far east cruise

[rooney9]

need lots of help and not much time.virgin are advertising a stay and cruise,overnight in hong kong,cruise is Hanoi (overnight) Da Nang,Ho Chi Minh (overnight) Bangkok (overnight) Singapore (overnight).a few questions,will i be able to go into the overnight stops for night out,are they safe and easy to get to from the ports.i will be going in March 2013 have looked at the weather, that seems ok.i recently came back from New Zealand ,Australia cruise aboard Celebrity Century,the asia cruise will be aboard Millennium,to be honest i was not really impressed with century compared to princess cruises i have been on.are celebrity ships more or less the same as in dining and entertainment.any help much appreciated.

[CruiserBruce]

I am sorry, but without spacing, punctuation and some capital letters, it is very difficult to read your post.

It appears you are on Celebrity. I would be doing some research on the Celebrity board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

You will also find lots of info on the Ports board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

[John Bull]

It's a popular route, broadly the same is offered by Princess, RCI, Azamara and occasionally by Discovery.
March is OK.

HK. If its a Virgin-organised hotel, make sure its in a convenient part of town - the Tsim Sha Tsui peninsula, or Central/Wan Chai on the island.
And check whether transfers are included - often they're not with Virgin.

"Hanoi" is Halong Bay, about a 3hr drive to Hanoi, which is inland. Choose between an overnite in Hanoi (safest by ship's tour because of the poor & slow road), or a day cruise on a junk in Halong Bay.

"Da Nang" is probably an industrial port about 30 mins north of Da Nang, thoough Azamara is small enough to port in Da Nang. Whichever, you can easily visit Hue or Hoi-An/Marble Mountain in a day, plenty of taxis/mininbuses for bartering at the port.

HCMC (but folk still call it Saigon) is up-river. Princess/RCI/Celebrity port at Phu My, about 90 mins/2 hrs away, or Vung Tau, about 2.5 hrs away.
Azamara etc are small enough to sail up the river & port in the city.
Probably best to use ship's "Saigon on your own" transfers from port to city, the city itself is very easy for self-guided walking.

Bangkok. Again, the larger ships berth some distance from the city. At Laem Chabang, a 90 minute drive to the city. No sensible public transport between port & city, best to use ship's transfers or pre-book a private transfer - don't rely on taxis at the port, which will rip you off. With a bit of research, getting around the city is easy by Skytrain, ferries, tuk-tuks, taxis.

For Hanoi (if you choose there rather than a junk cruise), for Saigon & for Bangkok, consider an overnite hotel in the city. Cheap, saves transport time & cost, gives you an evening in town.

JB