Last evening after we updated our Blog, we decided to go back out to walk around Hong Kong at night and to see the city all lit up. When we walked off the ship we ran into two familiar Lido Deck Stewards (Ruel and Max) who will be joining the ship tomorrow morning. We know them well and are glad that they have returned from Holiday. After we made our way outside of the Cruise Ship Terminal and the adjoining mall, we enjoyed a dazzling laser light show display, with music in the background. It was the most impressive outdoors laser show we have ever seen. After the show, we walked up and down several streets of Hong Kong. The sheer number of pedestrians, along with automobiles, taxis and buses was amazing. Does this city ever go to sleep? It seemed busier than even New York City is in the evening hours. We had a wonderful time walking around the city. We ran into several familiar faces from Crystal Crew to fellow passengers.
When we returned back to the ship, we ran into Olympian Cathy Rigby and each of us gave her a big hug. She is a wonderful person and we are so very glad that we had the opportunity to get to know her during the last couple of weeks. We also wished, Nina, from the front desk all our best since she begins her Holiday tomorrow. She is such as nice person and we look forward to seeing her again.
We have an outstanding view of the city from our room. The city is beautiful at night with all of the buildings lit up. The harbor is quite busy with lots of boats sailing all around, including several ferries. Now we know why the Hong Kong harbor is considered one if not the best harbors in the entire world.
This morning concluded the forth segment of the World Cruise. During this segment we sailed from Sydney Australia, to Hong Kong, China. We sailed a total distance of 6,229 nautical miles or an equivalent of 7,163 land miles. This was a wonderful itinerary as it had a wonderful mix of sea days and visits to so many wonderful ports of call. We thoroughly enjoyed Australia from its beautiful scenery to the warmth, charm and hospitality of its wonderful people. This is a beautiful and vibrant area of the world that we want to visit again and we hope that this area of the world will continue to retain its wonderful character in the years to come. It is certainly a treasure in this wondrous planet that we live on.
Several passengers who we have gotten to know quite well will be departing the ship this morning. The majority of the passengers seem to be spending a few days in Hong Kong before traveling home while some are flying home later today. For those guests staying at a Hotel through the Crystal Hotel Program they were either staying at the Intercontinental Hotel, the Peninsula Hotel, or the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Starting at Noon today many new passengers started boarding the ship. This marks the start of the fifth segment of the World Cruise. This segment of the cruise is totally sold out.
This segment of the World Cruise begins in Hong Kong. Tomorrow we will cruise at sea and then arrive in Chan May/Dan Nang, Vietnam the following day. This segment will also include an overnight stay in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; followed by an over night stay in Bangkok, Thailand, followed by a visit to Ko Samui, Thailand and the segment will conclude with an overnight stay in Singapore. In addition to these port days, this segment of the World Cruise will include four sea days.
We are very excited to be visiting all of these various interesting ports of call for the very first time.
We enjoyed a good nights sleep last evening as the ship remained in dock in Hong Kong. We woke up early in the morning and began our day with a nice workout in the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center was rather quiet. Keith was the first passenger to arrive at the Center. A few of the other regulars arrived a few minutes later including John and Mary. Anne Marie arrived a few minutes after that. Keith continued to workout on the Elliptical Machine while Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. Keith spoke with Mary for most of his workout.
After our wonderful workout, we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in our room.
At around 8:30 AM we went back into the city. The streets were far less crowded the first hour or so into our walk that they had been the day before. We visited a place called Tin Hau Temple and also went by a fairly large Mosque called Kowloon Mosque. We also visited a park called Kowloon Park. We walked a fairly long distance until we arrived at the Ladies Market. Unfortunately, it was not yet opened so we headed over to the Jade Market. This market had many stands set up selling Jade and several other products. Afterwards, we found a rather extensive market with lots of stands selling fresh fish (and we mean fresh), poultry, beef, vegetables and fruits. The size of many of the vegetables and fruits were enormous. To put this into perspective the diameter of the carrots was similar to the size of a cucumber and the length was longer than the size of a normal carrot. The grapes were the size of small plums. The quality of the vegetables and the fruits was superb. This market was extremely crowded with shoppers who are local to the area.
A little while after we left this area we ran into Mary. She walked with us for a while and took us to a place where she purchased items yesterday but that store was closed. We then went to another area that she had also purchased some items from and we purchased some gifts there including one item for Anne Marie. We also stopped by one or two other places to purchase a few small items. We then went back to two stores that we had been to yesterday which are located in the Peninsula Hotel. In the hotel lobby we ran into a couple whom we first met last year when they were on two segments of the 2007 World Cruise. They were getting ready to be taken over to the Cruise Ship and will be on two segments of this years World Cruise.
As we headed back to the Cruise Ship terminal we ran into several other passengers who were out and about on the streets of Hong Kong. We had lunch back on the ship in the Main Dining Room. We were given champagne in flutes and toasted the start of this segment of our World Cruise adventure. After lunch we went back out to walk around the city. The sidewalks were extremely crowded between locals and tourists.
The weather was wonderful throughout the day, which added to our enjoyment as we walked around the city.
We also wanted to note one interesting observation regarding the very large shopping mall located at the Cruise Ship Terminal. Stores were grouped together by type of item that is sold there. For example, all of the children’s store from furniture to clothing were located in one area of the mall, whereas another area of the mall contained all of the various stores selling sporting item from sports related clothing to sport related equipment. This is different to the way stores are grouped together in many other places that we have visited around the world.
We also wanted to note that while better than yesterday there was quite a bit of pollution in the air. Hopefully, at some point this will be addressed.
Later in the afternoon, our Travel Specialist and her husband came by our room. They are on this segment of the World Cruise representing the Travel Consortium, Signature Travel Network. We were so very happy to see them and we are thrilled that they will be on this journey with us. We will be dining with them at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant in a couple of days.
Later in the afternoon, the Mandatory Guest Emergency Lifeboat drill was held for those guests who just embarked the ship this afternoon.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room.
Keith & Anne Marie
