Legend of the Seas - Brisbane to Hong Kong 20 April 2016
It started with a seamless embarkation at the Port of Brisbane; we were there right on 11am to start boarding. This cruise required slightly more paperwork due to the ports and medical requirements from the Phillipines. All passports were to be handed in just before boarding.
The whole process took approximately 30 minutes and we were drinking our first cocktail!
Lunch was served in the Windjammer, then it was time to explore the ship and meet some clients at the Schooner bar for a cocktail before checking out our balcony cabin at 1pm.
Our cabin was located on deck 6 with a a balcony. It had tea and coffee facilities (no fridge), cupboard, 1 seater chair and a small desk, mirror and chair. The balcony had a sufficient sized table and 2 outdoor chairs.
It was a great sunset from Brisbane and off to Airlie Beach we went!
Ports visited:
- Airlie Beach - plenty to do if you want to see the reef, for us we visited family that live up there and had a lovely lunch on the beach.
- Cairns - again plenty of reef and mountain tours to choose from, however we just went shopping as we have been to Cairns many times before.
- Darwin - approx 10min walk to the centre of town, it was a very hot day. Plenty of war type tours on offer.
- Bali - there was a delay in the tender process, lucky for us we had booked a driver who patiently waited for us to arrive.
- Kota Kinabalu - I had organised a private tour for myself and clients to Lok Kawi Zoo and the city, this was a fabulous day of exploring.
- Puerto Princesa - we went on the Underground River Tour into the caves, this was a magical day and I highly recommend it.
- Manilla - beware of pick pocketers, you can get a free shuttle tour from the port, or grab a cab to the shopping centre or book a shore excursion through the ship.
- Hong Kong - we stayed here for 4 nights in Causeway Bay, we experienced The Big Buddha and Ocean Park plus a Symphony of Lights Cruise whilst there.
The ship is the smallest of the fleet, they had great activities for all ages organised daily such as Bingo, Trivia, Masterchef, Cocktail Making, Scrapbooking, Shuffleboard and more.
The theatre had a range of shows from magicians, hypnotists to a singer from the Voice NZ, opera to broadway shows.
The Casino had a good range of pokie machines and tables.
The weather was extremely hot (mid 30s and humid all the way) so the pool was very popular but you could always find a deck chair. The poolside BBQ's and theme days were a big hit.
My favourite place to hang out was the Schooner Bar as we met some wonderful people, it was like a scene from Cheers every day!
All in all this 18 night cruise was great, and we didn't feel it was too long there was always something to do if we felt like doing it. We will be looking at booking another cruise with Royal again soon.