Live: Dec 22 2023 Solstice 12 Night Thailand & Vietnam Holiday Cruise!

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

7 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Don’t worry about the number , I guess there more than you would find on a TA 😁

That’s ok. I want to find out anyway!

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

Our current windshield view:

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

While Singapore was remarkably devoid of large billboards, Bangkok has no such restriction…

Edited December 25, 2023 by mahdnc

abbydancer2003 · December 25, 2023

Just found this, I'm along for the ride. We're on the Solstice in just over 3 months, boarding in Singapore at the end of March and getting off in Vancouver in May. we're going the other way, I think.

We'll be staying at either the JW or the Tang Plaza Marriott. I currently have reservations at both. Do you recommend the JW? I'm leaning that way.

And I think for a while we had the nonstop from SFO booked through Celebrity air (booked when I booked the cruise), but managed to save over 1000.00 for business air by going ANA, first through Narita, but now through Haneda.

Have fun!

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

2 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Just found this, I'm along for the ride. We're on the Solstice in just over 3 months, boarding in Singapore at the end of March and getting off in Vancouver in May. we're going the other way, I think.

We'll be staying at either the JW or the Tang Plaza Marriott. I currently have reservations at both. Do you recommend the JW? I'm leaning that way.

And I think for a while we had the nonstop from SFO booked through Celebrity air (booked when I booked the cruise), but managed to save over 1000.00 for business air by going ANA, first through Narita, but now through Haneda.

Have fun!

I do highly recommend the JW Marriott. It is well located and the service is excellent. We would definitely book it again if we were to return.

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

After our 2 hour long ride into Bangkok, our tour stopped off at the Grand Palace which is very large and quite ornate. The weather today was so mild and comfortable. We got real lucky!

Edited December 25, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

Because of its many canals, Bangkok is known as the Venice of the East. And like Venice, there were numerous water taxis plying the canal. Our tour took us on a water taxi to see the sights.

The ride was quite enjoyable and it was interesting to look around as our taxi sailed up the canal.

You could say that this guy was monitoring us as we sailed by:

Edited December 25, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

Before we had our late lunch, we made a quick stop at a flower and vegetable market.

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

After lunch, we visited some Buddha temples including the famous "Reclining Buddha".

Edited December 25, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

We are staying at the St. Regis tonight. We watched the sunset from their bar

Our room is on the 21st floor and has this view:

I have to confess that we did not eat the local cuisine at a Bangkok restaurant. We cheated and got spaghetti and pizza through room service.

Good night, everyone, from Bangkok.

CardowMD · December 25, 2023

The exterior of the Grand Palace was absolutely spectacular. What intricate detailing. Thank you for sharing these details.

hcat · December 25, 2023

Awesome narrative and photos...I too was impressed with the intricate details... love the colorful market .

mahdnc · December 25, 2023

St Regis is known for its butler service. I forgot to mention in my last post that this charming person was assigned to us. Knowing the grievances that have filled this board in the recent past, I interrogated her and asked if she was truly our dedicated butler or was she simply part of a team of butlers. She didn't break and assured us that she was our butler. She was a very sweet woman. Too bad we couldn't take her back on Solstice with us.

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

We had breakfast at the buffet at the hotel at St. Regis. We arrived at the buffet when it opened at 6:30 am because our tour was starting at 7:00 am. The design of the buffet and the offerings were fantastic.

hcat · December 26, 2023

looking forward to the next adventure!

Ex-Airbalancer · December 26, 2023

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

We had breakfast at the buffet at the hotel at St. Regis. We arrived at the buffet when it opened at 6:30 am because our tour was starting at 7:00 am. The design of the buffet and the offerings were fantastic.

Doesn’t look like 1/2 hour would be long enough in that breakfast buffet 😁😋

Edited December 26, 2023 by Ex-Airbalancer

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

After finishing our breakfast, we met our guide, George, in the hotel lobby. We got into our van and rode approximately an hour to the Maeklong Railway Market.

The stalls are all located next a terminal railroad station. You walk up and down the railroad track itself to the see the entire market. The walkway is quite narrow and the footing is very uneven because of the tracks. And of course there a lot of people there which makes walking even more complicated.

The market sells meats, fish, produce, jewelry, flowers, clothing, and souvenirs. We even saw frog on a stick for sale:

The stalls have merchandise and awnings that are in the way of the passenger train which visits the railroad station several times a day.

As the train is approaching the market, the stalls raise their awnings and move their merchandise away from the track (next photo):

Then when the train passes through, the awnings and merchandise are quickly put back into place and it's business as usual (until the next time). It's unique and pretty cool.

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

We finished the railway market by 9 am. After that we took a ride to see Damnoem Saduak Floating Market which we really enjoyed. We arrived there by 9:40 am. While I was impressed by the railway market, this floating market was even more impressive because you had to visit it by boat which made the interaction with the sellers very different. By the way, our guide told us that the railway market would. have much better pricing than the floating market. So if there was something we liked at the railway market, he encouraged us to buy it there and not wait to get it at the floating market. My wife didn't listen to the advice and chose to buy merchandise from both markets!

Our tour included having our own private paddle boat (with paddle boat driver) and we were treated to a ride to the different market stalls and later we visited some out of the way places/neighborhoods which were very quite and peaceful. It was great for people watching, too. For me, this was the highlight of our two days in Bangkok. The weather today was perfect just like yesterday although we had a little more sun. But the temperature was on the mild side and we had no rain.

The floating market and paddle boat ride was a photographer's dream for me and a shopper's dream for my wife. So here are a bunch of photos that I took during this part of our day:

Paddle boat ticket agent:

Often the boat traffic would get pretty heavy. We were reminded to not hold the sides of the boat to prevent our fingers from getting pinched by another boat or from the wall of the canal.

The boats would pull up along the stalls. The shop seller has a long pole with a hook which could be used to help pull a (willing) boat over to the shop).

Some sellers had their own small boat like this guy:

and this person:

Edited December 26, 2023 by mahdnc

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

The shop keepers were interesting to watch and photograph.

This shop keeper asked to review my photo of her as if to determine whether I could keep it or not.

I put this one last because I hate snakes.

Edited December 26, 2023 by mahdnc

Dr. Pam · December 26, 2023

Hi again Mahdnc!

My DH and DS (28) and myself are very interested in this private 2 day tour to Bangkok. I am also Bonvoy Platinum Elite and we enjoy the club floor and service from this group of properties. We have been hit and miss with the butler service at some of the St. Regis hotels, notably the Gritti Palace and Bora Bora. Oh well, the location made up for the absence of stellar service. If you are happy with your private tour company, would you please be kind enough to PM me any details if you are ok to share. Thank you for your great review......I am so excited to follow along.

:)Pam

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

Here are some more photos of the floating market that give you a better sense for the traffic and cacophony.

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

22 minutes ago, Dr. Pam said:

Hi again Mahdnc!

My DH and DS (28) and myself are very interested in this private 2 day tour to Bangkok. I am also Bonvoy Platinum Elite and we enjoy the club floor and service from this group of properties. We have been hit and miss with the butler service at some of the St. Regis hotels, notably the Gritti Palace and Bora Bora. Oh well, the location made up for the absence of stellar service. If you are happy with your private tour company, would you please be kind enough to PM me any details if you are ok to share. Thank you for your great review......I am so excited to follow along.

:)Pam

Hi, Pam. I used Thai Tour Guide. I booked them because they fit the company profile for what I was looking for:

1. caters to cruise ship passenger

2. pickup and drop off at Laem Chabang and/or hotel.

3. accommodate passengers who were booking an overnight stay in Bangkok.

4. no advanced deposit required.

5. provide air conditioned vehicle with separate guide and driver.

Their responsiveness to my emails was excellent. The quality of the van, guide, and driver were excellent, too. They were well reviewed on Tripadvisor.

For the first day (Grand Palace + Royal Temple + Wat Pho), I was quoted a price of 10,900 Baht for 2 people with 1800 Baht for each additional person (up to 8 people max). Tour went from 8 am - 5 pm. We were picked up at the pier and dropped off at our Bangkok hotel (St Regis).

For the second day (Railway Market + Floating Market), I was quoted a price of 8,900 Baht (+1,500 Baht for additional person up to max of 8). Tour began at 7 am (pick up at hotel) and ended at 2:30 pm (drop off at the pier).

I cannot tell you that they are the best compared to their competition (because I simply don't know) and I cannot tell you that they were the cheapest or the most cost effective compared to their competition. I just know that they provided the exact service I was looking for when I was shopping for a guide and I can tell you that I was very happy with the product.

David

Ex-Airbalancer · December 26, 2023

That is a pretty good price

mahdnc · December 26, 2023

We spent some time in our paddle boat in areas off the beaten path and we got out to stretch our legs a bit. Here are some of the things that we saw.

This is some kind of store. Maybe a 7-11 type. There is a pulley system to allow a basket to be sent over from the store on the other side of the canal to the boardwalk where the photo was taken. The basket would allow a customer on one side of the canal to send money to the store and then get their product and change sent back to them. The basket is visible in the photo. It is hanging from the line and is positioned at the right side of the white fence.