Seabourn Sojourn Review
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This was our fourth cruise on Seabourn and we're planning our fifth for Alaska, so I think you can tell we are sold on the company. More on that later.
This cruise starts in Hong Kong, touches china at Xiamen, goes down through the Phillipines, Malaysia in Borneo, Turns at Singapore, Up to Thailand, Cambodia, then up through Vietnam including Halong Bay and then back to Hong Kong. As many people do, we got off in Sihanoukville to fly to Angkor Wat for two nights before rejoining the ship in Ho Chi Mihn City.
Because my wife has substantial difficulty with stairs, we arranged private excursions for many of the ports and had our own guide and driver for Angkor Wat. So this time around, I have experience with only a few of the shore excursions.
Cabin Review
Veranda Suite
Standard Seabourn Suites are essentially all the same layout, which we love. Verandas on decks 5 and above. There are larger suites, but we like the standard.
Port Reviews
Siem Reap
From a cruise, this is a 2 night departure from the ship, at a substantial extra cost. Angkor Wat is an amazing, huge temple. Siem Reap is a very touristy town, but very pleasantly touristy with some very good restaurants. If you are fans of ecclectic dance, find an Aspara dance performance.
Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville has a nice temple. The reptile house is actually a pretty depressing zoo, I wouldn't recommend it. We used it as the place to fly to Siem Reap
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
The War Museum, although clearly having a point of view, is definitely worth a visit. I found the old presidential palace not so interesting. The market has some outstanding street food.
Singapore
We took a cab to the Botanical Garden - Orchid Garden. It was stunning. The variety of orchids and the composition with which they have been put together is fantastic. Very much recommended.
We then took an Uber to a Hawker Center for lunch. The hawker centers is what Singapore has done to try to improve the safety of it's street food. Think of it as street food turned into an outdoor food court. Excellent duck. Plenty of choices.
The river tourist cruise is 45 minutes, which is just about right. This is not a must-see, but if you're in the mood.
Finished with the Night Safari, which is a zoo that opens at dark. Not really nocturnal animals, but everything is cleverly lighted, and everyone is cleverly fed to get them where you can see them. This is a Disney style zoo, with a tram that takes you around and paths that you can also walk on. It's fine, but it is crowded and packaged.
Halong Bay
First, Halong Bay is just as beautiful as the photos show, but not as sunny.
Second, what the photos don't show is the armada of tourist boats that occupy the bay. There is one location where you can kayak into a bay surrounded by islands with the only opening being a large tunnel. Only kayaks and rowed tourist boats can enter. It's good, but the kayaking is bumped around by the speed boats delivering tourists to the rowed boats. Very close to this location is a large cave, with lots of steps, but an otherwise easy walk as there is a concrete path through the whole thing. Just don't expect to be out exploring the islands in peace. No reason that private boats couldn't go elsewhere, and maybe they do, but the main tourist excursions seem to all go to pretty much the same place.