Cruise Lines
The number of cruise lines sending ships to Asia has increased markedly in the past couple of years, making it easier to travel in the Far East. All prices below are per person double occupancy and do not include air fare unless noted.
Holland America, www.hollandamerica.com, (877) 724-5425, has three 14-day cruises aboard the 1,258-passenger Statendam. On March 20 and April 17, 2006, the ship departs from Hong Kong and travels north with overnight stays in Shanghai and Xingang, from which passengers can reach Beijing and the Great Wall. The boat also visits Dalian, China; Pusan, South Korea; and Nagasaki, Japan, where onshore trips tour Shimabara castle and a samurai village, before reaching Osaka. It does the reverse route on April 3. Prices start at $2,199.
Princess Cruises’ 670-passenger Pacific Princess, www.princess.com, (800) 774-6237, leaves Bangkok on Aug. 17, 2006, for Mumbai, India. The 16-day trip stops at Sihanoukville, Cambodia; Phu My, Vietnam - where passengers can reach Ho Chi Minh City; Singapore; Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and the port of Mormugao on the west coast of India. It does the reverse route on Sept. 1, 2006. Prices start at $2,995.
The 14-night segment of a world cruise on Radisson Seven Seas Cruises’ 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager, www.rssc.com, (877) 505-5370, departs Feb. 24, 2006, out of Hong Kong and includes overnight stays in the Vietnamese ports of Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Gai, where travelers can visit Halong Bay or Hanoi. The ship also stops in Bangkok before arriving in Singapore. Until Oct. 15, fares start at $9,296, including air fare, but if you book flights separately you can get a $1,400 credit against the cost of the cruise.
The small-ship operator Cruise West, www.cruisewest.com, (888) 851-8133, is offering its inaugural tour of Japan aboard the 120-passenger Spirit of Oceanus. It is sold out for 2006, but space on all of its seven 2007 voyages remains. The trip lasts 14 days and includes two nights at hotels at the start and end of the 10-night cruise. It leaves from Kobe or Niigata and stops in eight Japanese ports including Okayama, home to the 17th-century Korakuen Garden, and Izumo, site of the country’s oldest Shinto shrine, as well as Pusan, South Korea. The 2007 cruises start at $5,699, and depart Niigata on March 28, April 17 and Oct. 18, and leave from Kobe on April 7 and 27, Oct. 8 and 28.
