Typhoon Yagi Impact on Vietnam & Thailand Cruise Destinations

[Holtby57]

Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm in decades, left a trail of destruction across Southeast Asia last week. The number of people killed in Vietnam by Typhoon Yagi has risen to 226, and another 104 remain missing, according to the government's disaster management agency. The storm has weakened since it made landfall, but Vietnam is still battling landslides and flash flooding, and around 800 people are thought to have been injured. The Red River has surged to its highest level for 20 years and, in Hanoi, widespread evacuations are underway, with people wading through muddy, waist-deep water in a desperate attempt to reach safety.

Nearly a week since it made landfall, many farms and villages in northern parts of Vietnam and neighboring Thailand remain under water as communities struggle to cope with severe flooding and the looming threat of landslides.

The downpours also inundated Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, submerging homes and riverside villages, making rescue efforts difficult.

Has anyone on an Asian cruise heard anything from their cruise line or travel agency on how this may impact upcoming cruises to this area?

[WestLakeGirl]

As an ongoing situation it is probably too soon to know any potential impact on tourism.  When are you scheduled to visit?

[Holtby57]

Our cruise leaves Singapore on November 3, 2024 and our first stop in Vietnam is on November 10.  Living in Florida, we are very familiar with hurricanes and how long it takes to get back to a semblance of normality - which can be well over a year.

[cruisestitch]

I’m sure all cruise lines are scrambling to keep up with this storm’s impact.  Be patient.

[chemmo]

In our experience in both Asia and the Caribbean locals are keen to get tourism back asap following any major storms.
 

The cruise line starts with looking at infrastructure (ports, roads, hygiene…) first. Then they will consider the tours they are presently offering and see what can/can not run. Only after gathering this information will they make decisions on itinerary changes. If they can keep ports of call as itinerary then they will usually do so even if there are adjustments to tours offered.

 

Definitely too soon for these assessments to be started yet alone completed. 
 

If Celebrity has to cancel a port owing to damage they will do one of three possible things…Extend the last port into an overnight stay, add a different port or change what would have been your port day into an additional sea day. Obviously there are limited berths for cruise ships at all ports so there can be an element of limited options for the cruise line. 
 

There is a significant amount of time between now and when you cruise…everything may run as planned or with minimal adjustments. However, as with all cruises, there is always an element of risk of planned itinerary actually happening. 

 

[hxhbk]

According to the local news, cruise companies are slowly resuming their cruises in the Ha Long bay.  They reported a low number of guests currently but barring any other mother nature events, they should be back to full speed by the time of your visit.  Ha Long City itself suffers major infrastructure damage and from the news reports that I have seen, it will take quite some time to rebuild.

The flooding that occurred few days ago in Hanoi happened in the areas adjacent to the Red River, although today the river water level has subsided significantly below flood warning level. There was never any flooding to the Hanoi metroplex but the typhoon wind force has uprooted thousands of trees in the Old Quarter and all over the city.  Cleaning efforts are underway to have the city more presentable for the big festivities for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the French force (Oct 10 1954 / Oct 10 2024).

[Holtby57]

Anyone wishing to help the people of north Vietnam can link to the Vietnam Red Cross through the following link:

https://redcross.org.vn/en/join-the-vietnam-red-cross-in-supporting-people-affected-by-typhoon-yagi.html/

One of the options for assisting is via the global digital fundraising platform iRaiser of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/vn/Yagi/

 (if you use the English tab at top of the page, making a donation is fairly easy).

 

[Miaminice]

We are currently in Vietnam on a Mekong cruise. We heard from our guide today that there was / is another typhoon going through the north right now. Besides some rainfall, which is typical for the season, the south of Vietnam doesn’t feel any of it.