Two luxury ships made a short landing in Vietnam recently, welcoming over 4,500 visitors to the country. The Voyager of the Seas and SuperStar Virgo are five-star luxury ships which carried affluent people from all over the world to visit such sites as Ha Long Bay, Ho Chi Minh City and other popular tourist spots in Vietnam.
The Voyager of the Seas is a Voyager-class cruise ship which was built in 1999 and designed as a floating five-star hotel with top-of-the-line amenities like restaurants, bars, cinema and swimming pool. It has a capacity of 3,138 passengers and 1,181 crew members. It is managed by the Royal Caribbean International, a cruise line company established in Norway and based in Miami, Florida. At present, the said company has 21 ships in operation and owns 17 percent of the share of the global cruise market.
Image by http://cruises.travelandleisure.com/
During the particular trip, the ship transported 3,000 passengers and docked at Tan Cang – Cai Mep seaport in the Southern Province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau after cruising Kaohsiung, Taiwan for two days.
At Vung Tau, the tourists visited the following famous sites: statue of Jesus Christ on Nho Mountain, Niet Ban Buddhist Monastery, Thang Tam Temple and Villa Blanche presidential retreat. At Ba Ria, they went to the ancient houses in the city and watched local artists make rice paper and alcohol. At Ho Chi Minh City, they stopped over the must-see destinations such as the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica; Saigon Central Post Office; Ho Chi Minh City Hall; Reunification Palace; and the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
SuperStar Virgo is a Leo-class cruise ship which is 13-storeys high, has 395 cabins, and equipped with complete, top-quality features such as restaurants and bars. It can carry up to 2,800 passengers and 1,300 crew members. It is owned and operated by Star Cruises, a Hong Kong-based cruise line which is currently running 19 luxury cruise ships.
On that trip, SuperStar Virgo boarded 1,500 passengers who then explored historically-significant sites such as Ha Long Bay, known for being an UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site in the Northern Province of Quang Ninh. The tourists also observed everyday life of the local people, tried Vietnamese delicacies, shopped at Bai Chay bight market and watched traditional art performance show in Ha Long City.
Both cruise ships left Vietnam on the same day to continue their voyage to other Asian nations.