Southeast Asia cruise--general port tour strategies

In December, we will be taking our first Southeast Asia cruise (after 50+ cruises everywhere else in the world). Typically, when cruising in Europe, for example, we mostly book small group private tours--preferring those to getting loaded on a big bus with 40 others by the shorex department of the cruise line. When we did China a few years back, it was through Viking...and everything was included so we didn't book anything on our own--and on the few "free days" in Beijing and Hong Kong, we just toured "on our own".

Now, I have little trouble doing private tours in Europe or Australia or Alaska since I feel very comfortable--with the languages, the customs, etc. But I am a little apprehensive in Asia. So, and especially being our first time to most of these places, what is our best strategy for visiting? Should we just do excursions through the ship? Are there local guides or tour companies people have used who will make the visit easy and stress-free? Would I feel comfortable touring any of these on my own? I appreciate anyone's thoughts and/or recommendations.

Here is the itinerary:

Celebrity Millennium December 22, 2018

Day 1, Sat, Dec 22--Hong Kong China

Day 2, Sun, Dec 23--Hong Kong China Departs 8:00PM

Day 3, Mon, Dec 24--At Sea

Day 4, Tue, Dec 25--Hanoi (Halong Bay) Vietnam Arrival: 7:00AM

Day 5, Wed, Dec 26--Hanoi (Halong Bay) Vietnam Departs 1:00PM

Day 6, Thu, Dec 27--Hue/Danang (Chan May) Vietnam Docked 8:00AM to 7:00PM

Day 7, Fri, Dec 28--At Sea

Day 8, Sat, Dec 29--Ho Chi Minh (Phu My) Vietnam Docked 7:00AM to 8:00PM

Day 9, Sun, Dec 30--At Sea

Day 10, Mon, Dec 31--Bangkok/Laemchabang Thailand Arrival: 9:00AM

Day 11, Tue, Jan 1--Bangkok/Laemchabang Thailand Departs 6:00PM

Day 12, Wed, Jan 2--At Sea

Day 13, Thu, Jan 3--At Sea

Day 14, Fri, Jan 4--Singapore Arrival: 9:00AM

Day 15, Sat, Jan 5—Singapore

In December, we will be taking our first Southeast Asia cruise (after 50+ cruises everywhere else in the world). Typically, when cruising in Europe, for example, we mostly book small group private tours--preferring those to getting loaded on a big bus with 40 others by the shorex department of the cruise line. When we did China a few years back, it was through Viking...and everything was included so we didn't book anything on our own--and on the few "free days" in Beijing and Hong Kong, we just toured "on our own".

 

Now, I have little trouble doing private tours in Europe or Australia or Alaska since I feel very comfortable--with the languages, the customs, etc. But I am a little apprehensive in Asia. So, and especially being our first time to most of these places, what is our best strategy for visiting? Should we just do excursions through the ship? Are there local guides or tour companies people have used who will make the visit easy and stress-free? Would I feel comfortable touring any of these on my own? I appreciate anyone's thoughts and/or recommendations.

 

Here is the itinerary:

 

Celebrity Millennium December 22, 2018

 

Day 1, Sat, Dec 22--Hong Kong China

Day 2, Sun, Dec 23--Hong Kong China Departs 8:00PM

Day 3, Mon, Dec 24--At Sea

Day 4, Tue, Dec 25--Hanoi (Halong Bay) Vietnam Arrival: 7:00AM

Day 5, Wed, Dec 26--Hanoi (Halong Bay) Vietnam Departs 1:00PM

Day 6, Thu, Dec 27--Hue/Danang (Chan May) Vietnam Docked 8:00AM to 7:00PM

Day 7, Fri, Dec 28--At Sea

Day 8, Sat, Dec 29--Ho Chi Minh (Phu My) Vietnam Docked 7:00AM to 8:00PM

Day 9, Sun, Dec 30--At Sea

Day 10, Mon, Dec 31--Bangkok/Laemchabang Thailand Arrival: 9:00AM

Day 11, Tue, Jan 1--Bangkok/Laemchabang Thailand Departs 6:00PM

Day 12, Wed, Jan 2--At Sea

Day 13, Thu, Jan 3--At Sea

Day 14, Fri, Jan 4--Singapore Arrival: 9:00AM

Day 15, Sat, Jan 5—Singapore

If you join your roll call, you will find experienced cruisers to this region will organise private tours, which you can join.

I am a senior who has travelled solo in all these places.

If you don't want to do long bus trips to Bangkok, HCMC, and Hanoi (2-3 hours each way), decide what you would like to do locally.

Look up the current roll calls for the Millennium , they are very active. Read through them and check what other cruiser are saying, what they recommend, who they are booking tours with. Check out the tour operator feedback ion tripadvisor.

We are on the Millennium in March 2018 and all the tour operators we have contacted all have spoken / written in perfect English.

Look up the current roll calls for the Millennium , they are very active. Read through them and check what other cruiser are saying, what they recommend, who they are booking tours with. Check out the tour operator feedback ion tripadvisor.

 

We are on the Millennium in March 2018 and all the tour operators we have contacted all have spoken / written in perfect English.

Thanks...good idea...

MY Roll Call is very INACTIVE...just me so far! Hopefully, as we get closer to the date, more people join...and hopefully some interested in private small group tours...

Laem Chabang:

It is a long bus ride if going into Bangkok.

A number of people will book a hotel there and stay overnight.

The hotel may be able to arrange private transfers for you.

The closer place people go is to Pattaya, but would pay to do your research before deciding if you want to go there.

Ha Long Bay / Hanoi.

If not doing Junk tours on the Bay, once again the ride into Hanoi is a long one.

If you want to stay overnight in Hanoi check your visa allows you to do this.

Phu My / Saigon.

There is nothing at Phu My so you need a tour arranged.

The trip into Saigon is not bad now, about 70mins when I did it 11 months ago.

I have taken the Ship's (not Celebrity) "on your own" bus into Saigon twice.

Also, when I've been to Phu My ( not on Celebrity) there are free shuttles into Ba Ria organised by the locals (I think). This is 30 mins away and no real tourist attractions.

However it is then easy enough to get to Vung Tau from there which is only another 25 mins away by taxi.

There were also van tour drivers touting their tours to Vung Tau at the shuttle drop off in Ba Ria.

If you haven't been to Saigon before, I would suggest doing a tour to the major city sights there.

Chan May / Da Nang

The main tours here would be Hue to the North or Hoi An to the South.

Once again it would be best to have some sort of tour organised.

A few assorted comments, mainly in line with Tranquility Base - but where I differ it's a matter of preference rather than one of us being right & the other one wrong.

Language isn't the big problem that you're concerned about.

Everyone involved in tourism speaks English, as do a high proportion of others. Accents can be a bit tricky, and the written word not up to the same standard, but you'll get by fine.

One tip - if you go DIY, get someone at the port to write down the address of your ship / hotel in the local language. Saves an awful lot of sign-language ;)

Be aware of dress code (no bare arms or legs) in places of worship. If you don't have something to cover your limbs there's usually cloaks etc available to borrow. Take plenty of low-denomination notes for donations.

Halong Bay

Hanoi is a very tiresome drive inland of about 3.5 hours e/w.

If you choose to go to Hanoi you really need to do it as an overnite, and its perhaps most sensible to do it as an admittedly-overpriced ship's excursion. NB TB's comment about visas if overniting off-ship.

I'd recommend you to forget Hanoi & take a 6 or 8 hour junk cruise, so you can get lost from civilisation amongst the eerie limestone karsts - a watery lunar-like landscape.

An overnite junk cruise is very difficult to arrange at sensible cost because ship's time in port doesn't coincide well with overnite junk cruises, but an 8-hour day cruise covers the same ground. We did this on-the-fly by negotiating on the first afternoon for a cruise next day, and it was ridiculously cheap.

Unfortunately whereas our ship's itinerary was half-day then full day, yours is full day followed by half-day so you need to take that junk cruise on the day you arrive. So best to fix it up in advance over the 'net - it'll be quite a lot more expensive but avoids the risk of no junks available.

Before committing yourself, seek sharers via your cruise RollCall. Junks have a capacity of about 40 - and ship-sponsored cruises load to capacity.:mad:. Figure the number to share with according to the cost of the junk, but about 12 people is ideal - you can stretch out on the roof rather than being crammed in seats inside like on ship's offerings. Pay a deposit (use a credit card only) or quote your card number only to a well-reviewed operator - there are a lot of wannabes in Vietnam.

Alternatively the ship may offer a four hour cruise, which is just about worthwhile. And it may offer a Hanoi plus 2-hour cruise - two hours is a nonsense and an anti-climax.

Chan May.

It's an industrial port, nothing of consequence nearby.You basically have the choice of Hue or Hoi An, you can't do both. I'd suggest Hoi An - you can combine it with a visit to China Beach / Marble Mountain.

We berthed in Da Nang itself (small ship) and negotiated a van tour on the pier, very easy, very cheap. To do the same you need to check whether there will be vans on-spec in Chan May.

Saigon

One day only, and that's a shame. But as TB's post, there's a spanking new highway from Phu My so it's not as "far" as it was.

You do need to at least fix up transportation to / from Saigon in advance - either an independent or ship's tour or transfer. Ships' "on your own" transfers drop at or near the Rex Hotel. From there it's eminently walkable to the main sights, like Reunification Hall, War Remnants Museum, HCM Museum, Ben Thanh market, Notre Dame & the adjacent Post Office (yes, the post office - a magnificent French colonial building, and includes an excellent tourist information bureau).

One caveat - all eminently walkable but you do have to run the gauntlet of thousands of little motor-bikes when you cross the streets. Do go on-line to research how to cross the streets - that way you have a better than 50% chance of reaching the other side alive :D

Bangkok from Laem Chabang.

It's about 90 mins to 2 hours on a good day, but allow a bare minimum of 2.5 hours to get back for back-on-board time.

There's no public transport, and taxis available to hire at the port are in a cartel run by a taxi-master. If you've arranged nothing in advance you have Hobson's choice & they'll screw you for what they can get.

So it's important to fix up at least transportation in advance. Again, ship's "on your own" or tour, or independent transfer or tour. Same operator research / financial advice as for Vietnam. Unless specified, most cars carry up to three passengers.

I recommend overniting in a Bangkok hotel. This avoids wasted time & money repeating the drive from L/C to Bangkok, and gives you an evening in the city. Hotels fronting the river are quite expensive, elsewhere in the city centre they're cheap - and up to western standards. But usually ships only offer "on your own" transfers to return same-day.

There are alternatives, like Pattaya or Bang-Pa In / Ayutthaya, but I recommend Bangkok.

Use Googleimages and YouTube in your research.

For instance crossing the street in Saigon https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?p=54998671#post54998671

And the notorious Walking Street in Pattaya https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=walking+street+pattaya&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4GGHP_enGB611GB611&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwimh5X_qNrYAhWRY1AKHfArCuEQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1488&bih=629

All just MHO as always

JB :)

I'll add a few comments.

Bangkok. I agree with the recommendation to stay over at a hotel. There is so much to see but the drive each way is 90 to 120 minutes. One piece of advice if you stay downtown. Avoid the Tuk Tuk. We have avoided them on our visits and I know people who have used them and sometimes they were taken for a "ride". For example all they were trying to do was to get from point A to point B but would be taken from one Tuk Tuk to another and another only to pay each time. There is the Sky Train that we made really good use of to get to and from various parts of Bangkok.

Sinapore. I am not sure if you are flying home when you disembark but it is a wonderful city and so easy to do on your own. We love to walk but if the heat gets to you taxis are easy to use but they have a great subway system which we take advantage of. Visit Little India, Chinatown and I also like their Zoo and their Botanical Gardens. Food is great and this is one place where you can get food from the street vendors and know it is great.

Ho Chi Minh City. Because you have only one day I would book a private tour. If you need a recommendation I can provide one. Also if you need to purchase any gifts for family or friends or even for yourself this is the place to get it. Prices lower then most places. Great prices for prescription glasses too but you won't have time for that.

Hong Kong. Take the local transportation as the locals do including buses and the ferry. Give you a great perspective.

Keith

I'll add a few comments.

 

Bangkok. I agree with the recommendation to stay over at a hotel. There is so much to see but the drive each way is 90 to 120 minutes. One piece of advice if you stay downtown. Avoid the Tuk Tuk. We have avoided them on our visits and I know people who have used them and sometimes they were taken for a "ride". For example all they were trying to do was to get from point A to point B but would be taken from one Tuk Tuk to another and another only to pay each time. There is the Sky Train that we made really good use of to get to and from various parts of Bangkok.

 

Sinapore. I am not sure if you are flying home when you disembark but it is a wonderful city and so easy to do on your own. We love to walk but if the heat gets to you taxis are easy to use but they have a great subway system which we take advantage of. Visit Little India, Chinatown and I also like their Zoo and their Botanical Gardens. Food is great and this is one place where you can get food from the street vendors and know it is great.

 

Ho Chi Minh City. Because you have only one day I would book a private tour. If you need a recommendation I can provide one. Also if you need to purchase any gifts for family or friends or even for yourself this is the place to get it. Prices lower then most places. Great prices for prescription glasses too but you won't have time for that.

 

Hong Kong. Take the local transportation as the locals do including buses and the ferry. Give you a great perspective.

 

Keith

I'll jump back in with a note or two re Keith's post........

Bangkok.

We had a great time zooming around in tuk-tuks. Fun (tho different folk have different interpretations of "fun" :D), inexpensive, and quick thro the traffic while taxis get caught in the frequent log-jams..

But yes, you do need some basic training to avoid the worst of the pitfalls.:eek:

Agree a destination and price before you board. And insist that you go DIRECT, not via his mother's clothes shop, his aunt's jewellery workshop, his second-cousin's carpet emporium, etc ad infinitum. Decline a "free or cheap ride if you visit my uncle's furniture warehouse". If the driver ignores you & stops en-route "it'll only take a minute, great bargains", get out, tell the guy you insisted direct and that you'll walk away unless he takes you where you want to go.

A shame that they're often so insistent - I guess they get good commissions.

You'll have to make up your own minds whether you follow Keith's suggestion or mine. No right or wrong, just different takes.

Skytrain is great but limited routes.

Ditto the river ferries.

Both avoid the traffic.

Hong Kong

Yes, I could spend a whole day just riding the ferries and trams.:)

But you've been there before, so you'll know about them.

JB :)

Thanks...good idea...

MY Roll Call is very INACTIVE...just me so far! Hopefully, as we get closer to the date, more people join...and hopefully some interested in private small group tours...

I feel your pain. We are on Ovation of the Seas this coming April and the roll call has had very little discussion on tours in the ports. So I have taken it up and have found tours for my wife and me. Some of them we are sharing with another couple but some it will just be the two us. I researched here on CC and used Trip Advisor as a reference too. The nice thing is the reasonable prices for most tours. :D

I'm back again as well.

I too would go with a cruise on Halong Bay.

Don't do the cruise line tour. Too many people in one Junk Boat and you often don't get to see certain places like the Caves.

Last time I was there there were four of us in a Junk Boat that if it was a cruise ship excursion there would have been 5o to 60 people.

I purposely kept it to the four of us so I paid twice the ship excursion so if I would have invited two other couples it would have been the same price.

With that said we had a crew of five people. We asked for a snack. Well their view of a snack was a multi course lunch which include local beer and whatever else we wanted.

Got into a couple of caves and got to many other places.

It is a very unique experience.

I've done this two times because the weather itself changes things up just as for those who have visited the Lost City of Petra know that weather brings out different colors and just a different experience.

Hanoi is great to see but taking a drive that far each way to me is not fun.

Keith