Report on March 2 Southeast Asia Cruise on the Millie – VERY LONG

[Suskies]

11 hours ago, SF said:

Did you dock at the new pier in Halong Bay?  Were any of the ports "tender" ports?

 

Do you know how far it is to the mall in Halong Bay? 

 

Is the cable car near the port?

 

Do you know if the Taxi's accept American Currency?

 

We have a cruise booked for the full day in Halong Bay but we're trying to decide what to do the first day since we don't get in till 12 noon.

None of the ports were tender ports. I would guess the Halong Bay pier is new. The pier is about a half-mile long, and I think they run a shuttle to the end of it. I heard another passenger asking about the mall, and they were told to take a taxi--too far to walk. You can see the cable car from the ship, but again I'd plan on taking a taxi.

 

I don't know for certain if Halong Bay taxis take US currency, but we read that Vietnamese are happy to take it because it's more stable than Vietnamese dong, although the exchange rate isn't as good as at an ATM. We used American dollars to pay for some snacks and souvenirs.

 

Halong Bay has become quite a beach town. Our Hanoi guide told us it's only 2 hours from the China border, so it gets a lot of Chinese tourists. If we'd had more time, I think it would have been a fun place to walk around. It looked very clean and prosperous.

[SF]

Thanks again for taking the time to answer all my questions.

[terry&mike]

Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed review. I am taking a group of 27 friends and clients aboard the Diamond Princess this January, sailing Singapore to Tokyo, so it was nice to read your first hand experiences in Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong, as they are on our itinerary.

[ROCruiser]

Thank you for posting the great report and the wonderful photos. Brought back a lot of memories visiting those ports. 

[hubofhockey]

We were on the Millennium in June in Alaska and the Constellation before that in the Adriatic.  I love the M class ships and everything Celebrity does to keep them refreshed.  That includes the solsticazation before and now this revolution.  I know the reviewer believes that Sushi on Five takes away from public spaces, but we really enjoy it.  In any case, I am still amazed that Celebrity can provide so many attributes on these 2,000 passenger ships while still making them feel uncrowded.

 

We would have considered Southeast Asia on the Millennium, but they only go this time of year, which is tax season for those of us in that profession.  That led us to Azamara, which has some advantages (doesn't have to dock 2 to 3 hours away from Saigon or Bangkok), but also costs more.  We're doing the reverse, HK to Singapore, and then to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat from there and we're pretty excited.  Looks like OP really enjoyed this itinerary and we can't wait, but have seven months to go.

[travelfan20]

What a great review . Thank you for sharing very helpful

 

For your two days in Bangkok , you used private tour guide "Thai Tour Guide"

what tour did you use LP1?

 

website is below :

http://www.thaitourguide.com/bangkok-shore-excursions.html

 

What was van like , was it comfortable?

One of our group is celiac , do you think the guide could help us with this?

 

thank you 

 

[miss munchs mom]

Enjoyed your review very much!  We will be doing this cruise at Christmas time with our two teens and have just started our research.  This will be our first Celebrity cruise and the more I read, the more I am looking forward to it.  Thanks for the great info. 

 

(To travelfan20 - we will also be travelling with a celiac.  Please post if you find any appropriate celiac info!)

[Suskies]

19 hours ago, travelfan20 said:

What a great review . Thank you for sharing very helpful

 

For your two days in Bangkok , you used private tour guide "Thai Tour Guide"

what tour did you use LP1?

 

website is below :

http://www.thaitourguide.com/bangkok-shore-excursions.html

 

What was van like , was it comfortable?

One of our group is celiac , do you think the guide could help us with this?

 

thank you 

 

We did the two-day tour described on their home page: BT1 and TT2. We did only half of TT2 (the railway market and floating market) because we had to start driving back to the port at noon. Even though they say they customize their tours, when we asked for adjustments, they pushed back on our requests, so we ended up doing the tours exactly as described. And we were very happy with what we saw and did.

 

The van was very modern and comfortable. The air conditioning was always on full force when it picked us up.

 

Regarding restaurants, I'd suggest you ask about this when you contact the tour company. Explain exactly what ingredients can't be included and see what they say about taking you to a restaurant that can prepare food without those ingredients. I can't remember exactly what was on the menus of the two Thai restaurants she took us to, but overall we were struck by how simply much of the food in these ports was prepared. Pork "barbecue," for example, is simply roasted pork. Hainanese chicken, which is everywhere in Singapore, is simply poached or roasted chicken in a broth flavored with ginger and star anise and served with plain rice. We were also pleasantly surprised by how many menus were in English. So I think you'll do okay.

 

 

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks for your great review.  We were on the NCL ship over the same time. 

 

In Hong Kong, we were the second or third group off the ship and were held up inside the port building for 30 -45 minutes because of the taxi queue crowding.  Once we got into the taxi queue, it moved along ok.

 

In Ha Long Bay, we also docked at the new international pier.  We took the free ship shuttles into the Sun World amusement park.  It was a short walk from there to the cable car.  But the cable car didn't open until 2:00pm.

[shugsy5]

It's amazing how Celebrity and the RC brass have invested in these older ships.  We were on Millie in the early 2000's, back when dining in the heavy dark wood intimate specialty restaurant 'Olympic' was the best evening experience ever.  

Suskies, thanks for your great review!

[jazznruby]

Well, all I can do is echo the sincere thanks of others. We, too, are booked on this cruise February 2020. You have provided an invaluable service to those of us who are like minded travelers; and you've saved me countless hours of research. In our nearly twenty cruises, we've never been extremely active in our on shore pursuits, preferring to do a lot of what you first described - wandering, soaking up local color and culture, people watching...(from the comfort of a nice sidewalk cafe, sipping a glass or three of something red or white) etc. But like you, we want to experience this part of the world in a different way (and from an entirely different perspective since both my husband and I were in Vietnam during the war.) So your thorough and very interesting travelogue will be an important source of activity for much of our time there. Again, thanks so much, and so glad you enjoyed your trip. (Will be interesting being on Millie again after our only other time...in 2006, when she was a youngster. Ladies of "a certain age" sometimes need a facelift. 😉 From your photos, she's looking good.)

[mdpa]

Suskies,

 

Really appreciated the detailed review. Our family is booked on the Jan 4th 2020 cruise going the opposite direction and will certainly use this thread as a resource!

[Guiarm]

Suskies,

 

I echo everyone’s comments.  Thank you.

 

we are on the 2/29/20 cruise.  What I might have failed to note is do we apply for our own Visas before hand or leave it all to Celebrity?

 

[Suskies]

Guiarm, the ship takes care of everything, unless you're planning some big land excursion on your own. I'm compulsive about this kind of thing and triple-checked before I left. Just bring a couple of paper copies of your passports--you'll turn one in when you board.

[RenRan]

Suskies, thank you for this wonderful review. 

Guiarm, we will also be on the 2/29/20 cruise. Flights and excursions are booked. Staying 4 days in Singapore and 5 days in Hong Kong. Still need to book hotels and a few city tours. 

[Skr1]

On 3/17/2019 at 11:38 PM, Suskies said:

Day 11: Ha Long Bay

The ship was scheduled to dock at noon in Ha Long Bay. We decided to do a half-day afternoon tour of Ha Long Bay and then a full-day tour of Hanoi the following day (see next entry for more on that decision). The ship’s “Ha Long Bay by Boat” shore excursion included a stop to climb up and tour a cave. We’re not big on caves, so I contacted several boat tour operators, looking for something without the cave stop. But none offered a tour leaving late enough to accommodate Millie passengers. So we booked the “Ha Long Bay by Boat” shore excursion.

 

The day was really nice. After breakfast we went up to Cosmos to read, and around 9:30 the first karths (tall monolithic limestone islands) came into view. We watched for a while, then went down to our balcony to continue watching. It was pleasantly cool—we actually wore windbreakers on the balcony. Ha Long Bay City is adorable, with amusement rides including a large ferris wheel. It’s clearly evolved into a tourist destination.

 

We had to be in the theater at 12 noon for our tour. What about lunch? (Most places onboard don’t start serving lunch until 11:30.) We ordered room service at 11, but by 11:30 it hadn’t arrived, so we went up to the pool grill and grabbed quick burgers and fries. (That evening our room steward told us our order arrived around noon.)

 

The boat tour of Ha Long Bay was very nice. The boats pulled right next to the ship, so we didn’t need to take a bus anywhere. The guide on the boat spoke with a heavy accent and was hard to understand. The boat went to Dau Go Island, where most people climbed up to see the cave, while about 10 of us stayed on the boat. Then the boat took us through some really stunning parts of Ha Long Bay, including the Kissing Chickens—two karths that, from the right angle, look a bit like two chickens kissing each other. Staff on the boat came through with a variety of souvenirs but were pretty low key. Altogether it was a very beautiful, relaxing afternoon—a nice break from more active sightseeing.

 

At this point I should note that all our shore excursions in Vietnam were run by SaigonTours, which is a government-run travel agency that runs tours and also owns some of the upscale hotels in Ho Chi Minh City. Tourism in Vietnam only began in the 1990s, and you can tell they’re still getting things going. The buses are a hodgepodge and all somewhat worn, with somewhat uncomfortable seats and no powerports.  (The Caravelle, where we stopped for drinks and which SaigonTours owns, was very nice.) I would guess that there are no competitors in Vietnam for the shore excursion business—it’s a Communist country, after all.

 

Tonight the starters for dinner looked so good that I ordered four of them and skipped the entrée: seafood ceviche, two salads, and spinach artichoke dip. DH had beef brisket pot roast which our server said was very tender, and it was. The maitre d stopped by again to chat. She told us that, while everyone stayed on board and worked during The Revolution renovation, it still took longer than expected, so remaining ships will be pulled for 45 days.

Fabulous oversight.  Thanks 

we are doing this cruise honking to Singapore in December 2019 and your insight and experience is appreciated 

can I ask if the “Halong bay by boat “ excursion by CC for 3hrs 45min is enough time to experience enough of the scenery and appreciate the site. Or is the 6hr tour going to be better? 

Thanks.  

[Suskies]

When I researched Ha Long Bay, the reviews really encouraged an overnight excursion--that's apparently how you really see the truly amazing parts of the bay. If you look up Dau Go Island on Google Maps, you'll see that you're only touching the tip of the Hal Long Bay iceberg, so to speak. I'm not familiar with the 6-hour tour, but I don't think you'd see a whole lot more really new and different with it. Remember that you'll get quite a view as the boat pulls into Ha Long Bay--they really should bill it as scenic cruising.  So my vote would be for the shorter tour but, again, I'm not familiar with the longer one.

[abritinva]

I have not read a better review on Cruise Critic.  You write so well!  I’ve been to a couple of the cities that you visited (Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong) and learnt a good deal from your review. Thanks again!

p.s and the photos are great!