Best time of year to visit Asia?

[calgal729]

We're thinking of taking a cruise to Asia in December 2012 from Singapore to Hong Kong abord the Celebrity Millennium. A few of the ports include Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, ending in Hong Kong. Any idea how the weather is this time of year? Is this the best time of year to go? We like to do a lot of walking and sightseeing and are looking for a time of year thats warm and not too much rain. Thanks.

[paul929207]

I would check one of the weather sites to see when the wet seasons are. It is going to be hot in southern ports (Singapore, Bangkok, HCM City) no matter when you go.

[GrandmaHofmann]

I understand Monsoon season is about then. Some posts have indicated a number of ports missed due to that. We decided to go the March Diamond Princess cruise as a result of reading those reviews.

[paul929207]

We were in Bangkok & HCM City in February, 2010. It was hot, but no rain. We choose that time because it was before the monsson season.

[G.M.T.]

Asking how the weather wil in a certain at a certain time, will not give an acurate picture of the climate conditions, as most cruisers will have has a maximum of 3 days in any of the ports. It would be best to consult weather sites and look at the average statistics for the places in question.

 

A word about Sinapore, as previously mentioned, it will always be hot, they only have two seasons wet and dry.

 

Ron

[karenbeanpole]

Thailand and anywhere south of it will be hot and humid in December. It may or may not rain, but it's not the rainy season. In the tropics you can get sudden heavy downpours, but it's rare that it goes on all day, or even rarer to be a second day. Nevertheless, it will be hot.

 

North of Thailand - Hanoi, HongKong - it's winter there. Not snow type winter, but it will be cool. Hong Kong can have temperatures of about 14 degrees C, same in Hanoi. Basically, not hot. Nice for some people, cold for some.

 

We were in Vietnam last February and it was beginning to warm up in Hanoi, though Halong Bay was wet and cool. So December will be cool. Next year we're cruising from Beijing to Singapore in February - will be prepared to bring lots of warm clothing as we'll probably we walking the Great Wall covered in snow!!!

[calgal729]

Thanks everyone, from what I can gather it looks like we'll be in for a variety of climates, so we'll just be prepared for all seasons :)