Our tour for the day was a best of Ho Chi Minh City tour for small groups sponsored by Princess. Given the distance to Saigon from the port, we were more comfortable going on a Princess tour in case something went wrong. It was a no-brainer to go for the small group version as it […]
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Vung Tau and Vietnamese Countryside
We got breakfast and were arriving into port just about the time we were done eating. The port is very industrial with nothing at all to see or do. We booked a last minute shore excursion through the cruise line to the resort town of Vung Tau. There are iPads you can use to book […]
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Diamond Princess – Sea Day 2
We woke up on our second sea day to very heavy seas. We were crossing the South China Sea with winds up to 50 knots and large waves. We got breakfast and the sat around by the pool for a while. Eventually, they had to close the pool as it had turned into a dangerous […]
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Kota Kinabalu – Sabeh Cultural Center and Lok Kawi Zoo
We were not arriving in port until around noon so we had a relaxing morning getting breakfast, reading for a while, and then getting a light lunch. Soon it was time for our tour. Our tour was a Princess sponsored tour. I looked at doing the tour independently, but the price on the Princess tour was […]
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Diamond Princess – Sea Day 1
We were both up pretty early. Our plan was to go to the gym first thing in the morning, but it was completely packed. So we went for breakfast instead and then found some chairs by the pool to swim and read. Sam managed to get very sunburned the first day. This seems to be […]
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Singapore – Orchard Road and Diamond Princess Boarding
We had breakfast in the club lounge again. Our plans for the day weren’t very well defined. We were just planning to explore some of the shopping centers around the hotel in the morning. We walked through 3-4 malls. It’s very interesting the way all the shopping is set up. You have mall after mall […]
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Singapore – Chinatown, Botanic Gardens, and Raffles
We began our second day with breakfast at the Club Lounge again – good selection and very good service as well. We then hopped on the MRT to Chinatown. We took a free walking tour of Chinatown offered by Indie Singapore. You have to sign up in advance through email, but then the tour is completely free […]
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Singapore – Sentosa Island, Universal Studios, and SEA Aquarium
Given that we were arriving in Singapore on about 2 hours of sleep each, we wanted to make sure we did something that was relatively mindless, would keep us occupied, and force us to stay awake so we didn’t feel tempted to go back to the hotel for a nap. We decided to head over […]
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Grand Hyatt Singapore
We hopped in a taxi to get to our hotel. Taxis are cheap in Singapore, so I definitely recommend that if you have luggage. The location of the hotel is excellent – close to Orchard Road and about a block from an MRT station. We arrived quite early, about 6:30AM, and the hotel was basically […]
Cathay Pacific B777 Regional Business Class – Hong Kong to Singapore
The final flight of our journey was a very late, very short red-eye to Singapore in the regional business class seats. The flight was scheduled to depart at 1:50AM and arrive at 5:40AM. It was a completely full flight. Because of the late hour, the crowded flight, and just general exhaustion at this point, I […]