Adventure In The Far East
Adventure in the Far East |
11 of 11 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: Fitzgerald, Swansea on 1st Jan 2012
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| Cruise Line: Spirit of Adventure |
Times cruised before: 6-10 |
| Cruise Ship: Spirit of Adventure |
Sailed:
November,
2011 |
| Destination:
Far East
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Outside |
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Spirit of Adventure - A Taste of South East Asia
Itinerary: Colombo, Sri Lanka to Singapore via Chennai (India); Port Blair (Andaman Islands); Phuket and Krabi (Thailand); Langkawi, Penang, Port Kelang and Malacca (Malaysia).
3 - 17 November 2011
This was our eleventh cruise and the second in 2011 on the Spirit of Adventure. We were late in discovering what is known as adventure cruising so following our first Spirit cruise to the Indian Ocean in January we just had to take another, this time to south east Asia.
Different captain, different cruise director, different maître d', different executive chef - but it didn't matter because the company have such a good product that it all hangs together regardless of which individuals actually fill the positions.
We may have had different officers but we recognised many passengers who had been with us earlier in the year. The Spirit of Adventure has a very loyal following with most passengers having taken a surprisingly large number of cruises with Spirit to different parts of the world. so meeting former cruise colleagues on our cruise was, perhaps, to be expected.
As previously, the whole shipboard operation is very slick and cannot be faulted. The meals in particular are really excellent as is the whole dining experience. Each evening at dinner one is escorted to one's table so passengers meet new people every night. Considering that there were only 282 passengers on our cruise it still came as a surprise to be seated on day 12 with two couples that I swear we had never seen on the ship - or on any of the excursions for that matter. The feeling was reciprocated because one of our dining companions jokingly asked us if we had just joined the ship!
As with all Spirit of Adventure cruises we had a good variety of guest speakers - there were five in all who gave three talks each. We also had a husband and wife photographer team on board who provided some valuable instruction on digital cameras and supplied some useful photo tips. At the end of every shore excursion they collected digital pictures that passengers had taken and produced a rolling display in the lounge of a sample of passengers' photos. They were sponsored by EPSON who had provided them with printers and A3 paper and what they termed the best of the best were printed and put on display on board. Of 16,000 pictures they collected over the 14 days, only about two dozen were printed and I am delighted to say that one of mine made the grade.
All in all therefore there was plenty to occupy our time during the days at sea.
The Spirit of Adventure have a reputation for looking after passengers at all times and this was evident on our final day. We were due to dock in Singapore early morning with the flights back to the UK departing late evening. A last minute additional excursion was put on for those who wished to see something of Singapore and we managed to see a great deal in the four hours we had ashore - the Botanical Garden, China Town, Little India and the Merlion on the harbour front.
After a shipboard lunch we were taken to Raffles Hotel where we had an hour and a half to soak up the atmosphere (or a Singapore Sling!) or visit the Raffles Museum. It was then off to a hotel where we were treated to a lavish buffet meal of oriental dishes before being taken to the airport for our homeward flights.
This client care is so different to other cruises we have taken where the prime concern at the end of the cruise seems to be to get the passengers off the ship and out of the way for the next intake as quickly as possible.
If there was any criticism of the cruise it has to be the inclusion of Chennai in the itinerary. We should have docked in the morning but we were travelling against a strong current for the entire 36 hour journey from Colombo and this delayed our arrival until early afternoon. We were surprised that the ship's captain and navigation officer didn't seem to be aware that there would be such a strong current at that time of the year which would impede our progress to the degree it did.
The all day excursion that we had booked was obviously cancelled and all passengers were given a tour of Chennai town - much of it in the dark! Following Chennai we then had two days at sea to reach the Andaman Islands. On reflection perhaps including Chennai in the itinerary had been wrong. We spent three and a half days at sea as a result of the Chennai port of call whereas had we left Colombo and sailed direct to the Andaman Islands we would have had fewer days at sea and the opportunity for another port of call more appropriate to our journey down the Thai and Malaysian coast.
As Chennai was the first port of call on the cruise it was a disappointing start but the remainder of the excursions were quite fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. The excursions with Spirit are always extremely varied so we experienced tropical beaches, buddist temples, a speedboat journey to James Bond's Island (as seen in the Man with the Golden Gun), colonial cities and the elephant orphanage near Colombo - to name but a few. We were also extremely fortunate with the weather - just two tropical storms which lasted for less than an hour each - and this, of course, at the same time that parts of Thailand were suffering from some extremes of flooding.
As our Singapore guide told us - there were four seasons in that part of the world - hot and hotter, wet and wetter - and it seems you can get all four seasons in the same day!
Tony Fitzgerald
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| Quality of Food |  |
| All meals were excellent - we ate in the dining room every evening although there was the option of eating less formally and buffet style on an open deck or inside. | | Entertainment |  |
| There is little entertainment on board the Spirit of Adventure. There is no theatre so lavish shows are not provided. The classical music concerts were very good and the best entertainer was a majician who gave two performances during the cruise. Local folk groups are also brought on board to give a local flavour if the ship is in port until late. | | Shore Excursions | |
| The Chennai town tour was a disappointment as it set off late afternoon and extended into the evening when it was dark. | | Staff | |
| All were very good but no one stands out for special mention. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| There is sufficient going on on board to keep passengers occupied on sea days but the activities are more sedentary than active, eg listening to talks, painting classes, using what must be one of the best libraries afloat. | | Cabins | |
| We were fortunate to have an upgrade to an outside cabin. Well appointed and could not be faulted. | | Overall Rating | |
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