Which Asia itinerary? And … should I?

[micruiser2002]

1 minute ago, yogini06 said:

I am also considering both of these itineraries for January 2025.  Would also love a recommendation 

 

One thing I look at on cruises like this are how many sea days?  If I am traveling that far I want less sea days.  I did the Shanghai to Singapore cruise on Celebrity many years ago and loved it although we left the cruise in Bangkok and spend extra time there. I really like Vietnam but would pick an itinerary that had some overnights.  We did Vietnam in 2021 as a land tour and really enjoyed that.  I am doing the Japan cruise this October on Celebrity.  

[happy cruzer]

Getting pretty serious about booking Thailand/ Viet Nam iten.  Still looking for opinions/advice....

[mahdnc]

11 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Getting pretty serious about booking Thailand/ Viet Nam iten.  Still looking for opinions/advice....

 

I have not posted, yet, because I have not been on an Asia cruise yet.  We are booked on a Singapore to Hong Kong 12 night cruise over the Christmas holidays this year.  I am very much looking forward to this itinerary.  We will be staying in Singapore and Hong Kong for 5 nights each which I am also looking forward to.

[NMTraveller]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:39 AM, happy cruzer said:

May have to start a new thread since this is a bit old/off topic.  But anyway -

 

Anyone care to comment on the Asian itineraries?  Vietnam/ Thailand vs. Bali, Mayalasia, Thailand?

 

Any thoughts on Bali as embar/debarc port?  Cost of airfare impact?

 

Really torn between the two options.

 

Thanks.

We are doing  Bali, Mayalasia, Singapore.  We did not notice any difference in the cost of airfare going to Bali.  It is a longer flight though.

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

We are doing  Bali, Mayalasia, Singapore.  We did not notice any difference in the cost of airfare going to Bali.  It is a longer flight though.

 

Yes, you jumped ship!

[NMTraveller]

Just now, mahdnc said:

 

Yes, you jumped ship!

I know...  The other itinerary worked out better for us.  Plus I get to try out the M class.  I tend to think that I will like the M class more. 

[mahdnc]

6 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I know...  The other itinerary worked out better for us.  Plus I get to try out the M class.  I tend to think that I will like the M class more. 

 

It's an awesome itinerary, too (which is the OP's conundrum).  I was just hoping to meet you so that by then we could exchange Wave stories and photos (don't give up on getting a permit).

[NMTraveller]

9 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

It's an awesome itinerary, too (which is the OP's conundrum).  I was just hoping to meet you so that by then we could exchange Wave stories and photos (don't give up on getting a permit).

I am still trying to win the Wave lotto.  Perhaps I will need to try my dates on the week days vs the weekends...

[Mark_T]

We cruised from Hong Kong to Singapore via Vietnam and Thailand on Millennium.

 

We loved Millennium in the Retreat, as she had been recently 'Revolutionized' when we sailed, not so sure it would be as good on 'M' class if not in the retreat due to limited speciality dining (only Tuscan and 'Sushi on 5') and loss of the forward upper deck to the Retreat sun deck. 

 

The destinations were great, but you do need to be flexible when it comes to Thailand as the current King can be somewhat capricious when it comes to closing down tourist access to temples and palaces at short or no notice...

 

The tour guides keep a positive attitude but there literally do not know where they will be able to access until they get there on some days...

 

We had done a Vietnam and Cambodia land/Mekong river cruise a couple of years before so we did not try to get to the more remote locations in Cambodia from the ship, just be aware that getting to Siem Reip is both expensive and time consuming if done as a ship tour. 

[villauk]

18 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

I have not posted, yet, because I have not been on an Asia cruise yet.  We are booked on a Singapore to Hong Kong 12 night cruise over the Christmas holidays this year.  I am very much looking forward to this itinerary.  We will be staying in Singapore and Hong Kong for 5 nights each which I am also looking forward to.

 

We did this in reverse at Christmas a few years before COVID hit. Had an absolutely fantastic time on Millie in an FV. The Retreat had not been thought about at that time, so can’t comment on what @Mark_T quoted above. We went for the ports and found it to be one of our best cruises - oh, the experiences were endless 😁. We left the ship to overnight in a hotel in Bangkok and then returned the next day (long way from the port); we also stayed in Hong Kong pre-cruise for a few days like yourself. We didn’t stay over in Singapore as we’ve been several times on the way to and from Australia. We’ve also visited Bali - enjoyed the visit but not somewhere I personally would rush back to.

 

We’ve booked for Japan next year and are hoping the itinerary stays after this year’s fiasco 🤞🏻.

Edited July 10, 2023 by villauk

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

We did this in reverse at Christmas a few years before COVID hit. Had an absolutely fantastic time on Millie in an FV. The Retreat had not been thought about at that time, so can’t comment on what @Mark_T quoted above. We went for the ports and found it to be one of our best cruises - oh, the experiences were endless 😁. We left the ship to overnight in a hotel in Bangkok and then returned the next day (long way from the port); we also stayed in Hong Kong pre-cruise for a few days like yourself. We didn’t stay over in Singapore as we’ve been several times on the way to and from Australia. We’ve also visited Bali - enjoyed the visit but not somewhere I personally would rush back to.

 

We’ve booked for Japan next year and are hoping the itinerary stays after this year’s fiasco 🤞🏻.

 

Hi.  Our original booking was with Millennium in the reverse direction (same direction as yours) and with an FV cabin (Christmas 2020) but COVID took that away.  The cruise was 14 nights back then.  After COVID, Celebrity reduced the cruise to 12 nights now as the overnights at Singapore and Hong Kong have been dropped.  We made up for it by extending the number of nights we are staying at in Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

Good luck with your Japan trip and I hope that there are no more overbooking problems that will affect you.

[smtcan]

3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

We cruised from Hong Kong to Singapore via Vietnam and Thailand on Millennium.

 

We loved Millennium in the Retreat, as she had been recently 'Revolutionized' when we sailed, not so sure it would be as good on 'M' class if not in the retreat due to limited speciality dining (only Tuscan and 'Sushi on 5') and loss of the forward upper deck to the Retreat sun deck. 

 

The destinations were great, but you do need to be flexible when it comes to Thailand as the current King can be somewhat capricious when it comes to closing down tourist access to temples and palaces at short or no notice...

 

The tour guides keep a positive attitude but there literally do not know where they will be able to access until they get there on some days...

 

We had done a Vietnam and Cambodia land/Mekong river cruise a couple of years before so we did not try to get to the more remote locations in Cambodia from the ship, just be aware that getting to Siem Reip is both expensive and time consuming if done as a ship tour. 

We priced Cambodia (Siem Reap) as a ship tour and found we could book hotel and flights from Hong Kong at the end of our cruise for close to a week for less money.  This even included breakfast and airport pickup and drop off in a tuktuk, which was interesting because an English speaking woman came with the driver.  Two of us with two suitcases filled the passenger area, so the woman had to perch on the suitcases.  Luckily it wasn’t far.  The local people were very friendly and food and drink very reasonable.

[Mark_T]

58 minutes ago, smtcan said:

We priced Cambodia (Siem Reap) as a ship tour and found we could book hotel and flights from Hong Kong at the end of our cruise for close to a week for less money.  This even included breakfast and airport pickup and drop off in a tuktuk, which was interesting because an English speaking woman came with the driver.  Two of us with two suitcases filled the passenger area, so the woman had to perch on the suitcases.  Luckily it wasn’t far.  The local people were very friendly and food and drink very reasonable.

I'm not surprised.

 

I'm never a fan of extended stays off the ship, as being on the ship is why we book a cruise in the first place.

 

We did greatly enjoy our Mekong river cruise which was with Viking. The local people in Cambodia were extremely friendly and helpful.

 

[NMTraveller]

On 7/9/2023 at 11:27 AM, mahdnc said:

 

It's an awesome itinerary, too (which is the OP's conundrum).  I was just hoping to meet you so that by then we could exchange Wave stories and photos (don't give up on getting a permit).

I just hiked the Wave yesterday.  It was awesome.  I am sure that we will meet on a ship sometime...

 

My body is recovering from the 10.5 miles of hiking and going with a group of experienced faster hikers 🙂 

Edited February 13 by NMTraveller

[mahdnc]

20 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I just hiked the Wave yesterday.  It was awesome.  I am sure that we will meet on a ship sometime...

 

My body is recovering from the 10.5 miles of hiking and going with a group of experienced faster hikers 🙂 

 

Super-congratulations to you for getting a permit and for completing the hike to the Wave!!!!!!!! 

 

It's funny, my family and I did our hike during the month of February.as well because it was a 60th birthday present to myself.  We lucked out as our weather was pretty decent on that February day in 2020--sunny and I think the temperature was in the upper 50's maybe low 60's but it was a bit windy.  I hope your weather conditions were good and snow-free.

 

Please post pictures.  My apologies to the OP for this temporary deviation from topic (but this is a big deal).

 

Your next mission is to catch the total solar eclipse on Apr 8.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13 by mahdnc

[NMTraveller]

14 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Super-congratulations to you for getting a permit and for completing the hike to the Wave!!!!!!!! 

 

It's funny, my family and I did our hike during the month of February.as well because it was a 60th birthday present to myself.  We lucked out as our weather was pretty decent on that February day in 2020--sunny and I think the temperature was in the upper 50's maybe low 60's but it was a bit windy.  I hope your weather conditions were good and snow-free.

 

Please post pictures.  My apologies to the OP for this temporary deviation from topic (but this is a big deal).

 

Your next mission is to catch the total solar eclipse on Apr 8.

 

 

 

 

 

We missed the snow by a couple of days,  though there was a group that went out in the snow.  There was still some snow on the shaded areas.  Our temperatures were in the 28 to 40 degree range.  We were concerned about the temps,  but we ended up with only a layer or two of clothing with most of the layers in the backpack.  We took off the insulated jackets and middle layers.  I will post some pictures later in the week when I get them downloaded from my DWs phone...

Edited February 13 by NMTraveller