A good friend and ex-colleague arrives in Phuket with his wife (and several thousand others) on board the Queen Mary on Sunday.

I have said I will pick them up* and sort a venue for Sunday lunch. I don’t know Phuket myself – I’m currently driving with my Thai family from Issan and arrive for our first visit to the island tomorrow.

Help!!

I need to know where does Queen Mary dock? You can assume I will have a reasonably detailed island map, so I don’t need detailed driving directions, just enough to identify the location.

I’m also looking for a nice lunch venue – expense not an issue if the place is memorable. Prefer it to have a view (mountains, bays or beachside). Prefer it to have Thai food as at least one of the menu options. Prefer it to have aircon available if they find al fresco too hot. I recognise we are probably talking 5 star hotel Sunday buffets here. Not a problem as long as it is not solely ‘international food’ (we’ve both stuffed down more than enough of that around the world in our careers). I wouldn’t rule out medium priced locations if they are authentic, quirky or otherwise special. A restaurant/hotel name should be enough for me to check it out on the web. Oh and no more than 40 minutes drive from the QM terminal please – but I assume that means anywhere on the island.

Many thanks

*Him and his wife, not the several thousand others

Don't know if the ports big enough for that to dock..But if so that would be where it's on the south east end of the island but it's just as likely to stay at anchor off of Patong beach and run ferries to the dock there..

Port of Phuket

Map

There is some talk it may anchor in Patong Bay as the company wants to avoid problems with taxis at the port.

I am sure the local press which comes out today will have all the updates etc were the ship is actually arrriving...if its in PATONG..be carefull were you choose to go..there are some extremly good places to go..mostly the ones that have a good western,Thai,balance of customer care..i dont want to recomend,..look in the local press again for some ideas...good luck...

This time of year cruiseships moor at patong.

This time of year cruiseships moor at patong.

Cruiseship- Patong

Upscale lunch for cruiseship type people - The Boathouse Kata Beach

Some still tie up at the pier over near Makam bay (Panwa) at the deep sea port.

I saw one just leaving there last Friday. (a big one)

If that's the case, it is in the southeast portion of the island on the way to the Phuket Aquarium.

For your dinner (if they arrive over there where it's very quiet in comparison to Patong), Your choices for air con restaurant with a great view are somewhat limited within a 20-30 minute drive.

Maybe the Metropole in Phuket town, but, the view is of the street and a beautiful traffic circle instead of the beach or sea view.

Maybe the Panwa hotel scene but I don't know a whole lot about it.

We used to frequent a restaurant over there but the place got sold and the new owners either hired a new cook that day, or forgot how to make pizza. I can't recommend it although it was beachfront.

Good luck and have fun.

A trip to Phuket is not complete without seeing at least a few of the western side beaches. (of which there are many)

Check the Cunard (now owned by Carnival) website. According to the local papers, it is supposed to be Patong. I'll let you know Sunday when I look out the window. I had a walk on the beach today and I note that the temporary dock is set up, so it suggests to me that there will be shuttle craft from this boat and the other one due to arrive.

The tuktuk taxis tried to rip off the US sailors this week for the 4th or 5th time and I think that's it for the deep water port.The QM2 can't afford to piss off the people on that around the world voyage since they are paying premium prices and don't need the hassle of being quoted 2500-5000 baht for a trip into town.

ummm you cant....

If she does moor at Patong, I would head for Mom Tri's Kitchen at Villa Royale (rather than the Boathouse). Villa Royale has great views on a headland that separates Kata and Kata Noi beaches, has a better atmosphere than the Boathouse.

If she docks at Phuket Port, I would go to Sri Panwa, It's an exclusive villa style resort, with an excellent hilltop restaurant with great views of the south eastern islands.

Another colourful option would be Kan Eang (at Chalong Pier). Very good Thai food (seafood especially), with quality international selection also available, and being next to the pier there's something interesting happening in the background.

QM2 at Patong 27/3/11.

QM2 at Patong 27/3/11.

Thanks Old Croc !! Impressive vessel.

After the cruise on that ship the last thing the wll be thinking about is a restaurant. they will have eaten so much good food they will be happier with a plate of baked beans on toast.

Seriously use the time for showing them sites not sitting in a restaurant.

^^They had asked for somewhere nice to eat. We also got in a couple of hours touring the Western beaches and a few viewpoints.

The Boathouse went down a treat. Lovely view over a very busy beach with tourists catching the only sun of recent days. The restaurant was very accommodating - did not have a lot of Thai on the menu, but the kitchen would make whatever one asked for and my Thai wife took advantage and enjoyed an off-menu plate of that traditional Issaan dish, smoked salmon, which she enjoys as much as that Karen dish, Spaghetti Bolognese.

Many thanks grumpy old man for the recommendation and we will try the Villa Royale ourselves later in the holiday Pagallim so thanks for that - I was too lazy to change a booking I had already made.

One thing that is irritating me a little down here is that menus are in English only. dam_n it, this is supposed to be Thailand isn't it?

We duly picked up our guests from the Patong temporary pier - it looked very precarious but did the job of offloading 2,500 people within a couple of hours. It was deep joy to watch the tuk tuk drivers annoyance at not being able to park anywhere near the landing stage and losing out to lots of Cunard pre-arranged tour buses and vans. I hadn't realised that there had been such furious correspondence from Cunard the last time a 'Queen' docked at a proper port on Phuket. I was almost wishing that the tempest of the previous evening would keep going so that no-one would get off so that the powers that be would have really had their noses rubbed in it thanks to tuk tuk and taxi scalping one year ago.

To correct a couple of misconceptions - it was not QM's maiden voyage (Queen Elizabeth is currently doing that) and it is not round the world (QM is too big for the Panama Canal (but not too big for Suez), so it is doing Christchurch to Southampton, while Queen Liz does LA to London - or something like that.

One final fact for Phuket to mull over - QM left Christchurch 2 days after a terrible earthquake and left Japan 2 days after a horrendous earthquake. Find higher ground ans stay away from tall buildings on Tuesday evening/Wednesday!

Edit: my wife tells me most of the non-falangs here are not Thai (Burmese or Phiipino she is guessing) so perhaps that's why no Thai is written)

Edited March 27, 201115 yr by SantiSuk

If you're going to be in Phuket for a while, I would recommend that you try 'Thammachat' (Natural in English) restaurant in Phuket City. Excellent Thai food in unique surroundings. Good staff, and prices that will surprise you for how little you're paying.

One final fact for Phuket to mull over - QM left Christchurch 2 days after a terrible earthquake and left Japan 2 days after a horrendous earthquake. Find higher ground ans stay away from tall buildings on Tuesday evening/Wednesday!

Do you mean two days before these events?

One final fact for Phuket to mull over - QM left Christchurch 2 days after a terrible earthquake and left Japan 2 days after a horrendous earthquake. Find higher ground ans stay away from tall buildings on Tuesday evening/Wednesday!

Do you mean two days before these events?

Yup - good spot.

I would recommend that you try 'Thammachat' (Natural in English) restaurant in Phuket City.

Mmmmh, last time I was there I was not very amused. Nice place, but the food?

Many thanks grumpy old man for the recommendation

You are quite welcome, and if was between 1:30 and 3:00 you would have seen grumpyoldman surfing mid beach, before the squall blew in at 3:15 or so.

Caught a bunch of good ones

I would recommend that you try 'Thammachat' (Natural in English) restaurant in Phuket City.

Mmmmh, last time I was there I was not very amused. Nice place, but the food?

are u kidding?.....im addicted to that place i eat there 3 times a week with th gf, the only reason i dont eat there every night is that i dont want to over do it.....I see a whole lot of thais eating there too so it cant be as bad as you say...... Kanaeng is the most over rated thai ive had...and 700 baht for a blah nueng manao...thats a joke!

^

I've always had great food there, and each dish surprisingly hot (temperature), which is a rarity amongst most Thai restaurants, especially with the routes and stairs that the waiting staff need to take to get to the majority of the tables. My wife consistently praises the food there, which isn't usually the case in the majority of Phuket's Thai restaurants.

I spotted it's closed on Monday, but will give it a whirl tomorrow if the weather is kind enough to combine it with a tour of Phuket Town's architechture. Ta again.

Spotted a surfer on mid Kata beach about 1pm GOM, but he didn't look old and he certainly was not looking grumpy. Looked like very good surf to my uneducated eye.

Edited March 28, 201115 yr by SantiSuk