Azamara Quest January 19

Love this boat. There are only 450 passengers on board. Usually 600. Feels very private and intimate. Came onboard yesterday at 12:30, took about 10 minutes to get thru registration. Our cabins were ready at 1:30 so we were able to move right in and then have lunch. View from the balcony is gorgeous.

Sailaway from Hong Kong was incredible!

Had an early night last night and this morning woke up to a blanket of fog. There is nothing to see and apparently will stay that way until after we arrive in Hanoi tomorrow morning at 5am. The captain suggested we stay in bed, we won't miss anything, we can see it when we leave.

Today is a sea day so it's very relaxing. Attended a digital photography seminar and played "where in the world" trivia. As soon as the fog lifted a little we were able to get on the internet so I bought some time.

We'll be in Hanoi (Halong Bay) from tomorrow morning until  Saturday afternoon. We have a tour scheduled both days. Very excited to see Halong Bay, it should be beautiful. 

Returned to the cabin this afternoon to find Happy Birthday balloons hanging from the ceiling. Thank-you Jo and Sue!!

We all had dinner in the dining room, the food on the ship is really good. Jo and Sue ordered a cake for us so we got the happy birthday song.
After dinner Bob and I went to the show and the captains reception. The captain wasn't there because he was on the bridge blowing the foghorn no less than every 10 minutes for 30 seconds (or something like that). The captain probably doesn't actually blow the horn or push the button or whatever. Anyway he showed up later to say hi and tell us how difficult it can be to sail the boat through Halong Bay with all the limestone karsts (little mountains sticking up in the water) although we can't see anything but fog. He was supposed to tell us as we went through some strait that we couldn't take pictures but there was no point. He introduced the crew including someone in charge of accounting who he described as the woman who sends out the bills for the free wine. Did I mention we have free wine at lunch and dinner?