I have to say I just love Sea Days, and the more that are strung together the better I like it . The world just settles into a lovely comfortable relaxed routine and you can feel all your stress melting away.
For the last couple of days there have been a number of Brown Boobies hanging around the ship so I got the camera out, stuck on my longest lens and managed to get a few pictures of them.
Nature is an amazing thing. As the ship ploughs thru the water it creates turbulance that bring minute food particles up towards the surface which attracts small fish which Brown Boobies dive into the water and catch. I wonder how long it took the birds to figure out it was worthwhile to follow ships.
Still mostly in the cabin working on knee recovery. We had to tackle getting our visas for the Bali visit. This is all done on line and after navigating we think we have sorted it. Time will tell.
We had lunch in the ship’s English pub, the Golden Lion, which made a nice change of scenery.
In the evening, we attended a performance in the theatre by the Maori tenor, Benjamin Makisi. He was so good. When he was singing the classical operatic pieces, it was like listening to Pavarotti.
Still mostly cabin bound with raised leg. I am determined to be fully mobile for our Bali stop
I did however escape the cabin and went with Jeanette to a couple of lectures which turned out to be very good. The first was on Salvador Dali and the second on the history of Impressionism. The lecturer was incredibly knowledgable and passionate about his subject matter.
This evening we had an invite to the Captains party in the Pavillion . This is an area where the swimming pool is located so its roof was open to the sky. Now to my mind this was not a particularly attractive area, but at night it looked rather impressive; all the partially clad, wrinkly, overweight elderly bodies that usually fill this area having decamped presumably to the all you can eat Buffett.
So with the mood lighting, large mirrored balls floating in the pool and a band playing, it all looked rather special. Only downside was the very oppressive humid heat which was slowly melting everybody. Still we got a couple of free drinks, some delicious canopies and met our Captain who seemed a nice sort of a guy.
Around 7am we docked in Manila. As a significant percentage of our crew are from here, Cunard had arranged a function on the wharf for crew members’ families and our cabin steward, Richard, was very excited to be seeing his wife and children for the first time in 4 months.
As I am still spending most of the time stuck with my leg up in the air, Jeanette went solo on our planned walking tour of the city so I will get her to tell you about it.
With our guide, the bus dropped us near to the very large Quiapo church. Being Sunday, a Mass was in progress. It was incredibly hot and very humid but there were people crowded all around the outside of the church, under hats and umbrellas, listening to the service being broadcast to the surrounding area. On Sundays they run Masses from 6am to 8pm and up to 5,000 people attend. The Philippines has a population of 119 million people spread around the in excess of 7,600 islands. They are 85% Christian (Roman Catholic) and are devout observers of their faith. But they also observe many of the Chinese beliefs and superstitions from their many centuries of a large Chinese population.
We were supposed to go into the church but it was impossibly full so we continued around to the back of the church through little crowded market lanes to the entry behind the altar, all the while listening to the priest conduct the service, and the magnificent organ playing, as we shuffled along in the heat. It was a relief to enter the cool of the underground passages of the church. We shuffled past the replicas of the Black Nazarene – a statue of a black Christ, lavishly dressed and weighed down by His cross. The real one is in the church, high up above the altar, where people file past to touch his foot. Before Covid came along they used to kiss it.
Then we were back in the crowded laneways and streets where out guide showed us some local delicacies – boiled fertilised duck eggs (yuk!) and a scone like pastry called Hopias. They have strange bus-like vehicles called Jeepneys which the Filipinos developed from all the US military Jeeps left behind after WW II.
We entered the Santa Cruz church where a baptism was in progress, then walked the length of Chinatown – the oldest in Asia. Then we went into the Binondo church which was beautiful inside. We then made our way to our bus, dripping with the heat and desperate for the air conditioning, passing a lovely nod to the Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse.
On our bus journey back to the ship we drove through the old town of Intramuros, the old walled Spanish city, past the Manila Cathedral and the university which is almost as old as Harvard.
Second day with me mostly cabin bound with my leg up.
We had to do a temperature check for the Philippine Health Authority which involved getting in a long line of people and walking past a device.
Jeanette was off in the afternoon broadening her mind attending a variety of lectures.
On most afternoons at the bottom of the stairs in the Grand Lobby, they have a musician playing the Spanish guitar which fills that space with the most beautiful sounds.
Tonight is Gala night so into the penguin suit again . Sigh!
As my knee was still very sore, I decided to get Medical advice and fronted up at the ship’s medical centre at 8:30. It turns out I had torn a ligament and as a result I am supposed to be off my feet with my strapped leg up in the air for the next 7 days. We are hopeful that I should be going by the time we get to Bali. So Jeanette headed off today on her own on the shuttle bus to Kowloon and here is an account of her adventures..
First stop was the Middle Road Park which is high above the road looking out toward the Harbour. It has an extensive collection of playgrounds for young children and was already busy with littlies running everywhere. I walked on to a platform looking out over the water and saw below the promenade where there is an Avenue of movie stars – this was my planned first stop. I found a statue of Bruce Lee and other Chinese movie stars totally unfamiliar to me, but it was a pleasant walk along the harbour’s edge. It was incredibly misty and difficult to see across to Hong Kong Island.
I ended up back at the Clock Tower – the only remaining part of the Kowloon-Canton railway line terminus station which was relocated to to Hung Hom in the 1970s. I was able to see the display of ‘Year of the Fire Horse’ installations up close in their beautiful colours. These had been spectacular all lit up the night before.
I was near Nathan Road which Brian was keen to walk the length of again so I headed off to get some shots for him. It has lost the old grotty shops and shacks of previous years and is now populated with a lot of the big end of town retailers. The entrance to the Sheraton was particularly pretty.
I passed a couple of very unusual staircases which were lined with quaint little cartoon-like characters. Unfortunately I did not venture up to the top and so missed out on a park full of many popular Chinese cartoon characters.
I did however investigate another staircase leading to Kowloon Park high above the street and found their Sculpture Park. A clean, pleasant place to sit for a breather and view the sculptures – they were quite uninspiring though.
We had walked over 13,000 steps the day before and today my feet and legs were telling me I had done more by this point. Not having one of those high tech watches I had no way of knowing – Brian is the tech man. I decided it was time to return to the ship so found my way to the shuttle bus.
When I returned to the Kai Tak terminal I decided to explore the Sky Roof Garden. There is an amazing series of gardens and scenic walking paths looking out over a boat harbour and all of Hong Kong. I did the circuit, taking in a very up close look at our Queen Anne docked alongside. A good day.
Our Ship cast its lines around 8pm and we slowly steamed out of Victoria Harbour through the lighted towers flanking the shore line. Hong Kong is a very special place and it was a particular thrill for me to get to see it one more time.
Around 7am, we tied up at the new Hong Kong Cruise Terminal which has been built on the site of the old Kai Tak Airport Runway. Unfortunately, the weather was very foggy with an occasional light drizzle.
My first overseas trip was to Hong Kong many decades ago and I was keen to visit some of the places I had enjoyed then. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus which took us from the port terminal which is on the Kowloon side via a tunnel across to Hong Kong Island then via their Green Route bus headed around the island to Stanley.
The Stanley Market Today
I had really fond memories of this place, its bustling market and the cute little English pubs, but it has changed dramatically. The road didn’t run into Stanley anymore. We arrived at the top of the hill and got down to Stanley thru a modern commercial shopping development. This had a series of levels joined by escalators. We walked thru a row of brand shops, picked up the down escalator, then to the next level where the process repeated . After four levels of this, we reached a large ground level plaza with Starbucks and Mcdonald’s etc.
Finally escaping this commercial hellscape, we came to the old Stanley. Despite the efforts of the authorities with colourful fish decorations, it was very sad . There were hardly any people, about a third of the old shops, including my pub, were long closed, with forlorn and faded ‘for sale’ signs. Another third were just shut, and out of the final third that were still operating, the operators would appear and desperately pleaded for you to come in. The market was closed and empty.
Murray House
Just on the edge of Stanley is a beautiful old colonial building, Murray House, which was an Officers’ Mess in its day. We went to have a closer look and we were coming down its stone stairs when disaster struck. I missed a tread and came down very hard on the tread after that, on one leg. I spent the rest of the day limping around in considerable pain.
Back on the bus we continued around the island. You have to be really impressed with the thriving energy of this place, its tidiness and the way they retain patches of beautiful tropical vegetation in the midst of all the concrete towers.
We got off the bus near the Star Ferry Terminal. I reckon this terminal and the old Star Ferries themselves are the only things that haven’t changed since I was last here all those years ago. We hopped a Star Ferry across to the Kowloon side, had a little explore along the waterfront, and got a shuttle back to the ship.
Around 6pm we hopped a bus back to near Nathan Road where we boarded a boat for a night cruise of Victoria Harbour. This was, as always, impressive but their much hyped light show was a bit underwhelming. I mean Victoria Harbour at night is just so special, it just is very hard to top that.
Back to the ship by 9pm, and very late evening meal.
We have spent three sea days making our way from Singapore to Hong Kong. The weather has been fine and mostly sunny, and the seas smooth.
Shipboard life tends to be pretty similar from one day to another so I have lumped these three days together so your poor blog writer doesn’t have to strain his brain quite so much to fill a page.
We are really enjoying our time on the Queen Anne. You can see they put a lot of thought into its design and operation. A good example is the casual dining area where we usually go for breakfast and lunch. Every cruise ship has one of these mounted up on one of the ship’s top decks.
The Library
When we sailed on another line, they used to call this dining area the Horizon Court, but the passengers’ nickname for it was “The Horror Zone” and it was a pretty apt description. Everyone was stressed as there were never enough seats, desirable food items would appear and would vanish in one or two huge self servings.
On Queen Anne, this area is another world, there is space, seats for all and some (we have got a window seat every day). All the food is behind glass and is served by staff at your request. The area feels peaceful and meal times here are very enjoyable.
We have spent time exploring the various parts of the ship.
Black and White Gala Night
In the evenings it’s dinner in the Britannia Dining Room with Noelle and Alan, then on to the theatre for the nightly show. These have covered a variety of formats from a stand up comedian, a production from the travelling dancers, to the standout so far, a Beatles Tribute Band called the Australian Beatles.
These guys were so good belting out a heap of Beatles numbers to a packed theatre with people standing along the sides.
We had our bags packed and delivered downstairs around 9am. Bus pick up was not till 12 so we had a quick wander around the nearby shops which was, in retrospect, a bad idea as it was Sunday, Chinese New Year and the streets near our hotel were just a solid mass of humanity moving very slowly.
We finally got back to the Hotel, boarded our bus and after a ride of around 15 minutes made it to the cruise terminal where there was a fair wait in line till we got checked in. Then it was the automatic migration gates and Jeanette’s run of luck ran out and the system trapped her in the run till an immigration offical came and got her out.
Drinks in the Commodore Lounge
Finally onto the ship. In the run up to our voyage, we had heard a lot of negative comments about the Queen Anne so we were very pleasantly surprised. Its style is, I think, Art Deco and the designers may have pushed the envelope a little too far in certain areas but overall it’s pretty well done.
Our Cabin
A lot of thought and care has gone into the cabin design and ours is very comfortable. The coffee is the best we have had on a cruise line and our first evening meal was outstanding . So we travel on with very high hopes.
Jeanette had headed out this morning with Noelle and Alan to check out some shops but the highlight of today’s activities was going to be High Tea at the famous Raffles Hotel
We set off on foot around 11:30 am past the beautiful St Andrew’s Anglican Cathedral and got to Raffles Hotel around 12.
It turned out our booking was for 1pm but the kind receptionist moved it up to 12:30 so we spent half an hour exploring around the courtyards. One activity that seemed very popular was young guys photographing their girlfriends who were done up to the nines like models.
Everything was beautifully maintained and it covered a vast area.
The Grand Lobby Enterance
Finally we got into the Grand Lobby where the afternoon teas were held and spent a very pleasant two hours working our way through the lovely delicacies.
After that there was a decision that we would like to check out the Raffles Long Bar and try a Singapore Sling. Unfortunately there was a long queue with a wait of around more than half an hour, so given that, and the price of a single drink was around $50 we decided to give it a miss.
On the way home in the midst of all the high rise office towers, I encountered a rather handsome rooster making his way calmly down the footpath. He was totally unfazed with the pedestrians and traffic. It was just like the Brush Turkeys in Hastings Street. I queried our Hotel’s maitre’d and he told me that it is a common sight. They are owned but allowed to wander around and forage. They make their own way home every evening.
As Jeanette missed out on her Singapore Sling, we had one with dinner.
Hardys’ Travels 