Hong Kong to Seabourn 6th January 2011

Today we depart from the Langham Place Hotel, a great place to stay if we decide to return. After our 12 noon checkout we had a 2 hour wander around Kowloon before returning to the hotel for our transfer to the Port. Another limousine which was lovely.
Seabourn Pride is a sleek stylish ship, and fairly easy to navigate round. With only 200 passengers it by no means feels crowded. Embarkation and immigration were done quickly and efficiently and in no time we were shown to our suite. It is 250m2 of open plan living with bed and large lounge area. Bathroom has a bathtub with shower over the bath and double basins. We have a picture window We are on Deck 4. There are 7 decks in total with an 8th floor mezzanine. Afternoon tea was very low key with a piano player tinkling on a white baby grand. The décor is classy but not over the top and the Seabourn service is great. Heaps of nationalities are looking after us and we have discovered quite quickly that they are very warm and genuine. Our stewardess Tanya is lovely .
There are 3 Kiwi couples on the ship including us. Roger and Barbara from Auckland and Greame and Frances from Wellington. I am sure very quickly we will become one big happy family. The officers and top brass mix and mingle with the passengers quite freely which is nice.
Another nice touch is a hosted dinner with a member of the crew/entertainment team. Last night we had dinner with Gill and Connie who are a duo called the “Romantics’’ Gill plays Piano and Connie plays bass and they both sing. Gill is Danish but has totally lost his accent. Connie is Canadian and when they are not entertaining they live in Canada. They had invited 6 of us for dinner and we had a great time of banter and laughter. Sea Day tomorrow as we cruise the Hainan Strait as we head toward Cai Lan In Vietnam (Hanoi)