UNESCO SITES for VIET NAM

Listed below are the UNESCO World Heritage Sites for Viet Nam. Unfortunately with our only two Ports of Call for Vietnam being Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. The UNESCO sites are not within an easy access for a day trip and so it is my personal guess as to why Princess Cruise Shore Excursions do not offer these on this particular cruise. 

I understand that some of our guests may be particularly intrigued with Vietnam and if these stops are of importance. I recommend a couple of options. First, extend your Pre-Cruise Days and contact Alex directly to see how she can assist you to make arrangements for meeting your particular needs.  Secondly, I would like to encourage you to explore the option to return and consider a River Cruise with Viking River Cruise as an example and be sure your itinerary covers these points of interest. The other option is  to consider a private tour or a smaller cruise ship sailing which will allow you more access to other Ports of Call in Vietnam and even other countries we will be visiting. 

The Diamond Princess is a larger ship and though it will provide you with many fantastic cruise ship amenities and options on your sailing days. Unfortunately, our access to some of these sites such as those listed below for the UNESCO Heritage Sites for Vietnam is not always accessible to larger ships such as the Diamond Princess. 

Stay tuned and come back to our blog for future postings as we spotlight the specific ports of call such as Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. And a special thanks to Cristen for her question as to Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

VIETNAM

• Complex of Hue Monument
• Ha Long Bay
• Hoi An Ancient Town
• My Son Sanctuary
• Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
• Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long- Hanoi
• Citadel of the Ho Dynasty

Photo provided by: UNESCO & Wikipedia

UNESCO World Heritage

With our cruise visiting seven different countries, including USA when we land in Anchorage Alaska. There will be plenty of shore excursions and sightseeing to be had.

In my previous blog article “Diana’s Top Five Trip Thoughts for Now”, the number three thought highlighted, was Shore Excursions you might want to participate in. So in this article I wanted to introduce the UNESCO World Heritage Sites that our Ports of Call may entice you to visit.

To begin with what is UNESCO? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO, seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world which are considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. And by the way, irrespective of the territory on which they are located. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional, is its universal application. World Heritage sites, truly belong to all the people of the world and noted below I have listed some of the closer sites by their countries we will be cruising to so you can begin to research and explore your options.

THAILAND

• Historic City of Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya Province
• Historic Town of Sukhothai & Associated Historic towns, Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet Provinces
• Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries, Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani provinces

CHINA

• Imperial Palaces of the Ming & Qing Dynasties in Beijing
• Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
• Temple of Heaven:an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
• The Great Wall, Beijing, Tianjin, and other provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
• Imperial Tombs of the Ming & Qing Dynasties, Changping District, Beijing (Ming Tombs)
• Mountain Resort & its Outlying Temple Chengde, Chengde City, Hebei Province
• Historic Centre of Macao, Macao Special Administrative Region/Hong Kong

JAPAN

• Buddist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Nara Prefecture
• Himeji-jo, Hyogo Prefecture
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, Kyoto & Shiga Prefectures
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial/Genbaku Dome), Hiroshima Prefecture
• Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, Hiroshima Prefecture
• Historic Monument of Ancient Nara, Nara Prefecture

KOREA, Republic of

• Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks
• Seokguram Grotto & Bulguksa Temple
• Historic Villages of Korea:Hahoe & Yangdong

ALASKA

• Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek

CAMBODIA

• Angkor
• Temple of Preah Vihear

Although Cambodia is not one of our visiting ports of call. I wanted to point out that Princess Cruise shore excursion options are available for Angkor and can be accessed prior to the cruise. If you are thinking about this option, be sure to contact Alex our travel agent for alternative options as well. 

Additionally, allow me to apologize in advance if some of these UNESCO sites are not accessible as I had posted. Believe you me, I am not an expert by any means and so some of these locations are truly new and a learning exploration for me as well. So let us explore together and we can further the adventures with our upcoming future study groups. Thanks for your understanding!


Photo provided by: UNESCO Education Blog

China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Came across this interesting and helpful website called
China Highlights. It had this easy read reference matrix
of China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Here is the
website address:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/world-heritage/

China Highlights website also has a number of other information
about China its customs, culture, photos and other helpful travel tools. Enjoy exploring and browsing!

Photo provided by China Highlight website

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HAVE YOU MET.... Posted: 14 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT You call or email her and you wonder who can this friendly face be on the line. She has a smile in her voice, a thoughtfulness in her response and you can’t help but wonder who is she really? Well you have just met Alexandra Kuncio, our official certified travel agent! Known simply as “Alex”, Roger and I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting this go to wonder person through Wendy Brown, a fellow cruiser who will also be joining us on our upcoming Asia to Alaska cruise.  Alex first became a part of the Roger and Diana clan in 2005, when she assisted us in our 15th Anniversary Renewal Ceremony with a Caribbean Cruise for some 40 friends and family. Alex has had a career in the travel industry for over 30 plus years, which also included sharing her professional travel industry wisdom through teaching and mentoring. Crossing off one of her personal goals, Alex has now personally traveled to over 100 different countries and has special interest in salsa dancing, yoga/zumba, scuba diving and gourmet foods. Alex is married to Ted Rodriguez and has been with him for 34 years. Both Alex and Ted will be joining us on the 16 Day Cruise option.     On a more personal note from Roger, he wanted to point out that Alex has a wonderful sense of humor but, is not much of a card player (oh yeah sure, next to Peggy Alby, also another card shark and a fellow 32 day Asia-Alaska Cruiser. We can label these two as competitive?!) so please be gentle with her if you play the progressive rummy game on this next cruise. If you haven’t met Alex yet, please introduce yourself as I’m sure you will enjoy her as much as we do.  You are subscribed to email updates from Roger & Diana's Asia to Alaska 2013 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 6061 Email delivery powered by Google

DIANA’s TOP FIVE TRIP THOUGHTS FOR NOW

Embarkation for boarding the Princess Diamond may seem a far distant day in the future. But in reality, your successful vacation getaway begins today, in the preparation and planning. I wanted to get you thinking, excited and most of all prepared so you won’t get caught off guard  So here are my TOP FIVE TRIP THOUGHTS to think about to get you planning and prepared about your upcoming journey!

No 1. PRE-CRUISE & POST CRUISE PLANS

As you are aware, our destination begins in Bangkok Thailand and ends in Beijing, China if you are 16day cruiser or Anchorage, Alaska if you continue on with Roger and I on the 32 day cruise. Either cruise options will have you reflecting on how many additional days you will need in add to your booked cruise. As you try to figure this out, keep in mind that you will be crossing the International Date Line which may make a significant “day” difference. As you journey across the sea to this exotic world,  think about the must see sights, places and things of this area. So this is a good time to think of your bucket list and see if there are places or things that you must do and see while you are there. If you can spare the time my recommendation is to go and do it! 

No. 2. PAPERWORK

If you haven’t found your passport or your birth certificate.....this might be the time to do it. Alex will be asking you for your passport information as we get closer and we will also be needing Visas in some of the countries we will be visiting. So know where these important documents are and nows a great time to check the expiration date on your passport!

No. 3. SHORE EXCURSIONS

In addition to the sailing days of the cruise, Princess Diamond will be visiting a number of Ports O’ Call and you can count on Princess Cruise will be offering a number of shore excursions for you to consider. So become familiar with the visiting ports, know what you would like to see and do, consider your activity level and ability, budget your costs and yes there is a time limit so pick wisely as unfortunately we can’t have it all. 

FYI...Princess Cruise on-line has shore excursions posted for your viewing. Alex is also working on some Pre-Cruise and Post Cruise Excursions that she hopes to offer us after her research, so stay tuned. 

No. 4. STUDY GROUP

Roger and I will be hosting a Study Group for those that might be interested. We did this for the Mediterranean Cruise and it was a great success as well as a good reason to get together. I understand that since our guests are not all located in the Southern California area you all won’t easily be able to join our particular group. So may I offer up a recommendation that you think about who your travel companions are and start your own group either face to face or use today’s technology and share, share, share via the internet. We will look at starting our study group come this Fall 2012, so more information will be forthcoming.

No. 5. AIR TRAVEL

Yes come April 2013, we will all meet and embark on the Princess Diamond in Thailand. Specifically, Laem Chabang, Thailand. This is the port where we will board the Diamond Princess. Some of you may choose to book your own air flights, others will look at using Princess Cruise Line Air and still others will be looking at me and saying what are you doing? One of the joys for me in working with Alex is that she truly knows Roger and me! Our choice is to get to our destination safely, make our timeline without worrying and to be as cost effective as possible so that we have more money to spend else where whenever possible. I will be asking Alex once again to help us out on searching for a way to get us to Asia and back with all these criteria. So think about what you would like to do about your flight arrangements as in the upcoming days ahead we will be touching on this topic and yes, inquiry minds will want to know what you would like to do.... so start thinking, preparing, planning and having your decisions and answers ready to go!    

Photo provided by Flickr: Gwen's River City Images

WHOOPS...NEW DATE!

Please note the following correction, for the posted article "IMPORTANT...CRUISE  PAYMENT DUE DATE" should be:

  16 Day Cruisers Monday, January 28, 2013

instead of : 

16 Day Cruisers Monday, January 28, 2012

Thanks Angie for your keen eye!

HAVE YOU MET....

You call or email her and you wonder who can this friendly face be on the line. She has a smile in her voice, a thoughtfulness in her response and you can’t help but wonder who is she really? Well you have just met Alexandra Kuncio, our official certified travel agent! Known simply as “Alex”, Roger and I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting this go to wonder person through Wendy Brown, a fellow cruiser who will also be joining us on our upcoming Asia to Alaska cruise. 

Alex first became a part of the Roger and Diana clan in 2005, when she assisted us in our 15th Anniversary Renewal Ceremony with a Caribbean Cruise for some 40 friends and family. Alex has had a career in the travel industry for over 30 plus years, which also included sharing her professional travel industry wisdom through teaching and mentoring. Crossing off one of her personal goals, Alex has now personally traveled to over 100 different countries and has special interest in salsa dancing, yoga/zumba, scuba diving and gourmet foods. Alex is married to Ted Rodriguez and has been with him for 34 years. Both Alex and Ted will be joining us on the 16 Day Cruise option. 

  

On a more personal note from Roger, he wanted to point out that Alex has a wonderful sense of humor but, is not much of a card player (oh yeah sure, next to Peggy Alby, also another card shark and a fellow 32 day Asia-Alaska Cruiser. We can label these two as competitive?!) so please be gentle with her if you play the progressive rummy game on this next cruise. If you haven’t met Alex yet, please introduce yourself as I’m sure you will enjoy her as much as we do. 

IMPORTANT ... CRUISE PAYMENT DUE DATE

Time to mark your calendar! Just got off the phone with Alex, our travel agent and wanted to give you the date when the full balance of our cruise payment will be due. 

32 Day Cruisers Friday, December 14, 2012

16 Day Cruisers Monday, January 28, 2012

Please note that we are requesting a due date a few days before the actual Princess Cruise deadline so that we can be sure to triple check our group details and needs. 

If you have a specific question, know that Alex will always do her best to assist you! 

Thanks for your cooperation!

Photo provided by: Flickr. MomMaven

LOOK WHO’S JOINING US ...

Though a year seems so far away and we really won’t know our final cruiser roster results till everyone confirms with their final cruise payment. Thought nonetheless, curious minds may want to have a sneak preview to our current deposited guest lists. So fellow cruisers, one and all...welcome aboard everyone!

32 DAYS ASIA to ALASKA CRUISE

Roger & Diana Davis

Buzz & Karen Vaughn

Stella & Paul Hacker

Rocky & Peggy Alby

John & Lucy Working

Cristin George & Mike Thompson

Scott & Liddy Paulsen

Laura & Dell Tredinnick

Sean Hagerty & Andrea Babby

16 DAYS ASIA to ALASKA CRUISE

Alex Kuncio & Ted Rodriguez

JoMary & Michael Murphy

Kelly Feldman & Wendy Brown

Russell Cobb & Randy Hardin

Jim Mies & Liz Lawrence

Jean & Gary Jones

Michele Louvenduski & Bob DiNunzio

Stephen Baldwin & Howard Siden

Bill Mitchell & Linda Spacil

Elliott & Carole Ghertner

Angie Burgh & Lien Burgh

Lloyd & Sherry Logan

Mike & Darlene Aoki

Patrick Russell & Terry Royce

Marsha Burgess & Patty Cruz

Pat Welch & Susie Dugan 

Photo from Flickr:CapesTreasures.com

TODAY...TOMORROW, IS THE SAME DAY???

As you begin to explore and make plans for our cruise. Don’t forget the time difference

that will occur as you travel over the Pacific Ocean to Bangkok, Thailand. 

Yes, as you are flying from the United States to Asia you will be crossing an imaginary line known as the “The International Dateline”. This is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth that basically runs from the north pole through the south pole and is what divides TODAY and TOMORROW. As an example, if you depart Los Angeles on Monday, April 16th and fly over the International Dateline during your flight travels which is approximately 180 degrees longitude but also zigzags through some territories and island groups around Samoa, you will have officially passed into TOMORROW, which would be Tuesday, April 17th. 

Keep this in mind as you really don’t want to miss the cruise Embarkation Date of April 17th which is our April 16th! Did you get that? For further information on International Dateline check out the link for timeanddate.com or Wikipedia

Photo from TimeandDate.com