Hong Kong to Danang

Ready For Sea

AZAMARA QUEST timed its departure from Hong Kong perfectly.  We pulled away from Ocean Terminal at 8:00 PM on Wednesday, 30 March.  The key was we left at 8:00 o’clock at night.   Within a few minutes of getting to the middle of the channel that separates the Star Ferry Terminal on the Kowloon side with the other end of the ferry ride on the Hong Kong side the evening light show started.  With the bow pointed east toward North Point and the South China Sea hundreds of buildings from 2 story warehouses to 100+ story office towers cranked up their lasers, neons, lighting effects and flashing signs to give us a brilliant salute on departure.

What a show.  What a city.  Hong Kong, from the first time I saw you as a brand new Ensign USN on USS JARVIS (DD799) I knew that you would be an enduring part of my life.  As we steamed out last night I knew that the half century old bond I felt then was still as strong as ever.

The morning at sea was taken up by presenting my first talk, Vietnam Today, to a theater full of remarkably attentive passengers.  Even taking time for last minute editing and post talk chats with some of the spectators, there was still plenty of time to put down my  thoughts on the ship and its voyage for you, faithful readers.

The first thing that struck me and my seasoned mate and cruising companion Grace was the fact that instead of there being maybe 40 or 50 new passengers joining 500 or so passengers  who had been riding the ship since Japan and China we learned that there was an almost complete turnover of berths.  600 got off in Hong Kong and 580 got on.  With a new shipload of passengers we expected that there was going to be the usual 3 or 4 day period when the newbies were reluctant to open up, say hello and generally start being shipmates and not wary strangers.  That “getting to know you” dance is what we have seen on just about every ship we have ridden over the past years.

QUEST was different.  It may be the size of the ship, it may be the sample of the passengers who were drawn to the ship, it may be the crew that broke down the reserve that we normally see on new passengers.  Whatever it is, it is magic.  Right from the git go folks smiled, said hello, were happy to have a stranger join them at a table or couch and generally be pals.

This has to be the most friendly and comfortable ship I have ridden over the past couple of years of giving over 170 talks on ships that belong to a variety of companies.  I don’t know what you are doing Azamara, but I suggest you keep it up because you are making friends out of customers.

Last night there was the standard Captain’s Meet and Greet which is always well attended, every ship and every time.  The secret?  Free Champagne.  QUEST’S say hello to the officers was different from so many others we have attended.  The theme, motif, central organizing element or whatever fancy way you like to use to describe the heart of the event was pride.  Pride shone from the Captain.  He was proud of his ship, his crew , his company, the company’s mission and simply being able to stand up in front of his passengers.  One of the most important things I learned when I was a Naval Officer serving aboard ships was that it all starts at the top.  When a ship I served on had a sharp skipper who was proud of the ship and its men it was a sharp, proud ship.  The term for what every sailor hoped for in his afloat home away from home was A Happy Ship.  Everyone wanted to serve on a Happy Ship.  QUEST is a Happy Ship and it shows.  You don’t have to be an Old Salt to feel it.

The Sign Says It All

We go ashore today in Danang and will decide whether we will spend our day seeing what’s going on in Hue or Hoi An or just doing walkies in Danang.  Whichever we do I get the feeling that shore time is going to be as much fun as ship time on the QUEST.   At the very least, I will take a batch of pictures, mooch around picking up vibes and update my understanding and knowledge of what is going on in Vietnam Today.  Will check in again in a day or so.

Ships That We Hope Pass In the Light

The Journey Begins-- Hong Kong

Azamara Quest Arriving HKG

We are underway today on AZAMARA QUEST on a voyage that will take us through the South China Sea from Hong Kong down to Singapore with stops in Vietnam and Thailand. That sounds pretty straightforward, right?  It is but maybe I am assuming that the reader knows about QUEST and AZAMARA and what a treat this assignment is.

QUEST and its sister ship, AZAMARA JOURNEY are the two ships that make up Azamara Club Cruises.  Azamara Club Cruises is a part of the Royal Caribbean Lines Group which includes the well known Celebrity Lines among other operating units.  It has been around since 2007, first as Azamara Lines.  More recently it has changed its name to Azamara Club Cruises to correspond with the overall place that the company occupies in the Cruising Community.  That niche is providing a premium experience to seasoned passengers who want the time to enjoy both the days they spend onboard and ashore in the ports of call.

Shopping the Streets

Aboard, in addition to excellent cuisine, passengers are treated to select boutique vintages at lunch and dinner.  By treated, I am being literal; the wines, soft drinks and speciality coffees and teas are complementary. Concierge service and a full pallet of shipboard and shoreside activities make sure that the passengers enjoy their time on board.  I am glad to say that they still have an array of speakers to enhance the time on the ship and acquaint their clients with the culture and give insights into the countries visited. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy the Azamara Club Cruise experience.

Ashore, the size of the Azamara Club Cruises vessels allow them to go alongside at ports the array of ever larger ships can not enter.  By tying up in the middle of the action and stretching many of the scheduled  stays to overnights or two nights increases the opportunities to see much more not only of the ports visited but attractions farther away or even in adjacent countries.

I had the good fortune to speak on the 2nd voyage of JOURNEY in 2007 when she was making the voyage from the NYC area to both of  Bermuda’s major ports.  I was asked back later to travel with her on a repositioning trip to the Caribbean and a quick nip into the Panama Canal.  Those two voyages were Grace and my first experience cruising on the well known “R” ships, a group of eight ships that have made a name for themselves as moderately sized ships that have all of the amenities and services that any discriminating passenger could want.

The eight R ships were operated as a fleet by a well known Norwegian firm that had to change their focus and put their ships on the market.  They now deliver luxury and full service cruising experiences to a maximum of 650 to 700 passengers on select itineraries.  OCEANIA has three R ships that are now named Insignia, Regatta and Nautica.  PRINCESS Lines also operates  three, named Pacific Princess, Ocean Princess (formerly Tahitian Princess) and Royal Princess on which Grace and I spent a great 24 day back to back Florida, Canal, South America assignment.  AZAMARA is proud to have two R vessels, QUEST  and JOURNEY to serve its demanding clientele.

Hong Kong is a hard port for me to leave.  We lived there for years and it has been part of my life for decades, first as a Naval Officer on tin cans and later as a Yankee Peddlar working up and down the China coast.  One of our sons lived there twice as a child and has just moved back again as a business manager for his fifth time to live there.  We had a few days to check out his house out in Stanley Village before boarding QUEST.

As much as we would like to stay a while longer in Hong Kong the allure of Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, all places where we lived or worked for years beckon.  There is nothing like steaming through and visiting the countries of the South China Sea. I plan to share some of the trip in future blog postings.  Stay tuned.

Just Before Casting Off for Points South