I’ve recently posted about our week exploring the beautiful sites of Hong Kong. So I begin this post as we board our Atlantis Cruise in Asia aboard the Celebrity Solstice. We’ll soon explore Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. Atlantis—an LGBT+ travel and tour company—chartered this cruise. It’s not only our first cruise on Celebrity, but our first gay cruise with Atlantis. No, you don’t have to be gay to join the cruise. But, you do have to be an ally and supportive of our community. Here are a few photos as we are sailing away from Hong Kong.
Our first day is at sea as we head to Vietnam. It’ll give us a chance to rest up after an exhausting week exploring Hong Kong.
Atlantis Entertainment
So, what type of entertainment can you expect on an Atlantis Cruise in Asia? Well, pretty much the same type of entertainment on any cruise ship but more tailored to the LGBT+ community. There are Drag Shows, musical performances, tea dances, brunch events, game shows, and circus and acrobatics type shows, just to name a few. Of course a major difference on this cruise is that all events have a theme. So it could be wear pink for Barbie, military, leather, nautical, etc. All I can say is that many people must have had extra luggage to pack some of their costumes as some went all out on the themes.
Drag Shows
We love a funny and entertaining drag show and have mentioned attending them in our previous trips to Des Moines, Iowa and Sydney, Australia. Opening night we saw Trinity the Tuck, the winner of season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. The following night we were on our way to see Mary Mac, a Scottish performer who actually sings rather than lip syncs. As we are taking the elevator to the theatre, guess who walks in? Mary Mac herself! Her humor and singing voice is so incredible we saw all three of her shows while on board.
The final two photos show Leona Winter, a French performer who sings in multiple languages. She is best known for winning the second season of the Chilean reality show The Switch Drag Race. She also became a semi-finalist from the 8th season of the French version of The Voice. Her vocal range is absolutely stunning. We’ll definitely see her other shows too.
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
We are docked at this port for two days. It’s the gateway to Hanoi. However, most excursions to Hanoi are 10-12 hours long, as it’s a 2-3 hour drive each way to get into the city. We decided to stay in Ha Long Bay to tour the city, rather than drive so far. We first visited the Quang Ninh Museum, designed in black to represent coal which is an important industry for this region. The museum’s exhibits focus on Ha Long Bay’s nature, culture, history and its people.
Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. It’s an overcast day today, but the islands are still beautiful. It’s also home to fishing villages where communities live on the water fishing full time. The James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, was filmed here in 1997.
Our final site to visit here is the Long Tien Pagoda. This Buddhist temple was built not too long ago (1941) and is the biggest in Halong. There are a number of wild monkeys running around and hanging out on the roofs and treetops.
We decided to stay onboard the ship on day two to relax and participate in the scheduled activities. We enjoyed brunch, an afternoon tea dance by the pool (with a military/dog tag theme) and another show before we left the port for Chan May which is the gateway stop for Danang, Vietnam. Once it became too crowded out by the pool, I opted to keep my COVID appropriate distance, as we have quite a few days remaining on the cruise to stay healthy and I’m not taking any chances. The night views as we sailed away from port are stunning.
Danang, Vietnam
A cold front blew in from China last night and the temperature dropped with drizzling rain. Our excursion cancelled due to area flooding, so we are on our own today. Our friends, Jim & T, spoke with one of the local immigration officers on board the ship as he stamped our visa and he said his brother is a taxi driver. He gave us his brother’s phone to take with us on shore and we booked him for the day on a private tour. We walked from the ship to his cab and returned his phone. I know they say “don’t get in a car with strangers” but we felt safe in numbers as the phone came from an officer on the ship and the car was an official taxi. We had a great day in spite of the weather.
First stop in Danang is the Dragon Bridge. The bridge lights up at night, so I bet it’s quite the site to see then. You can also see the skyline of the city from here.
Danang Beach & Marble Mountain
We then head out to Danang Beach with a stop by a marble factory. The waves are quite rough today. It’s also too cold and windy to stay out here too long.
Marble Mountain is our next stop. It’s one of five limestone peaks. We took the elevator up the mountain and the rest of the way to the pagoda, uppermost peak and internal caves and tunnels are by rugged stone steps—lots and lots of steps. Thumbs up—we finally climbed to the top.
Next up on our private tour, the driver stopped at the Bay Mau Coconut Forest, known for its lush coconut palms and waterways. If you know me, I don’t like water, swimming, or boating, unless it’s a cruise ship. We added a pool when we built our house in 1997 and to this day I’ve never been in my own pool. So when I saw this rickety half-coconut shaped boat in brown murky water, it is an immediate “hell no” pass for me. The driver said “not to worry, there are no alligators, only small snakes”. Ahhh, NOOO. How about we do lunch with a bottle of wine instead? So that’s what we did. I’m sure this might look like fun for some people, I’m just not one of them.
Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An is a well-preserved ancient town with canals, colonial buildings and lots of quaint alleys filled with shops. It’s another UNESCO World Heritage site. They experienced severe flooding from the typhoon recently and some of the streets are still under water. I really wish we had a full day to explore this town (and do more shopping as everything is so inexpensive) plus there are more sites to see here. It’s now only an occasional mist, but time is running out and we need to get back to the ship because it’s starting to get dark. We had quite a full day. What an unexpected adventure we had on our private tour.
More fun at sea
We have another sea day, so it’s another tea dance (Barbie & Ken Pink) by the pool, an acrobatic Cirque type show and the main entertainment starring Patti Lupone. Patti is a Grammy and Tony award winning singer and actress. Her set tonight included many of her broadway hits and what a performance!
Ho Chi Minh City—formerly named Saigon
Saigon, now officially Ho Chi Minh City, is the largest city in Vietnam and once the headquarters for U.S. military operations during the Vietnam War. This is another long excursion of 10 hours because Saigon is a couple hours drive from the port. The population here is over 14 million people with almost 9 million motorbikes. The traffic is absolute chaos and trying to cross the street is a daunting and dangerous task.
We spent the day walking around the city center to Saigon River. Thankfully the rain is gone, but it is hot today! It’s busy, fast paced, traffic filled and overwhelming, but has everything you’d expect to see, eat and experience in Vietnam. One moment you’re surrounded by luxury shopping and the next you walk into an area marked by poverty where people eat street food from carts while sitting on the ground. There are a number of people going through the trash looking for recycling like cardboard, plastic and cans. It’s an exotic blend of retail excess and, tourism, and everyone else just trying to survive. It’s why we love to travel. We experience new and different cultures and way of life while learning to greater appreciate our own.
We ended the day visiting a lacquerware workshop to see how this art is made. One of the artists is breaking duck eggshells to form a painting. We also walked by the Presidential Palace and Supreme Court (1881-1885) building before returning to the ship. We have enjoyed our stay in Vietnam with friendly people, amazing sites and delicious food. Up next after another day at sea is Thailand.
Bangkok, Thailand
We have another long excursion today as the port is near Pattaya, Thailand which is over two hours from Bangkok. We woke up early for breakfast to this incredible sunrise. It is their Winter here, so it’s a high of 90 degrees and humid. Feels like Houston.
Several royal sites in Bangkok are closed to the public today, because the queen died last month. The authorities have planned multiple royal activities, so they’re rerouting us a bit. Here’s our first view of the city as we drive through. Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, has a population of over 17 million people covering over 600 square miles.
Wat Pho Temple
Wat Pho Temple is called the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It is one of the largest and oldest temples dating from the 16th century. This Royal temple houses the 151 foot golden Reclining Buddha. This enormous complex is home to hundreds of Buddhas collected by the kings over the centuries. It is also home to Thailand’s school of Thai medicine and the birthplace of traditional Thai massage still practiced today.
Exploring the streets in town you quickly see the everyday life of Bangkok outside of the metropolitan and religious sites. The city is crammed with rows of shops, markets, people, pets, food stalls and above all—electrical WIRING! I’ve never seen such a tangled web of low hanging wires in any other city before. I don’t think anyone knows what wires go where. So, if something breaks I think that they just run a new wire on top of the others. Crazy
River cruise? WTH?
Another helpful travel tip is you should always read the fine print of your excursion. I hadn’t realized there was a small boat involved in our journey today. Oh well, it’s already paid for and it’s the only way back to catch the bus to the ship, as it’s already left to pick us up further down the river.
After an amazing Thai buffet lunch at a hotel on the river front, we went on a short river boat ride to continue our day. In one of the photos, you can see the white Presidential Palace which is home for the King. The food here has really been awesome!
Bangkok, known as Venice of the East, has a river and numerous canals flowing through the city. You can use the waterways for quick transport, avoiding the many traffic jams on the roads and they are great for sightseeing as well. You can also tell that it’s high tide at the moment and the river flows quickly. Our pilot slammed into the dock quite hard. When I looked at the boat, it had punched a hole on the side. He said “hole OK” get in now and wear your life jackets. I held my breath all the way back to the pier. Did I mention how much I dislike water?
The Temple of Dawn
Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn is our next stop. A temple has existed on this site for centuries, but the current design largely dates back to the 19th century. There is a towering central spire which is intricately decorated with colorful porcelain and seashells. A staircase, which is very steep with narrow steps, allows you to climb part way up.
Koh Samui, Thailand
Koh Samui is Thailand’s second largest island after Phuket. It’s known for its palm beaches, coconut groves and dense, mountainous rainforest. You may have recently heard of it because it’s featured in the HBO series The White Lotus Season 3, filmed in 2024 and premiered in 2025. This small island has only about 70,000 residents, but 200,000 people come here to work as approximately 3 million tourists visit each year. It’s our first port where we have to tender to.
We decided to just hang out in town today, enjoy a massage and have lunch before returning to the ship. One thing you quickly learn in Thailand is it’s just easier to wear flip flops everywhere. It’s customary to remove your shoes at the door of most places you go, such as temples, stores, etc. Wearing walking shoes and socks is a pain to remove each time you go inside. We did enjoy an amazing one hour foot, leg and neck massage for 300 baht ($9.30). We may have to have several more when we get to Phuket after the cruise.
Likewise, our lunch entrees were 90-100 baht or about $3.00 each. We ordered so many different dishes for the 4 of us, that the waitress slid over another empty table next to us to hold all our dishes. It is all so fresh and delicious and we made our own Thai buffet lunch. Travel tip here—when they ask if you want spicy, remember that their version of spicy is a lot hotter than our version. 🥵🌶️
Headed to Singapore
It’s hard to believe we only have one final sea day before we arrive in Singapore and our Atlantis Cruise in Asia concludes. These twelve days have been jammed packed with fun activities, great food and beautiful sites. Say hello to Singapore and stay tuned as we post our Singapore adventures soon.
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