Destination: Asia : Vietnam, China Cruising Booms

In Vietnamese ports, strings of exploding red and cerise paper-covered firecrackers greet cruise ship arrivals, creating a din and leaving bright scraps like fallen bougainvillea petals on the pavement. The firecrackers are made from scrap paper that is dyed, then hand-wrapped around gunpowder salvaged from bombs and shells left over from the Vietnam War. The ceremony, which appears to be appreciated by Vietnamese on-lookers, is a traditional greeting to chase away bad spirits that could hamper the passengers’ journey.

There should be a big run on firecrackers this fall and winter--if the booming Vietnamese cruise market is any indication. Thirteen ships marketed in North America are setting sail for Vietnam between now and next April--a major increase since travel restrictions on Americans visiting Vietnam were relaxed at the end of 1991, and remaining economic sanctions lifted in February.

So, for anyone eager to see the country before old-fashioned cam pho (roadside noodle shops) are supplanted by McDonald’s, now is the time to go. The fact is, traveling by cruise ship through the Far East can be far more comfortable and convenient than overland.

Most cruises calling in Vietnam set out from Hong Kong or Singapore, and range from Club Med’s seven-day series to 14 days on Cunard’s Crown Monarch. Cruises may call at one or more of four major ports--Haiphong, the port city for Hanoi; Da Nang, the port for the ancient capital of Hue; sultry Nha Trang, with its gently moldering French buildings, and, near the Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), where shiny new Hondas vie with pedal bikes and citizens wear sunglasses instead of Hanoi’s conical straw coolie hats.

Among upcoming Vietnam sailings: Pearl Cruises’ peripatetic Pearl, which sails year-round in the Far East, visits several Vietnamese ports this summer and fall, and Special Expeditions’ Caledonian Star will sail from Ho Chi Minh City to four other Vietnamese ports, then on to China on its June 13 cruise.

Cunard Line is really high on Vietnam, with its flagship Queen Elizabeth 2 and Sagafjord both calling there on around-the-world cruises this winter; its Sea Goddess II visiting in February and March, and the Cunard Crown Monarch offering two “Asian Highlights” cruises in March.

The Royal Viking Sun returns for a second visit to overnight in Ho Chi Minh City and make a maiden call at Da Nang during its 1995 world cruise, and Princess Cruises’ Golden Princess calls at Ho Chi Minh City during its 105-day Grand Circle Pacific cruise leaving Vancouver September 22.

Seven Seas’ Song of Flower is set for Vietnam cruises in November and again next March, while Royal Cruise Line’s Royal Odyssey calls in Da Nang on January 2 and March 15 sailings. Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Spirit sails to Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in February, March and April, and the new Marco Polo from Orient Lines calls during its June 18 and September 22 sailings.

Traveling by cruise ship can also be the best way to visit Myanmar. The former Burma is back on the cruise schedule for the coming season after several years of political strife that reduced tourist visits severely. Three ships scheduled for Myanmar calls are Seven Seas’ Song of Flower, Pearl Cruises’ Pearl and the Royal Viking Sun.

After a few years in the doldrums, China too has bounced back into the cruise mainstream with a flurry of super-luxury sailings coming up, including the entry of Seabourn Cruise Line into China next March. Those once-spartan overland expeditions with primitive, hole-in-the-floor toilets and grimy restaurants have given way to more cosseted outings as the country’s tourism infrastructure adds marble-lobbied hotels in the cities and more sanitary wayside stops in the countryside.

The Seabourn Spirit is offering an optional overland visit to see the terra cotta warriors of Xi’an in conjunction with two March sailings from Hong Kong. Cunard’s lavish Sea Goddess II also sets out from Hong Kong March 9 for a cruise along the Yangtse with calls at several ports, including Fuzhou, a tea port city that was once the center for Christianity in China.

Song of Flower from San Francisco-based Seven Seas is offering a March 10 “China Discovery” sailing that calls at the Special Economic Zone of Shantou on the mainland as well as Taiwan’s capital of Taipei, and the Oceanic Grace strays from its usual Japanese ports of call to visit China in September.

Orient Lines’ Marco Polo is beginning its first season in China with 16-day land/cruise packages from Beijing’s port of Dalian to Hong Kong June 18 and Sept. 22. Royal Cruise Line’s Royal Odyssey will also embark on a series of new China itineraries in early 1995.

Several new lines will be offering Yangtse cruises, including four new 154-passenger cruisers named Victoria I-IV from New York-based Victoria Cruises, three new German-built river cruisers from Regal China Cruises and Abercrombie & Kent, and the new China Glory from AHI International. All are brand-new Western-built ships that promise a higher level of luxury than previous Yangtse vessels. The Victoria sailings begin June 6, while the AHI itineraries are set for September and October. The A & K cruises are already in place.