Singapore-Hong Kong-Hong Kong -Shadow 6th November 2010

[Alldee]

We are doing these back to back cruises at the end of the year, and have been looking at shore excursions. We have already 'spent' $1400 dollars on the first leg, and have not even considered the China trips yet! Does anyone who has done either/both of these cruises have any advice as to which are worth going on, and which are not worth the money? We don't usually go for 'adventure', more for a general feeling of the different places we visit. We are quite happy to pay for a really informative and interesting excursion, but some of the previous ones we have been on, i.e. in the Caribbean, have been barely worth the experience, and we have felt that we would probably have enjoyed spending the day on board! Having said that, we do like to get the feel of different destinations.

 

Thank you to anyone who has any tips!

[wripro]

If your cruise includes Viet Nam I highly recommend private tours in all those ports. It will be cheaper and much more satisfying.

[Alldee]

Thank you. Is it relatively easy to arrange a private tour, and how do we go about it? As we have only cruised twice before we have taken the excursions offered by the ship - just because we didn't know how to go about arranging one ourselves. Is it better to contact one of the tour operators over the internet before sailing? Thanks again!

[wripro]

There are two companies that do an excellent job in Viet Nam. One is Tony-Ann Tours and the other is Exotissimo. You can google them, get email addresses and web sites and contact them. Let them know your dates and they will make suggestions or you can tell them what you want to see.

[Alldee]

Thanks, that is so helpful. I will contact them and see what is on offer

[chicagogal]

Thanks, that is so helpful. I will contact them and see what is on offer

 

We are on the Oct 19th Shadow sailing which is mostly Viet Nam. We have contacted Tony at Ann Tours and have been very pleased so far with his responsiveness and suggestions. We have booked with him. We won't be back to tell you about it much before you leave though, I'm afraid. (Returning home Nov 2nd)

[Alldee]

We are on the Oct 19th Shadow sailing which is mostly Viet Nam. We have contacted Tony at Ann Tours and have been very pleased so far with his responsiveness and suggestions. We have booked with him. We won't be back to tell you about it much before you leave though, I'm afraid. (Returning home Nov 2nd)

 

Thanks. Which tours did you go for?

[morningstar]

We are also on this cruise and are looking at what we want to do. I know that we want to do a private trip to Hanoi, but not sure what else, maybe Hue. Let me know what you decide. We are all excited, have wanted to visit Viet Nam for a long time. Still don't know if we need our own visa.

[57 varieties]

We were on Whisper visiting Vietnam in February. Silversea sorted our visa for us. Wonderful country.

[morningstar]

thank you, one less thing to worry about. Have contacted Tony Ann tours to arrange a private tour to Hanoi and Hue. Waiting for a reply.

[chicagogal]

Thanks. Which tours did you go for?

 

The only one we booked with Anntours so far is two days in Saigon. Our friends also booked Hoi An with Anntours but my husband really wanted to go to Hue instead. We have not booked that one yet but we may use AMEX platinum shipboard credit and take the Silversea excursion there. We are definitely taking a Silversea booked private van and driver to Hanoi - seems too risky to do that one privately since the drive is long and we don't want the ship to leave without us! We are using another company to your in Bangkok.

[redheadednancy]

The only one we booked with Anntours so far is two days in Saigon. Our friends also booked Hoi An with Anntours but my husband really wanted to go to Hue instead. We have not booked that one yet but we may use AMEX platinum shipboard credit and take the Silversea excursion there. We are definitely taking a Silversea booked private van and driver to Hanoi - seems too risky to do that one privately since the drive is long and we don't want the ship to leave without us! We are using another company to your in Bangkok.

 

We booked Tony-Ann Tours to Hanoi and to Saigon. Both excellent and our van was more comfortble than the ship's tour vans(have to be honest and say it was Seabourn, but SS was in port also and we saw a lot of SS people). This was because they crammed more people in the ship's vans and not much room for knees. We were in private car with Tony-Ann. We stopped at many of the same stops that the ships vans did and all were in touch by phone. We all arrived back at the same time.. They are used all the time and very reputable. I would not hesitate to use them over either ship's service. Also the price was considerably more reasonable.

[chicagogal]

We booked Tony-Ann Tours to Hanoi and to Saigon. Both excellent and our van was more comfortble than the ship's tour vans(have to be honest and say it was Seabourn, but SS was in port also and we saw a lot of SS people). This was because they crammed more people in the ship's vans and not much room for knees. We were in private car with Tony-Ann. We stopped at many of the same stops that the ships vans did and all were in touch by phone. We all arrived back at the same time.. They are used all the time and very reputable. I would not hesitate to use them over either ship's service. Also the price was considerably more reasonable.

 

Thanks for that - we may reconsider Hanoi.

[Alldee]

We booked Tony-Ann Tours to Hanoi and to Saigon. Both excellent and our van was more comfortble than the ship's tour vans(have to be honest and say it was Seabourn, but SS was in port also and we saw a lot of SS people). This was because they crammed more people in the ship's vans and not much room for knees. We were in private car with Tony-Ann. We stopped at many of the same stops that the ships vans did and all were in touch by phone. We all arrived back at the same time.. They are used all the time and very reputable. I would not hesitate to use them over either ship's service. Also the price was considerably more reasonable.

 

Thank you. Everyone seems to rate Tony-An tours, and it is interesting to hear that the ship vans are a bit cramped - we have just contacted Tony and will definitely book with them. I think my husband was a little worried about getting back to the ship on time, but you have reassured us!

[redheadednancy]

Thank you. Everyone seems to rate Tony-An tours, and it is interesting to hear that the ship vans are a bit cramped - we have just contacted Tony and will definitely book with them. I think my husband was a little worried about getting back to the ship on time, but you have reassured us!

 

They were about half the price of the ship and we had a driver and guide and we sat comfortably in back seat. The ship had little minivans that held 2-4 couples and their knees were crammed. The tour is pretty standard both for the ship and what TonyAnn does, so you aren't too far from Seabourn people at anytime. They also stay in radio touch with ship if there should be a problem. It is a long drive and you stop at rest stops and we were stopping and there were the Seabourn people. I never worried about getting back on time after I did a little research beforehand.

 

I also have been told that Seabourn has NEVER left anyone. I can't believe that is true with all the travel. We had a funny time on the med cruise when two couples went to dinner and at 11:30 p.m we were ready to leave and they weren't back. The captain came on and asked if anyone knew where they were. We did, because we chose not to go with them that evening. The officer in charge was pacing back and forth ready to pull the gangplank. All of us were hanging out balconies watching. At 12:10, the two couples came running down the cement walk. Most booed and applauded from the balcony. They were mortified and wrote notes to the captain the next day apologizing. They were at a 3 star Michelin restaurant and they took all evening to serve the courses and the time got away from them. I heard they never did get dessert. It was very funny, but not to the captain (It was Captain G-A) and crew!!

[Observer]

I also have been told that Seabourn has NEVER left anyone.

 

I know of a sad exception.

 

It was on a Christmas cruise on the Pride in the Caribbean. Seabourn had its beach BBQ with floating caviar, etc. The ship was about to depart. Mrs. X had not returned. There were urgent announcements for the occupant of suite YYY to call Reception. When there was still no response, the ship pulled anchor and sailed away -- without Mrs. X in Suite YYY.

 

During dinner (and this was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day) the Captain came on the PA and announced that the Pride was changing course, was returning to the earlier port/anchor spot. He went on to say -- amazing on Christmas Eve/Day! -- that the missing passenger (an aged English lady) was found dead on the beach and that the ship had to attend to arrangements.

 

This all occurred at least a decade ago, but I remember that PA announcement as if it came yesterday.

[redheadednancy]

I also have been told that Seabourn has NEVER left anyone.

 

I know of a sad exception.

 

It was on a Christmas cruise on the Pride in the Caribbean. Seabourn had its beach BBQ with floating caviar, etc. The ship was about to depart. Mrs. X had not returned. There were urgent announcements for the occupant of suite YYY to call Reception. When there was still no response, the ship pulled anchor and sailed away -- without Mrs. X in Suite YYY.

 

During dinner (and this was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day) the Captain came on the PA and announced that the Pride was changing course, was returning to the earlier port/anchor spot. He went on to say -- amazing on Christmas Eve/Day! -- that the missing passenger (an aged English lady) was found dead on the beach and that the ship had to attend to arrangements.

 

This all occurred at least a decade ago, but I remember that PA announcement as if it came yesterday.

Very scary but with an aged population...things will happen. That was so sad. I hope they have not "voluntarily" left someone I guess I should have said. Our instance was really quite humorous. I can still see the officer in charge pacing up and down the walkway with his hands behind his back. I think it costs them money to stay in port when they are suppose to leave.