2nd DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE: Day 1

Yesterday was 7December2025, We are on the other side of the International Dateline, so this can get confusing.  Day 1 of our continuing cruise of the Diamond Princess from Singapore to Thailand, Malaysia, Viet Nam and back to Singapore on December 23.  Sixteen more days on this ship.  This the view from our veranda in Singapore,

It was three years ago that we were on the Regent Seven Seas Explorer from Dubai and arrived in Singapore on December 12.  We took the end of cruise hotel package, so the company first sent us on a tour, then to the Fairmont, where we stayed.  That photo to the right is a one I took then.

Maybe that's the most convenient way to end up in port, for we received a message that taxis were scarce at the two cruise terminals, and we should consider making arrangements to be picked up when we return to Singapore.  However, I asked Google AI:

Yes, taxis are readily available at both of Singapore's main cruise terminals (Marina Bay Cruise Centre and Singapore Cruise Centre), with queues often forming for disembarking passengers, though using the Grab app is also a popular and reliable alternative for booking rides. You'll find metered taxis with taxi signs on the roof, accepting cash (SGD) or cards, and ride-hailing apps like Grab offer convenient options to get to the airport or city. 

I'm terrible with apps, so I hope the wait for taxis will not be too bad.  Lunch on the Diamond Princess.

Well, we left Singapore and are on our way to Malaysia.

Evening cocktails. A Butterfly.

Grand Plaza.

Guitarist Andy Gorny.

Baltic Strings.

Our first dinner on Phase 2 of our Diamond Princess cruise, in the International Dining Room.  Baked Potato Soup.

Rib eye with Seghesio Zinfandel and Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon.

Karaoke.

Only 2120 steps.

If you've been following this Diamond Princess cruise, you read about the two ocean storms that were in the path of our ship.  They both gained prominence as we left Yokohama on November 25.  

• The one that wost threatened was Typhoon Koto, which reached 90 MPH and killed people in the Philippines.  Finally dissipated while still in the ocean in the vicinity of Ho Chi Minh City a little more than a day before our ship docked in in Phu My port, the entry site to that city.
  
• The other one was Cyclone Storm Senyar, which brought catastrophic floods to Malaysia and Thailand.
• Very rare, for the previous cyclonic storm in this region was 24 years ago.  Was the first for Indonesia in November in a century.

• 
  Senyar experienced landfall over Sumatra, Indonesia, on Day 2 of our Diamond Princess cruise, killed 940, perhaps 500 in Aceh, the site of that horrific earthquake on Boxing Day in 2004, where the resultant tsunami killed 227,898 people in 14 countries.
• Senyar then weakened, almost disappeared, but re-emerged into the South China Sea, moving northeastward.
• Senyar caused intense floods in Thailand, possibly killing more than a thousand.  Still counting.  Damages of $16 billion.  7,000 foreign tourists were stranded. 
• Then went over Kelantan, Malaysia,where the Diamond Princess is docked as I'm writing this, killing three, and moved into the South China Sea on November 28.

• 
  Tropical depression Senyar then kept moving northeast, seemingly headed straight for Typhoon Koto.  They were essentially moving towards Ho Chi Minh City from opposite directions.

• 
  Finally dissipated around the same time as Koto, less than two days before the Diamond Princess came to Port Phu My.
• If our ship left Yokohama a few days before November 25, we would have been in the midst of both ocean storms.  We lucked out on timing.
• You can see how our current Diamond Princess itinerary intersects with Senyar.

Tomorrow, Malaysia.

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