Missed Port and Keeling, Taiwan (Taipei)

02-23 Kaohsiung, Taiwan at Sea Sunday: Poor weather today and we need to out run a storm on the way with 70-80 mph winds. We were supposed to undergo immigration in this port but we will need to see what will happen now. We played Train but the ship was really pitching about. We will just divert and go on to the next port of Keeling, Taipei. This evening, we had dinner in Pinnacle Grill with Paul and Maureen. It was another great evening, great wine, great food, and great company! We didn’t do immigration today even though we arrived at 5p. We will see how that goes tomorrow. For today they do revise the activities and promotions with an updated information sheet.

02-24 Keelung (Taipei), Taiwan Monday: Our excursion is On Our Own in Taipei. First it was the immigration process. For us this started at 8:15a and we did end up leaving on the tour approximately 9:15a, close to the original time. This was a bus ride into town for 1 hour. We had 6 hours on our own to explore. It might have been a great day but we didn’t check things our well enough. We started walking and went into the first welcoming entrance we came too. That was a mistake! It was a maternity and baby exposition. We had a laugh with that one! Neither of us are feeling 100%, just feeling woozy and not quite right. We decided we would get a bite to eat then take the Hop-On Hop-Off bus to check things out. The only thing we could find was a spot for coffee in a mall. We were then on our search for the HO-HO stop. We walked back to Taipei 101 and found information. We gathered the information but decided we better eat something before heading out. There was a lovely food court, very crowded, but we found a spot and had a quick sandwich that we bought at 7/11, potato salad, and bottled water. Now we headed out to find the HO-HO station. After about an hour of searching we finally got the information that the bus doesn’t run on Monday. I might mention it was a bit cold and a bit rainy. I was beat by this time and we headed back to the food court. Stuart wasn’t hungry. Sharon got a chicken and Udon noodle bowl, and we shared. It was interesting trying to eat slippery noodles with a spoon or chop sticks! We met at 4:20p for our 1-hour bus ride back to the ship. Internet has been very poor in waters near China. Things should improve when we get into Japan.

Manila, Philipines and At Sea

02-21 Manila, Philippines Friday: We did plan to get off today, but we are just tired. We had a pool day instead and also played Rummikub up at Sea View. When we got too warm, we went back to the cabin to rest and play Phase 10. Soon enough it was time to prep for dinner. After the dinner we went to the show, Violinist Jocelyn Ng. It was quite different from what one might expect. Off to the casino after that. I left early but Stuart played on and did very well again!

02-22 At Sea Saturday: We awoke to rough seas on our way to Taiwan. We planned to have breakfast on the balcony with our last bottle of bubbly, but it was too windy. We will save the bottle until later! We had a lovely dinner at Canaletto. We really like the Born of Fire Cabernet Sauvignon.

Puerto Princesa, Philippines and Missed Port

02-19 Puerto Princesa, Philippines Wednesday: We planned to get off and walk around like we did on the first visit here. However, we awoke to rain and fog so think at times you could not see the water! We decided to skip the port today. We had breakfast in our cabin and ventured out to Sea View to play Rummikub. The rain cleared up but it was very humid and warm. Back to the cabin in a couple hours. The rest of the day was uneventful other than receiving chocolate covered strawberries from the casino!

02-20 Boracay, Philippines Thursday. But we didn’t make it to the port after all. The water was too rough and the tenders could not safely operate, so no port for us today. We didn’t plan to get off anyway, we were going to have a pool day. However, it was very disappointing for those expecting to visit family there. Maran, our wine person, was to see her parents. We did play Train with the group, which is always fun. This evening, we ate at Pinnacle Grill with Paul, Maureen, Don, and Lisa. It was another 4-hour dinner and very enjoyable.

Two Days At Sea

02-17 At Sea: Rough seas with some rain and wind. We slept in and went to Dive In for lunch, then quickly on to Mexican Train. As the day went on, we did see sun!  We had an early dinner in Pinnacle with Paul and Maureen tonight. It was a 4+ hour dinner, we do have fun chatting!

We secured our QR code entry card required for the Philippines on the 19^th. Stuart also spoke with Shore Excursions today about our tour yesterday. We don’t expect anything for ourselves but hopefully others in the future will avoid the somewhat disappointing day.

02-18 At Sea Monday: We slept in after another late night. There was an announcement that everyone immediately needed to get to the thermal scan required by the Philippines. I hopped out of bed and made it before they started to call names of those who didn’t show up yet! We had a French Dip sandwich in the dining room for lunch and then on to play Mexican Train. We have 3 port days ahead of us so we won’t be doing that again soon. It was fun. We came back to the cabin and decided to play Rummikub on the balcony. Oh my, the weather has changed! Time to pull out the summer clothing again! Another nice dinner and visit to the casino.

At Sea and Hong Kong, China

02-15 At Sea, Saturday: We are sailing in Chinese waters today. We have no internet and we are told NOT to take photos in this area or we might be prosecuted. The fog horn blew all through the night and we see very little out there. There are a few scattered boats and yesterday one of our friends saw a drone. Speedy boats seem to go around us from time to time. We slept in due to turning the clock ahead last night and lack of sleep from the ship’s fog horn blowing all night. We made it to Lido for lunch and then to Mexican Train. The afternoon we played cards and prepped for dinner this evening. Sharon had a lamb shank that was delicious. The appetizers were spectacular tonight and Stuart had 3 of those.

02-16 Hong Kong, China, Sunday: We booked a HAL shore excursion today. Hong Kong is a new stop for Sharon, Stuart has been here, and Mainland China, several times. The excursion didn’t do exactly what was described below: Approximately 5¼ Hours Adult $99.95. Depart the pier for Hong Kong Island and cross under Victoria Harbour by tunnel. At Aberdeen, learn how fishermen and their families live aboard the thousands of junks and sampans crammed into the harbor. Enjoy a short sampan ride here. (We did not see a fisherman’s village at all or learn about it. We did have a short sampan ride).

Continue to the small village of Stanley and the legendary Stanley Market, famous for its clothes, furniture, souvenirs and great, inexpensive knock-offs of pricey designer goods. (Close to half the shops were closed due to our early arrival time.) I did find a postcard but they were out of stamps.

You'll drive past Repulse Bay to the southern side of the island, with panoramic views of one of Hong Kong's most popular and beautiful beaches. The beautiful hotel you'll see has long been a landmark here. Head up to Victoria Peak by funicular tram for a breathtaking view of the harbor and Kowloon. (Instead, we drove up to Victoria Peak and took the funicular tram down, which was fine) Here we had 30 minutes to find something quick to eat and get back to the meeting place. There was supposed to be a Burger King on one level, but we got there and there were no restaurants to be found. We went back up a floor and got some dumplings and spring rolls. It held us over until dinner.  

Pause briefly at one of the city's jewelry showrooms to see the wonderful craftsmanship on display. (We were told we would be going to an outlet that had many things for sale. It was all pearl jewelry, nothing else)

Overall, it was okay. The island is very smoggy. At first, we thought it was clouds or fog but our eyes started burning so we surmised it was smog.

 

At Sea and Halong Bay, Vietnam - Valentine's Day

02-13 At Sea, Thursday: Today we had a plan to have a bubbly breakfast on the balcony. We did do that but the bottle of bubbly was not good. It had the aroma of rotting grape waste at a winery… not good. It barely popped when we opened it. Bernardo said he would replace it, but we said no. We still have wine in our package and that will do. It was Legrand Courtȃge from France. Tonight was Gala Night so also dressy night. Steak and pasta for us. No one really dresses up that much anymore. At least we did see them turn someone away in shorts and flip flops! It was a brief stop in the casino.

02-14 Halong Bay, Friday, Valentine’s Day: We did have a cruise of Halong Bay and the Caves planned, but we canceled it. We decided to try for a massage and lunch in town again. It was a poor day for this lovely port. You could barely see all the rock formations in the bay due to the fog. There is a nice port building but very little around the port itself. We hired a multi-seat golf cart- type of vehicle. It was approx. US$20 and worked out well. There was a route to follow but thankfully he took us just where we wanted to go. First stop was the massage. It was different than other massages we had, but still nice. From there we went to a local market. It was in a building and very interesting. We walked down a ramp to the lower level which was all food; fruit, baked good, spices, and much more. Going up the next ramp we found a lot of clothing, kitchen supplies, and almost anything else you might want. We did not find a Bitak shirt for Stuart, which is what we were looking for. We used Google Translate to clearly tell the driver what we wanted. He did not know where to go for the shirt but took us to a souvenir shop, he thought might have one. Wow, it was an upscale souvenir shop for sure. Most of the things there were made of 100% silk and lovely. We did find Stuart a really nice shirt for approx. US$40. I tried a couple of tops but the sizes are just too tiny for my full figure! There were some amazing sheets but I don’t want to haul something like that home in my suitcase. After that he took us along the shore. There is a lovely, long, but deserted beach. It is off season. You can certainly see what it must be like when the weather is warm and everyone is here to have fun. I didn’t mention when we first got into the town area, there was a lot of damage from a typhoon that came through 3 months ago. Like a hurricane, it just cut a path through snapping off trees, ripping off roofs, and doing a lot of other damage. There were a lot of places closed and some being refurbished. The whole street was one vacant hotel after another. Now it was back to the ship. As I said the terminal is big and quite nice. We looked around there a little bit. I did find a postcard but no stamp. I decided to get it anyway. I have 3 postcards to mail from home now! 

It was Pinnacle Grill tonight for the Valentine Dinner. It was wonderful. Appetizers, palate cleanser, main, and dessert – 6 courses! We also had one of the best tables in the place. We have become friends with Rebecca the hostess there. I have tried to put the menu and photos on FB but so far no success! It was a fantastic evening. 

Over night in Da Nang, Vietnam

02-11 Overnight in Da Nang (Hue), Tuesday: It was stormy this morning. Rain and chilly. Amazing what a change in weather crossing the equator. Our tour for today is tonight to Hoi An Ancient town. The town is only 22 miles away but takes 1 hour to drive it. This was a shore excursion via HAL. Several busses went and it was a mass crowd. I am sure it is crowded anyway but this was bad. Our guide was sweet and all, her name was Dong. She walked so fast only a few could keep up through the crowds. She did slow down after Helen (Distinctive Voyages) asked her to in a loud voice. Others echoed her request. We had about an hour to shop there. We did not shop but sat for a cold drink. The tour included dinner, which was very good, at a restaurant called Morning Glory. It was at least 3 stories and very busy. We had a brief time to walk around again and then we headed to the bus. It was nice to see such a night market. It rather reminded me of Disneyland, sans the rides, with the crowds and little toys shooting up in the air. There was also a great change in the weather. It was actually quite warm there. We dressed for the weather in the port so we peeled off our outer layer pretty quickly. We are overnight here so arriving back after 10p was not an issue.

02-12 Da Nang, Wednesday: Today we are here until 6p so we have all day. We started with a late and small breakfast. Our plan is to take the HAL shuttle into town and find a massage and a lunch. The drop off point at APEC park. It was a nice location and we could see the Dragon Bridge from there as we were leaving. We walked around the town and stopped at 3-4 massage places. No one had a massage for 2 available. We walked on back toward the shuttle point sort of giving up on the idea. Sharon was tired of walking so we stopped at a little café. It is so eye opening to stop in these cities. We sat at the little wood and metal table on plastic stools. We intended on having just a beer but then decided to try “something.” The menu was on a device that looks like what they use for payment with a credit card. We opted for “Chicken Noodle Soup” – It was really tasty. It also included an average salad plate size of mixed greens, which was have herbs and so delicious. No dressing on the salad, which was good because you could indeed taste the various items on it. I know there was some lettuce, thinly sliced cabbage, cilantro, radish micro herbs, maybe basil, some fennel, and daikon radish. The soup was very flavorful as well. Not a lot of chicken – I might add, almost everything we have chicken in seems to under go a hatchet job. It is all randomly hacked up with a lot of bone and little pieces of bone. One must be careful when eating. The bowl also had a delicious broth, noodles, peanuts, and some herbs. The total for our lunch with 3 beers, big bowl of soup and the salad (which we shared) was approximately US$3. Hard to believe how they live here. You certainly don’t see any overweight people! After that we walked on to get back to the shuttle point. We came across one more massage place called Nhō and asked if the massage for 2 was possible. The surprising reply was YES! What a great massage we had and this one worked out to be US$8 each. We left a very nice tip and we’re happy to do so. Now walking to the shuttle once more. We didn’t have to wait long and off we went back to the ship. We got that nice view of the Dragon Bridge when leaving the area. A quote about the bridge said, “the Dragon Bridge has breathed new life into finances in Da Nang” – interesting that tourist come to just see that I guess. Dutch dinner onboard and the food was served hot and tasty. We missed the show but had a short stop at the casino.