Doing a Cruise in Asia? Know these 10 PRO Tips Before you Set Sail! | Celebrity Solstice

[@JulieAdventureVlogs-sg7ih]

Great tips thank you. I'll download the grab app asap👍

[@judis4900]

Hi Brandon, all good tips. So glad you had a good time. We took a similar itinerary but it was way before the ease of apps that can translate. We went to a restaurant in Ho Chi Min City but no one spoke English so we used the pictures on the menu to place our order. The food was great but we Both ended up with a plate of 12 egg rolls!!

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

hahaha that's a great story Judi!!! Sounds like you made the best of it! Hope those were some good spring rolls!

[@julieevanb]

Great tips! I'm going on this cruise in January 2025.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Have a blast! That is a beautiful time of year to go

[@malcolmpritchard4882]

What great tips for your Asia cruise my wife and l our going in December for 3 weeks, you have helped so much thanks for sharing 👍

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

That is great Malcom and my pleasure! Hope you have an amazing time over there!

[@Santiago-in1xf]

Re: ATMs, in addition to declining cards, they might do a lower limit for foreign transactions. A lot of times a call to your bank will "unblock" your card...however, because of timezones, your bank might not be open. Some do offer the service of getting foreign currency before you leave.

[@Cottontowngal]

Really useful. I’m going in this cruise next week. Ordering my currency tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Well done on the currency! We should have done that

[@lloydharris1272]

Thanks for the video. My hisband and I are sailing from Sydney to Singapore on hte Queen Elizabeth which we know well and back on SC, our first time on Celebrity. Great to hear the food on SC is good. Understand what you mean about eating on long crusies. We had two lots of 50+ days cruises last year. We managed that by generally only eating twice a day.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Ha, intermittent fasting is something I really should look into for my next long trip! I don't always have the will power! BTW, that cruise sounds amazing from Sydney to Singapore on the QE.

[@mjade3939]

Thank you for sharing. ❤

[@suzannecuerrier279]

Thank you. These are excellent tips.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Thanks Suzanne!

[@joangroothuis4031]

Thanks for the info

[@727floridagirl]

Bring 2 dozen extra socks to throw away - check.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

hahah

[@slickracoon6408]

Thanks for the tips! Looking to book a comped Royal cruise for Singapore-Malyasia-Thailand. Wish it included Vietnam but the offer did not include. We plan to get to Singapore 4-5 days in advance and tour that city before the cruise since getting there will be a 24hr flight.

[@redhatbear1135]

PIN codes for credit cards can be different in length in foreign countries. We used toursbylocals in Thailand. The guide took us to a local restaurant that was fun. It did seem to have expats but still seemed authentic. They were impressed we both could use chopsticks and didn’t offer forks until the guide asked, we declined. There weren’t shoes in the toilet area? I know Japan does that. And, I remember Singapore cleaning with a garden hose, water everywhere! It was fresh water but you had to be careful not to get your clothes wet too! On our China trip we were required to bring our own chopsticks and alcohol squares to clean with. Did it stop much? I don’t think so, even though it was the first time the leader didn’t have anyone ill. I think the ritual of cleaning was just a reminder to be careful! That said hawker stands some some other places don’t always wash in hot water and soap. Singapore supposedly added hot water to the approved stand areas, but it never hurts to be aware especially when you are traveling off the beaten path. Glad you had a great trip!

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Thank you! I'll have to check on the pin code. I have never learned another one at least lol Toursbylocals is another solid options! I still have China on my list of places to go! That will be at least a week or 2 on land as there is so much to see.

[@BlueDog263]

Thank you for the tips! We are taking this cruise in Feb 2025 and I am stressing our over what to do with the overnight port stop in Bangkok. Was not sure if traveling to/from Bangkok to ship each day was the way to go. Seems like a lot of travel time when we should be enjoying the sights.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

That is something you certainly have to take into account when going to these ports. Our trick was to sleep on the buses LOL

[@msreelb33]

These are all amazing tips! Do you have any tips on purchasing airfare?

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

Book early and book the flights you want. Try to go as direct as possible and get there a few days early to adjust to the time change

[@Mastergundam168]

I sailed the exact same cruise as you did in last November. Thailand excursions are great, but Vietnam is sucked and very disappointed.

[@patienceknowles1729]

Great video. I’m doing the same cruise in January. Could you advise which excursions you went on and whether they were worth it. I’m nervous about booking independent tours so will probably stick with ships tours. The multi day adventure Grand Hanoi looks really expensive but would you think it was worth paying for this excursion?

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

We wish we would have done the over night tours. Yes, it is a lot more money but it really maximizes your time and minimizes your bus time. The tours we did were all good with Celebrity and they did make it very easy.

[@Ambientmopar]

We like celebrity cruise line, here deposits run $900, which isn't a big problem. But when booking several b2b that $900 becomes an issue

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

That is a lot of money up front!!! I would hate to do the math on my 40 current bookings on how much that would be out of pocket! I would have to come up with a new strategy!

[@Ambientmopar]

@@TheWeekendCruiser We're getting involved with MSC

[@pware9643]

Thanks ! I am taking this cruise this month, but already regret it ! Vietnam and Thailand are two places Not to cruise to. The ports are far away from the cities and attractions, AND the tours are 25% of the cruise line price if you just fly into these countries and get them there, besides hotels and food are very cheap in country .. love cruising but cruising here was a BAD idea and a costly mistake!

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

You can still have a good time though! If you're the type person that does want to see more of those big cities and really get immersed, cruises are not the best. That is one of the biggest downfalls of cruising and one reason that I really only use my vacation days to travel on land now

[@mikeang]

Thank you for sharing! I noticed one of the excursions Celebrity offers is a multi-day excursion to Angkor Wat in Cambodia (either from Bangkok port or Ho Chi Minh port). Do you know if this is worth looking into?

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

I did not see that listed on my itinerary and I don't believe I heard anybody talking about going on it. Sorry I don't have anything to offer here

[@duncant3894]

Celebrity offer this tour before departure port…cheaper to do it yourself.

[@michaelgore115]

pro tip; can you please speak a little slower in the future -you might be excited - but it is a little hard to follow you and hear all you are saying - even with the youtube subtitles on as they are not so accurate - thank you for the video though :)

[@viteckgto8169]

Do you need Visa to visit Thailand and Vietnam?

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

You do need to complete visa paperwork for Vietnam prior to going. They will collect your passport when you board and interestingly, the countries will still stamp it and show they did review.

[@viteckgto8169]

@@TheWeekendCruiser - Thank you for your quick response.

[@Ambientmopar]

🛳🛳🛳

[@Ambientmopar]

🛳🛳🛳 did ship dock/drop anchor in Bangkok Laem Chabang? We love here on Phuket, and go Patong look at ships. Sailing Feb 12 - Mar 4. 4b2bs from Singapore, there'll be an overnight in Bangkok plus three stops in Patong for several hours. Hope u enjoyed the sailings. Last year sailed Singapore to Hong Kong and return sailing, had a blast.🛳🛳🛳

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

It sure did!! Bangkok is the main port we WISHED we had more time in. Beautiful place, massive, and so much to see and do! We will definitely be going back and spending a week in Bangkok one day! That sounds like a great cruise too! I am not familiar with Patong but will have to look that up!

[@Ambientmopar]

@@TheWeekendCruiser We see Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Resort World cruise line here in patong.

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

@@Ambientmopar it's the resort world the one Disney bought?

[@urosursic3676]

Great video. I completely agree with the 10 points. Well, that you made me sound I eat really a lot. People will think I am fat. 🫢

[@TheWeekendCruiser]

haha I mentioned nothing of the food intake for you! I talked about mine as I couldn't control myself in the dinning room lol You lead me to the water and I drank it. I drank all of it lol