It has been a while since I've gotten a post up (the further we travel, the behinder I get!), so decided to skip ahead to where we are today (as I post). Sometime in the future, probably after we're home, I'll catch up by adding the ports of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Da Nang, Hanoi (Ha Long Bay), Huang Pu (Canton), Hong Kong, Taipei and Okinawa. We received a letter from the Captain advising there would be no internet connection when we're in Japanese waters (12 nautical miles out) as they restrict the 2 satellite band signals the ship uses.
Here's the map of where we are today. Until we started looking at this map, I'd never thought about how very close all the islands are to mainland Asia!
Closeup of going into our docking spot. This was about half an hour before we docked.
Ahhh, Shanghai! A welcome sign on the terminal building. And, what a pleasant surprise to have an airline-like gangway, instead of the usual gangplank to get to the terminal.
Another smoggy day in southeast Asia! This is the main financial area of Shanghai, on the port side, as we arrived.
The view from our cabin is a beautiful little park...
A closer look. I think this, second to Hong Kong, is the best view to-date from our cabin when we've been docked.
We arrived around 8:30am. Our tour for today isn't until 1:30 this afternoon. Interestingly, we all had to get off the ship this morning to go through immigration in the terminal building. Our cruise director told us everyone had to go through immigration before anyone could get back on. We were prepared to have to wait quite sometime as most of us are not young anymore and some can be quite stubborn! Fortunately, we were able to walk out of the terminal building, walk to the dock and back to the gangway and get back on the ship! YEAH!
More later!
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Tom & Ruth: We met on the Tauck Baltic trip last May. I recently found your card and thought I would check to see where you were traveling this year. What a great trip you have chosen. I have enjoyed reading some of your posts and hope to have the time to go thru them all as time permits (and go back to last year's trip). Hope you have smooth seas and wonderful weather for the rest of the trip. Mike and Jean Ciaciuch, Vassar, MI
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