Royal Carribean 10 Day Far East cruise

Anyone taken the RCI Voyager of the Seas 10 day Far East cruise, dock out of Singapore? My husband and I will be taking this cruise, beginning April 15th. We have taken several RCI cruises, so, we know what we are getting into...huge ship with the expected crowds/lines. I'm really more curious as to what shore excursions are recommended or MUST SEE things at each of the 5 ports (Nha Trang Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taipei, Nagasaki, and finish in Tokyo). This is a part of the world I really know nothing about, so, I have my research to do between now and then! Would really appreciate some insight from someone who has taken this cruise before! Thank you so much!!

Welcome to Singapore.

The Voyager will sail from the Marina Bay Cruise center. This video may be useful for you.

[YOUTUBE]-a5WI-KinVQ[/YOUTUBE]

We just returned from Mariner of the Seas, 8-day Exotic Asia. Not exactly the same, but there will be some similarities, I believe.

Mariner and Voyager are similar ships, both Voyager class. Same embarkation port, but different finish. The only stop in common will be Hong Kong. But regardless, here are some thoughts that might apply to your cruise.

Ours was a repositioning cruise as well (one-way Singapore to Shanghai). The ship was only 2/3 full. I believe that is because of it being a repo. Our cabin steward said the ship will be sailing full out of Shanghai for the near future. There were minimal lines and crowds, lots of pool loungers, few people in the pools and hot tubs, lots of seats to be had for shows and MTD. The only place that was crowded was the Concierge Lounge during Happy Hour!

A huge benefit we got out of the ship being only 2/3 full - they were offering some amazing "guarantee" category prices a week out. We had booked inside rooms, cat N. By a week before the cruise, the cost of a Suite Guarantee had dropped to lower than what we had paid for our inside cabins, so we were able to change our booking to 2 Suite Guarantees, with the understanding that we may be in completely different areas of the ship. We ended up in 2 Grand Suites on deck 10, 6 doors down from each other! It was amazing!

I don't know the dynamics of Asia cruises, but we were surprised to find the ship only 2/3 sold. Since the ship sails full most of the time, I am guessing that it being a repo was a factor. That might be the case for your cruise as well.

Singapore - we spent 2 days there ahead of the cruise. We didn't see a lot of the city, unfortunately. We took the time to relax, get over the jet lag, enjoy our hotel and the heat/sun (escaping the terrible winter we've had here in Canada!). But Singapore is a wonderful city, the metro was easy to use, the airport is one of the best I've been in!

Vietnam - our visas were covered by the ship for $6 US per person. There was a lot of angst in January because there were some ships charging up to $100 pp for visas on board due to a change with the Vietnam government. Thankfully it worked out in time for our cruise. We were in Phu My, not Nha Trang, so I can't offer specific advice on excursions. A group of us CC'ers got a private van organized, since ahead of the cruise RC wasn't offering a "DIY" excursion. However, once on board, a DIY ride into Ho Chi Minh City was available. Ride in/ride back, no specific tour.

Hong Kong - we did the ship's Hop On/Hop Off tour. Our stop in Hong Kong was really too short for this, though. We arrived at 10 pm, and departed at 4 pm the next day. The tour was 8 am. So we were off the ship by 8 or so, on a bus (30-45 min) to the HO/HO stop, and on the bus by 9. We only got to ride 1 loop, just missed a bus for another route then calculated that we couldn't ride that route on the next bus 30 minutes later and make the last shuttle back to the ship. If we had to do it again - we'd probably just take the metro around to see a few sites and do some shopping. If we had more time, and all aboard was later than 3:30, it would have been a good tour - reasonable price, lots of flexibility to see what you want. There is a free shuttle from the port to the closest metro station. The Peak Tram was pretty good, but it was rainy and foggy so we didn't get the full effect. The terminal is huge and there apparently is some shopping, but we didn't check that out. But there is nothing near the terminal to just wander off the ship and see.

The crew on the ship was mostly Chinese, but maybe 60-70%, not 100%. They did speak enough English to get by, same as crew from other countries. (I mention this because some of the Mariner reviews complained about the crew being all Chinese and there being a language barrier for the English speaking passengers - we didn't find it at all).

Food was pretty typical cruise food, with a fair amount of Asian influence.

Passengers were probably 50% Asian, a lot of Australians and Europeans with North Americans being in the minority. Not many children (only 16 teens, we were told, I didn't ask about other groups). Our kids were in the teen group - they went to the first Teen event on the first night, only 3 kids showed up for that, and they never went back. There were never more than 4-5 kids in the pool area at a time.

Entertainment was good - an amazing pianist, an Asian musical group, a couple of other entertainers that I can't quite categorize (comedy/magic/juggling...). The ship's singers/dancers/orchestra as well as the skaters were great. No "big" show like on the Oasis/Quantum class ships. Just production shows and feature entertainers. There was a Quest and a Love and Marriage show, but they were not as hilarious as when we've seen them on Caribbean cruises. Those shows do better with full houses, and they weren't well attended, either due to the Asian passenger demographics (maybe they don't "get" those shows? Comedy is cultural) and/or the ship being only 2/3 full?

Hope that helps! I plan on writing a review of our cruise this weekend and posting the Compasses. I was frustrated with how little info there is on CC on Asian cruises, compared to the info available on Caribbean ships and cruises. I felt like I was going into this cruise blind. I knew more about the Allure cruise we had booked but had to cancel, than I did about this cruise!

We just returned from Mariner of the Seas, 8-day Exotic Asia. Not exactly the same, but there will be some similarities, I believe.

 

Mariner and Voyager are similar ships, both Voyager class. Same embarkation port, but different finish. The only stop in common will be Hong Kong. But regardless, here are some thoughts that might apply to your cruise.

 

Ours was a repositioning cruise as well (one-way Singapore to Shanghai). The ship was only 2/3 full. I believe that is because of it being a repo. Our cabin steward said the ship will be sailing full out of Shanghai for the near future. There were minimal lines and crowds, lots of pool loungers, few people in the pools and hot tubs, lots of seats to be had for shows and MTD. The only place that was crowded was the Concierge Lounge during Happy Hour!

 

A huge benefit we got out of the ship being only 2/3 full - they were offering some amazing "guarantee" category prices a week out. We had booked inside rooms, cat N. By a week before the cruise, the cost of a Suite Guarantee had dropped to lower than what we had paid for our inside cabins, so we were able to change our booking to 2 Suite Guarantees, with the understanding that we may be in completely different areas of the ship. We ended up in 2 Grand Suites on deck 10, 6 doors down from each other! It was amazing!

 

I don't know the dynamics of Asia cruises, but we were surprised to find the ship only 2/3 sold. Since the ship sails full most of the time, I am guessing that it being a repo was a factor. That might be the case for your cruise as well.

 

Singapore - we spent 2 days there ahead of the cruise. We didn't see a lot of the city, unfortunately. We took the time to relax, get over the jet lag, enjoy our hotel and the heat/sun (escaping the terrible winter we've had here in Canada!). But Singapore is a wonderful city, the metro was easy to use, the airport is one of the best I've been in!

 

Vietnam - our visas were covered by the ship for $6 US per person. There was a lot of angst in January because there were some ships charging up to $100 pp for visas on board due to a change with the Vietnam government. Thankfully it worked out in time for our cruise. We were in Phu My, not Nha Trang, so I can't offer specific advice on excursions. A group of us CC'ers got a private van organized, since ahead of the cruise RC wasn't offering a "DIY" excursion. However, once on board, a DIY ride into Ho Chi Minh City was available. Ride in/ride back, no specific tour.

 

Hong Kong - we did the ship's Hop On/Hop Off tour. Our stop in Hong Kong was really too short for this, though. We arrived at 10 pm, and departed at 4 pm the next day. The tour was 8 am. So we were off the ship by 8 or so, on a bus (30-45 min) to the HO/HO stop, and on the bus by 9. We only got to ride 1 loop, just missed a bus for another route then calculated that we couldn't ride that route on the next bus 30 minutes later and make the last shuttle back to the ship. If we had to do it again - we'd probably just take the metro around to see a few sites and do some shopping. If we had more time, and all aboard was later than 3:30, it would have been a good tour - reasonable price, lots of flexibility to see what you want. There is a free shuttle from the port to the closest metro station. The Peak Tram was pretty good, but it was rainy and foggy so we didn't get the full effect. The terminal is huge and there apparently is some shopping, but we didn't check that out. But there is nothing near the terminal to just wander off the ship and see.

 

The crew on the ship was mostly Chinese, but maybe 60-70%, not 100%. They did speak enough English to get by, same as crew from other countries. (I mention this because some of the Mariner reviews complained about the crew being all Chinese and there being a language barrier for the English speaking passengers - we didn't find it at all).

 

Food was pretty typical cruise food, with a fair amount of Asian influence.

 

Passengers were probably 50% Asian, a lot of Australians and Europeans with North Americans being in the minority. Not many children (only 16 teens, we were told, I didn't ask about other groups). Our kids were in the teen group - they went to the first Teen event on the first night, only 3 kids showed up for that, and they never went back. There were never more than 4-5 kids in the pool area at a time.

 

Entertainment was good - an amazing pianist, an Asian musical group, a couple of other entertainers that I can't quite categorize (comedy/magic/juggling...). The ship's singers/dancers/orchestra as well as the skaters were great. No "big" show like on the Oasis/Quantum class ships. Just production shows and feature entertainers. There was a Quest and a Love and Marriage show, but they were not as hilarious as when we've seen them on Caribbean cruises. Those shows do better with full houses, and they weren't well attended, either due to the Asian passenger demographics (maybe they don't "get" those shows? Comedy is cultural) and/or the ship being only 2/3 full?

 

Hope that helps! I plan on writing a review of our cruise this weekend and posting the Compasses. I was frustrated with how little info there is on CC on Asian cruises, compared to the info available on Caribbean ships and cruises. I felt like I was going into this cruise blind. I knew more about the Allure cruise we had booked but had to cancel, than I did about this cruise!

Thank you so much for your post! As far as I know, our upcoming trip is not a repositioning cruise, but, it is unusual since it starts and finishes at two different ports. Sounds like you had an amazing trip....and from your cruise profile, you are an experienced cruiser! I really just discovered Cruise Critic very recently. Good info on Hong Kong....and we were already thinking of doing the Hop On/Hop Off tour there....we have 12 hours there (8 am-8 pm), so, with your advice, sounds like we have enough time to spend seeing sights. Sure like the flexibility of this type of tour.

Our ship is almost 100% full....we are keeping our fingers crossed on an upgrade (we booked inside cabins), but, not very hopeful from what my husband has found out. I also feel we are going into this cruse pretty blind....but, I have been trying to do a little research. And I am sure thinking North Americans are definitely going to be in the minority on the ship, as you said was the case for you all. It is a pretty exotic cruise for a North American! But, we are sure looking forward to seeing and learning new things! Thank you again for your reply! Take care....

If you are doing the voyager of the seas like we did last year, you can message me. Our cruise started out in Hong Kong and we visit Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and ends in Singapore.

I was born in Vietnam and can give you some great insights.

I also have been to Thailand (Bangkok quite a few times and Pattaya).

We started out in Hong Kong and my friend cousin was touring us around. I can tell you more if you like to know about Hong Kong.

gi_pam,

Thank you for posting. We are doing a similar cruise in 2016 on the Mariner. Funny thing is all the suites are sold out or at least they are not letting people book them. Do you have hotel recommendations for Singapore and Shanghai? I am trying to use Hilton, Marriott or Hyatt points.

You're welcome!

We splurged on the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, for the "once in a lifetime" factor. Very nice hotel, and was worth the money.

We used IHG points and stayed at the Indigo on The Bund in Shanghai. Also very nice, great location (except that it was a bit of a long walk, 10-15 min or so, to a Metro station in either direction). But that one doesn't fit with the points you're trying to use. :)

You're welcome!

 

We splurged on the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, for the "once in a lifetime" factor. Very nice hotel, and was worth the money.

 

We used IHG points and stayed at the Indigo on The Bund in Shanghai. Also very nice, great location (except that it was a bit of a long walk, 10-15 min or so, to a Metro station in either direction). But that one doesn't fit with the points you're trying to use. :)

I actually meant IHG, not Hyatt. Not sure what I was thinking. I will look at the Indigo.

Thanks