Today we had to leave the beautiful Diamond Princess. We had to vacate our cabins by 8:00 am which was fine because we had requested to get off the ship at 8:00 am because the hotel was sending a car to pick us up at 8:30 am. Around 7:30 am we went to the Departures Lounge for Suite Passengers. It wasn't crowded at all. They had pastries, coffee, juice and water available. We had gotten room service and ate on the balcony at 5:30 am so we weren't hungry. Soon after we arrived at the Departures Lounge we were told we could leave the ship whenever we wanted to so we headed towards the gangway to get off. There wasn't a line and we got off quickly.
It was raining outside so it was a mess. The terminal building was hot and I had difficulty finding my luggage but finally found it. Unfortunately they were not very prepared and there were no luggage carts to load our luggage onto. The 4 of us had entirely too much luggage and it was more than we could drag outside. We found some porters and asked for their help. We thought maybe they had a trolley to put the luggage on but they didn't. We just had a string of porters grabbing our luggage and we took some also.. We moved it outside to wait for our ride.
There were people everywhere waiting for their transportation. We frequently went out into the crowds and looked for a sign with our name on it. Finally at 900 am I found someone working there with a phone and had them to call the hotel and ask where they were. It seems they were there but having problems getting in to pick us up. He finally found us and and we got another string of porters to help us carry the luggage out to the van. We had reserved van which was supposed to be for 6 people and normal luggage. We thought that since there were only 4 of us and an abnormal amount of luggage we should be fine. We made it into the van but it was a tight squeeze. The driver had to put some of the suitcases in the front seat with him. It was crammed in the back so tight that they had to be really careful when the opened the back when we arrived at the hotel.
The ship had docked at Laem Chabang which was a 2 hour ride into Bangkok. At least we were comfortable during the long ride. When we arrived at the hotel and entered the lobby we approached the desk and we were directed to a couch and chairs and told to sit there. They gave us water and cold towels. They collected our passports and credit card information. They then returned back with paperwork for us to sign and they gave us our room keys and we were off. This is the 3rd time I have stayed at a Shangri-la and they have excellent Customer Service.
We were next door to the Rosga's -- Rooms 1555 and 1556. The rooms were beautiful and very comfortable. All of the rooms in our wing had balconies overlooking the river. It was hot outside but we kept our rooms ice cold.
We headed to the buffet and got a quick bite to eat because we had a tour to go on at 1:00 pm. The buffet had everything imaginable on it and it was all delicious.
The tour company came to our lobby to pick us up. There 8 of us in our group. We went to the Grand Palace. We got there late in the afternoon and it was still very hot and a lot of walking. The temples were so beautiful and colorful. After that we thought we were going back to our hotel but they said we had one more stop. The pulled into a jewelry store and led us inside. We all got a complimentary soft drink and were shown a movie on gems mined in Thailand. After that we were led through a room where they were making jewelry and then into a jewelry store. Each one of us had a different person following us wanting us to buy something. They had some pretty stuff but I wouldn't even look at it because I didn't want any high pressure from them. We quickly found our guide and told her we were ready to go so she found a van to take us back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel it was almost time for Happy Hour. Each evening from 5:30 - 7:30 they have complimentary drinks -- beer, wine, mixed drinks, soft drinks, coffee and tea along with an assortment of snacks. There is also some entertainment which is really good. We went and camped out and got our coffee and Cokes and ate their food. After that we didn't have to buy dinner. We called it a night soon after that because we had an all day excursion booked for the the next day that leaves the hotel at 7:00 am.
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