We are having
real problems here. Boats only get 6 months in Thailand before they have to be
"imported". Destiny's 6 months runs out the 20th, so if we aren't
gone by then I don't know what we'll do. Most of the other cruisers
booked on the transport are European and have flown out to their respective
homes, leaving 7-Star to hire captains to load their yachts at 7-Star's
expense. There is no way we are going to leave the sealing and loading of our boat to anyone else.
We are so
disappointed and a bit angry - have spent beau coups $$$ fooling around with
the darn visa extensions, and only had until June 11th on our final one. Now
the ship is not due here before the 16th. So we were trying to figure the
easiest and least costly way to extend from that date. We found that the
minimum cost (just a couple hundred $) would be if we rent a car and drive to
the Thai border, take the boat to Burma (again), but will only get 15 days, and
that is a horrible trip. We never want to do that again! Meanwhile the others
who are really griping and making a fuss are getting all kinds of things paid
for, such as extended marina fees and so forth, by 7-Star. We really don't know
what amount they are getting but do know that paying for a captain to load
their boats and paying their boat fees here in Phuket are not cheap.
That's not our
style, but finally we told the local 7-Star Rep. about our issue with the
visas. She called Frank and told him they had a surprise for us for my
birthday. They said they would pay for our air ticket to fly to Singapore to
get our passport stamped for 30 more days. That was a very sweet gesture and
one that we appreciated, but if we had done it ourselves, we were just going to
fly to KL, in and out in one day. We want to spend our money on a trip to Hong
Kong on the way to Turkey during our 3+ weeks off the boat while it's being
shipped.
7-Star booked the
plane ticket for us (we did not get a choice of where or what airline
or date - probably b/c they were looking for the cheapest airfare from Phuket).
They booked us for an overnight stay - out on the 5th and back on the 6th.
Frank asked if they were going to pay our hotel, airport transfers and meals
and they said NO.
For some crazy
reason we had a real hard time finding a hotel for one night
in Singapore - everything was booked or required minimum 3-night stay, except
for some backpacker hostels in Chinatown. We finally found a room at the
Swissotel. That plus meals plus all the airport transfers ended up costing us
over $500 (and we used the train - no taxis!!!). The air ticket that they paid
was under $300 for us both on Tiger airways. We have never been on a plane with
seats so small. Frank's knees would not fit into the back of the seat in front
of him because his legs were too long! He had to sit sideways. Our ticket was
not upgradable or refundable. He was NOT HAPPY.
I know they were
trying to be helpful and in spite of the frustration, we did have a good time
(at least I had a nice birthday), but Frank grumbled the whole time about this
being our most expensive visa extension and not what he would have planned.
Frank said my present from him was the hotel. Now we are back in Phuket waiting
and waiting. I sure hope that getting to Turkey is worth all of this because
right now, we are ready to ask for our money back. It would have been so much
cheaper and less stressful if we had sailed back to Penang that second week of
May and sat out the season in the nice marina there, where at least I could do
my own laundry and be in walking distance of groceries, etc., which was our
original 6-month plan. But then we thought we would have been shipped between
the 14th and 25th of May too.
OK, so we did
really enjoy our quick trip to Singapore. Enjoyed a wonderful dinner on the
Singapore River. Our room had a nice river view, and we visited the astounding
Botanical Gardens before returning to Phuket.
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| views from our room of the river |
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| travel docs for Singapore |
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