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Hong Kong from the Star Ferry at sunset
Hong Kong is one of our favourite cities in the world.
Not as expensive as most "known" tourist cities,
great food sightseeing, accommodation, yep its got it all.
visit Hong Kong Tourism
Day 2 ...cruising...
Day 3 Manila (Philippines) 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM View excursions
It was a public holiday so not much open but not, in my view, a major tourism city anyway.
Day 4 ...cruising...
Day 5 Kotakinabulu/Borneo (Malaysia) 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM View excursions
A visit it to a rainforest is great but takes up the whole day, most of it on the coach.
Day 6 Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM View excursions
Very pleasantly surpised with Bandar, an interesting mix of old and ultra new.
Maree with the Village on Stilts in the background,
around 26000 people live in the village.
Day 7 ...cruising...
Day 8 Singapore (Singapore) 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM View excursions
The Singapore Waterfront
Day 9 ...cruising...
Day 10 Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM View excursions
The Ho Chi Minh Post office designed by Gustave Eiffel
three years before he built the Eiffel Tower. And the Healys sightseeing the non energetic way.
Day 12 Da Nang (Vietnam) and Hoi An 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM View excursions
Hoi An street scene, great sightseeing and shopping and the Japanese bridge, very old.
Day 13 Sanya (China) 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM View excursions
Maree shopping in Sanya, the new Riviera of China,
wonderful and getting better!
Day 14 Hong Kong (China) 1:00 PM
Day 15 Last day of the cruise Hong Kong (China)
The Ship
No more than three stars sadly.
Refurbished in 2006 but many cabins seemed to
have problems although complaints were handled swiftly.
The lounges and common areas were inviting and the Folies
Bergeres theatre had good views from all seats.
Cabins
Usual inside and outside cabins, maximium pax around 900.
All a reasonable size with room to move in.
Ten mini suites,
about the size of two normal cabins, very well
furnished, walk in wardrobe, spa bath, setee, armchairs, wide screen TV,
and full room service from any of the menus on the ship, 24 hours a day.
Other cabins have 24 hour room service from a restricted menu.
The mini suites have windows, not port holes and a balcony running the
length of the suite but only a meter wide.
There are three main suites, no balcony and large portholes, no windows,
but with seperate lounge and more.
Dining rooms
A buffet restaurant, the Yacht Club, serves the usual buffet fare with
local Asian cuisine added each day.
A large dining room, the Montmartre, with a glassed off area for returning
guests provided an extensive menu but the food really was ordinary.
There is an upmarket restaurant where you pay extra, called the Amalfi.
Tried, it, don't bother!
Service
The waiters were really good but even so, could not make up for what was
mediocre food.
Crew and entertainers,
Excellent, may of them fluent in the five main languages spoken by the
passengers who hailed from the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and Australia.
New Friends
One of the great joys of cruising is that you always make new friends.
Our constant, and always entertaining, dining companions were James and Wendy from Sevenoaks, Kent, UK, where Wendy has a B&B [Wendy Wood] and James teaches English on a private basis.
James was the ship's trivia guru so we stuck with him and won lots of prizes. If we didn't know the answer to a question he would call out "Freddy Mercury" to the laughter of the everyone. Wendy cleaned up at bridge most days so they must have had a bag full of the most awful yellow key rings in the shape of a yacht, the Allegra's idea of a worthwhile momento.
Whilst James provided enjoyable banter and jokes at each meal, nothing altered the fact that meals were not the real reason for going to the dining room!
We also met an absolutely delightful couple from Melbourne, Ian and Mary, who had spent their lives in the service of the "Salvos", both reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonels. What a wonderful way to spend a life, helping others on a daily basis. Long may they live!
My travelling companion
Maree in Hoi An...OK, its because I like looking at her...
Bill
