The day began well when our usual international trivia team won the morning session by two clear points. The prize was a much sought after Princess cruises carabiner clip. Unfortunately we got nowhere in the other quizzes that we took part in that day but nevertheless felt that the team went out as the Morning Champions. As a reward we tried out the ships pizza (first class), hot dog and chips and a cold beer for lunch. The afternoon activities included napkin folding, so providing we can remember the folds, our Christmas dinner table is bound to look a little extra special this year.
We also hit the casino for the one and only time and I'm glad to report that we very quickly made a 75% profit by turning our $20 stake into $35, so that paid for the evenings drinks.
Over the last couple of days of the cruise the ships Christmas decorations were put up so everything was looking very festive. We ended up chatting with the two Kiwi girls whose job it is to erect all the decorations. They have sole responsibility for decorating all the ships in the Asia Pacific region, flying from port to port and ship to ship, all expenses paid just to put up Christmas trees and fairy lights. Please tell me where to apply.
Disembarkation was quick and efficient. Our package included a transfer to Singapore's Changi airport, the road from port to airport being along Marina Drive which includes a tunnel section two miles long and six lanes in each direction. It's mightily impressive. We checked our bags into left luggage and caught the MRT back into the city for our last few hours. As luck would have it, the daily rainstorm arrived as we got to our station so we didn't venture out of the mall so we joined the locals in the national pastime of shopping and eating. Our lunch consisted of coconut rice, ginger and lemon chicken, and mixed vegetables with noodles, all washed down with sour plum and lime fruit juice. Totally delicious. I was also brave enough to try some durian fruit which smells like rotting cabbage in a sewer (in fact it's smell is so pungent that it is illegal to carry on public transport), but has a rather odd, sweet taste which is palatable and with a puréed texture.
And so our grand Asian adventure is almost at an end. We have had a great time having an introduction to this corner of the world. Without exception, everyone we have spoken to has been hugely impressed with Singapore, as have we. It's a great city, easy to get around, spotlessly clean and safe. It probably does have its problems, but they must be hard to see and if only every city could take Singapore as a role model, the world would be a far better place.
Our favourite ports of call were the two stops in Vietnam. It has had 40 years of development but it still feels like you are entering a totally different world. The jury is out on Brunei, but it was probably the hottest day of the trip and therefore I doubt we saw it in its best light.
In Thailand, Phuket could be compared to any island in the Balearics whilst Bangkok was much larger than I had imagined and would need a good week to do it justice. Koh Samui was less spoiled than Phuket but is obviously a tourist magnet.
Like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur is another big city undergoing tremendous development. Penang has a certain charm but our time ashore that day gave us limited exposure to the area.
Although it was built back in 2004, Sapphire Princess is wearing well and as always, the crew and staff were magnificent. On the downside, we felt that the shows were generally mediocre and the menu rotation in the restaurants seems to have been to reduced to seven days rather than fourteen.
We met some lovely people along the way, especially the Aussies who are always especially friendly. The weather was almost uniformly hot at around 30C with a daily threat of thunderstorms. Seas were, for the most part, flat calm. We managed to fit in a swim most days.
Thus this travel blog now closes as I sit in the departure lounge in Dubai airport with my head telling me it is 5.45am and my watch telling me it is 1.45am, so please excuse all the grammatical errors! I shall hope to catch some fitful sleep during the homeward leg to Gatwick and bid everyone goodbye until next time!
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