Having breakfast with Pat at the Veranda Restaurant on Seabourn Spirit as we sailed out through Ha Long Bay was one of my most memorable travel moments. The islands appeared as if by magic out of the mist as the ship glided by. Hạ Long Bay, in northeast Vietnam, is known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rain forests. Designated a World Heritage site in 1994, the bay located in the Gulf of Tonkin includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Viet Nam was a pleasant weather change from Hong Kong in late March. It had been quite chilly there after a cold front has passed through. Both of us enjoyed the intimacy of the Seabourn Spirit with less than 200 passengers and a
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