We just got back from December 20 trip out of Hong Kong, and wanted to highlight some of the things that we most enjoyed so that others planning their trips can take advantage of them. Also, a few negatives...

Hong Kong is a wonderful city to leave from. If you arrive early, it's easy to navigate the city -- say, go to the Giant Buddha, Victoria Peak, or the hop-on buses -- on your own. Hong Kong is a great food city, and we recommend the Din Tau Fung dumpling stores. Our Hotel was the Royal Pacific, which was very nice, huge, and convenient to Kowloon shopping.

Our embarkation was a miracle. We literally breezed onto the boat. We had an arrival time between 12 and 4, and I think we arrived midpoint. There was no line anywhere -- barely a soul around. Where was everyone? A mystery. Debarkation was easy as well; we went on the Taste of Singapore tour (very good and included a historic food court visit) and were dropped at the airport. Read more