Is A South East Asia Cruise Worth It? Find Out!

Is A South East Asia Cruise Worth It? Find Out!

in 2024 murel crues ran both the fascinating Far East and Eastern experience Cruise itineries both are very similar and use Singapore as a base Port they both include a busy packed week sailing up the western coast of Malaysia to fette and a more Sentry week crossing the Gulf of Thailand towards Bangkok and onwards to South Vietnam and hoi Min City but is this a great Cruise experience well we’ll share our experiences with you in this video to help you make up your own mind so here goes a TI ing 13-hour flight from the UK couldn’t quell our excitement for this holiday of a lifetime despite having no sleep on the plane we were amazingly up for exploring Singapore on our arrival fatigue however got the better of us as we made a big mistake navigating our way to Central Singapore on the city’s MRT trains realizing our mistake our long train ride eventually deposited us at the incredibly beautiful gardens by the bay wow we saw the famous Marina base Dan’s Hotel the one with the surfboard on the top and also those super trees that everyone Raves about but no light show tonight as Chinese New Year celebrations in the city took residence we walked through the beautiful gardens taken in our immaculately engineered Botanical surroundings to think this area was Wasteland 20 years ago and today it’s a lure for millions of tourists we then realized we hadn’t had a drink since we got off the plane how are you feeling guys it’s been been a long day a long nearly 13 hour flight def had a lovely walk around the gardens by the bait amazing we’ll have to come back here over the few days we’ve got here but now we need a beer definitely so we hiked around the harbor area and managed to find a bar beer nice bar Che the Great Singapore beer was going down far too easy getting pish NY should we go back to the ship then are you mad you’re right next to Chinatown okay let’s go and find a cafe ah Posh noos more Posh Nosh ah this looks more like it so nedie how good’s the food in some s absolutely amazing delicious fatigue beers and food only one thing missing and that’s souvenirs fridge magnet time yay success and a hat too with our batteries now completely flat we headed back to the ship sleep needed but not before a final cocktail in the warm Moonlight night night day two and our plan was to explore Singapore’s natural spaces and MC Richie natural park was our first bort of call this vast area of original Singapore jungle contains lakes and several Boardwalk style trails and paths for those who want to seek nature in this hot humid sweaty environment and just a short walk away from the bright Hill MRT Station we found oursel walking into the rainforest on its marked walking trails wow this was some experience we wanted to find the treetop walk gosh it was hot and humid we were certainly demolishing our water bottles to stay hydrated however luckily we found a ranger station which provided a loose stop and a chance to refill at least there’s a water fountain here although it’s not the most uning name for a water fountain is it really vom we really needed the water however the local mechanics are acutely aware that you may have some snacks in your bag and we found out that they would happily try and steal your bag or even fight you for it but those baby mon monkeys they were so cute cute they’ll definitely grow up to be bags stealing snack grabbing terrorizers so we kept walking and climbed to the wobbly Treet top walk definitely worth it though what of view breathtaking how long is this walk shall we ask this chat Lee was the 70-year-old local who walks this route daily fit as a fiddle friendly knowledgeable and a brilliant guide who led us out of the forest before we melted now that was a long walk how was that that was some walk went at 5 and 1/2 miles in the heat oh look at me sweaty really loveely fantastic walk really nice up to the Treet toop walk fantastic rainforest yeah animals Wildlife yeah met a nice really really nice chat yeah Lee was fantastic met him halfway around acted as a local guide pointing stuff out really great okay we’re really sweating now it’s lunch time let’s go and find somewhere with some air conditioning and hopefully a bite to eat yeah bye so we then headed to the botanical gardens thirsty work calls for high tech orange juice I could watch this machine all day so after this we explored Singapore’s botanical gardens which are full of amazing plants and lizards and terrains and otters and deadly trees that give off S like gas if you damage them these Gardens are vast and are a UNESCO world heritage site there’s a whole day worth of exploring here it’s free too and there’s a waterfall you can walk behind good to call off we paid extra to access the National Orchid Garden but it was well worth it these orchids were simply stunning time was passing and we had to be back at the ship for the pre-sale mustard drill so we regreted the headed back to the ship having treed over 9 miles we stayed on board took in a show and drank cocktails till the eyelids closing day three was a day at Sea as our Port stop at Baca had to be aborted by Mela so grabbing the opportunity to recover a bit from our jet lag we slobbed and lazed about and we even managed to get sunburn l in the shade cookery demonstration and a trip to the Coffee Port broke up the day before we togged up for the First dress to impress night of the cruise having done the obligatory Cruise selfies we ate in The Glass House Restaurant then in the atrium we watched a ballroom dancing demonstration had a few more drinks and busted some cringeworthy moves at the silent disco my favorite stocking in panang on day four we headed for our coach as we were on the two Excursion to orangutang Island the coach trip was a long one and our guide worked hard to keep us entertained with interesting facts about Pang and Malaysia we grabbed a loose stop and a photo opportunity to snap one of the two incredibly long bridges in the area arriving at our holiday park was a bit of a surprise but this was where we could catch the ferry to a rangang island arriving on the island we entered the caved walkway through the reserve and soon encountered some of the Island’s inhabitants these were Simply Beautiful Creatures and and they weren’t phased one bit by having visitors stroll through the cage snapping away with their phones this was over too soon however and after only 45 minutes on the island and with souvenirs brought we found ourselves back at the jetty for the ferry back to the mainland really didn’t want to leave this place but we had to get back on the coach to experience a Malaysian traffic jam and although we were late back to the ship it had waited for us as we were on a two Excursion then in the evening we enjoyed some live music and some Smoky cocktails M day five saw us up early and tender ashore as we were taking the speedboat to the PE Islands Patong Bay itself looked beautiful as we walked through the town to our bus pickup point we were boarding the speedboat on the other side of fuk Island and 45 minutes later we were aboard our booat and heading down the river out into the anderman sea racing across the sea with the wind in our faces was breathtaking but fate was going to deal us a surprise as partway across the sea our speed booat broke down able to nudge us towards a nearby desert island we awaited rescue how you feeling about this NY unfortunately we’ve had a little bit of a problem with the engine on our boat so we’ve just been stranded on a desert island W look at this look at this and we’re waiting for another speedboat to come and pick us up and we can carry on to the P Island yay rescue soon came in the form of another speed booat which arrived a little over an hour later and we resumed our journey to the magical PE Islands these islands deserve their reputation as they are simply stunning and it is easy to see why they have been used in movie TS we navigated our way around the islands and saw the beach that was used in the movie called the beach and we also went round to the lagoon area which was an absolutely jaw-droppingly breathtaking site this trip also allowed snorkeling on the coral reefs surrounding the islands this was such fun and we didn’t want to leave at all the Excursion also included a tasty meal at the pp Island’s natural Resort this setting was unbelievably beautiful too how’s the water NTI so warm it’s like a bar there was Beach time for swimming and yet more snorkling too Paradise fa despite being delayed by the earlier boat breakdown the Excursion continued in full and by the time we had returned to the ship we were over 2 hours late pass the time of the last tender back board however we were so pleased we had booked a Tui Excursion and the ship had of course waited patiently for us safely back aboard we chilled and reflected on what had been a truly memorable day for all the right reasons ring in Lan carry you soon realize this is especially beautiful place but you also soon realize it’s a very long walk from the cruise ship to pretty much anywhere even if you are boarding a bus or a boat uh Excursion took us across the island to the Kilim Geo Forest National Park where we barded yet another speedboat this Thrill Ride whiz through L wangr passing through Limestone caves and watching Majestic Eagles swoop down to retrieve their prey from the waters this was a truly spectacular site we explored a wide area and headed out to sea for a selfie in front of the Kimia Forest sign our last stop on this excursion was the busy but somewhat mesmerizing Batcave where three species of bats hang above your heads on the roof of the cave and if bats aren’t your thing the local population of maak monkeys are almost certain to entertain you we loved watching them play but saw tourists learn the hard way why you keep food and drink well out of sight heading back to the ship our evening fun took in a show six strings it was called there was a really fun game show also in the squid and anchor and we finished up the night on deck for a silent Disco This was another brilliant day on this Cruise surely we can’t keep this up Port clang is the cruise port used to access koala Lumpa and want to show our Excursion bus wiers towards the city when we say Wist we mean drove very slowly and queed in traffic jams arriving at the batau caves a couple of hours later soon lifted our Spirits as we first Glimpse the 45 M High statue of Lord marugan which commands the entrance of the caves what a site this is simply stunning so then we climbed the very colorful but very steep 272 steps avoiding banana skins dropped by the MAA and water houses used to wash the steps clear a monkey dong but this was a climb worth making as once inside the 400 million year old cage we were blown away by the beauty of the Sacred Hindu temples within this was a place to experience its atmosphere and be in awe of those making the pilgrimage to this holy site it’s truly a wonderful place but before long we had to be back on our bus but a member of our party was attacked on the steps by a Maat monkey and was in need of first aid for a wound that was ultimately in need of stitches so we waited on the bus for reassurance that she’d be okay and thankfully she was so our tour resumed and our next stop saw us Park up outside the estana nagara palace used by the current king of Malaysia photo time photos of us in front of the palace the palace guards looking grumpy uh that’s about it I think anyway we soon continued into to the city center for our next photo opportunity which was the spectacular petronus Twin Towers once the world’s tallest building well now it isn’t but it’s still an iconic sight and a Marvel of engineering photos down we sadly learned we were not able to go up to the skybridge and that we booked the wrong tour if you wanted to do that always read the tour description of course but still our Patrona selfies were cool enough lunch was included on this tour and we were pretty famished our guide Chris promised a delicious spread of food at a lavish Hotel once frequented by Michael Jackson remembering the headlines about the prince of Pops D Trey habits we were not sure what sort of food awaited us but we needed had worried as this traditional Malaysian spread of foods was Simply Delicious afterwards our bus wh us across the city to Independent Square where an end to the British rolling Malia was marked and the Malaysian flag raised for the first time in August 1957 this very English looking part of the city with its Cricut green Pavilion and Anglican Church is quite symbol and it was a fascinating spot to learn from our guide about the impacts of British rule in Mala we took a walk across the city to the Central Market where we had a short time to browse and Shop before our coach took us back to the ship it felt a bit like Supermarket sweet back aboard Mel had laid on a deck barbecue and the food and live music was a great way to Wi away the hours later in the evening Nessie took in the Ballroom Blitz show while saigh sat on the deck soaking up the sunset drinking beer reading and defening himself with heavy metal our second attempt at Singapore promised to be a frenetic day as we were determined to pack in as much in as our energy levels allowed our first put of call was the Merion Singapore’s national symbol the Merion stems from the legend that Singapore Island was rediscovered in the 11th century by a wayfaring prince who saw a beast on the shore which he later Learned was a lion enamored by this Beast he named the settlement he founded Singapura a Sanskrit word for lion City these days the statute is a 24-hour law for those seeking that perfect Instagram photo and we join the throng of Snappers who were happy to push shove and jostle for that perfect photo position leaving the mer liion we crossed the photogenic Anson bridge and explored the River Bank area with its plentiful sculptures more fun with the orange juice machines these are so good having walked past too many cake shops we finally gave in so how’s that cheese bunai time we fres orange juice and I bought myself a cheese bone looks as it’s got sugar on it wonder what it’s going to be like we go oh sweet and cheesy is it nice yeah fine just not what I thought wow okay go so are we heading off to St John Island then well we messed that up we were supposed to be at the St John’s Island Ferry um but we’ve uh messed up our timings it’s 11:00 Ferry is the last one till 3:00 in the afternoon uh that seems like a long time to wait for a ferry so um I think we’ll give that a Miss we’ll come up with a plan B yeah never mind okay there’s loads more to do and see so we returned to the gardens by the bay to visit the cloud forest the cloud forest is effectively an indoor Posh greenhouse and it’s filled with plants from rainforests across the world spread across several zones to explore with interactive exhibits this was an excellent way to spend an hour and a half and it features one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls too this place was amazing educational easy on the eye aromatic and air conditioned lunchtime and time to try one of Singapore’s Hawker centers for some cheap high quality street food so it was back to the downtown area and the Amoy Food Center was the first we stumbled across how was the food sigh incredible so tasty what did you have I have a roasted chicken rice with the dark soy sauce covering and how much was it $4 wow I’ve gone for the roast duck with soy sauce and some chili sauce so we’ll see what that’s like bye after filling our bellies with tasty food we walked into Chinatown and so I wanted to try some coffee and the nangy Yang old Singapore Coffee House proved to Delight but that evaporated milk certainly makes this a sweet treat time for some shopping next in Chinatown Street Markets fridge magnets t-shirts hats of course and smelly fruit we noted that it’s illegal in Singapore to take a jurian fruit on the MRT because of the bad smell so we gave them a white birth then it was beer time much needed in fact needed so much we found a second bar and add another then we headed to Clark key so we could take a river cruise on the bum boats this was recommended to us and we soon found out why this was an educational trip down the river to Marina Bay and we learned on board about Singapore’s history and how it became a global Center for trade and commerce the afternoon rains coed us down as we walked back into the downtown area past the Buddha tooth Relic Temple and towards of course the Maxwell Hawker Center for some more tasty food this afternoon had sped past where had the time gone and it was tea time already so more tasty and cheap chicken and rice meals for tea we just love the Hawker centers and we soaked up the atmosphere in this essential part of Singapore culture Darkness descended quickly and we dashed towards the gardens by the bay area again to catch the super trees light show we had heard how wonderful this was and it certainly didn’t disappoint exhausted we returned to the ship and grabbed a cocktail or two and turned in day nine we were loving Singapore and we were desperate to cram in more sites and experiences having to be back aboard the ship for the lunchtime sailway though we couldn’t stray too far away from the ship a walk through the forest and up Mount Faber can be accessed immediately outside the cruise terminal so we did that and regretted the steep climb soon afterwards at the top though we boarded the gondola and took a ride over the ship towards stoa Island we noted there are lots of tourist attractions on this island but also some beautiful beaches too we decided to enjoy some beach time on the beautiful soloo beach paddling exploring and a final singer board here too back on board and we were sailing away from Singapore just in time for rain so we found a sheltered area on the prominade deck to watch the sail away into the Gulf of Thailand and grab 40 Winks in the evening we enjoyed dining and live music before putting on a disastrous performance at the pub quiz the silent disco also beckoned us again and was a fun way to finish our day day 10 was a c day and so far this amazing holiday expence hadn’t allowed too much time for chilling and relaxing so on this SE date we did exactly that we found some sun lounges in a sheltered area read our books and slept while s was catching flies I snuck off and went to the meet the showcast event drunk cocktails and also watch some dancing classes in the afternoon we enjoyed time on the mini golf and then we tugged up for the second dress to impress night of the cruise and our evening consisted of food drink and another fantastic show and for the first time of the crew it felt like our batteries had charged just a little day 11 was for Bangkok and the day started with a change of plan as we’d had an enforced change of cruise board and it was an early up and away as we boarded our bus towards Bangkok this was a long bus ride however in the busy City traffic arriving in Bangkok we exited the bus right outside the Grand Palace and quickly grasped the format of our twoe book tour we were to follow our guide as she walked across the Cissy holding a bright orange umbrella but we were soon able to EXP exp the City Vibe as we walked to the Riverside area and boarded our boat for a tour of the city’s canals this 50-minute boat trip took us past the boat house for the Royal barges and pass several temples we also saw Fish Feeding in the canals as well as locals living and making their living off the canals the boat trip ended by dropping us at the incredible water temple and we were given time to explore this wondrous and sacred place it’s absolutely beautiful and clearly a very special place for the buddist Community wanted longer here but we’re soon following the orange umbrella again this time to our bus Which spirited us across the city to a station for the city Sky Train taking the sky train across the city we disembarked at the vast MBK shopping center and we given time to shop shop shop and eat Tasty Thai food the time here passed really quickly and before long it was time to board the bus again and head back to the ship this had been a short but very enjoyable taste of what Bangkok had to offer and and in the evening we sampled good wines and ate in the surf and turf specialty dining restaurant and this paled in comparison to the incredibly tasty food we’d enjoyed in the Bangkok Food Hall it had been a great day however and we were totally buzzing about Bangkok day 12 was another lazy and sleepy sea day sigh was up at the Cracker Dawn to grab an indoor Sun lounger in The Glass House pool area and these really comfortable sunbeds only added to the laziness of our day anyway this day consisted many mainly of sleeping reading and swimming in the warm indoor pool couldn’t sadly get a place at the free watercolor classes but did enjoy an afternoon tea s slept for his country how does he do it our evening started with a meal before taking in the show then to the squid and anchor for the quiz before more dancing at the silent disco it’s day 12 and we were starting to relax and chill sunrise on day 13 and we were soon on our bus speeding towards Min City we had opted to do the Saigon on your own excursion and we listened intently to the safety advice being dished out by our guide who was known as bang bang this was a very very long bus ride through the crazy traffic and into the City and our excited mood was quickly soured when we witnessed a truly horrific motorcycle accident we arrived in downtown Saigon somewhat in shock and decided that we’d try and do more uplifting things in our day here a nice walk by the river was our first idea but we soon realized I that Crossing busy roads is a somewhat terrifying experience remembering our guides advice we stepped out into the traffic with our hands raised and prayed and whil the traffic didn’t stop it did avoid us and this experience was repeated at pretty much every road we encountered we then walked from the river back into town past the impressive statue of the medieval Vietnamese War hero Tran hunga who defeated the invading Mongol hordes and is considered a brilliant military tactician we then arrived in the Central Boulevard and walked the length of this traffic free zone and up to the city hall and the statue of the more recent war hero hoi Min whom the city’s named after then across to the iconic post office building which dates from the French occupation and was constructed in 1886 this is still a working post office but you can of course buy souvenirs here also then we walking past the nraam cathedral which is sadly a construction site and then we learned the hard way about trusting coconut sellers with our Vietnamese Dong now depleted we headed to the Tashi Maya shopping center where we enjoyed delicious Vietnamese food within the food court afterwards we explored the Street Markets with its fantastic of Ray stores and vendors and then we headed to the undercover bentam Market this Market was some place and we had to put our bartering skills to the test to make the most out of the small amounts of Vietnamese Dong that we had left we were then ready to return to the ship after this and we were soon back aboard the coach heading back to the port back on board it was another deck barbecue party which was really enjoyable we washed this down with cocktails live music and we had another disastrous quiz performance fair to say that this was an eye-opening day in hoim Min City day 14 was our final day on board Discovery too and it had been an Incredible 2 weeks we’d been to some incredible places seen some amazing sites and had some wonderful experiences this second more sedentary week had been a much needed tonic after a somewhat frenetic first week some more sleeping but packing to go home too a fun murder mystery event in the afternoon though began to ramp up the final day’s fun another great meal beers and Cocktails a fantastic show and a brilliant farewell party in the atrium all built to a tumultuous Crescendo what a cruise this have been and the following morning we were back at Singapore airport grabbing the opportunity to see the incredible duwel waterfall and a final Singapore meal too before flying back to the UK this really had been a trip of a lifetime brilliant destinations and experiences on board a lovely ship with the kindest and most caring crew who brightened up every day would we recommend a mela far e Cruise well absolutely and I’m EO that this was incredible value and we had one of the most fun Cruis experiences we’ve ever had thank you Mela happy memories made if you like what we do and you want to see more of our Ventures please like And subscribe cheers is

Considering a cruise to South East Asia? Marella Cruises have periodically offered itineraries in this region and in 2024 we took the plunge and immersed ourselves in all that Marella could throw at us. And this was some cruise intinerary. We visited, Singapore, Penang, Patong Bay (Phi Phi Islands), Langkawi, Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur), Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

In this video we show our experiences in these wondrous places. We detail our excursions, days in port and our onboard experiences on Marella Discovery 2.

If this is a trip youve considered, we hope this video gives you the insights you need of what to expect.

#cruisevlog #marella #marellacruises #cruise #marelladiscovery2 #cruiseexperience #singapore #penang #patongbay #phiphiislands #langkawi #portklang #kualalumpur #bangkok #hochiminhcity

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