We’re heading East once again to revisit South East Asia. Last time we did this cruise was 2007 so it’s well overdue a return to some familiar places, and with a longer journey we have more time to see new places too.
We start and finish in Hong Kong, and visit Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Phillipines.
- SE Asía 2025 – Thu 06/11 – day 00
We’re very organised today. After breakfast we get all our packing done and before 11:00 the suitcases and rucksack are lined up… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Thu 06/11 – day 00 - SE Asía 2025 – Fri 07/11 – day 01
We take a hearty, and at 09:00 late for us, breakfast! Radisson Blu always do a good one, and today’s is no… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Fri 07/11 – day 01 - SE Asía 2025 – Sat 08/11 – day 02
Open to interpretation of course, but mathematically today is a short day. We lose seven hours on the flight to Hong Kong… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sat 08/11 – day 02 - SE Asía 2025 – Sun 09/11 – day 03
After an excellent breakfast – fabulous dim sum, perfect coffee and scrumptious pastries in the mix – we decide to walk the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sun 09/11 – day 03 - SE Asía 2025 – Mon 10/11 – day 04
We’re sailing the South China Sea today. On sea days we go down to Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. Amongst other things I… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Mon 10/11 – day 04 - SE Asía 2025 – Tue 11/11 – day 05
We grab a quick breakfast in our lounge, and then find the end of the queue for our tour today. Normally we… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Tue 11/11 – day 05 - SE Asía 2025 – Wed 12/11 – day 06
Whilst we’ve been to Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City before we haven’t visited the Viet Nam capital Hà Nội. So at… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Wed 12/11 – day 06 - SE Asía 2025 – Thu 13/11 – day 07
One might imagine that with another sea day it would be possible to catch up with the blog? Once again this isn’t… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Thu 13/11 – day 07 - SE Asía 2025 – Fri 14/11 – day 08
Tourism is a relatively late industry here, and consequently as yet there is no cruise terminal. Instead we’re parked up amongst the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Fri 14/11 – day 08 - SE Asía 2025 – Sat 15/11 – day 09
Sea days come round quite often at the moment as we sail down the long coastline of Viet Nam. After breakfast we… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sat 15/11 – day 09 - SE Asía 2025 – Sun 16/11 – day 10
Doesn’t everyone recognise that classic photograph of a helicopter on the roof, as the last Americans leave Saigon? If you’ve seen that,… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sun 16/11 – day 10 - SE Asía 2025 – Mon 17/11 – day 11
Our last sea day for a while, we get all the usual things done like breakfast and walking. During the latter we… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Mon 17/11 – day 11 - SE Asía 2025 – Tue 18/11 – day 12
Once again, and hopefully the last for a good while, we are up at the crack of dawn. The only good thing… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Tue 18/11 – day 12 - SE Asía 2025 – Wed 19/11 – day 13
Were half-and-half today, not semi-skimmed, just at sea this morning as we don’t roll into port until midday. We do our laps… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Wed 19/11 – day 13 - SE Asía 2025 – Thu 20/11 – day 14
Meeting our friends quite early we jump into our now regular taxi and head south. Our first stop is the Elephant Park… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Thu 20/11 – day 14 - SE Asía 2025 – Fri 21/11 – day 15
Hello Koh Samui, goodbye Koh Samui! The wind makes it impossible for us to safely transfer to tenders, which are necessary to… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Fri 21/11 – day 15 - SE Asía 2025 – Sat 22/11 – day 16
After breakfast in Pinnacle Grill we plan to do half our walk, but the rain is extremely persistent, so we do it… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sat 22/11 – day 16 - SE Asía 2025 – Sun 23/11 – day 17
Let’s get this rant out of the way then I’ll talk rationally about our day – £26.30 a pint!! The last time… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sun 23/11 – day 17 - SE Asía 2025 – Mon 24/11 – day 18
Today’s sea day is the opposite of two days ago as we are retracing our steps back to Thailand with new people… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Mon 24/11 – day 18 - SE Asía 2025 – Tue 25/11 – day 19
Captain van der Wal tells us that our berth in Laem Chabang is still occupied, so we’re going to stop in Pattaya… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Tue 25/11 – day 19 - SE Asía 2025 – Wed 26/11 – day 20
A port day so we fetch breakfast from our lounge. The lounge is only for the 80 or so people in the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Wed 26/11 – day 20 - SE Asía 2025 – Thu 27/11 – day 21
We get a couple of miles under our belt as we approach Cambodia, sailing into Sihanoukville around 08:00. We observe that the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Thu 27/11 – day 21 - SE Asía 2025 – Fri 28/11 – day 22
Today is Neil’s birthday so he is due a hard earned rest from writing the blog today. As always he’ll still be… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Fri 28/11 – day 22 - SE Asía 2025 – Sat 29/11 – day 23
At sea again so after breakfast we walk our laps on deck ten. Just before 11:00 I descend eight floors, and I… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sat 29/11 – day 23 - SE Asía 2025 – Sun 30/11 – day 24
We should say well done on getting home after eleven miles but in truth, it’s more well done on getting home with… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sun 30/11 – day 24 - SE Asía 2025 – Mon 01/12 – day 25
All at sea but within sight of land. Last night we left Koto Kinabalu and sailed with Borneo insight, until, as we… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Mon 01/12 – day 25 - SE Asía 2025 – Tue 02/12 – day 26
It’s easy to invent a new filter from which one can then tick off results. It’s much better if someone else does… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Tue 02/12 – day 26 - SE Asía 2025 – Wed 03/12 – day 27
Penultimate sea day. We’re not at the ”last things” stage yet, except for one, so after a slightly shambolic breakfast (all the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Wed 03/12 – day 27 - SE Asía 2025 – Thu 04/12 – day 28
One of wonderful facets of Holland America Line is their association with Filipino staff. Equally with Indonesian staff but that story happens… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Thu 04/12 – day 28 - SE Asía 2025 – Fri 05/12 – day 29
Our second day in Manilla is aimed more locally, in fact it’s only about a mile from the ship’s berth to the… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Fri 05/12 – day 29 - SE Asía 2025 – Sat 06/12 – day 30
Our last sea day is decidedly bumpy. We have 15’ swells and 40kt crosswinds, meaning Captain has closed all the outside decks.… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sat 06/12 – day 30 - SE Asía 2025 – Sun 07/12 – day 31
Although we do like Hong Kong, we definitely do not like it this morning! On a lighter note today may become a… Read more: SE Asía 2025 – Sun 07/12 – day 31