Celebrity Millennium Cruise

[Roo]

Hi Folks,

 

We are finally thinking of dipping our toe in the waters of Asia. The itineraries that Celebrity Millennium offer are of interest to us, but each one differs slightly and may or may not include Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand etc. as well as the number of days spent in each port.

 

I would love to hear form those who have sailed this route (on other cruise lines as well) and the pros and cons of the ports they visited. I know it's a tall order, but it's very confusing to narrow down. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

Roo

[4774Papa]

Hi Folks,

 

We are finally thinking of dipping our toe in the waters of Asia. The itineraries that Celebrity Millennium offer are of interest to us, but each one differs slightly and may or may not include Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand etc. as well as the number of days spent in each port.

 

I would love to hear form those who have sailed this route (on other cruise lines as well) and the pros and cons of the ports they visited. I know it's a tall order, but it's very confusing to narrow down. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

Roo

 

We did a wonderful cruise on Millie last Fall.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

Most of cruise was in Japan and we loved Japan.

[Roo]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for directing me to your detailed review. I hope it's ok if I contact you again in the next month or so with further questions?

 

Nancy

 

 

We did a wonderful cruise on Millie last Fall.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

Most of cruise was in Japan and we loved Japan.

[stefanny28]

Hi Roo;

 

We are from Montreal, Quebec.

We just booked the Millenium ( Jan 2nd- Jan 14th, 2017) and the itinerary is : Singapore ( overnight), Laem Chabang ( Thailand, 3 days), Vietnam ( 2 days) and Hong Kong ( overnight).

 

We choose this itinerary because of the 2 days in Singapore and Hong Kong and the 3 days in Thailand. Most of the ports are quite far from town ( 2 hours or more) but with the overnigh, it gives you more time to visit pre-cruise and post cruise.

We also chose this date since it will be the best time to visit Asia. It will be cooler in Hong Kong and Vietnam. And the rain season has not started yet in Vietnam. It doesn't matter for Thailand and Singapore since those 2 countries are always hot ( compare to what we have in Canada).

 

I am from Vietnam and DH is from Hong Kong so we have a pretty good idea what we want to see and visit. And the different languages will not be a problem for us. The cruise is still far but I already have most of my excursions booked and planned already.

Come and visit our roll call. There are quite a lot of Canadians ( especially from Ontario) and it will be great if you decide to join this cruise :-)

[4774Papa]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for directing me to your detailed review. I hope it's ok if I contact you again in the next month or so with further questions?

 

Nancy

 

Nancy,

Sure, glad to assist.

[wesail7seas]

We did a wonderful cruise on Millie last Fall.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

Most of cruise was in Japan and we loved Japan.

 

Hi there,

We are doing the same cruise in October of this year and I have a question for you.

How did you handle the Visa for China?There seems to be a lot of speculation as to who,when and how,but no clear answers.

Did you arrange for the Visa yourself? Through an embassy or on line?

Did Celebrity arrange it,or was it actually necessary to have it?

Thanks so much,

Marg

[John Bull]

Note the itinerary posted by Stefanny, it's ideal for a once-in-a-lifetime visit to SE Asia.

It's by far the most popular sort of SE Asian itinerary - good choice of cruise lines, a good mix of ports, not too many sea days, inexpensive visas handled by the ship (Marg - for Hong Kong, Brits & Americans & Canadians & most other nationalities don't need a visa but you will have to fix your own visa for mainland China - the ship cannot fix it.)

Yes, a long drive from Laem Chabang to Bangkok, and from Phu My to Saigon (except small ships like Azamara, which can sail up the river right to the city), and from Halong Bay for those who want to visit Hanoi. An overnite hotel in those cities is worth consideration.

Most cruise ships overnite in Halong Bay, best if they also overnite in Laem Chabang & Saigon. Most also include Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

And give yourselves post-cruise time in eclectic Hong Kong, perhaps also pre-cruise in Singapore.

BTW by joining a pre-booked day-excursion from Hong Kong you can get a snapshot visit to China without an expensive & complicated visa, a group visa is included. Not the most scenic part of China, but worthwhile if Chinese ports aren't on your itinerary

 

The problem that we now have is finding a suitable itinerary which covers some or all of..... Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Philippines & Borneo - without repeating a lot of those "been there / got the T-shirt" places on our previous cruise. Something to bear in mind if you're considering a return visit.

 

JB :)

Edited June 3, 2016 by John Bull

[go fish 44]

Hi there,

We are doing the same cruise in October of this year and I have a question for you.

How did you handle the Visa for China?There seems to be a lot of speculation as to who,when and how,but no clear answers.

Did you arrange for the Visa yourself? Through an embassy or on line?

Did Celebrity arrange it,or was it actually necessary to have it?

Thanks so much,

Marg

 

You have to get your own Chinese Visa. We did it last year and live in the Toronto Area. You fill out the visa form on line and print it out. Get your pictures taken at CAA or Costco tell them that you want a picture for Chinese Visa. You need to print out a copy of your Entire Trip example flying AC to Vancouver on (date and Airline number) boarding the Millie, give dates, ships and all airlines until you return to Toronto, I am not kidding the entire trip.

Ours was a 10 week trip and the file was huge and they asked to see

everything. Take everything to Visa center office at 1000 Finch are West, room 9000 North York corner of Finch and Dufferin

http.http://www.visacenter.ca

Hope this helps Sue

[wesail7seas]

You have to get your own Chinese Visa. We did it last year and live in the Toronto Area. You fill out the visa form on line and print it out. Get your pictures taken at CAA or Costco tell them that you want a picture for Chinese Visa. You need to print out a copy of your Entire Trip example flying AC to Vancouver on (date and Airline number) boarding the Millie, give dates, ships and all airlines until you return to Toronto, I am not kidding the entire trip.

Ours was a 10 week trip and the file was huge and they asked to see

everything. Take everything to Visa center office at 1000 Finch are West, room 9000 North York corner of Finch and Dufferin

http.www.visacenter.ca

Hope this helps Sue

 

Thank You so much.

I really appreciate it.

Marg :)

[4774Papa]

Hi there,

We are doing the same cruise in October of this year and I have a question for you.

How did you handle the Visa for China?There seems to be a lot of speculation as to who,when and how,but no clear answers.

Did you arrange for the Visa yourself? Through an embassy or on line?

Did Celebrity arrange it,or was it actually necessary to have it?

Thanks so much,

Marg

 

Marg,

We were told that if we didn't want to leave the ship in Shanghai, that we didn't need the visa. However, we were worried thet the Chinese authorities would change that rule and we would not be allowed to board. So we paid for 10 year visas through the company recommended by Celebrity. We did book an excursion for Shanghai.

 

I am not sure if the Chinese government has changed the policy or provided some flexibly for passengers arriving at a port for a short time.

 

After we did Shanghai, we discovered that a few hundred people onboard did not have visas and stayed on the ship with no trouble.

[wesail7seas]

Marg,

We were told that if we didn't want to leave the ship in Shanghai, that we didn't need the visa. However, we were worried thet the Chinese authorities would change that rule and we would not be allowed to board. So we paid for 10 year visas through the company recommended by Celebrity. We did book an excursion for Shanghai.

 

I am not sure if the Chinese government has changed the policy or provided some flexibly for passengers arriving at a port for a short time.

 

After we did Shanghai, we discovered that a few hundred people onboard did not have visas and stayed on the ship with no trouble.

 

 

 

It seems that the best bet is to get a Visa.

Thank You for the information,

Marg