Want to cruise Asia. What cruise line? Why rumors of cancellations?

[cl.klink]

Never cruised Asia, want to. We like nice ships and visiting another culture. Choosing between cruises that focus on Japan, vs. span several countries. What do you recommend for a first timer?  Also, any thoughts on which cruise lines do Asia best?  And is there anything to rumors of Asia cruises being at greater risk of being cancelled (read about it on Celebrity forum) next year?
 

Thanks, 

 

- Joel

[LittleFish1976]

9 hours ago, cl.klink said:

Never cruised Asia, want to. We like nice ships and visiting another culture. Choosing between cruises that focus on Japan, vs. span several countries. What do you recommend for a first timer?  Also, any thoughts on which cruise lines do Asia best?  And is there anything to rumors of Asia cruises being at greater risk of being cancelled (read about it on Celebrity forum) next year?
 

Thanks, 

 

- Joel

 

What reasons are the rumours offering for the risk of cancellations next year in Asia?

 

[cl.klink]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

What reasons are the rumours offering for the risk of cancellations next year in Asia?

 

There is a thread about Celebrity overbooking due to high demand and low inventory, and some people are being forced to cancel a cruise as a result.
 

I’m wondering if people have been seeing this with other cruise lines too. 
 

- Joel

[nolafrank]

Cruises to and around Japan are very popular right now, as well as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines.  While you can find some cruises that stop in Hong Kong and Shanghai currently there are very few calling on the port for Beijing (Tiajin).
 

We were in Asia in 2020 when the “Great Disruption” occurred. Had been traveling on our own or with tours in Cambodia and Vietnam and were scheduled on two cruises that ended up being cancelled.  
 

 We currently have an Oceania cruise booked for Feb of ‘24 (and a Chinese land tour afterward) , but we are thinking about cancelling for two reasons.  First, the lessons we learned from 2020 include the fact that we as cruisers have no rights if the cruise line wants to totally change their itinerary.  Before Celebrity finally canceled our cruise scheduled from Hong Kong to Shanghai in March of 2020 they had changed literally every port—including embarkation and debarkation ports— on the itinerary except one!  So the original March 2020 cruise was supposed to include Hong Kong, Taipei, Taijin (2 overnights), Shanghai, and Seoul. Celebrity’s proposed revised itinerary was changed to start in Singapore and end in Tokyo and was mostly Thailand and Vietnam—places we had just visited. The trip in no way resembled the original cruise we signed up for.  The itinerary changes weren’t  being made in transit but weeks prior to the scheduled start date.  Hong Kong was still “open” at the time and yet they changed our embarkation point to Singapore—a city half the size, which at the time had twice the number of Covid cases as HK. The beginning and ending ports were nowhere near the original start/stop ports—thousands of miles apart from what was originally planned and their offer of $500 airfare adjustment didn’t begin to cover the cost of business class flights. Okay, so knowing they can totally change ports without recourse leads us to the 2nd and overriding reason why we might change.

 

2nd) Current political tensions in the area and other things out of our control. We want to visit China and we want to visit Taiwan and we want to visit South Korea.  We aren’t interested in an “Asia” cruise, we want those countries specifically.  Trying to read the tea leaves about China and Taiwan is a fool’s errand but there are discouraging words being exchanged. Our State Dept still has a level 3 travel advisory for China and any time an American politician visits Taipei, Beijing sends out more warships and aircraft for “exercises”. The world’s safety is more important than another retirement cruise, but for me, it means keeping an eye out for regional tensions that would cause cruise lines to cancel or countries to close borders.  We’re keeping our reservations in place for now, but we have a plan A and plan B backup just in case. 
 

would love to hear others perspective on visiting China right now. 

[bennybear]

 

We had a China, Taiwan to Japan cruise booked a few years ago.  Due to a political situation we chose to just go to Japan and we were rewarded with one of the the best cruises.   We enjoyed a circumnavigation of Japan during cherry blossom time and it was wonderful.   It was so good we want to do it again, with South Korea and perhaps Okinawa.   To the OP,  also suggest some time precruise in Japan,  we adored Kyoto.  We very much enjoyed HAL as we chose by itinerary.   Most other cruises were several days shorter,  12 or 9 instead of 14.   We found it perfect as a good way to get a good sense of the country.  It could also be combined with another 14 day cruise to some other Asian countries for a more in depth experience.  We had booked a cruise with Celebrity that was cancelled a year ago, the number of cancellations would make me nervous,  
 

@nolafrankYou could hedge your bets and do a Japan cruise that includes South Korea and Taiwan.  For me that would be the perfect solution.  

Edited April 29, 2023 by bennybear

[nolafrank]

Except that the one and only reason I’m doing this cruise is that it includes Hong Kong and Shanghai and allows me easy access to fly to China afterwards.  I loved visiting Japan in cherry blossom season, but If China isn’t permitting western visitors I don’t have any interest in this cruise. Period. Hard stop. 

[bennybear]

7 hours ago, nolafrank said:

Except that the one and only reason I’m doing this cruise is that it includes Hong Kong and Shanghai and allows me easy access to fly to China afterwards.  I loved visiting Japan in cherry blossom season, but If China isn’t permitting western visitors I don’t have any interest in this cruise. Period. Hard stop. 

Nothing is certain in life or in cruise itineraries, perhaps you could consider cancel for any reason insurance. And check those warnings because they can negate coverage.

 

I suggested a cruise that offered two of the three places you wanted to visit.  But now you state China is your priority, not visiting Taiwan and Korea.  

 

 You also may want to start your own thread with your specifics for more feedback.  Best of luck. 

[Philob]

Geopolitical and tourism accommodations aside, as of March 2023 China is fully open to (L) Tourist visa holders & visa-free policies reinstated with a antigen self-test. Proof of vaccination is no longer required.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Philob

[Expat Cruise]

The Asian cruise market has never come back really after the shutdown. Yes, Japan is open, but SE Asia is really very limited. Take Princess Cruises for example, they have no cruises from Hong Kong for 2023/2024 and only five cruises from Singapore, and four are repositioning cruises. Royal & NCL are operating cruises, and a few other lines, mostly just passing through the area.  It seems cruising is down about 70%  what it was here in 2019. I live here, and it was easy for me to grab last minute cruises in the past, but not now. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I have not been to Asia, but Oceania has some interesting cruises that visit a variety of places. They are more expensive than Celebrity, but if you choose a moderately priced room and go easy on extras, I feel they are worth it.  It's a great line and they have fabulous itineraries.