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Halong Bay Cruise Review – V’Spirit Cruises

Posted by Unknown at 5:42 AM Thursday, January 16, 2014 Labels: Cruise, Hanoi, Vietnam 0 comments

Hanoi . 2013 . Aug 8 - 10

This post is part of our Hanoi 7 days 6 nights Trip Itinerary and Report. Do check out the full itinerary and our reviews here.

Halong Bay is said to be the most popular tourist attraction in Hanoi, Vietnam and is the top to-do activity in Hanoi. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the bay features thousands of limestone karsts and islands, carved by nature into various shapes and sizes. Because of its climate and environment, Halong Bay is also home to a large biodiversity of floral and fauna species.

The perfect way to discover this world natural wonder is to embark on a traditional junk ship that brings you deeper into Halong Bay and its surroundings. There are 2 popular cruises – a day tour for visitors who only want to have a glimpse of Halong Bay and its surroundings (usually takes about 4 to 6 hrs); and overnight cruises for those who have more time to spare and would like to venture further to explore caves, grettos, floating farms and do some kayaking.

Tip: If you are basing yourself in Hanoi city, we recommend a overnight cruise (either 1 night or 2 nights) over a day cruise, as the travelling time from Hanoi city to Halong Bay is already 3-4 hrs one way.

Booking a Halong Bay cruise is relatively easy. You can do so either directly from the cruise line via the internet, from a Hanoi based travel agent, or from your Hanoi hotel. For instance, our 3 day 2 night cruise on board the V’Spirit was booked through our hotel Splendid Star Suite Hotel.

It takes 3-4 hours to reach the harbour from your hotel at Hanoi City, with one short break in between. Time to stretch those tired legs and wait for our turn to get on V’Spirit.

The junk ships are considered too large to enter the harbour, so passengers were all transported to the ship via small boats.

The Cabin

Our home for 3 days and 2 nights, this cabin sure looks its age. Yet, we still love the spacious bed and the side windows that overlook the bay.

Much of our time was spent at these windows looking at the beautiful sunrise and sunset over Halong Bay

Tip: If you can, try to request a room that is not directly under the dining room. The floorboards above are not that sturdy and we could hear every footstep above us even in the wee hours of the night.

Food on Board

All meals on board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for the entire duration of our cruise were covered under the cruise package, with the exception of beverages. Some cruise lines have different menus – some focusing on more Western cuisine or buffet style dining. At V’Spirit, the meals were all family style – large tables with 6-8 seats. Couples and small groups would have to join fellow cruise mates for all meals, something that some of us were not comfortable with. Nevertheless, the meals served were all delightful and we must say was one of the plus points of cruising with V’Spirit.

Welcome drinks served to us every time we re-board the junk ship.

Beers are ridiculously cheap in Hanoi, even on a cruise! By comparison, fruit juices and mocktails cost so much more!

A pity that we do not take alcohol, we had to settle for an expensive mocktail (USD $4 each).

One of those things that we look forward to every day is meal time. And why not, given the very delectable things they whip up in the confines of the junk ship. At V’Spirit, their home-cooked style cuisine is especially tasty and memorable and I still miss it to this day. Although most dishes are Asian or Vietnamese style, there’s also a fair amount of Western dishes at each meal.

Warning: Do not venture to the kitchen area. You might not want to eat after seeing the food preparation area.

Cooking Demonstration on Board

Steward on board demonstrating to us the ways of making a Vietnamese Spring Roll – one of the must-try food in Vietnam.

Tommy and Samantha’s hand-made Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Quite decent looking, aren’t they?

Live demonstration of cooking drunken prawns (fresh prawns soaked in Chinese wine and flash cooked to preserve their freshness).

Facilities on Board

V’Spirit, as with most other cruise lines offer an outdoor and a sheltered upper deck that offers unobstructed 360 degrees view of the spectacular scenery. Make sure to grab a good book to entertain yourself while lying on the deck chair.

Final Verdict:

We had a most wonderful 3D2N on board the V’Spirit. Its family atmosphere and cozy environment makes it ideal for a short getaway for families and friends. It’s also a great way to party the night away with your loved ones with cheap beer on board. Couples looking for more privacy and a more classy setting should look for the more luxurious cruise lines. For example, some cruises have a private balcony for all cabins and exclusive seating arrangements during meal times.

Tips for visiting Halong Bay

Make Halong Bay the first destination when you arrive in Hanoi. Cruises along Halong Bay are dependent on the weather and there are many cases where the scheduled cruise had to be cancelled due to inclement weather. When that happens, you’ll have the flexibility and the time to rearrange the later part of your itinerary to accommodate a later cruise.
Bring lots of sunscreen, sunglasses and a poncho. The weather can change from sunny to rainy at short notice.
Bring your swim wear in case there is a chance for diving or kayaking activities.
If your room has a window or balcony, make sure that the curtains are drawn for privacy. The street vendors on water have a most sneaky way of appearing at your window to hawk beverages, titbits and souvenirs.

Have you been to Halong Bay before? Do share with us your experiences too! :)

This post is part of our Hanoi 7 days 6 nights Trip Itinerary and Report. Do check out the full itinerary and our reviews here.

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Alaska Cruise Trip - Our Full Story

Posted by Unknown at 7:42 PM Saturday, February 23, 2013 Labels: Alaska, Canada, College Fjord, Cruise, Glacier Bay, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Travel Resources, USA, Vancouver, Yukon 0 comments

Dear Visitor,

Thank you for following Discover . Book . Travel 's adventure and stories on our recent Alaska Cruise Trip.

We have completed our full story of the Alaska Cruise.
Do click on the links below to read them!

Alaska Cruise Resources

Alaska Diamond Princess Cruise story so far...

Day 1 (Embarkation)

Day 2 (At Sea)

Day 3 (Ketchikan)

Day 4 (Juneau)

Day 5 (Skagway)

Day 6 (Glacier Bay National Park)

Day 7 (College Fjord)

College Fjord

Day 8 (McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge)

Day 9 (Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge)

Day 10 (Denali / Fairbanks)

Alaska Diamond Princess Cruise Meals Full Menu

Hotel Review: Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge

Posted by Unknown at 2:30 PM Thursday, February 21, 2013 Labels: Alaska, Cruise, Fairbanks, Hotels, USA 0 comments

Alaska CruiseTour . 2012 . Sep 24 - 25

If Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is described as peaceful, the Denali Princess Wildernerss Lodge as busy, then the only word that came to my mind when we stepped into the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge was ‘chaotic’. There were guests everywhere looking lost. The corridors were always busy and noisy and filled with people. Hardly the peaceful scenery you would associate with a lodge.

The Main Lodge and Surroundings

This particular Princess facility is unlike the McKinley and Denali Princess Wilderness Lodges that we stayed for the previous 2 nights. Although it is called a ‘lodge’, the building and its interior does not evoke the feeling of a Lodge. Built more like a modern low-rise version of a hotel, all the rooms are connected to the main reception area through separate wings.

Road leading to the lodge.

Drop off point and Main Reception building.

Check-in desk.

Edgewater Dining Room.

Cozy area.

Gift Shop at the main building.

The outdoor refreshment area of one of the restaurants. Fantastic view here.

The Room

It was a relief to retire from the chaotic scene of the main building to our room. The room assigned to us was pretty far from the main building, but that was fine with us as we did not mind the walking. However, we see bags of rubbish placed outside rooms in the corridor leading up to our room. That was neither a pleasant sight nor a good first impression.

We also found a mysterious piece of dirty cloth outside our room as a 'welcome gift'.

We were very disappointed with the room assigned. The room was spacious and generally clean, but immediately upon stepping in, we could tell that that the curtains could not be completely drawn at one of the sides, causing the glaring afternoon sun to blaze right into our room. This is a room on the ground floor and we find it unacceptable that the hotel staff were not vigilant enough to ensure that guests’ privacy are not compromised by such an oversight.

At least the view outside the room was good.

We also found an iPhone charger in the bathroom left over by the previous guest. I won’t want to judge the standard of housekeeping by this, but well, if I could find a phone charger in the bathroom and they did not…..? To make things worse, we had to track all the way back to the reception to hand the item to them. The lady behind the counter looked surprised when we said we found this in our room, but did not even offer a word of apology. Well, I guess that not looking thoroughly through the room to ensure that it is fit for the next guest is the norm here then.

The Experience

We would have overlooked all our misgivings on the lapses in housekeeping, if not for a large fiasco involving our luggage. Those of you who have been following our Alaska Cruise series would remember us raving about the wonderful logistics management and accommodation of Princess Cruises throughout most of the cruise and land tour. It is with great disappointment that we relate this negative incident at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.

Fairbanks was the last destination in our 11-day holiday in Alaska. Having disembarked from the Diamond Princess 3 days ago, we brought 2 travelling luggages with us to Mt McKinkey and Denali and a piece of large luggage was sent directly to Fairbanks.

We knew something was wrong right from the start when we did not find this piece of luggage waiting outside our room as was the case for other guests around us. We immediately called the concierge and was told that they might not have completed their delivery and our luggage should arrive at our room in an hour or so. An hour later, we still did not have our luggage and had to call the concierge again. This time, the bell boy said that it could have been sent to the wrong room and asked for a description of our luggage. (Imagine the anxiety we had – the possibility of our stuff delivered to the wrong room! How on earth are they going to locate my luggage when there are so many rooms in the lodge).

After another hour of anxiety, the bell boy came to our room with a luggage which he hoped was ours, but unfortunately was not. He told us he will get back to us again within half an hour. When that time was up, we called them again and this time, we were told that the luggage could have been delivered to another lodge and they would call all the other lodges and try and get back to me within another half an hour (By this point, I am starting to pull out my hair). A few phone calls and a few half hours passed and we still have absolutely no idea what happened to our luggage.

We had an early flight to catch at 8.40am the next morning and needed the space in that luggage to pack our stuff. It was late in the night when we finally had no choice but to speak to the manager with great agitation and anger. When I asked him to check his records whether the piece of luggage had ever left the Diamond Princess 3 days ago, he never gave me a direct reply and I was entertained with further reassurances that they would get back to us as soon as they can.

At close to midnight, they finally delivered the luggage to us. We were told that the luggage tag had dropped off during delivery and was lost in transit. What baffles me was that even if the luggage tag had dropped off, they had 3 days to classify this as lost luggage and alert all lodges to keep a look-out. But what was given to us was different stories each time we called, a general indifference to our anxiety, and a mechanical reply to all our queries. The whole episode took 5-6 hours to resolve, leaving us mentally and physically exhausted. We had no chance to explore the facilities or to have a good dinner. This is definitely not a good ending to a fabulous holiday.

The Facilities

The only redeeming factor for the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge was the provision of a luggage weighing scale for guests to weigh their luggage before a flight and the flight departures times and other info at the lobby. This is a simple and thoughtful gesture that we thought all other hotels should offer to their guests.

The hotel provides airport shuttle to the airport, which was included in our cruise tour package. We will be transferring to the airport at 6.30 am on the Alaska Airlines Flight Number 124 to Seattle.

Weather reports were also provided on the LCD screen on Fairbanks as well as other parts of Alaska.

It seems like the lodge also provide scheduled shuttle services (at USD $5 round trip) to Downtown Fairbanks and Fred Meyer, which we were unfortunately unable to utilise due to the luggage incident.

We were also provided with luggage tags with our flight numbers written on them to tag our luggages by the hotel.

The Verdict

It was unfortunate that our last stop in Alaska at Fairbanks was blighted by a negative experience. We hope that ours was just an isolated incident (after all, we had such a pleasant time at the McKinley and Denali lodges) and that other guests have a better experience with the lodge. We have plans to go back to Alaska again, but will give this hotel a miss.

Alaska Cruise Series

With that, we have come to the end of our Alaska cruise series. For those of you who have been following our posts, we thank you for your support and hope that they have been beneficial and informational.

If you have come here through a search engine and would like to read our full Alaska cruise adventure, do click here for our summary page for the links to all our posts!

With that, we leave you with some fabulous sunrise photos we took at Fairbanks Airport! :)

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