THE SQUEAKY WHEEL MAY GET THE GREASE but it’s the bitchy passenger who gets his stateroom changed. A week of daily appearances at Guest Services coupled with attempts to go higher up the chain of command finally bore fruit. A couple of passengers had decided to abandon ship in Kuala Lumpur and we were moved to a new cabin! It isn’t as spacious as our first but it is QUIET—no earplugs needed for the final four nights. Assistant Director of Guest Services Joena even managed to get us a $250 refund as compensation for our inconvenience.
Queen Victoria Tower
City Hall, Georgetown
Georgetown, Penang turned out to be the highlight of the cruise. First off, we actually docked right in town. With the Queen Victoria Tower as a reference Connie quickly recognized City Hall and oriented us towards the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, a contemporary to Raffles in Singapore, from a time when Georgetown, like Singapore and Malacca were British Crown Colonies. On our 2011 SE Asia visit we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner at the E&O. Once again we strolled the grounds, pretending to be swells out on the town. We even located the Malaysia Hotel where we had stayed, our first venture into “3-star” territory.
Colonial Splendour, E&O Hotel
Where Once We Had Christmas Dinner
On our second day in Georgetown we wandered through the Chew Jetty area and along Soo Hong Street, soaking up the Chinese vibe tempered with a mosque here, a mansion there and several examples of Georgetown’s unique wrought iron street art.
Acheen Street Mosque
Soo Hong Street, Georgetown
Georgetown's unique Wrought Iron Street Art
Other than our two days in Georgetown there was little reason to leave the ship. Kuala Lumpur was a 90-minute $50 taxi ride from our berth in Port Kelang—two hours to be safe on the return trip—which is like docking in Philadelphia to go to New York City. Besides, we had spent four days in KL including New Year’s Eve 2011. We did take advantage of the free transportation furnished from Porto Malai in Lankawi mostly to stretch our legs a bit. We just wandered along the so-so beach for an hour before returning to the ship.
Big Coconuts, Lankawi
A place to get sand between your toes, Lankawi
Cruise Director Rachael went overboard in stressing how little there was to do in the refinery and commercial shipping port of Kuantan, a last-minute addition and our final stop. Buses were provided to transport passengers from the ship to the port gate where you had to switch to a taxi. As it turns out there were only a few taxis to take anyone anywhere farther. So much for a visit to the Keropok Lekor Factory to see how fish sausage is made. Glad we decided to give it a miss!
