Live(ish) Millie HK to Singapore

[hcat]

Wine tasting sounded like a fun event..love the food photos...

[Alushar]

Had a great tour by junk boat of Halong Bay, more on that later but I did manage to get some pics of the Millie! 

[mahdnc]

Nice pictures of Millennium! Any photos of your Halong Bay your?

[Alushar]

Day 7 Ha Long Bay

 

We fortunately woke early so got to watch the sail in down a narrow channel into Ha Long Bay. At times we were quite close to the rocks and it was a misty morning so quite atmospheric. 

 

We had breakfast in the MDR and then a bit of a wait in the Theatre for the tour. Apparently over 1200 were taking Celebrity Tours and it looked that the majority were taking the tour by boat. The boats were docking directly at the ship and took about 30 at a time so there was a constant stream from the 2 boarding points Foward and Midships.

 

We eventually boarded and our guide was Loc who was very proud of the area and liked to sing. He covered everything from ancient history, economics to why Vietnamese men like Western Women!

 

we sailed around many islands before stopping in a cove to go up to a cave I think they called in something like Cave of Celestial something or other something to do with one of the formations looking like Bhudda. 

 

There were about 130 steps up to the cave and a narrow entrance. So many tours were there the progress was very slow. Once inside the caves it is well lit and the paths are well marked. They wander around a bit and Loc tried to point out various features such as dragons etc which sometimes weren’t quite so obvious 😂 Funnily he was very excited about a shadow that showed a man that no one could see but I took a picture and we could then see it. 

 

There were quite a lot of steps inside the cave and the exit got quite narrow and claustrophobic which worried some people. Quite a long walk down then onto the boat and a further sail around before heading back directly to the ship. 

 

We chilled through the afternoon and had a quite early dinner. The usual French Onion soup for Sharon and a nice beef consommé for me followed by New York strip and a Boufe Bourguignon both very nice. 

 

Then off to Cellar Masters for a quiet drink and to listen to Ethan who played one of my favourite songs. 

 

A good tour and a good day. 

[Silkroad]

Thanks for posting your lovely photos🙂 I’m enjoying your review immensely.

[Alushar]

 

@Jim_Iain sorry delay in posting these you’ve probably found the answer. The Retreat deck has 2 stair entrances off Deck 11 forward and a one floor en loses loft tucked around the corner on the starboard side 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for the pictures of The Retreat.  Any chance you can get some of the Sky Suites and Celebrity Suites, especially the bathrooms.

[Alushar]

42 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks for the pictures of The Retreat.  Any chance you can get some of the Sky Suites and Celebrity Suites, especially the bathrooms.

I missed out CC Room Crawl so doubt I’ll have the chance but will do if I can 

[SleepingUgly]

Thanks for taking us along on your fabulous vacation!  I especially loved the photos of HKG; used to travel there a lot for work and I think I became jaded to the city (and its passion for shopping) but haven't been back in a few years and I miss it!  And love the pics of my hometown of Taipei.  That bicho frise takes the cake, and the goggles just make the photo that much more amazing!

 

Love your attitude re: changes to the ship and not nit-picking at every little thing.  That is the best way to travel! Sounds like you are having a fabulous time and hope it continues.  Safe travels the rest of the cruise and your way home!

 

Linda

 

[Alushar]

1 hour ago, SleepingUgly said:

Thanks for taking us along on your fabulous vacation!  I especially loved the photos of HKG; used to travel there a lot for work and I think I became jaded to the city (and its passion for shopping) but haven't been back in a few years and I miss it!  And love the pics of my hometown of Taipei.  That bicho frise takes the cake, and the goggles just make the photo that much more amazing!

 

Love your attitude re: changes to the ship and not nit-picking at every little thing.  That is the best way to travel! Sounds like you are having a fabulous time and hope it continues.  Safe travels the rest of the cruise and your way home!

 

Linda

 

Thanks Linda that means a lot I loved your last trip blog it was fab. 

 

We are having a great time and loving the ship. That said I will shortly be having a moan lol. 

 

Think the Bichon Frise pic is our favourite we will be looking for goggles for our Bella in Singapore lol 

[SleepingUgly]

13 minutes ago, Alushar said:

Thanks Linda that means a lot I loved your last trip blog it was fab. 

 

We are having a great time and loving the ship. That said I will shortly be having a moan lol. 

 

Think the Bichon Frise pic is our favourite we will be looking for goggles for our Bella in Singapore lol 

 

OK, now how can you possibly leave this little lady at home by herself???  She is too, too cute.  Our current dog is a Cavachon, which is a mix of the Bichon Frise and the King Charles Spaniel, which I believe is a favorite of your Queen? 🙂  Anyway, I hope you find those goggles and post a pic of Bella modeling them when you get home, haha.

 

Linda

 

[Alushar]

Day 8 Hoi An 

 

although we werent due to dock until 10am we were up quite early so it was eggs Benedicts in the MDR and a lounge on the sunbed until it was time to leave. It was already a hot day. 

 

I hadn't realised when booking the trip that Hoi An was a 2 hour drive from the port so when I saw this on the tickets last week I considered changing only to find out that all the trips had this sort of travel time. It meant we spent longer on the bus than we did and the site and an over 4 hour trip in the heat wasn’t too pleasant. I am going to have to be more careful when choosing trips in the future. 

 

I really liked Hoi An a French influenced merchant port which was full of life and colour I think vibrant was the word. We wandered around the main sites and I’d happily return. 

 

Considering this was an 8 hour trip it didn’t include refreshments and with Celebrity warning you not to eat and drink we were all very happy to head back to the ship. Everybody was hot and tired when we got back. We quickly refreshed and changed and headed for dinner. 

 

The MDR was empty and we were given Dalek seats against the back window. These are very comfortable and a bit private. We liked them. Tonight I had lobster ravioli and beef brochette, Sharon the spring roll and shrimp linguine. All very nice. 

 

Wirh no one in the MDR we finished quite quickly and headed up to The Cosmos Lounge. Walking through the Oceanview it appeared most of the trips had headed there. When we got to Cosmos the Wnts team was setting up for Battle of the Sexes. I couldn’t believe this. Why has this been scheduled for 8pm when all trips had returned between 6:30 and 7 so everybody was eating etc.  There were 8 people in the lounge but they started the game anyway. A total farce. 

 

This is indicitive of the CD Steve Gayda.  He’s virtually invisible around the ship and his planning seems formulaic. Guess what it’s another silent disco tomorrow! 

 

We retured to the Cellar Masters where Sea Breeze were playing, more stalking lol, and were great before a nightcap in Cafe Bacio. 

[Alushar]

22 minutes ago, SleepingUgly said:

 

OK, now how can you possibly leave this little lady at home by herself???  She is too, too cute.  Our current dog is a Cavachon, which is a mix of the Bichon Frise and the King Charles Spaniel, which I believe is a favorite of your Queen? 🙂  Anyway, I hope you find those goggles and post a pic of Bella modeling them when you get home, haha.

 

Linda

 

😂😂we get begged to leave her by our friends who want to look after her lol. She is a right madam and doesn’t believe she is a dog and could sulk for England lol.  Aww your dog will also be lovely. The current Queens fav are corgis. 

[patchit]

12 hours ago, Alushar said:

 

@Jim_Iain sorry delay in posting these you’ve probably found the answer. The Retreat deck has 2 stair entrances off Deck 11 forward and a one floor en loses loft tucked around the corner on the starboard side 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to post all these wonderful pictures.  Are those ashtrays on the tables?

 

 

[txflood33]

Really appreciate and enjoying the review and pics. Thanks again.

 

The lantern festival on your Taipei stop, was that a X excursion or a private tour? If private, would you mind sharing the company you used? This looks like a wonderful experience and would love to check into it. I didn't see if listed on my cruise planner for this stop so just wasn't sure if X didn't have all available tours listed or if you went another route to get to participate in this.

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, Alushar said:

 

@Jim_Iain sorry delay in posting these you’ve probably found the answer. The Retreat deck has 2 stair entrances off Deck 11 forward and a one floor en loses loft tucked around the corner on the starboard side

 

 

 

Thank you so much for posting.   Many mobility challenged were wondering if they had a decent elevator to access Retreat.    A picture is worth a million words.

[pd7277]

14 hours ago, Alushar said:

Alushar - Would you mind if Jim or I copied these photos over to the Millennium Revolution Thread?  These answer a lot of questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruisinCons]

Oh no, being advised not to eat or drink anything?? Can you at least bring water bottles & snacks from the ship?  8 hours with nothing is really a long time...I don't think my acid reflux would be very happy with that. 

[Alushar]

6 hours ago, pd7277 said:

 

Feel free guys happy for you to 

[Alushar]

4 hours ago, CruisinCons said:

Oh no, being advised not to eat or drink anything?? Can you at least bring water bottles & snacks from the ship?  8 hours with nothing is really a long time...I don't think my acid reflux would be very happy with that. 

Water was allowed and there was additional bottled water on the bus they advised only drink from bottled sources and don’t have ice cream etc. The guide did point out some restaurants he thought were ok but the Celeb staff had been quite insistent! 

[Alushar]

4 hours ago, CruisinCons said:

Oh no, being advised not to eat or drink anything?? Can you at least bring water bottles & snacks from the ship?  8 hours with nothing is really a long time...I don't think my acid reflux would be very happy with that. 

Water was allowed and there was additional bottled water on the bus they advised only drink from bottled sources and don’t have ice cream etc. The guide did point out some restaurants he thought were ok but the Celeb staff had been quite insistent! 

[Alushar]

8 hours ago, txflood33 said:

Really appreciate and enjoying the review and pics. Thanks again.

 

The lantern festival on your Taipei stop, was that a X excursion or a private tour? If private, would you mind sharing the company you used? This looks like a wonderful experience and would love to check into it. I didn't see if listed on my cruise planner for this stop so just wasn't sure if X didn't have all available tours listed or if you went another route to get to participate in this.

It was a Celeb excursion it’s a once a year thing so we were lucky that it coincided with our trip. It appeared on our planner late and they heavily pushed on board. I understand over a 1000 went from the ship 

[txflood33]

10 hours ago, Alushar said:

It was a Celeb excursion it’s a once a year thing so we were lucky that it coincided with our trip. It appeared on our planner late and they heavily pushed on board. I understand over a 1000 went from the ship 

thanks for the info. We'll be in Taipei mid March next year so looks like we may miss it. Certainly a beautiful event to be a part of.

[verizon]

20 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

thanks for the info. We'll be in Taipei mid March next year so looks like we may miss it. Certainly a beautiful event to be a part of.

Yes i am afraid you will miss it.It will be on Feb. 8th 2020

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, pd7277 said:

Alushar - Would you mind if Jim or I copied these photos over to the Millennium Revolution Thread?  These answer a lot of questions. 

 

For some reason my thread was removed by the administrator.