Recommendations, which Asian Cruise?

[sheila59]

Never been to Asia before so thought cruising would be a good way of seeing parts of Asia. 
I was thinking of boarding the ship in Singapore maybe , what cruise would you recommend, or would you recommend boarding elsewhere for a better cruise? 

[Essiesmom]

What ports do you want to visit?  What’s on your bucket list?  I suggest you go to www.cruisetimetables.com and choose Singapore, and several other Asian ports as your departure port.  Then choose when you want to cruise.  It will show you who is cruising and their itineraries.  If you find several that intrigue you, go to the boards here for those cruise lines and ask for opinions of the cruise/ itinerary.  Visit the ports of call boards here to see what people have done there.  Maybe look in the member review section here for reviews of those or similar cruises.  Lots of research ahead of you!

[donaldsc]

Asia is sort of a big place.  You need to supply a lot more information about what you want before you can get a useful answer from us.

 

DON

[sheila59]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

What ports do you want to visit?  What’s on your bucket list?  I suggest you go to www.cruisetimetables.com and choose Singapore, and several other Asian ports as your departure port.  Then choose when you want to cruise.  It will show you who is cruising and their itineraries.  If you find several that intrigue you, go to the boards here for those cruise lines and ask for opinions of the cruise/ itinerary.  Visit the ports of call boards here to see what people have done there.  Maybe look in the member review section here for reviews of those or similar cruises.  Lots of research ahead of you!

Thank you. 

[sheila59]

25 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

Asia is sort of a big place.  You need to supply a lot more information about what you want before you can get a useful answer from us.

 

DON

Thanks. 

[Ashland]

We've done the Asia cruise with RCI out of Singapore...It was an amazing itinerary that at that time ended in Shanghai...the pre and post cruise stays were just great. I would book again if they offered the same itinerary.

[ldubs]

We did a SE Asia cruise from Beijing to Singapore.   I thought it was a pretty good itinerary.  We tacked on some days at both ends.  BTW,  the cruise port for Beijing is pretty far outside of Beijing.   

[Essiesmom]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

We did a SE Asia cruise from Beijing to Singapore.   I thought it was a pretty good itinerary.  We tacked on some days at both ends.  BTW,  the cruise port for Beijing is pretty far outside of Beijing.   

As Is the port for Bangkok...

 

[Philob]

Please check the Ports of Call - Asia board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/43-asia/

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

As Is the port for Bangkok...

 

 

Oh boy it sure is.  Bangkok was one of the "port" stops on the Beijing to Singapore cruise I mentioned.   

[sheila59]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:32 AM, Philob said:

Please check the Ports of Call - Asia board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/43-asia/

Thank you 

[sheila59]

On 3/22/2021 at 9:54 PM, ldubs said:

We did a SE Asia cruise from Beijing to Singapore.   I thought it was a pretty good itinerary.  We tacked on some days at both ends.  BTW,  the cruise port for Beijing is pretty far outside of Beijing.   

Thank you 

[sheila59]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:10 AM, Essiesmom said:

As Is the port for Bangkok...

 

Thank you 

[sheila59]

On 3/22/2021 at 5:01 AM, Ashland said:

We've done the Asia cruise with RCI out of Singapore...It was an amazing itinerary that at that time ended in Shanghai...the pre and post cruise stays were just great. I would book again if they offered the same itinerary.

Thanks 

[Ashland]

On 3/22/2021 at 5:10 PM, Essiesmom said:

As Is the port for Bangkok...

 

Was this an overnight port and how/what did you do? I keep seeing this on itineraries and wondering how it's handled.

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, Ashland said:

Was this an overnight port and how/what did you do? I keep seeing this on itineraries and wondering how it's handled.

 

For our SE Asia cruse it was a one day port stop.  Long bus ride to Bangkok and return late in the day.  Most of our time was spent at the grounds where the Reclining Buddha is located and a part of the royal palace.   Very enjoyable,  but there is so much more to see.  A couple of days would be so much better.   

[BruceMuzz]

Bangkok, Shanghai, and several other Asian ports are long distances from their respective cities, requiring long, uncomfortable, slow bus trips with 60 of your new best friends - BUT ONLY if you choose to to cruise on one of the big mass-market floating shopping malls.

If you are willing or able to spend a bit more money to cruise on a smaller, more elegant ship, that ship will take you right into many of the major cities that are inaccessible to the floating Walmarts.

[Zach1213]

16 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

Bangkok, Shanghai, and several other Asian ports are long distances from their respective cities, requiring long, uncomfortable, slow bus trips with 60 of your new best friends - BUT ONLY if you choose to to cruise on one of the big mass-market floating shopping malls.

If you are willing or able to spend a bit more money to cruise on a smaller, more elegant ship, that ship will take you right into many of the major cities that are inaccessible to the floating Walmarts.

 

Don't get me wrong, the small ships are absolutely better for me personally, but give me an example where a small, elegant ship is "a bit more" and not "a lot more" than the mass market lines...

[iancal]

We always wanted to do an Asian cruise.  

 

We still do.  But after spending five winters in Thailand with lots of travel in Vietnam and Malaysia we came to the conclusion that we still want to do an Asian cruise.  But not one that goes to Thailand and Vietnam.    We will probably look for a Japan/Korea cruise.

 

Our experience is that most of the ports for those two countries are either too great a distance from the attractions or indeed in places that we would not consider going back to on our land trips.  

 

Our advice is to determine what you want to see and how best to see it.   Have a very good look at where the ports are located vis a vis what you wish to see or do.

[crazyank]

13 hours ago, iancal said:

We always wanted to do an Asian cruise.  

 

We still do.  But after spending five winters in Thailand with lots of travel in Vietnam and Malaysia we came to the conclusion that we still want to do an Asian cruise.  But not one that goes to Thailand and Vietnam.    We will probably look for a Japan/Korea cruise.

 

Our experience is that most of the ports for those two countries are either too great a distance from the attractions or indeed in places that we would not consider going back to on our land trips.  

 

Our advice is to determine what you want to see and how best to see it.   Have a very good look at where the ports are located vis a vis what you wish to see or do.

 

This is very good advice.   We would add, depending on where the majority of passengers are from be prepared for some culture shock.

[MBP&O2/O]

I too have this issue .... not where to go but how to go everywhere I want to in Japan.

 

I would love to see Himeji ... but it is in the miles away from anywhere zone 🙄

It is do-able from Kobe / Osaka but. I also want to visit Kyoto. Again, do-able from Kobe / Osaka but in the opposite direction.

I think my best option will be either a pre or post cruise stay which will allow me to see the sights at leisure, but this add even more to what I suspect will prove to be an expensive cruise.

[Zach1213]

On 3/28/2021 at 9:47 AM, MBP&O2/O said:

I too have this issue .... not where to go but how to go everywhere I want to in Japan.

 

I would love to see Himeji ... but it is in the miles away from anywhere zone 🙄

It is do-able from Kobe / Osaka but. I also want to visit Kyoto. Again, do-able from Kobe / Osaka but in the opposite direction.

I think my best option will be either a pre or post cruise stay which will allow me to see the sights at leisure, but this add even more to what I suspect will prove to be an expensive cruise.

 

I hate to say this on a cruise-centric page, but perhaps cruising isn't the best way for you to see Japan. Sounds like a case where a purely ground/land-based Japan trip may be best for you.