Cruise Holidays - Attheta Travel

Rangoon, the largest city in Myanmar (Burma) has two names, Rangoon and Yangon.   Today, the locals call it Yangon.   The Azamara Quest spent three days (two nights) docked in the river near the city. Due to changing tide levels in the river, the cruise terminal is on the Yangon River, south of the city.   Unfortunately, the drive to the city is 90+ minutes.   Road construction and traffic can cause major delays.   In this port of call, we were glad we took tours offered by the ship. A large refinery is near the cruise terminal and gas transports often block both lanes of the two-lane road as they wait to fill their tankers.   On our first visit to Yangon from the cruise terminal, we were stuck in a jam for more than an hour.   Our return to the ship from a tour was more than two hours.   The tour of the city was fantastic!   The Shwedagon Pagoda is the primary tourist site in the city – and well worth the trip.   The...

On our group cruise in Southeast Asia, we stopped in Phuket for an overnight visit – two days on the tropical island.   The cruise pier is south of Phuket City and is in a remote location, no nearby shops or tourist sites. The only way to reach the tourist areas is on a structured tour or to take a taxi into the city. It seems that all the venues are an hour or more away from the pier. On our first day in Phuket, we booked a beach break tour at the Dusit Thani Laguna Resort on the west side of the island.   This is the famous beach area of Phuket. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day and when not raining, it was hot and muggy – not the best day to enjoy the beach.   Since It was a 90-minute drive each way to/from the beach, we did get to see a lot of the island. We returned to the ship in time to change and have dinner before attending an “Azamazing Evening” event in the city.   There, we enjoyed a folkloric event of song and dance by Thai performers in...

In November, we escorted a group on the Azamara Quest, roundtrip Singapore to Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Our last visit to Singapore was four years ago. The city hasn’t really changed, and we have always enjoyed our visits to the island nation. As we left Changi Airport for the hotel, I was surprised by the lack of litter, graffiti, and exhaust fumes from older vehicles.   Then I remembered, Singapore takes pride in a clean city and environment.   You can drink the water and eat at the hawker stands (food courts). Our recommended hotel in Singapore is the Hilton.   It’s on the north end of Orchard road, near shopping, restaurants, and the subway.   We spent three nights at the Hilton Hotel.   It’s in the heart of the city and has plenty of upscale shopping nearby.   We walked a lot and used the MRT (subway) for access to remote sites.    We didn’t go out at night but would not have any concerns about walking to nearby venues – It...