Anyone on Celebrity Millennium February 1, 2015 Cruise?

[seacruiserla]

My partner (Michael) and I have just signed up for the 14-night Asian Allure cruise (Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, & Hong Kong) on the Celebrity "Millennium" beginning on February 1, 2015. We are wondering if anyone else will be on the same cruise. It would be nice to know a few more LGBT people on board.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

My buddy from DC and I signed up for the cruise a week ago. I did it this year and can't wait to do it again. Loved the cities, even if they are a VERY LONG way from the ports we dock at.

 

Greg from Denver

[seacruiserla]

Hi, Greg--

 

Glad to know that you and your DC buddy will be on the same cruise. (Funny. I just came back from a meeting in DC yesterday.) Do keep in touch, and we look forward to meeting you guys in person on the cruise.

 

Our current plan is to get to Singapore and perhaps stay one night there before getting on board the ship. We will likely stay five or six days after the cruise in Hong Kong to experience Chinese New Year there. We'll see.

 

We are very excited about the cruise and the itinerary. Michael has never been to Asia, and I was in Bangkok once nearly 30 years ago. Did you take the overnight Bangkok excursion? If so, can you tell us ho was it?

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Hi Terry,

 

We will probably arrive in Singapore early Friday morning, so we will spend three nights in a hotel before the cruise. We will spend one night after the cruise in Hong Kong and fly out the next day.

 

I did not do the Bangkok overnight on this trip because of the recent trouble there, but hope to do overnight next year.

 

You will be able to experience Chinese New Year in all our ports. Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City were all decked out, as was Hong Kong. This is a fun time to be in Southeast Asia.

 

We have an Aqua Class cabin, so we will be eating in Blu. What about you guys?

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Hi, Greg--

 

We will likely be getting to Singapore on Saturday but we are still trying to arrange for tickets - we are at the whims of the frequent flyer goddess.

 

We are also in AquaClass and will be dining at the Blu. Great :-) Our room will be on Deck 9. What about you?

 

It's good to know that we will be able to experience pre-Chinese New Year activities at many of our ports of call. We will stay for six days post-cruise in Hong Kong since Michael has never been there, and it has been more than seven years since my last visit. I was born and grew up there until my college years. It will be an opportunity to show him a few places that are still left from my childhood years (many have already been torn down).

 

If it works out that we will be on the same Bangkok overnight excursion, I think it will be fun.

 

Michael and I are in the Los Angeles area. What about you?

 

Let's keep in touch.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Terry,

 

If you can, you may want to try to arrive in Singapore on Friday rather than Saturday. Although we sail late on Monday, we do not have a full day in Singapore. You need to be back on the ship be 2 PM, so that authorities can check passports before we sail. Also, it is a royal pain getting on and off the ship in both Singapore and Hong Kong. In Singapore you need to go through passport control and security whenever you enter or leave the ship.

 

We are on deck 11. The starboard cabins (ending in odd numbers) have much better views in Singapore and HK. I had a port side cabin this year and am switching.

 

I am from Denver. My partner is also named Michael, and we are going on a Baltic cruise this July. But that will use us his vacation time for a while. So I get to introduce Jerry to the Orient.

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Greg--

 

You did mention that you are from Denver in the signature line after your name in your first email. My apology for asking again without reading carefully first. Me bad.

 

Thanks for the info. about the stateroom. We will check with our travel agent to see what they can do. An important consideration for us is to be as close to the middle of the ship as we can as Michael can get sea sick. He, however, did amazingly well on our South America cruise this January. Although it was quite windy and rocky when we cruised around Cape Horn, he did fine.

 

We are now booked on flights that will get us to Singapore on Friday. Michael will still see if we can get flights that will take us there on Saturday, although it is not quite likely. (We are using his FF miles to get to Singapore, and mine to return from Hong Kong.) Michael is (more than I am) a bit skittish about staying long in Singapore with its archaic laws with respect to LGBT people. What's your past experience in Singapore?

 

BTW, do you remember where the ship will dock in Hong Kong? Is it near Tsim Sha Tsiu on Kowloon side?

 

We look forward to being on the cruise with you and Jerry. Sorry that your Michael will not be there.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Terry,

 

I thought Malaysia and Indonesia were much scarier than Singapore. In Singapore, everyone seemed to be going about their daily business, knowing that big brother was watching everyone and everything that happened.

 

We dock at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, which is about 45 minutes from the Kowloon piers by taxi. You can either take a tour, a taxi, or a bus to one of the shopping centers and then connect to the Metro in order to get where you want to go. This new terminal is huge and takes a long time to get out of or into.

 

The one trick I learned and will use again next year is to take the free bus to a shopping center, then connect to the Metro. The shopping center will also give you a bag of goodies. We got a coupon that said we would each get a free transit pass for a day if we spent any money at the center. We each bought a Coke or bottle of water, went to the service desk on the second floor, and got our free pass. Our 10 HKD purchase saved us 55 HKD. No gimmicks. Just show you sea pass and receipt and get your free transit pass.

 

Celebrity's port lecturer gave us lots of good info, but didn't tell us about the bus transfers. Celebrity want us to use their tours.

 

Speaking of tours, I hope to do the overnight Bangkok on our own, Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon on our own, and Hoi An on our own.

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Greg--

 

I have talked with our travel agent yesterday and he is going to try to change us to an odd numbered stateroom on the same deck. Thanks for your information about which side of the ship has a better view in Hong Kong and Singapore.

 

Kai Tak was the old Hong Kong airport before the current one in Lan Tao Island. If it has become a cruise ship port, I could image how big it is.

 

Your suggestion about using the shopping bus to get to the Kowloon shopping area is valuable information indeed. We will likely follow your suggestion and take that shopping bus. We want to get to a tailor in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Kowloon that I have gone to in the past to make some suits the day we will dock and stay overnight on the ship.

 

We are probably going to use the Celebrity excursion for the Bangkok overnight tour. That way, we will be sure that we will not miss the boat the next day. However, we will likely want to do some night excursions that will be different from what they offer. :) If you guys will be in Bangkok on your own and are interested, perhaps we can plan to get together at some point that evening.

 

I have gone into the Celebrity website to look at the excursions they offer for the other ports. Not much is up yet. So, we will wait before deciding what to do.

 

Is there any place you would recommend in terms of accommodation in Singapore before the cruise? I am looking into Hyatt, but that's only preliminary looking.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Terry,

 

We stayed at the Orchard Parade Hotel at the top of Orchard Road, within walking distance of the Botanical Gardens. The hotel was very nice, but we may stay closer to the Marina, Raffles and Chinatown next year.

 

One of the tips I got from several people who had done this cruise was to get a hotel that had free wifi in our room and complimentary breakfast, since both are expensive ala carte. Most of these amenities come with a club level room, which we had at the Orchard Parade.

 

We waited too long to book our hotel room last year, and most of the great rates were gone. We will definitely book much sooner, like six months in advance, this year. Singapore has visitors all year long and we were told there is no low-season. Grab a room when you see a good rate.

 

I know which excursions I would like to do for all our ports but Hanoi. But I have not talked to Jerry about them yet. Since we have a lot of OBC, we will probably wait until we board the Millie to book most of our tours. I hope to be on the ship by 11:30ish, which was when the shore excursions desk opened this year. Book tours, have a quick lunch, head back out to Singapore.

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Hi, Greg--

 

I heeded your advice about booking early in Singapore to capture low rates. I was checking hotel availability in the Expedia website over the weekend, and was able to find and book into Pan Pacific Singapore in the Marina for $243 per night (usually more than $400 per night according to the website). The only thing is that I have to pay in full, although cancellation prior to three nights before arrival is supposed to be free. WiFi is included but breakfast is not, unless I want their club level room for about $90 more. I hope the two of us could get breakfast for less than that. I don't know if you guys are ready to book, but I just want to pass on the info.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Hi Terry,

 

We just booked at the Mandarin Singapore Hotel. We got a room with a view of Marina Bay. We should be able to watch the nightly light show from the balcony of our room! Both of our hotels are fairly close to each other. Maybe we can get together before we board the Millie.

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Greg--

 

Great to know that we will be in neighboring hotels in Singapore. Yeah. It would be wonderful if we could get together in Singapore before boarding the ship. We'll definitely connect about that as we get closer to our trip.

 

We have now booked our return flight to L.A. from Hong Kong. We will be coming back on Saturday Feb. 22. That will give us ample time to do all we want to do in Hong Kong and then spend Chinese New Year there.

 

We are still working with our travel agent about our stateroom change. Hope to get a response in the next few days.

 

--Terry

[seacruiserla]

Hi, Greg--

 

It's been a while since we last communicated. Hope all is well. It has been a few very busy months. I think I have gone to DC for meetings three times and the Bay Area twice in the past few months. Each time, I tried to add a day or two of down time, especially when Michael could join me there.

 

We are beginning to look into excursions for our Southeast Asia cruise next February. We are thinking of taking the overnight tour in Bangkok with Celebrity (just to guarantee we would be back on the ship on time the next day, if nothing else). I remember your talking about wanting to stay overnight in Bangkok too. Any thought?

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Hi Terry,

 

I am just back from a 26-day B2B transatlantic/eastern Med cruise on the Silhouette. Great cruises, great ship, great crew.

 

I bet you saw there is more action in Thailand. I still want to do the ship's overnight tour to Thailand. I would pick a hotel away from the embassies and close to the tourist sites. Haven't started searching yet, still have several other vacations to plan first.

 

On my last two B2Bs, Celebrity had a Destination Concierge, or something like that. His duty was to plan higher-end tours, like smaller groups or unique events. I know several people did this on our Asia cruise last February and were happy with the results. Not sure what will be planned for next year.

 

I am looking at doing Singapore and Hong Kong by myself. I plan to do the ship tour to Ho Chi Minh City on our own, as well as the Hoi An tour on our own. Add the overnight in Bangkok on our own, but through the ship. Not sure yet about Hanoi.

 

Greg

[seacruiserla]

Hi Terry,

 

I am just back from a 26-day B2B transatlantic/eastern Med cruise on the Silhouette. Great cruises, great ship, great crew.

 

I bet you saw there is more action in Thailand. I still want to do the ship's overnight tour to Thailand. I would pick a hotel away from the embassies and close to the tourist sites. Haven't started searching yet, still have several other vacations to plan first.

 

On my last two B2Bs, Celebrity had a Destination Concierge, or something like that. His duty was to plan higher-end tours, like smaller groups or unique events. I know several people did this on our Asia cruise last February and were happy with the results. Not sure what will be planned for next year.

 

I am looking at doing Singapore and Hong Kong by myself. I plan to do the ship tour to Ho Chi Minh City on our own, as well as the Hoi An tour on our own. Add the overnight in Bangkok on our own, but through the ship. Not sure yet about Hanoi.

 

Greg

 

Welcome back, Greg. Sounds like it was a great B2B cruise for you.

 

Yeah. I am certainly concerned about the political developments in Bangkok, but hope that all will have settled down by the time we will be there next February. We are thinking of going with the overnight tour offered by Celebrity, but will definitely go out on our own in the evening. Other than that, we have not decided on anything else. Good to know about the "destination concierge." I will have our TA check into it as I do not see it being advertised anywhere on the Celebrity website.

 

Like you, we will be doing Singapore on our own ("doing" for us will likely mean nursing our jetlag more than running around the city). Also, we will be in Hong Kong for six days after the cruise and will definitely do things on our own. After all, I was born and raised there, and can still remember a few things although I have been living in the U.S. for many years by now. One thing I know is that we will definitely visit Hong Kong Disneyland as Michael is a big Mickey fan :-)

 

Lucky you. You still have a few more cruises to plan and play before the Asian trip next February. We will keep in touch as time gets closer for our trip. BTW, if you like, you can email me at "terrygock at gmail dot com" in addition to using this board.

 

Take care.

 

--Terry

 

--Terry

[seacruiserla]

Hi Terry,

 

I am just back from a 26-day B2B transatlantic/eastern Med cruise on the Silhouette. Great cruises, great ship, great crew.

 

I bet you saw there is more action in Thailand. I still want to do the ship's overnight tour to Thailand. I would pick a hotel away from the embassies and close to the tourist sites. Haven't started searching yet, still have several other vacations to plan first.

 

On my last two B2Bs, Celebrity had a Destination Concierge, or something like that. His duty was to plan higher-end tours, like smaller groups or unique events. I know several people did this on our Asia cruise last February and were happy with the results. Not sure what will be planned for next year.

 

I am looking at doing Singapore and Hong Kong by myself. I plan to do the ship tour to Ho Chi Minh City on our own, as well as the Hoi An tour on our own. Add the overnight in Bangkok on our own, but through the ship. Not sure yet about Hanoi.

 

Greg

 

Greg--

 

I am reading a guide book on Vietnam, and it notes that we would need a visa to enter that country. Just want to check on your last Asia cruise experience. Did you have to get a visa for each of the countries/places you visited (Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong)?

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

You need a visa for Viet Nam, which you get on the ship. It costs more if you overnight in Hanoi. You only need a visa for Thailand if you overnight. Otherwise, you do not.

 

My email address is gh540@ comcast . net, in case you would like to email me.

 

Greg

[daytripper10]

My wife and I are on the Feb. 1 cruise out of Singapore on the Millenium. We are looking for others who might be interested in PRIVATE tours when in port. Would anyone be interested in joining or is anyone looking for another couple to be part of a private tour of 4 or 6 people?

Hope to hear from you.

[seacruiserla]

My wife and I are on the Feb. 1 cruise out of Singapore on the Millenium. We are looking for others who might be interested in PRIVATE tours when in port. Would anyone be interested in joining or is anyone looking for another couple to be part of a private tour of 4 or 6 people?

Hope to hear from you.

 

Welcome to this forum. My partner and I tend to join those excursions offered by the ship as those we have joined otherwise in the past had turned out to be a little less than what we expected (although a little less expensive). Private Tours do sound interesting and we like the flexibility when we did them in the past. What do you have in mind? For this cruise, we are likely going to join the Bangkok overnight offered by the ship. Otherwise, we have not decided on anything. Let us know more about your interests.

 

--Terry

[DenvCruiser]

Terry, I sent you an email over the weekend. Checking to see it you got it.

 

Greg

[chrisn9008]

Hi Guys

 

My partner and I are on this cruise too, we are boarding in Singapore on 18th January and doing a B2B until 15th Feb, leaving the ship in Hong Kong, we can't wait!!!

 

See you on board!

 

Chris and John

[seacruiserla]

Hi Guys

 

My partner and I are on this cruise too, we are boarding in Singapore on 18th January and doing a B2B until 15th Feb, leaving the ship in Hong Kong, we can't wait!!!

 

See you on board!

 

Chris and John

 

Chris and John--

 

Great to know that you will be on the same 1st Feb. cruise. Lucky guys...doing B2B cruises!! Where will the first cruise go? Looking forward to meeting you guys on board.

 

--Terry

[chrisn9008]

Hi Terry,

 

Itinerary is:

Singapore 2 days, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia 3 days,Komodo, Indonesia, Phuket, Thailand, Langkawi, Port Kelang, Malaysia, Singapore, with 5 sea days in between.

 

Chris

[seacruiserla]

Hi Terry,

 

Itinerary is:

Singapore 2 days, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia 3 days,Komodo, Indonesia, Phuket, Thailand, Langkawi, Port Kelang, Malaysia, Singapore, with 5 sea days in between.

 

Chris

 

Chris--

 

Have a great time on your first cruise before we will meet up on our cruise. There will be at least eight of "us" (including you two) on this cruise. In addition to Doug and his friend Jerry, Doug has two other friends who will be on this cruise. As time get closer, we will hopefully plan to get together and meet each other on the ship. In the mean time, let's keep in touch about shore excursion interests and plan.

 

--Terry