South East Asia Shore Tours - Last, but not Least - Penang, Malaysia

[saraheg77]

1. Penang Highlights by Trishaw - 2 3/4 hrs

Khoo Kongsi - one of the most architechturally rich Chinese Clan houses to be built outside of China.

Penang Museum & Art Gallery - Built in 1821 and housed in the Original Penang Free School, displays collections of photographs, maps & historic relics.

Eastern & Oriental Hotel - built 1885, on Farquhar St in teh heart of Penang.

Tea & refreshment provided at the hotel, no photos in the museum, 2 people per trishaw

 

2. Historic Jewels of Penang - 3 1/2 hrs

Thai Buddhist Temple - houses the 4th largest reclining Buddha - 108 feet long

Burmese Buddhist Temple - only Burmese temple in MAlaysia, built in 1803 with golden roof & a 27 foot Buddha. Carved elephants guard the entrance.

Penang Museum & Art Gallery - see above

Khoo Kongsi - see above

Chew Jetty - largest of the Chinese Clan jetties, where Chinese immigrants first settled in the 19th century and their wooden stilt houses still extend in to the sea

no refreshments provided, no shorts or bare shoulders

 

3. Reclining Buddha & Butterfly Farm - 7 1/2 hrs

Kek Lok Si Temple - Chinese temple with Pond of Longevity, gardens sculptures, shrines & the Seven Tier Pagoda

Thai Buddhist Temple - see above

Burmese Buddhist Temple - see above

Butterfly Farm - giant sized walk in aviary with over 100 species of butterflies. Also a hatchery and musuem with preserved butterflies from around the world

Local Fruit & Spice Stall - shopping with guides talking about varieties of fruit and spices

Buffet lunch included

 

4. Round Island Tour - 5 hrs

Batik Craft Shop - demo of printing cloth with wax & dyes. pieces are available for sale

Butterfly Farm - see above

Local Fruit & Spice Stall - see above

No refreshments provided

 

5. Typically Penang - 3 1/4 hrs

Flea Market - free time to wander in the market on the outskirts of Georgetown. Electrical goods to souvenirs, household items to antiques

Khoo Kongsi - see above

Baba Nyonya Museum - formerly a private home of Chinese Captain of Hai San Secret Society. Furnished as it was 100 yrs ago.

No refreshments provided

 

6. A Day at the Beach - 6 3/4 hrs

Monkey Beach - day of leisure while the local monkeys entertain you. Relax under the canopy of palm trees and enjoy fishing & swimming. You will have about 4 hours there before returning to the ship

BBQ lunch provided on the beach. Feet will get wet disembarking at the island, so wear appropriate footwear. For women, bare legs & shoulders should only be exposed once you get to the beach. Lines and bait provided for fishing from the boat. Do not feed the monkeys :)

 

7. Penang Temple & Gardens - 3 3/4 hrs

Botanical Gardens - Developed by the British in 1884. native and hybrid orchids, ferns, bamboo plants, flowering trees & shrubs. Macaque monkeys roam freely.

Kek Lok Si Temple - see above

Royal Selangor Pewter Showroom - world's most famous and largest producer and distributor of pewter goods. Observe the art of fashioning pewter.

No refreshments provided. No shorts or bare shoulders.

 

8. Happy Hour in Penang - 4 1/2 hrs

See Georgetown come alive at night - transferred to a designated bar where local beers available to purchase at discounted prices. Engjoy the ambiance while mingling with locals and listen to the music of the local live band or DJ. Can visit any other bars - there is a designated pick up time and place.

Happy hour from 5-9, snacks and finger foods served til 8. Beer is discounted, other drinks are not. Bring local currency. Smart casual attire - no shorts or open toed shoes.

[cruiselover96]

Ah Sarah you've done a great job posting all the tours for Asian Cruise. From my to you a very big hug and a heartfelt THANKYOU.

 

Not long to go now - 1 week. What time do you fly out.

 

Kerri

[saraheg77]

Kerri,

It's been my pleasure. Have you been marking up your shore tour book? :) We fly out of Melbourne Friday at 5:35pm. But my husband told me yesterday that he isn't going to do any work Friday (he works from home) in the spirit of vacation. I said that sounded great! :D

Sarah

[cruiselover96]

Sarah I like you husbands thinking. lol lol I do volunteer work and I too am considering not going in on the last friday as well!

 

Kerri

[mands]

That sounds exactly like something my husband would do, he probably will and we don't leave til Saturday morning!!!!!!

Yay for you, last weekend before your holiday! Time to get those last minute bits.

[TANRO02]

Sarah,

 

Thanks also from me. A great effort. All being marked up in terms of 1st 2nd 3rd choice. Some we'll do together as a group , some we may do apart or even idividually but that'll give us more to talk about over dinner!!!

 

Now we just have to get P&O to come through with the correct flights for my Sister-in-Law and her husband. We leave the 13th for an April 15 Cruise date, P&O have offer them an April 14th Departure plus a hotel stay as compensation (but it's not even the same hotel we're staying at). I'm sure it will get sorted somewhere between the TA and P&O.

 

Anyone flying Singapore Airlines to get over there? They seem to have a very civilised timetable from Melbourne and are apprerently one of the airlines P&O use. We're QF/BA there (MEL/SYD/SIN) and QF (SIN/DWN/ADL/MEL) back (SIN/DWN/ADL/MEL)on FF points but for those taking the fly/cruise option interested in hearing the choices offered.

[cruiselover96]

Rod, we're fly Qantas from MEL/SIN. We leave at 5.10pm Sun 19/3 and arrive 9.30pm and we return 10/4, leaving at 7.30pm and arriving at 4.40am!!!! SIN/MEL. I booked ours thru Flight Centre who matched the price from other company offering fly/cruise (not P&O, they didn't have it at the time on offer). We have 'open ship' which means they can put us whereever. AT the moment they have us in an inside (urgh) cabin on Caribe. I keep looking to see if we've been upgrade, but no such luck. Also the offer being made by P&O and this other company was for Dolphin Deck, (no vacancies on Dolphin Deck thru this other company) so i suppose we've been upgraded in the deck sense. When we board I might see if we can get an upgrade.

 

When I booked our flights at the same time as making our first payment for the cruise I had no problems with the flights at all.

 

Kerri

[saraheg77]

Hi Rod -

 

You're welcome for the shore tours!

 

We booked the fly/cruise directly through P&O and asked for flights a day before and day after the cruise. We are going British Airways Melb to SG Feb 24 at 5:35pm, arriving 10:05pm. Our flight back is leaving SG March 5th at 7:15pm, arriving in Melb on the 6th at 5:25am.

 

Sarah