Asia Itinerary

[NMTraveller]

I am looking at booking my first Asia cruise.  However I have no idea on which itinerary is best?  What are the best ports to visit in Asia?  We are looking at a 14 day cruise.  Any ideas and favorites would be appreciated.

[TeaBag]

25 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am looking at booking my first Asia cruise.  However I have no idea on which itinerary is best?  What are the best ports to visit in Asia?  We are looking at a 14 day cruise.  Any ideas and favorites would be appreciated.

Singapore tops the list for me.  Hong Kong was always a favorite but I'm not so sure now with the troubles.  Tokyo,(love the Japanese people, they are so gracious) and Penang.  We have not been to Vietnam so can't comment on that area.  We are booked on Singapore to Dubai on Grand Princess and will stay in Singapore about 4 days before the cruise. 

[waltd]

We went to Japan last year and had a wonderful time.   As mentioned above the Japanese people are gracious.   We would love to  explore more of the area again.   

[LongToSeeTheSea]

Yes, Singapore!  Osaka, Japan was a great port too.  

[Hlitner]

Not sure there is a "best" itinerary since we all have our own priorities.  Asia is a very diverse part of the world when you consider the differences between places like Russia (the part in Asia), China, Japan, Indonesia, etc. Some of the emerging tourist countries like Vietnam are fascinating and Thailand is always an interesting choice.  Also consider that Asian countries really vary in terms of their cost with Japan being an expensive country to visit while there are other inexpensive countries (i.e. Vietnam, Cambodia, etc).

 

Hank

[azbirdmom]

We took a cruise from Singapore earlier this year and loved it.  We visited Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.  Very interesting places!

[terry&mike]

A couple of times a year Princess has an itinerary that sails from Singapore, 3 ports Vietnam, Taiwan, 2 days in Hong Kong, 3 ports in Japan which include the disembarkation port of Tokyo (Yokohama). This route is sailing Jan. 6, 2020, on the Diamond, if you want to take a look at it for future ideas. I have a group of 29 sailing on it, and we have waited for over a year for it to finally be here!

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, terry&mike said:

A couple of times a year Princess has an itinerary that sails from Singapore, 3 ports Vietnam, Taiwan, 2 days in Hong Kong, 3 ports in Japan which include the disembarkation port of Tokyo (Yokohama). This route is sailing Jan. 6, 2020, on the Diamond, if you want to take a look at it for future ideas. I have a group of 29 sailing on it, and we have waited for over a year for it to finally be here!

That is the wrong week for us.  We would need a week of Dec. 20 2021 type of date.  Thanks.

[terry&mike]

10 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

That is the wrong week for us.  We would need a week of Dec. 20 2021 type of date.  Thanks.

Yes, I didn't think that actual sailing date would work for you, as we fly out in just 4 weeks from now - I thought you might want to look at the itinerary route to give you some ideas for future cruise itineraries to look out for. Once you know the itinerary you like and want, you can watch for similar sailings to be released and be ready to book. 

Happy travels!

[NMTraveller]

I am getting the idea that most itineraries to Asia are very good?  And that it could take 3 or 4 cruises to see the highlights and different countries?  I think that we are limited by the dates we have available and the number of cruise ships in Asia.  That may make the decision for our first Asia cruise.

[richstowe]

Be aware that there are ports in Asia where you dock a good distance from the place that you are supposed to be in . Both  Ho Chi Minh City( Saigon) and Bangkok are a good distance from the actual ports (unless you are on a small ship) . This is not so unusual as European cruises often advertise cities (Rome , London Berlin)  which are far far away from the port  . Not unusual but be aware of this . Some cruises , especially high end ones, are overnighting in specific must-see ports. A very good idea . 

[tokyo1949]

On 11/29/2019 at 2:26 AM, azbirdmom said:

We took a cruise from Singapore earlier this year and loved it.  We visited Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.  Very interesting places!

Did Princess offer any shuttles in the Asian ports. a lot of the ports are so far away from the city 

[X1HYCB]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 10:14 AM, NMTraveller said:

I am looking at booking my first Asia cruise.  However I have no idea on which itinerary is best?  What are the best ports to visit in Asia?  We are looking at a 14 day cruise.  Any ideas and favorites would be appreciated.

I'm persuading my daughters to join the 14-day/6 ports Borneo & Japan, Dec 30, 2020 - Jan 13, 2021 on Diamond Princess.  Interior cabins are already sold out!

[leck57]

3 hours ago, tokyo1949 said:

Did Princess offer any shuttles in the Asian ports. a lot of the ports are so far away from the city 

 

No, not that I recall. There are some "tours" they have where you can be taken by coach in to the main city area and then explore by yourselves. You then return to the same place and get transported back, however there is a cost. For some places this works if many attractions are within easy distance of the bus drop off point but for many ports it is not great. For example in Ho Chi Minh there is a bit to see around the main CBD area however you'd still miss the Re-unification Museum etc which is a distance away. Ports like Penang for example you can just walk from the port, unless you want to see something out of the main area.

You really have to research and see what you want to see. If the cruise line do not offer shuttles, in Asia there are always taxi and van drivers at every port. 

[tokyo1949]

Thank you for your response

 

[azbirdmom]

On 1/14/2020 at 10:26 AM, tokyo1949 said:

Did Princess offer any shuttles in the Asian ports. a lot of the ports are so far away from the city 

 

They did but not all the way in to Ho Chi Minh City or Bangkok.  The shuttles seemed to go to places that are closer in, for example to Pattaya instead of Bangkok.

[tokyo1949]

Thanks that would be great. How long ago did you visit