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SINGAPORE /BALI TOUR
I think it is possible that this tour was new just before the Pandemic hit, so it may never have gone live until now. If I’m wrong and there are forum readers who have taken the tour, I’d really love to get some feedback, thoughts, impressions reviews, drawbacks before we go ourselves in a few weeks.
The tour has been modifying from the original published itinerary due to the Pandemic with ongoing closures, reduced flight choices etc but I’m confident it is going ot be a spectator trip! Thank you
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I keep watching to see if the August tours happen…I hope you will write up a review when you go this fall, British. We are booked in May of 2023…
I am leaving for this Singapore / Bali trip on August 15 - tour to start on August 20. I have my fingers crossed that this (sold out) trip will run smoothly. I just returned from the Week in Scotland trip and that was well organized but I think it is easier to organize these trips in Europe than in Indonesia. I am sure we will have some interesting adventures.
Have a great time!
Nancy, maybe by the time you go the tour may revert back to it’s original format.
We had the 2020 & 2022 both cancelled. We’re trying again on the June 2023 trip.
I'll be doing the September 3rd tour, they have made some changes to the original itinerary but I'm sure it will still be spectacular, I hope
How big are the changes…the Komodo dragons are the #2 reason we picked this trip. #1 is Singapore💞 Would like to know the airlines y’all are using…it’s a challenge to fly there…and pricey!
Hello all. We have also been trying for this trip since 2020. There is quite a history on the Komodo dragons. After Tauck first organized the tour, Komodo island was closed to tourists and we were supposed to go to another island to see them instead.Then the Pandemic happened. As of now, Komodo island is open again and the alternate has closed along with the hotel we were going to stay at. This has resulted in different flights and hotel stays too. Some of the temples remain closed or have restricted openimg times.
I’ve read and seen that Bali businesses have been badly affected and many have permanently closed. I am not sure how this will affect our tour but we are not willing to wait any longer to take this tour, there are many other places that we thought we would have been to by this point in our lives, wanting to do long haul and more adventurous tours sooner than later,….more Europe can wait. Top of our list was to see the wild Komodo dragons….I stress wild because they even had one at the aquarium in Vegas when we went earlier in the year! And like you Nancy, Singapore, though we were there for 24 hours years ago. Yes, want to have a Singapore Sling at Raffles!
I’m hoping that the Brits are flocking to Bali again right now and cause businesses to reopen….you”ve got to hand it to Brits, they love to vacation!
We are hoping the Nighttime Zoo is open, it was a big hit with our family all those years ago.
There is a wonderful documentary on Komodo dragons, it was probably on PBS or a BBC one. I recommend googling it to see i f you can find it before you go.
We are flying Qatar, by far our favorites airline these days. We will be using it for the new Arabia cruise trip in January too.
British HI!
I'm doing this trip next Oct. 2023. Could you please, tell me what are the changes between 2022-23 , I looked at both and I don't see any.. I only compared the first 6 days.. and got dizzy from the back & forth.. :0 or maybe it's the Crumbl cookie I just ate.
when you get a chance let me know. Have a great weekend
Mil
This is the letter we received
With your Tauck exploration of Singapore, Indonesia and Bali drawing steadily nearer, we’re certain your
thoughts are turning more frequently to your upcoming adventure. A truly enriching and memorable
experience awaits, and we are looking forward to hosting you on your journey!
We are contacting you today to share news of a few modest updates and enhancements to your 14-day
itinerary:
Day 4: Direct flights from Singapore to Yogyakarta, Java, are no longer available, and we will now
be connecting to Yogyakarta through Jakarta. With this added transit time and our later arrival into
Yogyakarta, we will be unable to visit the Taman Sari Water Palace as originally planned.
Day 5: Rather than visiting the Borobudur Temple at sunrise today,we will allow you and your
fellow travelers to sleep in a bit before visiting the temple after breakfast.
Day 6: Because the ballet noted in our brochures and on our website is no longer performed on
Thursdays (our only day in the area), we will be unable to include the ballet in today’s activities.
Days 7 – 9: With our original hotel for these evenings (the Tanah Gajah) unable to host your group
as planned we have made arrangements for you to instead enjoy accommodations at the Four
Seasons Resort Bali At Sayan.
Day 11: Rather than visiting Rinca Islandas scheduled (the island is currently closed to visitors),
we will instead travel to Komodo Island to view the area’s famed Komodo dragons.
Perhaps the most significant of these changes is your three-night stay at the Four Seasons Resort Bali At
Sayan – which we’re certain you’ll enjoy! The resort has hosted celebrities ranging from Julia Roberts to
former president Barak Obama and his family, and it has won high praise from publications ranging from
the London Telegraph (“t he hotel's architecture beautifully echoes the curves and waves of the
surrounding landscape”) to Conde Nast Traveler magazine (“the décor, a mix of traditional and modern
Balinese styles with lots of teak furniture and hand-loomed fabric, conjures a distinct sense of place... you
feel like you’re in Bali, not at a generic luxury hotel”). The hotel’s staff has also scored high marks for
being “remarkably knowledgeable and helpful” (Conde Nast Traveler) and because “e veryone seems to
know what you need before you even know yourself” (the Telegraph).
The above changes will be reflected in the electronic Personal Travel Documents you’ll receive prior to
your departure, and of course, your Tauck Director will be happy to answer any questions you might have
throughout your tour.
I’ve just looked at the tour page and the 2022 date we are doing is obviously very different from what is written there. So whether that is what everyone else is going to experience, I have no idea….we are still smarting having found out that our just completed Alaska tour and maybe one other was very different than what we paid for, everyone else was experiencing the original tour both before and after our departed date and yet that was never explained to us, neither were we offered a different date. I suggest you check very carefully when you book….because when you call, even the tour agent will only read off the printed itineraries, which clearly may not be correct.
Thank you for sharing the letter and the changes British. I didn’t have a document to compare…the temples at sunrise would have been special but not a deal breaker. I’m just joyful that this tour is days away for the first group. The tour truly is a special one…
I did a different tour with another company but stayed at the Four Seasons Bali at Sayan. The property was quite something special--you are in for a treat there. I, too, would be very miffed if my tour deviated significantly from what I originally signed up for. Best of Ireland Small Group for me in September and Kenya/Tanzania in October. So far it seems as those two tours are pretty much as advertised and I am really looking forward to getting back to traveling--will be my first time since November 2019 when I did the Bali/Singapore trip.
British Thanks for the info,
One question is Tauck keeping the last Four Seasons Bali Jinbaran Bay-Denpasar as is.. day 12-13? if they change that one too, the trip is a total disaster.-
Bad enough leaving out the sunset visit, for an early morning after breakfast one... but I can understand that taking the Tauck clientele in the dark to climb 4 floors up to the top is not very safe or easy...
The Taman Sari Water Palace in my opinion was a waste of time... now Tauck could arrange a local dance and any of the Four Seasons , so there is a change to see something cultural ..
Now my suggestion for Tauck is add some temples like:
or a visit to Lake Bratan that it's so iconic...
My opinion... I always thought and had the feeling that this tour was missing spice/flavor ... the hotels are great but not enough local visits- very calm pace... I'm still going to go, of course ; but it needs more flavor, more local/ cultural visits.
I will do 2 pre nights in Singapore.. girl needs city nightlife, shopping, entertainment.
Please let me know about the Denpasar Four Seasons...
Thanks
Yes Mil, I’ve read about that hotel and seen the photos and it looks lovely. My only argument as usual, is that when I go on a ‘tour,’ I go to see the sites and yes the culture, if all I am interested in is the food, restaurants and hotels, then why bother going on a tour? Example, when I used another tour company for Costa Rica, some of the hotels were really poor, but we saw more of Costa Rica in that one trip than we had on four different ones with Tauck over the years. And, when you stay in fancy hotels with Tauck, there is little time to enjoy the facilities.
Since the Pandemic began, if we travel independently now and are staying in one location, we tend to stay in the better hotels so we can enjoy the facilities and get the service. If there’s one thing I like about the better hotels, they are still coming in to make your bed. I know that is no big deal to some people, but when you spent half your career caring for other people and making their beds and straightening their pillows as well as doing it at home, it’s nice to have a break. Our most recent tour, the lodges had no room cleaning. Yet we pay Tauck to tip the maids every day when they are no longer servicing our rooms. Yes Ok, they are short of staff….so that’s worse, the hotel must be keeping the generous Tauck tips!
The Four Seasons hotel at the end of the tour is the same. We are of course arriving a day early and staying two nights extra at the end, which in reality is a short time as most flights leave about 1am. The one good thing about staying in nice hotels at the end of the tour is that you finally get a chance to use the facilities and that is when we will probably book a spa treatment.
Mil, have you been to the Water palace?
I hope nobody has mobility issues on this tour, the two hotels have a huge number of steps and no elevators
Hello, No I haven't been at the water palace, but before I book any tour, I do my homework and I check every site on Tauck's itinerary and at least the top things to see in each area and the palace seemed lacking personality and abandoned.
As you, I like to see all the above when I visit a new country- which I have done for the last 40 years.... and I do like culture, food , the history of each place and to mingle with the locals...
Now, as I mentioned, I'm doing 2 pre days in Singapore and check this out 2 xtra post nights at the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay... just to relax and do my Spas'... oh Yes, I forgot I do Spas too a lot! These 2 Four S. in Bali would be my #9 & #10 in this lifetime.
1-Vietnam
2-Tel Aviv
3- Marrakesh and Casa Blanca
4- Chiang Mai
5- Serengeti
6- Prague
7- Lanai, Hi.
This communist lifestyle it's killing us.................:) a joke !
Thanks, for your lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng answer to my question....
We’ve yet to stay in a hotel in the states that is offering daily room service…our river boat in April did not offer it either…fresh towels yes but no more than that. Staff shortages I’m sure. To be honest, I’m not missing strangers in my room. I read that the river boats now are back to daily service…we leave this week for the Danube…we will see. Everyone has a tipping point..,this isn’t mine.
Nancy, Hi.
Enjoy your trip. I'm sure is going to be awesome.. I personally think everyone writes out of their experience a story.
I like mine to be possitive and fun.
Safe travels.
Good for you Mil! Nancy, I’m generally ok with no room cleaning, at least we can leave valuables around. Except, one time, we ran out of toilet paper in the middle of the night because no one had been in the room to restock and we never thought about it!
We took this tour in 2019. We loved it! particularly interesting to us was a visit to a village during our time in Yogyakarta where we also got to play traditional instruments, and an excellent tour in Bali to a family home/compound, where our guides talked with us about the caste system in Bali as well as religious and family life. We did go to Rinca to see the Komodo dragons, which involved a long boat ride from Flores. I’m sure Komodo would afford you just as good a visit, as seeing just a few of these creatures is interesting. Our Borobudur visit was at sunrise, but due to it being a cloudy day, the views and photos were not what we might have hoped, but it was still a bucket-list visit. All of the hotels, except for one night in Yogyakarta were really special—and that one was fine, just not amazing. All in all, the diversity of cultures, from Singapore to Muslim, Christian, and Hindu culture in Indonesia made for a fabulous experience. And yes, the Four Seasons at Jimbaram Bay in Bali was very special.
Thanks SnJ! Komodo Island is supposed to have more dragons so hopefully we will see them.
Snj thanks for the info.
Im looking forward to doing this trip.
British you are going first , so I’m sure you’ll post a great review.
I'm going on this tour at the beginning of September, just before British and British is the Nightime Zoo in Bali?
No it’s in Singapore. I’m having second thoughts, the current reviews I have just read are not good. We were there about thirty years ago and we had a great time with our children there, they talked about it for a long time. We are looking at other options for our free time.
I did the Singapore nighttime zoo tour way back in 2007...I'm sure a lot has changed. I'm sure a lot has changed since 2007 (hopefully not Raffles and its signature Singapore Sling)- I'm planning to take the Singapore/Bali tour sometime in the near future
gladysorlando984 Hi.
Well your trip is coming up soon... how exciting!
Please, let us know your experience as you come back.
Thanks
British Hello
Hey do you recommend more then 2 pre days in Sin.$
I've booked 2 , so that would give me 3 days including the Day 1 Tauck. I thinks it would be enough, I've heard Sin. is pretty small and I'm staying in the city.
What do you think.
Hi mil...I'll chime in...Singapore is small but surprisingly there is a lot to do and see. Tauck will cover all of the highlights for sure. You're a planner--I would suggest putting together an itinerary of everything you want to do and perhaps hire a guide - although hiring a guide isn't really necessary. I spent 7 days there on vacation. My time time was very leisurely. At the time my company had an agent in Singapore and a former EA also lived there; therefore, I had access to transportation and to people who knew where to go. It is very easy to get around and very safe.
I think your two pre-tour days will be sufficient. Save your energy for the rest of the tour
Oh my goodness, travel challenges never end!
Komodo dragons: Indonesians strike over entry price hike https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-62396230