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.