DAY 84 - DAY 3 HONG KONG

Excellent Time At Prego Last Evening ✔ Enjoyed Our Time In Hong Kong ✔ Had The Opportunity To Meet Regis ✔


We have now had over 30,000 visitors to our Blog.  While it includes those visiting the site multiple times this is the most visitors we have ever had to any of our previous Blogs.  As we have mentioned from time to time, if anyone has any comments/questions feel free to post them at anytime.  We enjoy reading each and everyone of them.

We wanted to note that we have been informed that due to Japanese Regulation for C-Band Transmission, Internet and E-mail services will be unavailable from March 29th until April 2nd.  This was not a surprise to us as we remember it was a regulation that was in effect for those guests who sailed on the 2009 World Cruise and we had confirmed this while on board the ship earlier in this voyage.

Stephanie asked if we have more Asian sailing on this voyage.  The answer is yes.  There were more Asians on the last segment of the World Cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong and there will be more Asians on this new segment from Hong Kong to Osaka, Japan then the first couple of segments of the World Cruise.  Similarly there were more Aussies on the second segment of the World Cruise which began in Sydney.


We wanted to begin by saying how much we enjoyed our tour of Hong Kong yesterday.  


On our previous visits to Hong Kong we have spent much of our time in Kowloon so it was nice to spend a good portion of the day on Hong Kong Island.  There are many beautiful parts to the Island with beautiful scenery including many winding roads and beautiful mountains.  The beaches looked quite nice and we passed by several beautiful buildings including several government buildings.


We had a lot of questions about Hong Kong and whether or not it has changed much since the time it moved from British Control over the China.  Our tour guide who has lived in Hong Kong his entire life has not seen much if any change resulting from change in control and he noted that the way the agreement was implemented there certainly would likely not be any change during the first fifty years post 1997 when control was moved to the Chinese.


The high density of housing is staggering.  Keith remembers this on his first visit to Hong Kong for business in 1994 when he was amazed at the high density housing and it was very striking during our drive, particularly in Kowloon and it was very noticeable when we drove from the Nathan Rd. Area over to the Industrial Cruise Ship Terminal.  


At the same time when we drove around Hong Kong Island we saw some very large mansions and we are sure the real estate value of those mansions is off the charts.


Hong Kong is a very exciting city for the tourist.  While it is busy during the daytime it is amazing at night when the city comes alive with so many people out and about on the streets and with the city all lit up.

This was a photo from Stanley Market

Although we dined in Prego last evening, these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room where the theme was the Bon Voyage Dinner.

We enjoyed dinner at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant last evening.  We decided to dine at Prego as there was unassigned seating in the Crystal Dining Room and we thought it would be quieter in Prego since the first night can be a bit slower as guests just boarding the ship are getting acquainted with the wait staff.  We were right.  While we dined in Prego it was very quiet so we enjoyed a very quiet dinner.

We invited Cruise Director Rick Spath to join us for dinner and we were happy that he was able to dine with us.

Once again, Costa was our waiter and we spoke with Headwaiter Bruno and Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' Antonio for a few minutes when we were first seated.

As mentioned, Prego was indeed very quiet as many people were dining off the ship while others were dining in the Crystal Dining Room.  There are also a fair number of guests who were staying in Hotels in Hong Kong while we were in port for one or two nights.

We enjoyed a great conversation with Rick throughout dinner and we enjoyed many laughs together.

We each began our meal with Salads.

Anne Marie ordered the additional entree which was a slice beef entree with pepper sauce.  Keith had the Pan-Fried Fillet of Branzino which is one of the entrees on the menu. Last evening was one of the few evenings where there was not an additional fish entree since it was not possible for the head chef of Prego to make it over to the Fish Market in Hong Kong.

This was Keith's Branzino Entree.

Keith usually gets a side order of vegetables to accompany his entree.  The Asparagus tastes as good as they looked.

After dinner, we attended the Muster Drill.  This was our sixth Muster Drill since boarding the ship and we are very happy to comply by not only attending but paying attention to what is covered in the drill.  As they say, practice makes perfect.

Once again, we enjoyed a very nice sleep.  Late at night the Crystal Serenity moved from its spot at the Industrial Pier and anchored off Hong Kong.  We did not hear the movement of the ship.



From time to time Keith has spoken about the member of the Night Crew who assists him in the Lido Cafe.  Keith took this photo of him as today he is going on Holiday for a very well deserved break.  Keith will miss him.

As you may recall, often Keith arrives to the Lido Cafe before the actual time that the Coffee service begins so there are times when the Lido Deck Stewards are bringing food up to the Cafe from the main galley.  Early on when Keith was looking for assistance to get some cream for his coffee this wonderful member of the Night Crew came to Keith's rescue.  Rather than thinking to himself that getting cream for a guest is "not my job" he cleaned his hands and then went into the kitchen to bring out cream for Keith.  From that point anytime Keith arrived early and the Lido Cafe Stewards were not available he would get the cream for Keith.  It is this attitude to go beyond the scope of ones job that makes any good company successful and this is indicative to the level of service that we find throughout the ship.

Anne Marie did not work out in the morning as we had breakfast earlier than normal so we could catch the first tender into port.  We boarded the 8:30 AM tender and we were over to the drop-off point near the Ocean Terminal by around 9:15 AM.  As we were getting off the ship who do you think we saw? We saw Regis Philbin and his wife and when we got off the tender boat we had the opportunity to meet him.  He was very charming and in person he was like he is on television.  He was very friendly and outgoing and we actually spoke with him for awhile as his wife was using the restroom so he was waiting for her.  We talked about World Cruises, where we have lived and he and Anne Marie grew up not too far from one another so they talked about the Bronx.  We look forward to his talks during the cruise and it was wonderful to get to meet Regis.

We walked around Hong Kong for over two and one-half hours.  The weather was nicer than the previous couple of days and we had a fun time on our walk.  We visited a few of the stores we were taken to yesterday just so we knew we could find them as we want to return to a few of them on our next visit to Hong Kong.  We also walked to a few of the markets including one we visited a few years ago where many locals visit to purchase fish, meat, poultry along with fruits and vegetables.


We made a quick stop at the Peninsula Hotel and saw this beautiful Rolls Royce Phantom.

One of the Markets we walked featured all sorts of Adult and Children Clothing.

Several Vendors were selling Meat

Other than in places such as Sorrento Italy, these are some of he largest Lemons we have ever seen.

We also walked quite a bit on Nathan Road.  For those of you who have not visited Hong Kong you just can't believe how many stores are in this city including on this road. We must have passed twenty different places selling Rolex Watches.

Today, the Queen Elizabeth was docked at the Ocean Terminal

A view of the Hong Kong skyline.

The Clock Tower which is the only remnant left from the original Train Station.

Anne Marie being assisted into the ferry tender to took us back to the ship from Hong Kong for the last time.

Like us, most those guests that we spoke with have enjoyed their time in Hong Kong.
Some people took organized tours or toured on their own.  Some just enjoyed walking around the city.  Some guests who are continuing on this sailing decided to take hotel rooms in Hong Kong rather than stay on the ship for the convenience of staying in port.  Some had clothes made ranging from long gowns to men's shirts as well as tuxedos, suits and sports jackets.  Hong Kong also has great rates on prescription glasses so often people have extra pairs of glasses made here during their stay.  Some enjoyed lunches and/or dinners in Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is a very unique and upbeat city with so much to do day and night.  It is clearly one of those cities that is always busy each day throughout the year and at anytime of the day.  This is one of those cities that is fun and we look forward to returning here again.


We bid adieu to Hong Kong.


When we got back to the ship we had one of the most amazing Salad Entrees.  This one was a seafood entree featuring scallops, shrimp and tuna along with salad items.  It was delicious.


Keith played Paddle Tennis for a little while in the afternoon.  He played with some of the members of the crew and then read and wrote.


Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck and then took care of some items on the ship.  


This evening we will have Bob and Glo up to our room for some wine and canapes before the four of us dine at Silk Road.  We will post about this tomorrow.


TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” - Mother Teresa

Keith and Anne Marie