British cruiser docks in southern metro

Some 900 foreign visitors aboard U.K. cruiser Voyages of Discovery berthed in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, beginning their seven-day tour across Vietnam.
The passengers, most of whom are British, spend three days exploring the southern hub before heading to central cities of Nha Trang and Danang and northern Ha Long City, home to UNESCO-listed Ha Long Bay, Vietnam News Agency reported.
They will receive land services from HCMC-based travel firm Saigontourist.
The trip is part of 39-day cruise named Grand Orient of the cruise line across nine Southeast Asia countries and Hong Kong.
The Voyages of Discovery, which targets holidaymakers of 55 years old and above, offers 10- to 182- night cruise tours to some of the world’s most exotic destinations.
It was awarded the 2006, 2007 and 2008 "Best value in the Specialty Cruises” category from the World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society for the third consecutive year.
Northern Ha Long City will also welcome a group of 800 vacationers boarding British cruiser Spirit of Adventure to dock in the northern city this Sunday.
The passengers, who will also receive land services from Saigontourist, will take part in a sight-seeing tour across some of the popular tourist destinations of Vietnam, including Danang, Nha Trang and HCMC.
Spirit of Adventure offers informal holiday experience for travelers of 55 years old and above.
Among the ship's stops are Antarctica, South America, the Caribbean, Northern Europe as well as some Southeast Asian destinations, such as Borneo Island, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Vietnam, with more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, is considered full of potential for sea tourism.
But the country’s sea tourism industry remained underdeveloped.
The industry reached it peak in 2002 when 309,000 foreign visitors arrived in Vietnam by sea.
But the figure has dropped dramatically to 65,934 sea arrivals last year.
Most international cruise ships to Vietnam currently have to dock at cargo ports as the country only has one operational cruise ship terminal in northern Ha Long City.