Fall in Love With Nha Trang

Nha Trang

The city was a popular spot for U.S. servicemen during the Vietnam War. Today this seaside resort is popular among tourists to Vietnam.

Nha Trang offers white-sand beaches, azure waters and palm trees swaying in the breeze. Colorful fishing boats line the harbors. Small farm villages nestle in the countryside's lush valleys. The area is rich in history.

What's not to fall in love with.

The most popular Nha Trang shore excursion, offered by Princess Cruises, was Ponagar Cham Tower, Long Son Pagoda & Embroidery.  Take in Nha Trang's highlights on this half-day excursion. Visit the Cham Tower Complex, tour the Buddhist shrine at Long Son Pagoda, and discover the ancient art of Vietnamese picture embroidery. Then, enjoy refreshments, browse for souvenirs, and view a traditional Vietnamese cultural performance to complete your tour.

If you have been following our entire journey, you know that due to high winds and rough seas, Sapphire Princess could not tender in Nha Trang. We can only imagine these highlights of this seaside resort in Vietnam. Thanks to the destination expert, we have some images that we can share here of what we would have seen.  Follow us on this imaginary journey to Nha Trang's highlights.

Colorful Vietnam

Leaving by motorcoach from the pier we'd depart for a scenic drive to the first stop. Arriving at the Xom Bong Bridge, we'd disembark for the opportunity to view and photograph a charming fishing village and its colorful boats.

Next we'd continue to the historic Ponagar Cham Tower, you'll stand in awe before the best preserved relic of the thousand-year-long Champa dynasty. A commanding presence overlooking the Cai River, the complex boasts four intricately carved towers set amidst lush tropical gardens.

Ponagar Cham Tower & Long Son Pagoda

Tip: At the Cham Tower and Long Son Pagoda visitors must climb at least two flights of stairs - 70 steps each way.

Each of the towers revealed a different architectural style indicating that they were built over an extended period of time between the seventh and 12th centuries A.D. The largest was built in 817 A.D and contains a statue dedicated to Ponagar, or Lady Thien Y-ana, the beautiful wife of Prince Bac Hai. Legend has it that she was born into a peasant family in Khanh Hoa province and that spirits assisted her when she sailed on a drift piece of sandalwood to China.

At Long Son Pagoda, dragon-shaped balustrades flanked the entrance and lead the way into an imposing sanctuary decorated with murals and images of the Buddha. Behind the pagoda sat an enormous white Buddha built in 1965. The Buddha commemorates those monks who protested the abuses of the Diem regime by setting themselves aflame.

Visiting a silk embroidery workshop provided a fascinating glimpse into the ancient Vietnamese art of picture embroidery. Skilled artisans illustrated a dazzling array of subjects ranging from mythology to scenes of everyday life.

The return drive to the ship, through the downtown district, provided views of the cathedral, the small shops, and the few remaining French colonial-era buildings. Nha Trang Beach was another of the highlights seen during the excursion.  


Whatever you do in Nha Trang, we are certain that you'll fall in love with this city.

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Related Album:

Nha Trang

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Village of Oia, Santorini Greece

Our Tour Continues

After concluding our visit at SantoWines Winery, we reboarded our motorcoach for the scenic ride to the Village of Oia. View our photo album, Drive to Oia - Santorini, to get an idea of the scenic countryside of this part of Santorini, Greece.

Arriving in Oia

Pronounced "Eee-ah," the village of Oia is perched high atop the cliffs of Santorini's northern terminus. Known for its quiet beauty and spectacular sunsets, this spot boasts superlative views of neighboring volcanoes.  Following our guide, we strolled through the narrow, cobblestone lanes, viewed the brilliantly whitewashed buildings, shops, sun-bathed cafés and blue-domed churches.

Church of Panagia of Platsani

Today Oia, as an Orthodox village, has the picturesque blue domed chapels, pristine white bell towers and volcanic stone trimmed church doorways dotted all along the caldera cliffs. Each chapel is of course named after the Saint it honors and was built by a local family, many to pray for the safe return of the seafaring members of the family.

There are two main churches in Oia that have a priest conducting weekly services. The Church of Panagia of Platsani is the principal church and located at the center of the village. It was built in the 1800's and maintained in perfect condition.

More than 70 churches, with the characteristic blue domes, dot the countryside of Oia.   The churches resulted due to the maritime life of its inhabitants.  Families would build churches in order to ensure that God would favor them with safe journeys on the sea.

In some cases, the parents and wives of the sailors and the captains  promised to erect a church to a saint so that their beloved ones would come back safely. Upon return from a dangerous voyage, the sailors and the captains also built churches honoring a saint that had kept them safe from bad weather or other dangerous situations.

Consequently, most of these churches are privately owned as they were inherited by the ancestors of each family. Family members were also buried at these churches.  They are typically closed to the public except for on the Saint's Name Day when a festival is held and everyone is invited to attend.

Postcards came to life as we continued our stroll through the village of Oia.  We had time to explore on our own, browsing for souvenirs, enjoying refreshments and marveling at the incredible views. The natural beauty and tranquility of Oia's landscape has inspired artists from around the world, and numerous galleries can be found nearby.

Photo Album:  Village of Oia

In the album above, which can be found on our Facebook Fan Page, we have shared some of our own postcard images captured as we continued our stroll from the center of the village, through the narrow cobblestone lanes, which lead us to the Kasteli (Castle) of Agios Nikolaos. From that vantage point you have excellent views of the volcano and all of the village. If we were still at the castle during sunset, we would be among the hordes of people that have gathered for a breathtaking view.   Our view from the ship was equally impressive.  

We'll share the rest of our day in Santorini in additional blog posts.   Be sure to bookmark this page so that you can follow the rest of our journey.   Also, become a fan (like) our Facebook Fan Page so that you'll be notified of additional stories and photo albums of our 12-Night Greek Isles & Mediterranean Cruise on Star Princess.    We hope you are enjoying your virtual journey thus far.

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




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Bay of Fundy Coastal Photography Tour

Bay of Fundy Coastal Photography Tour

Saint John, NB, Canada

We decided to tour this area with the aide of a local photographer. Carnival offered the Bay of Fundy Coastal Photography tour. We boarded a mini-coach accompanied by our professional photographer guide, Lance Timmons, and headed out to photograph some of the iconic images of New Brunswick, including a Bay of Fundy beach, working fishing wharf, waterfalls, and more.

This excursion took us off the beaten path and along the coast of the Bay of Fundy giving us the opportunity to photograph the breathtaking scenic beauty of this area. We had done a similar tour when in St. Thomas, USVI and enjoyed it very much. That's why we selected this tour.

Our first photo stop was at the Reversing Falls. It was still high tide when we got there, so the water was flowing away from the bridge and towards the two islands across from the power plant.

As you can see from the photos above, the weather was overcast, with some light rain. That didn't put a damper on our photography tour. In fact with these conditions, photography is actually better as colors pop in the softer light. We visited the Bay of Fundy twice, first at high tide and then again at low tide just before returning to our ship. The water was flowing in opposite directions on these visits.

Another stop was at the Lepreau Falls (photo above). While the Rerversing Falls are the most widely known and popular, we enjoyed our visit to Lepreau Falls the most. We have seen many waterfalls in our years of cruising, each with their own character and personality. These falls have unique color due to the tannins in the water. This was an excellent location to try different photography techniques.

At Dipper Harbour we had the opportunity to see an active fishing village. There were boats coming in with their lobster catches which can be purchased locally. We made another photo stop at a very unique beach. This isn't your typically white sand beach. Instead, the terrain is very rocky.

Our tour ended with another stop at our original location - Reversing Falls. We were now at low tide which means the water flow had reversed from our previous visit. The best way to capture this on camera is to take a video from the same vantage point on both visits.

For more pictures from the photography tour, see our Saint John - Coastal Photography album. Also visit our Cruise Vacation site for this cruise (still a work in progress).

Port Information - Volendam, Edam

Easter Sunday - Volendam & Edam

The Amalegro set sail from Amsterdam to Vollendam at noon on Easter Sunday. We cruised north on the IJ River passing through a small lock, one of many that surrond Amsterdam and help to regulate the water. The lock brought us to Marker Lake (Markermeer) part of a larger lake called the Ijsselmeer. The Ijsselmeer used to be known as the famed Zuiderzee before it was closed off from the North Sea by the Great Enclosure Dyke in 1933.

We arrived at the fishing village of Volendam after sailing about three hours. There were two other river boats docked at the harbor, so the Amalegro tied up to them. We had to cross over the top decks of all three ships to go ashore.

We walked along Volendam's main street and then through the streets until we arrived at our motorcoaches which were waiting to take us to our first stop, Edam.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the charming village of Edam, famous for cheese. Our guide took us on a walking tour through the village which is one of the highlights of Northern Holland. After touring the Dam Square, we had free time to explore the village before returning to the Cheese Weigh Station and then back to the motorcoaches.

It was a beautiful day in both Volendam and Edam. We thouroughly enjoyed our stay in Edam and then returned to Volendam where we had time to explore the streets behind the dyke and shop along main street before returning to the ship.

Words can't do justice to these charming villages, so once again, I've posted some of our pictures for you to enjoy.

Volendam and Edam photo albums:

Amsterdam to Volendam
Amalegro - Edam
Amalegro - Volendam

I hope you are enjoying our Tulip Time River Cruise so far. It's hard to believe that this is really the first day of the cruise. There is so much more to see yet. Make sure to come back to visit my blog as I continue the story.