- The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
- Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
- Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
- Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
- Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
- Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
- Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
- Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
- Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8, At Sea
- Day 9, At Sea
- Day 10, At Sea
- Day 11, At Sea
- Day 12, At Sea
- Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, At Sea
- Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Day 22 – At Sea
- Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
- Day 24, At Sea
- Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
- Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
- Day 27 – At Sea
- Day 28 – At Sea
- Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
- Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
- Day 31 – Napier
- Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
- Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
- Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
- Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
- Day 36 – At Sea
- Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 39 – At Sea
- 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
- Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
- Day 41, At Sea
- Day 42, At Sea
- Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
- Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
- Day 45 – At Sea
- Day 46 – At Sea
- Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
- Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
- Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
- Day 50 – At Sea
- Day 51 – At Sea
- Day 52 – At Sea
- Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
- Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
- Day 55 – At Sea
- Day 56 – At Sea
- Day 57 – At Sea
- Day 58, Puerto Princesa
- Day 59, – At Sea
- Day 60, Manila, Philippines
- Day 61, Manila, Philippines
- Day 62 – At Sea
- Day 63 – Hong Kong
- Day 64, Hong Kong
- Day 65 – At Sea
- Day 66 – At Sea
- Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
- Day 69 – Siem Reap
- 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
- Day 70 – Singapore
- Day 71 – At Sea
- Day 72 – Phuket
- Day 73 – At Sea
- Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
- Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
- Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
- Day 77 – At Sea
- Day 78 – At Sea
- Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
- Day 80 – At Sea
- Day 81 – At Sea
- Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
- Day 83 – At Sea
- Day 84 – At Sea
- Day 85 – At Sea
- Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
- Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
- Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
- Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
- Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 92 – At Sea
- Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Day 94 – At Sea
- Day 95 – At Sea
- Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
- Day 97 – At Sea
- Day 98 – At Sea
- Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
- Day 100 – At Sea
- Day 101 – At Sea
- Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
- Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
- Day 104 – At Sea
- Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
- Day 106 – At Sea
- Day 107 – At Sea
- Day 108 – At Sea
- Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
- Day 110 – At Sea
- Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Day 112 – At Sea
- Day 113 – At Sea
- Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
- 2018 World Cruise Entertainers
Day 72 March 17 – Phuket
Clear, blue skies along with cool temperatures greeted us as we started to back down the channel to our berth at the Chaophaya Deep Sea Terminal. It was still early – the cool temperatures early in the morning, would gradually disappear as the day wore on.
Backing in to our parking spot
The channel leading to the Phuket Deep Sea Terminal is quite narrow and there isn’t enough room for the Amsterdam to spin on its axis near the dock. Consequently, the ship must either back in to the dock on arrival or back out when departing. Captain Mercer elected to back into our berth, so we would have a straight shot out to the open sea when departing. Read more about the navigation situation HERE on Captain Jonathan’s blog.
One of the challenges of planning my private excursion in Phuket was nailing down exactly where the ship would moor. Many of the private tour companies assume you will be starting from a hotel and don’t give you confidence in their answers that know the specific location where they should pick you up. The useful website Whats In Port? mentions two possibilities, one being Patong Beach if you anchor and tender ashore and the other being the deep sea port called Chaophaya Terminal in the area called Ao Markam
The Amsterdam moored at the Chaophaya Terminal – the location is shown on the map below.
The Plan
I arranged for a driver and van to take 7 of us to see some sights and do some silk shopping. Phuket SRC Travel did a fine job making our arrangements. You can find them HERE.
The price for a 13-passenger van with driver was 2,500 Baht ($80) for 5 hours with each additional hour being 300 Baht ($10). The driver spoke pretty good English, but he wasn’t a tour guide, nor was he expected to be a guide. If I had it to do over again, I would have hired a guide to accompany us to provide local insight along the way.
Pre-arranged drivers assemble outside the port gate next to the large warehouse. As you leave the security perimeter near the ship you first encounter a group of taxi drivers and people looking to sell day tours. Keep walking and as you turn the corner, you will see another group of drivers near their vans and busses holding up signs with your name.
Before we left, I confirmed our trip details and general schedule with our driver and we were on our way around 9:10 AM.
Here is a list of or planned stops:
Big Buddha
Thai Silk Collection Retail Store
Wat Chalong Temple
Jim Thompson Factory Outlet
Jim Thompson Retail Outlet (Central Festival Mall)
China Inn Restaurant in PhuBig ket Old Town
Phuket Old Town Shopping
NOTE: I used Google Maps to estimate the driving times between the various stops and it proved to be very accurate. If you are planning your trip from the USA, be sure to check your driving times in the country of interest for the same time you expect to visit. For example, Since Thailand is 12 hours ahead of the USA central time zone, you should check your driving times around 9PM in the evening to get a more accurate estimate which will include daytime traffic in Phuket.
Big Buddha
Traffic was busy, but not too bad and we were able to average about 30 mph on the two-lane city streets. After about 20 minutes we turned off the main road and started to climb up the Nakkerd Hills using a winding two lane road to reach the Big Buddha, Arriving around 9:50 AM, our driver dropped us off by the entrance and then parked in a nearby lot where we would meet him later. Admission is free, and it is about a 5-minute walk over level ground, past some souvenir shops, to get to the base of the Big Buddha.
The Big Buddha sits on a pedestal about 100 steps above a plaza which boasts a commanding view of Phuket and the surrounding area to the north. We spent a few minutes enjoying the view from here before climbing the steps to the top of the pedestal where you can wander around a smaller area with views to the south and west. The Buddha is still under construction – it has been under construction since 2007 – and scaffolding is visible underneath the Buddha where there may be some interior construction taking place as the exterior looks complete.
I allocated 30 minutes for this stop, but we could have easily spent one hour. I didn’t anticipate that simply walking to the Buddha and back would take about 10 minutes with more time required to climb up the pedestal and wander around on the upper level. For a future visit, I would budget 1 hour for this stop.
Baby Elephants
On the way back down the mountain, about ½ way, we stopped by a roadside attraction where you could feed a baby elephant using food we purchased for 100 Baht or $3. All the ladies in our group took turns feeding the elephant while we took photographs. The elephant would squeal as he took the food from the basket before giving a wet “kiss” on the cheek of the person with the food.
Thai Silk Collection
The Thai Silk Collection, located very near the Wat Chalong Temple, was our first silk shop. The store is easy to find as you can’t miss the large colorful signs on a billboard and the building itself. The shop was almost empty, and we were warmly greeted by a small staff. They had a nice collection of shirts, scarves, women’s dresses and some fabric. We spent about 30 minutes browsing before heading off to our next stop.
Wat Chalong Temple
We hadn’t originally planed to visit the Wat Chalong Temple, but since it was so close to the Thai Silk Collection we decided to stop for a quick 15 minute visit. Since we were so limited on time, we could only walk around the exterior of a few of the buildings, which were beautiful with amazing colors and detail. As we were walking around we were startled by the loud and continuous fireworks which were exploding in a nearby brick chamber that was made for this purpose. Apparently, people pay to have fireworks exploded as a way of sending messages to certain gods. After a solid minute of continuous explosions, they finally stopped. Once the smoke cleared, the attendant began to load up the chamber with another huge load of fireworks and the process repeated. Unlike what you would expect in the USA there weren’t any warnings prior to the detonation and everyone was on their own and could you could get as close as you dared.
Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson has several high-end silk shops throughout Thailand and with one shop in Singapore. Our next stop was the Jim Thompson Factory Outlet which was on the way back toward Phuket Old Town and the ship.
NOTE: I always plan our excursions, so we visit the furthest stop first. The rest of the day we are gradually getting closer and closer to the ship. This way any problem that occurs far from the ship will give us more time to recover than if we planned the trip stopping at the closest points first.
The Jim Thompson Outlet, (5 90 Thanon Chao Fa, Talat Nuea, Amphoe Mueang Phuket, Chang Wat Phuket 83000, Thailand) is located on the second floor of a small, two story shopping centered called “The Courtyard.” The Jim Thompson sign is on the glass windows facing the street and is difficult to see from the street, so look for the large red “The Courtyard” sign as you get close. There is a nice size parking lot right in front.
The outlet spreads over 2 large rooms and had an incredible selection of silk clothing for both men and women, offered at significant discounts over what you will find in their retail store. Even thought they are discounted, this is a store that caters to tourists as the prices are in line with what you would expect to find in the USA for similar quality garments. They also offer a nice selection of silk fabric if you are interested in making your own garments.
There was a small gift shop on the first floor where we found a few souvenirs, but we learned that they really prefer local currency and will take dollars only as a last resort. We later found some stores that refused to take dollars – period – despite the ships assurances that dollars were widely accepted. The shops that take US Dollars may be in the most touristy areas or on the stalls on the pier, but once you venture off the tourist tract, don’t assume dollars will be accepted. Be ready with local currency or credit cards.
Central Festival
Our final silk shop was the Jim Thompson retail outlet located in the very modern Central Festival Mall, close to old town Phuket. Spread out over several floors, this mall has quite a few high end shops catering to European, Australians and North American tourists. This Jim Thompson store is a pretty good size, but still smaller than the outlet and they only offer clothing, not fabric. They have a nice selection of high quality garments, but the prices are close to what you might expect to pay in New York City, so don’t expect any bargains.
A Starbucks is on the first floor where we found some of the location mugs that Judy likes to collect. After about 45 minutes we piled back in the van and headed off to Old Town Phuket and the China Inn Café. Even though it was only 2 miles it took us about 20 minutes to get there, so take this into consideration in your trip planning.
Old Town Phuket
There isn’t much parking in Old Town Phuket. Our driver dropped us off in front of the restaurant at 1:45 and he would pick us up at the same spot at 3:30 PM. I estimated it would take about 30 minutes to cover the 6 miles to get back to the ship and with an all aboard of 4:30 for a 5 PM departure, this gave me a comfortable margin.
I found the restaurant using Trip Advisor and it lived up to its great reviews. The manager on duty was the son of the owners, his mother was Thai and his Father Australian. We were surprised that he had never been to the USA as his English and American accent was perfect. The menu had a wide variety of choices and we weren’t quite sure what to order. We asked our server to order for us and he selected a variety of dishes for us to share. They were all very good and the food was very inexpensive – the whole meal for the 7 of us was about $50 USD. They didn’t accept USD but they would take credit cards.
After lunch we had about 30 minutes left to explore the streets of Old Town Phuket. We walked a couple of blocks down one side of the street and then back on the other. Judy discovered a fabric shop selling a variety of fabrics from different materials, but nothing that she found interesting enough to purchase.
Our driver was waiting for us and we left promptly at 3:30 and sure enough, it took thirty minutes to travel the 6 miles back to the ship. Once back at the port, we spent about 15 minutes wandering amongst the vendors on the pier before heading back to the ship.
NOTE: If I was planning this trip again, I would only visit the Jim Thompson outlet, skip the other two shops and spend more time with the Big Buddha, Wat Chalong and Old Town Phuket. The Jim Thompson outlet had a nice selection of clothing and fabric at better prices.
Back on the ship
The main dining room was decorated in green for St Patrick’s day along with a special green menu – copy on the blog. They printed their Irish recommendations in green ink and are repeated here:
Appetizer: Smoked Trout & Bay Shrimp
Entrée: Braised Corned Brisket of Beef
Desert: Baileys Irish Double Cream Cheesecake
Bob and Judy arrived with some amazing hats. Peggy celebrated her birthday and was the recipient of the straw hats that we were all given at dinner earlier in the cruise. They have now become gag gifts for the person with the latest birthday.
Hamish was wearing a funny hat as he announced the evenings guest entertainer: Magician Simon Coronel. Simon displayed incredible sleight of hand skill by doing a variety of tricks in front of a camera where his image was magnified and displayed on a screen. We watched with amazement as he transformed a $50 bill into a $5 bill right in front of our eyes. Don’t miss this talented entertainer if he is performing near you.
This entry was posted in 2018 Grand World Voyage, Asia, Phuket, Thailand