On our last evening onboard, the atmosphere was rather subdued. We even had one couple leave around 9:00pm so were down to 16 even before we hit the sack. Another couple left early morning so we then down to 14. Nicole had packed all the cases last night so apart from settling our onboard account, there was little left to do other than enjoy the warm weather. During dinner last night, we had arranged with another couple to do a brief shopping tour this morning. The staff were happy to organise this for us and provide a member of the crew to accompany us. Unfortunately for me, I had a bit of an up-and-down night spending quite a few spells sitting on the throne. As a result, I wasn’t confident to venture out but the others all went.
They left at 9:00 and spent 3 hours out at various points around the city. All back by 12:00 with lots of tales and bargains.
We were among the last 10 to leave the boat which was at 3:00. The boat will remain empty now until the new year when it will resume the same itinerary. Some of the crew even came out to wave us off, their job after we had gone was to ready the boat for a visit by the owners.
The trip to the airport took 1 hour and 20 minutes and took us pretty much by the same route we came in on as there were a lot of things I remembered. Kolkata’s roads are not the best and with the traffic, I was glad to reach the airport.
Check-in was swift and immigration and security were deserted so we were soon airside. We flew back via Dubai on Emirates in business class which was something that came as part of the package. It’s just a shame the shared lounge at Kolkata airport wasn’t up to much.
So, that’s me signing off for a week, because we fly back on Friday morning to of all places Dubai for 7 nights on Costa Toscana.
I discovered your link from Cruise Critic and am so glad I did. We will be taking this cruise in October, 2024, and this has been the best information I’ve found from someone who has taken the cruise before. Your pictures are beautiful and your commentary provided some great information. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your kinds words, its great to know you enjoyed the read and I hope you have as much fun as we did.
I’ve followed your adventures from day one and have been making some interesting comparisons between what Uniworld and APT have to offer. We did APT just before Covid on the smaller RV Rajmahal with a slightly longer length of the Ganges.. https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2019/01/23/rv-rajmahal-river-ganges-cruise/ I actually found Kolkatta fascinating and was glad to see you got to the Black Hole memorial too (We did it on our own) Well done anyway. Look forward to the Costa review.
Many thanks for your interest and comments, I did spot your boat and itinerary but felt it was just that little bit too small for us. Did you have more free time or did you stay on afer? Where did you tie up in Kolkata as we seemed to be miles from everything?
It was great to experience but I don’t think I will be in any hurry to return in the foreseeable future.
Thank you for taking me on your amazing cruise Mike. I have enjoyed every minute of it.
Great blog. I have enjoyed following your journey
Thank you for a very interesting blog. Looking forward to your next adventure.
Barb
First, sorry your last night on board was not so great.
Second, I was going to feel bad for you having to go home but you are going on another cruise in at the end of the week…I have no sympathy. Can’t wait to read about that one.