Live from... Full Spectrum from Hong Kong

[twangster]

It's time for another live thread this time from the other side of the world.  

After booking the Voyager repositioning cruise from Barcelona to Singapore and committing to thirty five plus days away from home I looked at the map and realized I would be relatively close to Spectrum of the Seas once I reached Singapore.  At the moment Spectrum splits her time between Shanghai and Hong Kong.  As luck would have it she was repositioning to Hong Kong just prior to my arrival in Singapore.  That meant I'll be as close to Spectrum as I ever will be based on anticipated deployments.

I don't see a lot of Spectrum live threads and since I've been intrigued by Hong Kong you know what that meant... YOLO, book it!

Hong Kong ended one hundred and fifty six years of British rule in 1997 and is currently a special administrative region or SAR of China.  During this transition period, at time of writing, US passport holders do not require a VISA or travel authorization to enter Hong Kong like we would if we were to visit mainland China. With Shanghai a part mainland China and Hong Kong a SAR, that made it a very easy addition to my Voyager adventure around Africa detailed in this live thread :

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/54028-live-from-voyager-of-the-seas-around-africa-oct-27-2025-for-35-nights/

Between my December 1st arrival in Singapore and the next sailing of Spectrum on December 4th, that gave me three days to experience Hong Kong.

My itinerary:

So yeah, I'm flying four hours for a five night cruise!

[twangster]

I chose to fly Cathay Pacific from Singapore to Hong Kong.  It's a relatively new A350-900 that features a tail and a nose gear camera you can watch from the comfort of your seat.  My regular US carriers back home don't offer that so it's new, to me.

Our takeoff from SIN airport in Singapore:

[twangster]

Three and half hours later we begin our descent.

I spot a large reservoir with a dam.

[twangster]

That's when the fog kicked in.

[twangster]

I'm a bit of an aviation geek so bear with me as I get my geek on.

Here is our landing at HKG from a different perspective.

 

 

[ScottD]

Bonus cruise! this is great... and that camera on the plane is really neat,I'd just watch that the whole flight

[twangster]

My entry into Hong Kong was quick and efficient.  Not much of a queue for immigration with bilingual signs making the path easy to find. My suitcase arrived quickly and I was officially in China.

I chose Uber since I have a large suitcase, a mini carry on for my camera gear and my backpack.  There are public transportation options but with my collection of luggage an Uber would bring me right to the front door of my hotel.

A regular Uber for the thirty five minute trip was $305 HK and an Uber Premium was $330 HK. I chose the latter that posted to my US credit card at $43.77 USD.

I'm stay at the Intercontinental Grand Standford in Kowloon.

It's Christmas time in Hong Kong as well .

I booked a Club Lounge King room with a view of Victoria harbor.

OMG!  The view!

A beer in the Club Lounge to continue my beer tour of the world.

[twangster]

Pre-cruise day two - Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Not a bad view to wake up to.

The Club Lounge privileges include a continental breakfast with cooked to order eggs. It's a very nice spread.

[twangster]

A short walk from my hotel and across a pedestrian bridge to the waterfront.

The Intercontinental:

Merry Christmas time!

I booked the 48 hour HOHO (Hop On Hopp Off) Explore package.  It includes three routes of HOHO bus, two, round trip Star ferry tickets and choice of another attraction.  I picked the Peak tram. More on the HOHO later.

I continued my walk down the waterfront.  The statute of McDull:

This section is called Avenue of the Stars.

If there is a building in Hong Kong, it's probably a shopping mall, like this one.

A view across to Hong Kong Island.

A statue celebrating the Hong Kong film industry.

The historical Clock Tower.

A statue of Anita Mui, an iconic Cantopop singer.

The Star ferry terminal. The quintessential way to get around Victoria harbor.

I spot a cruise ship!  It's the Diamond Princess in port today.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Both my parents are from Hong Kong. While they have gone back a few times on their own, we have never gone back as a family (when we were still all living under one roof) because the cost was too high. This blog is the closest I will come for now to HK so keep the pics coming!

[twangster]

Time for the HOHO blue route around Kowloon.

I saw a number of Diamond Princess passengers with ship tour stickers on their shirts.  It's kind of weird being in someone else's cruise ship excursion .

The magic of the HOHO bus tours lie within the headsets and the narrated guide that talks about the sites as we pass them.  I can't really capture that in this post but there is a lot of great information and history provided.

Hong Kong is said to have the highest concentration of shopping malls in the world, like this one:

The Hong Kong Palace museum.  Our audio guide listed some of the items on display and suggested 3 to 4 hours to see it properly. This will be on my list of things to do when I come back in 2027.

Everywhere is a mix of old and new like these very modern and elegant skyscrapers.

The high speed train station with links to mainland China.  There is an area inside where you perform mainland immigration.  Once through you are officially in mainland China.

The famous Peninsula hotel.

 

[twangster]

After the blue HOHO route tour I walked back to my hotel along the waterfront to drop off some of my shopping purchases.

[twangster]

It's time for the Star Ferry and trip across the harbor.

The Star Ferry is an iconic double-decker passenger ferry service connecting the island of Hong Kong with the mainland peninsula of Kowloon across Victoria Harbour.

My HOHO package includes two roundtrip tickets so I can take the ferry back and forth twice.

We'll see more of this tour boat later tonight.

[twangster]

Hong Kong island.

The Star Ferry that brought me across.

Here the same HOHO company offers two more routes, the red and the green tours.  Today I boarded the red tour.

[twangster]

Here is that ferris wheel I've been seeing from Kowloon.

There are so many people in Hong Kong there are multiple Apple stores relatively close to each other.

My first time taking a ride below an Apple store.

Again, the magic of these tours lies in the narrated audio track. Some photos to tempt your travel bug.

The iconic two level electric trolleys that have always been electric even from their first introduction in 1904.

Hong Kong is a master class in stuffing as many people as possible in a finite area of land.  To accomplish this they went vertical a long time ago and that has continued as the population has increased.

It's an eclectic mix of old and new.

Victoria park named after Queen Victoria.

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice that uses the principles of arranging objects and spaces to create harmony and balance.  Here is a building that uses simulated canons to combat the bad Feng Shui of the "ugly" building next door.

The US Consulate:

The Peak Tram I am reserving for tomorrow.

Amazing architecture.

[twangster]

Back on the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour.

It's starting to get dark and that means the lights are coming on.

Back to my hotel for a shower and to get ready for the harbour at night. The sunset tonight wasn't much to speak of.

[twangster]

Victoria Harbour at night is simply spectacular.

[twangster]

That tour boat I saw earlier from the Star Ferry lit up to compliment the lights of Victoria Harbour.

[twangster]

Unfortunately there have been no Symphony of Lights these past two nights and tonight it started to rain just before 8pm.  Fortunately it was a light rain that passed quickly enough that I was able to make it back to my to hotel mostly dry.

Hong Kong is known for its shopping malls.  The second thing it is known for... the selfie capital of the world.  

The Diamond Princess was still here.

Towards the left of this photo are a series of restaurants along the road where my dinner awaits.

[twangster]

That catches this thread up to live.

It is now 10:25am Wednesday December 3rd here in Hong Kong while it is Tuesday December 2nd at 9:25pm back home in Florida.

I've been waiting for the morning haze to burn off hoping today will be a clearer day than yesterday.  It's time to collect my cameras and head to the Star Ferry terminal for the green HOHO tour and the Peak Tram.

As live as it gets, from the other side of the world.

 

[Jamesszy94]

With the recent events that have happened in Hong Kong, it's very good to see some nicer photos of Hong Kong. 

As someone who regularly goes to HK every 2-2.5 years, it's nice seeing the perspective of the city from other people's eyes.

Looking forward to when this one goes live from Spectrum. 

(I've heard MANY HORROR stories about the clientele that board the ships on Asian cities. Let's just say, if you eat at the Windjammer, be prepared to fight for your food.)

[twangster]

I had my watch tracking my route yesterday.

[twangster]

2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Let's just say, if you eat at the Windjammer, be prepared to fight for your food.)

In fairness, you've described an Oasis class Windjammer.  At least the original OA class.   

[Jamesszy94]

6 minutes ago, twangster said:

In fairness, you've described an Oasis class Windjammer.  At least the original OA class.   

I wouldn't know  

We've never had an OA in Australia and I'm not about to travel 16,000km across the world just to get on one. I love cruising, but not that much.

[twangster]

Pre-cruise day three

Still not a bad view to wake up, although a little more hazy today.  So much for the weather forecast.

Today's plan is to return to Hong Kong island. Since all I do is stare it from my hotel, I might as well go there. The HOHO Green route and the Peak Tram are waiting for me.

But first, the Star Ferry to Central.  This time I've put together a video from a series of clips.

[twangster]

Looking back at the ferry that brought me across Victoria Harbour.

The HOHO operate on set schedules and I've got a few minutes until the next departure.

I see a different cruise ship at the pier today.  It's the NCL Sun.

My first bus today.

The Peak Tram is the first stop on the green route.  I was going to complete the green route first and then stay on to the Peak Tram but that wasted some time so I hopped off here.

[twangster]

The cost of the Peak Tram was included in the HOHO package I selected.  All I had to do was stop by the HOHO ticket window to get a tram ticket.

A one way up or down trip takes around 5 minutes.  

Here she comes!

I always try to sit at the bottom or back on a funicular so you can see the vista in the distance down slope for perspective.

The track changes angles throughout the run.

As we go up, another tram goes down.  While it's mostly single track, there is one section of double track so the trams can pass each other.

And just like that we are at the top.

I shot a video on the way up but I had a front row seat on the way down so I'll use that video later.

[twangster]

Once at the top there is a series of escalators to get from the ground floor to the 4th floor terrace.  This terrace is an outdoor viewing area that is an extra cost option when buying tickets directly.  It was included in the HOHO tram ticket.

It was hazy today but there was nothing I could do about that other than curse at the weather forecaster who predicted a sunny midday.

Disney has placed some characters props for Christmas photos that were popular with families.

You can also see the other side of the island from up here.

[twangster]

Outside an old tram is on display.

Inside the tram tower are a series of shops and a wax museum.  

  

There is also a shopping area and restaurants for the general public who can drive up here.

[twangster]

Back in the tram for the ride back down.

And now for the video of the trip down.  I sped up the middle section to save time watching it.

 

[Debstr66]

@twangster you have the most amazing adventures! I so enjoy reading your blogs and living vicariously through you. The photos are always awesome (even in undesirable weather). I remember the Hong Kong Harbor from my visit in 2014. The light displays were incredible! 

[twangster]

The green HOHO route goes all the way around Hong Kong island so we head to the coast.  But first, dinosaurs!

And a dog park? What are they feeding their dogs? Who has to clean up that dog park?

Some of the buildings I've been capturing at night, or at least the illuminated signs.

One of the tunnels, this one to Kowloon.

I can see my hotel!

The cruise terminal.

[twangster]

With so many people living in close proximity Hong Kong residents have gone vertical.  There are endless high rise apartment buildings.

A street market in between buildings.

More electric two storey trolleys.

Soon we leave the urban environment and head out of downtown.

[twangster]

It's a completely different island, or at least it feels that way.

A dam to collect fresh water.  Despite what appears to be a large reservoir it only accounts for something like 17% of the islands water supply.  A 20 mile tunnel from the mainland supplies most of the water supply.

Only small cars can pass each other on top of the dam so the narrow road has been converted to alternate one way traffic.

[twangster]

While most of the general population of Hong Kong island don't have cars and therefore tend to flock to the high rise towers in the city, as you venture out of the city there tends to be more affluent residents who can afford a longer commute into the city.

That's not to say there are no high rise towers over on this side of the island.  

How would you like that job?

It's much more of a beach vacation type vibe in this area.

  

[twangster]

Golf anyone?

Complete with a Country Club.

[twangster]

The winding and curvy nature of a coastal road doesn't make for great bus photography but it was very enjoyable and scenic.

Which brings us to Aberdeen Harbour.

[PRC]

Very enlightening... I have always just assumed that Hong Kong was just "The City"

[twangster]

We pass through many more areas, some with few high rise towers, some with more.  I start to see more and more high rise towers which means we have come full circle.

On the Uber ride from the airport I crossed over a large suspension bridge like this one.

The electric trolley jackpot!  The maintenance yard where they are serviced.

Sun Yat Sen honored in bronze statue as one of Hong Kong's great leaders from the early 1900s.

Looking across to Kowloon and the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

[twangster]

With the green HOHO bus route complete it's time for one last ride on the famous Star Ferry.

The Avenue of the Stars is a lot busier later in the day.

Close to my hotel as seen from the pedestrian bridge, these small restaurants along the road are where I've been eating most of my dinners. There are numerous such venues along many city blocks.