which cruise line

[westielvr2]

We are considering an Asian cruise..

Thailand and Vietnam.

Which cruiseline do you suggest?

The more time in Vietnam, the better.

[Spikesgirl]

We did ours with Princess (Bangkok to Beijing) and really enjoyed it - only two days in Vietnam though. Possibly think about doing it as a pre or post cruise trip as you'd be in the area?

 

If you'd like to read our travel diary, e mail me at: charliekirby@comcast.net

[Keith1010]

There are many cruise lines that do this itinerary and it is hard to recommend a cruise line because in the end it depends what you enjoy and how much you want to spend. We were there on earlier this year on the Crystal Serenity which is a five star cruise line.

 

I would look at the Itineraries of the various cruise lines and of course the associated pricing to try to narrow this down a bit. Also look carefully at where each cruise begins and ends to think through the airline costs from the city in which you live.

 

Keith

[greatam]

If you really want to spend time in Vietnam, a land tour may be much better.

 

Even a land tour combined with a Star Cruises short Asian cruise is an alternative. Cruise West also has cruises that start and end in Vietnam. The Cruise West ships are also much smaller, so they can get into Halong Bay and up the river to Saigon without too much problem.

 

The majority of mainstream cruise lines only spend a day in most Vietnamese ports. Traffic in both Saigon and Hanoi prevent really exploring the area in a day. 2 hours each way from most cruise ship dockings to/from downtown Saigon and 2-3 hours each way from Haiphong/Halong Bay ports to/from Hanoi. Eats up a lot of time.

[seapenarth]

If you really want to spend time in Vietnam, a land tour may be much better.

 

Even a land tour combined with a Star Cruises short Asian cruise is an alternative. Cruise West also has cruises that start and end in Vietnam. The Cruise West ships are also much smaller, so they can get into Halong Bay and up the river to Saigon without too much problem.

 

The majority of mainstream cruise lines only spend a day in most Vietnamese ports. Traffic in both Saigon and Hanoi prevent really exploring the area in a day. 2 hours each way from most cruise ship dockings to/from downtown Saigon and 2-3 hours each way from Haiphong/Halong Bay ports to/from Hanoi. Eats up a lot of time.

 

You need a small ship to get much closer in to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh city. The floating theme parks are days away.

[Zimmy]

We are booked on a Silversea cruise this November. The cruise leaves from Singapore and ends in Hong Kong, but all of the ports on the nine day cruise are in Vietnam. While we know that we are not going to see everything that we might see in a land trip, we have private guides in each port and we are going to see a lot. The only long day trip which we have planned is from the port of Haiphong to Hanoi. I think it is about a three hour drive, but our ship remains in port until 11 pm to allow people to get to Hanoi and back. The day trips from the other ports are much shorter journeys.

[greatam]

You need a small ship to get much closer in to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh city. The floating theme parks are days away.

 

EXACTLY why I posted the Cruise West cruises. Those are pretty darn small ships-Oceanus, which is cruising Asia-295 feet long, the draft is shallow and only 120 guests. Can easily negotiate Halong Bay and the Saigon River (if you can stand the smell).

 

2009-Cruise West is going to cruise ONLY Vietnam.

 

http://www.cruisewest.com/destinations/grand_asia/vietnam.aspx

[mrlevin]

I sailed Regent Seven Seas Mariner and we had five days in Vietnam. We sailed up the Saigon River and docked right in Saigon for two days. We also had overnights in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok (where they bused us into to Bangkok and put us up at the Shangri-la. I strongly recommend this ship and itinerary.