I was standing on the upper deck during a northeast monsoon sailing last November when a guest from Melbourne walked up to me, slightly green, gripping the railing. "Mike, how…
I was pouring a gin and tonic for a couple from Bristol when the woman leaned across the bar and said, "Mike, this is our first time in Vietnam. We…
I was making the weather call at 4:30 AM last December — northeast wind building from 25 to 38 km/h, the bay surface shifting from ripples to whitecaps — when…
I was waiting at Tuan Chau Marina last Friday when a couple arrived at 12:15 PM — fifteen minutes after we'd cast off. They'd taken a Grab from Hanoi, hit…
I was folding a guest's forgotten rain jacket last Tuesday — left behind on a deck chair, still damp from the afternoon squall — when I realized this is the…
The first question I hear at check-in is never about the caves or the sunset or the kayaking. It's about the cabin. Guests walk through the door, drop their bag…
I was standing at the gangway watching guests board when a couple from London hesitated at the top of the ramp. They had booked three different Halong Bay 2 day…
A guest from Berlin once asked me what to expect on his first overnight cruise on Halong Bay. He was standing at the check-in counter, backpack too heavy, jacket too…
I was checking the anchor chain tension at 5:38 AM when I heard bare feet on the sundeck stairs. A woman from Osaka, still in pajamas, walked to the bow…
I was standing at the helm monitoring the afternoon current when a guest stepped beside me and asked, "What actually happens after the day boats leave?" She'd done a day…