Amsterdam 64 Day Cruise Sept 2007 ?

[rshepley]

Is anyone looking at this cruise? Have any of you been on a looooong cruise before and have any suggestions?

[KODI]

HI,

great to find your post.....I'm booked for this cruise as well ....this will be my first long cruise...am still trying to wrap my head around 64 days , I just know that this will be a trip of a life time..

regards KODI

[rshepley]

Glad to finnally have someone answer. So tell me about yourself(s). Mike and i are in our early 60s adn love to play bridge. Just got back from a Celebrity Constellation 15 day transatlantic. First time to try Celebrity. SO glad the 64 day cruise is Holland. I really like thier concierge lounge and the washing machines. Mike is a fisherman. We still work but we are in thepublic financial world adn office from home. When i first booked this i was leary of being gone 64 days, but this last 15 day trip was not long enough. :-) What ports are you looking forward to the most? Have you been to China before? Where do you live. We are in Houston.

[KODI]

HI,

Thanks for the reply....I live in Ontario...approx 1 hour west of Toronto...

The longest cruise to date was with Holland America...17 days of cruising the Greek Isles...(FABULOUS) ,

Will be leaving for a land tour of CZECH REP, HUNGARY, AUSTRIA and GERMANY....only 10 days left to go...getting very excited .

Have not been to the Far East...have you??? CHINA is nearing the top of the list....but SYDNEY has to be the highlight...as I will be meeting with friends that I made in SWITZERLAND....

REGARDS,
KODI

[wolverine49]

I just booked this cruise last week. I will be traveling alone as this is too long for my wife.

I have started looking up shore excursions other than from Holland America and I am finding soo many that I will probably have a great time planning for the next 11 months.

I am in late 60s, and live in Boynton Beach, Fl.

Harvey

[KODI]

HOW GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU.....I AGREE THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF CHOICES....BUT HALF THE FUN OF A TRIP IS ANTICIPATION ie: THE PLANNING, BUT TIME DOES LITTERLY FLY, I AM GOING TO EUROPE IN 5 DAYS, AND HAD BOOKED THE TRIP IN THE SPRING....WILL BE BACK ON OCTOBER 27TH, IT WILL BE GOOD TO GET ANOTHER TRAVELLERS OPINION ON THE LAND OPTIONS....WHAT ARE SOME AT THE TOP OF YOUR LIST??

KODI

[rshepley]

have not been to the far east so for us that will probably be the highlight of our planning, but I think i will enjoy the islands and Australia more. Your trip sounds wonderful. Enjoy. Love your area. Always seems so clean in that part of Canada

screwed up and hit start a new instead of reply... bet this confuses a lot of people.

[wolverine49]

Hi Kodi: some of my earliest shore excursion posibilities are:
Aomori--Golf at either Aomori Country Club or Aomori Royal Golf Club.

Tokyo--Panoramic Tokyo and/or Dynamic Tokyo from -www.act.jtbgmt.com

Kobe--kobe steak for lunch at either Wakkoku or Renga-tei.
Kobe--bullet train to Osaka
Kobe--Jewish Community Center of Kansai

Cheju--walking along Tap-dong Street.

Beijing--Great Wall & Ming Tombs from either www.hotelguidechina.com or
www.viator.com/tours/china or www.asiatravel.com/china/tour

Shanghai--lots of tours from www.hotelguidechina.com
Shanghai--www.viator.com/tours/china tour of Jewish Sites

Hong Kong--deluxe Hong Kong Island Tour from- www.discoverhongkong.com or www.viator.com/tours.Hong-Kong

Singapore--hop on hop off bus

Bali--Highlights of Bali from -wwwpassionasis.com

Cairns--Kuranda Classic Experience from-www.kurandasceinicrailway.com

Sydney--hop on --hop off bus

Noumea--sightseeing from-www.houseoftravel.com.nz

I would like to hear what other tours everyone has been looking into.

Harvey

[KODI]

HI HARVEY,

JUST GOT IN AND SAW YOUR E MAIL....HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO EXPLORE THE THREADS THAT YOU POSTED YET....HOW DO THE PRICES COMPARE TO THE ONES THAT ARE OFFERED BY H.A.?? DO THEY OFFER BETTER TOURS??

THE ONE DAY THAT I'M SURE OF IS SYDNEY....I MET THIS COUPLE IN SWITZERLAND AND THEY LIVE ABOUT AN HOURS DRIVE AWAY AND I WAS TOLD NOT TO PLAN ANYTHING!! THE WORLD JUST SEEMS TO BE GETTING SMALLER ALL THE TIME!

THERE WERE MANY ATTACTIONS THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT ARE ALSO ON MY LIST....DON'T KNOW IF IT APPEALS TO YOU BUT PERHAPS WE COULD CONSIDER SPLITTING COSTS...AS YOU KNOW...SINGLE SUPPL CAN BE A KILLER....JUST A THOUGHT...

KODI

[rshepley]

Wow
wolverine 49 you are on the ball. Do those tour companies you suggest all pick up at the port? Like your ideas in Kobe, adn wow you already found the hoho in Sydney. Haven't had time to even begin thinking of the shore excursions yet, but need to get my head ito it real soon. Does your wife jsut not like to travel that long?

[KODI]

HI TEXAS AND FLORIDA,

HARVEY YOU POST WAS GREAT....DID MANAGE TO PULL UP A COUPLE OF THE SITES, AND THREE OF THEM DO NOT PICK UP AT THE CRUISE LINE PIERS...THAT COULD PROVE TO BE A PROBLEM....

KODI

[wolverine49]

Hi everyone: you are right that some tours do not pick up at pier and require taking taxies or vans or other transportation to pick up locations.
However, some of the cost savings are really great.

HolAm --highlights of Tokyo is $ 155 and Panoramic Tokyo from www.act.jtbgmt is about $ 112.

HolAm Ming Tombs and Great Wall or Beijing & Forbidden City are $199/ea. The same tours from www.hotelchina.com and Viator.com run between $ 20-$50/each.

Best of Shanghai from HolAm is $ 112, while from www.hotelguidechina.com is $ 50.

HolAm tour of Best of Hong Kong is $179 and from www.discoverhongkong.com it is $40.

HolAm tour of Historic & scenic Bali is $ 99 while fromwww.passion asia.com it is $36/pp for 3-6 people.

These are just examples of the first few days of planning. I would like to have more people go on these tours and get more ideas and input on what are the best available options for us.

Some of the HolAm tours that sound good are: Borobudor by Motor Coach in Semarang and Kakadu National Park Adventure in Darwin.

There is also a 7 hour Samoa bus tour from www.hostelworld.com for $26.43

My wife would go but she doesn't want to miss grandchildren's 4th & 1st birthdays plus a few other issues.

If anyone wants to exchange email addresses or phone numbers, just let me know.

Harvey

[KODI]

hi harvey,

great work!!!! also found when on a cruise of the Greek Islands that if you can get a small group together that the savings are will worth it.

KODI

[KODI]

HI WOLVERINE 49, RSHEPLEY,

back home from my last adventure......had a great time....

have just viewed the cabin catagories.....and is it just my imagination or have some catagories that were closed now open again...any thoughts????


regards KODI

[KODI]

since some time has passed since the original post....are there any other long cruisers?????

THANKS KODI