Dairbear01

Looking at a cruise with Norwegian spirit docking at phu mi, wondered what means others had used outwith the cruise company to get to ho chi min city safely and with a reliable return to the cruise ship 

Does it mean that they only give the 10% to American military and not to British or other nationalities.

Thank you all for the posts, so we can relax and enjoy, on a different note, has anyone experienced how they cope with gluten allergies which unfortunately my wife has.

We have only cruised so far with Fred Olsen and we're very well looked after even in the buffet restaurant, so we hoped that would be the same on celebrity.

I was looking at there video and most seemed to be enjoying the cruise in non casual clothes, so as my normal attire is jeans, trainers and t shirt/ polo shirt, I wondered if I would be out of place in that environment.

If it's just a marketing video and the reality is only dress up in the main dining area on certain occasions, then great we will be fine.

Looking at a cruise to Asia with celebrity solstice, have never cruised with them before, as we aren't into dressing up is this to posh a cruise, or are you still able to enjoy most areas dressed down in your jeans and t shirt, we usually eat in the buffet restaurant so understand the main dining area usually comes with a smart casual or more dependent on occasion 

@tj_shopper

Once we nail down our plans I will let you know any helpful info and if we do go a review of how we got on.

@tj_shopper the one we are looking at now is a similar cruise to your one for next year , ours is 13 days with the only difference in ports being nha trang Vietnam, on the same ship , we are going from Scotland which is also a windy place like Chicago , lovely dogs by the way.

Thank you for all that info, since I posted I have looked further into it, concur that Singapore and Hong Kong stays sound great. 

The length of time travelling between cruise line and Bangkok was making us think it was a better option to stay there prior to cruise, but if it's part of the cruise we need to decide if a single trip up and stay for as long as possible is preferable to an overnight hotel stay in Bangkok, getting back ti the ship in time for sail away.

Looking to fly from Scotland if possible and stay 2 nights before and after a 10 night ish Asian cruise.

We are looking at staying in 2 of 3 from Singapore, Bangkok or Hong Kong, with a cruise to at least Vietnam in between, not sure how best to tackle it, gut says into Bangkok then home from Hong Kong with Singapore included in the cruise itinerary, only cruised on Fred Olsen so ideally a 2500 approx capacity cruise ship would be preferable.

Any pointers appreciated 

I think if we go we will look to stay 2 days either side , with Singapore, Thailand ( Bangkok) or Hong Kong, preferred hotel stays.

Lot to think about, I'm put off by the distance from the ports into some of the destinations and once you throw in visas, there could be a few dropping off our radar,  we don't fancy Japan or mainland china, but would like to visit Hong Kong 

Brilliant thank you for the reply, my wife is gluten intolerant so we are a bit wary of going on to small a ship/ river cruise incase she isn't catered for.

As we are retired we are flexible on when, where and for how long , so will look at your suggestions 

Hi all we have only sailed twice so far with Fred Olsen to Nordic capitals, so now we have the cruise bug, we fancy going to Asia , ideally with Singapore,Hong Kong and Thailand included.

Any recommendations on unmissable asian destinations plus the best cruise line or lines to experience such a trip 

Thanks in advance kenny

Thanks for the info

We are looking at a cruise in October on Marella discovery which includes 7 days in a Orlando hotel plus the 7 day cruise to grand Turk.

We have only cruised once before with Fred Olsen on the Bolette, so trying to spread our wings and the deal for the above cruise via iglu cruises seemed to good to miss.

If possible could anyone answer a few questions we have.

1/ is the Marella discovery of a decent standard.

2/ my wife is gluten free, Fred Olsen were brilliant, so we hoped she would be looked after as well on that ship.

3/ anyone used iglu and are they trustworthy.

Thanks for any help

Kenny

Thanks for the feedback, I thought it might only drop more if the cruise wasn't selling, but to drop from £1299 to £899 seemed to good to miss

We loved our first Fred Olsen cruise and wondered about booking another, but our first for 10 days was in an outside cabin with a window for £899 to the Baltic capitals.

Which I think was a great deal.

They have a sale on for 10 days around Scotland in July which was £1299 for an inside cabin, but has dropped to £999 and with the royal code , it is at the same as we were before £899.

I like the itinerary but wondered if its worth waiting to see if it drops more, or with others experience, were we just lucky to get the deal we got previously.

I appreciate it's probably just pot luck, but thought I'd ask before I jumped.

Thanks Kenny 

Thank you will check them out 

We have recently had our first cruise on the Fred Olsen Bolette, sailing from Newcastle , which was brilliant, but now we are wondering about looking at another cruise later in the year.

Bolette is changing from Newcastle to Southampton in a few months, so that takes her out of the equation for the time being.

So we either look at her sister ships, or try a different cruise line.

Any recommendations on similar sized cruise lines approx 1300 guests max, sailing from either northern England or Scotland.

Would rather not have to travel south to Southampton if we can 

Just to add we were on the saver fare so pay £5, if you are on the freedom fare you don't pay the £5.

As an example in Finland we got the shuttle into Helsinki and passed a sauna that was on the trip list for £159pp for 3hours , we had looked at it and the entrance fee was 23 Euros for 2 hours each. It turned out the tour walked from the ship to get to the sauna , but they got a free drink- wow

I understand you pay more for guides, transport and knowledge but how they can justify that vast difference in prices is crazy.

We heard there were quite a few tours cancelled as not enough interest, maybe as the ship had only 850 passengers rather than 1300, this was effected, but I think it is more down to the tours been way over priced.

Surely it would be better having full buses with a more attractive pricing policy.

It was our first cruise so didn't know what to expect, but we found we could see all the highlights either by walking straight in, if the Bolette was berthed in a central location ( I believe this is common because of her size), or by using the £5 shuttle bus to get us to a central location, then exploring from there.

We loved our first cruise and couldn't really fault Fred and the experience, as we saw what we wanted to , without using this option, but each to their own.

Just asked as we are just back from the Nordic capitals on the Bolette and found the excursions really expensive.

We had planned to go on public transport and do our own thing, but when we were berthed out of walking distance they provided courtesy buses for only £5 for the day each, so we just used those and still did our own thing,  which worked out great.

We found we had done as much as some on the trips for a fraction of the price and at our own pace, whilst having more time to enjoy the site.

Hope that helps you plan your must see sites.

Where are you going with Fred 

Glad to be proved wrong, as they definitely deserve it.

I think after the Bolette the block of flats would be to big and busy.

The Philippine, Thai, Indian etc crew couldn't do enough for you, with a brilliant attitude and work ethic, shame that for that level of service, they are probably getting paid half of what a British crew would.

Looking forward to going again and maybe trying one of the sister ships