Hi Caroline, yes it was annoying trying to figure out the port but in the end we did come into Ho Chi Minh City right in the centre of town, albeit right at the far end of the port so it took a little effort to get out and could only be done by the shuttle bus. As for other excursions we did a few and I’m sure a number of them are good. We did them all as independent- via Viator, so we paid a lot less than the ship excursions and were the only ones on each tour.
Halong Bay is very good but I recommend being careful to book a trip that includes the caves as we did not and it was a little disappointing.
Ho Chi Minh City has a number of different things to do, we booked Viator tours and they were both very good – especially the walking food tour. The really good thing about this port is you can walk around the central area quite easily and see many things on your own. Seabourn provide a shuttle bus to Ben Tanh market which was very useful and a good hub to see other places. If you’re adventurous with your food, I recommend the Hawker stalls within this market to get some really good cheap food rather than the restaurants that guides will try to push you to.
Shihanoukeville in Cambodia is a very disappointing port and my strong recommendation would be to not waste your money on any of the excursions. You do have to buy a Visa even if you don’t get off the ship so it’s worth getting the free shuttle bus into the market and beach, but other than that do not pay any money for any other tours.
Which brings us to Bangkok, which unfortunately is a 2 to 3 hour drive from the port. Bangkok is an amazing place but I do really have to question whether it’s worth up to 5 hours in a bus or vehicle to have four hours in town. We loved what we did, but I question the cost and the boredom of the five hours drive. Other than doing this long trip, though, there didn’t seem to be much to do from the port, other than visiting the local dive, Pattaya, which, to be fair, we heard from others was worth a trip just to get a look, and there is a pretty good beach there if you’re into beaches. Again Seabourn provide a free shuttle for this trip, so fair play to them.
We didn’t make it to Danang due to engine problems, so I can’t comment there, but we were planning to go to Hoi An which I’ve heard is very interesting.
As for Singapore, if you have time there, don’t bother with the ferris wheel which was expensive and not very good but the Gardens by the bay, the Merlion, Raffles, the zoo, Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street, and many more places are amazing. We ate exclusively at the Hawker Centre food courts all over Singapore for both lunch and dinner and they were universally excellent if a little frightening if you only like exclusive restaurants! Sing$4 to $6 per dish of amazing Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Singaporean food – the only slight issue being that beer is expensive. The further away from the bays, the cheaper the food and the more authentic – don’t expect to see too many tourists in a lot of these, but loads of locals. Watch out for Bugis Street and the food court behind it. Newton Circus, Satay by the bay, Chinatown and plenty more.