May 3-7 2015

May 3 – Departure from Singapore

Today we boarded our cruise ship. An easy morning before we headed down to the cruise terminal where we passed through documentation processing for the cruise, immigration and on to the ship. After an hour or so we were able to access our cabin. Our luggage was available soon after and we were all set for our adventure.

We met with others from our forum for the cruise for sail away drinks poolside. Then we all dispersed for dinner. So many wonderful people we had met online were now thanking me for helping them with their trip which was really lovely. We received some lovely gifts. Busy day in Malaysia tomorrow.

The Centrum, a lovely lounge, bar and entertainment area on the ship

Our cabin

First cocktail of the sailing

Second one - as we sailed away

The distinctive Royal Caribbean logo on the funnel

May 4 – Port Klang (for Kuala Lumpur)

We joined two other couples to take a taxi tour. We went to Batu Caves, the President's Palace, the National Monument, National Mosque and old railway station, independent square and KL Tower, which we went up, the Petronas Towers, Chinatown and the Central Market. A good overview of the city which is only small (2m people)

Batu Caves and Hindu temple

Taking it easy negotiating the stairs down from the caves

President's Palace

The sunshade certainly came in handy in the heat

Guard at President's Palace

The old railway station

The National Monument

Petronas Towers

A beautiful solid silver sailing ship

Back at the ship in plenty of time for saiing at 4pm.

May 5 – Phuket

We had no fixed plans for the day so we had a leisurely breakfast before going down for a tender to get us ashore.

We negotiated a taxi to take us to Patong Beach which was on the other side of the island. We enjoyed our day but decided Phuket was not for us.

No OHS here on so many fronts

Someone has to go up with the flyer to land them safely on the beach!!!! So who is safe?

Rhapsody of the Seas, approaching from the tender

Didn't get up to see the Big Buddha, but with a good zoom .......

May 6 and 7 – at sea

After two busy port days we decided to take some time out. Our cabin is very spacious and so is our balcony. So we literally hid ourselves away in our cabin for the day, reading, snoozing, drinking lots of water and tea. Very indulgent. We did, however, attend a welcome back party (for previous cruisers) when the Cruise Director and Captain have a bit of a chat and there is entertainment. Quite nice really. Oh, and did I mention the alcohol and food on tap!

Graham, our Cruise Director

Captain Gustavo

The honour board - plaques presented to the ship for inaugural sailings

This one was from the Port of Newcastle, NSW!