terry&mike

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.

I don't know if it will be of any assistance, given I am American and you are Canadian, but I posted some information on this thread on the Asia board on Visas.

As a follow up, I did find a travel operator who will issue an Approval Letter for $70 per person. They require you to book the transfer on each of the trip, and the first and last nights hotel stay with them; those rates are reasonable. You use this Approval Letter to obtain your visa. If someone wants to go that route they are vietvisiontravel.com

I have been going down this rabbit hole for many days now, and have been in touch with local tour operators and providers in Vietnam, Visa service companies, and the Vietnam Embassy in both Washington, DC and Houston, and here is what I have found. I am posting it in case it helps someone else, but things could change and your mileage may vary. I am a US citizen, with a US passport. We last visited Vietnam in January, 2020, and we will be back in December, 2022-January, 2023. First, it depends on which direction you are sailing the Mekong, north to south, Cambodia towards Vietnam, or south to north, Vietnam towards Cambodia. On one you are entering Vietnam by air and Cambodia by land port, on the other you are entering Cambodia by air and Vietnam by land port (I know it is the river, but the border control office you will need is on the actual land itself nearby). Next it depends on if you are entering Vietnam multiple times, or a single time. Many of the itineraries call for 2 entries into Vietnam on your trip, which is what mine is. It is worth noting that the eVisa and the Visa On Arrival (VOA) are slightly different, and you can read about the differences on the Houston Embassy site. Our itinerary is as follows. Fly in to Hanoi, Vietnam, time there, then on to Halong Bay/Lan Ha Bay for a couple days, then on to Hoi An for a few days. We will fly from DaNang, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia. After a few days in Siem Reap, we will board the river cruise and sail southbound, in the direction of Vietnam. We will cross into Vietnam using the Song Tien land port. Continue on to Ho Chi Minh City, and then fly out from there. Since Covid, Vietnam is no longer issuing Multi-Entry Visas to independent travelers. To obtain a Multi-Entry Visa for Tourism, you would first need to obtain an Approval Letter from the Department of Immigration, which is produced by a local travel agency in Vietnam, or a Visa service company. Although there are many of these companies online offering to provide this letter for a fee, my Hanoi hotel also has information on this letter service on their web site, they are all telling me that since Covid they are no longer providing this letter, and that a Single Entry 30 Day Tourist Visa is all that is currently available for my type of trip. The work around is that I will need to obtain 2 single entry eVisas for Vietnam, which sounds insane to me, but has been verified in writing by the Vietnam Embassies. As a local Vietnam guide who I have known since 2020 said in reference to this, "Yes, it is a crazy country". Here is how mine will work - Vietnam eVisas, apply directly at https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/trang-chu-ttdt , cost is $25 per person, per Visa, turn around time is 2-3 business days. Need to upload passport information page, and 2x2" passport photo, white background, no glasses, use 400x600 pixels. eVisa will arrive via email. Can be obtained as far as 6 months in advance. Be careful of your date of entry and entry place, as you cannot enter sooner than your date of entry you put on your Visa (but you can enter later than your date of entry you put on your Visa), and you cannot alter your entry place. Once you enter, the Visa clock starts ticking and you can stay for up to 30 days. I have listed all of the different ways that my entry/exit points could appear on the Visa, as different authorities call them different names, and I want to easily be able to recognize which name I need to select. Vietnam eVisa 1 - enter Vietnam through HAN Hanoi Airport/Noi Bai International Airport/SBQT Noi Bai on Thursday, December 22. Exit Vietnam through DAD DaNang Airport/4 SBQT Da Nang on Friday, December 30 - but I will use the exit date of Saturday, December 31, if a exit date is required, in case of flight delays/interruptions. Vietnam eVisa 2 - enter Vietnam through 21 Song Tien/Song Tien Landport, which is the port for the crossing area we will take sailing from Cambodia down towards Vietnam, on Saturday, January 7; I will use Friday, January 6 for the entry date on this eVisa, in case the river cruise alters it itinerary. Again, you can enter Vietnam on the date you chose for the start of your Visa or on a later date, but you cannot enter on an earlier date. Exit Vietnam through Ho Chi Minh Airport SGN/8 SBQT Tan Son Nhat on Wednesday, January 11 -- but I will use the exit date of Thursday, January 12, if an exit date is required, in case of flight delays/interruptions. The biggest question I have here, and I am waiting for confirmation from the embassy is if I can apply for both Visa 1 and 2 at the same time, will one cancel the other out; or if I apply for Visa 1, wait until I arrive in Cambodia, and then apply for Visa 2. I will let you know the official answer when I receive it. As to my Cambodia Visa, it's a lot more straightforward, as I am entering Cambodia only 1 time, and via an airport. I can use a Single Entry Tourist eVisa. Cambodian eVisa, apply directly at www.evisa.gov.kh , cost is $36 per person, turn around time is up to 3 business days. Visa is only good for 90 days from when you apply, so do not apply earlier than 3 months in advance of your last day in Cambodia. Will need to upload copy of passport information page, and passport style photo, minimum 400x600 pixels, maximum 800x1200 pixels, maximum weight 1MB, in PNG, BMP or JPEG format. Cambodia eVisa - enter Cambodia through REP Siem Reap Airport on Friday, December 30. I will be departing Cambodia on the river cruise, through exit point Kaoam Samnor, Saturday, January 7, but will use Sunday, January 8 for the Visa if they require an exit date, in case something gets changed on the itinerary.

We have on Viking, Uniworld, AMA and Scenic, as well as some private ships of smaller companies, in different places. We are booked for the Mekong for December 2022, and we chose Scenic for this trip. All of the lines I mentioned have given us wonderful trips and experiences, so I don't think you can go wrong, but we found the Scenic experience to be a slightly above all the others in every category. The only thing I will say, that has been said before, is that Scenic admin stuff is difficult, and they can be a pain to work with. But once you get to the ship, oh my, things are wonderful!