Ho Chi Minh City formerly Saigon is still known by most of its inhabitants as Saigon so we will call it Saigon for the rest of this blog. We arrived at the mouth of the Mekong River around 6:00 am to pick up our pilot to begin the 4 hour passage up the Mekong before docking in the centre of Saigon. The beauty of sailing on a small ship like the Seabourn Pride is that it can dock in the centre of the city. Larger ships have to dock outside the city and passengers...

Another day at sea, 32 degrees sunny, more alcohol, more food. Enjoy the ice, Dave and the crew……… Sue, Jan, Bridget, John and John

Arrived in port early and this time we docked at the harbour so no need to use the tender to get ashore. We were all booked on the Hoi An tour which took us by coach to a typical Vietnamese village and then on to the town of Hoi An to visit a temple and do some shopping. The first thing to strike you about Vietnam is the number of motorcycles and scooters on the road and the sheer disregard drivers there have for any traffic discipline. Cars are heavily taxed, ...

Up bright and early for the first visit to the Gym. Sun is shining and 32 degrees and calm seas forecast. After 35 minutes on the running machine I returned via the bar. I did not realise it opened so early in the morning (something to note for the future). Hank was there propping up the bar, or it could have been the other way round? Early morning stiffner in his hand, another day of dedicated testing of the Seabourn bar staff had started in earnest. Today wa...

Like sailors on a long trip we awaited land fall with eager anticipation. When land was sighted it was ethereal, the islands or should I say limestone rock formations that force themselves out of the sea were shrouded in mist creating a mysterious foreboding atmosphere. So I shut the curtains in the suite and ordered some room service. We dropped anchor in Halong bay and travelled by tender to the shore where we were dropped off on rusty ferry doubling up as pie...