Call me back
Click for a Quote
Newsletter
Far East Cruises
| Month | Cruise season indicator | Month | Cruise seacon indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January |  |
July | |
|
| February | |
August | |
|
| March | |
September | |
|
| April | |
October | |
|
| May | |
November | |
|
| June | |
December | |
All you Need to Know
by Travel Journalist Tony Peisley
I was waiting outside a massage parlour in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City (my wife was inside booking spa treatments for a third of the normal UK cost) when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Assuming someone was trying to sell me something, I ignored it for a while before turning around. It was the cafe waiter who'd followed me down two streets and across two busy roads to tell me I'd left a $100 bill in mistake for a $5 tip.
It's hard to imagine that happening anywhere other than in the Asia - a place where hospitality and good service is almost a religion.
It adds that extra special ingredient to an Asian cruise and will be the one constant on a journey during which you will experience so many different cultures. More now, in fact, than ever before on cruises in this part of the world.
Ports in Vietnam and neighbouring Cambodia are now featuring for the first time as cruise lines spice up the traditional south-east Asian itineraries which usually go to the vibrant city-state of Singapore; bustling Bangkok and exotic Phuket island with its James Bond movie star Phi Phi Islands in Thailand; and the richly diverse Malaysian cities of Malacca and Penang and laid-back resorts of Langkawi and Kuantan.
Further afield, there are longer cruises taking in the colourful Jitney-clogged streets of Manila in the Philippines; the shops, markets and floating restaurants of Hong Kong; the sheer beauty that is Bali in Indonesia; the fast-developing mainland Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing; as well as occasional calls in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
My favourite Asian cruise call, though, is Brunei, next door to the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the atmospheric island of Borneo.
Ruled by the super-rich Sultan, this is just such a paradox in the way it has come to terms with its relatively recent wealth in its own way, with many of its Armani-wearing, satellite TV-watching residents choosing to remain in their traditional and very basic houses on stilts in the steamy Brunei River bisecting the ultra-modern capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Somehow its mixture of ancient and modern seems to sum up the enduring appeal of an Asian cruise.
DOS and DON'TS of Far East Cruising
DO look out for cruises where the ship can take you right in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) as the larger ships have to stop in Vung Tau or Phu My, which are 45 to 90-minute drives from the city.
DON'T try to spend US dollars in Brunei - it's one of the few countries in the world where US money is rarely accepted. Either the local currency or Singapore dollars are best for paying your bills.
DO go shopping but DONT look for bargain basement prices for electronic goods which have largely disappeared from Hong Kong and Singapore. Look out instead for local craft work, especially in Vietnam and Malaysia.
