Queen Victoria World Cruise 2024 Notes from the Navigator

[Andy Holloway]

Thanks Ben - I really like Hong Kong it is the second time we have visited and each time it is a different experience.  There are so many photos I could have posted so difficult to choose just a selection.  I was so glad when the Captain announced that we there was a change of terminal as we didn't need a shuttle bus.  Where we were docked was close to the ferry terminal and the Avenue of Stars.  The light show when we sailed away was amazing!

Oh Lynda, you 'forgot' to mention the very short walk to all that miriad of shops in Ocean Terminal!

[Lynda Bradford]

Oh Lynda, you 'forgot' to mention the very short walk to all that miriad of shops in Ocean Terminal!

Lots of designer label shops in the Ocean Terminal with very expensive price labels.  But a beautiful shopping mall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Terminal,_Hong_Kong

[Ben Zabulis]

Yes, a great place to dock Lynda and the light show is spectacular. Evening, on a ship, and with all those lights flashing, there's really no better way than that to leave a city. There is so much to do in Hong Kong, one of my favoutite activities is hiking believe it or not, for which there's some surprisingly good trails.

[Andy Holloway]

Lots of designer label shops in the Ocean Terminal with very expensive price labels.  But a beautiful shopping mall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Terminal,_Hong_Kong

Having walked through Ocean Terminal many, many times it always amazed me how few customers were in the shops, i always felt sorry for the shop  assitsants constantly refolding items just to 'look' busy!

Whe QE2 was in and Mrs Warwick was onboard i alays used to joke with her about her shopping habits, especially in HK. One evneing i was walking back onboard after having made the purchase of one of those beautiful globes, in a stailess steel brackets and with 3 1m high legs. I had found it in a smal lback street shop for the princeley sum on HK$1100, about £90 then. The shop keeper even threw in a 'little man' to help carry the box it came in back to the ship. On our way back who should i meet but Mrs Warwick who just looked at me, then the 'little man with this big box, smiled a 'now i've got you' smile, and said, 'don't you ever comment about my shopping again', turned and walked on!

[Lynda Bradford]

Queen Victoria World Cruise 2024 - Navigator Notes

21 March 2024
Enroute to Phu My Vietnam

Queen Victoria departed Hong Kong last night with a fantastic departure celebration, dropping off the local plot and setting a South Westerly course en-route to Vietnam. As Queen Victoria makes her way south, we will pass the highly controversial Paracel islands on our port side. These islands have been heavily contested by Taiwan, Vietnam, and China throughout history. The Para-cel islands are home to the deepest underwater sink hole in the world, named 'Dragon Hole. This is a sinkhole that is nearly a thousand feet (300m) deep, more than the length of Queen Victoria.

22 March 2024
Enroute to Phu My Vietnam

Queen Victoria continued a south westerly course following the east coast of Vietnam. The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. This Sea has historically been an important trade route between China, southeast Asia, and going to India and the west. The number of shipwrecks of trading ships that lie on the ocean's floor attest to a thriving trade going back centuries. The South China Sea contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are submerged under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged.

23 March 2024
Weather: 31 C

Port of Phu My, Vietnam

The port of Phu My is one of Vietnam's culinary centres, and your gateway to exploring history-rich Ho Chi Minh City and the seaside resort of Vung Tau. The vibrancy and history offered is enticing.

Still fondly known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is a continuous whirl of the aroma of fresh noodles, the sight of orange-garbed monks and the buzzing of scooters, all in a French colonial backdrop.

Note: as we had visited Ho Chi Minh City from a QM2 cruise in 2019 we decided to take the tour to Vung Tau to learn a bit more about the history of Vietnam and see this seaside resort.

[Ben Zabulis]

Great photos Lynda, fabulous Vietnam, such a special place !

[Lynda Bradford]

Great photos Lynda, fabulous Vietnam, such a special place !

Thanks Ben, I have enjoyed both visits to Vietnam. I know I have only seen a small part of the Country but I had the opportunity to learn a little about the history and current economy.  For instance I hadn't thought of Vietnam as an Oil producing country:

Wikipedia: After oil was discovered in southern Vietnamese waters, the Vietnamese government pushed for the exploitation and extraction of this new resource. On 30 May 1979, Vũng Tàu was merged with Côn Đảo Islands to form Vũng Tàu-Côn Đảo Special Zone in a bid to facilitate the new service and logistics hub for the oil industry

Vietnam Oil Production
Vietnam holds 4,400,000,000 barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, ranking 25th in the world and accounting for about 0.3% of the world's total oil reserves of 1,650,585,140,000 barrels.
https://www.worldometers.info/oil/vietnam-oil/

[Chris Thompson]

Vietnam, the only country that uses a scooter as a minivan

[Ben Zabulis]

That's fascinating Lynda, I never even knew that Vietnam was an oil producer, we usually think of them as agricultural, especially rice exporters.

That's a great photo Chris of the 'multi-use' moped, I have to admit to often shielding my eyes when these things came speeding past, my sixth-sense telling me that such journeys would never end well. Having said that, oddly enough, I have never seen a single bump or scrape in such situations let alone a major accident!

[Lynda Bradford]

Queen Victoria 2024 World Cruise Navigator Notes

24 March 2024
At sea en route to Singapore

After our departure from Phu My, Queen Victoria proceeded out to sea on a Southerly course. As we navigate further south, we will pass the Riau Archipelago on our Port side. In the early hours of tomorrow morning, we will enter the very high traffic area of the Singapore Straits and the Traffic Separation Schemes. This area is renowned for being one of the busiest shipping areas in the world with over 591.7 million tonnes of cargo passing through in 2023.


25 March 2024
Weather: 32 C degrees
Port of Singapore

An island republic at the top of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore has come a long way since Sir Stamford Raffles founded it in 1819. Once symbolic of the mystery and romance of the Orient, it still retains its Eastern flavour. Singapore lies 85 miles north of the equator, and is situated off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Within its 227 square miles lives a population of around 5.45 million and its position on the main trade routes from Europe to South Asia and the Far East has meant Singapore has become the commercial capital of South East Asia and one of the world's greatest and busiest ports. It is a relatively young country which is pristine clean, reassuringly safe and a joy to explore. Singapore is home to people of many different races and creeds, speaking 54 languages, who all live together in harmony.

26 March 2024
Weather: 32 C degrees
Port of Singapore

A remarkable combination of history, culture, modernised ideals and tropical climate contribute to Singapore's diverse and prosperous character. Business is booming, with the towering skyscrapers and big brands residing in the Central Business District proving a powerful nod to this. This is the area most visitors should start exploring during their port of Singapore cruise given that the river forms the central artery of Singapore. Beyond the business are several intriguing attractions centred round where Raffles founded his colony. Do not miss Cavenagh Bridge, the city's oldest bridge, constructed in 1869. Take a look at the grand Fullerton Hotel, once the General Post Öffice building. Along the front of the river are a number of traditional shop houses in which today restaurants and bars are located. You cannot leave Singapore without tasting its famous chilli crab or sipping on a Singapore sling, and this is the best area to do so.

[Lynda Bradford]

Queen Victoria World Cruise 2024 - Navigator Notes

27 March 2024
En route to Colombo Sri Lanka

Having departed our berth in Singapore yesterday evening, Queen Victoria entered the traffic separation scheme to the south of Singapore. We will pass 1 nautical mile off Raffles Lighthouse on our starboard side as we alter to a north westly heading.
Raffles Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Pulau Satumu in the Singapore Strait, about 8.7 miles south of the main island of Singapore. It was first built in 1855, it's one of Singapore's oldest lighthouses and is still in use today, keeping ships safe as they enter or exit the Singapore Strait. Approximately. 2,000 merchant ships traverse these waters daily.

28 March 2024
At sea en route to Colombo Sri Lanka

Queen Victoria will continue a north westerly heading proceeding through the traffic separation schemes within the Straits of Malacca. The Malacca Strait is a narrow stretch of water, 500 miles long and from 40 to 155 miles wide, located between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest and the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) with the Singapore Strait and the South China Sea. It is named after the Phyllanthus emblica, which known by the locals as the Malaka tree, grown in coastal regions alongside the strait. We will alter to the west passing in-between the Indira Point Lighthouse 27 nautical miles on our starboard side and 69 nautical miles off Mercusuar Gapeu, Dutch King ZM Willem Ill Lighthouse on our port side.

[Ben Zabulis]

A great journey Lynda, fabulous pictures of Singapore, such a great place and interesting too! You're right about the Singapore Strait, a spectacular waterway teeming with vessels of all shapes and sizes. Looking forward to your next stop !

[Andy Holloway]

Great photos Lynda, fabulous Vietnam, such a special place !

On the Royal Viking Sun's 1996 World Cruise she was navigating the Red Sea, when on the evening of Thursday April 5 she hit a submerged reef. She immediately started to take in water and was eventually towed into Sharm el Sheik.
There were over 500 passengers onboard, predominantly Americans and many of them had spent a considerable amount of money purchasing large numbers of ceramic style pots and statues in Vietnam. The passengers were offloaded and, eventually the ship was towed backwards to Malta for repairs.
As the passengers were only allowed to take 'hand luggage' with them all these hundreds of items remained onboard. Fast forward to Dec 1997 and RVS is docking in the US - Port Everglades - for the first time since the 'incident' 18 months previous. By now the ship had also been to Mombasa and what storage space was still available was filled with wooden carvings. If you've ever been to Mombasa you'll know exactly what i mean!

So all these 'souvenirs' have to be offloaded and arrangements made to ship then to, all points west of Fort Lauderdale, no mean feat.

I remember seeing all these items laid out in the baggage shed and wondering how many of those passngers actually remembered what they'd bought all that time ago. I also wondered if, after all this time, a 6 ft carved Masai warrior would really 'fit' into someone's NY penthouse  and how it would 'adapt' to the central heating!

[Ben Zabulis]

That's an amazing story Andy, I suppose if a mishap occurs then the cruise line is responsible for arranging transport and delivery of all these items. Have to admit, I'd never even thought about the possibility of this happening. I agree with you by the way, what would anybody want with a 6-ft masai warrior??!! Quality of wood is indeed a problem as it won't be seasoned in any way. Having said that, I still have a few much smaller carvings from my time in Nigeria and they have survived a long time in the UK, but now live in Hong Kong where I think they are happier - cheers!

[Lynda Bradford]

....... As the passengers were only allowed to take 'hand luggage' with them all these hundreds of items remained onboard. Fast forward to Dec 1997 and RVS is docking in the US - Port Everglades - for the first time since the 'incident' 18 months previous. By now the ship had also been to Mombasa and what storage space was still available was filled with wooden carvings. If you've ever been to Mombasa you'll know exactly what i mean!
So all these 'souvenirs' have to be offloaded and arrangements made to ship then to, all points west of Fort Lauderdale, no mean feat.
I remember seeing all these items laid out in the baggage shed and wondering how many of those passengers actually remembered what they'd bought all that time ago. I also wondered if, after all this time, a 6 ft carved Masai warrior would really 'fit' into someone's NY penthouse  and how it would 'adapt' to the central heating!

That sounds like an administrator's nightmare locating the owners and arranging shipping.  I wonder how many passengers simply said - don't bother.  I can't even remember purchasing the items or no longer want them.  Andy did you manage to take a photo of the items in the baggage shed?