THIS IS HOLLAND AMERICA’S FIRST CRUISE to SE Asia since “The Pause,” the cruise industry name for the Covid-19 plague that put the industry in dry dock. I guess that explains Westerdam’s sold-out status—cruisers are a loyal group and when they have earned whatever most-elite status a particular line offers, they wouldn’t think of switching cruise lines.
Remembering Mallaca
Mallaca
Ports-of-call have also been dormant for two years so it’s understandable—but not totally forgivable—that there will be itinerary changes. We were looking forward to stopping in Port Blair in the Andaman Islands—even got an extended India visa—but it was the first casualty. We also wanted to revisit Malacca, Malaysia but it, too fell overboard along with ALL of Indonesia. Instead we get an extra “sea day” and an overnight in Penang which is a fair enough trade-off. There is still a lot for us to explore in Georgetown. Westerdam reminds us of our favorite HA ship, Maasdam, on which we sailed three times. Our windowless inside stateroom on the Main Deck is one of the most spacious we’ve had with a queen bed and large sitting area. What you can’t see in the photo is the loud music coming from the Rolling Stone Lounge just above us on Deck Two. I learned about the full ship when I inquired about a cabin change. Their solution—ear plugs! Not much else we can do I guess.
Subject to Change
Evidently we aren’t the only disgruntled passengers. The line to Guest Services stretches like a dragon’s tail and the overheard comments are not flattering. On the plus side, Cruise Director Rachel isn’t obnoxious like most and seems to know her stuff. Her briefing on Phuket, Georgetown and Kuantan this morning was excellent. She spoke in complete sentences with hardly a “sort-of” or “you-know,” didn’t flog the ships excursions and even offered do-it-yourself tips, almost as if we were responsible adults.
Old Town Phuket
We first visited Thailand in 2001 for Connie’s 50th birthday. We’ve been back on our own traveling by bus and rail from Chang Mai all the way to the Malay border but that first time Cal, a travel agent client of John’s, took care of everything from airfare and hotels to a car and driver and even an elephant drive. We concentrated on Phuket’s beaches, islands and nearby national parks back then so we decided to check out Phuket Town today.
Shan and Ach or vice versa
Lanterns and Shadows, Phuket
The taxi and mini-van drivers were waiting at the pier where the tenders lighted, ready to carry us out to the beach or aquarium or in our case, into Phuket Town. They hadn’t listened to Rachel’s briefing and wanted to charge first $30 then $20 one-way for what Rachael said was a $6 trip. We were rescued by Shan and Ach, two young female crew members who not only offered to share a mini-van, but insisted on paying with local bhat from their last stop in Thailand. Thanks, Ladies.
We'll take all the help we can get
Namaste!
Phuket is just a couple of blocks of bars and restaurants, pastel buildings and a sparkling temple. After our wander we withdrew 500 bhat from the ATM and set about finding a ride back to the ship. We expected to have a huge hassle since a) we were at the mercy of the taxi driver—we had to return to the ship; b) we didn’t really know where the ship was docked. When the driver said 400 bhat for both of us then called his friend to find out where Westerdam was anchored he immediately earned a 25% tip! Maybe the new statue of Buddha that overlooks the city helped.
