DIAMOND PRINCESS 2: Day 5--Phuket, Thailand

We were in Phuket as COVID-19 was just getting started in February of 2020.  In fact, WHO had not yet declared this to be a pandemic.  Here is what I said almost six years ago:

Phuket is the largest island of Thailand, but also a province and city, including 32 more tinier islands.  The area is slightly less than Molokai, which is slightly smaller than Singapore.  The ocean it faces is the Andaman Sea.  The population is approaching 400,000, although there are an additional 200,000 unregistered migrants, ex-pats and others.  The city is 536 miles south of Bangkok.

That disastrous Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004 brought tsunamis to the west coast of Phuket, where we are staying.  While 5300 were killed in all of Thailand, Phuket reported 250 deaths.

Like Hawaii, Phuket gets around 10 million visitors per year.  Caucasian tourism is high, from Europe, Russian and the USA.  We'd guess that 80% of the guests at the Le Meridien is white.  Among the interesting festivals feature vegatarians and ghosts.  One of it's sister cities is Las Vegas, which will be feature of the buffet tonight.

That gasoline price is 35 Baht per liter.  Today, the cost is around 45 Baht/liter, or just about $5/gallon.

Enjoyed the Phuket 3D Museum, also called Trickeye Museum.  This is where I took this photo. Admission cost is around $7.

I also misspoke in 2020.  Clearly I was naive and we shouldn't have been there.

About COVID-19, the latest of personal interest is that around 600 passengers on the Diamond Princess now are afflicted, with two deaths.  On the plus side, Thailand is now #7 in the list of countries with the most cases, with no deaths.  My speculation is that the 2000 world-wide deaths will reach 3000, which is less than the DAILY death rate from traffic accidents, which is in the range of 4000/DAY.  Worried about your life?  Don't be too concerned about COVID-19...don't get on the road!

The death toll from COVID is now a little more than 7 million.

Diamond Princess moored outside of Phuket Island.

Also here is the Celebrity Millennium, the oldest ship in the company, having been commissioned in 2000.

I asked Google AI to compare that ship to ours:

Celebrity offers modern, chic luxury with upscale dining/art (The Retreat), while Princess provides a warm, classic, entertainment-focused vibe, though Diamond Princess is an older ship with unique Asian touches (built for Japan market.)

Whoops, that was not correct, for the Diamond Princess came into service in 2004, four years after the Millennium. We like the Diamond Princes because it was purpose-built for the Japanese market, and has a lot more Japanese food, karaoke and even an onsen.  They are about the same size, for the DP can hold up to 2670 passengers, while the CM has a max of 2593.  Don't know why, but all the specialty DP restaurants almost always can be accessed without a reservation.  And this particular cruise is supposedly totally booked.  I could not find a You Tube comparison of these two ships, but there are various videos asking which cruise line is better.  We only like the Diamond Princess because of its Japanese flavor.

More photos.

Our usual ramen lunch.

After a nap, went for a walk around ship and got in a mile.

Sunset over Phuket.

Then the ship began departing Phuket.

We were enjoying pre-dinner drinks in the Good Spirits at Sea Bar, a Margarita and Haka Vodka over rocks.

Then dinner, tonight in Pacific Moon.  Started with tempura fish and gazpacho.  Hot and cold.

Followed by Bok Choy Chicken Soup and a Caesar Salad.  Wine:  Seghesio Zingandel.

Dessert of coconut mousse tart with Harvey's Bristol Cream over ice.

Tonight there was an officers vs passengers karaoke competition.

As you would would expect, the passengers won because we did the voting.  Then on to our regular 1.5 hour karaoke session.

In the first phase of our cruise on the Diamond Princess, we ended the night at Skwalkers Night Club.  However, they now mostly play music too new for us.  So we go instead to Crooners Bar.   We last night found out we could order take-out to this bar.  So tonight, and this is around midnight, we ordered a hot dog plus cheesy fries.  Sure, we're gaining weight.  But our premier status allows all of this delivered to this bar for free.  The end is getting near.  Best to enjoy life while we can.

Finally, back to our stateroom.  Walked 4115 steps.

I stumbled across a video made last year on the largest cruise ships.  #1 is Icon of the Seas, which can hold up to 7600 passengers.  Since this video was made, her sister ship, Star of the Seas, was launched in August of this year.  They are duplicates.  This is a photo of this newest addition.

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