All Aboard the Scenic Sprit - 6th Nov

After a morning's meet and greet with our Scenic rep in the Ballroom, we all went out for lunch at a local restaurant.  There are only 64 guests on this cruise, so it's easy to make friends. Most are Australians, which is unsurprising given that Scenic is an Australian company, and this part of the world is a lot close to Australia than it is to North America or Europe.  There's also a fair number of Brits, and a few lonely Canadians.  So far I haven't spotted a single American though.

The road out of HCMC

After lunch we boarded the bus and set off to My Tho to board the ship.  It was a 2 hour journey on the bus - most of which was spent getting out of HCMC  - which is a sprawling city with a population of 12-13 million people.










Once we got out of the city it was fascinating to see the locals working in the rice paddies.  The deceased relatives of the family that owns the land are buried in a corner of the paddy set aside for that purpose - that way their ancestors are always with them.

  We arrived at the ship around 4pm. Scenic Spirit is a new ship and very posh.

Our suite is pretty amazing and our butler, Sok, is making sure we have everything we need.

The Lounge Bar

Once I had unpacked I went exploring while Denise took a nap.  With only 64 passengers, it's not a big ship, but it has everything you could ask for. On the deck below us we have a laundry room - which I'm going to need to use pretty soon.  Our cabin is next to the Library, and on the same floor as Reception and the Crystal Dining Room.  On the deck above is the Spirit Lounge and bar. Tea and Coffee are available there 24 hours and there's a good selection of sandwiches and snacks to be had if you're feeling peckish.  Above that is the pool deck - the pool is small, but the area looks like a tropical oasis and is very beautiful - most beautiful of all is the pool bar!  Finally there's the sun deck, with plenty of loungers and a short walking track.

We sat with Robyn and Jen, 2 Australian ladies, for the Welcome dinner.  The food has a bit of an Asian twist, so it's not my favourite - but I can appreciate the artistry that's gone into it.  Denise was feeling a bit under the weather, so she went back to the cabin for an early night, while Robyn, Jen and I headed for the the lounge bar one deck up.  We were the first ones there and the last to leave, and we put away a few cocktails in the meantime.  All in all it was a great first night aboard - and I'm looking forward to our first day of excursions tomorrow.