Why Cruise to Asia?

[editor@cruisecritic]

We're planning to launch a virtual cruise -- Bangkok to Shanghai on Sapphire Princess -- later this month and I'd love your feedback and input. I'm especially curious about why you would book (or have already booked) a cruise to Asia. What are the best reasons to make this long, expensive and exotic trip on a ship?

Best,

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

[melissa@cruisecritic]

These are ALL great reasons to cruise Asia -- and I just want to point out that you CAN vote for more than one! :)

 

I voted for "Asia is so huge -- and has so many diverse cultures -- it's a good way to sample them all" and "For a first-timer the range of languages and customs is intimidating; cruises offer support." I'd want to get into the thick of everything -- the food, the culture -- but the fear of the communications barrier would definitely be alleviated by having a ship to go back to at the end of a full day of sightseeing.

[SarasMommy]

We cruised from Osaka to Hong Kong in April and I loved it! And being on the ship made it easier to deal with the culture shock. I highly recommend it. The travel to and from is killer, but well worth it.

[Druke I]

We've cruised in Asia several times.

 

I suppose my love for the area goes back to my time in the US Army, 1956/57/58, stationed on Okinawa (before the reversion to Japanese control).

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

Cruised from Beijing to Bankok two years ago.:D

 

Was able to walk on the Great Wall.

 

See Hong Kong Harbor.

 

Visit 'Nam, Singapore, etc.

 

One of our memorable cruises.

[LOGHL]

These are ALL great reasons to cruise Asia -- and I just want to point out that you CAN vote for more than one! :)

 

I voted for "Asia is so huge -- and has so many diverse cultures -- it's a good way to sample them all" and "For a first-timer the range of languages and customs is intimidating; cruises offer support." I'd want to get into the thick of everything -- the food, the culture -- but the fear of the communications barrier would definitely be alleviated by having a ship to go back to at the end of a full day of sightseeing.

 

we have been to Asia MANY times, and are going again this coming January.

All the reasons are good,& there is also one that is quote important for U.S. citizens. The dollar goes further there than in Europe!!!

[Spikesgirl]

We did this cruise and added on a land cruise through Princess and loved every minute of it. I ddin't realize that I could vote ofr more than one, so I went with 'the sample' answer. It's like having an appetizer party. Lots of little tastes and then you can go back for the ones you really enjoyed. It was a fabulous cruise.

 

Charlie

[SoloCroozer]

We are booked on the Princess Diamond to Asia in 2008....the reasons are as I voted....the area is intimidating to us with language and culture....but the ship tours will allow us to see so many things we never thought we would on our own...as well we will have the western comforts on the ship with the ability to see a different culture....we are very excited about the ship and the itinerary.....

[KLLund]

We did the Osaka to Beijing leg on the Sapphire Princess and it rates as one of the best cruises ever!! The ports ( except Vladivostok ) were sensational and the cultural differences that we encounted were enriching and exciting. I want to go back and do the Beijing to Bangkok portion of this cruise ... soon

[mare s.]

We're booked next year on the Princess Bangkok to Beijing cruise so I'm looking forward to reading Carolyn's "virtual" tour. We originally had booked a land tour of Thailand right after 9/11...with all the craziness of canceled flights, etc. we ended up not going. So when I saw Princess' itinerary the first thing I thought was...what a great way to see a little bit of a lot of places and we can do a few days pre-cruise in Bangkok too! (then we added a post-cruise tour also!!!) Maybe we'll get back to Asia in the future, but who knows (the world is changing and we're not getting any younger, heh heh)

[editor@cruisecritic]

What makes you go back time and time again, Chelonia? Are there special places that you have "bookmarked"? To me, and mind you, this will be my first cruise in Asia, is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip, or at least that is how it feels at the moment. But have done Europe, Caribbean, even Hawaii, multiple times so I get the idea of going back over and over, just curious about this region's appeal for you!

Best,

Carolyn

 

we have been to Asia MANY times, and are going again this coming January.

All the reasons are good,& there is also one that is quote important for U.S. citizens. The dollar goes further there than in Europe!!!

[Donna n Francis]

We cruised from Beijing to Bangkok on the Regal Princess in October 2001. We almost cancelled because this was a month after 9/11. This was our most memorable cruise yet. We got to see so much history and culture in just 16 days. This didn't include walking the Great Wall of China, going to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tainamin (sp) Square before our cruise and exploring Bangkok after the cruise. It was a long way from home but well worth it!

[SarasMommy]

The ports ( except Vladivostok ) were sensational...

 

Why didn't you like Vladivostok? Just curious.

[paul929207]

We sailed on the Pacific Princess from Beijing to Bangkok in 2005. It was a wonderful cruise.

[deepnite10]

a virtual cruise is a great idea!!:)

 

i pick d all of them..the wife went crazy when she read this thread..

she had been to Beijing 5 yrs back and visit d her mother s and father s

village in one of the providence s..

 

we ve been talking about a possible cruise to see it all..but, we re waiting

on a grandchild to take with us..the 4 leg d kind don t count :p

[Eileen2]

We have travelled most of the world but not to Asia. Asia is not a place that ever interested me but my husband feels it is a place he must see.

It would be selfish of me to deny this and so we have booked on the Diamond Princess for April 2009, Guess what ? I am looking forward to it and perhaps because it is on a cruise I don't feel as intimidated by the destination.

Kathleen.

[editor@cruisecritic]

I've been reading all your messages and they're all insightful. But Eileen2 (aka Kathleen) basically captured what I have been feeling. My husband loves Asia, has been there -- and I of course exaggerate -- a million times. I have only been to Japan. And yet my mom and dad have traveled extensively in Asia (and, alternatively, dream of Europe).

 

On my part, I've got Europe down. But Asia's a bit...intimidating. So I'm really glad to be sailing with Princess. A bit of a comfort zone. I can't wait....

 

Carolyn

 

We have travelled most of the world but not to Asia. Asia is not a place that ever interested me but my husband feels it is a place he must see.

It would be selfish of me to deny this and so we have booked on the Diamond Princess for April 2009, Guess what ? I am looking forward to it and perhaps because it is on a cruise I don't feel as intimidated by the destination.

Kathleen.

[Animated-one]

I truly believe it was our destiny to take this cruise! It started with an animated email I received of a geisha girl playing beautiful Asian music that inspired me! That's when I started my research, no, my quest to find a cruise to the orient. After weeks of research, I finally found the itinerary I wanted and the ship; Princess had the best itinerary. I was ready to commit!! Unfortunately, I wasn't the only person who was thinking this way. Every cruise on the Saphhire Princess, which only runs from October 1st to December 2, 2007, was booked!!! I couldn't believe it, the Sapphire Princess is a big ship and holds over 2,670 passengers! So, last January I waitlisted on every cruise with this itinerary leaving in 2007.

In June, I came to the conclusion that maybe this was just a silly dream, so I emailed my T.A. and told him to please take us off all the waitlists. I guess my T.A. either didn't get my email or he chose to ignore it because he called me (1 day before my Birthday) and said we had broken the waitlist status for the October 17th sailing!!! I was stunned!

Now I had to convince my husband that this was the cruise and the itinerary of a lifetime. He immediately pointed out that this was the most EXPENSIVE cruise that we have ever taken! After much debate (we had the weekend to make our decision), my husband Joe surprised me with a Birthday card saying that he was looking forward to taking a cruise to S.E. Asia with me!

So began our Asian adventure from Bangkok to Beijing and the real planning began! This is a trip that requires extensive research. Many factors apply that can make each port the ultimate destination or just a mundane day. You need to know at which ports the ship docks and which are tendered. That has a dramatic impact on how you plan your excursions as time is very limited at each port.

As with every cruise, you have wonderful experiences and some that are unpleasant, (first, the bad).

1. Being on an OVERBOOKED cruise creates some problems, like too many passengers for the crew to accomadate! For the first time after 16 cruises, we encountered some rude crew members that should either be retrained or terminated.

2. I also read on the rollcall of the cruise immediately prior to our cruise that there was a Norovirus outbreak!!! It said that Princess was keeping this under cover. So, we were prepared for this by taking a BIG bottle of sanitizer gel with us. When we got to our stateroom, we wiped down every counter top, knob, handle, telephone, tv remote, etc.This became a very serious problem on our cruise! The stateroom next to ours and 3 others across the hall were quarentined! This meant passagers that had the virus were confined to their staterooms for least 48 hours. There was no sneaking out for shore excursions by passengers who had the virus, because as soon as they put their boarding card into the security monitor to leave, a (LOUD) alarm went off. The crew was quick to react by asking the passenger to please step aside, and they were quickly taken away!

3. Tendering into Vietnam ports with 2,670 passengers trying to embark and disembark was a nightmare!!!! Due to long delays (sometimes hours standing in line), tempers grew hot! This is one of the major disadvantages of being on a big ship when the tendering is not well orchestrated! In comparison, when we were on the Golden Princess (almost as big as the Sapphire) in 2006 cruising to the Greek Isles, one of our ports was the beautiful island of Satorini, a tender port. We experienced no delays and were very impressed with the efficiency of the crew.

4. Traveling to Asia from the U.S. is extremely tiring and the jetlag is a killer. Since we live in Florida, we averaged about 30 hours each way. Coming home (eastward) seems to be more difficult than the westward leg.

Now, the good.

This trip is definitely one you should check off. The itinerary takes you to amazing countries that we had only dreamed about. In most cases, the reality surpassed the dreams. Our favorites were Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.The modern architecture was an amazing contrast to the ancient mystical temples, palaces, and wonders we have all read about since we were children. The people in each country were warm and gracious hosts and truly made us feel welcome. The eastern cuisine was diverse and consistently enjoyable. And the SHOPPING; buy an inexpensive suitcase in Saigon to bring home all of the unique treasures you will find during your travels. Be prepared to negotiate!!! We could easily write an article on each port, but we'll save that for another day. For those of you that want a liftime adventure, Asia is calling.

[Animated-one]

I truly believe it was our destiny to take this cruise! It started with an animated email I received of a geisha girl playing beautiful Asian music that inspired me! That's when I started my research, no, my quest to find a cruise to the orient. After weeks of research, I finally found the itinerary I wanted and the ship; Princess had the best itinerary. I was ready to commit!! Unfortunately, I wasn't the only person who was thinking this way. Every cruise on the Saphhire Princess, which only runs from October 1st to December 2, 2007, was booked!!! I couldn't believe it, the Sapphire Princess is a big ship and holds over 2,670 passengers! So, last January I waitlisted on every cruise with this itinerary leaving in 2007.

In June, I came to the conclusion that maybe this was just a silly dream, so I emailed my T.A. and told him to please take us off all the waitlists. I guess my T.A. either didn't get my email or he chose to ignore it because he called me (1 day before my Birthday) and said we had broken the waitlist status for the October 17th sailing!!! I was stunned!

Now I had to convince my husband that this was the cruise and the itinerary of a lifetime. He immediately pointed out that this was the most EXPENSIVE cruise that we have ever taken! After much debate (we had the weekend to make our decision), my husband Joe surprised me with a Birthday card saying that he was looking forward to taking a cruise to S.E. Asia with me!

So began our Asian adventure from Bangkok to Beijing and the real planning began! This is a trip that requires extensive research. Many factors apply that can make each port the ultimate destination or just a mundane day. You need to know at which ports the ship docks and which are tendered. That has a dramatic impact on how you plan your excursions as time is very limited at each port.

As with every cruise, you have wonderful experiences and some that are unpleasant, (first, the bad).

1. Being on an OVERBOOKED cruise creates some problems, like too many passengers for the crew to accomadate! For the first time after 16 cruises, we encountered some rude crew members that should either be retrained or terminated.

2. I also read on the rollcall of the cruise immediately prior to our cruise that there was a Norovirus outbreak!!! It said that Princess was keeping this under cover. So, we were prepared for this by taking a BIG bottle of sanitizer gel with us. When we got to our stateroom, we wiped down every counter top, knob, handle, telephone, tv remote, etc.This became a very serious problem on our cruise! The stateroom next to ours and 3 others across the hall were quarentined! This meant passagers that had the virus were confined to their staterooms for least 48 hours. There was no sneaking out for shore excursions by passengers who had the virus, because as soon as they put their boarding card into the security monitor to leave, a (LOUD) alarm went off. The crew was quick to react by asking the passenger to please step aside, and they were quickly taken away!

3. Tendering into Vietnam ports with 2,670 passengers trying to embark and disembark was a nightmare!!!! Due to long delays (sometimes hours standing in line), tempers grew hot! This is one of the major disadvantages of being on a big ship when the tendering is not well orchestrated! In comparison, when we were on the Golden Princess (almost as big as the Sapphire) in 2006 cruising to the Greek Isles, one of our ports was the beautiful island of Satorini, a tender port. We experienced no delays and were very impressed with the efficiency of the crew.

4. Traveling to Asia from the U.S. is extremely tiring and the jetlag is a killer. Since we live in Florida, we averaged about 30 hours each way. Coming home (eastward) seems to be more difficult than the westward leg.

Now, the good.

This trip is definitely one you should check off. The itinerary takes you to amazing countries that we had only dreamed about. In most cases, the reality surpassed the dreams. Our favorites were Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.The modern architecture was an amazing contrast to the ancient mystical temples, palaces, and wonders we have all read about since we were children. The people in each country were warm and gracious hosts and truly made us feel welcome. The eastern cuisine was diverse and consistently enjoyable. And the SHOPPING; buy an inexpensive suitcase in Saigon to bring home all of the unique treasures you will find during your travels. Be prepared to negotiate!!! We could easily write an article on each port, but we'll save that for another day. For those of you that want a liftime adventure, Asia is calling.

[Animated-one]

I truly believe it was our destiny to take this cruise! It started with an animated email I received of a geisha girl playing beautiful Asian music that inspired me! That's when I started my research, no, my quest to find a cruise to the orient. After weeks of research, I finally found the itinerary I wanted and the ship; Princess had the best itinerary. I was ready to commit!! Unfortunately, I wasn't the only person who was thinking this way. Every cruise on the Saphhire Princess, which only runs from October 1st to December 2, 2007, was booked!!! I couldn't believe it, the Sapphire Princess is a big ship and holds over 2,670 passengers! So, last January I waitlisted on every cruise with this itinerary leaving in 2007.

In June, I came to the conclusion that maybe this was just a silly dream, so I emailed my T.A. and told him to please take us off all the waitlists. I guess my T.A. either didn't get my email or he chose to ignore it because he called me (1 day before my Birthday) and said we had broken the waitlist status for the October 17th sailing!!! I was stunned!

Now I had to convince my husband that this was the cruise and the itinerary of a lifetime. He immediately pointed out that this was the most EXPENSIVE cruise that we have ever taken! After much debate (we had the weekend to make our decision), my husband Joe surprised me with a Birthday card saying that he was looking forward to taking a cruise to S.E. Asia with me!

So began our Asian adventure from Bangkok to Beijing and the real planning began! This is a trip that requires extensive research. Many factors apply that can make each port the ultimate destination or just a mundane day. You need to know at which ports the ship docks and which are tendered. That has a dramatic impact on how you plan your excursions as time is very limited at each port.

As with every cruise, you have wonderful experiences and some that are unpleasant, (first, the bad).

1. Being on an OVERBOOKED cruise creates some problems, like too many passengers for the crew to accomadate! For the first time after 16 cruises, we encountered some rude crew members that should either be retrained or terminated.

2. I also read on the rollcall of the cruise immediately prior to our cruise that there was a Norovirus outbreak!!! It said that Princess was keeping this under cover. So, we were prepared for this by taking a BIG bottle of sanitizer gel with us. When we got to our stateroom, we wiped down every counter top, knob, handle, telephone, tv remote, etc.This became a very serious problem on our cruise! The stateroom next to ours and 3 others across the hall were quarentined! This meant passagers that had the virus were confined to their staterooms for least 48 hours. There was no sneaking out for shore excursions by passengers who had the virus, because as soon as they put their boarding card into the security monitor to leave, a (LOUD) alarm went off. The crew was quick to react by asking the passenger to please step aside, and they were quickly taken away!

3. Tendering into Vietnam ports with 2,670 passengers trying to embark and disembark was a nightmare!!!! Due to long delays (sometimes hours standing in line), tempers grew hot! This is one of the major disadvantages of being on a big ship when the tendering is not well orchestrated! In comparison, when we were on the Golden Princess (almost as big as the Sapphire) in 2006 cruising to the Greek Isles, one of our ports was the beautiful island of Satorini, a tender port. We experienced no delays and were very impressed with the efficiency of the crew.

4. Traveling to Asia from the U.S. is extremely tiring and the jetlag is a killer. Since we live in Florida, we averaged about 30 hours each way. Coming home (eastward) seems to be more difficult than the westward leg.

Now, the good.

This trip is definitely one you should check off. The itinerary takes you to amazing countries that we had only dreamed about. In most cases, the reality surpassed the dreams. Our favorites were Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.The modern architecture was an amazing contrast to the ancient mystical temples, palaces, and wonders we have all read about since we were children. The people in each country were warm and gracious hosts and truly made us feel welcome. The eastern cuisine was diverse and consistently enjoyable. And the SHOPPING; buy an inexpensive suitcase in Saigon to bring home all of the unique treasures you will find during your travels. Be prepared to negotiate!!! We could easily write an article on each port, but we'll save that for another day. For those of you that want a liftime adventure, Asia is calling.

[Animated-one]

Sorry about the above 3 postings. When I hint the submit button the page had I just spent 1 hour typing out went to error page! So I quickly hint the back button to retrieve my page...I guess I was too eager to make sure my work wouldn't be lost!:o Again, sorry!

[Animated-one]

Sorry about the 3 above postings. After spending at least 1 hour typing up about our S.E. Asia cruise, I hit the submit button which it immediately went into an error page! So I panic and hit the back button trying to retrieve my page, I guess I got a little to eager making sure that it got posted!:o Again, SORRY!

[romancing_the_sea]

I've traveled to Asia via land and the best parts to me were when I was on water. I'd love to approach the countries by sea - I think it would be absolutely fabulous to sail into Hong Kong Harbor. The views would be spectacular!

[TxnAquarian]

I'm glad to hear that so many people are looking into, or currently booked for, Asia cruises. I went to Asia for the first time in 2004 on Regent's Seven Seas Mariner, from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Asia had never been high on my to-do list, but we booked it because the number of days (14) and time of year (October) fit my work schedule. Going over was one of the roughest jetlag experiences I've ever had (and I've been to Europe, Africa, South Pacific), but the trip was my most rewarding out of 20+ cruises. It was such an amazing trip, that I am eagerly anticipating the next chance I have to go back. Everyday surpassed all of my expectations - from flying kites with the locals in Dalian, China; to walking the Great Wall of China; to taking the subway in Hong Kong; to walking the packed streets of Shanghai at 1am. It was beyong amazing. And, as a previous poster said, the contrast of the centuries-old with the futuristic skyscrapers in places like Shanghai was breathtaking. There is nothing that can compare to the experience of docking overnight in downtown Shanghai, with the laser show and illuminated skyscrapers and the bright junks and boats cruising the waterway.

 

Everyone needs to do an Asia adventure. There truly is nothing else like it.

 

 

 

Michael

[cassandra44]

We took a cruise on the HAL Prinsendam from Sydney to Singapore and then the second leg Singapore - H.K. visiting Brunei, Laem Chabang(sp?) the port for Bangkok, Cambodia, 2 ports in Vietnam and finally H.K.

We loved the trip, even though the SARS outbreak in H.K. occurred during our cruise ! I guess we didn't realize how serious it was at the time!

We loved the opportunity to take in so many different countries, cultures and experiences and still have the comfort of coming back to the ship at night.

I have a couple of tips :-

1. Especially if you are over 55 book an executive class ticket on the flights over and back. We used our airmiles for the flights and were so pleased that we did. The longer the flight the greater the need to have reclining seats.

2. If you have a two day layover in a port e.g. outside Bangkok then book an hotel for one night and stay in the city. We found that it would have taken almost 3 hours to go between the port and Bangkok...and it was quite expensive to take a taxi.

So we booked the Sheraton (the one right on the river), and shared taxi vans (with only 1 trip each way) with other couples. That way we stayed on the river for almost 2 days, saw all the temples, back canals etc and never saw any of the sleazy sex stuff in the city. It was perfect.

3. When you travel in most S. Asian cities the pollution is awful and so if you are riding around in one of those open vehicles you should definitely wear a mask.

4. One of our favourite destinations was the ancient city of Hoi Ann in Vietnam - simply wonderful...and we also took a bicycle trip in the countryside (wearing conical hats, which unfortunately, we had no room in our bags to bring back with us).

Yes - we loved the adventure ...and we also loved the fact that we were returning, at the end of the day, to a cozy stateroom with lovely warm shower and cool gin and tonic.