ASIA Cruise - Help Please!

[SeasC]

Any recommendations for a cruise in Asia? We want to go to Angkor Wat and at least 4 countries on a ship with at least 600 passengers. Regent Seven Seas & Crystal - are they worth it? I've read several poor reviews about Regent Seven Seas - is it that bad? How about a 20-day Oceania Nautica or Insignia cruise? Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

[4774Papa]

Any recommendations for a cruise in Asia? We want to go to Angkor Wat and at least 4 countries on a ship with at least 600 passengers. Regent Seven Seas & Crystal - are they worth it? I've read several poor reviews about Regent Seven Seas - is it that bad? How about a 20-day Oceania Nautica or Insignia cruise? Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

Going to Angkor Wat is usually done on a river cruise. The site is quite a bit inland in Cambodia.

There are some great river cruises on the Mekong that include the site. Most river cruise lines like AMA, Vantage, Viking, Uniworld, etc have such a cruise.

 

As for Ocean cruises, we are booked on Celebrity Millenium Japan and China (most of cruise includes Japanese ports) in October. The cruise sold out a year ago.

 

Celebrity has cruises that start in Hong Kong or Singapore and go to places like Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

 

We did Celebrity Century last March/April, Singapore to Dubai. Cruise stopped in four Indian ports as well as Oman.

Celebrity has cruises now leaving from Abu Dhabi going to India, etc.

 

Here is my review of our cruise.

 

Singapore to Dubai

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=501167

Our best overseas trip yet was our Vantage three week tour and river cruise of China.

China

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1718320

 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2015 by 4774Papa
typo

[hallasm]

I'm only aware of RCCL Legend of the Seas '10 Night Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam Cruise' with an excursion to Angkor Wat from Sihanoukville, Cambodia

[Floridiana]

Many cruise lines offer itineraries in South East Asia, you will have lots of choices.

 

I haven't been on Regent because I don't drink alcohol and it is included on Regent. I am not interested in paying the added cost. Crystal's formality does not appeal to me, but I love Oceania ships. I would definitely book with them again, excellent food and laid back ambiance. As to negative reviews, some passengers have unreasonable expectations and go on and on about little things. Sometimes the negative is true but about things I do not care.

 

Angkor Watt is inland. If you do an ocean cruise, you have to go there before or after or do one of the expensive overnight excursions offered by ships. We will go there in the course of a land trip with a river cruise segment.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Floridiana

[1982CruzStart]

We did a Beijing to Bangkok cruise with Regent 2 years ago. It included a pre-cruise tour around Beijing and a post-cruise tour to Angkor Wat. Both were excellent and we found Regent did a great job. Just last year we did a 30 day Dubai to Cape Town cruise including a post cruise safari with them. We really like Regent and found them to be great value if you take advantage of everything they include. Regent offers great service, very good food, a basic cabin that is larger than most other ships and only about 700 passengers.

 

We are giving Celebrity a try this fall as they had the itinerary at the time of year we wanted to Japan and China. As well we are going with them next year because they had an itinerary we wanted and offered it in Canadian $ at an advantageous exchange rate when our $ declined. We booked in a suite to get the larger cabin and dedicated restaurant to hopefully get close to the Regent experience we like.

[John Bull]

As other posts, Angkor Wat is waaay inland - needs a river cruise or a flight. If you want to include it, take Floridiana's and Cruzstart's advice and arrange to go there before or after your cruise. Easiest to do that is with a cruise which starts or finishes at Bangkok or perhaps Singapore.

Done more cheaply as a separate deal - doing it through the cruise line will be expensive.

Some cruises offer Angkor Wat as a mid-cruise excursion, leaving the ship at one port (perhaps Sihanoukville) and re-joining a few days late at another port (perhaps Hanoi or Nha Trang). This is the most expensive way to do it - as well as your flights, transfers & accommodation at Angkor Wat you're paying for a chunk of the cruise that you're not taking. Only recommended if you have money to burn and insufficient time to add a few days pre or post-cruise.

You will need to fix up Cambodian visas yourselves, those issued by cruise lines for Vietnam and Cambodia are only good for port-of-call visits.

 

If Angkor Wat turns out to be too complicated, expensive or time-consuming, consider visiting Ayutthaya, the ancient Siamese capital, from a port-of-call visit to Bangkok. Easily done in a day, nowhere near as extensive as Angkor Wat but will give you a very good flavour of that period of history. Google photos of both places to see what I mean.

Most ships overnite in (or near) Bangkok so you'll have time for both Ayutthaya and Bangkok.

 

Plenty of cruise lines offer cruises to S E Asia.

You've mentioned a couple of the more expensive cruise lines with smaller ships, so also consider Azamara and Silversea.

Azamara will be less expensive and I think Silversea will be more expensive, but the big advantage of both - and other small ships - is that they can sail into places that big ships cannot. For instance, they can sail up the Saigon River and berth right in the centre of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) while the big ships have to berth closer to the ocean, a bus ride of 90 minutes or more from Saigon. Ditto Da Nang and possibly Bangkok.

 

Try to include in your cruise Bangkok, Sihanoukville, Saigon, Halong Bay and Hong Kong. Perhaps plus Chinese ports like Shanghai and Beijing but you'll need to fix your own Chinese visas (not needed by most nationalities for Hong Kong).

 

You really need to talk to a cruise-specialist travel agent, preferably one with plenty of experience of S E Asia.

 

Plenty of research needed, happy hunting ;)

 

JB :)

Edited June 18, 2015 by John Bull

[Ashland]

When deciding on a trip to south east asia ( Oct 2012) I'm so glad we opted for a land tour. I have since ( March 2015) done an asia cruise on RCI Mariner (Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong & China) and can only say that nothing compared to the land only tour...that's the way to really see Asia.

 

We used an all inclusive company (amazing company and price) and will be using them again (2016) for Thailand & Cambodia etc.

[BarbaraM]

We are booked on the Oceania Insignia. It does offer an overland to Siem reap when docked in Sihanoukville. It is the size you are looking for , but also small enough to get into the ports closer to the cities than some of the larger cruise ships

-- we are planning on getting off ship for a few days on our own to go to Siem Reap -- but wouldn't do it if I were only on the cruise ship for 20 days (we are taking the world cruise). Btw, flights are cheap between Bangkok or Saigon and Siem Reap, and hotels extremely cheap -- it has been very easy booking on our own, or use a SE Asia tour company.

[maryann ns]

Even the river cruises do not get you all the way to Angkor Wat AND you need at least three days there. We went on a land tour and are very glad we did.

[SeasC]

A huge thank you for all your help! Which is the best for interesting ports (we're not interested in going to beaches)?

 

1) REGENT - Bangkok, Ko Samui, Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh (2 days), Muara (Brunei), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Boracay Island (Philippines), Manila, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Taipei, Hong Kong

 

OR

 

2) OCEANIA - Singapore, Ko Samui, Bangkok, Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh (2 days), Chan May, Ha Long Bay (2 days), Hong Kong

 

Thank you!!!

[SeasC]

Sorry---just learned about SilverSea option - any thoughts?

 

SILVERSEA - Singapore - Bangkok - Ko Kood (Thai), Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang (Hue), Halong Bay, Hong Kong

[SeasC]

oops...I meant SEABOURN (not SilverSea)

 

SEABOURN - Singapore - Bangkok - Ko Kood (Thai), Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang (Hue), Halong Bay, Hong Kong

[1982CruzStart]

As i said previously we love Regent. We have not sailed either Seabourn or Oceania in part because Seabourn still allows smoking in more areas than we want to be exposed to and i think is more formal than Regent and every time i have priced out Oceania we found it to be as expensive or more than Regent when we took into account all the things that we consider important especially when we compare the size of cabins. Though some people don't care about the size of the cabin I definitely do. I like to spend a lot of time in my own private space or on our balcony so I want enough space in the cabin to not be on top of each other.

 

Having said that the downside to the Regent cruise is that it doesn't stop in Ha Long Bay. When we took a cruise in this area it was one of the highlights of our trip. One of the other highlights of our cruise was the boat trip we took on the Mekong Delta during our stop in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). On the Regent cruise you could easily do the trip to Angkor Wat before boarding the ship.

 

You have a tough decision but isn't it great to be in that position. I think you will have an amazing time no matter which one you chose. It is an fascinating part of the world.

[John Bull]

The Regent itinerary looks to be much the more interesting, though perhaps that's cos it includes places we've not visited.

The others follow a more well-worn path.

 

So many highlights out there on all itineraries, but yes the one disappointment with that itinerary is the absence of Halong Bay.

 

On the other hand, it starts in Bangkok - IMHO much more worthwhile for a few pre-cruise days than Singapore. You can take a day-trip by coach to the summer palace at Bang-Pa In, on to various stops in Ayutthaya, then cruise back down to Bangkok by river - the best way to enter the city. http://www.thairivercruise.com/index.php?tpid=0066

Add a long-tail boat ride though the klongs (canals), a serene river cruise on a converted rice barge, visits to the Royal Palace, Wat Arun, Chinatown, and myriad evening entertainments & that's way too much for even an overnite port-of-call.

 

All those itineraries end in Hong Kong - another destination which is worth several extra days.

And an opportunity to take a simple and inexpensive (about 150 USD) peek at China - several day-trip options from Hong Kong, all including group visas so no need for an expensive and complicated Chinese visa. Not the most historic, iconic, or interesting part of China but an opportunity at least.

 

Sorry, don't know the cruise lines in your short-list.

 

JB :)

[adjoankora]

I'm only aware of RCCL Legend of the Seas '10 Night Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam Cruise' with an excursion to Angkor Wat from Sihanoukville, Cambodia[/quote

 

My husband and I will be on Legend in October and going to the ports you mentioned Very excited!! Deciding on excursions now. October 11th, we sail from Singapore!!!!

[adjoankora]

When deciding on a trip to south east asia ( Oct 2012) I'm so glad we opted for a land tour. I have since ( March 2015) done an asia cruise on RCI Mariner (Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong & China) and can only say that nothing compared to the land only tour...that's the way to really see Asia.

 

We used an all inclusive company (amazing company and price) and will be using them again (2016) for Thailand & Cambodia etc.

 

Or do both! We are doing the 10 day cruise on Legend of the Seas (Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia) departing from Singapore, but arriving 10 days ahead of the cruise to do land tours in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Didn't want to do airfare (business class) twice.

Edited June 21, 2015 by adjoankora

[4774Papa]

Or do both! We are doing the 10 day cruise on Legend of the Seas (Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia) departing from Singapore, but arriving 10 days ahead of the cruise to do land tours in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Didn't want to do airfare (business class) twice.

We did 8 days pre-cruise in Singapore and Malaysia. Highly recommend a hotel near the Orchard MRT in Singapore. The Royal Plaza on Scotts. Prices run about $175US per night. Rooms are spacious and new. There are many restaurants convenient walking distance from the hotel.

 

We did several tours with Tour East. Check them out.

 

Singapore is great. Loved the food in Singapore and Malaysia, especially Malaysia.

[Ashland]

We did 8 days pre-cruise in Singapore and Malaysia. Highly recommend a hotel near the Orchard MRT in Singapore. The Royal Plaza on Scotts. Prices run about $175US per night. Rooms are spacious and new. There are many restaurants convenient walking distance from the hotel.

 

We did several tours with Tour East. Check them out.

 

Singapore is great. Loved the food in Singapore and Malaysia, especially Malaysia.

Another vote for Royal Plaza on Scotts Road...getting around using the MRT and the nightly food vendor's at Lau Pa Sat...amazing Satay :p

[Iluvcruising2]

Come, cruise out of Singapore!

 

Fly here by Singapore Airlines, voted Best Business class cabin in the world. The Economy class isn't too shabby either. Of course, go for First if you can afford to live it up!

 

Breakfast in Bed - SIA New Business Class

[YOUTUBE]mlmsof09bDM[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

Another vote for Royal Plaza on Scotts Road...getting around using the MRT and the nightly food vendor's at Lau Pa Sat...amazing Satay :p

 

Yes, Royal Plaza is a good place to stay. It is an independent hotel, I hear, owned by some royalty from a nearby rich country. Hence, you won't be able to find Royal Plaza on Scotts if you research the typical big chains.

 

Here is a video to help you see the surroundings of this fine 4-star establishment.

 

[YOUTUBE]EPUXn3coyWE[/YOUTUBE]

[SellaVee]

We did the 20 day world cruise segment on Insignia earlier this year and I posted (at length!) about it, detailing our ports of call, on a thread called "Live from Insignia" here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2186231

 

We loved the itinerary and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, especially being on a smaller ship. I wrote separately about Insignia. It's another long post but not as many pages, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2202923

 

The one thing I would do differently is fly in even earlier and visit Angkor Wat. We organised our own flights using Oceania's air credit and booked hotels in Singapore and Shanghai but I couldn't spare enough time from work to go to Siem Reap ahead of the cruise - which means we have a reason to return to SE Asia!

 

Some fellow passengers did leave the ship to visit Angkor Wat either by Oceania excursion or by private tour but their visit was necessarily brief.

[Calisense]

Any recommendations for a cruise in Asia? We want to go to Angkor Wat and at least 4 countries on a ship with at least 600 passengers. Regent Seven Seas & Crystal - are they worth it? I've read several poor reviews about Regent Seven Seas - is it that bad? How about a 20-day Oceania Nautica or Insignia cruise? Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

Ocean Nautica is well seasoned in our memory. In VN it can dock right at Saigon port, saving a long long drive from Phu My port. Big but suited and thus, you have two day stop at this city.

[Floridiana]

I have been on three Oceania cruises, the Regatta and the Riviera. I loved them all and would book again any time. I love their informal dress code and very good food.

I haven't been on Regent because their price includes alcohol and I barely drink any. As to Crystal, it looks too formal for me, not my choice.

 

When it comes to reviews, take them with a grain of salt. I was writing one for my cruise on a French Ponant ship which was berated by many Anglophone reviewers. Little of what they wrote was my experience or important to me. Some passengers on upscale lines have specific expectations = things have to be run the way they like it and are used to, including their favorite yoghurt, their favorite drink, a butler for every whim etc.