Dennis Wright's Blog

On the night of 18 April, after buying the Sony digital SLR, we ate at what I call a “real deal” Hong Kong noodle bar. Very cheap, but for newbies like us we were left wondering what to do with the paddles. We worked it out.

On the morning of the 19^th, a final trip to Mong Kok, which really captures the spirit of old Hong Kong. This time the flower market and bird garden.

This view of Mong Kok was taken from an elevated covered walkway which really helps you get around the area.

I have already extolled how conveniently located our hotel was. Well, it has one more big benefit. It is a stone’s throw from the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and cruise ship embarkation point. The embarkation hall was in the adjoining Marco Polo Hotel but we still needed a taxi to move our stuff.

We joined the cruise, got on board ship and found our stateroom. The accommodation was lovely but no flowers awaiting us (I had ordered some for Naomi and knew full well Pauline had ordered some). It was just as well. The air conditioning was not working and the flowers would have wilted. I rang the Front Office to complain. They said they knew about the problem at our end of the ship and were working on it. I also queried the absence of flowers and was asked if they were for Mrs Dawson. “The only flowers I got here are for Mrs Dawson”. Aha! You mean from Mrs Dawson! “No, they are for Mrs Gloria Dawson.” Nah, forget it.

We went back on shore to take our leave of Hong Kong. The ship sailed at midnight.

View of our hotel from the ship as we sailed out of port.

Our room was still uninhabitable so one of the supervisors from the Front Office, a very charming lady called Jane Avila, sorted us out with temporary accommodation in an inside cabin for the one night. Being inside was disconcerting but at least it was cool and we could sleep.

The next day was a day at sea and we went back to Jane to see what she could do for us. She asked for the morning to sort it out. She was so friendly and was taking our complaint so seriously we felt we owed her a bit of time to resolve things. Meantime the flowers arrived. The red roses I ordered and a beautiful arrangement from Pauline and all the kids.

Jane came up trumps, bless her. She offered us two alternative staterooms to choose from – one on the Lower Promenade Deck and another on the same deck as our original cabin, but further forward and thankfully cool. We took the latter.