14 Day Vietnam & Thailand (Route Question)

[MrCheeky]

My wife and I are considering the 14 Day Vietnam / Thailand as our next cruise.  We have previously cruised (our first Seabourn) on the Odyssey in the Caribbean and we like this itinerary and look forward to tying out the larger ship (Ovation).

 

A somewhat odd in question...would there be any advantage as to which sailing route to take?  ie Singapore > Hong Kong OR Hong Kong > Singapore.

[rols]

No not really. I'd base the decision on the fare for the actual voyage, the dates which work best, the cost of flights and perhaps which of the two cities you'd prefer to spend time in pre-cruise if you're going to go home directly from the ship. 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by rols

[MrCheeky]

I figured there wasn't much in it as far as routing was concerned.  We are leaning towards having more days in Singapore at the beginning of the cruise to explore as well as decompress from the flight(s) and make sure that our luggage has arrived...haha.

 

As an aside, for those that have taken this cruise recently, how was the stop in Bangkok?  The Laem Chabang port may be a bit of a concern as it appears to be quite a distance from Bangkok and traffic issues may deter booking a private excursion into town.

 

Although we are quite well travelled, we have yet to visit Asia and we had such a wonderful Caribbean cruise experience with Seabourn that we figured that this cruise would be a good introduction. 

[rols]

Well we're just about to do this cruise again not having done it for 7 years I think. For us it has the advantage that we start from home and it's a short flight back, although last time we were so laid back about it we nearly lost track of time and had to scramble for a cab to the harbour. We kept meaning to do it again and this year the fare wasn't bad and next year none of the Odyssey class is in Asia, those things prompted us to book it. We're continuing on up to Shanghai so we get the overnight in HK and visit Taipei which added to the interest. 

 

Laem Chabang is .. not wonderful for a day stop in Bangkok. It is a long way, the traffic to from and in Bangkok can be eye-poppingly terrible and you're only in port for 10 hours. I'd either suggest taking a non-Bangkok trip or if you want to see something of the city, go with the ship because they'll wait for you if it all goes wrong. Used to be smaller ships would sail up river but I don't know if anyone does that any more. You're going to spend 5+ hours on a bus getting into the city and back so decide how important that is. If you really want to see BKK, come to Singapore a few days early, leave your bags at the hotel and hop a flight there for an overnight trip perhaps, it's a cheap flight. 

 

The rest of the cruise should be quite interesting if you've not been to Asia before. Sihanoukville (which I'm asking about in another thread) doesn't look great, it's really a jumping off point for the 2 day trip to Ankor. Most of the Vietnam ports are interesting, never been to Ko Kood although we travel to Thailand all the time, sure that's fine. 

 

In general I'd say that Asia cruises vs Europe or the Carribean are a little different. We're fairly spoiled cruising in Europe and docking right in a quaint town, walking off the ship and wandering about. Asia you're often docked in a working commercial port, not so pretty, and you have a bus ride to get even out of the port so planning some sort of excursion is more important. 

 

 

[Thecat123]

When we did this cruise a couple of years ago we stopped at Koh Kood for Seabourns Caviar In The Surf Day. One of the best days we have had

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Thecat123

[SKP946]

2 hours ago, Thecat123 said:

When we did this cruise a couple of years ago we stopped at Koh Kood for Seabourns Caviar In The Surf Day. One of the best days we have had

 

Agree, we had a wonderful day there, Koh Kood and Saigon were the highlights of our 16 day Singapore to Bali on Sojourn in March/April 2018.

That is a great video, so sharp in HD.

The tide was out when we were there and it was about a 800 m walk to the Caviar.

The water temp was 33c and the air was even warmer.

[MrCheeky]

Thank you for the informative and insightful comment rols.  Lots to consider.  I take it you are doing the 18-Day Jewels Of Southeast Asia cruise?  It looks interesting, however, we were looking forward to experiencing the new Encore/Ovation ships.  

 

One option for might be to fly to Vietnam and explore Vietnam > Cambodia (Ankor) > Thailand (incl Koh Kood) finish up in Singapore, catch our breath then cruise on Ovation Singapore > Dubai.  That would be a lot to digest in one holiday.

 

I understand what you mean regarding the differences between the Asian and European port experiences.  We are researching Baltic cruises as well.  Likely go with Oceania as we prefer their itineraries over Seabourn.

 

Thank you for the video and photos!  The Caviar in the surf is a wonderful experience.  The concern is that it does not compensate for perhaps a poor itinerary.  The St. Kitts one was very memorable...

[Isklaar]

I've taken that cruise in both directions. First was on Sojourn in 2014, most recent was on Ovation in December 2018. 

Can't think of any reason - apart from the practicals that Rols pointed out - to choose one direction over the other. 

 

 

[AJCM]

Having cruised similar itineraries several times, on Azamara, the critical matter for me is which ports the ship docks at. This means a ship which docks in Bangkok (15-30 min shuttle bus to Central); Ho Chi Minh (5-10 mins shuttle) and Hong Kong harbour (alongside the Star Ferry terminal). To achieve this, you have to be on a smaller ship. I’m very surprised that Seabourn apparently docks 2 hours out from Bangkok.

Tony

[Thecat123]

We did the 28 day cruise out of Singapore up to China across to the Philippines back to Singapore a couple of years ago

WE were glad we took Seabourn tours as we got back late just about each day due to the traffic which does not move in a lot of the ports. Just saying to watch private tours if there is a lot of travel involved.

Your cruise isn't going to the Philippines but the traffic there is just as bad ,we actually had the local tour police clearing the way for us to get back to the ship after we were at the Puerto Galera Under Water caves at the Philippines

One of the better cruises we have done though. Antarctica is still the top one

[Thecat123]

2 hours ago, Thecat123 said:

Your cruise isn't going to the Philippines but the traffic there is just as bad ,we actually had the local tour police clearing the way for us to get back to the ship after we were at the Puerto Galera Under Water caves at the Philippines

One of the better cruises we have done though. Antarctica is still the top one

 

I should have added we were in a convoy of about 10 or 15 vans. It wasn't just us

Edited February 13, 2019 by Thecat123