49 minutes ago, kaygeee said:
In December 2024 we are going on a Holland America cruise starting from Singapore around Indonesia. We are stopping at SURABAYA, PROBOLINGGO JAVA, BENOA (DENPASAR) BALI, KOMODO ISLAND, LEMBAR LOMBOK, SEMARANG JAVA, and TANJUNG PRIOK JAKARTA. Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations on what to do/see? And any tour or driver recommendations? We are a group of six and would like to avoid the excursions organized by the cruise line. We would prefer to do our own excursions. Any fear of missing the boat on our return?
Hello @kaygeeeand welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards!
Thank youfor your new thread on theAsk s Cruise Questionforum.However, it is the forum forgeneralquestions regarding cruising. Your inquiry is off topic here.
The CruiseCritic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers andwe are so glad you found us! Please feel free to browse theCruise Critic Communitycategorieslist of the various forums.I suggest you put the page in your Favorites for quick & easy access in the future.Please read a fewthreads inthe different forumsto get a feel forwhateachforumis about.Make sure youread any pinned threads (aka stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will findvery importantinstructions or informationthere.
Please remember the following portion from theGuidelineswe all agreed to follow when registering for our free Cruise Critic memberships:
Browse Before You Post
Browse a topic first to see if your question has already been asked or answered by someone else. Also, many of the major cruise lines forums have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) topic that has been created by our members. Give that a try first. Browsing is your #1 best resource! Please post your messages in an appropriate topic so that you'll receive the best possible response. It is very time consuming to move misplaced messages that are in the wrong topics.
Anytime you need tostart a new thread on a forum, first make sure you are in the correct forum for your topic.Word your new thread titlein a way to helpthe members know exactly the information you seek.This greatly helps the membersbrowsing through the thread titlesand if theyknow the information,theywill post repliesto you.
Also, it is best to limit each inquiry to onlyonetopicsuch as one cruise line, one ship,one port of call, etc. and of course, on the correct forum.You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship, sail date or port in your inquiry message if that sort of information will help your fellow Cruise Critic members answer you.
To research your ports, you need to research the Ports of Call forums. That is where your fellow Cruise Critic members discuss the ports.The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have been therefrequent those forums and providefeedback there.Browse through the thread titleson the forums for your ports looking forthreadsof interest. You may find your fellow Cruise Critic membershave already posted questions andreceived answers that may be of interest to you.
Regarding your booked cruise, the specific Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for your ship, line, and sail date is theONLYplace on the Cruise Critic message boards where you and your fellow Roll Call thread members can post personal ads about sharing private tours, excursions or transportation with each other to save money. There is a "captive audience" there since you are all sailing together!Your fellow Roll Call thread members may have important information posted in your Roll Call thread.Especially thosethat may have sailedyour line, ship or itinerarybefore. Also, they may have already posted share requests that may interest you.Roll Callsare for Cruise Critic members on the same cruise. They get to know one another online before their cruise sothere will be all kinds of discussion in the Roll Call thread for their cruise!
Please readWhat is a Roll Call? Everything you Need to KnowandHow To: Create A New Roll Call.For more information about our famous Roll Calls, pleaseread theRoll CallsandOur Policy Regarding Facebook and Roll Callssections in theGuidelines.We also have the following Cruise Criticarticle you might enjoy:8 Reasons to Join a Cruise Critic Roll Call
And pleasedon't worry about any responsibilities in starting a Roll Call thread.Roll Calls belong to everyone; there is no designated leader or owner. It does not matter who started the thread. Just remember, there should be only one Roll Call thread for each sail date. FromHow To: Create A New Roll Call:
- We do request 1 roll call per sailing date. This can become a bit confusing when cruise lines sell sailings multiple ways. In those cases we prefer that each segment have its own roll call, instead of roll calls that span over multiple segments.
If you ever need technical help in regard tousing the Cruise Critic message board software, go to theNeed Help Using the Forums? Check Here!forum. You will see a large amount of "How to..." pinned threads toward the top of the forum's first page. Also, browse through the threads inthe forumlooking forthreadsof interest. Again, you may find your fellow Cruise Critic membershave already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.
So sorry this is so long, but Isincerely hope this will be helpful to someone new to posting on our message boards. We are glad to have youaboard Cruise Critic!
Happy sails,
Host Kat
