Don't Come Knockin' If Ship a Rockin'

Mother Nature Had Other Plans 

On Day 4, Sapphire Princess would have been sailing the course shown above from Kota Kinabalu, Malyasia to Nha Trang, Vietnam.  During breakfast on Day 3, we learned that Mother Nature had other plans for us.

The first week of January saw Typhoon Agaton tracking from the Philippines into the South China Sea.  In her wake, the South China Sea had high winds and swells forcing our captain to alter our planned itinerary.   We were scheduled to have a sea day on Friday, January 12th with a call to Nha Trang, Vietnam on Saturday January 13th.

click images to enlarge

Since Nha Trang is a tender port, it was determined that Sapphire Princess would not be able to safely operate tender service and our schedule changed.  Having sailed for more than 30 years, we have come to appreciate who is in control - it's not the Captain or Cruise Line, but Mother Nature.  Safety of the ship, passengers, and crew has to come first - so itineraries can change.


Kota Kinabalu Stay Extended

We stayed overnight in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, with a 5 PM departure on Friday. Additional tours were added for Friday.

Since we had already done the tour we were interested in on Thursday, we opted to just stay onboard and enjoy an extra relaxing day. We hung out at the enclosed pool area on Sapphire Princess, our favorite hang-out.

On Thursday, we hadn't been able to get good pictures of the Tun Mustapha Tower, a 30-story circular glass and steel tower that's one of only three buildings in the world constructed in this "suspended" manner, we captured some images from our balcony when we finally departed Kota Kinabalu.  Saturday was another relaxing day, as that became a sea day sailing to Cambodia.

As we crossed the South China Sea to our new destination, Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Vietnam, the ship was a rockin'.  The captain was using the stabilizers, so that helped a bit, but you needed to hold on as you walked around the ship.

Tip:  If you are prone to get motion sick on land or sea, you will want to discuss options with your travel professional and your doctor prior to any cruise.   Unexpected rockin' could happen anytime.

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Related Album:

KK Sailaway
Nha Trang

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