December 31, 2025 / January 1, 2026
When we booked this cruise we were pretty excited that we were heading back to Thailand and that it was going to be over New Year’s. We were even more excited when we realized it was in Phuket, (southern Thailand) because we didn’t make it this far south so this was an additional draw for us!
Even though we had just done the island hopping in Langkawi the day before, we had booked a full day excursion to James Bond island. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s from The Man with The Golden Gun (1974). I had seen it quite a bit on social media, but candidly I hadn’t seen the movie.
But James Bond Island is a tiny island in Thailand with a tall rock that looks like it was glued straight into the ocean. It became famous after the movie, so now everyone calls it “James Bond Island” even though Bond was only there for about five minutes. You can’t go inside the rock (sad), but you can take dramatic photos, pretend you’re a spy, and wonder how the rock hasn’t fallen over yet.
Some tour guides (or locals in their stands) even provide you with golden guns to take pictures, which is a bit terrifying when you’re walking up and you see a bunch people pointing guns every which way!
Previously, the beach had been closed to swimming to protect it from tourism. Imagine my surprise when I walked up and saw people in the water! What?! I didn’t bring my bikini! It seems like most other people didn’t realize either, thank goodness… because we were still able to get quite a few pictures without a ton of bum bums in the background of our pics.
There were a few places where you could hike up and get better views far away from the beach too that allowed for even better pictures as well. It was a really lovely place!
After James Bond island, we stopped at a small fishing village where we could do a little shopping or grab some snacks. This fishing village popped up after James Bond Island got famous and they wanted to capitalize on the tourism in the area. There were many handicrafts to be bought and food that our guide recommended that we avoided (unless it was prepackaged) in case the water wasn’t clean. The whole “island” was built on stilts around a sand bar- crazy there is a whole village floating above the water!
After we got back to our bus we got dropped off at an ocean front restaurant and had a fantastic Thai lunch. We met a lovely family from Ohio that shared a table with us. We shared travel stories – and a love of Disney. They were a lot of fun to connect with – even their teenages were super social to talk with!
Once we got back on board we started to clean up before New Year’s Eve – it was a long, sweaty day out and about. So we both wanted to freshen up and get ready for dinner.
The main dining room on the ship was crazy – Andy said it looked like it was their Super Bowl! Since we had a late lunch we were okay waiting for our favorite server, Gama. We had ordered a special bottle of champagne from our sommelier, Alphonso, earlier in the cruise. He had it chilled and ready for us. We weren’t sure if we could share any with him. But his eyes lit up when we asked if he wanted a splash!
After dinner was ending, he brought over two small port glasses and poured a tiny taste for him and Gama and toasted to health and prosperity in the new year. They truly were the best servers we’ve had on a Celebrity Cruise, ever. It was a really special moment for all of us – and Alphonso is getting married in just a few weeks, which made it even more special too!
We hung out indoors at the Martini Lounge (in the AC) until around
11:30 or so before making our way to the pool deck for the big party. Once we made our way outside it was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. I knew Phuket would put on a party, but I didn’t expect lanterns. (You know, like Tangled – paper lanterns?) They were every where marking the sky. It’s one of those moments that a camera can’t capture and a moment I’ll remember forever.
Conveniently, after our Australia/NZ cruise – the pools were covered, so as the clock struck midnight no one was jumping in the pool. Shucks!
We didn’t stay out too much after midnight – we watched the fireworks a bit longer because they filled the sky all around (along with the lanterns) and it was beautiful to see.
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The next morning we had most of the day in Phuket, but since we went to bed much later we didn’t want an early start.
We also didn’t have much planned for the next day in Phuket, but we did want to get cheap Thai massages. It was important to me to find a good spa, and I had found a few. We walked about 30 minutes and the first spa was booked until 2:30, which just wouldn’t do. Thankfully, we had only passed about 70 other massage places.
I had asked the receptionist for recommendations and she had given us one nearby. They had availability and we actually were able to walk right in!
When we had gone to Thailand previously, we had cheap and wonderful Thai massages that left us both sore (and maybe a little bruised?). We were both looking for a sequel. Unfortunately, we paid about the same (maybe a little more?) but didn’t get the same level of pain. When I say pain – we both like deep tissue massages – we were hoping to be hurt. 😂
They weren’t BAD, they just weren’t what we were expecting. Either way, they were still adequate and considering we were walk ins. They were fine! And we paid less than $50 for for the hour for both of us with tip!
We started walking back to the ship and decided to get a drink. The cruise was really big on making sure not to drink the ice in the port stops, but we figured Phuket is a big enough area that it should be fine. We found a place near the beach and ordered a few cocktails and mango sticky rice. The drinks were good and the food was superior.
It was a really good start to the new year!
The next day is a sea day and then we will arrive in Singapore, which is the end of our cruise.
Up Next: Singapore
Scribbles and Snapshots 