Thailand 2022

[FionaL91]

Hi all, from experience does anyone know when the east Asia cruises might become available for December 22? 

[lizinvan]

Don't know the answer and interested to know also.   There is very little for the Philippines which I was hoping to include on a future SE Asia cruise.  Have been to Thailand many times if you have any questions.

[NantahalaCruiser]

The 2021/2022 winter deployments (including December of 2021) for Asia opened on 11/19/19.

 

So possibly, the 2022/2023 winter deployments, including December 2022, may open again in late November of this year.

 

Of course with COVID-19 impacts, who really knows.

[poffles]

On 8/1/2020 at 7:53 PM, lizinvan said:

Don't know the answer and interested to know also.   There is very little for the Philippines which I was hoping to include on a future SE Asia cruise.  Have been to Thailand many times if you have any questions.

 

Thailand looks beautiful and makes me think about doing a cruise that would travel that area but totally green when it comes to that part of the world.  It's so far away and would take forever to get there but it seems like it would be so worth the experience.  Assuming you cruise there and not a land vacation, where did you sail from/to?  This might have to go on the bucket list.  Singapore is another place that looks amazing.

Edited February 15, 2021 by poffles

[jelayne]

We sailed from Singapore in 2019 and  did a B2B that included Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Oman, Dubai.  One of our favorite trips.  We were booked for 45 nights Oct/Nov 2020 that was cancelled & tried again for this  March/April and those cruises were also cancelled.  

[4774Papa]

On 8/1/2020 at 4:56 PM, FionaL91 said:

Hi all, from experience does anyone know when the east Asia cruises might become available for December 22? 

We have taken three cruises that touched on Asia. 

The first was in 2013 we did a cruise from Perth, Australia to Sydney that stopped for two days in Bali, Indonesia.  The second was in 2015 from Singapore to Dubai where we visited four ports in SW India as well as Oman.  The third was in 2015 from Tokyo to Hong Kong and we visited mostly ports in Japan as well as Shanghai and Taiwan, ending in HK.

Here are my reviews of those cruises  (also, I have visited Thailand and enjoyed it, but I have read that cruises that stop in Thailand involve a very long drive to Bangkok.  Traffic in Bangkok is awful.  That is one of the negatives to a cruise that stops in Thailand.

 

Australia

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=216863

Singapore to Dubai

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

Japan and China

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

 

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, poffles said:

 

Thailand looks beautiful and makes me think about doing a cruise that would travel that area but totally green when it comes to that part of the world.  It's so far away and would take forever to get there but it seems like it would be so worth the experience.  Assuming you cruise there and not a land vacation, where did you sail from/to?  This might have to go on the bucket list.  Singapore is another place that looks amazing.

 

We have cruised the area twice but have also enjoyed land vacations there.

 

Firstly consider the places you most want to visit. There are many cruises that start in Hong Kong, visit Halong Bay, on to Vietnam then a stop in Malaysia then on to Singapore. Obviously the longer the cruise length the more stops. These are great for giving you a ‘flavour’ of the region. If you choose a cruise with a different start and end point it obviously gives you the option to add a city break both ends of your cruise. We love both Hong Kong and Singapore!

 

Thailand is better (in my opinion) visited by a land tour. Bangkok is some distance from where Celebrity ships moor. Bangkok itself  deserves a couple of days and nights sightseeing but then there are other areas commutable from there that need to be seen like the floating market, Kanchanaburi and the Rose Gardens (cultural area). Most larger Travel Agencies will offer a range of tours. Many are 2/3 centre ones including Bangkok, Chaing Mai and the last part usually being a beach rest and relaxation (Phuket or Patong). If you choose to do one of these types of breaks search your hotels well. There are still some beautiful unspoiled regions on Thailand but there are are also some very commercialised areas too...

 

Cruising in the Far East is an adventure in itself. Whilst I believe Celebrity mainly has a US/European market we took a cruise on a RC ship and the majority of passengers were Chinese. We loved the cultural differences! In the evening the Casino was really busy whilst we had the deck bar almost to ourselves! The only adjustment we needed to make was to realise queuing didn’t happen anywhere (buffet/tendering...). Our fellow guests were wonderful and enjoyed trying out their English on us, embarrassing as the best we could say in Mandarin was ’ni  hau’. It really was an adventure in itself. 

 

We unfortunately had to cancel an Eclipse cruise last year (Tokyo to Singapore)...If you fancy visiting this region do lots of browsing first (at least we all presently have time to do that) then start trying to put a few itineraries together. As you say, it is a long way to travel so a good option may be to combine a land stay with a cruise...

 

Whatever you decide, sincere best wishes for a a great next cruise!

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by chemmo

[ECCruise]

2 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

 

Here are my reviews of those cruises  (also, I have visited Thailand and enjoyed it, but I have read that cruises that stop in Thailand involve a very long drive to Bangkok.  Traffic in Bangkok is awful.  That is one of the negatives to a cruise that stops in Thailand.

 

 

Yes, the drive from Laem Chabang to Bangkok is between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, but a number of Celebrity sailings have an overnight in Laem Chabang, moderating that a bit.  Also an overnight in Halong for Hanoi (another long trip).  We are booked on one of these sailings in January so if it goes we will likely spend the nights in both BKK and Hanoi, even though we've been to both many times.

[diesel1973]

Did a 14 day land tour of Thailand last Feb. just before everything hit the fan. Included Mynamar(Burma),Laos, and Cambodia. AWESOME!!!

[poffles]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

We have cruised the area twice but have also enjoyed land vacations there.

 

Firstly consider the places you most want to visit. There are many cruises that start in Hong Kong, visit Halong Bay, on to Vietnam then a stop in Malaysia then on to Singapore. Obviously the longer the cruise length the more stops. These are great for giving you a ‘flavour’ of the region. If you choose a cruise with a different start and end point it obviously gives you the option to add a city break both ends of your cruise. We love both Hong Kong and Singapore!

 

Thailand is better (in my opinion) visited by a land tour. Bangkok is some distance from where Celebrity ships moor. Bangkok itself  deserves a couple of days and nights sightseeing but then there are other areas commutable from there that need to be seen like the floating market, Kanchanaburi and the Rose Gardens (cultural area). Most larger Travel Agencies will offer a range of tours. Many are 2/3 centre ones including Bangkok, Chaing Mai and the last part usually being a beach rest and relaxation (Phuket or Patong). If you choose to do one of these types of breaks search your hotels well. There are still some beautiful unspoiled regions on Thailand but there are are also some very commercialised areas too...

 

Cruising in the Far East is an adventure in itself. Whilst I believe Celebrity mainly has a US/European market we took a cruise on a RC ship and the majority of passengers were Chinese. We loved the cultural differences! In the evening the Casino was really busy whilst we had the deck bar almost to ourselves! The only adjustment we needed to make was to realise queuing didn’t happen anywhere (buffet/tendering...). Our fellow guests were wonderful and enjoyed trying out their English on us, embarrassing as the best we could say in Mandarin was ’ni  hau’. It really was an adventure in itself. 

 

We unfortunately had to cancel an Eclipse cruise last year (Tokyo to Singapore)...If you fancy visiting this region do lots of browsing first (at least we all presently have time to do that) then start trying to put a few itineraries together. As you say, it is a long way to travel so a good option may be to combine a land stay with a cruise...

 

Whatever you decide, sincere best wishes for a a great next cruise!

 

 

 

 

Thank you and yes this would need a lot of planning and research for me which, as you say, we have lots of time to do.

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, poffles said:

Thank you and yes this would need a lot of planning and research for me which, as you say, we have lots of time to do.

Yes, I have a refundable deposit on TP, from VBC, quick stop in Alaska, then primarily Japan stops.  Most likely not going to do this cruise as from what I am reading, best to do as a land cruise first allowing more time in each city.  Still the cruise looks fantastic, plenty of time to research and make a decision.

[diesel1973]

The tour I took was a guided tour.  Everything was included such as air, meals, rooms. and all points of interest. Our guide also took us to places not included in the itinerary. If you wished to see anything on your own he would arrange it .Accommodations and food were great.  Have done plenty of cruising and am now concentrating on land tours. The 20+ hr, flights are a killer! 

[Sailfish]

We live in Chonburi Province, South of Pattaya, about two hours on the bay, outside of Bangkok. 

 

Since April, all travel (by land, air and land border crossings) have been closed. Covid never got so bad in Thailand compared to the rest of Asia, let alone the rest of the world. The kingdom has closed down all tourist travel and though there continues to be talk of allowing tourism, the powers that be always say they are not ready. The discussions revolve around a covid vaccine passport. But still, that alone isn't a guarantee of keeping covid out. 

 

Vaccinations are behind Europe and the US, with general vaccination not for many months. 

 

Thailand has a strong economy that does not rely on tourism. Though only a small part of the economy, some areas like Phuket are struggling. Cruise tourism is not perceived well. Mostly the taxi drivers and a few tour guides, also part of the taxi unions, do well. Other businesses not so much. 

 

There is a lot of culture in Thailand and all sites are maintained mostly for local tourism, and locals do travel all over.  I live near the cruise port, and though we do get ships in from time to time, it's not consistent. Tourism is welcome in Thailand, but not cruise tourism. Unlike many ports of call, one needs time to explore Thailand. It's a very large country with a lot to see and do and two days isn't enough time. 

 

All that said, tourism will return gradually. I think it will be a while before cruises are allowed back. Probably the last ones to do so. 

 

 

[mahdnc]

On 2/15/2021 at 2:22 PM, ECCruise said:

Yes, the drive from Laem Chabang to Bangkok is between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, but a number of Celebrity sailings have an overnight in Laem Chabang, moderating that a bit.  Also an overnight in Halong for Hanoi (another long trip).  We are booked on one of these sailings in January so if it goes we will likely spend the nights in both BKK and Hanoi, even though we've been to both many times.

 For the following season (2022/23), the overnights have been eliminated which is a pity.

[luv2kruz]

diesel1973

 

The tour I took was a guided tour.  Everything was included such as air, meals, rooms. and all points of interest. Our guide also took us to places not included in the itinerary. If you wished to see anything on your own he would arrange it .Accommodations and food were great. 

 

Did you ever write a tour review? I would be interested in learning more about your land tour experiences ( good & bad) to assist me in planning. The fact that it included Mynamar(Burma),Laos, and Cambodia make the land tour seem a fit for our itinerary. I would supply my email to you to get more information. Thank you in advance.

 

luv2kruz

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by luv2kruz
add quote

[luv2kruz]

13 hours ago, diesel1973 said:

The tour I took was a guided tour.  Everything was included such as air, meals, rooms. and all points of interest. Our guide also took us to places not included in the itinerary. If you wished to see anything on your own he would arrange it .Accommodations and food were great.  Have done plenty of cruising and am now concentrating on land tours. The 20+ hr, flights are a killer! 

 

[ECCruise]

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 For the following season (2022/23), the overnights have been eliminated which is a pity.

I didn't realize that.  Yes, too bad.  Makes a land trip as part of a SEAsia journey even more important.

[LGW59]

6 hours ago, ECCruise said:

I didn't realize that.  Yes, too bad.  Makes a land trip as part of a SEAsia journey even more important.

@kwokpotand I think @ECCruise gave me this advice re a TP, primarily with Japan stops. For a trip like this should try to plan time at the end or even better, do it as a land tour first.  Thanks, I took your advice and will not do my first experience there as a cruise.

 

"I did the same trip in 2015 although it was on the Millenium and the ports where slightly different and it ended in China instead of Japan. In any case what we did was was get off the last port stop in Japan and then did a 1 week self land tour of Japan using the Bullet Train.  My advice would be if time allows to add extra time at the end of your cruise and explore Japan via Bullet train. It's such a fascinating country and there's so much to see. Conversely post cruise fly to another country in Asia and do a land tour own your own. It doesn't make sense to spend the time and the cost to fly back from Japan or Asia in general without maximizing what you'll be seeing. If you cannot allocate additional time to extend your visit my personal view would be to consider a different cruise."

[rosepetals]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:32 PM, mahdnc said:

 For the following season (2022/23), the overnights have been eliminated which is a pity.

We are booked on a B2B2B of SE Asia in Nov-Dec 2022 and our 3rd leg from Dec 11/22 has an overnight in Bangkok!

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, rosepetals said:

We are booked on a B2B2B of SE Asia in Nov-Dec 2022 and our 3rd leg from Dec 11/22 has an overnight in Bangkok!

 

That is good to hear, my statement may have been a bit too broad then.  I simply noticed that the SE Asia cruises used to be 14 nights long with overnights in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Halong Bay, and Singapore.  That is our itinerary for our upcoming cruise in Dec.  When I looked at what Celebrity is offering for the 2022/2023 season, the 14 nighters are gone and replaced with shorter sailings that have the overnights removed (except for Bangkok, I guess).

 

BTW, Bangkok used to be a double overnight port when Millennium sailed this itinerary (below)!

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by mahdnc

[yorky]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:22 PM, ECCruise said:

Yes, the drive from Laem Chabang to Bangkok is between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, but a number of Celebrity sailings have an overnight in Laem Chabang, moderating that a bit.  Also an overnight in Halong for Hanoi (another long trip).  We are booked on one of these sailings in January so if it goes we will likely spend the nights in both BKK and Hanoi, even though we've been to both many times.

We are doing the same in February, an overnight in both. Booking our own hotel in Bangkok and the Celebrity overnight excursion in Hanoi which is a even longer drive.

[lizinvan]

We organized private transfer from port to central Bangkok for our overnight Dec 2018.  8 or 10 of us with stops at 3 central hotels and pick up the next am to return to the ship.   We all had different plans but it worked well, was comfortable, on time and much more economical than the ship transfers.  We chatted online like this as we do to arrange groups for private tours ahead of the cruise.  It will depend this time if Covid protocol allow private tours/transfers.  We have been looking for itinerary including Philippines but see only a few now with a couple of stops.  The 3 port cruises were 20/21 but cancelled:(

[lizinvan]

We visit Thailand often due to family connections and have been looking at ways to maximize the time and travel costs.   We usually travel Nov/Dec to arrive there for family Christmas.   We have done land trips for few days-one week to island/beach communities of Phuket, Koh Samui, Kho Samet, Krabi, Phi Phi, also Hua Hin, Pattay, etc, Of course, there is Chang Mai and Chang Rai and more.   If you have time, Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

For cruises we have incorporated several out of Hong Kong or Singapore covering Bali, Semarang, Komodo, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi, Malaysia; Sihanoukville, Cambodia; Halong Bay, Phu May, Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Min, Vietnam; Phuket, Koh Samui and Laem Chabang (Bangkok) Thailand.  

Many variables to put these tours together but sometimes the stars align.  Easier to mix cruise and land in Europe with access to so many countries and great train service.  We have done a couple covering a month or 6 weeks with multiple cruises interspersed with land tours (our own, not tour companies). First we look for itinerary and timing, then cruises with overnights to maximize land tours.  As several have mentioned the overnights seem to have been cut back.

2018 we flew to Singapore for B2B in Asia which continued to Sydney where we spent only a couple of days before reboarding cruise around NZ  Flew back to Singapore to connect to Bangkok for family Christmas.   Not so many options these days but hopefully when travel opens up itineraries will offer more opportunities for us to be creative again in 22/23/24:)

[diesel1973]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:16 PM, luv2kruz said:

diesel1973

 

The tour I took was a guided tour.  Everything was included such as air, meals, rooms. and all points of interest. Our guide also took us to places not included in the itinerary. If you wished to see anything on your own he would arrange it .Accommodations and food were great. 

 

Did you ever write a tour review? I would be interested in learning more about your land tour experiences ( good & bad) to assist me in planning. The fact that it included Mynamar(Burma),Laos, and Cambodia make the land tour seem a fit for our itinerary. I would supply my email to you to get more information. Thank you in advance.

 

luv2kruz

 

Sorry ,but I just noticed your post. Been traveling lately. If you are still interested please post your email address. I have traveled quite a bit and that trip was by far the best. Will be returning.

[luv2kruz]

Thank for your help

email: luv2kruz69  @  gmail.com