In 2018 we decided to sign up for a cruise we had been considering for at least 3 years. There have usually been a couple each winter in North American terms (Dec- Apr.) - either starting in Bali and ending in Sydney or vice- versa. We thought that taking a newer ship and covering Christmas and New Year Holidays would be a nice way to start the winter by getting away from the shortest days of the year and some cold weather. The Cruise portion started Dec. 21 in Bali. We wanted to see some of Bali and also wanted to see some of the very old Hindu and Buddhist temples near Yogyakarta ( we learned it is pronounced "JoogJakarta" or "jogja" for short. We made arranged with "Asian Trails" who have offices in Bali and Java- we worked with them in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam 3 times in the past and have been happy with them. We arranged our flights- partly using frequent flyer miles to get from New York to Bali via Hong Kong in business class on Cathay Pacific. The seat went flat for sleeping on the long trip to Hong Kong, so this was good. We were met in Bali after going through their somewhat painful immigration process. There do not require a visa for stays less than 30 days but we had to show a plane ticket of ship confirmation to get in and the lines were LONG. We later learned that since were are over 65, we could have taken a shorter line, but this was not at all clear at the airport.
Our driver and guide were waiting for us at the exit of the airport and we took the somewhat long ride to our hotel. Janet picked "Amandari"- a beautiful place. December is rainy season and "off season" in Bali, so the hotel was fairly empty- which made it even better! A bit more on this later.
Our plan was to spend 3 nights in Bali, then fly to Jogja for 4 nights, then back to Amadari for 1 night before transfering to our ship on Dec. 21. This let us leave heavy bags at Amandari and just take our smaller bags with 4 days worth of cloths. On transfer to our ship on 12/21 we stayed in port overnight and had arranged for a car and driver the next day. Jim used this while Janet took a Balinese cooking class. The flights in Indonesia on Garuda Air were fine. We paid for business class to get better leg room.
The Ship was the "Silver Muse". It is only about a year old, holds about 600 people and was full. We sailed from Bali on Dec. 22 and headed for Komodo to see the dragons and then sailed south to Darwin, Australia. Northern Australia gets quite a lot of rain in the wet season. We decided to sign up for a 4 night inland journey- off the ship for 4 nights- 3 of which were days at sea as the ship went from Darwin to Cairns. We stayed one night in a hotel in Darwin after spending the day visiting Litchfield National Park and some sights around Darwin. We flew early the next morning to Alice Springs in the middle of the country where it is very hot and dry. We did not go to Uluru- Ayers Rock, but s Swiss Family of 6 made special arrangements to go there while 10 others of us stayed around Alice Springs. We stayed 2 nights in Alice then flew to Cairns. The ship was not in yet so we stayed in a nice hotel one night and saw some sights that day. The next day we did more sighte=seeing, but one scenic railroad was closed due to rock slides 10 days before. It rained heavily in Cairns too- very heavy- The next day we saw more sights (in the rain) and then re- joined the ship on New Years Eve.
Other ports wer Townsville, the Whitsunday Islands, Brisbane and then ending in Sydney. We had 3 night scheduled in Sydney and were to fly to Hawaii for 3 nights to break up the trip home, but when we arrived in Sydney we got clear word that Ziggy was not doing well, so we spent a couple hours rearranging, flights and hotels to arrive home on Friday Jan. 11 instead of the 13th, so we go to see Ziggy and see that he was in bad shape.
The 12- 16 hour time difference in addition the the climate difference has made it difficult to adjust to being back in New York State where it has been cold the past week and we expect heavy snow tomorrow too!
More details and some photos to follow in next sections.
Our driver and guide were waiting for us at the exit of the airport and we took the somewhat long ride to our hotel. Janet picked "Amandari"- a beautiful place. December is rainy season and "off season" in Bali, so the hotel was fairly empty- which made it even better! A bit more on this later.
Our plan was to spend 3 nights in Bali, then fly to Jogja for 4 nights, then back to Amadari for 1 night before transfering to our ship on Dec. 21. This let us leave heavy bags at Amandari and just take our smaller bags with 4 days worth of cloths. On transfer to our ship on 12/21 we stayed in port overnight and had arranged for a car and driver the next day. Jim used this while Janet took a Balinese cooking class. The flights in Indonesia on Garuda Air were fine. We paid for business class to get better leg room.
The Ship was the "Silver Muse". It is only about a year old, holds about 600 people and was full. We sailed from Bali on Dec. 22 and headed for Komodo to see the dragons and then sailed south to Darwin, Australia. Northern Australia gets quite a lot of rain in the wet season. We decided to sign up for a 4 night inland journey- off the ship for 4 nights- 3 of which were days at sea as the ship went from Darwin to Cairns. We stayed one night in a hotel in Darwin after spending the day visiting Litchfield National Park and some sights around Darwin. We flew early the next morning to Alice Springs in the middle of the country where it is very hot and dry. We did not go to Uluru- Ayers Rock, but s Swiss Family of 6 made special arrangements to go there while 10 others of us stayed around Alice Springs. We stayed 2 nights in Alice then flew to Cairns. The ship was not in yet so we stayed in a nice hotel one night and saw some sights that day. The next day we did more sighte=seeing, but one scenic railroad was closed due to rock slides 10 days before. It rained heavily in Cairns too- very heavy- The next day we saw more sights (in the rain) and then re- joined the ship on New Years Eve.
Other ports wer Townsville, the Whitsunday Islands, Brisbane and then ending in Sydney. We had 3 night scheduled in Sydney and were to fly to Hawaii for 3 nights to break up the trip home, but when we arrived in Sydney we got clear word that Ziggy was not doing well, so we spent a couple hours rearranging, flights and hotels to arrive home on Friday Jan. 11 instead of the 13th, so we go to see Ziggy and see that he was in bad shape.
The 12- 16 hour time difference in addition the the climate difference has made it difficult to adjust to being back in New York State where it has been cold the past week and we expect heavy snow tomorrow too!
More details and some photos to follow in next sections.
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