Nautica, Jan 20 Singapore to Hong Kong

We are thinking of going way out of our comfort zone. Have traveled widely in Europe and the Americas but never Asia. Have heard great things about Singapore and Hong Kong but would like to know specifics on other ports. Bangkok, does Nautica dock in the city or outside? What about Saigon and Hanoi same question. Is Angkor Wat easy trip from Sihanoukville? Weather ,hotels etc. Any observations from you seasoned people out there , many thanks

You can not do a day tour from Sihanoukville to Angkor Wat it must be done on a pre or post tour. If Oceania offers these options I would highly recommend it.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Forums mobile app

We are on the next cruise from Hong Kong to Bangkok starting on 2/4/18, which hits many of the same ports.

We are doing the O provided extension to Angkor Wat. It is a three day trip I think. Fly up and get through Cambodian customs, see the sights and area day 2, fly back the next day. Take a look at our trip in the land portion. I believe it would be difficult to do on a one dayer.

The ship (Nautica) does not go into Hanoi, but ?? Loc Bay. O again offers a two day (one night) land trip into Hanoi for those wanting to do so. We are going to see several of the sights in the Bay area that are of interest and not go into Hanoi proper. Hanoi appears to be about a three hour bus ride from where the ship docks.

I am likewise confused on where we dock in Bangkok. I have read reports of being very near downtown to others saying a 45min to 1 hour bus ride. So I guess the answer is it both depends and changes. Our cruise has an overnight there, plus disembarks there. We are going to both take the trip to Angkor Wat, plus stay an additional day beyond that. Might have wished we were staying 2 additional nights, but the airline tickets are bought!

On our cruise to the area Nautica went up the rivers in both Saigon and Bangkok to be very close to town - especially in Saigon. Hanoi is 3 hours away but well worth visiting IMO (leaving some time for Halong Bay cruise) - very different from Saigon.

Not much to do or see in Sihanoukville. AW is definitely a separate multiday trip. Lots to do and see in HK and Singapore pre and post cruise respectively.

Enjoy the cruise - a great itinerary.

PInot, we used Angkor Sam tours this past February when we were in Siem Reap. The total cost of a two day private tour with driver and guide in an air conditioned van was excellent - $155....excluding entrance fees and lunches. Our tour guide Lekh, was very good. They were excellent at arranging the itinerary to avoid temples when the larger crowds were visiting.

It was very hot and the driver was always greeting us with cool towels and water. Lekh was also very helpful in pointing out the best spots for pictures and was pretty good with the cameras for those shots where we wanted the two of us in the picture.

We will be on that cruise and would like to do some private tours. I have not researched them yet, but will start soon.

Singapore to HK was a fabulous cruise. Be certain to have a few days in both cities . Both have more modern infrastructure than any North American city. There are plenty of 5 star hotels at reasonable prices in both cities. The Salisbury in HK is a particular bargain- best location in town for less than half the luxury rates.

Everywhere in Singapore is an inexpensive taxi ride to the cruise terminal. Ko Samui is a pleasant island with not much to do. My wife enjoyed an elephant ride. In Bangkok, Nautica can get upriver to about 45 minutes from downtown. The larger ships have to dock 2 hrs. away.

Sihanoukville is rather poverty stricken. Cambodia has suffered as much as any country from the war and subsequent genocide. Try to book a tour through the Don Bosco school.

Angkor is a 7th wonder of the world but can't be done in one day.

Again , Nautica can get much closer to Saigon than the larger ships.. If you decide to go, find out if the guide Zoom is still in business. Hanoi takes about 4 hrs. From the port of HaLong Bay. We skipped Hanoi and opted for a 'junk cruise' of the bay.

HK is something special. Easy to get around, modern bustling, clean -be sure to have extra time.

Don't hesitate. Go. You won't regret it.

We did this cruise in 2014 and it was an absolutely fantastic trip. Agree with the suggestion of going early and staying afterwards. Singapore and Hong Kong are both wonderful cities.

Our five days in Vietnam were the highlights of the trip. We booked private excursions with Tony from Ann Tours https://www.anntours.com/. In HCMC we did a tour of the city as well as a trip to the Mekong Delta. We did a tour of Hue. And, on Tony's recommendation we spent a night off the ship in Hanoi. It's a long 4-hour ride to Hanoi from the port and we were very glad we opted to stay overnight in a beautiful 5 star hotel. For each of these tours, we were joined by 2 or 3 other couples whom we "meet" on our roll call.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me at ayoung607 AT gmail DOT com. Anne

We are thinking of going way out of our comfort zone. Have traveled widely in Europe and the Americas but never Asia. Have heard great things about Singapore and Hong Kong but would like to know specifics on other ports. Bangkok, does Nautica dock in the city or outside? What about Saigon and Hanoi same question. Is Angkor Wat easy trip from Sihanoukville? Weather ,hotels etc. Any observations from you seasoned people out there , many thanks

Hi! We flew into Singapore three days before our tour and flew from there to Siem Reap for two nights to see Angkor Wat. It was a lot more inexpensive than doing it through the ship, and well worth the trip. Our cruise left from Singapore, so it made sense to us. We used AngkorSam to book our guide and he was great. Nicole

Hi! We flew into Singapore three days before our tour and flew from there to Siem Reap for two nights to see Angkor Wat. It was a lot more inexpensive than doing it through the ship, and well worth the trip. Our cruise left from Singapore, so it made sense to us. We used AngkorSam to book our guide and he was great. Nicole

Nautica docks in Laem Chabang two hours bus ride from Bangkok

Since the Nautica does not dock in Bangkok and it's a two hour bus ride from the port of

Since the Nautical does not dock in Bangkok and the excursions only offer a day trip to Bangkok which is a two hour bus trip each way, each day......has anyone considered going independently to Bangkok, spending the night and returning the second day to the ship so you don't spend 8 hours on a bus? Has anyone done this in the past? We have been to Bangkok and are disappointed to finally figure out that the ship does not dock in town.

deleted

Nautica docks in Laem Chabang two hours bus ride from Bangkok

This may or may not be correct. When we were in Bangkok on Nautica we docked at Klong Toei which was about 45 minutes from the city centre rather than Laem Chabang where the larger ships have to dock.

Oceania offered an overnight tour to Angor Wat from Shinokville (sp) that several passengers went on. They then rejoined the ship at the next port. As Earl Rosebery wrote, we did dock at Long Toei on our cruise as well. They had a shuttle that ran into town and back from the port. We did private tours in Vietnam. If you go to World Tour 2019, I think on Page 8 you will see the companies I used to book private tours. They were much more reasonable than Oceania. If you are going to do the Mekong Delta in Saigon do it on the first day as the traffic is horrible getting from the ship to the delta and from the delta back to the ship. Do the city tour the next day and then you don't have to worry about getting back to the ship. Fascinating county to visit.

Has anybody had experience with Oceania provided tours to Vietnam ports?

We have Olife and lots of OBC.

Mary

We are planning on renting a vehicle with driver to take us from the Nautica to Bangkok on Tuesday, January 23rd. The price is about $50

each way per couple. It of course depends on the size of the vehicle and how many passengers we have.

We will spend the night in Bangkok and return the following afternoon. We have been there before and found it easy to get around, hire a guide at the temple, etc.

Would you like to join us and lower the cost? Please respond. Thanks, Susan & Fred B.