New to Celebrity and booked for Far east

[champagne lover]

We have ben on various cruise lines but this will be our first on Celebrity - booked on Millie for 18th Feb for 2 weeks from Singapore, visiting Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Very excited about this trip but we have a few questions -

In a balcony cabin are there US or European plugs? Is there a coffee machine? Are bathrobes supplied?

Can anyone give us an idea of weather in these places at this time?

Do Celebrity have formal nights? Is it Tux or black tie for men or shirt and jacket? And do ladies wear cocktail dresses or more formal with long dresses?

Sorry for all the questions and TIA, I am sure we will have loads more questions.

[Essiesmom]

A regular balcony will have these outlets at the desk:

 

 

Concierge/Aqua cabins will have the same number of outlets but the US will be on one side of the mirror and the EU on the other.

 

In this picture of 8177 you can see one set behind the flowers, below the light column. The other set is hidden by the tray with ice pitcher, at the base of the light column again. EM

 

 

 

You will be in the tropics. Regardless of time of year, it will be hot and humid.

[Alakegirl]

There are no formal nights per se but you will see some men and women dressed in formalwear on the elelgant nights. If you have the luggage space and enjoy the experience of dressing up, by all means do.

 

There are robes but no coffee makers.

[jelayne]

Celebrity eliminated Formal nights & now has Evening Chic nights. There will be a very few in Tux & long dress, more with suit & cocktail dress, even more with with sport jacket & dress or pants & sparkly top and a lot with open collar shirt & slacks & top.

[easyboy]

There could be rain/showers at this time in some ports.

 

 

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[Sammigar]

We've had bathrobes in Concierge class, which on the Millie, is a slightly bigger balcony stateroom. There were also both types of outlets. No coffee in room, but it's included in the non-alcohol classic drinks package, alcohol classic drinks package and the premium packages. If your cabin is more to the middle of the deck, Cafe el Bacio is very convenient and has very good cappucino's esspresso's latte's and the like. The dining venues have regular coffee that's included in your standard cruise fare.

 

Celebrity no longer does formal nights, it's now called Evening Chic. The idea is you dress for dinner one step up from your dress the other nights, but we've noticed that people don't seem to heed that any better than they did Formal Nights with many coming to dinner in attire barely better than shorts and flip flops.

[riclop]

Sounds fabulous, something different.

[Beejay4016]

We have ben on various cruise lines but this will be our first on Celebrity - booked on Millie for 18th Feb for 2 weeks from Singapore, visiting Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Very excited about this trip but we have a few questions -

In a balcony cabin are there US or European plugs? Is there a coffee machine? Are bathrobes supplied?

Can anyone give us an idea of weather in these places at this time?

Do Celebrity have formal nights? Is it Tux or black tie for men or shirt and jacket? And do ladies wear cocktail dresses or more formal with long dresses?

Sorry for all the questions and TIA, I am sure we will have loads more questions.

 

Hi there fellow champagne lover. Just a few words re the weather etc. Singapore is just about as close as a city can get to the Equator. It rains almost every day, usually mid-afternoon, and it is hot and humid. The best time to be out and about is early in the morning or in the evening. In the middle of the day try to stay in air-conditioned places, and there is plenty of good shopping to be had in the MRT (subway) malls. If you have a few days there, try to fit in something like a luncheon cruise. Chinatown (seems almost a joke to use that expression) is always great for a visit and to catch some bargains. Wherever you go, always carry an umbrella with you. The south of Vietnam (Ho Chi Ming city etc) will also be VERY hot and humid, and extremely crowded with fascinating but hectic traffic. It is a long, skinny country, however, and as you travel up the coast the weather becomes much nicer so that by the time you reach somewhere like Ha Long Bay it is quite lovely. Thailand is HOT - HOT and HUMID. Carry a good trusty fan with you (everybody uses them in Asia), and don't forget the deodorant. We haven't been to Taiwan, but Hong Kong is, like Singapore, a favourite place for us to visit. The weather there is February should be quite nice - it's the end of their winter. You may find that of an evening you need a jacket or at least some sort of wrap. We love being there in December and January when it can get quite cool, particularly up at the Peak. You shouldn't have any issues with weather in Hong Kong, and you should enjoy some great shopping - do take a local bus through the hills to Stanley Markets. Fantastic little shops and market stalls at good prices, and some excellent eateries. I think that Chinese New Year is around the middle of February next year, and it will be the Year of the Dog, so everywhere you go you will find trinkets, both cheap and expensive, resembling the dog. Always good souvenirs. This year, the Year of the Rooster, we picked up some charming stuffed fabric roosters at Singapore's Changi airport to give as gifts to friends back here. Asia is colourful and exciting, so enjoy.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Beejay4016

[Project_gal]

As far as power sockets are concerned, remember that the European ones will be 220-230 volts and the US ones 110 volts.

 

If you have a lot of electrical equipment to charge, bring both types of adaptors. Otherwise, despite what anyone may tell you, most items will charge much faster with the higher voltage. (I have experimented both on board and at my brother's in Canada.)

 

Also, please note, although there is no coffee maker, you are not permitted to take travel kettles (or irons) on Celebrity ships.

 

The one piece of advice that I wish we had before we did this cruise (on Azamara so the ports may have been different) was to believe what you are told in Da Nang. They really will make beautiful garments in the few hours promised and get them to you before the ship leaves. My husband only risked ordering a sports jacket. Most people wold not take the risk. The handful of people who collected their garments at the port gate compared items. My husband was so envious of the multiple orders - especially the heavy overcoat ordered by one fellow guest.

 

We used one tour company for all our ports in Vietnam following recommendations in the ports section of Cruise Critic and paid for tours for just the two of us. Really worth the effort in advance tailoring the tours to what we wanted and the additional cost to do just what we wanted to do. If your itinerary includes Ha Long Bay (the reason we wanted to do this cruise) arrange a boat tour of the bay for just yourselves and you will never regret it.

 

The other extravagance we will never regret, pricey but something we always promised ourselves if we ever returned to Hong Kong, is a post-cruise stay in a suite over looking the harbour at the Peninsula. We booked an iconic green Rolls Royce o collect us from the ship but the suite also came with used of the Pen's mini for an hour or so. Huge fun.

 

Pre-cruise (on a different cruise) we also treated us to another bucket-list item - a stay at Raffles in Singapore. Nice to have ticked off an item from the list BUT no more. Really disappointing. I would recommend the Conrad in Singapore instead. We stayed there as a free (i.e. included in the flight arranged through Celebrity) night before our Singapore to Hong Kong cruise and it was probably the best hotel we have ever stayed at. It is where we would stay if we ever returned to Singapore.

 

If you are staying a few days in Singapore, the small museum at Changi is well worth a visit if you have any friends or family connection to the regiments incarcerated the PoW camp there in WWII. It was a really moving experience but we were the only visitors the day we went there in 2009.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[photabitha]

Hello. We did a similar cruise at a similar time of year starting in Singapore and ending in Hong Kong. When we arrived in northern Vietnam (Halong Bay) it was cold! We were totally unprepared as were many others. Outer wear and a sweater are advised. Hong Kong was pleasant and sunny, without humidity. A lovely cruise we are looking to repeat.

[villauk]

We took a similar itinerary in reverse last Christmas and New Year. We had a wonderful time, Hong Kong was fabulous as we spent a few days there prior to our cruise. We had wet weather along the way, but we were prepared (living in England, we always carry a raincoat and umbrella :D).

 

Have you joined your roll call? We took a few private tours with others off ours and arranged a private overnight stay in Bangkok (which I would recommend if on your itinerary?).

[drsel]

Is it possible to share a minivan at the port, on the spot, without any prior arrangement?

[Miaminice]

Are you asking for Singapore?

If yes, forget about the need to share. Taxis (and uber) are the cheapest thing in Singapore - a ride across town is less than 10 USD.

 

The subway (MRT) is also efficient, cheap and extreeeeemly clean and organized.

 

We did the Southeast Asia cruise on Constellation in March and fell in love with Singapore. We stayed at the iconic Marina Bay Sands before the cruise which was a treat.

 

We love Asian food and since Singapore is all about food and you can find so called hawker or food centers all over (btw that is where the locals eat) and eat for ridiculously low prices we were in heaven.

 

Unfortunately I did not even get to start writing our review about the cruise yet. However, for Vietnam we can highly recommend anntours.com and hellohongkong.com.hk both were very professional.

 

Oliver

[drsel]

Singapore & HK are no problem.

For the 3 ports in Vietnam, is it possible to share a minivan at the port, on the spot, without any prior arrangement?

Or get 2 seats on a shared Halong bay boat cruise on the spot?

For the port in Thailand, is there a local bus or shuttle service to Pattaya? Thanks!

[champagne lover]

Thank you for all your replies, so much researching to do I think.

Project-gal, are you able to give me the name of the tour in Halong Bay, really looking forward to that part - in fact really looking forward to it all!

[Project_gal]

Thank you for all your replies, so much researching to do I think.

Project-gal, are you able to give me the name of the tour in Halong Bay, really looking forward to that part - in fact really looking forward to it all!

 

I will do what I can but, as it was in 2011, it means digging in the attic for the old paperwork.

[Ayton lady]

Reading this thread as we have just booked the same trip for January 2019 whilst onboard.

Having visited Singapore a couple of times I would also give Changi museum and also The Battle Box Museum a vote for anyone interested in the WW2 history. We found both moving and fascinating. Probably for those who have visited Singapore before though as so much to see and experience there. Wonderful place.

Now back to planning, Having just enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise on Connie in the Penthouse we have to keep the excitement going somehow!!!

[drsel]

If you repeat the same cruise ship, you will have exactly the same shows, activities and entertainment. Even the dining room menus will be the same.

Only the ports may be different.

[chemmo]

We were booked on this trip for next month as an excellent way to revisit places we had visited before and loved....Unfortunately now this trip is out for us for the present but a real focus of our planning had been to find time to just "savour" the experience rather than "rush to fit in as much as possible". It really is too tempting sometimes to 'squash in' as much as you can.

 

As Project gal says you can really enhance a cruise by the city breaks at both ends....We were looking at doing this too, as we have on previous trips to this region, although perhaps not quite as high end! A real must for us in Hong Kong is a room with a harbour view.

 

We had also looked at a range of dining experiences from fine dining to street food. One of the best meals we have ever eaten was on a side street in Singapore's Chinatown where we were circled by a group of kittens awaiting the heads and tails of our fresh prawns! Some great seafood dining by the river in Singapore too!

 

Halong Bay.....really is as beautiful as you imagine. Last time we visited we did a standard boat trip and loved it. For our next visit we were seriously considering a sea plane flight followed by a boat trip. I think this was provided by a company called 'tours by locals' you would need to google..... The reason we had looked at this was we had on our first visit imagined how amazing the area would look from above. Obviously as we didn't do this trip I can not recommend but just another suggestion....

 

Re the weather....we found, as others have said, early morning and late afternoon tours are best. Mid day the humidity was really high even if it didn't rain. If we saw the sky go grey we would decide it was time for a drink or a snack....We didn't bother with umbrellas but did take several of those $1 poncho things which worked really well! As others have also said Hong Kong can be chilly at times in the evening....I took a light jacket which was fine.

 

Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise.....

[drsel]

Halong Bay.....really is as beautiful as you imagine. Last time we visited we did a standard boat trip and loved it......

Can we buy 2 seats on the spot for a standard 2 hour or 4 hour or 6 hour boat ride/tour of Halong bay? Are these small boats close to where the ship docks? Thanks.

[Project_gal]

Thank you for all your replies, so much researching to do I think.

Project-gal, are you able to give me the name of the tour in Halong Bay, really looking forward to that part - in fact really looking forward to it all!

 

The tour operator was:

 

Ha of Vietnam Discovery Tour

476/15 Dien Bien Plu St

Da Nang

Vietnam

 

Tel: +84 511 6296 811

Fax: +84 511 3759 811

 

email: info@discoveryvietnam.com.vn

 

Ha organised the boat trip for us.

[chemmo]

Can we buy 2 seats on the spot for a standard 2 hour or 4 hour or 6 hour boat ride/tour of Halong bay? Are these small boats close to where the ship docks? Thanks.

 

We were tendered when we visited. We had prebooked our tour with RC. We were on a roomy small boat for about 30 with, if I remember correctly refreshments and restroom. I think our tour was about 4/5 hours.

 

Hopefully someone who has booked something independently can advise you.

[Project_gal]

Can we buy 2 seats on the spot for a standard 2 hour or 4 hour or 6 hour boat ride/tour of Halong bay? Are these small boats close to where the ship docks? Thanks.

 

We docked on an Azamara ship but I believe that Celebrity ships are too large to dock. It was a car journey from the ship to the boat tours of Ha Long Bay but I do not know where you are taken to when you tender.

 

If you join a larger group, you will find all the boats leave in convoy in the morning for the half day cruise and then all return together. Then the overnight boats leave, again in convoy. I cannot recall seeing different length tours. Booking the whole boat to ourselves meant that we did not have to follow the convoys and could make the stops when no other boat was there.

 

It appeared that you could take a taxi to the pier for the small boats and join a tour on the day, as we did not do this, I cannot say for certain. I suggest that you poist your question on the Ports of call section of Cruise Critis.