Diamond Princess - Southeast Asia Holiday from Singapore

Where this cruise calls, day by day

9 ports and 6 sea days over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Singapore

   SingaporeDepart

   Singapore is the turnaround hub for most Southeast Asia itineraries, so for a lot of passengers it is embarkation day rather than a port call. Ships use either Marina Bay Cruise Centre, purpose-built for the largest hulls, or the older HarbourFront terminal next to VivoCity. What you get on arrival is an efficient, very hot city where the metro is fast and cheap and almost nothing worth seeing is more than half an hour away.

   • Gardens by the Bay - the Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome
   • Hawker lunch at Maxwell Food Centre or Lau Pa Sat
   • Chinatown and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, then the shophouses of Little India
   • Singapore Botanic Gardens and its National Orchid Garden

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Marina Bay Cruise Centre is a 10-minute walk from Marina South Pier MRT and a short taxi from downtown; HarbourFront sits directly above its own MRT station.

   Best months

   Feb-Apr (driest); hot and humid year-round

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Phuket

   ThailandPort

   Phuket is a large island rather than a single town, and where your ship puts you changes the day considerably. In the November-to-April high season most ships anchor off Patong and run tenders to the beach; in the wetter months they use the deepwater pier at Ao Makham on the east coast. Patong is loud and commercial, but Old Phuket Town's Sino-Portuguese shophouses are a genuinely different Thailand.

   • Old Phuket Town - Thalang Road's Sino-Portuguese shophouses and the Chinese shrines
   • The Big Buddha on Nakkerd Hill, with the view over Chalong Bay
   • Wat Chalong, the island's largest and busiest temple
   • A longtail or speedboat out to Phang Nga Bay and the limestone stacks

   Getting ashore

   Varies by season - tender to Patong Beach in the Nov-Apr high season, or dock at Phuket Deep Sea Port (Ao Makham), about 20-30 minutes from Patong and 15 from Old Phuket Town.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (dry season, calm Andaman)

4. Day 4

   Langkawi

   MalaysiaPort

   Langkawi is a duty-free island in the Andaman Sea, greener and quieter than Penang, with rainforest running down to mangrove-fringed water. Ships berth at Porto Malai on the south-west corner, which is a resort development rather than a town. The two things most people come for are the cable car up Machinchang and a boat through the Kilim mangroves.

   • The Langkawi SkyCab cable car and the SkyBridge on Gunung Machinchang
   • Kilim Karst Geoforest Park by boat - mangroves, sea eagles, limestone caves
   • Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) and the shops of Kuah town
   • Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) waterfall

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Porto Malai (the Star Cruises jetty) on the south-west of the island; Kuah town is about 20 minutes and the cable car around 30 minutes by taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Mar (dry, calm)

5. Day 5

   Penang (George Town)

   MalaysiaPort

   Penang is the easiest port day in Malaysia, because Swettenham Pier puts you at the edge of George Town's UNESCO-listed old quarter and you can simply walk off. The town is a layered Straits Chinese, Indian, Malay and colonial city of shophouses, clan houses and street art, dense enough to cover on foot. It is also one of the best eating stops in Asia.

   • The Khoo Kongsi clan house and the Chew Jetty stilt village
   • Fort Cornwallis and the colonial buildings along the Esplanade
   • Kek Lok Si Temple at Air Itam, and the Penang Hill funicular
   • Street food at Gurney Drive or the hawker stalls off Lebuh Chulia

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Swettenham Pier, on the edge of George Town's historic centre - most of the old town is a 10-20 minute walk from the gangway.

   Best months

   Dec-Mar (driest); Sep-Nov is the wettest

6. Day 6

   Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur)

   MalaysiaPort

   Port Klang is Malaysia's main container gateway, and the cruise berth is at Boustead Cruise Centre out on Pulau Indah, a good way from anything. Kuala Lumpur is the draw and it is an hour or more inland, with traffic that can turn ugly on the return leg. Passengers who would rather stay local usually settle for the Hindu shrines at Batu Caves, which are on the KL road anyway.

   • The Petronas Twin Towers and the KLCC park below them
   • Batu Caves - the 272 steps and the golden Murugan statue
   • Merdeka Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
   • Central Market and the food stalls of Jalan Alor

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Boustead Cruise Centre, Pulau Indah; Kuala Lumpur is about 40km inland, 60-90 minutes each way depending on traffic, and there is nothing walkable at the terminal.

   Best months

   May-Jul (relatively drier); rain is possible any month

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   Cam Ranh

   VietnamPort

   Cam Ranh is a deepwater terminal in a huge natural bay that spent most of the twentieth century as a naval base. It exists on cruise itineraries as the berth big ships use when they cannot anchor off Nha Trang, so almost everyone who lands here immediately gets on a bus north. The bay and the Cam Ranh peninsula's resort beaches are pleasant, but the day is really about Nha Trang.

   • Po Nagar Cham Towers and Long Son Pagoda in Nha Trang
   • Thap Ba mud baths and mineral springs
   • Bai Dai beach on the Cam Ranh peninsula, close to the port
   • Snorkelling trips out to the islands of Nha Trang Bay

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Cam Ranh International Terminal; Nha Trang is about 60km north, an hour each way by coach, and there is nothing walkable at the port.

   Best months

   Feb-May (dry and calm)

10. Day 10

    Ho Chi Minh City

    VietnamPort

    The berth is Phu My, an industrial terminal on the Thi Vai river roughly 80km from Ho Chi Minh City. There is nothing at the port itself, and the transfer eats a large part of the day, so this is a call you plan around rather than wander out of. The reward at the other end is Saigon at full volume - motorbikes six abreast, colonial facades, and a war history that the city presents without much softening.

    • The War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace
    • Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and the Central Post Office
    • Ben Thanh Market for food stalls and haggling
    • The Cu Chi Tunnels, north-west of the city and usually sold as a full-day alternative

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Phu My; Ho Chi Minh City is 90 minutes to 2 hours each way by road, and the nearer town of Vung Tau is about 40 minutes.

    Best months

    Dec-Mar (dry season)

11. Day 11 · At sea

12. Day 12

    Bangkok (Laem Chabang)

    ThailandPort

    Laem Chabang is Thailand's main container port, and the cruise berth sits in the middle of it - cranes, stacked boxes, no town. Bangkok is the reason ships call, but it is a long way inland, so the day is largely spent on a coach. Passengers who would rather not spend four hours in traffic usually go to Pattaya instead, which is close enough to be relaxed about.

    • The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok
    • Wat Pho and its reclining Buddha, plus a longtail boat on the Chao Phraya klongs
    • The Sanctuary of Truth, a carved teak temple on the shore at Pattaya
    • Wat Yansangwararam and the Nong Nooch tropical garden, both between the port and Pattaya

    Getting ashore

    Docked at the commercial port; central Bangkok is 90 minutes to 2 hours each way by coach, while Pattaya is only 30-40 minutes.

    Best months

    Nov-Feb (cool, dry season)

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15

    Singapore

    SingaporeArrive

    Singapore is the turnaround hub for most Southeast Asia itineraries, so for a lot of passengers it is embarkation day rather than a port call. Ships use either Marina Bay Cruise Centre, purpose-built for the largest hulls, or the older HarbourFront terminal next to VivoCity. What you get on arrival is an efficient, very hot city where the metro is fast and cheap and almost nothing worth seeing is more than half an hour away.

    • Gardens by the Bay - the Supertree Grove, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome
    • Hawker lunch at Maxwell Food Centre or Lau Pa Sat
    • Chinatown and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, then the shophouses of Little India
    • Singapore Botanic Gardens and its National Orchid Garden

    Getting ashore

    Docked. Marina Bay Cruise Centre is a 10-minute walk from Marina South Pier MRT and a short taxi from downtown; HarbourFront sits directly above its own MRT station.

    Best months

    Feb-Apr (driest); hot and humid year-round