Given the interest there was in readers wondering about my sanity, booking a cruise with 2,500 kids on board, I thought I would report back to let you know just how everything went and if my sanity is still intact.
Let’s first discuss the positives. No, let’s do the negatives so we can end on a positive note.
The obvious is there were lots of kids, but there were also so many kids’ areas – kids’ pool, kids’ clubs, kids’ games, etc. So, yes, lots of kids, but I never felt they were under foot/in the way.
The food could have been better, much better. There was plenty of it and a good variety, but, based on other cruises, this was below expectations. When we mentioned something about food quality at one of our dinners, the chef came out and explained to us that it was difficult to cook for 5,000 people. Duh!!! Isn’t that what you signed up to do? Isn’t that your job?
The only other disadvantage that I experienced, was when I went back to the ‘adults only’ section of the ship and looked for a place to sit down, by the pool, anywhere on the deck, with a view, any seat! – all were taken. Apparently, a lot of parents were looking for some ‘quiet time’ away from their chaotic kids.
What I liked about the cruise was . . .
The ship, Royal Caribbean’s Ovations of the Sea, was much better than I expected for a large ship with 5,000 passengers. Great layout, lots of restaurants with a variety of cuisines, lots of bars, lots of shops, excellent show venues, did I mention lots of bars?
Lots of things to do, especially for kids, basketball, pickleball, bumper cars, roller skating, rock climbing, surfing, various rides, arts & crafts, arcade, ping pong, etc., etc., etc.
Fun casino that both giveth and taketh away
We had a nice room that allowed all 13 of us to gather a few times
The staff, the Filipinos, were especially nice
Heard the gym was very well equipped.
We didn’t get off the ship in Ensenada
The thing I liked most was that we had our whole immediate family on board with everyone enjoying all the activities and the adults enjoying the kids enjoying all the activities . . . and the drink package!
Some family photos . . .
Grandkids: Dylan, Mac, Addison, Emma & Brooklyn
Original Sparrows: Linda, me, Steph, Jeff & Dana
The Shomers: Dylan, Emma, Steph & Jason
The Borrellis: Dana, Joe, Addison, Mac
Brooklyn, Jeff & Pam Sparrow
Most popular adult ride: Pina Colada
OK, maybe this one’s better
I promised beautiful Emma I’d put a photo of her in the blog.
Ovation of the Seas – Kids pool with North Star in upper right corner
While we’re on the subject of cruising after reading Suzanne’s blog last week about ‘Senior Cruising’, I thought I would mention that Linda and I will be leaving this Tuesday on what could be called ‘Junior Cruising’. Our three kids, Stephanie, Dana and Jeff, their spouses, Jason, Joe and Pam AND our five grandchildren, Dylan, Emma, Addison, Mac and Brooklyn, will all be boarding the Royal Caribbean ship, Ovations of the Seafor a four-day cruise from L.A. to Ensenada, Mexico and back to L.A.
There will be nearly 5,000 passengers on board, half of them kids, so this is not a cruise for relaxation, in fact there are so many things to do on this ship, that we may not get to them all in the four days we will be on board. Below is a list of activities available to the kids/grandkids, OK, and maybe us too.
Ripcord skydiving
At the SeaPlex, at varying times, one can ride bumper cars, play basketball, volleyball, soccer, go roller skating or attend a circus school with a trapeze.
Go on North Star, which extends 300 feet above the ship for a 360-degree view of the surroundings.
Ripcord is a skydiving simulator the gives the sensation of free falling.
FlowRider is a surf simulator that lets you ride a surfboard or a boogie board on real waves.
Rock Climbing on a simulated rock wall on the side of the ship, safety lines included.
FlowRider
In their spare time, kids can participate in the Adventure Ocean youth program where age-specific activities for Aquanauts (3-5), Explorers (6-8) and Voyagers (9-11), and a Teen Lounge for those ‘older’ kids. There is also an Adventure Science Lab and a fun-filled Water Park, with mini-slides, water cannons, fountains and pools.
In between activities I’m sure the kids will find ‘all-you-can-eat-pizza’ and ‘all-you-can-eat-ice cream shops.
Bumper cars
But the ship also recognizes that adults may need a break and a treat or two, so there is an adult-only section where one can go to get relief from the constant chaos, a casino, where I’ll look for Linda if I can’t find her, a Bionic Bar where your drink is made to order by a mechanical bartender, no tipping just oil him once in a while. There are Broadway-style shows nightly as well as venues with music and dancing – not sure how much dancing I’ll do, but it’s nice to know it’s there in the event I get the urge! There is also a place called Two70, it provides a 270-degree view from the back of the boat. This multi-level lounge transforms from a daytime observation space with panoramic views into a nighttime theater featuring a unique blend of digital art, robotics, and live performances. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars that will help us to maximize our drink package! Oh yeah, there’s also a gym, but don’t expect any photos that might catch us perspiring.
Robotic bar
We’re not sure we want to expose our grandkids to Ensenada at their age, so we’ll probably not get off the boat when we’re in port, but we’ll see, maybe they want to discover what a real Mexican taco tastes like.
That’s all for the cruise preview, if anything happens that’s blog-worthy, I’ll give you an update next time. Until then, wish me luck in keeping my sanity around 2,000 sugar-high kids!
A wide-eyed “Wow” was my most-used word last week on our trip to South Carolina, where we visited old friends and previous next-door neighbors, Dave & Sharon McKinley. The McKinley’s moved next door to us in 1986 and moved out in 1990; I guess it took them a few years to realize that moving next to us was a big mistake. Dave, now retired, was a brilliant business leader who dressed for success and was very, very successful! He is someone that anyone would want to work for or with – just a standup guy! Sharon was a stay-at-home Mom to Jocelyn and Dusty , and is now the ‘Hostess with the Mostess’ and a gourmet cook. They are both trim and fit. Early Saturday evening, they picked us up at the airport and took us to downtown Greenville; its name is well deserved as there is greenery wherever you look. The fact that they get 51 inches of rain a year, might be a factor. We even experienced a little of that while we were there. It was my first time in this bucolic Southern city, which the Reedy River runs through in spectacular fashion; and because it was a Saturday night, the main downtown street was cordoned off so that merchants could set up their tents and offer their wares – everything from masterpieces to moonshine. A street band was playing some great music as we walked to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Soby’s, where I acted like I belonged there and ordered a combo plate of grits, shrimp, corn and crabcake along with a local brew. Actually I just ordered what Dave ordered.
McKinley house – back
McKinley house – front
My first real ‘Wow’ came when we arrived at the McKinley Mansion in 6 Mile, South Carolina. It is spectacular! It is built on a forested lot on man-made Lake Keowee. Actually, it could have been built on two lots as they bought the one next to them so no one would build there and spoil their view. Their home is a little over 8,000 square feet, 12,000 if you count the covered porches on both levels of the home. The kitchen has every modern convenience imaginable and there is a ‘grandkids bedroom’ with bunk beds and amenities that would make any grandkid want to move in permanently. The recreation room has a pool table, a shuffleboard table, a big screen TV and lots of comfortable couches. There’s another bedroom on the third floor which also houses Dave’s art studio; he’s quite an artist. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the house has an elevator and a bookshelf that opens into a hidden ‘safe room’. I’m sure I missed lots of stuff, but you get the idea. The home is elevated from the lake, so there is a beautiful, winding stone path, past a sitting area with a circular stone firepit, to their dock and boat. It is a spectacular property!
Lake Keowee – see small arrow left of the compass to locate McKinley house
Sunday morning we got on their boat (I don’t know boats very well, so I can’t tell you the make and model, but, surprise, it was very nice!) We did a tour of the lake, well, only a partial tour, it’s 26 miles long! Dave said that we would be embarrassed to come back to their home once we saw the really spectacular homes on the lake. We obviously weren’t embarrassed, but I have to say, it provided me with my next several “Wows!” I’ve seen a lot of magnificent lake homes in my day, both here and abroad, and in my opinion, no place could match this. I suppose that’s part of the reason why people like golfers Jack Nicklaus and Matt Kuchar, and Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Costner, ex-NFL quarterback, Dan Marino, Darius Rucker, Bill Murray and many other celebrities are all rumored to have property on this lake.
Whitewater Falls
We retuned home for lunch (delicious!) and drove to a park with amazing walking paths, one of them leading to my favorite type of scenery in nature, waterfalls. I think I’ve mentioned how magnificent the greenery is around here, but . . . yes, lots of “Wow!” moments occurred as we reached Whitewater Falls (the photo doesn’t do it justice).
We returned home in time to get ready to go to the club house of one of the seven golf course they belong to, for Mother’s Day dinner. Not surprisingly, the views of the golf course and surrounding greenery was amazing and the food was delicious!
Biltmore Estate
Monday was supposed to be a day to play golf, but the weatherman said we were going to get some of those 51 inches of liquid sunshine. So, Plan B was to visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, about a 90-minute drive from 6 Mile. The Biltmore was built by George Vanderbilt in 1897, after he purchase 125,000 acres to create a country estate that would include a working farm. It is the largest privately owned home in America at 178,926 sq. ft. of floor space. Paintings by Renoir, Whistler, Monet and many other artists are displayed in this four-story plus basement home. It remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions, and provided lots of “Wows” throughout our several hours tour of the home and grounds. I could go on and on, I’ll just say if your ever back that way – go see it!
Back to McKinley’s humble abode for another of Sharon’s gourmet dinners and a delicious dessert that I had not only had never had, but had never heard of, Semifreddo. “Wow! I got the recipe!
It was a most amazing trip to a beautiful place to reconnect with great old friends. I have reported back to the neighbors who knew the McKinley’s when they lived here, that they seem to be doing just fine!
Southern Utah is the United States’ only area that offers five National Parks–Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, and thus has the highest concentration of natural scenic wonders found anywhere on Earth! Which, of course, made it much more difficult for me to find my golf ball when, for whatever reason, it ended up outside the boundaries of the golf course I was playing. Along with Lake Powell and the Colorado River as water hazards, I’m glad I brought plenty of balls on this trip. This area also boasts four State Parks, two National Monuments, plus Monument Valley, famous for its iconic mesas and buttes often featured in Western movies . . . as well as providing scenic hiding places for my golf balls.
“Found it!!”
Yes, my travels last week took me first to the city of St. George, in southern Utah, to play golf at The Ledges, Coral Canyon, and Copper Rock, but let’s not talk about my golf game when southern Utah has so much more to offer than my ‘Aww shits’ and “Can you hand me another ball?”. This home of the Mormons, who make up about 70% of the cities’ population, is a most unique and beautiful place. The first Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon) temple, built west of the Mississippi, was not built in Salt Lake City, but in St. George in 1877.
The city of St. George was founded in 1861, notwithstanding the fact that for some thousands of years before that, the area was inhabited by the Ute, Goshutes, Paiutes, Shoshone, and Navajo Indians. But the city was founded as part of the Mormon ‘Cotton Mission’ under Brigham Young, which aimed to establish in Utah, a cotton-growing region in the face of the Civil War, as northerners believed that they would no longer be getting cotton from the South. Even though cotton growing proved to be an unsuccessful venture, this area became known as Dixie. It remained being called that until 2021, when the ‘woke folk’ decided that the name was racist.
“Got it!!”
There is controversy about how St. George got its name, but I’m going with the story that it was named after George Smith, first cousin to Joseph Smith, founder of the LDS movement. George settled in the area and encouraged residents to eat raw, unpeeled potatoes in order to cure scurvy – it sort of worked, as potatoes do contain some Vitamin C, but the cure probably came from the oranges they ate after they ate the potatoes to get that raw potato taste out of their mouths. Either way, it earned George the name, ‘Potato Saint, thus Saint George. George may not have been a real saint, but he was a real Mormon who had seven wives and 20 children. Of course, polygamy is not legal today, but it is said that you don’t have to be Mormon to have one too many wives.
“I found your ball”
My golf game gave me plenty of opportunities to explore the flora and fauna of the surrounding area, and it is, indeed, beautiful; not my golf game, but all the places I looked for my golf ball.
The rest of this week will be spent losing golf balls in an area where I’m more familiar with losing things . . . Las Vegas.
It’s no secret that I’ve spent a good deal of the first quarter of every year since 1992 in the southern California desert, Palm Desert to be exact. In fact, as you’re reading this, I’m in the desert this week. And, of course, I’m always looking for something new and different to write about. We all know that stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, Marilyn Monroe and many others spent lots of time in the desert, but I had no idea that the greatest scientist of all time, Albert Einstein was also a ‘desert rat’.
In 1933 Einstein and his second wife, Elsa came to Palm Springs as he was fleeing from Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler. They stayed briefly at the ‘Willows’, which hosted many Hollywood and Wall Street stars; it was the elegant home of attorney and “Hitler’s Bitterest Foe”, Samual Untermeyer. At the time, LA Magazine said, “Staying at the Willows is like getting the keys to a well–off friend’s country estate.” The Willows has entertained such guests as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Joseph P. Kennedy, Marion Davies, Shirley Temple, and many more. After a short stay, the Einsteins were lured away from the Willows by Warren Pinney, the big boss at the neighboring El MiradorHotel, which was just down the street and had entertained a few Hollywood types of its own, like Paulette Goddard, soon to be the third wife of Charlie Chaplin, and a young B-movie actress who would go on to captivate the television world decades later in a program called “I Love Lucy” – Lucille Ball. The hotel also played a role as a hospital during World War II.
Phony Photo of Albert & Marilyn?
And while we’re mixing Hollywood stars and Einstein, you may not be familiar with a quote from Marilyn Monroe about him. She said, “We could have a baby together. He would come out beautiful like me and smart like you,” to which Einstein replied, and I paraphrase, “What if he came out with my beauty and your intelligence?” Which sounds like a self-deprecating statement about his not-so-handsome looks, as well as a dig at Marilyn being a dumb blonde. However, the joke was on him, Monroe’s IQ was measured at 165, about 5 points higher than Einsteins’!!! The photo at the right is probably a phony, as there is no evidence that Einstein and Monroe ever met, despite rumors of an affair, although he might have been smart enough to hide such a thing.
Tony Burke, ‘Realtor to the Stars’ and publicist for the El Mirador Hotel and Palm Springs in general, made sure the Einsteins had a wonderful time AND that most of the world heard about it. Who knew that when in the desert, Einstein loved sunbathing, so when sitting on his veranda at the Willows and the El Mirador, he would often take off his shirt (unheard of at that time) – in fact, sometimes he would even take off his pants! It seems clear he had a secret desire to be in ‘show’ business.
El Mirador Hotel – back in the day
As a matter of fact, Einstein’s personal life fit right in with the Hollywood set in the desert, as he was, by all accounts, a ‘ladies’ man’ and he found his first wife, Mileva Marić, as a student of his and an accomplished physicist and mathematician in her own right, with whom he had a child before they were married. He married his second wife, Elsa, with whom he had about a seven-year affair, three months after his divorce from Mileva. Oh yeah, and Elsa was his first cousin!
Both hotels are still in business, you can get a room at the El Mirador Hotel for as little as $200 a night. ‘The Willows’ is now called ‘The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn’, and only has 17 rooms, which run between $500-$700 a night. Today you can stay in the ‘Einstein Room’ at The Willows for about $650 a night – I’m guessing there’s a ‘smart’ TV in that room!
While in the desert this week, I will see if I can visit either or both of these historic hotels – although they may not let someone like me, not a star and definitely not a genius, on the property.
Yes, they’re all part of a most fascinating history of this pristine alpine lake that I had the good fortune of hearing about from an interesting character and owner of the Tudor House and Bracken Fern Manor, John Connor; more about him later.
Notorious mobster, ‘Bugsy’ Siegal got the Chicago Mob to fund the Atkins Brothers building of a resort in the mountains – Bracken Fern Manor, an alpine inn in the San Bernardino mountains just above Lake Arrowhead, which opened as ‘Club Arrowhead in the Pines’ in 1929. It catered to the rich and famous, including many film stars. Back in the day, many from Hollywood came to Arrowhead as Bracken Fern Manor offered gambling, illegal liquor, as this was during Prohibition, and ‘ladies of the evening’. The brothel continued operation through World War II. An interesting side note is that when authorities realized that many of the mafia men spoke Italian, they offered them a ‘get out of jail free card’ if they would use their language skills to spy on the Italians, who were part of the Axis powers.
The Tudor House
Gambling continued as a profitable business with a move across the street to the ‘speakeasy’/casino, called the Tudor House and continued operations until 1955. This is the building where our group watched the football games on a big screen on New Years Day and were served drinks, pizza and desserts by John Connor and Bridger Zadina, more about him later too. The Bracken Fern Manor was turned into a 10-bedroom hotel which was said to be haunted by the ghosts of a ten-year-old boy, who was struck by a car and a prostitute who jumped from an upper-story window. Enough hotel guests had paranormal experiences that both OC Ghosts & Legendsand Travel Channel’sGhost Adventureshave broadcast from the hotel. Owner, John Connor gave us a tour through, what is today, the hotel, starting in the wine cellar and working our way up to the second floor where there was a secret window where one could ‘peek’ into the room and watch the goings on. The rooms were small and shared a Jack & Jill bathroom. We won’t be checking in anytime soon!
While walking back to the Tudor House from the Backen Fern Manor, (It is said there were secret tunnels connecting the two buildings to accommodate brothel customers stealthily moving between them), John showed us where the first power lines that brought electricity to Lake Arrowhead from San Bernardino were put up using live Ponderosa pine trees as telephone poles. Look closely at the photo to see the ‘make-shift ladder’ still attached to the tree. The grounds also include a wedding venue and an amphitheater seating four hundred for summer concerts.
OK, what about John Connor and Bridger Zadina?
John (with cigar) and Bridger
John is an 80-year-old energetic man who was born on a farm in Maryland and worked on it until he was 17, then decided that he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew it wasn’t working on a farm. As it turned out, he was quite brilliant and went to Drexel Institute of Technology and earned a degree in particle physics, where he unknowingly worked on a neutron bomb for the Department of Defense. He attended graduate school at Duke University, was recruited by the US Air Force to develop weapon systems during the Vietnam War (he gets pretty emotional talking about this), worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, worked on some of our very first computers, helped with the construction of the Alaskan Pipeline, was on Ronald Reagan’s transition team, started his own tax consulting firm, moved to Montana to retire and do some ranching, then moved to Arrowhead to open the Tudor House and Bracken Fern Manor, making it a theater, restaurant and hotel. During pauses in the action of the football game we were watching, he would sit down at the piano and play a few show tunes – a true Renaissance man and a real character.
Wishing you a happy new year from the Lake Arrowhead Hotel
Bridger Zadina is a 30-year-old, who was very unassuming and always had a smile on his face. He mentioned that he helped put on and act in some of the local theater shows that are done at the Tudor House theater. Other than just being a nice guy, he just smiled and made sure we had plenty of food and beverages. What we found out later is that he was born in Wisconsin and came to California to be an actor and model. He’s had TV roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Bosch and Better Things; he also starred in the 2014 movie Sins of Our Youth.
An alpine lake, beautiful mountains, memorable characters, and a fascinating history made this a most memorable start to the new year.
PS: The last time I was at Lake Arrowhead was about 30 years ago and it was dead, with vacant buildings and empty streets. No longer – the place was happening; stores opened and lots of people.
Our ship arrived in Hong Kong on a Tuesday morning and the regular schedule was for us to fly home the next day, but we wanted a little more time in the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, so we extended for another day. We were sad to leave our ship, as it was our first time cruising with Celebrity and our first time in a suite; it was great to experience a great ship at a luxury level. Our hotel was right on Victoria Harbour, so we had a great view, although we spent little time in our room. We took about a 30-minute walk to Temple Street, a place Linda had to get to for some shopping, but as we learned later, it was mostly a ‘night market’. We did return the next night and had dinner – again, not sure what we had, but it was very tasty!
Squinting man with attractive blonde at Peak Tower
We scheduled a full-day tour the next day that included a trip on the world’s longest escalator, a ferry ride, a delicious lunch, a visit to the old police station/prison/museum, which displayed the history of Hong Kong, and then a ferry ride from Hong Kong Island to the sky tram to the Peak Tower. At the top of the tram, Hong Kong spreads out before you. Just spectacular!! Back to our hotel, we walked through what seemed like miles of mall to get to the pier for the ‘light show’. The mall had every high-end fashion store in the world, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent,, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany & Co., and many more; and it went on for what seemed like miles. We knew we weren’t in Vietnam anymore! The ‘light show’ occurs nightly at eight o’clock and features all the tall sky-scrappers on the water lighting up their building in various colors – it was nice, but a little unspectacular.
Hong Kong is a great, modern, bustling city, even the airport has all the high-end shops in the world.
Final word . . .
I have to say, this cruise exceeded our expectations, which were fairly high to start with. Great cities, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, DaNang and Hong Kong – each a great city in its own right. Singapore stands out as a favorite. It’s a city that is so clean and so diverse. Linda and I both thought that with a trip of 18 days, we would be so ready to get home, but that was not the case, we loved every day, but it is great to be home!
Because we were traveling alone, we ended up sitting with and befriending a variety of people – a traveling circus owner from Quebec, an interesting couple from Ireland, a Korean couple that lives next to Debo Samuel of the 49ers, and many others, mostly from the UK. Oh yeah, we also met a couple from Yorba Linda!
Unsurprisingly, I reinforced a belief that you can’t diet on a cruise. I did get to the gym fairly regularly, but when the food is so available and good and you get in the habit of having dessert not only for dinner, but for breakfast and lunch, your pants will be much tighter. So, I learned a new phrase on this Asian cruise: Mi Tu Phat
Thanks for coming along!
Photo Phinish
Lunch – I only recognized the fruit
Hoa, our Saigon tour guide (on the left)Wat Plai Laem, translated: Need a hand?
Cave in Ha Long Bay
Dinner on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok
Top of US Embassy – Last helicopter out of Saigon – 1975
The same US Embassy today – small brown building in the middle
Our first port of call in Vietnam is Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City. I asked if it mattered which name I called it. I mistakenly assumed that people from South Vietnam called it Saigon and those from north Vietnam called it Ho Chi Minh City – not so. Our guide for the day, from the north, called it Saigon. I learned you don’t insult anyone by calling it either name. But Saigon is not a ‘port city’, so we had to take a van from the port to the city center, which was about an hour-and-a-half drive. We scheduled a private jeep tour of some key highlights of the city, so Linda and I toured the city in an old Army jeep, with a driver and a guide, Hoa (Who-ah). I’ve often said, ‘Your guide makes or breaks your tour’ – Hoa made it! He was about five feet tall and looked to be in his thirties – he was 57 and hilarious!
We first visited the requisite Buddhist temple and learned the importance of incents – the smoke takes your prayers to Buddha. We then visited Independence Palace, which is the president’s residence, like our White House. We passed by Ho Chi Minh Square and the Opera House as well as the Saigon’s Notre Dame – we see a lot of the French influence in the architecture here. Our most memorable stop was at the War Remnants Museum, which was quite graphic in its depiction of the devastating effects of the Vietnam War. I have to say that walking through that museum was very gut-wrenching. We finish our full day tour with a great meal at a downtown Saigon restaurant – delicious! No, I don’t know what I had, I just pointed to a photo that looked good – and it was!
Tourist on Thu Bon River in Hoi An
Our next port was DaNang, and again we had about an hour and a half drive from the boat dock to the city, and while we drove through the big city of DaNang, we continued on to a smaller town called Hoi An. We spent time visiting all the ‘tourist shops’ looking for bargains – Linda found some and I was able to purchase another mask for my back-bar collection. I have to say, for a communist country there sure are a lot of entrepreneurial capitalists trying to sell us stuff!
Back on the boat and heading north to Hanoi, where we will arrive, through Ha Long Bay, the next morning. We are in the harbor at Ha Long Bay for two days and we decide to take the tour of the bay to see the amazing islands that are formed and a spectacular cave where we hike up to the entrance and entered – spectacular!!!
Spectacular Halong Bay
For our second day in Hanoi, we looked at the tours to go into the city and perhaps visit the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, but we discovered that the tours were 10-11 hours in length and that the ride into Hanoi from the harbor took three-and-a-half hours each way! That’s 7 hours on a bus for a 3-4 hour tour, so we passed and did a fascinating tour of Ha Long City.
What made Ha Long City so fascinating is that it’s a city right on the water with awesome beaches, five-star hotels, and lots of high-end condos . . . but, everything was empty, not just no people in the buildings, but no furniture, just empty beautiful buildings. We asked our golf cart driver what was going on in this Vietnam ‘ghost town’ and because he spoke very little, we didn’t get much of an answer. So, I Googled it and discovered that a Vietnamese lady investor, basically bilked billions of dollars out of the government to build up the city, but she did it all on false promises and is now in prison and may be sentenced to death.
We get back to our boat that pulls out of port that evening heads for Hong Kong, our last stop of this awesome trip!
(I believe a user error occurred and parts of this blog were previously posted for a few minutes. It’s confusing being on the other side of the planet!)
The Ship
A few days before we left for this trip, Linda got on the Celebrity website and saw that bids were being accepted to up-grade our ship’s cabin for a suite. She decided to give it a try and so she made a bid. The indicator that shows your possibility of getting the up-grade showed “slim to none and Slim just left town”. But apparently Slim came back into town as we got the up-grade. This up-grade put us in the front of every line checking in – they treated us as if we actually had money! Then we got to our room. “Oh, my goodness!!” There is a desk by the entry, that opens to about a 12’ x 20’ living area with two large couches, an easy chair and TV. There is a master bedroom with a king-sized bed and walk-in closet and a large TV. The bathroom has two entries, one from the master bedroom and one for guest to use by the entry. Needless to say, we love the room!
Us, pretending we are rich!
The rest of the ship is like most cruise ships, lots of bars and restaurants, a large event theater and a staff that is very helpful and friendly. I understand they have a gym here as well, hopefully I’ll be able to find that over the course of the 13 days we are on board.
At this writing we’ve only been on board for two days, so I’ll keep you posted on any of the other features of the ship as we learn more ourselves.
Koh Samui
Lunch on the island of Koh Samui
Our first port of call is Koh Samui, a Thailand island just off the coast of Bangkok. We tendered into shore and we had a tour set up of the ‘Highlights of Koh Samui’. We are met by a very nice Thai girl, with a great sense of humor, who will be our guide for the day. Our bus takes us along the coast on the only road around the island of Koh Samui, stopping at several Buddhist Temples until we arrive at our luncheon destination, a very nice beachside restaurant and hotel, where we have lunch, that consisted of , , , well, I’m not sure what it was, but it was good! After lunch we are back on the bus and headed to a cocoanut plantation. Once there, we walk out into a cocoanut tree grove and one of the workers there gives us a demonstration on how to pick, shave, split and harvest the meat as well as shows us how to make cocoanut water. We are let off by the tender, where I am able to purchase a ‘Thai mask’ for my back bar collection.
When we get back to our room, our butler has placed a nice fruit basket along with some champagne on ice and beer in the refrigerator – this must be how the rich people live! I could get used to this!
A typical two-bedroom condo in Bangkok. NOT!
Bangkok We have an all-day tour set up and it’s literally all day, starting at being picked up at 8:00 am and returning to the ship at 10:00 pm. It is about an hour-and-a-half drive from the port into Bangkok, and we are lucky because we arrived on a Saturday and if it were a week day, the drive would have been at least three hours!! Our first stop is at the Royal Palace, which is quite spacious and aesthetically beautiful, in a colorful, albeit garish, to us. Our guide tells us about the history of the kings of this land and some interesting history. We get back on our bus and drive through the very big, very busy and not-to-beautiful city of Bangkok. We stop at a nice river-side restaurant for lunch, then get on a boat and visit the royal boatyard where all the past king’s river craft reside on display. We get back on the bus and visit a few Buddhist temples, and to be honest, we’re not all that impressed with Bangkok . . . until.
We have a night dinner cruise on the river, Chao Phraya, that runs through the heart of all the fancy hotels and restaurants. We are on an open-air boat, where we enjoy a delicious dinner, while taking in the spectacularly lit buildings along the river – music and fireworks are included. A breath-taking evening. We felt that this portion of the tour literally saved the day and made the long trip to and from the port into the city, worthwhile. Although it was a long bus ride back to the ship and the driver did get lost on our way, but eventually we arrived back at the ship at 10:30 pm . . . exhausted.
We spent all of the next day in port and on the ship as we didn’t have any other Bangkok tours planned. It felt good to relax and explore this wonderful ship.
No, this is not a review of the old Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamor ‘road movie’, although I believe I did get some of my wanderlust from repeatedly watching them growing up. Rather, this is about our first leg of getting to our Asian cruise beginning in Singapore. We departed LAX around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night for a 7,300-miles, 15 hour and 40-minute flight to the Philippines. And apparently we were flying so fast that we flew right through Sunday and arrived in Manila on Monday morning at 5:40 We then had three-and-a-half-hour layover before our four-hour flight to Singapore. Linda and I have had a longstanding practice of not up-grading to first or business class, as we reason that the significant amount of money we would spend to up-grade would be better spent at our destination. I’m thinking that that practice may need revisiting! Actually, it wasn’t that bad as we did have a seat between us on both flights. As always, those of you who are coming along vicariously, have the most comfortable seats!
Singapore: As we watch the weather report prior to coming, we were expecting nothing but rain, but it was clear and warm, and this city is beautiful. Tall, beautiful business buildings surrounded with lots of greenery. When we landed, we were anticipating getting to see the ‘famous’ waterfall in the airport, but the person picking us up said we were ready to go as soon as he saw us. We pleaded for just a couple of minutes to run over and see the waterfall; it was just a few minutes away. The driver said OK, so we got a chance to see the uniquely spectacular airport waterfall. We arrive at our hotel after about a 30-minute drive through the city, which is not only beautiful, but exceptionally clean. We check into the very nice, Dorsett Hotel, then decided to take a quick walk-through neighboring Chinatown (it ended up being about a four-mile ‘quick walk’), which was a most interesting spot for eateries and souvenir shopping. We stopped at a famous food court, called Hau Pat Sat, filled with dozens of great food places and had dinner. I’d tell you what I had, but I don’t know, it was.
We cannot get over how clean this city is; in fact, it is known as “A Fine City”- you get fined if you litter,
Marina Bay Sands Hotel
you get fined if you spit, you get fined if you smoke in the wrong place, etc. The next day, our only full day in Singapore, we had dedicated to cram in seeing all the ‘famous tourist attractions’ in the city – and there are plenty. We started with a Hop on, Hop off bus. We tried to buy passes, but the bus driver just waived us in – not sure why and we wondered if he would let us get off! Maybe he knew something, as within the next few minutes as we were riding on the partially covered roof seats of the bus through Little India, the rain started, and let me tell you, Singapore knows rain. It came down in buckets, reminding us that we were here during monsoon season! It’s no wonder everything looks so green here! So, we “hopped off” for good and had lunch. After lunch, with me trying the local Tiger beer and Linda appropriately having a Singapore Sling, we tried our hand at the local subway system. Fortunately, we got some help from the very friendly people here and managed to make our way to Marina Bay, where many of the tourist attractions are. Our first stop was the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Oh my gosh!!! It is truly one of the most magnificent, no it is the most magnificent, hotel I’ve ever seen. While wandering through the lobby, we met a couple who was staying there at $1500 a night, and they said the breakfast, at $100 each, was amazing! I would hope so! We wandered through the hotel, now festooned in Christmas décor, with our jaws dropped. We then took the elevator to the 57th floor observation deck. The weather had cleared so the view of the city was magnificent. There is a pool on top, but only guests of the hotel are allowed into that area.
The Flower Dome and Cloud Forest
We then headed over to two other amazing attractions in the area, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. I could try to describe how beautiful these two botanical domes are, but I wouldn’t do it justice. I would encourage you to go on YouTube and take a look for yourself – truly amazing! We hop on the subway (now we’re experts!) and stop in Chinatown again for dinner, then walk back to our hotel. Tomorrow we will be boarding the ship. Interesting side note about Singapore: Earlier this year at the United Nations climate talks, Singapore, who has been a leader in water management, introduced a new product, NEWBrew, a beer made from treated wastewater. I had to try one, if for no other reason than when I’m back home and taste a bad beer, I can honestly say, “This beer tastes like piss.” 肆
