Anyone taken diamond princess to south east Asia??? B

Hi fellow princess cruisers.

Thinking of taking a 15 nighter on the diamond princess. For those who have done similar cruise, do you recommend it. Is February a good time to cruise this region????. Ship leaves from Singapore and goes to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. How did you find the ship?????.

Regards bob.

We've been on the Diamond (very nice ship!) and visited these ports in November. If this is your first time in SE Asia, you will have an adventure.

Be prepared for occasional tropical downpours.

i'm looking at 2 weeks on the diamond april 2017 from singapore to tokyo.

Have done Beijing to Singapore then Singapore to Sydney,a total of 33 days on the Diamond. A great ship (one of our favourites) and some very interesting ports. You will have a great time.:)

We did the Diamond from Beijing to Bangkok in March 2013. We also did the land tour at the beginning of the cruise. Definitely my most memorable cruise to date. You will have a great time.

Thanks guys for all your responses.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend the best possible weather months for this cruise please. Mostly fine with flat seas.

Regards bob.

We did ours in November and December a couple of years ago. Great weather except pretty warm especially in Bangkok. It rained in Nagasaki but you cannot gauge what the weather will be from one day to the next. We had very smooth seas the whole way but once again that can change at any time. If you like the itinerary just do it and forget about trying to predict weather/seas etc.:)

Have done two cruises on Diamond in Asia. First was in June, I think, from Beijing to Bangkok. Weather quite cool until Vietnam, missed Shanghai because seas were too big to allow ship into river. Second cruise was in September, around Japan. Very smooth sailing even across to Vladivostock. You can't predict weather, take an umbrella and just go and enjoy. Check weather sites for average temps and don't forget to check humidity averages. It's the humidity that makes you feel worse. The Diamond is a beautiful ship, make sure you try the Izumi bathhouse.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend the best possible weather months for this cruise please. Mostly fine with flat seas.

Your February choice is in the dry season and outside the typhoon season for Vietnam.

We went on the Diamond 14 nights Singapore to Tokyo. If you are in Hong Kong go to Victoria Peak and make sure to see the lights at night from the ship.

We have lived in Thailand for 2 years and I can tell you that it will be HOT (hotter than you have probably ever experienced) everywhere except as you get closer to Japan then the weather will be really nice. We have a UV blocker umbrella that was a life saver to be able to get out of the sun a bit.

Always have water with you when you go out because you might not be near a place that sells it. Have a small wash cloth to get wet will help also. Have some sort of pain reliever on hand because if you start getting a headache it is from the heat and dehydration and you will be glad you have it.

Knowing how things work in third world Asian countries I would suggest you take a Princess sponsored tour everywhere except Japan. You can trust the Japanese will be safe, on time and extremely polite and accommodating.

In other Asian countries they drive FAST, pass RECKLESSLY, and the majority of drivers are on some sort of stimulant like Red Bull which is legal or Yaba (Meth) which is not. They love to drive with great speed and there are NO drivers tests, training and many don't have licenses. Our bus driver in Vietnam was passing on blind corners and speeding. We see it all the time here......and this was on a ship tour. Princess can't always check the driving of everyone.

You will see and experience things you never dreamed of and if you go into it with an open mind knowing things are very very different you will have a great time.

Did an Asian cruise on the Diamond just after her big overhaul in 2014. Very nice ship with some unique features (ie - Izumi spa as well as the thermal suite). Lot's of Asian influences on the ship to suit the local clientele. We enjoyed it, and for the first time for us, us westerners where the minority on a western cruise line.....

Thanks guys that have responded. Sounds like the ship and itinerary are great. Just trying to work out the best time to go in 2017.

Thank you all.

Cheers bob.

November is monsoon season. February is dry season.

We liked the Diamond.

Haven't done that itinerary.

February should be OK in that region.

But hot.

We love the Diamond.

Have sailed from Singapore to Sydney, Singapore to Beijing and last year from Sydney to Singapore to Tokyo.

We have been lucky to have had generally good weather and flat seas.

I am sure you will enjoy..

Hi,

Thanks for these posts. I am booked on the Diamond Princess on a nine-day cruise from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand in February 2017. This sounds like a good time of the year to visit this region.

Chuck

We've sailed the Sapphire, but not the Diamond, but we do have her booked for the fall of 17. Basic question that I cannot find an answer to on the Princess website: Are the electrical outlets in the staterooms US or are we going to need some sort of adaptor, and if so, do you know what kind?

Thanks in advance.

Us outlets are available along with others. Different outlets (220?) are in separate area

We've sailed the Sapphire, but not the Diamond, but we do have her booked for the fall of 17. Basic question that I cannot find an answer to on the Princess website: Are the electrical outlets in the staterooms US or are we going to need some sort of adaptor, and if so, do you know what kind?

Thanks in advance.

I recently sailed on the Sapphire in SE Asia. The outlet was US outlet. My Belkin mini surge protector worked just fine. (although the design of the outlet panel is a bit too skinny)

We went on the Diamond 14 nights Singapore to Tokyo. If you are in Hong Kong go to Victoria Peak and make sure to see the lights at night from the ship.

 

We have lived in Thailand for 2 years and I can tell you that it will be HOT (hotter than you have probably ever experienced) everywhere except as you get closer to Japan then the weather will be really nice. We have a UV blocker umbrella that was a life saver to be able to get out of the sun a bit.

 

Always have water with you when you go out because you might not be near a place that sells it. Have a small wash cloth to get wet will help also. Have some sort of pain reliever on hand because if you start getting a headache it is from the heat and dehydration and you will be glad you have it.

 

Knowing how things work in third world Asian countries I would suggest you take a Princess sponsored tour everywhere except Japan. You can trust the Japanese will be safe, on time and extremely polite and accommodating.

 

In other Asian countries they drive FAST, pass RECKLESSLY, and the majority of drivers are on some sort of stimulant like Red Bull which is legal or Yaba (Meth) which is not. They love to drive with great speed and there are NO drivers tests, training and many don't have licenses. Our bus driver in Vietnam was passing on blind corners and speeding. We see it all the time here......and this was on a ship tour. Princess can't always check the driving of everyone.

 

You will see and experience things you never dreamed of and if you go into it with an open mind knowing things are very very different you will have a great time.

We have a deposit down for April 2017 for this cruise. Helpful information. Thank you!

Hi fellow princess cruisers.

 

Thinking of taking a 15 nighter on the diamond princess. For those who have done similar cruise, do you recommend it. Is February a good time to cruise this region????. Ship leaves from Singapore and goes to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. How did you find the ship?????.

 

Regards bob.

We have a deposit down for April, 2017 for Diamond Princess, Singapore to Tokyo and the weather looks very good for the majority of the cruise with chillier weather only on the last three days before Tokyo. We know someone who worked on Princess and did that route for a few years who told us April was a good choice.

We were on a 35 dayer, SIN to YVR with Pia no less.

Here is our joint Live-From:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1615221

and here is my review of that cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1641249

We will go back. Probably our most favorite cruise of all. We did it in April and the weather was fantastic the whole trip. Even the snow storm in the Bering Sea was fantastic.

We will go back to Asia, no doubt and do this again as there was way too much too see and not enough time to do it in...

We took the diamond princess from Japan to Sydney last year in September 23 nights - it was fantastic !! The ports were great, the staff were great and the food was great it was our 2nd cruise with Princess .

I found the ship by taxi driver! It was imaculate. Impeccable service and professional. We had our 20th anniversary aboard and it was nice. They gave us a Choc Mousse cake and the staff sang Happy Anniversary. When you sail B/N Sin and TSN (Tianjen) you will encounter thunderstorms and lots of rain as you cross offshore Vietnam. Mostly nighttime but hot-humid. We had some 20 ft seas but it was comfortable rocking and very dense fog N of Hong Kong. You are going out of typhoon season so sea temps are warm. Sea lanes are marked with blue lights too, pretty amazing. It was a fantastic tour. It is the best month of the year weatherwise to travel S China Seas. We took 1700 pictures and I reccommend you buy a Katydyn water bottle and you can drink water anywhere. The food on Princess tours was great but China Tours drivers were from HELL! 3 near wrecks a and one a wreck where a girl got her glasses broken and a cut on her l eye. They are maroons so fasten your belt.

got to love that,omg we could almost agree,ive got to say you have the quirkiest sense of what ever,almost runs close to my weird sense of the universe.But don't get excited I said almost.;)