Adventures in South East Asia - Onboard Azamara Day 12

Overcast skies off the coast of Ko Samui

Following 3 very active port days in Bangkok (including a 20-hour land excursion to Cambodia) we were excited about spending a relaxing day on one of the beautiful beaches of Ko Samui, an island just off the coast of Thailand.  Prior to our trip we had gawked at countless Ko Samui photos of pristine white sandy beaches separating the turquoise sea from the velvety green palm trees on the shore.  All of these photos featured bright sunny days against a canvas of blue sky.  Alas, as I opened the blackout curtain on the morning of our 12thth day expecting sunlight to flood into our stateroom, I was instead met with a wall of stone-grey mist and rain that filled my entire field of vision.  What a disappointment!
We turned on the room’s television and flipped to the daily weather report.  The forecast was for heavy rains for the entire day.  We contemplated going ashore anyway and browsing through the village shops that were within easy walking distance of the pier.  However, we were moored offshore which would have meant tendering in and the thought of trudging through puddles in sopping wet clothes quickly changed our minds.  Instead we decided to stay on board and stay dry. 

Quite a few people who had pre-purchased excursions had left the ship so it was a fairly quiet day compared to sea days when everyone is aboard.  We took advantage of the quietude and spent most of the day reading and putting together the notes from our last few days.  From time to time I walked around the covered area of the pool deck to try and get glimpses of Ko Samui’s Big Buddha, who stands atop the dragon steps of the Way Phra Yai temple.  This golden statue measures 40 feet tall and is usually visible from several miles away.  Unfortunately, the thick pea-soup skies blurred out much of the island from the ship’s vantage point.  We were able to see a navy frigate which had recently arrived and moored just a few hundred yards away between our ship and the shore. 

There were several onboard activities that we could have participated in, but laziness got in the way.  Today’s activities included a Destination Lecture titled “The Battle of Singapore - February 1942: An Impregnable Fortress that Crumbled”, afternoon trivia - “Visual Trivia - Car Manufacturers”.

We did participate in the past guest reception that was hosted by the Onboard booking representative since we have status from our Royal Caribbean affiliation.  It was a very nice event with fancy drinks and speeches by the Captain and other senior staff.  They also honoured a couple who had sailed with Azamara some 30+ times.

Past guest reception

This evening the crew offered a Moroccan Buffet Dinner in Windows Cafe.  However we opted to have dinner in the dining room and enjoyed scallops, shrimp and prime rib.  All which were a perfect end to the day.

Scallops

Shrimp

Prime rib

The evening entertainment was a multi-media piano show with Max Di Fax followed by a “Tribute to Abba”.  Since Abba is one of our favourites, we quite enjoyed the short but sweet tribute.

​As much as we were disappointed by the weather and the impact it had on our initial plans for the day, we both felt we had needed a day to just unwind and do nothing.  While we were approaching the end of our cruise we still had a busy day in Singapore to look forward to.