My experiences in Penang, Langkawi and Phuket - just back from Mariner of the Seas

Just back from 5 night Mariner of the Seas cruise and had a wonderful time. Our ports were Penang 5pm-midnight, Langkawi 8 am to 6 pm and Phuket tendered 6 am to 8 pm. Just thought I would share what we did in the ports.

We did our own thing in Penang and Langkawi. In Penang we just walked off the ship, dodged past the hundreds of taxi drivers clamoring to take us for "Island tour" " Taxi tour" and used downloaded google maps to walk down Beach St ( or Lebuh Pantai) to Little India ( about 15 minute walk). Fascinating place to stroll around , then we made our way to Armenian St where a lot of the street art is located - very interesting. We walked along Armenian st towards the water to the Clan Jetties and explored Chew Jetty at the end of Armenian St. The Clan jetties are floating villages where Chinese immigrants lived so they would not have to pay land tax, and continue to live! Then it was getting dark as we docked at 5 pm so we walked back up Pengkalan Weld to the ship. We were able to see the ship lit up as we were walking so it was quite easy to find our way. We got back on board around 8 pm. Felt like we got a good taste of Georgetown, and it cost us nothing , and best thing was we were free to do as we wished. There are a couple of currency exchanges in the port as you exit the ship.

In Langkawi , we walked off the ship where again there was a currency exchange right there on the dock, and again had to dodge hundreds of taxi drivers wanting to take us for day tours of Langkawi- for about 250 MYR for the day. We just wanted to take a one way taxi to the Cable Car,and finally managed to get a taxi driver to agree to take us for 50 MYR one way. Once in the car though he offered us his services for 4 hours for 150 MYR and we agreed. Loved the Cable Car and Sky Bridge, - fantastic views from the top. The Cable car itself is a wonderful ride. We bought sky glide tickets at the top to get to the sky bridge, ( 15 MYR), but ended up walking down as we would have had to wait 50 minutes for the ride down. We did not mind walking down, but were happy to wait for a ride back up as it was quite hot and would have been quite a climb. Our happy taxi driver was waiting for us and stopped at a couple of spots we asked him to while driving back to the ship. We did not really go to any beautiful beach in Langkawi so I cant really advise, but I believe Cenang beach is quite near the port, and I have read Tanjung Rhu is very nice.

In Phuket I had organised a 4 hour tour with Lek Landen which was great. I had read about him on gapearl's review - thanks gapearl for such a lot of great information - this is the link

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2278154&highlight=mariner&page=1

We left the ship about 10.15 once open tenders had started and were at Patong beach about 11 am. The tenders take you right to the heart of the south end of Patong Beach. We strolled , and my daughter went for a swim, then we met Lek at the end of the pier very promptly at midday as arranged, and he took us to viewpoints at Karon point, Cape Promthep, and to the Big Buddha and Chalong Temple. All very beautiful . When he dropped us back at the pier we enjoyed some amazing very cheap street food - Pad Thai - several vendors cooking right near the pier , and coconut icecream which I have to say was some of the most delicious food we ate all trip.

Thank you for your detailed review, and in particular Penang - I'll be there in few weeks and also plan to stroll around in George Town. in particular interested in the street art.

You are welcome! Armenian st in particular is great for street art. Lots of fun to see and photograph

You are welcome! Armenian st in particular is great for street art. Lots of fun to see and photograph

Thank you for the hint. How long time did you spend in George Town?

Probably 2 1/2 hours, as for us it was an evening stop, We docked at 5 pm and could disembark around 5.30. We returned to the ship around 8 pm for dinner. Actually evening worked out well as the day would have been quite hot walking around, but the evening was cooler and more comfortable. If you are doing a walking tour in the day probably a good idea to take hat and sunglasses.

Thank you for your reply. Very useful information. We will arrive at 3 pm and depart at 11 pm. So it will be late afternoon /evening.

http://Http://mogenshallas.com cruise reviews

from my iPad using Forums

That's good. Evening is lovely time to stroll around , and I suspect Little India really comes alive in the evenings :)