Voyager of the Seas Picture Review Singapore to Shanghai June 2012

[MindyJohn]

This was our private van that came with an English speaking guide and driver. If you do the research, you'll find that the private tours in Ho Chih Min aren't cheap, but I would still strongly recommend going private.

 

Ship organized tours were really expensive - US$99 per pax. I had 6 persons in my party and we got this van (looked almost brand new, Mercedes) for USD$430.

 

 

The ride from container port to city center is really far. The van could go much faster than the 40-seater coaches.

 

On the way to city.

 

For a first time visit to Vietnam, do you think the five hour transfer to HCMC is offset by what you're able to see there? Did you experience any anxiety about returning to the ship in time? Which Tour Operator did you use? Thanks so much for your advice and review!

[Mabas]

Thank you very much for a fantastic review. Are you out of Sydney on 8 December? My wife and two children will be joining me to New Zealand. I think we are in your cabin 7694.

[Iluvcruising2]

For a first time visit to Vietnam, do you think the five hour transfer to HCMC is offset by what you're able to see there? Did you experience any anxiety about returning to the ship in time? Which Tour Operator did you use? Thanks so much for your advice and review!

 

For the Tour Operator, please refer to post #345 of this thread.

 

To clarify, the transfer didn't take 5 hours. It was about 1.5 hours each way, for a total of 3 hours.

 

If you take the ship organized tour, you would be on a 44 seater coach and the transfer would probably take at least 2 hours each way. We were on the Mercedes Van and the driver was going quite fast on the open road.

 

You would have seen the pictures in my thread on Ho Chih Minh city. Definitely worth a visit even though the transfers took a while.

 

We didn't have much anxiety about returning to the ship on time. This is partly because we chose to skip lunch and do all the sight-seeing and then head back to the ship for a mid-afternoon meal.

 

As I have young children, I didn't want to risk eating any local food. We ate a heavy breakfast and then just brought along some bananas and croissants (my kids like simple stuff) and munched on those when we got a bit hungry.

 

I recall we got back to the ship quite early, definitely before 4pm. Windjammer was open and there was plenty of food available.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you very much for a fantastic review. Are you out of Sydney on 8 December? My wife and two children will be joining me to New Zealand. I think we are in your cabin 7694.

 

Indeed we will be! 8 Dec out of Sydney. Maybe we'll bump into one another! :)

[retyredgreynomad]

Thanks for putting together the best reveiw...good with bad, that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The pictures were a fantastic natural scenario....thanks again for taking the time to post.

 

We were getting a bit anxious about the size and population of VOTS. Your reveiw has allayed any fears we were having about our 8th Dec. cruise to NZ....now we are just getting so excited...only 3weeks to go! Thanks again.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks for putting together the best reveiw...good with bad, that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The pictures were a fantastic natural scenario....thanks again for taking the time to post.

 

We were getting a bit anxious about the size and population of VOTS. Your reveiw has allayed any fears we were having about our 8th Dec. cruise to NZ....now we are just getting so excited...only 3weeks to go! Thanks again.

 

Are you on the 8th Dec cruise out of Sydney?

 

We'll be on the same cruise!

 

Do join the roll call, if you have haven't already done so.

 

The good thing about the Dec 8 cruise is that all ports are docked. Much easier that way. Tender ports can get a bit challenging for such a large ship.

[Megan_Strick]

The basement of the Palace contained many rooms from which the President monitored the war effort. There was also a bunker.

 

 

In their rush to get out of Vietnam, I think the Americans left behind lots of equipment. Now, they serve as fine exhibits.

 

 

These looks like signal equipment.

 

Wonder why they needed so many typewriters. They certainly weren't typing love letters to the VietCong.

 

 

Very interesting. Looks like some type of radio equipment. I am going to show this to my son. He is a radio operator in the Marines. Looks cool!

[Beejay4016]

Wow, fantastic photographs. And I have to tell you, waiting inside those palace gates was an Aussie journo by the name of Neil Davis. Neil decided to stay in Saigon and wait for the arrival of the North Vietnamese troops, and thought that inside the palace grounds, ready to photograph the tank smashing through the gates, was the best spot. I believe he cheekily said, "Welcome, Comrades" (you can check it out in his biography "One Crowded Hour" - fabulous read). He was sadly killed in a tiny, tiny mini-coup in Thailand in the 80s, but kept his camera rolling as he fell to the ground.

 

Your photographs make be more determined to spend the day in that fascinating city and see the things that Neil - yes, he is a bit of a hero - saw and photographed.

 

Cheers .. :)

[Beejay4016]

Oops - sorry.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Beejay4016

[Beejay4016]

Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and fantastic photographs. We are very familiar with Singapore - let's face it, we're practically neighbours - and absolutely love your city state. It is one place we always say we would love to go live in for 12 months or so; always enjoy ourselves up there. And Hong Kong is just such a blast, and also good for the shopping as you say (oh, Shenzen - hide my wallet!)

 

We are doing our first cruise in January as a birthday celebration for my husband. We're cruising with HAL on the Volendam from Singapore to Hong Kong, so it was fantastic following your cruise between those two points. Unfortunately we'll only have two days in Singapore pre-cruise and have to meet up with some French friends there but do plan on dining on the Flyer again as we find that a fabulous experience. Gardens by the Sea look marvellous. They weren't finished last time we were there so we are looking forward to seeing them. And of course, we are big kids so no trip to Singers is complete without Sentosa. We have five days in Hong Kong post-cruise and just can't wait to feel that buzz again, and enjoy a great meal while watching the evening light show from the Kowloon side. Oh, and Stanley Markets - better pick up a spare suitcase or two along the way.

 

My parents-in-law are sailing on the Voyager in February, out of Sydney, around NZ and ending in Perth (hope I've got that itinerary correct), and so I will pass on to them a link to your fantastic reviews. Again, thank you and I wish you a wonderful December cruise.:)

Edited November 16, 2012 by Beejay4016

[retyredgreynomad]

Yep, sure is....I have registered for the Meet and Greet, thinking they may need numbers, but the confirming email said I was #54....will see what happens...

 

We are older travellers...I was born in the 1st half of the last century!:eek:

[fishtaco]

This is by far the best review I have ever read on CC!

 

We are still contemplating doing Singapore to Shanghai B2B after our Fremantle to Singapore cruise on Voyager.

 

Would love to see some pics of Shanghai :D

 

Den

[Iluvcruising2]

This is by far the best review I have ever read on CC!

 

We are still contemplating doing Singapore to Shanghai B2B after our Fremantle to Singapore cruise on Voyager.

 

Would love to see some pics of Shanghai :D

 

Den

 

Cool!

 

Well, one tip I received from a friend was NOT to sail on cruises ex-Shanghai.

 

Reason is that you may not like to be in the company of 3,000 PRCs. They tend to be a bit more rowdy and also, perhaps, less cultured, relative to the Westerners.

 

Just IMHO.

[Iluvcruising2]

Yep, sure is....I have registered for the Meet and Greet, thinking they may need numbers, but the confirming email said I was #54....will see what happens...

 

We are older travellers...I was born in the 1st half of the last century!:eek:

 

Old in age, but surely young at heart!

 

Welcome aboard!

[Iluvcruising2]

My parents-in-law are sailing on the Voyager in February, out of Sydney, around NZ and ending in Perth (hope I've got that itinerary correct), and so I will pass on to them a link to your fantastic reviews. Again, thank you and I wish you a wonderful December cruise.:)

 

That's cool!

 

I plan to do a similar review for our upcoming Dec cruise. Watch out for that!

[Water_Lelie]

Thanks for the pictures and words!

[chris_kelowna]

iluvcruising2, thanks so much for this great review and all the pics of the VOS. We are taking our first cruise in 11 years on the VOS from Sydney to Freemantle in Feb-Mar and can't wait. There are not that many pics of the VOS so I was so thrilled to see them. I'm really looking forward to your review of your Dec trip - probably we'll be seeing a lot of the same ports. Thanks again!

[Iluvcruising2]

iluvcruising2, thanks so much for this great review and all the pics of the VOS. We are taking our first cruise in 11 years on the VOS from Sydney to Freemantle in Feb-Mar and can't wait. There are not that many pics of the VOS so I was so thrilled to see them. I'm really looking forward to your review of your Dec trip - probably we'll be seeing a lot of the same ports. Thanks again!

 

Thanks for your encouragement.

 

What are your ports of call for the Sydney - Freemantle cruise?

[chris_kelowna]

This is our itinerary – looks like a good one to me. Lots of days at sea! Hope we like it. Is this like yours?

 

Day 1 Sydney, Australia

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 At Sea

Day 4 At Sea

Day 5 Auckland, New Zealand

Day 6 Tauranga, New Zealand

Day 7 Napier, New Zealand

Day 8 At Sea

Day 9 Port Chalmers, New Zealand

Day 10 Dusky Sound, New Zealand

Day 10 Doubtful Inlet, New Zealand

Day 10 Milford Sound, New Zealand

Day 11 At Sea

Day 12 At Sea

Day 13 Hobart, Tasmania

Day 14 At Sea

Day 15 Adelaide, Australia

Day 16 At Sea

Day 17 At Sea

Day 18 At Sea

Day 19 Fremantle, Australia

[Iluvcruising2]

This is our itinerary – looks like a good one to me. Lots of days at sea! Hope we like it. Is this like yours?

 

Day 1 Sydney, Australia

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 At Sea

Day 4 At Sea

Day 5 Auckland, New Zealand

Day 6 Tauranga, New Zealand

Day 7 Napier, New Zealand

Day 8 At Sea

Day 9 Port Chalmers, New Zealand

Day 10 Dusky Sound, New Zealand

Day 10 Doubtful Inlet, New Zealand

Day 10 Milford Sound, New Zealand

Day 11 At Sea

Day 12 At Sea

Day 13 Hobart, Tasmania

Day 14 At Sea

Day 15 Adelaide, Australia

Day 16 At Sea

Day 17 At Sea

Day 18 At Sea

Day 19 Fremantle, Australia

 

19 days! Wow.

 

Yeah, we are covering quite a few ports that are the same. Let me dig out our itinerary.

[Iluvcruising2]

Our itinerary -

SAT 08 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D 11:00 PM

SUN 09 DEC CRUISING C

MON 10 DEC HOBART, TASMANIA D 10:00 AM 7:00 PM

TUE 11 DEC CRUISING C

WED 12 DEC CRUISING C

THU 13 DEC MILFORD SOUND, NEW ZEALAND C 7:00 AM 8:00 AM

THU 13 DEC DOUBTFUL SOUND C 1:00 PM 2:00 PM

THU 13 DEC DUSKY SOUND C 4:00 PM 5:30 PM

FRI 14 DEC DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND D 7:30 AM 5:30 PM

SAT 15 DEC WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND D 1:00 PM 10:00 PM

SUN 16 DEC CRUISING C

MON 17 DEC TAURANGA,NEW ZEALAND D 7:30 AM 6:00 PM

TUE 18 DEC AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND D 6:30 AM 3:30 PM

WED 19 DEC CRUISING C

THU 20 DEC CRUISING C

FRI 21 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D 10:00 AM

SAT 22 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D

[Sydney32203]

Looking forward to your 8 December review! We were initially booked on the same cruise as you but had to cancel so we have now booked an almost identical cruise for 23 November 2013......almost 1 year away. Please take photos of the food to post here.....we are foodies :-) Thanks.

[Iluvcruising2]

Looking forward to your 8 December review! We were initially booked on the same cruise as you but had to cancel so we have now booked an almost identical cruise for 23 November 2013......almost 1 year away. Please take photos of the food to post here.....we are foodies :-) Thanks.

 

Will do!!

[Iluvcruising2]

Our itinerary -

 

SAT 08 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D 11:00 PM

SUN 09 DEC CRUISING C

MON 10 DEC HOBART, TASMANIA D 10:00 AM 7:00 PM

TUE 11 DEC CRUISING C

WED 12 DEC CRUISING C

THU 13 DEC MILFORD SOUND, NEW ZEALAND C 7:00 AM 8:00 AM

THU 13 DEC DOUBTFUL SOUND C 1:00 PM 2:00 PM

THU 13 DEC DUSKY SOUND C 4:00 PM 5:30 PM

FRI 14 DEC DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND D 7:30 AM 5:30 PM

SAT 15 DEC WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND D 1:00 PM 10:00 PM

SUN 16 DEC CRUISING C

MON 17 DEC TAURANGA,NEW ZEALAND D 7:30 AM 6:00 PM

TUE 18 DEC AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND D 6:30 AM 3:30 PM

WED 19 DEC CRUISING C

THU 20 DEC CRUISING C

FRI 21 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D 10:00 AM

SAT 22 DEC SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA D

 

This was an awesome cruise.

 

Turns out coincidentally that we had the same Captain (Cpt Charles Tiege) and Cruise Director (Gordon Whatman) on both our June and Dec cruises.

[SingaporeCruiser]

Managed to find this thread! Thanks for the great review and will be useful in my planning for our similar cruise coming March 23rd.

 

Am from Singapore too!

 

Will post questions here instead of via email as the answers would be useful to other CC members :)

 

In your iti, you didn't post the daily scheduled times of arr/dep. so I couldn't really do a comparison. One major difference I did notice was that this year we have 2 days at sea after Vietnam and only arrive in HK in the morning (we do not have that extra night you had there).

 

Just some background for our upcoming trip. Will be travelling with my parents (just 3 of us) and unfortunately we were told that the only available cabins with 3-sharing was on Deck 2 (so we got the outside stateroom at that deck). My parents have been on the Legend of the Seas before visiting Korea/Japan ex Shanghai, but this will be my first time on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

 

My first questions would be -

 

1. Is it advisable to check in early on departure day (given that we do not get any priority) as I have read in some other posts (including your Dec cruise) that by the time you boarded it was rather late and had no trouble with queues.

2. I would like to try the specialty restaurants at least once and have read that there may not be enough seats for all to try during the cruise. Did you have to pre-book your Portifino meal seating and did you notice that it was full throughout the cruise? Also if it is just myself going for this meal, would it be a problem? (My mum doesn't fancy western meals and won't enjoy paying the extra for an Italian dinner).

3. I have been reading a lot of complaints about Noro, and noticed that there wasn't any mention of this in your review here (but there was an minor outbreak in your Dec cruise). Were there any cases on this cruise last year?

 

Will probably have more questions later and really appreciate any tips/advice you have to offer! Thanks in advance!:):):)