5 Night Spice of Southeast Asia - New Year's Eve Cruise

[EllaDuChien]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Did you get any pictures of the elephants?

Yes! Just haven’t had a chance to write that part up yet! Here’s a few quick ones until I get a chance to finish:

 

 

 

 

[bailda]

Pretty sure that was the same elephant we washed when last there 

[EllaDuChien]

11 hours ago, bailda said:

Pretty sure that was the same elephant we washed when last there 

 

Lol! Yes! I love the freckles on all their faces!

[sgmn]

Hi Ella, I guess the cruise has finished now. Will you be posting your final thoughts on the ship and Singapore?

Looking forward to our visit next month 

Thanks again for doing the review, as you said there's very little about Spectrum on CC

[EllaDuChien]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

Hi Ella, I guess the cruise has finished now. Will you be posting your final thoughts on the ship and Singapore?

Looking forward to our visit next month 

Thanks again for doing the review, as you said there's very little about Spectrum on CC

 

Yes, the cruise has ended.  We spent three days in Singapore after the cruise and then spent 34 hours making it home!!  I plan to write up the elephant sanctuary as well as my final thoughts as soon as I catch up on some sleep!  🙂 Thanks for following along!  

[jacobtsf]

Just booked Anthem out of Singapore for February 2025, includes 7 hours in Penang and then 36 hours in Phuket. 
 

The only thing we know we definitely want is an elephant experience, but this thread is really helping me start to get some other ideas!

 

We will be taking our daughter (who will be 5 at that point) so any suggestions from anyone on kid friendly things to do would be appreciated!

[mil76]

1 hour ago, jacobtsf said:

Just booked Anthem out of Singapore for February 2025, includes 7 hours in Penang and then 36 hours in Phuket. 
 

The only thing we know we definitely want is an elephant experience, but this thread is really helping me start to get some other ideas!

 

We will be taking our daughter (who will be 5 at that point) so any suggestions from anyone on kid friendly things to do would be appreciated!

We did the same cruise as the OP the week before Christmas, and then spent a week in Singapore.  For a 5 year old you will find more for her to do in Singapore.  We did Go City passes, and went to just about everything.

 

Singapore

• Singapore Zoo - They have 4 different zoos - Singapore Zoo, Bird Paradise, River Wonders, and Night Safari.  Took us a day and a half to see the 3 daytime zoos and another evening for Night Safari.  If I had to pick one, it would be River Wonders since they have the pandas.

 

• Gardens by the Bay

 

•  ArtScience Museum - this is the Lotus Flower looking building next to Marina Bay Sands.  great interactive exhibits 

 

 

•  Merlion

 

• Sentosa Island - lots of kid-friendly things there, along with a Universal Studios.

 

 

 

Penang

Didn't see many kid-friendly things.  We hired a taxi driver for the day to take us around to all the temples.  Some of the Temples had lots of steps, so not kid-friendly.  The walk up to Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Hindu Temple was about 500 steps! 

 

  

Kek Lok Si Temple was the highlight for us.

 

The main Buddhist Temples were much easier to reach since they were in the flat part of town and right across the street from each other.

 

  

Phuket

Patong (where the boat tenders) was more of an adult playground, but you won't be able to beat the elephants for a 5 year old.  We did the elephant trek where you ride them.  Initially we were not going to do it, but our son talked us into it.  We bought lots of bananas to help ease our guilt.

 

We also visited the Big Buddha

 

Can't beat the view from here

 

@EllaDuChien, sorry if I hijacked your thread.  I was planning on doing a llve report on my cruise, but between getting to Singapore, the jet-lag, and the mad dash at every port, I didn't get around to it.  

[jacobtsf]

9 minutes ago, mil76 said:

We did the same cruise as the OP the week before Christmas, and then spent a week in Singapore.  For a 5 year old you will find more for her to do in Singapore.  We did Go City passes, and went to just about everything.

 

 

oh my god your post is incredible, thank you so much!!!

[mil76]

19 minutes ago, jacobtsf said:

oh my god your post is incredible, thank you so much!!!

Hopefully this helps for a 5 year old.  I had my kids with me as well, but they are 21 and 25!

[Nadey]

I have so much enjoyed following along and looking at your pictures and the other pictures that were posted from the trip the week before you. I won't be going there but I sure enjoyed it through your eyes. . 

[EllaDuChien]

Oh. My. Goodness!  I am so sorry for the delay in finishing this!  I got home and promptly got sick, then my father went into the hospital (now in a rehab facility) so it has been crazy!  I really appreciate @mil76 jumping in with some ideas for kids!  I really wanted to do the night zoo but it never fit into our plans.  

I am finally well and my father is recovering so look for the elephant experience write up tomorrow!  Thanks for your patience!

[L1211]

This has been so much fun!  We lived in Shanghai as expats a decade ago and have only returned to Thailand for a quick trip this year.  We so miss our Asian travels.  This was a beautiful review. Thank you so much for sharing!! 

[EllaDuChien]

Phuket, Thailand. Our final stop before a sea day back to Singapore.  No one wanted to join me at the elephant sanctuary so they all booked a city tour. I certainly don’t mind doing things on my own, but hindsight 20/20 I wish I would have pushed harder for my DD to join me. She would have loved it!

Phuket is a tender port, but since I was on a ships tour, I didn’t need to worry about getting tender tickets. The rest of my family had to head out super early for their tour but mine was not until 9:30am so I had a nice leisurely morning and then headed to the theatre to get my ticket.

I did what you are not supposed to do and just hopped on the next tender after I got my ticket, not waiting for my group to be called, but I had some things I needed to do before the tour, like getting local cash for tips. 
 

The tender ride was easy enough and the landing spot is right on a beautiful beach.

 

 

 

I wandered down and found my group meeting spot, then since I was 45 minutes early, I went off in search of an ATM to get some local cash. 
I made a couple of rookie mistakes here. I forgot to check the exchange rate of the Baht before I left the ship’s WiFi. When I got to the ATM, the choices were either 1000 Thai Baht then it jumped to 10,000 Thai Baht and went up from there. So I chose the 10,000. That was WAY too much!! About $275. But I didn’t realize that yet. 
Then I headed back to the meeting spot. I was still 20 minutes early for the time we were supposed to meet, but when I got there, they had already left! I could see them in the distance so I sprinted to catch up with them. Not to keep you in suspense, I made it and got in a minivan with part of our group.

Because we were leaving so early, the Elephant Sanctuary was not ready for us. We made two stops to kill some time. First at a scenic overlook for a photo stop…

 

 

Next at a temple.

 

 

 

The temple was closed so we couldn’t go inside, but the grounds were really pretty and we could get close to all the buildings.

 

then we were finally ready to head to the ELEPHANTS!!!

[EllaDuChien]

So it is official.  I am the WORST Live reviewer ever!  My apologies for taking so long to get to the best part, all I can say is that Life Happened.

 

We headed to the Green Elephant Sanctuary Park.  First we were ushered into the covered picnic area for a chat about how the visit would go and a frosty beverage if wanted.

 

 

We then headed over to watch the elephant parade as they brought in the ladies that we would be interacting with.

 

 

We had baskets of sugar cane to feed them and they were always willing to accept!

 

 

There were two elephants that we were not allowed to feed.  One was still scared of most humans so she stayed off to the side, and the other was Mama and baby!  Apparently Mama gets a bit defensive when people come too close to her little.

 

 

After a good amount of time feeding the elephants, we then went "backstage" to see where the elephants and the mahouts lived.  In case you don't know (and why would you!) a mahout is an elephant keeper and there is one mahout per elephant at the sanctuary.  They live there full time in huts right across from the nighttime elephant pens.

 

 

They can have wives and kids live there with them if they want.  The wives work in the kitchen and manage other jobs, like laundry for the mahouts, etc.  The kids will go to a local school like any other kid. 

Then it was time to go get muddy with the elephants!  

 

 

No one had to go in the mud pit if they didn't want to.  They had elephants stay outside the pond but still close enough to get dirty.  I don't know why I only have pictures of me outside the pond, I assure you I got in and muddy!

Next up was a different pond to rinse the mud off.

 

 

The water was a smidge chilly, but not too bad, and pretty refreshing considering how hot it was!  Then we went to the showers (not the actual get clean showers) to fully rinse and scrub the elephants.

 

After this, we went back to the covered picnic area where they were setting up the buffet still so I headed straight for the shower.  They have 3 or 4 large shower stalls (like big enough for two at a time if you are so inclined).  I had about a 5 minute wait for a shower to open up.  The water is hot and they provide basic body wash and shampoo. I washed, dried, and dressed as quickly as I could so as not to hold up the line then headed for some lunch.  

Lunch consisted of Chicken and Noodles, Spring Rolls, and fresh fruit for me.  There were other options, but I am a spice wimp so I stuck with things I knew would not hurt me!

 

 

It was all delicious!  This excursion is pricey, but I think it was totally worth it.  I really wish my DD had come, she really would have enjoyed it.  

After the obligatory shopping stop on the way back, I made it back to the tender only to run into the rest of my family coming back from their excursion as well! 

 

Dinner was my daughter's favorite on any ship, Teppanyaki.  It was really good, same as on many other ships.

 

 

And then we were back in Singapore.  Thank you so much for following along, we did spend two more days in Singapore and had a couple of amazing tours. 

Kudos to all the folks that manage to do Live reviews, its really tough!  Until next time...Smooth Seas.

  

 

And one last pic of the baby girl getting to play in her own pond!

 

Edited February 8 by EllaDuChien

[little britain]

Can you remember where you tendered into Phuket on Patong beach ? Was it the pier at the southern end? 

[bailda]

Yes. The long pier at the south end.