Miaminice

Yes!

2 hours ago, Happy_Traveler_2008 said:

Really enjoyed your cruise report! I’m taking the NCL Jewel in March and will be visiting many of the same ports.

we booked Millennium again for 5/2025. We compared X, Princess and NCL and decided to go with Millennium again. Mostly because of the itinerary.

20 hours ago, gordylad said:

Am I correct in saying a lot of people visit Pattaya from the Laemchabang port because its a much shorter taxi ride than Bangkok?

 

tx

We did one day in Bangkok and took a Grab (Asian Uber) to Pattaya on the second day.
Yes, the ride to Bangkok is far - but there´s a lot to see along the way and in Bangkok. 
So for us it was worth the drive.

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

I did not keep multiple hard copies of our passport. Just one copy in addition to a photo of my passport that I took with my iPhone. 
 

Here is the Immigration and General Information sheet from Celebrity that was in our stateroom when we embarked. Note that it does not say that you should have multiple hard copies of your passport. 

David, we also received an information - I think it was before the cruise - mentioning one copy per port.

Hence the confusion. I printed a few - because it was easy - but expected to just need one single copy to show if required. It was good to have, but noone even wanted to see the single copy - except the hotel. 

19 minutes ago, thuyronald said:

Hi everyone,

Did you all had to bring a printed copy of your passport for all the ports?  I know Celebrity will keep our passport until the end of the cruise.

My travel agent gave me information that states "Bring your passport, a photo of the ID page on your phone, and one printed copy per port visited."

Does this mean I need to bring with me 7 printed copies of my passport since we will be visiting 7 ports?

 

Thanks for the assistance.

we had ONE in our pockets and it was enough for the entire cruise. Except for Hanoi, where we stayed overnight at a hotel, noone requested to see them.
 

Print a few spares and save a pic on your phone and you are fine.

We stayed at the Oakwood Suites for a very good rate. Fabulous hotel. 
 

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Good afternoon (from the USA), Oliver.  Have you tried to order from the MDR menu on Edge class ships (as an Aqua passenger)?

Yes, and that’s more confusing than on M and S class - where we never had a problem.
On one cruise on Apex we were told no - and staff blamed it on the Maitre of Blu. 2 months later on the same ship but different Maitre, the waiter (same as the cruise before) gave us a thumbs up. 
 

BTW, we enjoyed our Vietnam cruise so much that we booked a Mekong River cruise last week. 😁
 

On 1/25/2024 at 3:55 AM, mahdnc said:

We took a Dec-Jan cruise in Solstice. Every night that we were in Blu, I ordered at least one course from the MDR menu. Also the Blu staff made sure I got breadsticks in our bread basket which aren’t normally served there. 

Hi David,

I was just going to write the same and then saw that you answered. I ordered from the MDR menu as well - no problem. 

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Asia cruises are wonderful to explore different cultures. Having said that IMO this particular itinerary isn't the most exciting. I would highly recommend a Vietnam cruise, which either starts in Singapore and ends in Hong Kong or vice versa. You'll visit Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong with all ports worth visiting and you'll experience at least four different countries. I've been on 109 cruises and my Vietnam cruise with Celebrity ranks. among the top three cruises and top travel experience I've ever had 

3 hours ago, gordylad said:

Looks like we are turning our sights to Asia a destination

Fully agree to what kwokpot said! Bali is beautiful and we have been there twice on land vacations but the itinerary you mentioned would not be my choice for an Asia cruise. Yes, nice beaches - but why fly so far for a beach when Asia has soooooo much more to offer?

We just returned from our (2nd) Southeast Asia cruise. This was our report

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2980155-celebrity-solstice-12222023-thailand-vietnam-liveish-report/

We enjoyed it so much that we cancelled a cruise to NZ on Edge and booked a Mekong River cruise for 9/2024 instead.

We also love Japan and have done 3 Japan cruises. This is the report of the most recent one.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/

And guess what? We just booked a 4th cruise to Japan for 2025. Actually the one shown above. Compared some of Princess but decided to do Millennium again.

As a first time in Asia I‘d probably recommend the Vietnam & Thailand cruise. Nice and diverse itinerary. Singapore is fabulous, Thailand and Vietnam are great and if you haven’t been to Hong Kong before, it’s also nice.

That being said, this is the view of a non-beach cruiser 😀
We love culture, history, local food… but would never spend time on a beach. Hence we never cruise in the Caribbean as well. 

20 minutes ago, kj_connections said:

Thanks for the report and beautiful pictures.  Could you tell me if the solarium pool allows kids? Was there any Japanese food on the ship outside of paid restaurants?

I am not sure about the solarium - but as much as I know there´s a certain time when kids are allowed.

The buffet had some Japanes dishes sometime and one Ramen day. Otherwise no. 
But the restaurants in Japan are great - go try local.

@Dr. Pam

See here: 

We have done three Japan cruises already - 2 on Millennium and 1 on HAL.
We just booked our fourth - on Millennium again (05/14/25). I was tempted to book the one on Princess to see something new. However, I compared the Japanese ports and quickly found out that the little known ports of Princess have much less to offer. 

So I don´t just say I´d book Millennium, but I actually did.

Plus, the refurbished Millennium is really nice. On our last cruise in October - Japan as well - we really enjoyed our time on her.

 

18 hours ago, travelfan20 said:

Miaminice ,

Thank you again for posting your wonderful "almost live" report of your recent cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong. It was very enjoyable and informative. We are going on a similar cruise at the end of February 

 

Do you happened to know or be willing to recommend, what is an appropriate level of gratuities for  Thailand and  Vietnam for your private guides you used ? Also is it better for to use local currency or USD?

 

Just trying to figure out what we need to bring in terms of local currencies in each country 

 

Cheers😀

 

In Vietnam we followed a general recommendation of  Rose and tipped 500,000 VND / USD 20 for both of us for a day. 

19 hours ago, AP269 said:

Thank you for your quick response, I have been in contact with Anntours & Rose and booked tours, I am unaware of rollcall that you mentioned in another post and how that works. Can you advise.

You can find it here on Cruisecritic

Look for the Roll Call of your cruise. There you´ll find fellow cruisers of your sailing. Some offering spots in private tours, some looking for spots. Or all kind of usefull (most of the time 🙂) info on your specific sailing.

19 minutes ago, holidayhelen said:

Is the floating market no longer??

 

We are leaving next Tues

 

Thanks H

A part of it burned down and is closed... I have no idea how much is still left and if it´s worth going there. The Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens are a possible and nice alternative. 

@holidayhelen

GRAB is the way to go in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore etc. - it´s comparable to Uber.
Download the Grab App and you are all set.

We used Grab for our rides to the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, the trip to the floating market (before it burned down 🥲) and back to the port. All simple to do. You see the fare in advance and the availability of cars in the area.

To have data available on the trip, I recommend Airalo Asia eSim. Worked in all the ports.

Here´s what we did on the cruise.

We HIGHLY recommend Rose for your tours in Vietnam!!!
She´s exceptional in the true sense of the word.

Those of you who followed the live(ish) report of our recent cruise to Southeast Asia know that we had an amazing time.

For all others I posted the link below.
Especially Vietnam has left a lasting impression. We have already booked another trip to Vietnam - a Mekong River cruise this time.
Vietnam is such a beautiful country and has so much to offer - nature, culture, history and - maybe above all - incredibly friendly people. This cruise was our second cruise to Southeast Asia.

The tours we did in Vietnam to get a small glimpse of its beauty were outstanding. We planned all of them with Rose, a young lady from Hanoi. All of the tours created unforgettable memories, were very well organized and Rose and her passionate team of guides were absolutely fantastic. They were exemplary ambassadors of their country and played a vital role in deepening our affection for the destination. We can´t recommend Rose highly enough.

Since we did the trip mentioned above, some more people followed our recommendation and also booked with her.

ALL of them came back happy and full of praise.

So if you travel or cruise to Vietnam, contact Rose for tours. 
You will not regret it!
Number +84374372918 (also on whatsapp)
Email: Nhungnguyen.ulis@gmail.com

Rose with us in Hanoi

Here´s the report of our most recent cruise to Japan...
 

We are about to book a fourth cruise to Japan - it´s fabulous.

Maybe this helps... it was our third cruise to Japan. And we are already about to book a fourth 🙂

Maybe this helps...
 

8 hours ago, AP269 said:

Hello

Thank you for all the information in your posts. We are boarding this ship on 8 February for 12 nights & have booked with Anntours and just about to book with Rose for Vietnam. Some tours seem very long days and I am assuming that we can cut them short if we wanted.

Also, can you tell me what is an acceptable amount to tip the guide as I wouldn’t want to offend anyone.

regsrds

Hi, 

Well, the tours are long because in Bangkok, Saigon and Hanoi the distances between the port and the cities are far. See post #188. If you cut them short you won’t have the time to see much (anything). 
 

Two other couples followed our recommendation to tour with Rose and they are just doing Hanoi today. They are also having a blast. Rose is a gem!

Yes, tipping in these countries is acceptable. It’s in Japan where it is still frowned upon. 
 

we followed a recommendation and tipped 500,000 VND / USD 20 for both of us for a day. 

57 minutes ago, benel204 said:

Thanks for that information.  I'm curious from whom you were able to select your tours.  Was it through the ship?  Or private.  I would like to do some more research on the overall costs including the tours.  Your experience is really so helpful --- again, thank you for taking the time to chronicle everything.

We never do ship tours. We much prefer private tours in small groups and dislike the huge groups of the ship.

I organize tours with local guides and ask for people to join us on the roll call.

5 hours ago, Mickey22 said:

Hello,

  My husband and I will be in Yokohama following our Millennium cruise in March. We are staying near the port (New Grand Hotel).  I would like to visit Kamakura and was trying to find out  how far it is to the train station in Yokohama and how far is it to the Big Buddha from the Kamakura train station. I remember reading that you made this trip, also any other suggestions you might have for not to be missed places in Kamakura.  Thanks, your live blogs and photos are always wonderful and make us feel as though we are there with you.

                 Jane

Trains are the way to go in Japan. So unless you are walkers like us, just find the nearest subway station by your hotel - Motomachi-iriguchi - and take the subway to Yokohama station.

Once you are at Yokohama Station take the JR train to Kamakura.

We walked to the Buddha (roughly 30 min) but you can take the train which we took back both ways (Hase Station). There’s also a bus. Google or Applemaps will show you all connections once you are there.
The three places we saw in Kamakura were awesome and filled the day, so the Buddha, the nearby Hase-dera-Temple and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu (walk from Kamakura Station) are definitely what we‘d recommend. The day was one of the highlights of the entire trip - the icing on the cake so to speak.

16 hours ago, benel204 said:

Oh wow, very interesting.  Looks like we would want to factor that in.

In looking at the maps, we were wondering if we could somehow manage a flight to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  Did you consider that?  Perhaps out of Saigon/Ho-chi-min City?

 

There was even a tour offering Siem Reap. But we weren’t interested. It’s either one or the other for us.

We just booked a Mekong River cruise taking us from Saigon to Siam Reap in September 2024 - and canceled New Zealand on Edge in November. 😁 so we’ll get a more in depth look…