The International Holiday / Travel Thread

raksrules said:
Will give you Titanic Vibes...
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As long as those vibes are not literal, and do not involve death, screaming, and general mayhem. :p

Jokes aside, looks pretty great!

Any dope on things we need to look for, and things we should/should not do. Any particularly memorable experiences (good and bad)?
 
fastapifastdisks said:
how was the hygenine situation wrt to covid especially in buffet areas ?
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Hygiene was very good. As in the staff and hospitality was very nice and they always wore masks and all even if the patrons did not. They constantly kept things clean and replenishing food and cutlery as it got empty. Sanitizer stations are everywhere
Just one thing, if anyone likes to have proper Indian tea, you will be disappointed as there is only that dip dip tea in hot water and everyday milk powder. Coffee too is black coffee where you can put milk powder and sugar. Basically how you get in US. The Tea and Coffee is available full day and is self serve. But yes during breakfast, we did have real tea from that big kettle we see at those cycle tea vendors at night, just need to add sugar.

For anyone planning to go, one pro tip, food is available on deck 10 and deck 4. Deck 10 is more like a food court in an IT company and since this is also the top deck where outside it is all open, most people are here and they head to this place for food (basically they don't bother going 6 floors down) and it gets super duper crowded. I suggest going to starlight restaurant on Deck 4 which is NOT paid. They serve exact same food in breakfast / lunch / dinner as deck 10 but is far far emptier and you can easily go for multiple helpings. The pics that you see of the 2 floor restaurant is starlight.
soulweaver said:
Any dope on things we need to look for, and things we should/should not do. Any particularly memorable experiences (good and bad)?
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Entire trip was memorable but the fact that we are in ocean with absolutely no land in any direction as far as sight goes is surreal. And going to front of deck (one of the pics is attached before) and seeing the ship cut through ocean and wind blowing on face is a great feeling. Spotting fishing boats so far from land, seeing some oil rigs. And the fact that being miles away from land on this city on water with all amenities and enjoying was great.
 
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fastapifastdisks said:
so is there a need to go to the a la carte or the food variety etc here is more than enough ? i have been wanting to go on this cruise for a long time now covid is the only thing of concern
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There is no Al Carte per se when it comes w.r.t food included in your ticket price. Only Buffet. But there is a restaurant named chopstix on board where you can pay and buy stuff and is having seating like fine dining. There is also an eatery called "International Grill" where you can order stuff with money full day and night. Pizza, Bhel and such.
But the people at starlight restaurant were accommodating even when it was only buffet. As in, for breakfast, only choice of paratha was aloo paratha and a family wanted plain so they got it made in kitchen and gave on table. I would like to reiterate that startlight is NOT paid restaurant, it does look like but it is just a place where you can have buffet food.

COVID is a concern for sure and do not expect most people to wear masks on ship. We went since myself and wife both are fully vaccinated but yes we did have 2 kids so doubts were there. Still went ahead with the trip. Moreover wife was fed up being at home and we cannot just go out as we don't have a car. We had planned (just talked as in) last year for Dubai or so but that didn't work out and this year also we were planning but seeing so many rules for Dubai, we didn't want to bother.

Btw for this cruise, even if you are vaccinated, you still need Negative RTPCR and report needs to be 48 hours before sailing. Sample collection can be upto 72 hours before sailing.


Btw all prices on board are in US Dollars. Rate on the day when I was there was 76 Rupees per dollar. You can load money to your access card and pay and I guess even if you don't have money loaded, you can charge to card and settle bill later. I didn't do all that so no idea.

Food variety is there for both veg folks and non veg and even jain. But yes most stuff is geared more towards veg folks obviously.
 
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raksrules said:
There is no Al Carte per se when it comes w.r.t food included in your ticket price. Only Buffet. But there is a restaurant named chopstix on board where you can pay and buy stuff and is having seating like fine dining. There is also an eatery called "International Grill" where you can order stuff with money full day and night. Pizza, Bhel and such.
But the people at starlight restaurant were accommodating even when it was only buffet. As in, for breakfast, only choice of paratha was aloo paratha and a family wanted plain so they got it made in kitchen and gave on table. I would like to reiterate that startlight is NOT paid restaurant, it does look like but it is just a place where you can have buffet food.

COVID is a concern for sure and do not expect most people to wear masks on ship. We went since myself and both are fully vaccinated but yes we did have 2 kids so doubts were there. Still went ahead with the trip. Moreover wife was fed up being at home and we cannot just go out as we don't have a car. We had planned (just talked as in) last year for Dubai or so but that didn't work out and this ear also we were planning but seeing so many rules for Dubai, we didn't want to bother.

Btw for this cruise, even if you are vaccinated, you still need Negative RTPCR and report needs to be 48 hours before sailing. Sample collection can be upto 72 hours before sailing.


Btw all prices on board are in US Dollars. Rate on the day when I was there was 76 Rupees per dollar. You can load money to your access card and pay and I guess even if you don't have money loaded, you can charge to card and settle bill later. I didn't do all that so no idea.

Food variety is there for both veg folks and non veg and even jain. But yes most stuff is geared more towards veg folks obviously.
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no masks on ship sounds scary,just like start of pandemic when many people on cruises got cov this can be scary. Everything else sounds very nice though,i want to go to lakshwadeep etc with gf :P
 
fastapifastdisks said:
no masks on ship sounds scary,just like start of pandemic when many people on cruises got cov this can be scary. Everything else sounds very nice though,i want to go to lakshwadeep etc with gf :p
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Do remember that onshore excursions at least at Lakshwadeep will be through them and you only get few hours from what I know.
 
raksrules said:
Do remember that onshore excursions at least at Lakshwadeep will be through them and you only get few hours from what I know.
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oh, that is okay we just want to spend some time and both of us thought the goa cruise might be short,lakshwadeep and a stop in kochi would mean more time at sea and the sea around lakshwadeep is very beautiful.og plan was to go to lakshwadeep but there isnt much to do there just similar islands plus covid rules currently suck as lot of redtape.
 
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