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First Cruise: Diamond Princess - 4 Days Malaysia (Penang, Langkawi, Port Klang)

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  • #31
    Many thanks for the TR so far, yflyer. Very interesting to see the ship, facilities, food and Penang!

    Originally posted by yflyer View Post
    And on the promenade deck, a plate showing the shipyard and date of delivery of the Diamond Princess: Mitsubishi Shipyards in Japan, in 2004.

    Maybe the Nagasaki shipyard of MHI which built some cruise ships I worked on.

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    • #32
      Originally posted by jhm View Post
      Many thanks for the TR so far, yflyer. Very interesting to see the ship, facilities, food and Penang!

      Maybe the Nagasaki shipyard of MHI which built some cruise ships I worked on.
      Thanks, jhm!

      Yes, the Diamond Princess, and her sister ship, the Sapphire Princess, were both built in Nagasaki...

      You've worked on a cruise ship? Must have been quite an experience! During the cruise, we chatted with some of the crew and staff onboard about their experiences...some have been doing it for many years, and been all over the world. It is quite a unique lifestyle...

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      • #33
        Continuing with the TR...after my run in Penang, I reboarded the cruise ship (Obviously still in my PT-attire...)...



        ...and headed back to the cabin for a shower before dinner.

        As today was a shore day, the dinner concept was "anytime dining", where we were free to eat at any of the dining rooms at any time, rather than our assigned dining room and table.

        We took the opportunity to visit another dining room onboard, the Vivaldi Dining Room, which had an especially warm and lively service team that went the extra mile to engage with guests dining with them.

        Some of the dishes that day...



        The dessert special that evening was bananas foster flambe...



        ...and by then I had begun collecting the Princess cocktail shot glasses...on this occasion house-made limoncello...

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        • #34
          Late that evening, the ship departed Penang for Langkawi, and the next day, we woke up in the early morning to find the Diamond Princess navigating a passage past small islands shrouded in morning mist as we approached the island of Langkawi...



          The pier in Langkawi is located on the southern tip of Langkawi Island...



          One of the amazing things about cruises compared to air travel is waking up in your room in the morning to find a different view in front of your balcony...



          Langkawi is much more sparsely populated than Penang, and the area near the pier was covered in lush greenery...



          We headed for breakfast in the buffet restaurant before heading out to explore Langkawi. While sit-down breakfasts were served in our assigned dining rooms each morning, we preferred a casual buffet breakfast on most days.













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          • #35
            Our younger girl didn't feel like venturing onshore, so she stayed onboard, while the rest of us headed into Langkawi after breakfast.



            There was a hotel and tour desk next to the pier, where we arranged for a short boat ride in the waters around Langkawi.



            We headed out towards some of the outer islands...



            Beautiful island scenery...





            At one point, we stopped to observe some eagles and other sea birds feeding...



            It was a nice day to be on the water...



            Last edited by yflyer; 3 January 2017, 03:07 PM.

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            • #36
              Off our hour-long boat ride, Mrs yflyer and our older girl headed back to the cruise ship, while I headed inland for a noon day run along Jalan Teluk Baru and Jalan Pantai Cenang, a lively tourist beach not far from the pier, and incidentally also quite close to Langkawi Airport to the north.



              While there was nothing in the immediately vicinity of the pier, just 2-3 kilometers or so away, over the hill, were several stretches of pristine white beaches, and businesses catering to tourists, including restaurants, minimarts and spa outlets.



              The main tourist / beach zones looked to be along Jalan Teluk Baru and later on, Jalan Pantai Cenang...









              Durians on sale...



              The best advertising for F&B is meat and seafood grilling over a charcoal grill at your entrance...





              While many of the top five-star beach resorts were elsewhere on the island, the public beaches of Tengah beach and Cenang beach to the north of the pier looked to be decent beaches for water sports, or to work on a tan.



              There was a lot to see on the beach...I was distracted by the view to the point of not paying enough attention to the waves lapping the shoreline, and got my shoes totally soaked when a large wave came in...it would be a wet, heavy slog back to the ship as the sand and water slowly drained from my track shoes...

              Last edited by yflyer; 3 January 2017, 03:08 PM.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by jhm
                Maybe the Nagasaki shipyard of MHI which built some cruise ships I worked on.
                Originally posted by yflyer View Post
                You've worked on a cruise ship?
                Oops! Sorry, I meant I worked on the financing of some cruise ships built by MHI in Nagasaki!

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                • #38
                  Apart from swimming and sunbathing, activities included jet ski's and parasailing...





                  And further up the road, there was the Underwater World aquarium complex, and duty free shopping...



                  ...and the inevitable Starbucks, KFC and McDonalds...



                  At that point, which was about the 5.5km mark from the pier, I decided to turn round and retrace my steps back to the Diamond Princess, for an overall distance of 11km.

                  My run that day, starting from the pier where the ship was docked, and then heading up Jalan Teluk Baru towards Underwater world.



                  ...and zooming into the specific area...



                  I returned to the ship before 3pm...



                  ...just in time to join Mrs yflyer for afternoon tea with sandwiches and scones...



                  Last edited by yflyer; 2 January 2017, 09:25 PM.

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                  • #39
                    Later that afternoon, I watched the ship depart Langkawi from our cabin...



                    We typically had decent mobile internet coverage on our cellphones when docked, or close to shore, but the number of bars rapidly dwindled to nothing as we sailed off, to everyone's dismay.

                    Last edited by yflyer; 3 January 2017, 03:09 PM.

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                    • #40
                      That evening, the third day of our cruise, we made a reservation for dinner at the Sterling Steakhouse, one of the specialty restaurants on board the Diamond Princess, where you could dine for an additional per person charge.



                      The cuts of steak on offer that evening...



                      ...as well as premium wines, with some bottles, such as the Opus One, priced well out of our reach...



                      We were shown to our window-side table with a stunning sunset view...



                      The menu...classic steakhouse fare...



                      Nothing like a dry olive martini before a steak dinner...this was perfectly mixed...



                      Mrs yflyer opted for the tiger prawn appetiser...



                      ...while I had the Carpaccio of beef, which was beautifully marbled...



                      ...and after that the prawn and pancetta bisque...



                      The black and blue onion soup was very good too...

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                      • #41
                        A glass of red wine to go with my New York Strip...



                        The steak was flavourful and beautifully charred on the outside...



                        Mmmm...



                        Mrs yflyer's bone-in cut, which she shared with our younger girl, looked great as well...



                        Three different salts...





                        ...and an assortment of sides...



                        An excellent, and very memorable dinner, probably the finest on the cruise so far...

                        Last edited by yflyer; 2 January 2017, 09:26 PM.

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                        • #42
                          A cheese platter before dessert...



                          ...which was a 7 layer S'mores Stack....



                          ...and lemon meringue pudding tart...



                          ..and an Errazuriz late harvest dessert wine...

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                          • #43
                            There were two other specialty restaurants onboard, which we did not try on this cruise...

                            Sabatini's, an Italian restaurant...



                            ...and Kai Sushi, a Japanese restaurant...



                            To be continued!

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                            • #44
                              Originally posted by jhm View Post
                              Oops! Sorry, I meant I worked on the financing of some cruise ships built by MHI in Nagasaki!
                              Ah...I see!

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                              • #45
                                Cheers yflyer! Perfectly timed TR as I'll be bringing my family on our first cruise ever in March. We will doing Penang and Phuket on Royal Caribbean... Should be fun.
                                God must have been a ship owner, he placed the raw materials far from where they are needed and covered two-thirds of the earth with water...

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