A Southeast Asia cruise is one of the most ambitious and rewarding itineraries in the world — a grand voyage that moves through five countries, two seas, and a density of history, culture, and landscape that no other region can match in a single journey. From the vertical city of Hong Kong to the white-sand beaches of the Philippine islands, from the rainforests of Borneo to the city-state of Singapore, from the street food of Penang and the temples of Bangkok to the colonial boulevards of Saigon and the ancient trading ports of Vietnam, this is a route that covers more civilizational ground per nautical mile than almost any other itinerary on earth.
Hong Kong (HKG)
Hong Kong is the natural gateway for Southeast Asia cruises departing from the north — a city of extraordinary density, energy, and visual drama that announces the region with characteristic intensity. Victoria Harbour, one of the great natural harbours of the world, frames a skyline that has been redrawn by successive waves of development into something that is simultaneously overwhelming and beautiful. The Star Ferry crossing between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, with the towers of Central rising on one side and the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on the other, is one of the great short journeys in travel. The Peak, reached by the century-old funicular, offers views across the harbour and the surrounding islands that make the ascent immediately worthwhile. Below, the city operates at a pace and density that is unlike anywhere else: the night markets of Temple Street, the dim sum houses of Yau Ma Tei, the antique shops of Hollywood Road, the hiking trails of the New Territories. Hong Kong is a city that has always been in motion, and it shows no sign of stopping.
Manila, Philippines (MNL)
Manila is one of the great megacities of Asia — a metropolitan region of over twenty million people spread across the shores of Manila Bay, chaotic and compelling in equal measure. Intramuros, the walled Spanish colonial city built in the sixteenth century on the southern bank of the Pasig River, is the historic heart of the capital: its stone walls, cobbled streets, Fort Santiago, and the Manila Cathedral survive as a reminder of three centuries of Spanish rule. Rizal Park, the great public green space facing the bay, is named for José Rizal, the national hero whose execution by the Spanish in 1896 helped ignite the Philippine Revolution. The National Museum complex, the Binondo district — the world’s oldest Chinatown — and the waterfront promenade of the Cultural Center of the Philippines complete a city that rewards the visitor who looks beyond its surface complexity.
Boracay, Philippines (MPH)
Boracay is the Philippine archipelago at its most idyllic — a small island in the Visayas whose White Beach, a four-kilometre arc of powdered white sand lapped by the turquoise waters of the Sibuyan Sea, has made it one of the most celebrated beach destinations in Asia. Cruise ships anchor offshore and tender passengers to the island, where the pace drops immediately and the agenda becomes simple: the beach, the water, the sunset. The island’s interior offers a quieter counterpoint — the Willy’s Rock formation at the northern end of White Beach, the viewpoints of Mount Luho, the kitesurfing beaches of Bulabog on the eastern shore. Boracay underwent a significant environmental rehabilitation in 2018 and has emerged cleaner, quieter, and more carefully managed than before. It is the South China Sea at its most generous.
Kota Kinabalu, Borneo (BKI)
Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah, the Malaysian state that occupies the northern tip of Borneo — the world’s third-largest island and one of the last great wilderness areas on earth. The city itself is a relaxed, modern port with a waterfront esplanade, a lively night market, and the Sabah State Museum, but the reason to come to Kota Kinabalu is what lies beyond it. Mount Kinabalu, at 4,095 metres the highest peak in Southeast Asia, dominates the interior and is the centrepiece of Kinabalu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary biodiversity. The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, a cluster of five islands just offshore, offers some of the finest snorkelling and diving in the region. The orangutan sanctuaries of Sepilok, a few hours’ drive away, offer encounters with one of the world’s most endangered great apes in a rehabilitation setting of genuine care and scientific rigour. Borneo is a word that still carries the weight of the unknown, and Kota Kinabalu is its most accessible door.
Singapore (SIN)
Singapore is the pivot point of the Southeast Asia cruise — the city-state that sits at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, at the junction of the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca, and that has built one of the most remarkable urban environments in the world on an island of just seven hundred square kilometres. Marina Bay Sands, the triple-towered hotel with its rooftop infinity pool and SkyPark, has become the defining image of contemporary Singapore. Gardens by the Bay, the extraordinary horticultural park of Supertrees and climate-controlled biomes, is its most theatrical public space. But Singapore’s depth lies in its older quarters: the hawker centres of the historic districts, where the city’s Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan food cultures converge in a single meal; the shophouses of Chinatown and Little India; the colonial Civic District of Raffles Hotel, the Supreme Court, and the Padang. Singapore is a city that has reinvented itself repeatedly and successfully, and it remains one of the most efficient, safe, and genuinely surprising destinations in Asia.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL)
Kuala Lumpur is reached by cruise ships via Port Klang, the busy container port on the Strait of Malacca from which the Malaysian capital is about an hour’s drive inland. The city that awaits is one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic and underrated capitals — a place where the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, still dominate the skyline with an authority that no subsequent development has diminished. The Batu Caves, a series of limestone caverns containing Hindu temples and shrines, rise dramatically from the jungle just north of the city. The Central Market, the Petaling Street night market of Chinatown, the Masjid Jamek mosque at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers, and the colonial architecture of Merdeka Square offer a city of layered histories and cultures. The food scene — a reflection of the city’s Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Nyonya communities — is among the finest in Asia.
Penang, Malaysia (PEN)
Penang is the culinary and cultural capital of Malaysia — an island state whose historic city of George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has become one of the most celebrated destinations in Southeast Asia. The shophouses of the old city, their facades decorated with the famous street art murals that have made Penang a pilgrimage for photographers, line streets that have been trading since the eighteenth century. The clan jetties of Chew Jetty, the Peranakan mansions of Millionaires’ Row, the Little India of Penang Road, and the mosques, temples, and churches of the historic core reflect a city shaped by successive waves of Chinese, Indian, Malay, and British influence. The hawker food culture of Penang — char kway teow, asam laksa, nasi kandar, cendol — is the reason many travellers come and the reason they return. The Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, visible from the island’s eastern shore, is a reminder of the trade routes that made Penang what it is.
Phuket, Thailand (HKT)
Phuket is Thailand’s largest island and its most famous beach destination — but the cruise experience here is defined less by the beaches of the west coast than by the extraordinary seascape of Phang Nga Bay to the north, where hundreds of limestone karst formations rise vertically from the emerald water in a landscape that has no equivalent anywhere in the world. The James Bond Island of Ko Tapu, the sea caves of Ko Panyi, and the mangrove channels of the bay are accessible by longtail boat or sea kayak from Phuket’s cruise terminal. The old town of Phuket, with its Sino-Portuguese shophouses, its weekend walking street, and its temples, offers a quieter and more historically grounded counterpoint to the resort beaches of Patong and Kata. The Similan Islands, a marine national park of exceptional clarity and biodiversity, are accessible on day trips for those who want to see the Andaman Sea at its most pristine.
Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)
Bangkok is reached via the deep-water port of Laem Chabang, about two hours south of the city — a journey that is part of the experience, passing through the industrial flatlands of the Gulf of Thailand coast before the city announces itself in the familiar chaos of expressways, temples, and golden spires. The Grand Palace, the most visited site in Thailand, contains the Temple of the Emerald Buddha within its walls — a complex of such gilded, intricate, and overwhelming beauty that it takes time to process. Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, and Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn on the opposite bank of the Chao Phraya, complete the trio of the city’s great riverside temples. The klongs of Thonburi, the floating markets of Damnoen Saduak, the street food of Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown), and the rooftop bars of the Silom district offer a city of inexhaustible variety. Bangkok is one of the great cities of Asia, and a single day from Laem Chabang is never quite enough.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN)
Ho Chi Minh City — still called Saigon by most of its inhabitants — is the economic capital of Vietnam and one of the most energetic cities in Southeast Asia. The Reunification Palace, where the tanks of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates on 30 April 1975, stands as the defining monument of the city’s recent history. The War Remnants Museum, with its unflinching documentation of the American War, is one of the most powerful and sobering museum experiences in Asia. The Ben Thanh Market, the French colonial architecture of Dong Khoi and the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the jade-green Jade Emperor Pagoda, and the Cu Chi tunnels — the vast underground network used by the Viet Cong during the war — complete a city that carries its history with remarkable openness. The street food scene, the coffee culture, and the rooftop bars of District 1 offer a city that is simultaneously looking back and moving forward at extraordinary speed.
Da Nang, Vietnam (DAD)
Da Nang is the gateway to two of the most significant UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Vietnam — and one of the most rewarding port calls on the entire Southeast Asia itinerary. Hoi An, thirty kilometres to the south, is the best-preserved ancient trading port in Southeast Asia: a town of yellow-washed merchant houses, covered bridges, tailor shops, and lantern-lit streets that has changed remarkably little since the seventeenth century, when it was one of the most important ports in Asia. Hue, ninety kilometres to the north, was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945, and the Imperial Citadel — a walled complex of palaces, temples, and pavilions modelled on the Forbidden City in Beijing — is one of the great monuments of Vietnamese history. The Marble Mountains, a cluster of limestone and marble hills between Da Nang and Hoi An, contain caves, pagodas, and viewpoints that reward the climb. Da Nang itself has grown rapidly into a modern beach city, but its greatest gift to the cruise passenger is the world-class heritage that lies within easy reach on either side.
Bring Southeast Asia Home
A Southeast Asia cruise covers more cultural ground than almost any other itinerary — from the vertical energy of Hong Kong and the colonial history of Manila to the rainforests of Borneo, the city-state precision of Singapore, the street food of Penang, the limestone seascapes of Phuket, the temples of Bangkok, and the ancient trading ports of Vietnam. At YHM Designs, we create airport code gifts that celebrate exactly these kinds of places: the destinations that stay with you, the cities that feel like they belong to you in some small way after you’ve visited.
Explore our collections for the ports of the Southeast Asia cruise:
- Hong Kong (HKG) — mugs, pillows, prints, and more
- Manila, Philippines (MNL) — mugs, pillows, prints, and more
- Boracay, Philippines (MPH)
- Kota Kinabalu, Borneo (BKI)
- Singapore (SIN) — mugs, pillows, prints, and more
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL)
- Penang, Malaysia (PEN)
- Phuket, Thailand (HKT)
- Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) — mugs, pillows, prints, and more
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN)
- Da Nang, Vietnam (DAD)
Whether you’re shopping for a fellow traveller, commemorating a voyage, or simply celebrating a destination that left its mark on you, our airport code designs are made for people who know that the best souvenirs are the ones you actually use.
