The small passenger ship Astor is not a frequent visitor to Asia, in which her last calls were already four and nine years ago. In March 2007, she came to Hong Kong with three more cruise ships in port together. During her two-day stay, she had to berth at China Merchants Wharf at Kennedy Town on the first day, and anchor at the sea centre on the second day.

The vessel underwent a complete makeover in 2010 summer. Her company name was also changed from Transocean Tours to Transocean Kreuzfahrten. The "new" Astor set sail on her 2010-2011 World Voyage in November from Nice in France. This 124-night full world cruise covers Europe, the Americas and a large number of ports in Oceania and Asia. She visited Kaohsiung on 4th February and Canton two days later. Since it is prohibited by law for ships to sail directly between Taiwan and China, Astor made a technical call at Hong Kong, which was just a three-hour short stop at North Lamma Anchorage at night of 5th February.

After the call to Canton, Astor finally arrived in our city at 07:00 of 7th February. She moored at Ocean Terminal for overnight, with the other side of the terminal being Artemis of P&O Cruises. I was happy to be offered with a tour onboard with a colleague and would like to thank Stefanie Bauriedl for the arrangements. This was my first cruise ship visit which was not organized by travel agencies. Instead I sent the request to the public relations department of cruise line directly through email.

The tour started at 10:00. Since Astor could not use the terminal's telescopic gangways, we had to embark on the ground level. After passing through the security check and receiving the visitor passes, we met the crew Imke Matuszewski who escorted us around the vessel to take pictures. She showed us almost all the public facilities and two passenger cabins. After an hour of walk, she invited us to have a cup of tea in Hanse Bar, aft of Deck 8. We appreciated much for her further introduction on the ship. Finally we disembarked at 12:00.

Although the ship is already over twenty years old, she is still well-maintained and does not look too outdated because of the recent upgrades. The cabins were all refurbished with new furniture, whereas the public amenities were also adorned with new decorations and colours. Nevertheless, many past objects of the ship's former identities could still be found.

Astor departed from Hong Kong at 22:00 of 8th February. She will continue with her journey to Keelung, then Southeast Asia, Africa, and finally be back to Europe in April.