14-Day Far East Discovery

[stickey_mouse]

Hello,

 

I would like opinions on HAL’s 14-day Far East Discovery itinerary (Singapore to Hong Kong). Did you enjoy it? How does it rate compared to the other 14 (or so) day Asian itineraries? Thanks!

[ozcruizer]

It depends on the ports of call but we did Singapore to Hong Kong as part of a longer itinerary in 2012 and it was one of the best cruises we've done.  We stopped in Thailand (2 or 3 stops - can't remember which) but we did go to Bangkok (overnight stay) and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang and Halong Bay (just fabulous) before finally arriving in Hong Kong.

[KirkNC]

My comments would be that it’s a long way to travel to and from for a 14 day cruise.

[stickey_mouse]

2 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

My comments would be that it’s a long way to travel to and from for a 14 day cruise.

I guess I don't quite understand your comment. There would be days before and after the cruise, most likely. But 14 days seems long to us; the longest we've ever done was 10 nights. 

[KirkNC]

Just now, stickey_mouse said:

I guess I don't quite understand your comment. There would be days before and after the cruise, most likely. But 14 days seems long to us; the longest we've ever done was 10 nights. 

Personally we would not fly that far round trip for a cruise that was only 14 days.  I understand that others would.  We are retired so we have the luxury of time and our cruises to that area are much longer.  For example, in May of 2022 we will fly to Tokyo for a cruise but the cruise is 90 days with disembarkation in Lisbon.

[stickey_mouse]

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

Personally we would not fly that far round trip for a cruise that was only 14 days.  I understand that others would.  We are retired so we have the luxury of time and our cruises to that area are much longer.  For example, in May of 2022 we will fly to Tokyo for a cruise but the cruise is 90 days with disembarkation in Lisbon.

 

Congratulations. 

[KirkNC]

3 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

Congratulations. 

I wasn’t bragging, I was trying to answer your questions.

[kazu]

12 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

I guess I don't quite understand your comment. There would be days before and after the cruise, most likely. But 14 days seems long to us; the longest we've ever done was 10 nights. 

 I understand what Kirk is saying as even though we can’t/won’t cruise as long as him I won’t even go to Europe unless we are staying close to a month.  It doesn’t have to be on the cruise completely.  It can be a stay as you are talking about.

It’s just it’s a long travel time (we are in the middle of nowhere so connections) so when we go we want to make it worthwhile.

14 days will fly by - especially with the ports you have.  If you can explore your pre and post cruise port in depth before and after your cruise I think it will be worthwhile.

[stickey_mouse]

7 minutes ago, kazu said:

 I understand what Kirk is saying as even though we can’t/won’t cruise as long as him I won’t even go to Europe unless we are staying close to a month.  It doesn’t have to be on the cruise completely.  It can be a stay as you are talking about.

It’s just it’s a long travel time (we are in the middle of nowhere so connections) so when we go we want to make it worthwhile.

14 days will fly by - especially with the ports you have.  If you can explore your pre and post cruise port in depth before and after your cruise I think it will be worthwhile.

 

I get it- vacations always fly by. But a month-long trip is out of the question for us. And that's a shame you won't go to Europe for less than a month- it's not that far! 

[oakridger]

3 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

 For example, in May of 2022 we will fly to Tokyo for a cruise but the cruise is 90 days with disembarkation in Lisbon.

 Hi KirkNC.  Which cruise line/ship will you be on for that trip?  I'm snooping around for a longer cruise that either starts or ends in Lisbon.  I want to explore some of Portugal!

Thanks,

~Nancy

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

I get it- vacations always fly by. But a month-long trip is out of the question for us. And that's a shame you won't go to Europe for less than a month- it's not that far! 

 

Ok, maybe 28 days 😉 

 

If we’re going to do it, we’re going to make the best of the trip.  We love exploring on land as well as by cruise ship and it’s not something we can do 3 times a year.

Dog care, etc. Takes time and a day to get them off so we like to make it worth while.  It’s as much work to go away for a 2 weeks as it is for 3 or 4 so we prefer the latter 😉 

Each to their own.

 

[travelholics]

We did the 14 day cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong in Jan 2019 and had a wonderful time. We arrived 4 days early in Singapore and had 4 days in Hong Kong afterwards. At the time we were still working and it was our longest holiday ever. We loved the variety of places visited and were fortunate to join a number of privately organised trips by our fellow travelers. We took an overnight HAL tour to  Bangkok and thought it good value. Certainly recommend

 

[KirkNC]

12 minutes ago, oakridger said:

 Hi KirkNC.  Which cruise line/ship will you be on for that trip?  I'm snooping around for a longer cruise that either starts or ends in Lisbon.  I want to explore some of Portugal!

Thanks,

~Nancy

Oceania Nautica, leaves Tokyo May 5th I think.  Come along for the ride!

[oakridger]

Thanks KirkNC!  Please excuse the hijacking of the OPs thread. 

[IslandThyme]

Just to continue the slight hijack - KirkNC that one looks like 36 days to Dubai - is your plan a B2B?

Edited January 14, 2021 by IslandThyme

[Horizon chaser 1957]

5 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

Hello,

 

I would like opinions on HAL’s 14-day Far East Discovery itinerary (Singapore to Hong Kong). Did you enjoy it? How does it rate compared to the other 14 (or so) day Asian itineraries? Thanks!

 

 

The 14 day Far East Discovery was our very first HAL cruise. I loved it, and have stayed with HAL ever since. It was the first half of 28 days on the Volendam, leaving from Hong Kong. The second 14 days was all Indonesia. Before that, we spent a couple of weeks in Taiwan for our DD’s wedding. Halong Bay was absolutely enchanting. Actually, all of it was!

[KirkNC]

6 hours ago, IslandThyme said:

Just to continue the slight hijack - KirkNC that one looks like 36 days to Dubai - is your plan a B2B?

Yes it is actually several back to backs.

[keysey222]

We did this cruise about 4 years ago on the Volendam. I believe it was in March. The ports were worth seeing, with the exception of Nha Trang. The biggest attraction for us was the overnight excursion to Siem Reap to see Angor Wat. If you can swing this, I can't recommend it enough. HAL did a fantastic job with that excursion. We stayed at the Sofitel in downtown Siem Reap - the swimming pools and food were incredible. 

 

We enjoyed the Thailand ports. Just did a beach day in Koh Samui and did a 2-day overnight with HAL to Bangkok/Ayutthaya. If I did Bangkok again, I'd do it myself and get my own hotel in the city to spend the night to give myself more time to really explore the city.  HAL always does a nice job with overnights, but I personally would rather see less palaces/temples and more of the city itself. 

We missed Ho Chi Minh for the most part (other than lunch downtown after the airport) due to our time in Siem Reap. We hated Nha Trang, it was a waste of a port day as there wasn't much of interest to do here. In Da Nang, we visited Hoi An, which made for a fun (but very touristy) afternoon.  Ha Long Bay is certainly worth seeing. The HAL-sponsored cruise excursions around the bay are short, so I recommend looking into an independent Ha Long Bay cruise.  Vietnam is worth a visit and I'm glad we went. However, I'm in no hurry to return to Vietnam as I didn't love it.

 

We enjoyed the cruise and it was perfect to get a taste of the different countries. Totally worth doing. If you go in March, bring a warm jacket and hat to Ha Long Bay. It was pretty chilly when we went!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KirkNC]

We had a great day in Nha Trang.  We did a tour with a Cruise Critic group.  Visited a temple, an orphanage, a rice paper “factory”, we learned how to make conical hats and mats.  It was one of those days where we felt we really got to see things through a locals eyes.  I would imagine if you just got off the ship to wander it would be disappointing.  If anyone is interested I can give you contact info for our guide.

Edited January 14, 2021 by KirkNC

[dockman]

Nha Trang is actually one of my favorite cities in viet nam...i once spent a week there.  
For a nice beach day just go to the Nha Trang sailing club, a great spot right on the beach open to all.

[Vict0riann]

4 hours ago, KirkNC said:

We had a great day in Nha Trang.  We did a tour with a Cruise Critic group.  Visited a temple, an orphanage, a rice paper “factory”, we learned how to make conical hats and mats.  It was one of those days where we felt we really got to see things through a locals eyes.  I would imagine if you just got off the ship to wander it would be disappointing.  If anyone is interested I can give you contact info for our guide.

Looking back, I think the most photos I took on that cruise were in Nha Trang.  We had a tour like yours, also visited an amazing ancient temple  and had a river "cruise" after a very interesting lunch.  Remember "Vietnam telecom"?😄

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Vict0riann

[USN59-79]

I am not sure what the OP means by 14 day far east discovery.  The Noordam is taking 14 day Far East cruises constantly from October, 2021 to April, 2022 when she does a repositioning to Vancouver.  The first part, til February is mostly Southeast Asia and after that is Northern Asia, mostly around Japan.  We are taking a back to back to back starting 14 February, mainly because we prefer cruising around Japan to cruising around Vietnam and Thailand and we are also of the opinion if you are going to fly across the Pacific, don't do it for a short cruise.

Ray

[KirkNC]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by KirkNC

[stickey_mouse]

7 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

I am not sure what the OP means by 14 day far east discovery.  The Noordam is taking 14 day Far East cruises constantly from October, 2021 to April, 2022 when she does a repositioning to Vancouver.  The first part, til February is mostly Southeast Asia and after that is Northern Asia, mostly around Japan.  We are taking a back to back to back starting 14 February, mainly because we prefer cruising around Japan to cruising around Vietnam and Thailand and we are also of the opinion if you are going to fly across the Pacific, don't do it for a short cruise.

Ray

 

I would probably prefer Japan as well, as it's a country I'm dying to visit. However, I can only go early in the season, and I'm worried it might be too chilly. Plus, does one get a pretty thorough overview of Japan from a cruise? Just wondering. 

[USN59-79]

3 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

I would probably prefer Japan as well, as it's a country I'm dying to visit. However, I can only go early in the season, and I'm worried it might be too chilly. Plus, does one get a pretty thorough overview of Japan from a cruise? Just wondering. 

The only recommendation I have is do your homework.  Don't depend on the information available on the ship or the ship tours to learn about the country.  Buy a travel book or two and take them with you.  Read the section in CC that covers the different ports.  Learn how to take local transportation.  Join your roll call where you will find people who have been there before and some who are organizing local tours with small groups.  Take advantage of the tourist information that will be available in the port building when you leave the ship.  Get some local currency (usually best to buy in the terminal) and learn to convert it to the approximate number of dollars in your head.  U.S. dollars are accepted almost everywhere in Vietnam, but carry a lot of small bills.  Hope this helps.

Ray