Bangkok & beyond

[CardowMD]

@flossie009 Thank you so much for sharing the daily programs! Glimpses of menus will be welcomed! Looks like you are enjoying beautiful weather! Look,forward to hearing about Singapore!

[flossie009]

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

Today we are in Singapore.

Knowing how congested passport control can become in Singapore, we waited until after the Regent excursions had left the ship.

 

We opted to try out the Singapore Cable Cars

 

 

 

 

It was a perfect day for good views 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

Abseiling back onto the ship was a challenge 🤣 ……… but we made it just in time for a late lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gift shops were full of bling, but we resisted

 

 

 

[flossie009]

I suspect that this waterfront property, nestling in the trees, is worth a few million SGD.

 

Nearby is an example of what happens when the architect forgets to take his ruler to work

 

 

[flossie009]

An interesting, but disturbing, sign seen in Malaysia today

 

 

 

 

[Mudhen]

Wow!

Guess they mean business!

[lprp]

The first time we were there back in the 80’s our tour guide warned us not to chew gum (she later added in case we spat it on the ground) 😳

Guess the issues have changed since then……..

[flossie009]

We were disappointed with the entertainment, or lack of it, offered on our Regent Christmas cruise.

I am  pleased to report that thus far the entertainment on this cruise has been excellent.

Production Cast singers & dancers are extremely talented. The band is very good. The cocktail pianist, Kelly, is both a good pianist & a very melodious singer.

Visiting performers have also left a good impression:

Martin Kaye - an incredibly energetic & highly talented musician. His Elton John show last night was fabulous.

Dave Kristian - a very entertaining stand-up comic

Both Martin & Dave will be leaving soon to be replaced by others, who we hope are as good.

[flossie009]

Now that we have some time on our hands with three sea days, it is time to catch up on this blog.

(Anyone else who is on the cruise is welcome to chip in with their thoughts)

 

Wednesday, April 10th - Port Klang, Malaysia

 

Our tour started with a visit to a small house where we looked around the garden and then went inside for coffee, mulberry tea and snacks

 

 

A Malaysian family were enjoying a game

 

There were various items of produce for sale, including what we would call pork scratchings

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by flossie009

[flossie009]

Then it was off to see the big Buddha and a temple

 

 

 

Maybe the temple wheelbarrow isn’t sacred enough to stop theft !!

Edited April 14 by flossie009

[flossie009]

We finished the tour with a walk around the outside of the impressive Blue Mosque and then a photo stop outside the old Palace.

 

 

 

We were fortunate to avoid the monsoon downpours that others got caught in during the day in Klang

 

Edited April 14 by flossie009

[flossie009]

Thursday April 11th - Penang Island, Malaysia

 

Susan stayed on board, but David took an excursion to a spice garden, followed by a visit to a butterfly farm

 

The drive to & from the venues was along the coast road, with some good views

 

David said that they were liberally dosed with citronella before waking around the spice garden, but he still suffered some insect bites.

The guide was appropriately dressed 😉

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

Numerous varieties of butterflies were seen at the impressive butterfly farm facility, from where they breed and export various species

 

 

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

There were also static displays showing the life cycle of butterflies & moths

 

Malaysia’s largest moth

 

…………… and interactive encounters with stick insects and other creepy-crawlies 😮

 

 

 

 

[Gilly]

Great photos, thank you!!  

[flossie009]

Friday April 12th - Phuket, Thailand

 

Back in Thailand, we were up in time for sunrise ready for our trip to see Phang Nga Bay; a popular excursion chosen by half the guests on the ship, but split among 10 buses we were never crowded (apart from in the Stars Lounge checking in for the tour 😉)

 

After a fairly long drive from the cruise ship we boarded our long-tail boat for the tour around the bay. 
First through mangrove swamps and then into open water to see the towering limestone rock formations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

Our guide pointed out a cave entrance and the boat driver steered us in for a closer look

 

Next minute we were going through and out the other side, narrowly missing the stalactites

 

 

 

We stopped for lunch at a village built on stilts in the middle of the bay

 

 

 

Although some of the houses were dilapidated, some were very grand properties; particularly the home of the restaurant owner who obviously does a roaring trade from all the tourist boats that call in every day

 

 

 

During our tour around the bay, we saw the island made famous as Scaramanga’s lair in the James Bond film “Goldfinger”.

 

 

 

[flossie009]

The ship was docked overnight in Phuket and some evening excursions were available to go into town for a show and/or dinner.

However, most decided to stay on board for the Grand Deck BBQ & Dance Party

 

 

 

Not just one suckling pig ……..

 

…………,.. but one each side of the deck

 

…………… and desserts, of course

 

F&B and the entertainment team did a wonderful job.

 

………… but it was very hot & humid all evening, with the temperature remains in the high eighties Fahrenheit 

[rrraydon]

Enjoying the tag along thus far. Thanks for taking us along. 🙂

[flossie009]

The original itinerary for this cruise had us being in Indonesia on Saturday April 13th, but a few months ago we had a communication saying that the Indonesian port had been dropped in favour of an overnight in Phuket.

All well & good, but on closer inspection we found that we were actually leaving Phuket at 8am, so the day in Indonesia had been substituted for another day at sea.

 

To add to the confusion, the itinerary published in Passages on the first day of the cruise had a mis-print showing us leaving Phuket at 8pm (see post #13) 🙄

This was corrected back to 8am after a few days.

 

 

No one on board can quite understand Regent Miami’s thinking in scheduling three days to sail from Phuket to Sri Lanka.

 

 

 

[CardowMD]

I definitely need to book a cruise to these destinations. The photos have really shown the natural beauty of the region.  You seem to be having amazing weather. For the last few months many cruises have been plagued with rainy weather most days while sailing in that area. 
 

@flossie009 when you get a chance can you post the daily schedule showing hours of the different venues on board…dining, spa, etc.

[kjbacon]

Finally now reading through this wonderful thread. @flossie009 your pictures and descriptions are just fabulous!

[flossie009]

19 hours ago, CardowMD said:

You seem to be having amazing weather. For the last few months many cruises have been plagued with rainy weather most days while sailing in that area. 

We did have a thunderstorm earlier this morning, with some impressive lightning & thunder, followed by heavy rain.

However the Captain managed to reposition the ship so that we had a window of dry weather for the Country Fair to go ahead on deck.

 

Great fun. More photos later if the internet behaves; a bit iffy today🤨

[flossie009]

19 hours ago, CardowMD said:

can you post the daily schedule showing hours of the different venues on board…dining, spa, etc.

Here are the opening times:

 

Sea day:

 

Port day:

 

 

Hope this is what you wanted