Small Ship Cruising in South-East Asia

Jane Archer, The Daily Telegraph, October 06, 2014

Elaine Boyden writes

My partner and I are considering a small ship cruise for next May/June. We have always thought it would not be something we wanted to do, but we do like the idea of a tall ship or small cruise liner. A few years ago I read about a trip that went from Singapore and cruised around Thailand and Vietnam etc, but I can’t find anything now. We would definitely be looking for a small ship for around 10-14 days. We’re “very young” early sixties, still working and not interested in silly entertainment! Any ideas?

Jane Archer, cruise expert, replies
Small ship cruise lines offer the type of Asian itinerary you mention but most have ships in Asia in winter only as they relocate to the Mediterranean for summer. If you can be flexible with the date, Windstar ( windstarcruises.com ) has cruises between Singapore and Hong Kong that visit Vietnam and cruises round-trip from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand between January and March 2015. They are on Star Pride, which holds 212 passengers, from £1,468 per person for 14 nights excluding flights.

Silversea ( silversea.com ) has a nine-night cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore departing March 10 on the 296-passenger Silver Wind. From £3,450 per person excluding flights.

If you have to travel in late spring but can be flexible about the destination, there are other exotic cruises to consider. Windstar has a tall ship, Wind Spirit, in the South Pacific that holds just 148 passengers. From £2,202 per person excluding flights for a 10-day cruise in May round-trip from Tahiti.

Ponant ( ponant.com ) has a 10-night cruise around Japan on the 264-passenger L’Austral departing May 21 from £2,222 per person cruise-only.

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About Jane Archer

Jane spends much of the year at sea, uncovering the best and worst about cruise ships.

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This article was written by Jane Archer from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.