Ever wondered what it’s like to go on an all-inclusive by the cabin holiday in Thailand? There’s no better description of a destination than when we hear from one of our customers. Paula Devine, who works in the teaching profession in Northern Ireland, experienced Thailand with Dream Yacht Charters at Easter and shared with us why it was one of the most memorable holidays of her life…
My partner is a keen sailor and takes part in racing events all over the UK and Europe as hobby. For the last 10 years we’ve been on many flotilla holidays across Europe but this year we decided to take our first cabin charter and make our second visit to the Indian Ocean. We were looking for adventure over a flop-and-drop holiday and it was the right decision, as it was the most fantastic holiday I’ve ever been on.
Six things you will worry about but don’t need to
- The hype: Before we went, we watched a Dream Yacht Charter YouTube video of our trip and we just couldn’t believe the food and the experience would be like that. But the marketing is really accurate
- Booking: Sue from the sales team was brilliant and made it all very simple for us. Anything we needed, she came back to right away with the answer
- The food: We love Asian food, so Thailand was a good fit. However we didn’t feel comfortable going on our own and booking a by the cabin cruise meant we could enjoy a much bigger boat without it being too expensive. We would also have a cook, so we didn’t need to sort out our meals. When it comes to the food, we were fed so well! I’ve never had a holiday where every meal is exquisite even when compared to luxury resorts in the Maldives. The food was incredible
- The crew: They were superb and when we got fed up of rum, the skipper headed inland to get us the gin we craved. Nothing was a problem
- Fellow guests: One of the things we worried about was if we were going to like the other guests and what they would be like. We needn’t have worried as we were very lucky and we shared our holiday with wonderful people. They were professionals or business owners and all were experienced travellers although none of the others had been on a boat before. All of them said the by the cabin experience was the most incredible experience of their lives and a true adventure
- The boat and itinerary: The boat was huge compared to the boats we’d sailed on our flotillas and the charter was a fantastic package with an exciting itinerary. We added four extra options, including kayaking, which was quite physical, elephant trekking, a warm oil massage and a visit to a remote floating village by longtail boat. The skipper added in many other visits and it was a complete delight.
Thailand itinerary highlights
- The limestone stacks in the middle of the sea – I’d never seen them before and they are really something to see
- James Bond Island – We love the 007 movies and it was fantastic to see the film location in real life. You get really close to the stacks here too
- Phi Phi Island – The beaches had the clearest water
- The blue caves – We saw many with their blue reflected light, as well as beautiful lagoons
- The Beach Island – Busy so we looked at the panorama from offshore
- Marine life – I used my underwater camera to take pictures of the many species of fish, which were all colours of the rainbow. I was fascinated by the blue starfish
Future travel plans
We sailed at the end of March, which is coming just into low season. We had good weather with sun, not a lot of wind and some short storms with thunder and lightning. It was humid but the boat had efficient air conditioning and you can’t really do a trip like this without that.
I want to go back to Thailand and do the same cabin charter again because the food was so good. I’m also looking in Bali, the Seychelles and Mauritius. Anyone thinking of going on a cabin holiday can take it from me that it’s less to do with sailing than having an adventure that you’ll remember for the rest of your lives.
Give us a call
If you are intrigued about going away to Thailand on a by the cabin package, contact us about our all-inclusive charters, [email protected] or call on 02380 455527.
Photographs by kind permission of Paula Devine.
