Miaminice

@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...

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.

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.

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.

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…

actually both… we enjoyed staying in Hanoi overnight and in hindsight it was a perfect decision. And some ports are pretty far. Quite a few passengers stayed in Bangkok overnight as well. Driving times: Hanoi up to 3 hours, Bangkok up to 2.5 hours, Saigon up to 1.5 hours.

Not at all! Temperatures weren’t too hot but rather pleasant.

Thanks! Basically it doesn´t really matter which way around you do the cruise itself. However, I always feel that it´s sort of "over" after disembarkation and my mind is already on the way home. So personally I´d put the highlight first. So if Singapore is what you want to see - and it sure is fabulous - I´d do it before the cruise. But that´s just a personal thing 🙂 If you have any specific questions, please don´t hesitate to ask. Oliver

Celebrity Solstice - December 2023 - Thailand & Vietnam - Epilogue Those of you who followed along know that we had an amazing cruise. Especially Vietnam has left a lasting impression. It’s such a beautiful country and has so much to offer - nature, culture, history and incredibly friendly people. The tours we did in Vietnam to get a 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 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. 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

@itingmeimei Thank you, it’s really our pleasure. Traveling is a passion for us and who doesn’t like to share a passion?! To answer your questions… What form of transportation besides taxi is available at the port of Kyoto? There are trains/subways. Japan is the land of trains. Quick, clean and easy. We only chose the taxi to save the time and way to the the stations. Taxi isn’t really expensive either. In Kyoto the Uber App worked for taxis. Did you exchage money in Jeju or the locals would accept US dollars (like some other coutries would)? We did not exchange any money. Actually even the market stall where we bought the grilled pork lunch accepted credit card. I used Applepay/contactless. Restaurants and shops accept cards as well and we paid for the tickets to the gardens per credit card. So there was just no need to exchange money. We didn’t try but I‘d think USD are not accepted at these places. Do most of the restaurants and shops accept credit cards in Japan? Standard restaurants and shops yes. Some places had the “ticket machines” for food. Not all machines accepted cards, However, that’s not a problem at all. All of the omnipresent 7eleven, Lawsons, Familymarts etc. have ATMs. The fee is so marginal - 1 $ or so - that we always just get Yen as we go in Japan. Did you have any issue using your Ubigi sim card? No, not at all! The eSIM concept is easy and simple. Ubigi and Airalo are two reliable sources. I was told Ubigi has better connectivity in Japan. On our xmas cruise to Vietnam and Thailand I used Airalo and it also worked just great. Oliver

You are missing that Milennium might be older but she´s been beautifully refurbished. When we were on her this year we were positively surprised. Fresh, modern... top notch! Plus, I wonder why you might say that guest on Princess are more respectful 🤔 Unless you take for granted that there are more Japanese guests on board.

We are huge fans of Japan - three cruises so far. We are also huge fans of Celebrity. We have been to Japan on Millennium this year and to Thailand and Vietnam on Solstice. Both cruises were great. No complaints at all. However, that being said, with fabulous Japan the focus was always on the destination and the ship was merely our hotel. I would suggest to choose by itinerary. you can´t go wrong with either. Maybe this helps: Latest Japan cruise on Millennium: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Japan on HAL - Cherry Blossom time 2019 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html Japan on Millennium 2017 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

You can´t go wrong! 🙂 Both are very enriching itineraries 👍

👍 Which is one of the reasons why we do not sail the Caribbean 🙂 @NMTraveller I asked Birgit your question... and she could not answer it as well. We both lost our heart to Japan. So it will always be special. Vietnam was also fabulous. We both immediately mentioned and remembered the friendliness of the Vietnamese people right away. Although the people of Vietnam would have enough reasons not to like Americans and Europeans (esp French), they are most welcoming and genuinely friendly. Plus, I think our guide Rose and her team of young guides were outstanding ambassadors for this beautiful and interesting country. We are seriously considering to cancel a cruise to New Zealand which we have booked for fall 2024 and repeat Asia again. Just haven´t found a good and affordable itinerary yet.

🙂 never been not good 🙂

Last cruise as in Vietnam and Thailand? That’s really a hard question to answer. Both are very different. Japan has so much to offer as a single country. And on Japan cruises, I am glad that it is only Japan, or better that the focus is on Japan. the last one had different things to offer. Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam… We would do both again for sure!!!

our tours didn’t really have a name. Since we had been there twice before, Koichi created a tour incl. new things. He can offer customized tours. Golden Pavillon, Fushimi Inari, and Kiyomizo-dera are beautiful sights… and so many others. But not all are in the same area.

it‘s my pleasure… it was a fantastic journey. Last night we watched a TV show about Vietnam… and missed Vietnam immediately 😊

All good! I know you know... 🙂 you know what I mean 🤣

Hi David, True!!! In my defense: if I had expected a justification* I would have not ended with LOL I am sure @CarolCough understood how I meant it 🙂 Merely saying that Singapore itself is such a fabulous and fascinating city which has soooo much to offer. *one that nobody has a right to expect... getting complicated here 🙂