TonynSuffolk

This was an engine issue. Unlikely to repeat, I’d hope!

Hi Caroline, yes it was annoying trying to figure out the port but in the end we did come into Ho Chi Minh City right in the centre of town, albeit right at the far end of the port so it took a little effort to get out and could only be done by the shuttle bus. As for other excursions we did a few and I’m sure a number of them are good. We did them all as independent- via Viator, so we paid a lot less than the ship excursions and were the only ones on each tour. Halong Bay is very good but I recommend being careful to book a trip that includes the caves as we did not and it was a little disappointing. Ho Chi Minh City has a number of different things to do, we booked Viator tours and they were both very good – especially the walking food tour. The really good thing about this port is you can walk around the central area quite easily and see many things on your own. Seabourn provide a shuttle bus to Ben Tanh market which was very useful and a good hub to see other places. If you’re adventurous with your food, I recommend the Hawker stalls within this market to get some really good cheap food rather than the restaurants that guides will try to push you to. Shihanoukeville in Cambodia is a very disappointing port and my strong recommendation would be to not waste your money on any of the excursions. You do have to buy a Visa even if you don’t get off the ship so it’s worth getting the free shuttle bus into the market and beach, but other than that do not pay any money for any other tours. Which brings us to Bangkok, which unfortunately is a 2 to 3 hour drive from the port. Bangkok is an amazing place but I do really have to question whether it’s worth up to 5 hours in a bus or vehicle to have four hours in town. We loved what we did, but I question the cost and the boredom of the five hours drive. Other than doing this long trip, though, there didn’t seem to be much to do from the port, other than visiting the local dive, Pattaya, which, to be fair, we heard from others was worth a trip just to get a look, and there is a pretty good beach there if you’re into beaches. Again Seabourn provide a free shuttle for this trip, so fair play to them. We didn’t make it to Danang due to engine problems, so I can’t comment there, but we were planning to go to Hoi An which I’ve heard is very interesting. As for Singapore, if you have time there, don’t bother with the ferris wheel which was expensive and not very good but the Gardens by the bay, the Merlion, Raffles, the zoo, Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street, and many more places are amazing. We ate exclusively at the Hawker Centre food courts all over Singapore for both lunch and dinner and they were universally excellent if a little frightening if you only like exclusive restaurants! Sing$4 to $6 per dish of amazing Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Singaporean food – the only slight issue being that beer is expensive. The further away from the bays, the cheaper the food and the more authentic – don’t expect to see too many tourists in a lot of these, but loads of locals. Watch out for Bugis Street and the food court behind it. Newton Circus, Satay by the bay, Chinatown and plenty more.

We’re using Viator for all our bookings. For this HCMC tour I’m not actually sure which end operator we are using, off hand.

This direct from Seabourn, via the actual excursion team on the ship - Please see below berth location for Ho Chi Minh. NHA RONG – KHANH HOI Port Cảng NHÀ RỒNG – KHÁNH HỘI Address: 05 Nguyen Tat Thanh Str., District 4, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Số 5, Nguyễn Tất Thành, Quận 4, TP Hồ Chí Minh So, right in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, only 15-20 minutes from the market, the Opera House, the Ho Chi Minh statue and pretty much all the good parts of HCMC. Including just 15 minutes form the Cafe Apartments block. Now, if only we can cross all the roads safely, we're all set! It does make me wonder - how much time are Seabourn wasting by not having this information immediately to hand, for each cruise.

Excellent. I called Seabourn again and they said they still don't know but will ask the Destination team on the actual ship and get back to me. I too have looked at What's in Port, and my first thought was that it confirmed the port was one of the central ports (Nha Hong, Than Tuan or Lotus) but the Vietnam link page is also entitled Phu My! - https://www.whatsinport.com/Vietnam.html - and the link to the calendar similarly only mentions HCMC, not a specific port - https://www.cruisetimetables.com/visitinghochiminhcityvietnam-26jan2024.html So i was still confused. Good that Seabourn have advised this to you, I'll hopefully soon get confirmation. many thanks Tony

Thanks for the replies. I have had some confirmation of sorts from a tour guide group that it does seem to be Tien Sa in Da Nang, which is much closer to Da Nang, so is good (albeit still about 20 minutes drive to Da Nang) As for Ho Chi Minh City, no confirmation other than the same tour guide thinks its one of the city centre river wharfs and NOT Phu My. But I have heard nothing from Seabourn (surprise, surprise! Am I alone in finding Seabourn extremely unresponsive, and having the absolute worst website and app I have seen in 20 years?). I do not quite understand how it can be Phu My for HCMC though, as Seabourn have some quite short excursions - for example an evening 3 hours excursion "Cultural Evening in Saigon" - how can you do a 3 hour show at the Majestic Hotel in central HCMC, then have dinner, and get to and from a port that is 1.5 hours drive away? And another tour says it is a 2 hour drive from the port - but Apple and Google say it is 3 hours from Phu My, but 2 hours from the City centre wharves. Similarly there are two other tours that are 5 hours long (so at most 2 hours on site if travelling from Phu My) which include so many things to do, including lunch in one case, on an excursion that ends at 1.15pm back at the ship. I just cannot see how they can do that all in 2 hours and/or end a tour at 1.15 that includes lunch then a 90 minute drive. Lunch would be at 11am, at the latest, in this scenario. Anyway, I am just rambling now! I guess I'm going to have to hope it's the City Centre piers, or otherwise hope to get a taxi to the city for my 12pm tour on day one, and at 7am on day 2!

Hi all, Does anyone know for sure which terminals/ports the Seabourn Encore stops at in Ho Chi Minh City and in Da Nang? I am looking to set up private tours (which I could share on here?) but cannot seem to figure where the ship docks - is it Phu My in HCMC, or one of the inner City ports? is is Tien Sa or is it Chan May in Da Nang. As I cant even find out from Seabourn themselves, I assume we're all just guessing? Thanks in advance, if anybody knows, Tony