Vietnam excursion question ... Multi Day Adventures: Grand Hanoi

[YWW]

We've booked a "Multi Day Adventures: Grand Hanoi" on the upcoming Celebrity Solstice Nov 3 sailing out of Singapore to Thailand and Vietnam. The description of this excursion says it's for two days of sightseeing but no mention of a hotel stay for the night. Can we assume we are staying somewhere in a hotel instead of coming back to the ship for the night? We tried calling Celebrity customer service 3 times and no luck getting through. Hope some of you experienced cruisers who have done this can clarify. Thanks.

[Jim_Iain]

Yes that is how it works.     Often the price of such an excursion is extremely high and they put you up in 4* hotels.   You can probably call and find the name of the hotel - it may be listed in the detailed description.

Celebrity had a 2 night excursion to Taj Majal but was about $3,500 per person.   I took the description and contacted a local Tour Agency In India-  They planned the exact same tour - They had us booked on same flights as 1/2 of celebrity (celebrity split on two different flights), private driver and guide for 3 days and modified so we could stay in Agra instead of New Deli on the first night.    Total cost was $1,800 for the two of us and we had nicer hotels than Celebrity was using.   

 

I know many may feel safer taking a Celebrity Tour but they come at a cost.

[sanger727]

I don't know what your full itinerary is; I would tell you that tour guides and hotels are VERY cheap in Vietnam. I'm not sure what this tour costs, but I'm sure it's more than 4X what you would pay to plan it on your own. Also, IMO Ha Long Bay is much more worth a visit than Hanoi. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by sanger727

[Mark_T]

There is plenty to see in and around Hanoi, but we have never found much value in staying off the ship as you are effectively paying double by missing a day onboard and paying extra for the privilege along with what is often a long road journey or internal flights.

 

If you will not be able to return to the area for a land tour then it may make sense, but we found it was better to stay around Ha Long Bay when we did that cruise with Celebrity.

 

We did find a Mekong river cruise to be a great way to see parts of Vietnam like Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) along with Cambodia for Siem Reap and many other interesting stops along the river.