ocean cruises and sea voyages

this is my dream cruise vacation.... via wind star line
it is a sail powered cruise ship, that at night time you will only hear the waves and wind and see the clear night sky full of stars. there is a short course in astronomy and navigation on deck


Joanne resting in her cabin after a city tour while on port of call , the air conditioner in these cruise ship are so powerful hat when you return to your cabin after a hot day tour the controlled humidity and coolness of the ac is so soothing just like having a shower


this is the navigation deck or bridge of the legend of the seas

LEGEND OF THE SEAS. CENTER PIC
MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE, BARCELONA TO TURKEY
PIC ON LEFT, STAR LEO, CHINA, VIETNAM AND HK
ON THE RIGHT IS MV GALAXY CRUISES IN NORDIC COUNTRIES


cruise ships are very special for me, I first met Arlene during a cruise to hong Kong via Philippine cruising ventures MV Reyna Filipina 1979.

we boarded the MV reina Filipina at south harbor on a Holy week cruise, we are expecting a cruise ship just like the MV Dona Montserrat by Negros navigation,(which we tried it to Sicogon island and Ambil island cruise) but unfortunately the MV reina Filipina was an Italian made in 1948 just after the second world war.
in the first day it was un eventful trip, sunny and peaceful South China sea, round the tip of Bataan to Pangasinan to Ilocos, we are aware that a low pressure area is in the area. at around 2pm the ship just stop , all engines conk out.. for 2 hours we are like a dead log in south china sea...

some passengers just wanted to return o manila, some still want to push thru, until we were all re assured by the captain that the engine just run out of bunker fuel and no engine damage of defects. how ever from the start of the trip the mv reina filipina does not have an air con

as we continue our trip to Hong kong it was so dark and the wind became chilly, but the ship is travelling so slow that the smoke in the funnel is travelling ahead of the ship and it was releasing black soot. we are regularly visually inspected by several Royal Navy rescue sea stallions to verify if we need help in the China sea crossing.

At nightfall the waves are so high, the wind is always gusting, we pray hard for our safe journey. I swear in my cabin that I will never ride a ship again, i put on my black socks, in preparation for abandon ship

when we reached HK my whole family right away looked for a hotel to sleep and book a flight home via any airlines, because we are so afraid to ride it back to manila

Arlene's family did return back via reyna filipina with tons of shopping from furniture and appliances