THE Queen Victoria, one of the world's most luxurious cruise ships, docked off Patong today for a short visit.
The liner is on its maiden voyage to Phuket, which will benefit from the day-trip activities of about 2000 wealthy passengers.
The Cunard liner's arrival follows the recent maiden visit to Phuket of another luxury ship, Queen Mary 2.
Complaints followed from a cruise line's management about Phuket rip-offs and the threat posed to tourism on the island by extortionately high taxi and tuk-tuk fares.
While the complaining cruise liner management suggested future visits should involve anchoring off Patong rather than run the gamut of extortionate taxi drivers at Phuket's east coast deep sea port, the Queen Victoria is believed to have anchored off Patong because it is too big to dock.
Launched in 2007, the Queen Victoria has 1007 luxurious cabins, including 715 with balconies, for a maximum of 2250 guests.
It has a crew of 1253, three dining rooms and a casino. The Queen Victoria is on a 107-day cruise around the world.
The increasing number of cruise ships and US warships visiting Phuket - led by the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz - emphasises the importance of sea-borne visitors to Phuket's future.
Phuket Taxi Abuse: Cruise Line Slams 'Rip-Offs'The liner is on its maiden voyage to Phuket, which will benefit from the day-trip activities of about 2000 wealthy passengers.
The Cunard liner's arrival follows the recent maiden visit to Phuket of another luxury ship, Queen Mary 2.
Complaints followed from a cruise line's management about Phuket rip-offs and the threat posed to tourism on the island by extortionately high taxi and tuk-tuk fares.
While the complaining cruise liner management suggested future visits should involve anchoring off Patong rather than run the gamut of extortionate taxi drivers at Phuket's east coast deep sea port, the Queen Victoria is believed to have anchored off Patong because it is too big to dock.
Launched in 2007, the Queen Victoria has 1007 luxurious cabins, including 715 with balconies, for a maximum of 2250 guests.
It has a crew of 1253, three dining rooms and a casino. The Queen Victoria is on a 107-day cruise around the world.
The increasing number of cruise ships and US warships visiting Phuket - led by the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz - emphasises the importance of sea-borne visitors to Phuket's future.
Did you catch up with a visitor from the Queen Victoria? If so, please tell us what they thought about Phuket
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Photo Album The Queen Mary 2 dominated the seascape off Phuket's Patong beach today as the luxury liner disgorged thousands of passengers for a day of outings on and around the island.
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I was chatting with a guest from that ship.
The company had warned all the guests about the tuktuks before there arrival. I guess Phuket has this tuk tuk reputation world wide.
Posted by Lord Jim on March 28, 2010 07:58