Back from Asia Cruise with Celebrity...Tour Recap!

[messengerc21]

We sailed on the Millennium Southbound on 2-16-14. I arranged all tours with private guides. The best one was Chob for Bangkok, ask for Pu as a guide! She was the Best I've seen in 45 Cruises! In Vietnam we used Smile Tours with Thi as a contact. All great as well! We spent the night at the Rex Hotel in Saigon.....Do yourself a favor a stay there! Great Hotel! They upgraded us to a suite and the Hotel is fantastic with a great breakfast included. We stayed at the Marriott in Bangkok, and I would stay at the Sheraton on the River if I came back. Both Smile Tours and Chob were Great to deal with!!! Any further questions, I'd be happy to answer! Mark

[jimksact]

We sailed on the Millennium Southbound on 2-16-14. I arranged all tours with private guides. The best one was Chob for Bangkok, ask for Pu as a guide! She was the Best I've seen in 45 Cruises! In Vietnam we used Smile Tours with Thi as a contact. All great as well! We spent the night at the Rex Hotel in Saigon.....Do yourself a favor a stay there! Great Hotel! They upgraded us to a suite and the Hotel is fantastic with a great breakfast included. We stayed at the Marriott in Bangkok, and I would stay at the Sheraton on the River if I came back. Both Smile Tours and Chob were Great to deal with!!! Any further questions, I'd be happy to answer! Mark

Hi Mark, we are booked next year on the Millennium and we will be going to Bangkok and Vietnam. I would like to get the details to contact them and costs if possible. Could you email or answer here? Jimksact at aol dot com

 

Thanks, Evelyn

[messengerc21]

Hi Mark, we are booked next year on the Millennium and we will be going to Bangkok and Vietnam. I would like to get the details to contact them and costs if possible. Could you email or answer here? Jimksact at aol dot com

 

Thanks, Evelyn

 

Hi Evelyn, The tours for Smile in all 5 days in Vietnam cost $910.00 US including the Rex Hotel in Saigon. I put together a group of 8 that kept the cost down in all ports. We were Southbound and we did a Half day in Halong Bay which was Great! A lot of people opt for more time in Halong Bay and missed Hanoi due to the long distance from the port, but we all wanted to see Hanoi and I'm glad we did. There email is thi.smiletours@gmail.com.

As far as Bangkok, Chobs contact is Chob@thaitourguide.com and we paid about $245.00 US per couple for the 2 days of tours. Ask to include the Elephant rides on the 2nd day (it is about an hour out of town and close to the Floating Market, which was a great experience). I cannot say enough about our tour guide there.....Ms. Pu. She was a gem! Gave us a small gift at the end and bought us different foods to try along the way.

See the postings under: Millennium Asia, Feb. 16, 2014. I started this early last year when I was researching for this trip. You will find Itinerary for tours posted by ALLA on the last few pages. By the way, both Chob and Thi ALWAYS responded to my emails within 18 hours with my many questions throughout the year. I did have to wire a deposit to Smile tours and not for Chob. No problem! I hope this helps. Feel free to email me at messengerc21@yahoo.com with any further questions! Best Regards, Mark Messenger

[jimksact]

Hi Evelyn, The tours for Smile in all 5 days in Vietnam cost $910.00 US including the Rex Hotel in Saigon. I put together a group of 8 that kept the cost down in all ports. We were Southbound and we did a Half day in Halong Bay which was Great! A lot of people opt for more time in Halong Bay and missed Hanoi due to the long distance from the port, but we all wanted to see Hanoi and I'm glad we did. There email is thi.smiletours@gmail.com.

As far as Bangkok, Chobs contact is Chob@thaitourguide.com and we paid about $245.00 US per couple for the 2 days of tours. Ask to include the Elephant rides on the 2nd day (it is about an hour out of town and close to the Floating Market, which was a great experience). I cannot say enough about our tour guide there.....Ms. Pu. She was a gem! Gave us a small gift at the end and bought us different foods to try along the way.

See the postings under: Millennium Asia, Feb. 16, 2014. I started this early last year when I was researching for this trip. You will find Itinerary for tours posted by ALLA on the last few pages. By the way, both Chob and Thi ALWAYS responded to my emails within 18 hours with my many questions throughout the year. I did have to wire a deposit to Smile tours and not for Chob. No problem! I hope this helps. Feel free to email me at messengerc21@yahoo.com with any further questions! Best Regards, Mark Messenger

Thank you, Mark! Your information is great and I will be contacting your guides and mention your great reviews.

 

Again, thanks for your help. Evelyn

[ghstudio]

The tour guides in Vietnam seem to all require payment in full in advance. We were apprehensive about this, but we used smile tours and we were very very pleased with their service. We made our own hotel reservations. Note: we were in Saigon on Tet (with fireworks, flowers...wonderful) and the rates were significantly higher than quoted above.

[SWANOZ]

The tour guides in Vietnam seem to all require payment in full in advance. We were apprehensive about this, but we used smile tours and we were very very pleased with their service. We made our own hotel reservations. Note: we were in Saigon on Tet (with fireworks, flowers...wonderful) and the rates were significantly higher than quoted above.

 

Vietnam Private Tours only required a deposit and the rest we payed at our first port of call. The tours were great and they refunded most of the money for one port which we were unable to dock at. They took a small amount to cover costs of the driver and tour guide going to the port. Jennifer

[Ladybugdm]

Asia Top Travel also only required a deposit for our 3 port tours in Vietnam. Our tours are coming up in 3 weeks so can't comment yet on how they were.

[Joshienana]

Hi Mark, we are booked next year on the Millennium and we will be going to Bangkok and Vietnam. I would like to get the details to contact them and costs if possible. Could you email or answer here? Jimksact at aol dot com

 

Thanks, Evelyn

 

 

We are booked on the Dec. 7th cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong and are very interested in private tours. We don't care for the ship's tours and being herded like cattle. Any information would be appreciated. Please email me at: joshienana@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks,

Arleen