20250504 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 13, Phuket Departure

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 13 - Phuket Departure and into the Andaman Sea

We were still in bed as we departed Phuket, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. 

Generally, we would feel this as the side thrusters tend to vibrate on most ships. Not Voyager. That's because this ship vibrates all the time. Seriously. We've never been on a ship that constantly shakes. Sailing? Vibrating. Docking? Vibrating. Docked and tied up? Vibrating? Sailing out of port? Vibrating. It's weird. This is an old ship and is likely heading for sale or scrap within the next few years, but so was Seabourn Sojourn, and we didn't experience any of this. We just think of it as the free Regent massage.

In another odd experience, our laundry came back yesterday. Well, our hanging laundry did. Finally, we asked our cabin steward, and he went to the laundry and found the rest of it. Somehow, our folded laundry, like underwear and socks, got misplaced. It was all good in the end, but still a little odd.

We are sailing into the Andaman Sea this morning. We will make our way over the next three days from Phuket, Thailand, to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Andaman Sea is part of the Indian Ocean

This is now a new part of the world for us, and we're excited to see more new places.

This morning, Regent held a Country Fair on the pool deck. It was similar to events we've experienced on Viking and Seabourn.

The different departments each run different games. Guests get tickets for playing, and more for winning. At the end, all tickets were put in a hopper, and winning numbers were pulled for a Regent swag bag.

Destination Services with puzzles - we had to complete the puzzle and name the place pictured

The culinary team had us identify mystery spices by smelling unmarked containers

Engineering had us toss piston rings over a piston

Engineering also had a game where we had to match the nut to the bolt - several similar nuts were thrown in to make it more difficult

The dining team tied a pendulum (a heavy ball in  nylons) around our waists - we had to swing it and knock over pins

I took an early lead...

...but Arlona made a late charge

They declared it a tie

We both nailed the balance board, ping pong ball roll

Housekeeping had us stuffing pillows into cases - another tie

The bar team had us test our serving skills

It was a fun time, even if our numbers weren't called, so we didn't win anything.

As the games completed, we sailed through an odd tide - a narrow section of low whitecaps - it was strange

After lunch, we competed in a long putt contest. They placed three lines on the ground. If you made the putt from the back line, you received three Regent points. If you missed, you could try again from the middle line for two points. If you missed that, you got one more chance from the front line for one point.

Arlona, on her way toward sinking the two-point putt - I nailed the three-pointer

A little while later, we competed head-to-head against each other in Baggo. We threw two rounds of four bags each. In the end, we tied, so we both netted three points.

Trivia today was brutal. We could only muster 10/16 points - one shy of earning Regent points. We call days like this "learning experiences". The misses:

• What is the lowest female voice type?
• We said, alto, which is correct, however, they were looking for contralto
• In what year did Elvis die?
• We said 1976, it was 1977
• How many letters are in the Hebrew alphabet?
• We guessed 25, it was 22
• Who is the Roman god of fire?
• We guessed Hades, it was Vulcan
• In the 1950s, George Jorgensen became who?
• We guessed that was the original name of George Jetson - wow, were we wrong - George became Christine Jorgensen in the first widely-publicized gender change surgery
• What is a polygon with four unequal sides called?
• They wanted "quadrilateral", but the correct term is scalene or irregular quadrilateral

Like I said, it was a learning day.

They offered a pre-dinner show featuring Evelyn Reed, a harmonica virtuoso. 

She played several different harmonicas, including a one-inch child's model

It was a different and interesting show.

We kept to the "different" theme tonight. We went to the buffet, La Veranda, for dinner. At dinner, it transforms from La Veranda to Sette Mari, an Italian dining venue. It is a hybrid restaurant. Some of the appetizers are served, while others are available on the buffet. The main courses are ordered and served. Desserts are either ordered or grabbed from the buffet. The food and service were terrific, and we will go back.

Tonight's entertainment was Oli Nez, a multi-instrumentalist. We saw him recently on our Africa cruise on Seabourn. Because it would be more than 90 minutes until his show, and the fact that we had seen him recently, we opted to call it a night and return to the room.

We are time-shifting again tonight, gaining an hour and shifting to UTC+6, or ten hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. We're at sea again tomorrow.