The ship sails in 5 days. My flight leaves in two. I only booked the cruise on New Year’s Eve. From the NCL app: I’m taking advantage of my status on American Airlines and hope to get upgraded most of the way there and back. I’ve been confirmed in business class on the return from…
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to business class on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo before checking in for the flight. Iwasn’t surprised about the upgrade – yesterday they had seven available seats in business class on the flight, just surprised it cleared before checking in. I have the…
Today will be a short day. My first flight departs at 0615 for Los Angeles [LAX] where I will board a flight to Japan that departs at 1030. I won’t get off that plane until after 3pm tomorrow, but it’s only about 10 hours from LAX to HND [Tokyo]. I left the house at around…
Today I continued on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep and watch 2 movies. I spent about 9 hours in the lounge. I explored a bit in the airport and made plans for my shore excursions for the cruise. My flight to Singapore boards…
The start of a very long day. The final leg of my flight is on JAL, which means I am not able to be upgraded, so I’m flying economy. At least I have an aisle seat and a good neck pillow. They have us a pastry after taking off. I ate it later and it…
Gardens by the Bay and first day aboard the NCL Jade
Today was the first of 3 sea days. Unfortunately I had to wake up early. The Platinum latitudes ‘behind the scenes’ tour meeting time was at 8:50 am. The tour was very good. We started in the laundry, then visited the dressing rooms and finally one of the main dining room galleys. I was still…
This morning I set up my GoPro camera an hour before our estimated arrival to take a timelapse video. I had breakfast at O’Sheehans again to avoid the crowd at the buffet. I let the timelapse record until we docked, nearly 45 minutes late due to port traffic. My meeting time was at 8:45am, but…
Another early morning. The meeting time for my tour was 7:00 AM. The tour left quickly and the bus was on the way to Bangkok at 7:20 AM. I met a couple who also planned to go to the Grand Palace. I got some cash from the ATM and we attempted to get a cab…
This morning I arrived in Cambodia for the first time. The ship arrived on time, around 9:00 AM. I got the first shuttle bus to the port gate. We were instantly mobbed by locals with taxis looking for passengers. I quickly found my tour guide and was told there were 4 more passengers on my…
Today was the second sea day of the cruise. I rested in the morning and woke up in time for lunch. The menu in the main dining room wasn’t too appealing, so I got some pizza and made myself a tuna salad sandwich in the buffet. I was lazy most of the day. I went…
This morning we arrived in Phu My, Vietnam. This is the port for Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), however since I have visited Saigon before I decided to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. The bus ride to the tunnels took us through Saigon, so the trip was over 3 hours each way. Once we…
Today was the only tendered port of the cruise. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 AM. I had scheduled a private tour through Viator that was to start at 9:00 AM. I set up my GoPro for a timelapse video as entering the harbor was quite scenic. The ship anchored very near to…
This morning the ship arrived in Chan May. I was a bit disappointed how small and desolate the area was. I packed my bag of laundry. Because I’m Platinum I don’t have to pay the $19.95 I had a tour from the ship to the Imperial City of Hue. The bus ride was over an…
This morning I woke up early to set up the time lapse videos of the sail in to Ha Long Bay. I set up the new GoPro on the starboard side and the old one on the port side. The scenery was quite amazing. The visibility isn’t wonderful, but I guess that adds character to…
Today was an easy day. I had breakfast in the main dining room. I went to the origami class today and made a samari hat… Though it was a bit too small for me. I had lunch in the main dining room with a bunch of the other solo travelers. I visited the bridge viewing…
This morning the ship arrived at 7:00 AM. It was dark, so I didn’t bother setting up the timelapse. Since the museum I wanted to go to didn’t open until 10 AM I rested a while before going out. The weather was quite foggy and dismal as well. One of the malls organized a free…
This morning I had a quick breakfast in the buffet and disembarked the ship. I took a taxi to the hotel for only 100 HKD. I decided to stay at the Sheraton in Kowloon as I was upgraded to a large 800 sq ft harbor view room. The view from the hotel was so nice…
This morning I attempted to wake up early. I went to breakfast and took a few pictures of the Victoria harbor before attending the lion dance at the hotel at 10:00 AM. The show was quite good, but was more a party for the hotel managers and workers. I was still glad to see the…
This morning I woke up early and checked out of the hotel shortly before 6:00 AM. My flight is at 9:05 AM – so under normal circumstances I would generally be at the airport by then. I took a quick taxi to the Kowloon airport station (45 Hong Kong Dollars). The Cathay Pacific check in…