Brunei

Today our port was the country of Brunei.  It is a very small country but very rich because of the oil found there.  We first just went off the ship into the terminal and looked at the few shops, used the free Internet and watched the dancers that were there.  

We went back on board and ate lunch. I am thankful to have found the pizza does not have garlic or onions so it is the one thing I can go get without going to a formal restaurant.  Everything is set up for formal dining and the buffet has almost nothing except snacks. 

Our tour was good and lasted right up until time for the ship to leave. First we visited the village up on stilts in the water. It was very interesting and we docked and walked on the plank boardwalks to a house which was set up to serve some traditional Brunei snacks. I think the main chatter about this when we left was about the toilet which a few desperate ladies tried. For the men it was not such an issue but the word quickly spread to wait for the museum.  We went by mosques and the royal palace and ended up at the Regalia museum which was filled with all the ornate things from the coronations of the Sultan. I did manage to spot two monkeys on a bank of a creek and I assume they were the probiscus monkeys that are only found here. 

Observations about this cruise.  The passengers are about 80% Australian with some Asians, Canadians, and a fewAmericans.  There seem to be a lot of small charges here and there.  Today at breakfast I was told there was a charge for hot chocolate, which I had had yesterday with no charge. I asked why it was printed in the menu if there was an extra charge. Turns out there is no charge in the formal dining rooms but there is at the buffet.....go figure. Anyway, I got my hot chocolate after all.  

The ship is beautiful and I like the room better than NCL but prefer the earring arrangements on NCL.  

There are almost no kids or teens on this tour.  It is mostly folks our age or ten years younger.