Vietnam Cruise

[ScottC4746]

DH want to go to Vietnam and I really don't as a land only vacation.  I would be willing to do a cruise that stops there.

I see X does some that has three ports in Vietnam.  The only one I would consider would be between Tokyo and Singapore.  I refuse to do one that starts or ends in China, even on this one Hong Kong is a port of call, but we don't have to get off.

Has anyone done a cruise between Tokyo and Singapore?  How is the cruise experience?

This is going to sound awful, no matter how I ask it, but what percentage roughly would be locals, Japanese or Singaporean?  I've never done a cruise that started or ended in a foreign port.

[Liao]

4 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

DH want to go to Vietnam and I really don't as a land only vacation.  I would be willing to do a cruise that stops there.

I see X does some that has three ports in Vietnam.  The only one I would consider would be between Tokyo and Singapore.  I refuse to do one that starts or ends in China, even on this one Hong Kong is a port of call, but we don't have to get off.

Has anyone done a cruise between Tokyo and Singapore?  How is the cruise experience?

This is going to sound awful, no matter how I ask it, but what percentage roughly would be locals, Japanese or Singaporean?  I've never done a cruise that started or ended in a foreign port.

Sounds like Asian/SE Asian cruises might not be for you.

[sanger727]

I think it would be more helpful to understand what you are really asking?

 

Celebrity is a US based cruise line that markets primarily to the US and english speaking countries.  The primary language on board is English. The primary food on board is usually based on American preferences.  When I've cruised in and out of foreign ports, I notice more Europeans than Caribbean cruises, however, I wouldn't say that large majority of the cruisers are local to any port. But there will certainly be more Asian people on the cruise than anything you would find in the US. I've never been to Sinagpore, but when we went to Japan we were extremely impressed by the graciousness and politeness of the Japanese people. 

Edited May 22 by sanger727

[cruisestitch]

OP, may I suggest a river cruise? Look into AMAwaterways.  It might meet your needs better than an ocean cruise would.

[ScottC4746]

Sanger nailed it.  I was curious which language they favor on board even though Singapore speaks English officially and if on board drinks, food, entertainment would favor east over west or not.

[TeaBag]

I hope you go for it.  Japan is a lovely country with great food and the people are very gracious, so you will enjoy your ports there.  Singapore is one of the loveliest places we have ever been.  It is so tidy and safe....very enjoyable. Make sure you ride the cable car to Sentosa while there.

 We are booked next year on a cruise from Kobe to Singapore (Azamara) and very much looking forward to the ports in Vietnam as we have never been there. I just have to see the Golden Hands bridge in Danang.  That's the one held up by the two hands...a walking bridge.

I agree with Sanger about the food on the ship.

All the best to you both and please let us all know how you enjoyed the cruise.

Edited May 22 by TeaBag

[mom says]

As Sanger noted, all Celebrity ships use English as the primary onboard language. They use the fleet wide menus, with the addition of some Asian dishes. Entertainment was generally western oriented, with ( IMO) the welcome addition of some special Asian shows in the theatre. On our cruise from Singapore we found the majority of passengers to be Western or Aussies/Kiwis. Of course there were Asian passengers, but they were not the major demographic.

[Miaminice]

We have done 3 Japan cruises (4th booked) and two Southeast Asia cruises so far and loved them all. The passengers on board are no different than on European or other cruises. Very few “locals“. It’s a Celebrity cruise!

 

Our latest cruise to Thailand and Vietnam was unbelievable. We planned all of our Vietnam tours with a young Vietnamese lady who made the cruise and experience unforgettable. We loved Vietnam so much that we booked another trip to Vietnam right away - a Mekong River cruise.

 

Here‘s the review of our cruise!

 

 

[ScottC4746]

I have only been to Tokyo via the airport for a connection to Singapore in 1999.  We had a bit of a language problem there in the airport.  I worked with a lady born in Tokyo at the time and she said they try to find English speakers but because of where Narita Airport is located, you get alot of rural employees so it makes it a challenge.

Singapore we loved.  We spent so many meals in the food halls instead of regular restaurants.  It was a foodies heaven. 

[ggo85]

We did Hong Kong to Singapore last year on Silversea.  While I (think I) understand your concerns re Hong Kong, a couple of points to consider.

 

If you go from Tokyo to Singapore, you should plan for a 3-week cruise.  To go from Tokyo to Hong Kong is a LONG WAY by ship.  I say that b/c you will "waste" a lot of your cruise just getting down to Vietnam.  Thus, if your cruise is shorter than 3 weeks, you won't have much time to see Vietnam and there is a LOT to see.  I was surprised how long the country is -- our ship spent 8 days in ports and transiting just Vietnam.  

 

Our 14-day cruise had full days in Halong Bay and Da Nang and 3 days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  Plus we had 2 days in Bangkok.  And one sea day between each port so time to "recover" from really long port days.  I felt that I really got to see a lot of Vietnam and would not have wanted to miss any of those ports.  Wish we'd had even more time!

 

IMHO, if you go all that way, you want to see something other than the ocean (which you can see a lot closer and a lot cheaper than flying all the way to Asia).

 

I suggest either a cruise around Japan (lots to see and do), a land tour of Vietnam, the river cruise mentioned above, or bite the bullet and fly to HK.  

 

 

 

[Torfamm]

We did the Singapore to Hong Kong itinerary as a B2B starting and ending in Singapore earlier this year. The passenger mix was pretty typical of all Celebrity sailings, mostly Americans, British, and Australians.

 

It was a fantastic cruise and I’d definitely recommend it. For us, it was well worth the long wait.

 

We’d originally booked just a 14 night for 2021 but it was cancelled so we shifted to 2022. We added the second leg when we shifted again to 2023 after the 2022 trip was cancelled. Of course, 2023 was also cancelled. We’d really started to feel like it would never happen.

Edited May 23 by Torfamm

[cruisestitch]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:30 AM, ScottC4746 said:

Sanger nailed it.  I was curious which language they favor on board even though Singapore speaks English officially and if on board drinks, food, entertainment would favor east over west or not.

The embarkation in disembarkation points have nothing to do with the languages spoken on board Celebrity.

 

if there is a large enough contingent of non-English-speaking people, they may make some announcements, particularly safety announcements, in their language, but mostly on Celebrity you will only hear English no matter where you are in the world

[hcat]

There have been several recent  reviews with great photos, travel info  & commentary.(not precisely Vietnam). 

 

If you search them out, it might be a great help..  One is linked in this thread.

Edited May 23 by hcat

[hcat]

here's a link to one abt Japan

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3005641-best-of-japan-millennium-52-515/

 

[Tom and Ingrid]

17 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Here‘s the review of our cruise!

We do the Solstice HK->Singapore w/ Vietnam & Thailand cruise this coming December, so I am reading your review with excitement and taking notes 😄. 

 

Thanks for posting.

[Miaminice]

35 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

We do the Solstice HK->Singapore w/ Vietnam & Thailand cruise this coming December, so I am reading your review with excitement and taking notes 😄. 

 

Thanks for posting.

You are welcome!
We can HIGHLY recommend booking the Vietnam tours with Rose. Since we got back, a number of people followd our recommendation and booked with her. All came back raving about the experience. She´s a gem!