Phuket 5 may 15

[snoopy19]

Hello

 

on a cruise that will be tendered on 5/5/15 in Phuket from 11.00 to 20.00.

 

there is day tours on the website but nothing is leaping out at me. the one i would like to do is the elephants, cashews and Buddha but only goes for 4.5 hours. when i looked at the cruise before i booked there seemed to be heaps of options that were longer but they don't appear to be offered on this cruise.

 

in the info they mention Siam Safari treks so go have a look. well they don't take cruise people because of the taxis.

 

never been on a cruise before and this is the only tendered port. i am leaning towards a shore trip simply because i don't know how long it takes to deploy the lifeboats for us to hop in and get to shore. also been a newbie i know i will be back of the queue due to the suite people and people with loyalty points. so if do a private tour i will properly panic and or stress waiting for my turn worried i will miss the tour. i figure been on a ship tour they cant zoom off with out me.

 

so my questions are

 

- will they put more day tours out closer to the time? as i never been to Asia so a long to way to go and only use half the time on land (currently 61 tours for all the days on land)

- if i do the 4.5 hour tour is it possible to get a different boat back to the ship or to i have to stick with the group?

- anybody done this tour. are the elephants happy and well cared for. i love elephants so wont go on a tour if the eley is unhappy or getting walloped by its trainer.

 

many thanks for your help :-)

[cb at sea]

1st, they don't use the "lifeboats" per se....they have a larger boat that seats about 150 or so...more like a "ferry" than a lifeboat! Tours at tender ports KNOW how this goes...they will wait a reasonable amount of time!!

 

If you are on a "ships excursion", time won't matter...they will get you off the ship and back on...no worries! If you are on your own, then you need to be int the TENDER line 30 mins. prior to departure.

[north29]

That is strange, I hope they the tours appears soon. If not I would call and get the excursions Dept and see if they are there any others, we did this(tours not on web site) for the Oasis TA @ South Hampton.

In Thailand we did a tour "VERY LONG" to James Bond Island and more, it was fabulous, our tender point was,well, very different, may not have been the regular one. We were on the Vision of the Seas.

[snoopy19]

Hello

 

thank you for the replies.

 

glad we are not using lifeboats. was a bit worried about that. think too much watching titanic and boats landing on top of each other! or picturing me not co ordinating myself correctly and as i hop in i fall thru the gap! i am a tad clumsy!

 

there is a longer tour but it seems to be awfully tight. it is eight hours but we are only there nine. so if the ship is running late or traffic eeekkk! also sounds nice but it is three hours in a bus.

 

i really want to do the elephants so i might have to do the short tour and then potter about on the ship till we leave.

 

fingers crossed something longer appears.

 

many thanks :-)

[fishtaco]

In Phuket you will be mobbed by tour operators.

 

Look for a boat tour to Phi Phi island, an all dayer but well worth it:);) The ship should put up an official one.

 

If you have not been to thailand before just get the port/ships return transport to the beach area of Patong ( very busy) or Karon (not quite as busy)

 

The elephant park is ok if you want to see elephants playing soccer and

monkeys riding mini bicycles

 

http://www.sawadee.com Is a great thai tourism portal, look up Phuket in sawadee,s website top margin (Destinations drop down box) and it will have plenty of info to get you excited about this fantastic port:)

Edited October 7, 2014 by fishtaco