Seabourn Burma Cruise

Would be interested to hear reports on this cruise destination and other ports on the itinerary of Sojourn, departing 3 February 2015. I believe there is a multi day stop and wondered at the price of Seabourn tours and any independent possibilities. Thanks.

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It helps if you give a bit more info, ie your ports and cruise length etc. Otherwise, in order to help you, posters have to go to the Seabourn site, input your travel date and start looking at your itinerary, which takes a bit more time than if you list the ports here to make it easier.

How long are you onboard? I just went to the SB website and put your date in, after scrolling past several Caribbean cruises, the first one I saw in that region is a 40 day cruise which does visit Myanmar.

I've visited some of the ports on the second half of that cruise, but as I don't know where you're disembarking, I may be wasting both of our time if I start to write about those ports. There's a 12 day itinerary for the same departure date, that cruise ends in Singapore.

It helps if you give a bit more info, ie your ports and cruise length etc. Otherwise, in order to help you, posters have to go to the Seabourn site, input your travel date and start looking at your itinerary, which takes a bit more time than if you list the ports here to make it easier.

 

How long are you onboard? I just went to the SB website and put your date in, after scrolling past several Caribbean cruises, the first one I saw in that region is a 40 day cruise which does visit Myanmar.

I've visited some of the ports on the second half of that cruise, but as I don't know where you're disembarking, I may be wasting both of our time if I start to write about those ports. There's a 12 day itinerary for the same departure date, that cruise ends in Singapore.

Hi Nigella

I'm mainly interested in the Burma port of call which is a multi nighter on itineraries now and later in 2015. Other ports of interest are the Malaysian ones on the 12 nighter. I will post a list when i have a bit more time. Thanks for taking an jnterest.

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Galeforce - If you fancy visiting Mynamar/Burma I strongly urge you to take an Irrawaddy river trip which will also allow you the choice of transport hubs such as Singapore or Bangkok or KL. Cruise ships dock far away from Rangoon and you will spend a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing, especially if you take the (probably) overpriced excursion up-country to Pagan. I've done a river trip and highly recommend them - there are plenty to choose from nowadays, including the Orient Express Road to Mandalay which is perhaps the lux-est available.

Burma is similar to Cambodia in that it's not an ideal cruise destination. Only go on a ship if you value the ship's facilities higher than the sightseeing.

We did the overnight tour with Seabourn to Bagan in Nov. on the Odyssey. Plane flights are notoriously late in Burma, and the ship was the safe way to go. It was done EXTEMELY well....first class accommodations and wonderful stops for meals. The temples were beautiful and horse cart rides were included for temples "off the beaten path". We then did the "add-on" to visit Shwedagon pagoda after debarking the plane in Yangon. This should not be missed. We did not arrive back at the ship until about 10 pm the second day and the crew was waiting to welcome about 35 of us with drinks. The crowning gift was that they opened restaurant 2 at that hour and served all of us a full course meal with choices of entree!! I must say, Seabourn was first class all the way on this trip.

The Thilawa port is very far from Yangoon and very inconvenient. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Yangoon with normal/medium traffic. We took a day excursion with Seabourn to Bago and spent a full 3-hour getting there (instead of the advertised 2-hour) and another 3 hours getting back, due to traffic and road conditions. Everything was far and inconvenient from the port.

I would not advise visiting Burma on Seabourn (or on a cruise in general - stick to coastal cities/regions when cruising!), unless you plan to go back there on your own. I did the Singapore to Rome itinerary last year on SB Odyssey, and many of the ports were not interesting to me. Some were just not interesting in general, e.g. Salalah, Mangalore, while others were already quite familiar to me because of frequent previous stays.

We visited Burma in 2002 on a 12-day land-based journey (with domestic flights and private guide and driver throughout), and it was a fabulous and enchanting trip. In particular, Bagan was absolutely extraordinary and the highlight, while Yangoon was the least interesting. Burma deserves an in-depth visit; don't expect to see much of Burma on a 2-night trip docked in Thilawa.

We did the overnight tour with Seabourn to Bagan in Nov. on the Odyssey. Plane flights are notoriously late in Burma, and the ship was the safe way to go. It was done EXTEMELY well....first class accommodations and wonderful stops for meals. The temples were beautiful and horse cart rides were included for temples "off the beaten path". We then did the "add-on" to visit Shwedagon pagoda after debarking the plane in Yangon. This should not be missed. We did not arrive back at the ship until about 10 pm the second day and the crew was waiting to welcome about 35 of us with drinks. The crowning gift was that they opened restaurant 2 at that hour and served all of us a full course meal with choices of entree!! I must say, Seabourn was first class all the way on this trip.

My husband and I visited Burma in 2003 (yes, a few years back but some things do not change). One of he highlights of our many Seabourn cruises (this one on Legend) was the air tour to Bagan. Flying low over a vast treeless landscape was surreal, especially since scattered here and there were more than 1000 millennia-old pagodas, some returning to the soil but many in pristine shape. I could go on and on but suffice to say this was one of the most memorable of our journeys. The Bagan (or Pagan) is a World Heritage Site, revered by Burmese and unforgettable. DO IT!

The Thilawa port is very far from Yangoon and very inconvenient. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Yangoon with normal/medium traffic. We took a day excursion with Seabourn to Bago and spent a full 3-hour getting there (instead of the advertised 2-hour) and another 3 hours getting back, due to traffic and road conditions. Everything was far and inconvenient from the port.

 

I would not advise visiting Burma on Seabourn (or on a cruise in general - stick to coastal cities/regions when cruising!), unless you plan to go back there on your own. I did the Singapore to Rome itinerary last year on SB Odyssey, and many of the ports were not interesting to me. Some were just not interesting in general, e.g. Salalah, Mangalore, while others were already quite familiar to me because of frequent previous stays.

 

We visited Burma in 2002 on a 12-day land-based journey (with domestic flights and private guide and driver throughout), and it was a fabulous and enchanting trip. In particular, Bagan was absolutely extraordinary and the highlight, while Yangoon was the least interesting. Burma deserves an in-depth visit; don't expect to see much of Burma on a 2-night trip docked in Thilawa.

I totally agree with all of this. A quick dash up to Bagan/Pagan is not the way to do it. Take a river trip to see the incredible beauty and serenity of the country, the river and the people.

Here's a link to my photos from the river trip I did:

We have visited Burma on 2.5 day itinerary. We hired a pvt guide for 2 days to visit the iconic pagoda and general area. Very interesting....and just enough for us. For the last day we took the ship's shuttle into town, visited the market, walked around and enjoyed lunch at the famous hotel [don't recall the name].

Lots of passengers, mostly who had visited Burma/Myanmar previously, took the overnight trip to Bagan. They loved it despite it being a bit hectic.

Paula

Paula,

I'm looking for a pvt guide for Dec this year.

Can you let me know how you found your driver please?

TX

Paula,

 

I'm looking for a pvt guide for Dec this year.

 

Can you let me know how you found your driver please?

 

TX

Hi MrsWaldo,

We will be in Myanmar 8-10 February. On the 9th & 10th we have organised private tours with exotravel (it used to be called exotissmo travel) and they have been very good so far in the organising stage. I will let you know after our visit how they are.

We as well as other people we know on this cruise are planning to stay either one or two nights in the Yangon. We have booked one night in The Strand which is a famous old hotel similar in feel to the Raffles and might be the one Paula referred to. This is to reduce the travelling time. Others will do the back and forth in the cars and tours but are aware of time needed because of the traffic conditions.

I hope this helps and will report back later........we have two sea days after Myanmar so I will have some time.

Julie

Mrs Waldo, I am glad that Julie was able to help you with guide info as I have quite forgotten the name of ours.You might also wish to post in the port section to inquire about guide services......and yes, Julie, the hotel is The Strand.

Thanks to all those who have posted so far. Your advice has been most helpful. It still sounds to me as though it is worth making the effort to see Rangoon this way if a full tour of Burma might not be possible for me for a few years (I have to say that I am not keen on internal flights with some airlines and this is currently a big stumbling block for me with Burma as the country is so large). For those who have done, or are set to do, private and Seabourn tours, an idea of the prices would be very helpful. Also, I am still interested in thoughts about Seabourn's other Malaysian ports of call, for the cruise I am considering they are: Penang, Port Klang (for KL), Porto Malai (Langkawi), Lumut, Malacca and Phuket (Thailand). Thanks again. Reports of the success of tours for those yet to travel would be great.

We have visited several of these ports although on other vessels. Perhaps someone else or SB can help you with prices.

Phuket: strongly recommend the boat trip to Phang Nga [? sp] Bay w the rock formations

Kuala Lumpur, a bustling city w an interesting Petro Tower, is an hour away from port...nothing of note near the port

Langkwai: The ship's shuttle left us at a depressing small cluster of stores. One could see the beautiful nearby beach. To appreciate this island you may need to hire transport to a beach.

Penang; offers more sights locally from grand hotel to markets

You might wish to check the port section of this board...better info than I could offer

We did the cable car in Langkawi. Pictures and description can be found on line. Awesome views and enjoyable day.

Galeforce - If you fancy visiting Mynamar/Burma I strongly urge you to take an Irrawaddy river trip which will also allow you the choice of transport hubs such as Singapore or Bangkok or KL. Cruise ships dock far away from Rangoon and you will spend a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing, especially if you take the (probably) overpriced excursion up-country to Pagan. I've done a river trip and highly recommend them - there are plenty to choose from nowadays, including the Orient Express Road to Mandalay which is perhaps the lux-est available.

 

Burma is similar to Cambodia in that it's not an ideal cruise destination. Only go on a ship if you value the ship's facilities higher than the sightseeing.

Thinking of doing the Road to Mandalay next year.Can you tell me are the tours very difficult as far as walking long distances? I noticed the tour to Bagen on Seaborne was a 3 hour walking tour I could not do that.

What's the port/dock like at Thilawa? We're thinking about taking the December 14 day Singapore/Singapore cruise as a break in December. It's currently quite well priced and since we live here it's a taxi ride to and from the port and no flights.

Having been to most of the places we'd spend a lot of time on the ship, which we generally like. Since the ship docks for 3 days at Thilawa it would be good if the port area were more scenic than some of the Asian container ports we've been to in the past as we'd be looking at it for a good portion of 3 days.

Thinking of doing the Road to Mandalay next year.Can you tell me are the tours very difficult as far as walking long distances? I noticed the tour to Bagen on Seaborne was a 3 hour walking tour I could not do that.

Acrusa - There will be quite a bit of walking, though in some villages/small towns you will be taken around by trishaw-style transport. Bagan/Pagan does require walking and climbing up some of the temples for viewpoints. However, the trickiest thing were often the climbs up the riverbank to get to the road or footpath from the boat. I remember several were extremely steep - however, the crew were brilliant in assisting people with mobility issues. I also remember a blizzard of moths/insects on some nights - but this is still a wonderful trip and shouldn't be missed.