Have you done the Grand Asia Voyage???

[Lyndihop]

Let me say first. We are not "rich". But have saved enough to do a special trip once.

 

I have some ???

 

About how much should one allow for excursions?

How difficult is it to obtain the lowest priced cabin??

What should I allow for drinks?

Amount for tips?

I see that they deduct for air if you do your own. Is this P/P. Or a total.

 

What else am I forgetting???

 

And lastly, this looks like drearm cruise for us. And input would be greatly appreciated.

[mrlevin]

I have only sailed on two segments so I don't have all your answers. I can answer a couple of the easy ones....

 

...for tips, allocate $0

 

and

 

....for drinks, allocate $0.

 

If you are booking the entire trip, you should be able to get the cheapest Cat H. This assumes you are booking far in advance. Even for my single segments, I have been able to clear for a Cat H guarantee. Your TA, if you book early, should be able to easily get you that Cat H or Cat H guarantee. If not, the waitlist for the guarantee would probably clear meaning you will pay for Cat H but end up somewhere else. We have sailed Mariner for four cruises totalling 53 nights and have always paid for Cat H but have never sailed in a Cat H.

 

As for excursions, just look at the remaining segments for this year's trip and you will get an idea for excursions. Just because the dollar is so much stronger in Asia; excursions here are a lot cheaper than Europe.

 

Marc

[wishIweretravelling]

I've only done one segment of this cruise, but can answer a few of your questions.

 

As Marc says, tips and drinks (unless you go for the super-premium labels) are included. On drinks and and wine, their standard labels are quite good, so for most people the included drinks are fine.

 

The air deduction is per person. All quotes are per person, double occupancy, so deductions will be too.

 

Marc is right that your best chance of getting one of the cheapest cabins is to book early. It's startling how early these long cruises sell out. I'm booked on a 71-night Navigator cruise next year (starting in Oct 2008), and people booking now are being wait-listed for the lower-priced balcony cabins. I'm not sure if they do the guarantees for the longer cruises--the pattern seems to be to wait list rather than guarantee. And, for a long cruise, you do want to choose your cabin carefully. It's going to be your home for a long while.

 

Marc's recommendation re pricing excursions is a good one. But one other thing to consider: overland trips. I did a 2-week Tokyo to Hong Kong segment, and got off for a 2-day trip to Xian. It was fabulous, and SO worth it. But a trip like that is considerably more than the day excursions. On the other hand, sometimes trips like that are included for full circle passengers. These are things you'll want to explore with your TA.

 

One other thing on the Mariner you might need to be aware of: the bathrooms. Unlike the Voyager and Navigator, many of the cabins on Mariner have only a bathtub/shower combo, rather than separate tubs and showers. If you have a physical limitation, the tubs can be very hard to get into and out of--the juxtaposition of the sink and tub makes the "sit on the ledge and swing your legs" method hard to do. (This wasn't a problem for me, but I had to be aware of it because I cruised sometimes with my mother when she was alive, and this was a serious issue for her.) So, if this is an issue for you, you'll want to be sure to get a cabin with a shower.

[Lyndihop]

Thank you all for the input.....it's very appreciated!!!

[DuffyMcfluffy]

We did the full GAP in 2005 and are booked for the entire trip again in 2008.

The day the bookings opened up, all the H categories were sold out. Maybe Regent only allocates a certain number of this category for the whole trip and reserves some for the other segments.

When we did the trip in 2005 there were only 32 people doing the entire trip so there were many special events planned for us. This year there are 80 people so this might limit the special functions.

We also found that many of our best shore excursions were done by hiring a private driver at the pier. They were much cheaper and more personalized than going on one of the ship's tours. Of course there are a few risks you take when booking your own tours. i.e If you are late returning to the ship, it will not wait for you!

This is a great cruise and you will not regret taking it.

[bigdipper]

Make that 82 folks on full voyage in 2008. We just signed up. There were no H cabins available, but a number of F and G. If there is a roll call for this trip, I would appreciate knowing of it.

[DuffyMcfluffy]

There are 80 people doing the whole cruise this year. I don't know how many will be on the 2008 cruise.

[Lyndihop]

Did you do a review?

And did you take trip insurance? Any idea of cost??

[dfb]

I know that the couple who kept this blog on last year's GAP cruise is on a cruise now or they would have replied. So, I will post this link to their journal for now for you.

http://journals.aol.com/grothj/grand-asia-pacific-2006/

The last entry appears first, to read from the beginning, click View Archives on the upper left, then First Entry in this Journal on the lower left, after that you can page forward and back with the small blue titles at the top and bottom of each entry.

Enjoy, Debbie

[Lyndihop]

Wow--they did a terrific review!!!!!!!!