Big Paul

We boarded in Malta in July. I purchased a bottle of scotch in the shop, EXCELLENT value. About £7.00 cheaper than the airport duty free.

However don't know opening hours

We did St petersburgh about 18 months ago and used SPB tours as previously mentioned.

I cannot praise the company enough they were absolutely brilliant.

I fly out in the morning with Thomas Cook to Malta and have been informed by P&O that we will be required to pick up our luggage and take it to the coach

there were no cabins available for us

On a recent cruise aboard aurora we were allocated a cabin on A deck. this cabin and several others were completely unsuitable to anybody has normal hearing. the cabins A276, A 277 and A282 are directly below the Horizon restaurant Galley and suffer from severe Noise and Vibrations from machinery in the galley above, from 5:30 in the morning until early hours the following morning. after several people complained the noise was reduced after 11:30 but was still there. Just a warning to others booking on aurora.

We were there in September and did the princess tour "HCMC on your own" I do not recall seeing any taxis waiting at the port.

When we were there a few weeks ago on Sapphire Princess, there were no shuttles to HCMC we actually took the ships tour HCMC on your own.

Stanley Market was good much better than the Ladies market which we did on our own, but the tour didn't give enough time to explore properly. Shuttles to the shopping malls were free, but very heavily used, fairly long line waiting to return to the ship, we only did the half day tour, had already done one jewellry factory in Vietnam. we found prices very high, and pressure sales techniques, sales staff follow you everywhere. I did not see any money exchange in the terminal however I wasn't loooking as we had taken plenty of HKD as we were there two days. remember the subway MTR is very easy to use and cheap

Not sure about credit cards we took Japanese Yen with us from home.

We did anytime dining. Never had to book a table as we like to eat fairly early 6:30 ish, and the ship was only 3/4 full, we found the meals very good, although teh eastern menu didn't change much. We ate in the Savoy each evening and had fantastic service.

Hong Kong. we decided to do the ships tour on the first day which took in Victoria peak, sanpan harbour tour (15 minutes) visit to Stanley market. This gsave us a better idea of where we wanted to go on our own the next day. shuttles provided to shopping Mall. subway beneath, purchased tickets from the machine, very easy to use, we travelled to Hong kong island then returned via ferry.

Saigon. we did the ships tour "Ho Chi Mihn On Your Own" Dropped of very central, changed money in the post office very near to drop off point, had a very enjoyable afternoon touring the city, slightly disapointed that the museums were closed because it was monday (according to one of the locals) wandered down to the market and found it fascinating.

Only criticism of the entire cruise was that there is no waiter service on the promenade deck even on sea days.

Enjoy the cruise We certainly did.

Just back from Grand asia cruise. We did Nagasaki peace Gardens and Museum on our own, very easy to do by tram, certainly better than the Ships tour, you can stay as long as you like. We purchased an all day tram ticket in the terminal, the Ships port talks said we would find nobody speaks english, this is not so, even the announcements on the tram are done in Japanese and English, we did the peace park etc, then on the way back we wandered around the town. Really enjoyed ourselves. then as we returned to the terminal there were many school children wanting to practice their English, they were delightful. You will need Japanese Yen though, if I remember rightly there were exchange facilities in the terminal. Also free wifi available in terminal.

the ship wa fantastic, plenty of room for everyone, however I was told that it was only 3/4 full. very multinational, Australians New Zealanders, Chinese, Koreans, Canadians and of course British. There was a european menu changes daily, alongside asian favorites, starters the same every evening.

The show team were great, doing approximately 5 shows throughout the 17 days, there were plenty of guest entertainers, some better than others.

Nagasaki peace gardens were well worth a visit, however the museum was rather busy with various school parties visiting at the time we were there.

Busan, we did this on our own, shuttle buses were provided, we then took the Hop on Hop off bus to tour the area. Be aware that the bus stop for this bus was directly across the road from where we were dropped off. it is outside the tourist information office.

Tai Pei we took a tour there visiting shang hai chek museum, Not Bad

da nang Again another half day tour. good tour but if they take you to the market make sure you have nose clips! the smell was nauseating, however upstairs was fascinating with silk blouses dresses and shoes made in the market, unfortunately there was not enough time to have anything made.

This could be rather long so will try to do a full review in the next few days

Hi Big Paul,

Great to know you had a great cruise. We sail on the Sapphire October 7th and would greatly appreciate knowing more!

What would you like to know?

Sapphire princess three weeks ago insisted on ALL passengers taking their lifejacketss to the muster station

Just returned from Sapphire Princess Grand Asia tour on Sunday. What a fabulous cruise.

Don't know who the Maitre D is, however My wife has a dairy allergy so carries her own dairy free spread with her. On the first night Constantine in the Savoy restaurant spotted this and organised her dietry needs for the entire cruise, he was a gem.

Just back from Sapphire Princess yesterday and we had anytime dining.

On the first evening we dined in the Savoy restaurant, the service was fantastic, we went the next night at a similar time and requested the same table, NO PROBLEM from then on we always had the same table and it was classed as a regular reservation, in fact the waiters were looking for us each evening.

Hi we are booked on Sapphire Princess on the Grand Asia cruise on Sept 3rd 2014 can anybody help with advice about what currency would be best in this region. Visiting China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.

I am considering this cruise in may. does anyone know of the weather conditions at this time of year.

We have not long been back from an OV cabin on Arcadia E deck. No complaintss at all, however on certain cabins, ours included the crew had drills to do immediately outside the window when raising and lowering the tenders at ports where they were required. No great problem as long as you remember to close the curtains if having a shower.

The cabin was large enough for us and plenty of room in the bathroom.

I personally would not hesitate to go OV again