Azamara Quest, Southeast Asia Cruise: 18 days Singapore to Hong Kong, 22 Dec. 2009-9 January 2010

Itinerary: Singapore (1 night), Bangkok (2 nights), Ho Chi Minh City (1 night), Da Nang (1 night), Halong Bay (1 night), Guangzhou (no overnight) and Hong Kong (1 night).

Pre-Cruise Travel: Since we had never been to Southeast Asia before, we decided to include some touring of our own prior to the cruise, in particular to Cambodia as that country was not included in the cruise itinerary. Because of the long flights involved, we elected to fly first to Singapore where we arrived at midnight on December 13th giving ourselves an extra day before our Cambodia flight to cover possible flight problems and to give ourselves some rest after the very long trip. We stayed two nights at the Intercontinental Hotel located right in the Changi Airport, which was very convenient; we got a good price through the website with their advance purchase rate. We had a very comfortable modern room with spacious glass-walled bathroom. Rather than eat in the hotel, we found food at convenience stores and assorted restaurants scattered throughout the airport. On our free day we also took advantage of the free shuttle offered by the Singapore Tourist Bureau for in-transit passengers. The shuttle took us to the Singapore Flyer location at the marina where you were offered one of two different one-hour bus tours of the city. Read more