terry&mike

As I know there has been some discussion on Scenic corporate not being efficient in some of the pre-cruise prep recently, I wanted to post our positive experience. We are sailing the Mekong on a program that has 3 nights in Siem Reap at the Raffles Hotel Siem Reap, and 7 nights Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City on the Scenic Spirit. The program starts on December 31, 2022. I contacted Scenic about 2 weeks ago to let them know that this is part of a longer Asia trip for us, and that we are departing the U.S. on December 8, and that we would like our final documents emailed early if possible. I am happy to report that we received our final travel documents with detailed information on meeting points, transfers, and various other details, via email yesterday, November 7, 2022, well ahead of our departure. This will be our second time sailing with Scenic, as we did the 11 day Beautiful Bordeaux sailing with them in October 2021 and had a fabulous time.

I received a resolution on my Chase Sapphire Reserve travel delay claim yesterday, so wanted to post a real time experience. We have carried Chase Sapphire Reserve cards for several years. We love the card and the many benefits that come with it such as Priority Pass Lounges, point accrual, the travel credit, and the insurance coverage (that we hoped never to need). We also buy the Geoblue Trekker Essential annual policy, that we carry for travel insurance coverage of major expenses, that we also hope to never use. On August 4 we had flight delays and cancellations that spilled over into August 5, in trying to get from IAD Dulles Washington to New York LGA. We were trying to board the QM2 for a transatlantic sailing from NY to Southampton UK, departing on the afternoon of August 5. By the time the August 4 flight was finally cancelled at 8:45pm, it was past the time to cancel our NY hotel room, so we lost money on that booking, and had to book a hotel near Dulles for the night. After our rescheduled flight on August 5 got cancelled that morning, we ended up renting a car on August 5 and driving the 5 hours from DC to NY to make the ship on time. United refunded our cancelled flights, and the rental car cost about the same amount, so no loss there. When I returned from our trip, I filed a claim with Chase Sapphire Reserve for trip delay, to see if they would cover anything. I filed the claim on August 30, 2022. There were 4 communications from them requesting additional documents, some of which I provided more than once. On November 7, 2022, I received an email saying that my claim had been resolved, and they were covering the cost of the hotel night in New York that was not refunded. Although I had filed for more (rental car, hotel near Dulles), this resolution is an acceptable one to us, as truly that is all the money we are really out for this delay. So, from filing to resolution, about 10 weeks.

The knives with the bee on the edge are Laguiole, they are a well known and loved knife company from France. DH and I bought a set in the Burgundy region of France more than 20 years ago and still use them.

This strikes me as an excellent time to use Apple Air Tags inside your luggage. That way you can follow your bags along as they travel to meet you.

Will do. Thus far, we have received both of the Vietnam eVisas, one for each entrance date. We have applied for the Cambodian eVisa, and received a pop up that our entry was far in the future (December 30) and they will process it closer to that date. We will be on Scenic, which is the parent company of Emerald. While slightly different, there are some shared features between the brands, so I will try to post my cruise experience. This is part of a longer trip for us, as we will depart the US on December 9 for Thailand.

What an exciting trip you have coming up - I love Oceania! We enjoyed Vietnam so much that we are headed back this December. Last time we were in DaNang, Hoi An, Na Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City. This time we will visit Hanoi, Lan Ha Bay (the less touristy bay next to HaLong Bay), stay for several days in an apartment in Hoi An, and then take a river cruise from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City. And of course, catch up with Xuan Le again!

I have used Xuan Le in Vietnam for myself, and for a group of friends, for multiple tours. There are several posts on CC in reference to how wonderful he is. You won't be disappointed in his services. He does stay booked up though, so may not have availability. www.tourwithxuan.com

I would not worry about the hurricane season issue, ships are great at altering itineraries to avoid major storms when they are a factor. There was shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion. I requested bath soap and was given some from the room steward. I also have sensitive skin and none of the products irritated me. They had a very light scent that was not cloying. We found mask wearing to be "some did, some did not". And we found crew members with hand sanitizer at the entrance to the dining venues. I'm very excited for your cruise. We enjoyed QM2 enough that when we returned we booked again for 2023. We booked a 9 night transatlantic crossing for late September, in an interior cabin that has a small window that looks over the lobby; and then we will stay on the ship and move to a balcony cabin for a 14 night Canada and New England sailing.

We truly enjoyed being up on deck with a glass of champagne, and celebratory travelers, sailing out of NY harbor and by the Statue of Liberty.

In August we sailed Cunard QM2 (7 night crossing) and the Island Princess (16 night Iceland and Greenland) back to back. The differences were significant, with Cunard providing a product we were very happy with (came home and booked for 2023 sailing), and Princess providing a product we were very disappointed with. In the past, we have been big fans of Princess, but going forward we would be hard pressed to book with them again, unless the itinerary was spectacular.

Hubby and I traveled to Israel and Jordan in February of this year, via land, spending a total of about 2 weeks between them, and never had a digestive issue. We were in Egypt in 2018, on a river cruise plus land tour, and also did not become ill. We focus on eating in places that have lots of customers, as the food turnover is high and the reputation is good.

My husband and I toured with Dewa in January 2020, just before Covid. Excellent day, excellent guide.

24 people sounds wonderful! If you have time, I'd love to read any reports or tidbits from your trip as you go along. Wishing you a great journey!

Thank you for this real time report, I appreciate it. I have received our first eVisa, and have applied for our second eVisa which should approve early next week. Song Tien is the border entrance I used for the river cruise portion, so we should be good there. How is your trip going?

Thank you. In theory, this sounds like it will be rather easy sailing (pun intended).

Thank you for that very detailed explanation of how things flowed, I appreciate it and it gives me a good idea of how things will play out.

A few weeks ago, I booked hubby and I on a 14 night Canada and New England sailing for September 2023 on QM2 in a BB Balcony on Deck 11. Ever since I booked this sailing, I have been thinking about adding the sailing directly before this cruise, 9 night transatlantic Hamburg to NYC, and spending a few weeks in Poland and Germany first. Today I was playing around online, and noticed that this transatlantic is nearly sold out, so I decided to go for it and book us on it. As expected, our BB Balcony cabin is not available, as a matter of fact there is very little available, so I booked us in an HB Atrium View Interior on Deck 5. (No worries on having the interior for the transatlantic, as we just sailed a Standard Interior on a transatlantic in August and found it nice.) What I am wondering about, is how the day will play out for us when we change cabins. We have 2 separate bookings, 9 nights in an Interior, Hamburg to NYC. In reading some posts, it appears we will need to fully pack up our stuff (hanging stuff can stay on hangers or not, I see both options online?). Do we leave our bags in our Interior cabin then? I know we have to get off the ship so they can zero it out in NYC, which is fine as we will go enjoy a bit of New York, but I'm thinking we'll have the stuff from our cabin safe with us, so there's that to think of. When we get back on in the afternoon, I'm guessing our bags will be in our new cabin waiting for us, or do we need to facilitate this somehow? I was thinking we'd get off the ship around 10am, and probably back on around 3pm, or is there some time set for guests who are transiting? Hopefully someone has done this before and can give us an idea of how it will work out, timing, tips, etc.

Our Mekong trip with Scenic is in late December, and I will try to post either along the way or soon after I get home, to provide some more content on cruising this area. In booking, I booked the pre- and post- portions on our own, it's a bit more work but saves a lot of money. When booking, also take a look at the cabins themselves to be sure you are comparing apples to apples in price. Scenic's lowest category cabin on the Mekong is a suite with a small living room, which tipped the scale a bit for me, plus it's a line I know I enjoy. Ours is part of a longer trip, where I have mixed and matched tours and independent travel to get a trip that works for us. Fly U.S. to Bangkok in early December, and transfer up to Hua Hin, Thailand for 3 nights (independent) to relax and get over jet lag, and allow for any flight chaos that could ensue. Come back in to Bangkok and next day start a Gate 1 Tour around Thailand for 1.5 weeks. Then back to independent travel for a bit, as we fly on to Hanoi and stay there a couple of nights. Then head over to Lan Ha Bay (the less crowded bay next to Halong Bay) for 2 nights cruise over Christmas. We next fly on to Da Nang, and transfer out to Hoi An where we have taken a tiny villa for 5 nights. We'll fly from there to Siem Reap, Cambodia, have one night on our own, and then join the pre-cruise land portion with Scenic for 3 nights at the Raffles Hotel in Siem Reap and their exciting program there. Then we board the Scenic ship, for a 7 night down river sailing. We leave the Scenic bubble in Ho Chi Minh, have a couple of nights on our own there, and then fly home in mid-January.

Hubby and I both like to travel with 1 carry on size suitcase each (plus a personal bag like a purse/backpack). Our trips are generally about 4 weeks. Like this poster, we have a similar plan that we work. Items that can mix and match, neutrals, limit shoes. I also find for women that throwing in some accessories, like a beautiful scarf, takes up very little room and can change an entire outfit. We usually do some laundry/send out some laundry during the trip.

You will be very pleased with this decision. We used him back in January 2020, just before Covid, for our group of friends, in both Ho Chi Minh and in Hoi An. Xuan is one of the best guides I have ever had, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our days with him. We have kept in touch over the years, and hubby and I hope to be able to get together with him while we are in Vietnam this January.

A true class act, who carried herself with dignity. She will be missed. Sending condolences from the U.S.

Same

Meant to quote you on my post I just made so you'd see it, in regards to dress onboard.

We sailed the QM2 August 5-12, 2022. On formal nights there were several men in tuxedos, and women in full length gowns; there were an equal amount of men in dark suits with dress shirt and tie, and women in cocktail attire. On casual nights, we saw many men in nice slacks or dress pants, paired with button up shirts (no jacket or tie), women mostly in smart casual.

We sailed QM2 August 5-12, 2022, and while there were several tuxedos and full length gowns on the 2 formal nights, there were at least an equal amount of dark suits with dress shirt and tie, and cocktail attire for the ladies. As to the blazer and slacks option, I don't recall if I saw anyone in that style attire on formal nights. I imagine if the double breasted dark blue blazer were of an elegant cut and material, it would suffice.