded by young kids working their charm to convince us to buy their goods and services. One kid named ‘Pio’ was quite the salesman so I couldn’t resist. He ended up spending most of the day with us. While enjoying the lounges on the beach I had the best vegetable curry and had a pedicure, manicure and massage from Sam… I believe that was his/her name for the day. Yeah, I say his/her name as I’d best describe them as a she-man. Sam was great doing a good job and also giving us a good deal… I liked him… her.

That night we performed our first production show for the Royal Princess. We did C’est Magnifique. It felt a little bit like an audition. As you know this is a world cruise and where as the passengers on the Tahitian had come to know us and like us, the passengers on here (the Royal) had come to know and like the previous cast. So, as you can imagine we’re ‘the replacements’ and we were totally being judged. We still got a good response and have since received many compliments on how much they enjoyed the show.

On our last sea day together Chris and I had a lovely dinner with Lorraine. You may recall from when I was on here last time that this ship has a Godmother. Lorraine has been looking forward to all of us coming back on board and wanted to have dinner with Chris before he got off. Even now that Chris has gone home she keeps asking me when he’s coming back and how sad she is that he’s gone. Dinner with Lorraine is always entertaining. I’ve included a picture of her with all of us in our finale costumes.

Very sadly our Bangkok day arrived and Chris left around lunchtime for the airport . The ship unfortunately docked about 90 mins or so away from Bangkok so as my day was dedicated to sad goodbyes, I ended up catching the shuttle to Pattaya, which was only 30 mins away in the afternoon to meet up with some of my cast mates for lunch and some time at the beach. I needed some company and someone to remind me I only have 6 weeks left til I’m home with Chris and our little Megsie Moo (for anyone new reading this, Megsie’s our Cocker Spaniel)

Our next port is Singapore. Will write again when I can.

Lots of love
Jess xx