New to Seabourn - Just booked Spirit Asia February

[gr8lakes]

Hello:We have been reading the boards for more than a year but are just beginning to post. We are new to Seabourn and have just booked the Singapore to Singapore sailing February 14 doing Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. We also have booked Angkor Wat on our own at the end of the cruise.

We have cruised Regent, Cunard, and HAL, but Seabourn looks wonderful, as does this itinerary. Would appreciate any secrets you have to especially enjoing Seabourn.

Would appreciate any comments on ports also, particularly what to do in Bangkok and comments regarding ship excursions or private tours there.

Thanks.

[Iamboatman]

Congratulations. I am sure you will enjoy that cruise. You will experience a much higher level of service and enjoy ports that you otherwise would probably would not otherwise be able to. Your cruise is one that I have on my "to do" list.

 

The best thing about Seabourn is that there really aren't any secrets. If you search the word "secret" I think you may find a long thread discussing the subject.

 

Enjoy.

[wripro]

I have booked a similar cruise on the Spirit in February 2009, It is 22 days through Thailand, Vietnam and China, ending in Shanghai. I am very much looking forward to it. I know you will love Seabourn.

[wynkys]

One particular advantage of sailing with Seabourn is that in Bangkok you go up the river and berth right in the city whereas most other ships have to dock at Laem Chabang several hours away.

We were there several years ago on Silversea's Silver Shadow and the captain apologised that we were just too big to go upriver.

In Bangkok use the river as much as possible for your travelling around as the road traffic is horrendous. We were stopped at one set of traffic lights for over twenty minutes.

 

Wayne

[dd@sea]

A few years ago we did Hong Kong to Mumbai on Seabourn and it was one of my favorites - but then again all of our Seabourn trips has been one of my favorites.

In Bangkok, it is true about being much closer to the city center than other cruise ships. We took a ship shuttle to the Shangri La, I think. From there you can go anywhere. The Sheraton Orchid is very close by and next to that is a shopping mall, if you wanted to purchase items, but on the river side of the mall is a tour company that takes you on different boat adventures to various sights. From there we took a river tour to the boat museum and a Wat. We had been to Bangkok two other times and the boat museum we had never visited. The other day in Bangkok, we went on a ship's tour to the River Kwai. It was one of the most memorable as we visited a rustic museum on the river, followed by a visit to the cementary and then to the new museum. A very emotional time. The afternoon was a visit to an elephant camp with a thrilling ride up the hills, down the hills and through the water on an elephant. Lunch was also provided at a very nice restaurant. This was a long long day but so worth it. I don't know if Seabourn still provides this trip.

We had also wanted to go to Cambodia, as the trip is while you are in Bangkok but decided to make this a future land trip and chose the whole day adventure to the River K. Others that went for the overnight to Cambodia loved that too.

Vietnam, I definitely want to go back to as a land trip. However, Seabourn offers great tours and you do see a lot. I would suggest the cruise to Vietnam first as then if you return one day, you know what you would like to focus on.

As said before, I would go back in a heartbeat.

[gr8lakes]

Thank you for all the replies. We are very excited to experience Seabourn. We know one of the advantages to Seabourn is the fact that they dock in Bangkok itself. We are looking at maps and planning our time. Can anyone tell me exactly where the ship docks? Is it near the river tourist boat stop at all, or the skytrain station? Thanks much.

Also, has anyone been to Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur? Any tips on those places? It appears that the ship docks about 1-1/2 hours outside of Kuala Lumpur, right? Thanks.

[cruiseyguy]

If you are not taking Seabourn's Angkor Wat tour out of Bangkok I strongly suggest an overnight stay in one of Bangkok's wonderful luxury hotels such as the Oriental.