Letter to Stamfordian

[Flamin_June]

Back in grey cold and rainy Lancashire ( there is no place like home...?), it is, in a way, comforting to reflect and remember....

 

Embarkation in Hong Kong was smooth and simple. The Ocean Terminal (the older of the two cruise terminals now in HK), is easy to get to from any of the big hotels in Kowloon and taxi drivers will know where it is.

 

Legend looked lovely, spruce and sleek, gleaming in the patchy sunshine. Externally she will always be a fabulous looking ship - a design classic. Internally she was pretty much as expected if one has sailed on her before, generally in good condition with little outward evidence of wear and tear, but although she has been my favourite of the little sisters I have to say that internally things are beginning to look a little dated. This is not a problem, in fact inevitable after 25 years, and for those who know and like the ship, irrelevant, because things are just as they ever were. However, it did seem to trouble or irk some passengers who had never been on the Yachts.

 

We arrived about an hour earlier than stated in the prelim documents ( c.13.00 rather than 14.00), but everything was already set up for embarkation, supplies were being loaded and the ship's staff were welcoming passengers and checking in luggage. An Azamara vessel - Journey, I think - was berthed alongside us ( she would be shadowing us for most of the two weeks), so there was a great bustle and a happy buzzing crowd. The terminal has a huge shopping mall attached, so we strolled around that before boarding - saw the captain, Andrew Pedder, in civies, presumably doing some Christmas shopping, and then climbed aboard. Processing in the King Olaff was relatively quick, though as always calmly chaotic, with freshly made canapes, snack and drinks being poured liberally. Spotted a few crew from our Spirit TA last year, and then escorted to our suite by Eduardo ( from the Spirit).

 

I have to say the suite was a little musty, but a few squirts of Chanel No.5 (one of A's endearing quirks is to use perfume, or in this case, thankfully, eau de parfum, as a room freshner spray) created a more pleasing atmosphere. I have prevoiusly mentioned the soaps 'incident', but our stewardess was brand new to Seabourn, and she loosened-up over time, though we did have to ask for our shampoo to be replinished once or twice in the first week. As the cruise progressed she did seem to grasp that her role was to be 'on our side' rather than Seabourn's (or at least give that impression).

 

More disconcerting was the fact that our in-suite drinks were absent. We had ordered our 'usual', Bombay Gin and Remy Martin VSOP. It was later established that there was no VSOP cognac on board (supply problems apparently), but for a half full bottle in the Club bar. There was only one bottle of VS in the Sky Bar. The Gin didn't turn up in our suite for a couple of days, and Bogdan finally found a bottle of Hennesy VSOP on day three after much dscussion and various explanations.

 

Sailaway was fascinating, passengers eyeing and sizing one another up in that subtle and rather convivial way in the patchy sunshine. The ship set sail east through HK Harbour - I was expecting her to sail west - and then looped around to the south west when out in open sea. It did give us some wonderful views of HK and even an old wooden stilt-house fishing village clinging on to a fast-disapearing way of life in the shadow of the massed high-rises. Crew were attentive, but seemed a little uptight, tense and not entirely happy. Once out in open water it soon became very choppy, one reason for the crew's disposition, as we found out they had had a couple of days of rough and difficult sea approaching HK.

 

I don't know if the stabilisers were deployed, if so, they were not very effective, and the old girl pitched and rolled from side to side with some intensity. Cue crashing of plates and cutlery during dinner and a rather subdued atmosphere among the passengers. We went to Restaurant 2 for out traditional clam chowder and surf and turf (excellent, by the way), which was set up just for outside dining (it proved a little too breezy for one or two couples). It was here that the apparent understaffing first became evident, with just two wait staff (+ sommelier) working all the tables (half the veranda each). Even though it was less than a full house they had problems coping and we had long delays between courses. Of course the rough conditions did not help. There were also a number of bluebottles buzzing around our table (and elsewhere in the ship, as we later discovered). They probably 'got on' in HK, though one wonders what attracted them and why they chose to stay. Despite disposing of a couple of them between courses, others were still in evidence on board the next day.

 

First night in the suite and the pitching and rolling was quite alarming, with the fixtures and fittings creaking and groaning with every roll, as if we were on board a vessel from Pirates of the Caribbean and we spent the night sliding into one another in the middle of the bed and then sliding away to cling onto the edges.

 

But despite all the little niggles it was wonderful to be on board once again.

[Flamin_June]

delete

Edited January 3, 2014 by Flamin_June

[Flamin_June]

just bumping up as my recent lengthy post has not resulted in thread moving to top....????

 

 

OK now

Edited January 3, 2014 by Flamin_June

[Ravenscroft]

Thanks for your post. We paid final balance on our HKG-SIN cruise yesterday, it's still about 10 weeks away but I know it will go quickly.

Very much looking forward to reading more about your adventures. As I'm the world's worst sailor I'm hoping there will be no more rough seas :D. And no more bluebottles either!

[Flamin_June]

Hello R - thanks for the kind words.

 

I'm not the greatest of sailors myself, but have found the pressure-point wrist bands to be quite effective.I don't know if the choppy seas are a seasonal thing - someone mentioned it was to do with the confluence of warm and cold waters in that part of the ocean. I think we are all getting used to changing weather patterns and the seas remain as unpredictable as ever.

 

The next morning, a sea day, saw us fog-bound, enshrouded in low cloud, still choppy waters and the odd drizzle. Rather disappointing after HK, where we had three glorious days with temperatures around 24 degrees C.

Breakfast on the veranda, accompanied by more plate crashing; a few hardy souls clinging onto their tables in the stiff breeze. At one point one of the waiting staff came out with a plate of freshly cooked American crispy bacon, toast and poached eggs, only to be caught full on by a gust. Bacon was sent flying out to sea and down the steps by the outside service area, while the toast and eggs were flipped onto a table, narrowly avoiding someone's bowl of fruit.

 

We sailed through the Hainan Straits, not that we knew anything about it. The straits are only 10 miles or so wide and I had been hoping for some decent views of the Leizhou peninsula but the low cloud put an end to that. It wasn't exactly cold, just grey, windy and slightly damp and we spent some time out on the Sky deck getting to know fellow passengers. Understaffing evident at tea-time, as previously mentioned. It was the usual (for us) first day at sea, finishing unpacking and sorting out the suite, making a few upcoming reservations for Restaurant 2, booking an excursion, enquiring after my bottle of Remy, A off to check out Yoga lessons and planning what to wear for the Captain's Dinner (first of two formal optional evenings), declining an invitation to a hosted table, and so on.

 

Maitre d' Eddie was charming, greeting us with a "Welcome back ....welcome home." The dinner was very good though I can't remember what we had, apart from the classic souffle with Grand Marnier (as good as ever) with a very decent Penfold's as the poured red. About 20% - 30% of men in Tuxes and another 30% in suits and ties.

 

Here I am going to sound like an awful snob, but there were a small but significant number of passengers who had clearly traded up from mass-market lines and had brought their mass-market behavior with them. For example, there were a number of chaps in the MDR that evening without a jacket! The waiting staff duly brought jackets to drape over their chairs. One poor sap, sitting across from us, even attempted to put the jacket (a couple of sizes too small) on !! I had to lean over and explain that he could leave the jacket draped over the chair in order to save him from further contortions and a potential dislocated shoulder.

 

There was to be more of this sort of thing, including sun-lounger hogs, people still wearing t-shirts and shorts well after 6.00 pm, and even table hogs (one couple were so determined to hold onto 'their' table by the sky bar that they took it in turns to each eat lunch individually at the veranda, while the other sat at the sky bar table scowling at anybody who looked as if they might sit beside them). One of this delightful pair was prone to 'cheating' during the deck-putting competition by demanding to take any unsuccessful putts again).

 

We retired early, for a second night of extreme motion, in order to get up at 5.30 the next morning and enjoy the view from the deck as we sailed at dawn into Halong Bay.....

Edited January 3, 2014 by Flamin_June

[stamfordian]

Hi M+A Enjoying reading your experiences on Legend as we start to get packed for our three month odyssey which culminates with the Hong Kong-Dubai on Legend. Hope your extreme motions may have subsided by the time we get there! Couldn't you chuck a couple of bottles of Gaviscon over the side to quieten things down?

 

Sorry to hear about the staffing issues - and the influx of "heatens". It appears from the (lack of) any last minute deals being offered on ours that we may be fully booked so hope they've recruited a few more deckhands and that the people who have booked are the usual Seabourn clientele that we have come to enjoy and relish being with over the past few years.

 

Keep the reports coming - and Happy New Year.

[Laylam]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts Flamin_June, thank you. We board the Legend in about 10 weeks, sailing from Singapore to Athens. See you aboard Stamfordian.

[frantic36]

Thanks for your informative post Flamin_June. We did the HKG-SIN in December 3 years ago and had the same rocking & rolling going out of Hong Kong(2nights) and also on entering Singapore(1night). I wonder is just related to the time of year as I can't recall anyone mentioning it on the Jan/Feb sailings.

 

Look forward to hear more of your voyage as this was one of our favourites and we have thought of repeating this cruise.

 

Julie

[tv24]

You are a great travel writer, Flamin_June! You have a very clever way of telling your story. Keep up the good work! Very entertaining.

[Prunella1]

Thanks for your informative post Flamin_June. We did the HKG-SIN in December 3 years ago and had the same rocking & rolling going out of Hong Kong(2nights) and also on entering Singapore(1night). I wonder is just related to the time of year as I can't recall anyone mentioning it on the Jan/Feb sailings.

 

Look forward to hear more of your voyage as this was one of our favourites and we have thought of repeating this cruise.

 

Julie

 

We did it in reverse about six years ago in March on the Spirit it was also very rough at times, in fact several people got off at our last stop in Vietnam to fly to Hong Kong. But it is one cruise we would do again anytime.

 

Really enjoying your posts Flamin_June, and can't wait until September when we have our last cruise on the Legend.

[Chairsin]

We did this cruise about five years ago( mid December Singapore to HK) and encountered rough weather through the Straits of Hainan -- but the second we entered Halong Bay all was calm, clear and magical. It is truly is one of the most special places I have ever visited.Enjoy!

[Flamin_June]

We had enjoyed an enchanting morning on our 2012 Spirit TA watching the early-morning approach to Madeira, from the Sky Deck as the sun rose, and I was eager to try to capture something of the same, or even better, as we sailed into Halong Bay.

 

Consequently I staggered out into the dark pre-dawn night, via the observation lounge’s (very) early risers coffee, at about 05.45, to find a slightly startled night-crew man still washing down the deck. A stayed in our suite enjoying a freshly brewed cup of tea in bed, courtesy of our not-yet-illicit kettle, before joining me. Legend sliced tentatively, almost silently, through the still waters of the Bay, but we were fog-bound, enveloped in low cloud or sea-mist, the stars and moon blotted out. A merchant vessel, some sort of oil-rigger, emerged from the mist and passed carefully by on the port side, almost within throwing distance; an eerie sight, her decks empty of life, pipes and pumps lit and gleaming in the darkness.

 

The limestone karsts and isles could barely be seen, were in fact almost sensed, patches of darker blackness, some so close, against the black night. We sailed slowly and cautiously and as the darkness turned to grey, the karsts solidified a deeper grey. With the first light, swarms of tiny two-man fishing boats came phut-phut-phutting on either side to take up positions for the day and we slid gracefully into the bay and dropped anchor, the few waterfront hotels of Haiphong still etched with neon lights.

 

We had read that Halong Bay can be cold and shrouded in mist and fog at this time of year, and so it proved. We had decided to stay on board anyway, having read in the itinerary that Legend would be ‘cruising Halong Bay’, but under the circumstances she remained resolutely at anchor. Those passengers that ventured out on boat trips came back enchanted, though, we sensed, a little disappointed with the poor visibility ( 8/10 rather than 10/10 experience).

 

We had one more sea day of overcast skies and light showers to come, though less choppy seas, but with each passing day it was growing warmer. The staffing issues seemed to be resolved after a fashion – more wait staff at Tea and in Restaurant 2, though one was never very far away from the sense that the hotel crew were stretched to the full. They never complained, in fact ministered to our every need, but, for example, there were long waits for room service to answer and deliver, and when one’s order came it would be accompanied by a somewhat stressed-looking waiter, sometimes dripping with sweat and obviously concerned about dashing off to complete the next order. There was a growing sense of pervading gloom too among the passengers, the dreary weather clearly beginning to take its toll.

 

All that was to change the next day as we sailed into Da Nang, the sun broke through the clouds, the South China Seas stilled and settled and the little jars of nuts started to appear on the Sky Bar without having to be requested.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Flamin_June

[stamfordian]

Positively poetic! Keep 'em coming.

[Laylam]

Positively poetic! Keep 'em coming.

Hear, hear!