foodpolice

Respecting health requirements etc. check out travel.gc.ca. To get a VOA or visa on arrival, have a look at myvietnamvisa.com. I haven't used it myself nor do I know of anyone who has, so user beware.

We just booked a 19 day land tour/cruise with Emerald for the Vietnam & Cambodia Explorer & Mekong River Cruise and this trip doesn't go until April 2018. We'd booked early for the "free" built in flight & early "built in" booking discount.

The ship we're going on is the Mekong Navigator, which has 34 suites for a capacity of 68 passengers. As such, if you really like the itinerary & want to go you have to book early. When we booked, there were only a few cabins left.

There is a Cambodian Consulate in North Vancouver. Their phone number is 604 980 1718.

We've booked & can't wait.

Regards.

The Vietnamese consulate is located at 800 - 605 Robson Street. Their hours are M - F, from 9 - 11 & 2 - 4. $100 Canadian cash is for the single entry visa. You can pay by cc, but they'll charge you 3% to of set their cc charge. You can print out the visa application form from their website.

As for Cambodia, we will be sailing there & will be met by their officials upon arrival. Thought that was the norm. This is what we did when we sailed into Vietnam on Azamara a few years ago. Aren't you folks sailing from Vietnam to Cambodia?

Hello fellow west coaster,

We are also going on the Mekong River cruise next year but in April & on Emerald. We're going to be on the Mekong Navigator. As you may or may not be aware, you can get your visa for Vietnam from the consulate in Vancouver. $100 Canadian with a 3 day turn around. As for Cambodia, we get get their visa upon arrival.

Enjoy.

Thank you both for replying. Great pictures & blogs/trip reports Solent Richard. Thanks Dreamercruise for looking at the Emerald & Scenic websites respecting subject matter.

I should add that like you, Dreamercruise, we were in Vietnam in 2013 on a cruise, when the Azamara Journey over nite in Halong Bay. As such, we did a day cruise of the bay, but the trip we're looking at includes among other things, an over nighter on the bay. As you may seen on the Emerald site, it's the 19 day land tour/cruise that we are looking at. We enjoyed our time in Vietnam, albeit short, thus we're looking into this opportunity to visit places, such as Hanoi which we didn't get to.

We also did a very short ride on the Mekong when there, but am intrique with the 7 day cruise from My Tho to Siem Reap, visiting villages enroute to among other places, Angkor Wat.

Hello folks,

We're thinking of going on a 7 day Mekong River cruise sandwiched between a 12 day Vietnam & Cambodia land tour in April/18, by Emerald Waterways. Anybody out there been & any tips welcome.

going on the Viking Romantic Danube cruise in a couple of weeks. what is the typical weather and what clothing is a must besides the obvious comfortable. Do we need to bring rain gear?

Hello there,

We did the Blue Danube Discoveries with Avalon, in the last week of June/16 & had great weather. No rain as such, but did catch a cold, while braving the cool breeze on the sun deck even with the sun shining, during one of our 2, 4 hours or so of sea/river days. Light jacket will be fine. If it rains, umbreallas are provided by Avalon.

Enjoy.

I'm back with another dumb newbie question. We can check the average June temperatures for our route. Will it be cooler on the river?

 

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Hi there,

We were on the Danube in June 2016 going from Budapest to Prague. During one of our very rare 4 hour sea/river day travel on the river, most of the passengers were on the sun deck, on a sunny, but breezy day on the water. Lots of people went down to their cabins & retrieved sweaters, hats etc, except me. I'd caught a cold. I guess it's a good idea to layer.

Enjoy your cruise.

That is the itinerary we are doing next month. There are no excursions listed for Rouen - what did you do there?

Hi there,

Don't know what your itinerary is, but on ours, we stopped in Rouen on day 5 of our cruise, where we had an included walking tour. As I'd mentioned on another post, there is an astronomical clock in Rouen, akin to that in Prague, albeit on a smaller scale. Rouen is where Joan of Arc is said to have been burned at the stake & has a church bearing her name.

Rouen is the only port other than Paris, where we stopped, that actually has a decent size shopping area. It also has a neat farmers market that has a roof line with a body line of a dragon.

Anyhow, enjoy your cruise.

Hello from Passau - we're currently on-board the Avalon Expression on our way from Prague to Budapest on the Legends of the Danube cruise 4/29-5/2. We started in Prague and did a one day pre-cruise extension and had 4 great days in Prague. The water on the Danube is high - so Avalon held the boat in Deggendorf due to a low bridge between Deggendorf and Nuremberg. Avalon made arrangements for the group to be sent by bus to Nuremberg for a tour and then sent by bus to Deggendorf. We stayed on the boat in Deggendorf overnight and then went by bus to Regenburg for a tour and then back to Deggendorf. We left overnight last night for Passau and now we're back on schedule. Internet has been great. The food is great and the staff is wonderful. Will try to post some updates. Let me know if you have any questions.

Notwithstanding the high water, glad you're enjoying your trip. Last June we were on the Avalon Luminary going from Budapest to Prague. Like you, we found the internet was great, as was the food, accommodations, ship & staff. We also enjoyed Prague, its food, people, the sights & sounds it has to offer. If you enjoyed Prague's astronomical clock, there is also one in Rouen if you folks are going there, albeit smaller version. Anyhow, enjoye the rest of your trip.

We are very excited about our first River Cruise from Paris on Avalon next month.

 

I understand that there is a location for all passengers to be transferred to the boat from. Will there be time to leave our luggage and do more sightseeing before we check in and leave for the boat?

 

And, does Avalon provide a transfer to the airport after the trip, or a drop off back at the same location and for us to take a cab to the airport?

Hello,

In October 2016, we were on Avalon's Paris to Normandy itinerary. As we had air from Avalon, we were picked up & transferred by the same to our meeting point hotel, the Pullman Paris Montparnasse Hotel. Anyhow, upon arrival at the hotel, we left our bags with the Avalon reps, went out exploring a bit & returned around 3 PM for our transfer to the ship. Upon completion of our cruise, we had pre-arranged transfers by Avalon to the airport. You can check with Avalon, but I don't believe you can purchase a transfer with them without the air.

Thank you for the great review. I'm doing this cruise May 9th also the Creativity. My first river cruise. Any other thoughts or tips to share? We arrive early (around 8:30 am) and planning to visit Sacre Couer for a few hours. I've been to Paris before and this is the one I want to visit for sure. I thought about hop on/off, but want to do something simple as I'm sure I'll be tired from the overnight flight.

Thank you for your comment. I trust you found my reviews of the Luminary & Creativity on TripAdvisor and am glad it was of some assistance to you.

As this was our 1st visit to Paris you probably have more ideas of what to see than I. When we were there we wanted to see what we learned & heard about in grade 8 french, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe & the Champs-Elysees, anything else was a plus. We had an included walking tour on day 7, where we went to amongst other places such as Ile St. Louis & Ile de la Cite. If you haven't been to these areas, it was a pleasant, easy walk.

We arrived to Paris around 9:30 AM & were shuttled to our meeting hotel, the Pullman Hotel Montparnasse. Unfortunately, this hotel was in the business district of Paris & not a touristy area, but the train station was very near by. We also had a long flight from Vancouver, BC, so we were a little tired like you may be.

We didn't see any HoHo buses upon arrival, but we didn't look too hard. Avalon did offer a tour of the Eiffel Tower when we got to the hotel, but it was sold out, as such we just walked around the area of our meeting place hotel & had lunch there. We were subsequently taken to the Creativity around 3:30 PM.

Enjoy your cruise!

Whilst some people were invited, it was also open to any passenger to go to guest relations and ask to put there name on the list for a tour. We went on a Bridge and a Galley tour by doing this when we were in an ocean-view cabin. We went on the Engine Control Room tour through an invitation because we were added to the VIP list. This was as a reward because we saved guest relations a lot of work informing them that UK visitors didn't need a visa for Vietnam and giving them the internet link to check for themselves. Apparently Azamara HQ hadn't told them.

 

 

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We were on the Quest in August 2016 & as like what Grandma said, there was an open invitation to all passengers for complementary tours of the bridge, engine room & gallery, by signing up at guest relations.

On the Avalon Luminary, we were in a Cat. A cabin which has a french balcony & on the 2nd level of the 4 deck ship, where the 4th deck is the sky deck. On the Avalon Creativity, we were in a Cat. E cabin which is an "aquarium" room with the windows near the ceiling, on the bottom level of the 4 deck ship. Both rooms were identical except for the obvious & we found both very quiet & comfortable.

After 30+ Ocean cruises we have booked out 1st River Cruise (Enchanting Belgium-May 7-Brussels to Amsterdam on the Luminary).

 

Would love to hear from anyone who has either done this cruise or cruised on the ship before. Also any optional excursions taken.

Hello there,

We've done 20+ ocean cruise & last year in June (Blue Danube Discovery) & October (Paris to Normandy), we did 2 river cruises with Avalon. The 1st on the Luminary & 2nd on the Creativity. On the Luminary we had a midship french balcony. As we were out of the room most of the time, (no substantial ocean/river days akin to the ocean cruises), we took the "aquarium" cabin on the Creativity. We can not complain about either cabins, very comfortable, quiet & clean. We enjoyed the food & friendly staff on both ships. I did a review on the Luminary with pictures if you're interested.

Enjoy!

Allowing the merchant to charge you in dollars is called DDC-dynamic currency conversion and should be declines. Here is what Rick Steves has to say about DDC.

 

 

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/card-fees

Avoid dynamic currency conversion (DCC).

Some European merchants — capitalizing on the fact that many Americans are intimidated by unusual currencies — cheerfully charge you for converting their prices to dollars before running your credit card. Dynamic currency conversion may seem like a nice perk, but you’ll actually end up paying more. The dollar price is usually based on a lousy exchange rate set by the merchant — and to make matters worse, even though you’re paying in “dollars,” your credit-card issuer may still levy its standard foreign-transaction fee. The result: the “convenience” of seeing your charge in dollars comes at a premium.

Some merchants may disagree, but according to DCC provider Planet Payment, you have the right to decline this service at the store and have your credit-card transaction go through in the local currency. If you’re handed a receipt with two totals — one in the local currency and the other in US dollars — circle or check the amount in the local currency before you sign. If your receipt shows the total in dollars only, ask that it be rung up again in the local currency.

This is also true for the ATMs. One of the options given is for the ATM to convert the currency for you. Don't choose this option & choose the option to withdrawl in the currency of the country you're in, ie: Euro while in Germany, Hungarian forint while in Budapest, etc.

Note, while in Hungary or any other European countries where you withdraw "local currency" make sure you take only the amount you really need, unless you plan to return to that country, say Hungary some other time. For example the Hungarian forint is not readily accepted in other European countries or if it is, you may likely loose out in the exchange factor. However, when in Germany, taking out more Euros will not be a problem, as a lot of other European countries uses it as their local currencies & that you're more likely to visit these places more.

Hello forumites,

 

I've seen this discussed here and there in other threads, but would like to see more opinions/experiences if possible.

 

I, personally, have been a business traveler for 20 years and have never used a hotel room safe. Only one time in 20 years have I had something go missing from my room (a credit card - and whoever took it made no attempt to actually USE it which is strange!). I've travelled internationally many times and have never let my passport out of my sight (I keep it in my laptop bag).

 

I've seen varied opinions on what to do with your passport on a cruise. Some say keep it with you at all times in a waterproof pouch, others say leave it in the safe.

 

 

 

I would lean toward the former but I'm open to advice if there are compelling reasons for the latter.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks

DTXCF

Like most, we leave our passports in our cabin safe & carry a photocopy of the relevant page thereof. You can also email the pertinent page of the passport to yourself.

Enjoy your cruise.

I'm thinking of booking our first river cruise in europe this summer as i'm pretty cruised out of med ocean cruises. Are there any hints to finding an itinerary where you can be in port at night to be able to go out in the town/city?

 

Thanks.

We did the Blue Danube Discovery in July/16 with Avalon & we overnight in Vienna, Austria & Nuremberg, Germany. In Oct./16, we did Paris to Normandy, also with Avalon & we overnight in Caudebec & Paris.

Enjoy.

We did the Paris - Normandy cruise on Avalon in Oct./16. The Abbaye de Jumieges is approximately a 30 minutes bus ride from Caudebec. The site, a monastery ruin was huge with interesting architecture for photo ops. It has sporadic seating areas where one can sit & enjoy the tranquil surroundings.

From here we drove for approximately 20 minutes to Abbaye Saint Wandrille, a working monastery. We were met by a charismatic monk, Brother Lu, who gave us a bit of history & had a question and answer period. He then took us around to some parts of the monastery that was not close for renovations. This tour ended up at the monastery's shop where you can buy various products made by the monastery.

We chose the abby tours as we saw enough thatched rooves in Copenhagen.

Like the other poster mentioned, Honfluer, an optional paid tour is REALLY picturesque, if you want to take pictures.

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We've done 16 ocean cruises, but never a river cruise. We enjoy balcony cabins on ocean cruises. But I'm wondering is a balcony worth the fairly significant price difference on a river cruise?

 

I'd love to know what river cruise veterans think.

 

Thanks,

Hello Tiger fan,

We've done a bunch of ocean cruises like you & last year tried our first 2 river cruises, both with Avalon. In July, we did the Danube & had a mid-deck french balcony, while in October, we did the Seine (Normandy) & had the "aquarium class" cabin. Both cabins were pretty well the same (except for the balcony) & more than suffice in size & comfort.

The french balcony was great, however as others have mentioned, you don't have a lot of river/sea days & as others also have mentioned, the best views, if you do have river/sea days are up top on the sun deck. On our 1st river cruise, we had one, 4-5 hours river days & we were up top. On our second river cruise, the weather was wet for the sun deck, as such we spent most of our time either at the front or back end of the ship under cover or just parked ourselves in the lounge by the huge windows. We found on both river cruises, we were mainly in our cabin to clean up, change our clothes or for bedtime.

We found the cabins to be quite quiet, even though our "aquarium class" cabin was next to the very small gym, which had a tread mill. Trust me, while we were on our river cruises, you're not getting anyone training for any football camps, if you know what I mean.

Needless to say, I believe the "aquarium class" is the better bang for your buck.

Thank you for that excellent overview. We are doing this cruise in June will use this review as our guideline.

Glad that my overview respecting subject matter helps.

Enjoy.

Hello Small Wonder,

 

We just returned from Avalon's 8 days Paris to Normandy Landing Beaches cruise. It was very good. I'm sure you folks will enjoy it also. Not to overkill all the answers, here's my two bits worth.

 

1) On Day 7, we took the walking tour, which ended with going inside of the Notre Dame cathedral. We'd considered the City Sightseeing tour, but we took a Paris by night optional excursion on Day 6, where we stopped at the Arc de Triomple, the Luxor Obelisk & of course the Eiffel Tower. You may or may not be aware that in the evening, about 5 minutes after the hour on the hour, the Eiffel Tower goes into a sparkling/glimmering light show. The balance of the bus tour was the pointing out of the sights & commentary from the guide. To answer your question specifically, the included City Sightseeing tour is definitely not a "hop-on-hop-off" deal. Not really sure if this bus evens stops at the sights for photo ops.

2) There are plenty of electrical outlets to charge your devices, but you will need an European adapter plug. Most current electrical devices (iphone, battery chargers etc.) will handle between 100 - 240 V (check the labels on your plugs) without a converter. However, my wife brought a North American curling iron on the cruise that did not have the 100 - 240 V label on it, as such, she did not use it, as it could have caused problems by using it without a converter.

3) We'd used their umbrellas a couple of times.

4) Although we didn't take the Landing Beaches tour, I heard from others that it was very good. The day before the Landing Beach tours, Avalon brought in a fantastic D-Day speaker, Nigel Stewart.

5) Just enjoy yourselves.

Further to aforementioned, the following are our thoughts of Avalon's "Paris to Normandy Landing Beaches" cruise. Hope it helps fellow members.

We were on an 8 day Avalon Creativity October/16 Paris to Normandy Landing cruise. The pickup from the airport, embarkation & disembarkation was very smooth. The only comment is that our assembly point hotel, the Pullman Montparnasse, is not in the touristy area, but rather more of a business district in Paris, albeit the Monparnasse train station is very close by. However, for guests that had just arrived from long flights who just want to walk around the “sights” to stretch their legs & wake up a bit, this hotel is not the best location. Hotel Pullman Paris Eiffel Tower would have been a better fit.

The Creativity was built in 2009 & has a maximum capacity of 138 passengers. On this trip, we had 104 passengers. It has 3 decks of staterooms, with a sky deck on 4. The lounge/bar, reception, cruise director’s desk & public computer areas are on the entrance deck, between decks 2 & 3 at the front end of the ship. The dining room is also at the front end of the ship, but between decks 1 & 2. The smaller lounge, where the coffee machine & snacks are, is a quiet area & at the back of the ship on deck 3, next to the hair salon. The small, very small gym, with a treadmill, a recumbent bike & a few light dumbbells is on deck 1, by the stairway up to the dining room. The public areas on the ship were generally very clean & maintained.

In June/16, we had a French balcony stateroom on the Avalon Luminary, but were not in our room as much as we thought we would be, as such, on this trip we decided to try an outside cabin. As outlined in the Avalon literature, all room features & amenities are the same, save for the suite size, the balcony vs. the windows choices. On this trip we were in our room for about the same amount of time as aforementioned. As such, we felt that we got a better bang for our buck, by booking an outside cabin vs. one with a French balcony.

The service received in our stateroom & the dining room, was very good as was the quality of food & its presentation. Yvette, our cruise director was knowledgeable & well organised. The officers, wait staff, room stewards & crew were friendly & courteous. The Captain & Hotel Manager were always present seeing us off & on the ship when going & returning from excursions. I was impressed with the Captain pitching in removing railings & moving things on the sky deck as the ship was approaching a low bridge.

The included & optional excursions are subjective, but in our opinion, were very good. The same goes for the on board entertainment. We had 2 after dinner shows, a singer who was very good & of course a show put on by the crew which was funny. We also had local crepe chef & a very good D-Day speaker.

For most, if not all 1st timers, like ourselves to Paris, the 1st must see from a distance or up close & personal is the Eiffel Tower. As such upon on arrival to our assembly point, the Pullman Hotel Montparnasse, we saw & photographed the tower from afar, knowing that we will be up close & personal to it very soon.

We had 2 hi-lites on Day 2 of our cruise. They were the included the morning visits to Monet’s house & gardens in Giverny & sailing to Les Andelys for an afternoon visit to the Chateau Gaillard. The latter being a fortress built by King Richard the Lionheart. Be aware that the hike to the fortress is strenuous, but great for working off all the caloric intakes! Both sites have great photo ops.

We were in Caudebec for Days 3 & 4. On Day 3, a short drive from Caudebec, we did the “Abbey Route”, which once had more than 100 abbeys in the area. We visited the Jumieges Abbey, a 7th century ruin & the Fontenelle Abbey, a working monastery before heading back to the ship for lunch. Both of these abbeys have great, but different architecture & provides for great photo ops. There are chairs sporadically placed on the Jumieges grounds to rest & enjoy the tranquil setting. Following lunch, we explored Caudebec. It should be noted that the shops here close for lunch between 12 PM – 2 PM.

Day 4 was a full day excursion of either the Normandy Landing Beaches or the Taste of Normandy which includes visits to the famous Bayeux Tapestry, a distillery where a local specialty, Calvados, a strong apple brandy is produced & lunch at the quaint little town of Beuvron en Auge. We opted for the latter tour & very much enjoyed the Bayeux Tapestry & exploring this small town. We heard from other guests that the visits to the Landing Beaches were very well done.

On Day 5, we visited Rouen, the capital of the Normandy region. Aside from the shopping, Rouen is best known for where Joan of Arc lived & was burned at the stakes. Amongst other things you’ll find a 14th century astronomical clock, the cathedral which was the subject of a series of Monet’s paintings & a unique looking Joan of Arc church with an adjacent farmers’ market, selling fresh produces, cheeses, fish & meats.

In the AM of Day 6 we were in Conflans & about a 30 minutes drive away, we visited Josephine & Napoleon Bonaparte’s, Chateau de Malmaison. This was where Napoleon stayed prior to his exile. A very well put together museum. We were back on the ship for lunch & getting ready for our sailing to Paris. Conflans is a working port with lots of barges & docked by our ship was “Je Sers”, a Catholic Church on a barge. Onto Paris! We arrived around 5 PM to rain, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. After dinner we went on an optional “City of Lights”, night bus tour of Paris. Although it started with light rain, it stopped while we were at the Eiffel Tower. The tower did not disappoint, especially when lit up at night with its glimmering/sparkling light show. Note, the light show starts around 5 minutes after each hour on the hour.

Day 7 began with an included walking tour of Ile St. Louis & Ile de la Cite, two natural islands on the Seine River connected to Paris by bridges & then to the centre of Paris and home to the grand-daddy of all cathedrals, the Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral has great architecture & stained windows. A great place to photograph & be photographed. After lunch on our ship, we walked off our calories, by strolling along the waterfront, about 15 minutes, for an up close and personal meeting with the Eiffel Tower.

Day 8 we said “au revoir” to Paris, until we meet again.

Another great cruise on Avalon.

I know the Viking cruises depart from the Seine but I don't know exactly where the docks are. Could someone let me know; RE: side of the river, etc? Also, are there any suggestions on a convenient/appropriate hotel to stay in? Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

We just returned from an Avalon Paris to Normandy's Landing Beaches cruise & where the Avalon Creativity docked was right infront of a small portable office bearing a Viking Cruises signage. The dock was just infront of the Statue of Liberty, next to a bridge called the Pont de Grenelle, a half a mile or so South-West of the Eiffel Tower. There did not appear to have any activity in that office, but I didn't go in either.

The Creativity was docked here when we embarked & was where we returned to disembark.