SailorJill and I Sail on the Orient Express a.k.a. Millenium's Immersion Cruise

[SailorJack]

Off in the distance you can see one of the many small towns that line Ha Long Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

A tour boat heads out into the Bay.

 

 

 

It is actually a very nice boat and quite different from the one we sailed on later in the day.:D

 

 

 

 

One of the more dramatic rock formations. If that is a house up on the top of the far hill it has a million dollar view!

 

 

[SailorJack]

As we neared the port, it was just one Kodak moment after another. Remember, this was one of the the reasons I came on this cruise and I am not disappointed! So...lots of photos.:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can hardly wait to get off our ship and board our little tour boat and actually start to sail around these islands and visit what we are told is going to be a magnificent cave - a highlight we are told that cannot be missed.

 

 

 

 

 

[afto]

As we neared the port, it was just one Kodak moment after another. Remember, this was one of the the reasons I came on this cruise and I am not disappointed! So...lots of photos.:D

 

Great pictures! I did not realize that you could see any of the rock formations from the cruise ship. Amazing.

[fin]

Hey Jack. Have been an enormous fan of yours ever since your memorable visit to Montevideo. Stumbled on this thread totally by accident, but was SO excited I had to email the link for it to my own Sailor Jill whilst she was at work. I suspect she will be as happy and surprised to read this as I was.

 

Will need to do a little research to see what all else I may have missed since my visits to this site became few and far between.

 

All the best to you both!

[SailorJack]

The port of Ha Long.

 

 

Probably one of the more dramatic entrances to a port that we have visited.

 

 

 

 

A tour boat coming back to port. As this was early in the morning, it was probably one of the tours than spends the night(s) out on the bay.

 

 

[SailorJack]

Ha Long Bay is a tender port and we are slowing down and getting ready to drop anchor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is also a shipping port for northern Vietnam so we saw a lot of ships as we came in - although they were vastly outnumbered by the number of small cruise boats.

 

[SailorJack]

Ha Long Harbor. You can tell this is a tourist mecca by looking at the number of white hotel rooms lining the harbor. Also, the ubiquitous Ferris wheel up on the hill. It looks rather plain in the daylight, but at night it is lit up with an ever changing kaleidoscope of colors.

 

 

 

 

The bridge was also aglow with lights at night. Actually, the harbor, at night, was kind of magical.

 

 

 

 

A lot of older looking ships were at anchor and it looks like most of them have already unloaded their cargo and are empty.

 

 

 

[SailorJack]

Great pictures! I did not realize that you could see any of the rock formations from the cruise ship. Amazing.

 

 

Thanks. I didn't realize you could see the formations from the ship either. So I slept in - until Jill opened the curtains on the balcony door and a huge formation was just a few hundred feet away! So most of these photos were taken from my balcony - which shows you how narrow the channel was in some spots.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

For being early in the morning, the harbor was quite active. There were several different types of fishing boats already at work.

 

 

Judging from the ropes dragging behind the boat, we figured he was towing a fishing net.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were on the top deck to take this picture and everyone was having fun trying to figure out what this boat was. Guesses included 1) a mine sweeper, 2) a dredger, 3) a high diving platform for the swim team, or 4) a boat selling used tires.:D

 

 

[SailorJack]

Hey Jack. Have been an enormous fan of yours ever since your memorable visit to Montevideo. Stumbled on this thread totally by accident, but was SO excited I had to email the link for it to my own Sailor Jill whilst she was at work. I suspect she will be as happy and surprised to read this as I was.

 

Will need to do a little research to see what all else I may have missed since my visits to this site became few and far between.

 

All the best to you both!

 

Thanks for the kind words. This was my second cruise on Celebrity, but the other one was nine years ago so I don't think you have missed any on this board. The other 16 reviews can be found if you expand my signature. Hope you wife enjoyed the review.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

Local cruise boats get ready to take on Millennium passengers. These boats are the overnight ones. The ship (as well as private operators) offer an overnight cruise on the bay.

 

 

 

 

These boats look pretty luxurious compared to the single day rides that we took!

 

 

 

These are the type of boats you take on the ship's half day tour. My foot actually almost went through the floor board on the upper deck of the ship we took. They were not in the best of shape, but they did the job.

 

 

 

 

After taking this last photo, we headed down to our meeting station to prepare for our day on the bay.

 

[SailorJack]

You sure managed to pack a lot into that shore excursion. Sounds great! Was it a Celebrity excursion or a private tour?

 

I went through your very interesting review of the Baltic cruise - you had some great photos there. Can you tell me what type of camera you used?

 

Jack

[afto]

I went through your very interesting review of the Baltic cruise - you had some great photos there. Can you tell me what type of camera you used?

 

Jack

 

Thanks Jack. Until the unfortunate camera-dropping incident in Oslo, I was using a Nikon D-5000; had to replace that in Copenhagen with a new Nikon D-3300. (Some of the pictures taken on the first morning in Copenhagen had to be taken on a little Fuji point and shoot that I had taken along as a back-up.) I mostly used a Nikkor 18-105 zoom lens, but I picked up a second-hand Tokina 11-16 wide-angle for this trip, which I used for many of the building interiors. I used my Nikkor 55-300 zoom for some shots of distant things, like shorelines and birds. I also used the kit lens that came with the D-3300 for a few shots in Copenhagen. And I used my iphone for the occasional shot as well. Sorry for the long answer to a short question!

[Texed]

 

 

We were on the top deck to take this picture and everyone was having fun trying to figure out what this boat was. Guesses included 1) a mine sweeper, 2) a dredger, 3) a high diving platform for the swim team, or 4) a boat selling used tires.:D

 

 

 

I believe I remember this boat. It was from the 60"s. It was called "Blood, Sweat, and Tires". :D

[SailorJack]

The inside of our tour boat. The inside was actually pretty nice and this was the location of our famous Tiger Bahm sale. Crew members would constantly bring out things for sale - Tiger Bahm, wood carvings, prints, and other souvenir items. As you can tell from the photo, the excitement was almost palpable and once away from the ship, most of us went up to the top deck.:D

 

 

 

As we pull away from the Millie you can see other tour boats pulling up to load passengers. This may have been the ship's best selling land tour of the entire cruise.

 

 

 

We pull away from the Millie for what will turn out to be a great day in the bay.

 

 

[SailorJack]

Thanks Jack. Until the unfortunate camera-dropping incident in Oslo, I was using a Nikon D-5000; had to replace that in Copenhagen with a new Nikon D-3300. (Some of the pictures taken on the first morning in Copenhagen had to be taken on a little Fuji point and shoot that I had taken along as a back-up.) I mostly used a Nikkor 18-105 zoom lens, but I picked up a second-hand Tokina 11-16 wide-angle for this trip, which I used for many of the building interiors. I used my Nikkor 55-300 zoom for some shots of distant things, like shorelines and birds. I also used the kit lens that came with the D-3300 for a few shots in Copenhagen. And I used my iphone for the occasional shot as well. Sorry for the long answer to a short question!

 

Well that explains the good pictures...along with the operator!:D

 

I use a Nikon 7100 and a Nikkor 10-24 for my ultra wide. I envy your 300 zoom - mine is only a 55-200.

 

Jack

 

Jack

[Whitla42]

Omg, these reviews should come with a warning.

1. Have tissues easily available , for tears , laughing so hard.

2. A drink should be at hand , for choking with laughter.

3. But maybe this should be number one a toilet in close proximity for when the laughter just gets too much.

 

But honestly this was brilliant and after spending the last two hours reading it I am now looking to read the others. Well at least I will be prepared for them.

[SailorJack]

I believe I remember this boat. It was from the 60"s. It was called "Blood, Sweat, and Tires". :D

 

Very clever!:D:D. As a lifelong fan of puns, I tip my hat to you!

[Texed]

Very clever!:D:D. As a lifelong fan of puns, I tip my hat to you!

 

And I tip my hat to you for a great review.:cool:

[SailorJack]

The obligatory photo of the Millie as we sail away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Chinese Taishan cruise ship - the only other cruise ship in the harbor while we were there. This ship has an interesting history - of which you may recall. Back in 2005 it was sailing for (I think, Ibero Cruises) and was called the Grand Voyager. In February of that year it was sailing in the Mediterranean and was hit by a freak wave that was estimated to be somewhere between 40 and 50 feet tall. The wave smashed windows and disabled the engines - leaving the ship listing and rolling helplessly adrift as rescue helicopters rushed to the scene. After a brief stint with Costa, the ship was sold in 2014 to the Bohai Ferry Company and renamed the Chinese Taishan. Anyway, this is the Chinese Taishan - formerly known as the Grand Voyager.

 

 

 

 

This is our "sister" ship that sailed along with us. As you may be able to tell from the photo, these were not the most well maintained of boats.

 

 

[SailorJack]

Omg, these reviews should come with a warning.

1. Have tissues easily available , for tears , laughing so hard.

2. A drink should be at hand , for choking with laughter.

3. But maybe this should be number one a toilet in close proximity for when the laughter just gets too much.

 

But honestly this was brilliant and after spending the last two hours reading it I am now looking to read the others. Well at least I will be prepared for them.

 

LOL! I am glad you enjoyed the review - I had a lot of fun writing it and it is always good to know that someone enjoyed it.:D

 

If you want to read the others links are in my signature. The Dream review on the NCL board has been the most popular to date - I hope you like it.

 

Jack

[SailorJack]

We are heading towards what appears to be a wall of islands to visit Thien Cung - or Heaven Cave. It will be the only stop on our tour.

 

 

 

 

As we got closer we could see lots of other tour boats ahead of us. It will turn out that every tour boat in Ha Long Bay will be there before us.

 

 

 

 

Even more boats slip in ahead of us. We began to wonder if there would be enough room in the cave for everyone. Turned out not to be a problem!

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like we may have to wait a minute to find dock space.

 

[SailorJack]

Inside what appears to be a natural harbor for our tour of Heaven Cave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entrance to the path leading up to the cave entrance. English is the second paragraph.

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Baatman]

This is the Chinese Taishan cruise ship - the only other cruise ship in the harbor while we were there. This ship has an interesting history - of which you may recall. Back in 2005 it was sailing for (I think, Ibero Cruises) and was called the Grand Voyager. In February of that year it was sailing in the Mediterranean and was hit by a freak wave that was estimated to be somewhere between 40 and 50 feet tall. The wave smashed windows and disabled the engines - leaving the ship listing and rolling helplessly adrift as rescue helicopters rushed to the scene. After a brief stint with Costa, the ship was sold in 2014 to the Bohai Ferry Company and renamed the Chinese Taishan. Anyway, this is the Chinese Taishan - formerly known as the Grand Voyager.

 

 

I remember that cruise. I think there was a video on Utube with tables sliding across the dining room and broken glass everywhere. That had to be a frightful experience.

[SailorJack]

Some very scenic shots as we head up to the cave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entrance to Heaven Cave - quite an entrance!