Day 6 - Sunday - 4/2/17 - A Lazy Sea Day on the Way to Incheon

It was a very lazy day at sea as the Volendam plied its way across the very flat but foggy Yellow Sea on its way to Incheon, Korea.  After a strenuous couple days of touring Shanghai it was difficult to get up and going. Since it was Sunday, we attended the interdenominational service at 9 before starting to read a new book, 'The Boys in the Boat' about the 1936 UW Crew team that won Olympic gold medals for n Berlin.

There was a Mariner Award Ceremony (we didn't get any recognition but should after the completion of this cruise) and Luncheon and we sat with an Aussie and a Kiwi couple. The husband of the Aussie couple had a very cool job testing and repairing Ferrari automobiles and competitive race cars while the Kiwi fellow owned his own pharmacy before retiring.

The Future Cruise consultants (Lynne and Larry) gave a presentation on the history of HAL and an introduction to major 2017-2018 itineraries.  They indicated that the Nieuw Statendam's first sailings would be in the fall of 2018, and a third ship in the Pinnacle class is under construction.

Jeremy presented on Beijing and it was good.  Afterwards I chatted with HeyJude & her husband about our upcoming shore excursion to the Great Wall along with other travel items. I find it fun to chat with other cruise critic participants and get to know them more than just electronic blips.

After our second Gala night dinner and a short presentation by Philip, our Location liaison, on Korean side dishes, the main stage flautist, Steven Clark, was probably the best flautist we've seen perform on a cruise ship.

We exchanged some money for Korean Won (roughly 1,000 to 1) and decided to retire early without seeing a western cowboy movie.  We have a full day planned for Incheon tomorrow.

Regarding our Korean immigration, they are doing independent traveler passport review in the Explorer's Lounge on Deck 5 while the HAL tour participants will be reviewed in the main showroom.  This should speed up the immigration process compared to the Chinese method.  But we'll see.  Stay tuned.

Day 5 - Saturday - 4/1/17 - Shanghai - Day 2

It's April 1, and pinch us:  we're really in Shanghai for day 2 of our stop here.  Getting up was a bit of a struggle due to our active and long day touring yesterday.  But we made it to our pre-arranged assembly point by 7:45am and headed off the gangplank where we had to show the stamped copy of our passports to the immigration authorities before walking out to the street where we met our guide, Autumn, for day two of our tour.  Today was planned to be focused on city stops as we had to be back to the ship by 3:30pm.

The French Quarter was our first stop and uts definitely very European in design.  We were then bussed to a silk factory where my wife spent the most money we have ever spent on a shore excursion purchase: a silk comforter and cover at around $450.  The store compression packed it for ease of transport.  We then went to the ancient Yu Garden.  We were hustled by many young people wanting to sell Minion Helicopters or roller-skate devices that strap on one's shoe heels.  The bottom line price seemed to be 15 Yuan per pair, but many were purchased for 20 Yuan or $3.00.  They are kinda novel, and our grand-daughter purchased a pair.

The temple was interesting and definitely old. The artistry of the garden pools was well done and the structure was built without nails.

A tea demonstration then followed which was interesting and we bought some cups that have a drawing that changes design with the introduction of heat.  Lunch was at a hotel restaurant (A'Da of Number 1) and featured the typical multi course meal.  This one was much more bland than the day before but still yummy.

We finished the day with a visit to the Jade Buddha.  It was crowded with visitors as this is the weekend ancestors are honored.  Back at the ship we said our goodbyes to Autumn and walked back to the ship, displayed our photocopied Passport to immigration, and reboarded the ship where we surrendered our passport photocopy.

I used the time fro our embarkation to when the ship left the dock to update my journal and. At h up on email.  Just after 5pm the Captain gave the commands for the thrusters to move us away from the dock into the river channel amongst the various pieces of river traffic.  With the protection of a police boat we backed down the river about a half mile and did a clockwise turn in order to be able to sail facing forward down the river to the sea and on to Korea.  

We enjoyed a great conversation with an Aussie couple from Adelaide euntil we sailed under the main bridge that prevents larger ships from sailing up the river to our cruise terminal.  There was only about 15 feet of clearance under the bridge!  We'll be sailing for a number of hours to reach the sea and even have a change of pilots when we reach the Yangtze River.  

Dinner in the Lido Marketplace was an Asian theme and quite good.  The 7pm enrichment lecture by Philip on K-pop (Korean Music Culture) was quite good and Anastasia really liked it.  We convinced her to go see the illusionist, Andrew Lee,  and he was really really good.

Day 4 - Friday - 3/31/17 - Shanghai - Day 1

With much anticipation, our first stop in China was finally here.  Overnight we had sailed up the Yangtze River and docked right in theheart of Shanghai which on all initial views from the ship appears to be a thoroughly modern city with spectacular and varied architecture.  

We heard horror stories of the immigration process and expected the worst.  We had an Independent Excursion 1 designation which seemed to mean that HAL excursions would be permitted off before us and there were over 600 of them.  Our group gathered in the Ocean Bar and waited for the PA announcement.  It finally came about 8:50am and we proceeded off the ship.  As this was our first disembarkation, I was pleased to note that when our granddaughter's card was scanned, the alarms went off and I had to vouch for her.  That was good to learn.  After a short walk into the terminal, we queued up in about 10 lines of 10-12 people each.  We all had our passports examined and a copy of our passports stamped.  We had then to surrender our passports to ship personnel and carry the stamped copy for all of our shore journeys.

We easily found our tour guide and the 25 of us boarded the bus with Autumn, our guide. We headed for the ancient water village of Zhujiajiao located about 1.5 hours drive away from the port.  At the water village we headed for the gondola boats and enjoyed a nice gondola ride down one of the many canals.  It was just like a similar ride in Italy.  

We strolled down the very narrow villager sort streets and toured the ancient (and I do mean ancient) Post Office before doing more wandering before enjoying a really tasty meal at the Honglou (red tower) restaurant.  Once we were back on the bus, we headed back into town and went to the Oriental Pearl TV tower which is the tallest in Asia.  It's very architecturally scenic with all sorts of round or spherical shapes composing its structure.  As our tour concluded our guide noted that we were short one couple.  She looked for them for at least 15-20 months bites before giving up and heading back to the ship.

A group of young Chinese Acrobats were the entertainment and we all were tucked in by 10:30pm.  A city tour is planned for tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Day 3 - Thursday - 3/30/17 - At Sea in the Taiwan Straits

Sometime during the night the periodic blast of the ship's horn began its lonely but persistent tone.  Without looking outside I knew it was an indication we were sailing in low visibility conditions.  As dawn broke we could see the fog and validate the reason for that persistent tone.  And that fog would not leave us throughout the entire day.  Periodically we would get a glimpse of little fishing vessels or an occasional tanker or freighter.

Today was the first day for an interdenominational service led by Pastor Ken from British Columbia.  We had a small group and enjoyed meeting new folks.

Jeremy, the Location Specialist, gave a detailed presentation on Incheon and was followed by Dr. Kam's excellent historical talk on Hong Kong history.

We participated in a wine tasting and apart from that noting else was on the schedule for the rest of the afternoon.  So I finished 'Killing the Rising Sun' which I really enjoyed.

We ate dinner in a really quiet Lido and listened to Philip's (Location consultant) excellent presentation on customs in China.  The small room was packed, and his tips were very good.  While Angela went to the movie, I attended the main stage show, String Idols, where the two Japanese violinists put on a great show. It was good enough that I went back to see it at 10pm with Angela.

For the next two days we are in Shanghai and their immigration process seems strange but I'll report on it tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Day 2 - Wednesday - 3/29/17 - At Sea in the South China Sea

Today was the first of two sea days enroute to Shanghai, China.  I really like sea days and it was a leisurely get up day.  After a nice breakfast, I went to the Theatre for what was supposed to be 10am America's Test Kitchen presentation on Salmon purchase, preparation, and presentation.  However there was an error in the online program, so it would not be held until 11am which conflicted with a lecture on Hong Kong history.  So I had to miss it.

At 10:30am in the Crow's Nest there was a gathering for Cruise Critic Members and it was good to be able to associate faces with screen names.  We learned from one member that the immigration process for our next port, Shanghai, was very disorganized. We shall see.

The lecture by Master Kam on Hong Kong history was good, but much of it I had learned on our land tour a few weeks earlier. After lunch I started reading my first book, 'Killing the Rising Sun' by William O'Reilly.  It's a history of America's victory over the Japanese and why the Atomic Bomb was needed and how it changed the world forever.  

Jeremy presented a nice overview of sights to see in Shanghai and I resumed reading my book until dinner.  I find it quite relaxing to read while watching the ocean pass by.  There were lots of little fishing vessels and a few larger ships and a fair amount of flotsam and jetsam to be seen.

Dinner tonight was Gala (dress up) and we enjoyed a nice dinner with a couple from Duncan, BC. Afterwards, Angela and I went to a presentation on 4 key Chinese literary works (none of which I had heard of).  Anastasia returned to the room to sleep.  She's gotten better from her seasickness this morning.

The entertainment tonight was the cast production of Atlantic Crossing, a musical tribute to the British groups and their songs that become popular in America.  Both of us were tired afterwards so we skipped watching the movie and headed for bed.

We get our passports back tomorrow for the Shanghai immigration process and have a few other things in mind.  Stay tuned.

Day 1 - Tuesday - 3/28/17 - Embarkation Day

Today was our last day in Hong Kong.  I think all three of us were finally acclimatized to the time change and we slept through the night.  

After breakfast and final packing, we took a little walk east toward the Grand Waterfront shopping Mall which was about a 16 minute walk away.  Most of the mall was closed as we were there before 10am, but we enjoyed shopping in a few of the open stores.  We then walked down to the Ma Kau Tuk public pier where we could see the Volendam berthed at the Kai Tak cruise terminal waiting for us.  Behind it the Aidabella was berthed.  We strolled along the waterfront until we reached the Hoi Sham Park with its unique Fishtail Rock.  There were lots of people doing traditional Chinese group excercises.  Back at the apartment, we picked up our backpacks and suitcases and made our way up to Chatham Road where we hailed a cab for a ride to the cruise terminal.  

It was an easy 20 minute ride to the terminal which is built on the remains of the Kai Tak airport.  The terminal is huge and can service 3,000 passengers per hour.  They are also still engaged in major construction where the former runway was located.  The check in process was fast and efficient; and after some significant walking and long escalators, we boarded the ship and our key cards were scanned for the first time.  For us it was like 'old home week' as we spent 4 months on HAL ships last year.  The Volendam has a similar feel to them.

We found our stateroom #1817 and left our luggage there so we could get something to eat in the Lido. My pre-ordered distilled water was waiting for me along with our beverage card. After a nice lunch in the Lido we were armed with nutrition and we gave Anastasia an overview tour of the ship before returning to the cabin to unpack.  We also took a tour of the spa area as well as Club Hal.  Anastasia was really thrilled with Club Hal, and I don't think we'll see much of her on sea days.

We had originally planned to visit the area outside the port, but the port is so large, we decided instead to visit the port's rooftop garden which was lovely and afforded some great views of HK and the ships. The shopping infrastructure isn't really in place but there is the Old Hanger Cafe and a bunch of large group dining facilities and some vending machines.  One could certainly pick out the former runway and terminal area.  In order to leave the terminal area, one would have to take a cab or other shuttle

We ate an early steak dinner in the Lido as we had a 7:15pm mandatory muster drill.  They scanned our room cards into the system to establish our attendance and this was the second time we've experienced this with the previous time being on the Koningsdam.  It sure beats the Communicator yelling out stateroom numbers and names.  We also had to surrender our passports to immigration, but that went smoothly.  The evening movie was about a King fu soccer team with English subtitles. It was pretty corny, and we left it early to attend the introductory stage performance (Listen to the Music) by the entertainment staff and hosted by the cruise director, Bruce.  He was our cruise director on the Zaandam a year ago in South America.  And that cruise was one of the best we've been on.  It turned out that the Adagio duo as well as the band director, James, and Keyboardist and piano bar player had also performed on prior sailings we had been on.  I guess we're becoming veteran cruisers.

We then enjoyed some sail away munchies  in the Crow's Nest before adjourning to the Lido for some tea where I updated my blog.  The ship departed a bit late just after 11pm due to about 20 passengers not showing up for the immigration process despite repeated calls over the PA system.

Angela headed back to the stateroom so we took the opportunity to test the messaging app (Ship Text on iPhone) which uses the IP addresses from the Ship's WIFI system.  It works well!

Now it's time to settle into the rhythms of sea days as we have two ahead of us before reaching Shanghai.  

Touring Hong Kong - Redeux

It was a leisurely morning to get up. Both Anastasia and  I had been awake since 4am local time, and I finally rolled out of bed at 7:30am and fixed myself some scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.  The girls followed suit and we left the apartment around 8:45am to walk to a couple of the local shopping malls and then on to the History museum.  

The first mall, Hunghom Square is a three story mall with lots of little shops, but there were lots of vacancies.  Unfortunately we were there about an hour too early so many were closed.  At the nearby Chatham mall, it was a ghost  town with lots of vacancies in this new building.

We then walked about 2 miles to the History museum.  It wasn't a straightforward walk as many sidewalks would just end, so I had to use my dead reckoning   skills to get us there.  By this time, Anastasia was pretty tired and hungry, so we treated her to a McD's meal which lifted her spirits.  I also got some more cash and purchased a blood pressure monitor as I had left mine at home.  The instructions are all in Chinese, but no problemo as I know how to use one.  We toured both the Toy Exhibit at the History Museum and the Science museum (you have to love the concession rates for seniors!).  Anastasia was pretty tired so we attempted to take one of the PLB (Private Local Bus) buses, but could not figure out where to catch it.  In the end we found a #26   Bus right by the Museum on Chatham Street which brought us right back to our apartment.  I should note that navigating the bus system is a challenge as there is no one agency running the system.  There are trains, busses, and 16 passenger PLB's.  fares are difficult to ascertain until the bus pulls up and the fare is displayed on the cash box.  Our fares were $6.70HK or $0.86 each way per person which was certainly a great deal!  The buses are clean and neat and stops are announced in Chinese and English.

Tonight we headed out to find some dinner.  We stumbled upon a local restaurant that had some reasonably priced Sechin dishes and it was really busy.  They spoke no English, but a translator app on the server's phone helped bridge the language gap.  In the end we ordered soup (really good) and spicy chicken (really spicy and we couldn't count the number of peppers in the dish).  Afterwards our mouths were really tingling.  The meal for three  cost $148HK or about $19US.

Tomorrow we board our ship, the MS Volendam at Kai Tak, the former international airport which has been repurposed as a mega cruise terminal.  It's located across the harbor from Hunghom where we are staying.  The ship arrived this afternoon and is docked there overnight. We'll use a taxi to get there so we don't have to wrangle our luggage on public transportation.  Since our ship doesn't leave until 11pm, after we check in and drop off our luggage, we'll focus our adventures tomorrow near the cruise terminal.