Any Far East thoughts ?

[seapenarth]

Some of the Asian ports do not seem to be as close as down town as one would hope. Singapore no problem, Bangkok, fairly close, Ho Chi minh OK but Da Nang/Hue bit of a trip and Cai Lan/Hanoi a long way. Best way to cope with last two ? What do previous Seabourners think is best way to handle Hue and Hanoi ? :)

[Chairsin]

We don't usually go on Seabourn tours but we did make two exceptions on the S.E.Asia trip.This is because when in the Med while we are not fluent in most romance languages we speak enough to get around with the help of a phrase book. So in an emergency situation we feel comfortable that we could deal with the situation and make our way back to the ship. Because we don't speak Vietnamese and the great distance we took Seabourn's tours to Hanoi and Hue( we were torn because we also wanted to see Hoi An and the ChiCHi tunnels). Both trips were very good -- arranged differently. The trip to Hue was on a bus with all of the others ( about 250 who signed up for the tour).The trip to Hanoi (three very long hours)we were broken up into groups of 6 each with our own guide and driver and van( though we did all join up for lunch at a restaurant in Hanoi. A few people made their own arrangements for Hanoi but they did not get a a more personal tour than we did and they almost missed getting back for the ships departure. That would just make me too nervous in Vietnam. There is very little in Cai Lan where the ship docks.It would be hard to make arrangements if you miss the ship.

[Winner]

Chairsin--Parts of your posting are confusing to me. How could 250 sign up for the tour to Hue if Seabourn's passenger capacity is only 208? Surely more than one bus was provided.

[Chairsin]

Winner,

Bad typing and lack of thorough proofing on my part --- it should have read 25! Thanks for picking that up.:D

[Chairsin]

Winner,

Bad typing and lack of thorough proofing on my part --- it should have read 25! Thanks for picking that up.:D