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Just back Millenium 2 week Aisa Imersion Tour


ronbetty2001
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Hi

 

 

What was Celebrity Definition of a Immersion Cruise seeing as this was an immersion cruise, not a regular cruise in terms of the entertainment, food and the activities on board?

 

Thanks.

I guess it means that all the ports were Asian. Ports were: Hong Kong, Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Bangkok and Singapore. Didn't have any real different entertainment or a lot of Asian type food really. Just all about the itinerary being all in Asia.

Capt. Ron

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We will sail in the opposite itinary.

We plan to do shiptours in Vietnam. What is your opinion do we need to change US$ to local money?

We will in Singapore, Bangkok and Hongkon as we have either a private tour or we will use cabs etc.

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Hi, looks like you have started two message strings for questions so I figured I would post my questions here too. :D

 

Did you use private tours, if so what companies? Of the places you stopped at we will be in the following ports in April 2018 on Royal's Ovation so anything on tours for these ports will be appreciated.

 

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)

Chan May Port (Hue/Danang)

Hong Kong (overnight)

Singapore

 

Thanks a lot

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We will sail in the opposite itinary.

We plan to do shiptours in Vietnam. What is your opinion do we need to change US$ to local money?

We will in Singapore, Bangkok and Hongkon as we have either a private tour or we will use cabs etc.

 

 

We just had two stops in Vietnam, and we were able to use US$ everywhere we went.

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What were the all-aboard times in the ports?

 

The dailies from the identical cruise in 2014 showed 15 mins before sailing. Am mostly planning to get back to the ship an hour before departure but think 45 minutes would be plenty for Thailand day two as our last stop (Sanctuary of Truth) is only about 12 miles away.

 

Also was the lifeboat drill at 7:30 on day 2 (thinking about dinner plans) and when and where was the cruise critic get together?

 

Thanks for any help.

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We will sail in the opposite itinary.

We plan to do shiptours in Vietnam. What is your opinion do we need to change US$ to local money?

We will in Singapore, Bangkok and Hongkon as we have either a private tour or we will use cabs etc.

We found that in the tourist places they price things in both Dong and US dollars. In a couple of the off the beaten track places our guide took us, like the pharmacy they requested Dong. I would not change dollars for Dong, you can't even get Dong from your bank before leaving as Dong is not internationally traded. I had private guides for Da Nang and Saigon. I can get you their e-mail if you want. They both specialize in food tours, though.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

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Hi, looks like you have started two message strings for questions so I figured I would post my questions here too. :D

 

Did you use private tours, if so what companies? Of the places you stopped at we will be in the following ports in April 2018 on Royal's Ovation so anything on tours for these ports will be appreciated.

 

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Used Vu another great tour guide, left a review on Tripadvisor, web site: saigonstreeteats@gmail.com

Chan May Port (Hue/Danang)Used Shaun and Expat from the states, left him a great review on Tripadvisor, web site:danangfoodtour.com

Hong Kong (overnight) Did a free walking tour first day, really pretty good, very informative. Web site: http://hkfreewalk.com/partnership/#

Singapore Did another free walking tour, was excellent. Length 5 hours, VERY informative. Felt guilty only giving a tip, group size was a little big, maybe 12 people. Very good none the less. Web Site: http://www.sneakpeeksingapore.com/register

 

Thanks a lot

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

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What were the all-aboard times in the ports?

 

The dailies from the identical cruise in 2014 showed 15 mins before sailing. Am mostly planning to get back to the ship an hour before departure but think 45 minutes would be plenty for Thailand day two as our last stop (Sanctuary of Truth) is only about 12 miles away.

Sail Away:

Day 2 Hong Kong: 8:00pm

Day 2 Hanoi/Ha long Bay: 1:00pm (only tendered port, IMHO, so get back maybe 1 hour prior to sailing)

Da Nang: 7:00pm

Saigon: 8:00pm

Day 2 Bangkok: 6:00pm. Traffic shouldn't be bad as your not goiong to Bangkok, if so really watch out as the traffic is nuts there.

Also was the lifeboat drill at 7:30 on day 2 (thinking about dinner plans) and when and where was the cruise critic get together? Yes it was, good catch. The Cruise Critic meeting was on first sea day about 10:30 on deck 11 in Quine. Well attended, drinks and some snacks offered.

 

Thanks for any help.

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

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We are also using points. I contacted the hotel and upgraded the rooms for a fee. I will let you know what we think.

 

What upgrades are possible? I didn't see a club room, so I just left it at the base room. In Hanoi, I called Sheraton and they had a pretty decent points rate for a club room, so I upgraded there.

 

I contacted the concierge regarding tours and he sent a pdf for a two day tour by car. Through the hotel it looks like $104 per day with a guide + the cost of the pass. Perhaps there are cheaper tours out there - but, I'm burning out on the trip planning, so I'll probably just go through the hotel. I also arranged and confirmed our airport pick up through them.

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We are also using points. I contacted the hotel and upgraded the rooms for a fee. I will let you know what we think.

 

Sad to say we didn't stay at the Le Meriden so have no comment on the hotel. It's a big chain and am I'm sure it nice. Again, no comment as we didn't stay there.

 

Capt. Ron

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Do you recall which cruise terminal Celebrity uses in Hong Kong? The older Ocean Terminal or the new Kai Tak?

 

Kai Tak cruise terminal, very large and new. Built on the old airport runway of Kai Tak airport which has been moved to outside the city on Lantau island.

Web Site: http://www.kaitakcruiseterminal.com.hk/

They offered free bus/shuttles to diamond mall which has a MTR station so that was nice. Go early as the shuttles leave when full in the morning starting at about 7:30am.

 

Capt. Ron

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Started cruise in Hong Kong, then Vietnam (Hanoi, Da Nang, Saigon) then Bangkok ending in Singapore, 2 weeks. Willing to answer questions now that we've returned today. Ask away if you have any questions while it's still fresh is my mind. Also spent 5 nights in Seam Reap touring the area and Angkor Wat temples.

Capt. Ron

 

 

Hi Ron we are doing this cruise in Feb 2017 and it is the first time to this region, we are looking to plan some shore excursions but are unsure where to start. We would appreciate any advice you could suggest places to go and things to see in each of the ports of call. Would you advise using the cruise line trips or have you used any private companies before who offer similar excursions but at a reduced cost than the cruise line? Any advice would be welcome. I would also add I do have reduced mobility (cant walk long distance without rest or stand for prolonged periods. Secondly what are the staterooms like for space? we have booked an accessible cabin with balcony.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance

 

Bluewezzie

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Hi Ron we are doing this cruise in Feb 2017 and it is the first time to this region, we are looking to plan some shore excursions but are unsure where to start. We would appreciate any advice you could suggest places to go and things to see in each of the ports of call. Would you advise using the cruise line trips or have you used any private companies before who offer similar excursions but at a reduced cost than the cruise line? Any advice would be welcome. I would also add I do have reduced mobility (cant walk long distance without rest or stand for prolonged periods. Secondly what are the staterooms like for space? we have booked an accessible cabin with balcony.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance

 

Bluewezzie

I'll try and answer as best I can. First I would suggest going on Tripadvisor for each of the cities, tons of information on those forums. Things to do and see, trip reports from other people, itineraries etc.

Hong Kong:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g294217-i1496-Hong_Kong.html

Ha Long Bay:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293923-i9984-Halong_Bay_Quang_Ninh_Province.html

Da Nang:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g298085-i10088-Da_Nang_Quang_Nam_Province.html

Ho Chi Minh:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293925-i8433-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

Bangkok:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293916-i3687-Bangkok.html

Singapore:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g294262-i1747-Singapore.html

All the tours we did involved some form of walking. We only do private tours and enjoy food tours.

The other thing to know is the ports in Vietnam are industrial ports and pretty far from the cities stated. For Hong Kong you dock at Kai Tak cruise terminal, which has nothing around it to do or see, except the harbor of course. They did provide buses to Diamond Hill Mall where you can excess the MTR (trains) for public transport and buses. We did a Free Walking Tour our first day, which involved a lot of walking. The next day we went up to Victoria Park (The Peak), which was easy and great to do, over looks the city and skyline. Our last day we went to Landau Island to see the Big Buddha. The free walking tour we used: http://hkfreewalk.com/partnership/#

Hanoi/Ha Long Bay:

Ship tenders in Ha Long bay, Hanoi is like 3 hours one way. We stayed over night on a private junk with 7 other couples in Ha Long Bay. This was one of the high lights of our trip. We used indochinajunk: http://www.indochina-junk.com/

Da Nang:

You'll dock in a very industrial port, no way to walk out in our opinion as there is nothing around it to walk to. Da Nang is about 1 hour drive from the port. We did a food and walking tour with an expat, Shaun: http://danangfoodtour.com/

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh:

Again you dock at a very industrial port. We used the ship's tour to get into the city. The drive is about 90 minutes one way. They dropped us off and picked us up at end of the day. Here we did another food and walking tour with Vu: http://saigonstreeteats.com/

Bangkok:

You'll dock again in a very industrial port with nothing around it. The city is about 90 minutes to 2 hours one way. We stayed over night and a dinner cruise at night. Our tour company was: http://www.thaitourguide.com.

Our dinner cruise was provided by: http://www.loynava.com/

Singapore:

You'll dock at the Marina Bay Cruise Center. Not a place to walk from, it can be done, but it's quite a ways to get to anything. There is a MTR station which is about a 15 minute walk to excess the public transport and they did I think have some buses at the Cruise Terminal. We did a free walking tour which was pretty long, like 5 hours. We used: http://www.sneakpeeksingapore.com/register

All our tours and guides were great and I would highly recommend any of them. I am in the process of leaving them reviews on Tripadvisor. As I said before we only do private tours and not ship tours. The private tours are much more personal (smaller groups) and don't cost near as much as ship tours. Look up your ship's sailing on the Celebrity Connections Roll Call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

Here you can talk with others that will be on board your ship. You will find others that will post tours they are organizing be able to join them.

Hong Kong and Singapore have government tourist sites that are very helpful also.

Hong Kong: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/us/index.jsp

Singapore: http://www.yoursingapore.com/en.html

Our cabin was 9024, a 2B with balcony. Cabins are of a decent size with enough storage for a 2 week cruise.

 

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

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Kai Tak cruise terminal, very large and new. Built on the old airport runway of Kai Tak airport which has been moved to outside the city on Lantau island.

Web Site: http://www.kaitakcruiseterminal.com.hk/

They offered free bus/shuttles to diamond mall which has a MTR station so that was nice. Go early as the shuttles leave when full in the morning starting at about 7:30am.

 

Capt. Ron

 

Thanks for the information. I was hoping they were still using the Ocean Terminal site.

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