Queen Mary 2 organising your own tours .

[Oopsa]

Hi , we are doing a trip from Sydney to Singapore on the Queen Mary 2 , 25 nights ports we are stopping at will be first Cairns then Darwin next Bitung Indonesia . Then on to Hong Kong whee we will be staying overnight. We then travel to Chan May in Vietnam and then our next stop will be Nha Trang . Then on to Ho Chi Minh city ( Phu My ) . And finally we arrive in Singapore where we are having an overnight stay . 

 

What we would like to know if anyone that has done this trip has organised their own tours our ages are from 65 to 85 so we are looking for things that do not have a lot of walking or climbing . Also interested in visiting local towns if close by where out ship docks . We have two tenders one in Cairns and one in Nah Trang . We would appreciate any suggestions. We don't want to do cruise organised tours as these are too expensive. Thank you .

[Solent Richard]

My wife and I have done all those ports however we have not been excluded from walking as you appear to be.

 

Personally I feel you need to bite the bullet and be prepared to invest in ships excursions otherwise most of those visits are going to be non starters - particularly as distances from ship's berths to centre of attractions are invariably great. 

 

For instance the opportunity to visit Hue would be for me a must - despite the distance from Chan May being some  60 Km....

 

 

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Similarly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) from Phu My is a similar distance but a must...

 

 

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Of course I have no knowledge of your interests so you may like to take a look at how we did Hong Kong...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/12/01/one-way-to-do-hong-kong/

 

and Darwin.....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2020/02/15/one-way-to-do-darwin/

 

 

[Solent Richard]

Good afternoon @Oopsa.

 

It would appear there aren't too many members offering you advice.

 

Your problem in Hong Kong will be the distance between the cruise terminal and the tourist heart of Hong Kong.

 

The good news is that the ship will offer a simple transfer into Hong Kong and there is also the Kai Tag Metro with free shuttle....

 

https://www.kaitakcruiseterminal.com.hk/passenger-info/

 

Depending on where in Hong Kong Island/Kowloon you alight you may wish to pick up an idea from my cruise blog on Hong Kong....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/12/01/one-way-to-do-hong-kong/

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

@Oopsa, try asking some questions of the port of call boards. You might get some good advice/suggestions there. And have you joined the roll call for your cruise? There might be people organizing small group tours that you might join. 

[kitkat343]

On 12/28/2023 at 6:02 AM, Solent Richard said:

My wife and I have done all those ports however we have not been excluded from walking as you appear to be.

 

Personally I feel you need to bite the bullet and be prepared to invest in ships excursions otherwise most of those visits are going to be non starters - particularly as distances from ship's berths to centre of attractions are invariably great. 

 

For instance the opportunity to visit Hue would be for me a must - despite the distance from Chan May being some  60 Km....

 

 

*****

*****

 

Similarly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) from Phu My is a similar distance but a must...

 

 

*******

 

Of course I have no knowledge of your interests so you may like to take a look at how we did Hong Kong...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/12/01/one-way-to-do-hong-kong/

 

and Darwin.....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2020/02/15/one-way-to-do-darwin/

 

 

Hue was a really beautiful place to spend half a day (we did a land tour to Vietnam and stopped at Hue as part of our drive from one city to another.  We stopped there for a few hours along the drive and it was quite lovely and I remember feeling like I was quite glad we'd stopped there and that we didn't need more time there.  But I do think there was quite a bit of walking, though maybe you can find a tour guide or cab service cab service on tripadvisor and ask them if they can drive you around instead of your walking (we were there 15 years ago so I can't be more helpful or remember if cars are allowed inside the historic center).

Edited January 5 by kitkat343