Just returned from three weeks in Asia, pre cruise China, then Hong Kong to Singapore.
Wonderful experience, so much to see and excite the senses.
Pre cruise was full on, very little free time although reading the itinerary you might have thought so.
Celebrity used Abercrombie and Kent as tour operators, everything great, second hotel in Xian not the best, rooms were ok, hotel was clean, but advised not to go out, because of neighbourhood and food always cold and very poor.
Embarkation in Hong Kong ok but port location not good as someone as previously said: arrived late afternoon very tired, trek into Hong kong and no luggage until 9pm , so bit of a lost day.
Very few sea days, so make the most of them to rest.
We arranged all our own trips except to Hoi An, when we used Celebrity, excellent.
For anyone planning this trip, we enrolled with cruise critic message boards to link in with others to reduce the cost of tours, as a consequence, we benefited from having shorter and more comfortable trips without any trouble.
All the tours were superb, would highly recommend ; Paradise Cruises, Halong Bay- Oriental Escapes, Thailand and Smile Vietnam.
We stayed overnight in Bangkok at Le Meridian opposit Pat Pong market (fabulous) and Mandarin Oriental , Singapore, club room.
This was pricey but for 1 night we checked in at 9am, private check in with champagne, offered free breakfast, bedroom to die for with a view over Marina, free access to lounge, includes food and coffee, Internet and happy hour 5.30-7.30( Singapore drinks cost €14).
We had our room until 6pm the following day and use of lounge until we left at 8pm for airport.
Have to mention the ship, yes it’s old and maintenance work seemed to be ongoing.
We were in Aqua 1101, liked the position, but next to slamming outside door, balcony tired and gets soot from funnel.
Loved Blu for breakfast, enjoyed most of food in Blu, sometimes perhaps chose the wrong meal, but steak, chicken, salmon always available.
The staff everywhere were helpful and pleasant, Virginia in Martini bar remembered us from last holiday, how?.
The dress code was mainly casual, the baggage limit and length of trips I felt had a lot to do with this, plus Americans and Australians are less formal than we Brits, Celebrity is geared for the American tourist, it’s only recently that they’ve changed things for trips leaving from Southampton.
On a final note, I’m a Celebrity Elite member and have always supported the brand as being good value for money, but looking at price comparisons they do seem to be on the high end these days, however if anyone is undecided wether to take this cruise I would say, definitely do it, plus do pre cruise in China, Celebrity seem to have had their problems in the beginning with Asia, but everything was “smooth sailing” for us.
