Bali Trip 2014: Makassar, Indonesia & Our Days @ Sea on Crystal Symphony

MAKASSAR, INDONESIA 

AND 

OUR DAYS AT SEA ON CRYSTAL SYMPHONY

I hope that you read my blogs to see what I like and don't like as well as to get insights into travel!  You are about to read about a port that I really disliked as well as a surprise to me.

Makassar, Indonesia

Makassar, Indonesia is a retched place on earth.  It is a port that Crystal Cruises should never stop at.  Makassar is the fourth largest city in Indonesia with over 1.3 million people.  It is as poverty stricken as our first port, Surabaya.  The only thing to experience here requires a ninety minute drive down terrible, littered roads to see a waterfall that was supposed to house hundreds of different butterflies.  We arrived to see a tiny waterfall, people selling mounted butterflies and a one room butterfly museum again with mounted butterflies.  The hundreds of different butterflies are no longer present near the waterfall because people have captured and killed them to be mounted and sold.  This is Makassar.

Batik textiles

Descriptions of Makassar said that the best Indonesian batik textiles would be found here but they were not.  Stores sold polyester copies and nothing else.  We were supposed to spend a full day touring Makassar and have lunch but after 4 hours we ended our journey early to escape back to the ship.  In retrospect, I would not recommend an itinerary that includes Indonesia.  Both Bali and Central Java are a must see in your lifetime but both should be seen on land as a pre or post cruise experience.

Wine Tasting on the Cruise

The next two days on the Crystal Harmony were “at sea” days.  Normally, I really don't care for back to back at sea days.  But here was my surprise ... I relaxed!!  The pace slowed down, I read my books.  I enjoyed getting to meet new friends.  Lunch was a simple salad outdoors with my favorite cocktail.  We enjoyed two wine tastings sponsored by Patz and Hall and SilverOak Wineries and had a chance to spend some time with Roo and Tim Duncan from Silver Oak.  Sometimes, I find it hard to just relax but I did for these past 2 days and really enjoyed myself.  

The service on Crystal is really what stands out.  They remember your name and what you like.  The staff makes eye contact and engages.  I had a wonderful experience that I would like to share with you.

St. Germain

I love a very simple drink made from mixing sparkling water, fresh ruby red grapefruit juice and a liqueur called St. Germain which is an elder flower liqueur.  After ordering it a few times and describing the recipe proportions, the waiter asked me what the drink was called.  I didn't know and he said that he would spend the next day or so coming up with a name.  An hour later, the same waiter returned with a piece of paper for me to look at.  The paper was titled "St. Marks" with the drink recipe listed.  He said that all of the bar staff would know the drink by name so I didn't have to describe it again.  How's that for engaging!

Tomorrow, we are off to Borneo, Malaysia followed by Brunei and Singapore.

Stay tuned!

The World is Our Playground!

Mari