doreen22

Have put a cabin on hold for the November 11th, 2013 sailing (land package starts Nov. 5th. ) Anyone on this sailing? Looking at either flying Cathay Pacific from Toronto with a layover in Hong Kong, or Korean Airlines with a layover in Seoul. Cathay Pacific departs at 1:25 am and is one of the few flights that arrive in Hanoi in the morning rather than in the evening, giving us 3/4 of a day there On our day of arrival. Any advice from any of you who have flown these airlines?

Thanks.

We flew Korean Airlines from Saigon and it was excellent. We would have had a layover of 12 hours in Seoul so instead we chose to do the KAL Seoul Stopover which actually worked really well. We took the KAL limo to our Seoul hotel, then had the morning to wander around before our flight home. Was a nice break, for not a bad price.

Not that it makes any difference, but which airline did AMA use for the inclusive package air between Hanoi and Seam Reap? Vietnam Airlines or ??

 

And was it on a regularly scheduled flight or charter for the group?

It was on Vietnam Airlines. As I am a nervous flyer I had checked out their safety record prior to booking:D. So on boarding the plane I was dismayed to see that it was Air Cambodia - must have been a code share...however the flight was all good.

Susan

Thank you everyone for your prompt and valuable input. Based on the feedback, it sounds like everyone is definitely recommending the cruise part of the AMA trip, with a variety of recommended options for the land portion. Now a bit concerned about the weather in Halong Bay mid November. Wondering about other people's experiences regarding the junk boat in Halong Bay at that time of year.

Thanks.

We went mid November and had great weather aboard the junk. We were sitting up top with shorts in the evening - can't remember what time- but it was dark. Foggy in the morning -which made for mystical looking pictures....don't be concerned:).

Yes we brought 2 books to give the Hanoi kids- one of them was a book about our area, the other was an autobiography set around here- the more "touristy" book was the favorite.

We were on the Amalotus last November, and my husband had severe stomach pains for 24 hours-it was towards the end of the cruise (as we docked at Phnomn Penh). Quite a few others had it around this same day.

Still not sure if it was food or caught from someone onboard.

Susan

Hi, If you are thinking about guides in Hanoi check out Hanoi Kids on Trip Advisor etc. We used them last year and they were great! They will not accept money but we brought gifts for them. We had a wonderful day with Hanoi Kids!.

Susan

some have mentioned this in past,,,know what to avoid,,but on ship too??Like uncooked items??salad,,fruit?? Was thinking of taking antibiotics to avoid...know its a risk.

 

Seems most posts say they have to take the bus ride due to lake levels...will just assume thats the case,,then be surprised if not..haha.

 

Did you get guides in Hanoi,,or take just inc.tours?? How is the dress at nite,,casual(like capris..or slacks??) We have cabin on 2nd deck..so should be fine...ANY DETAILS you can think of would REALLY be appreciated...we go Dec.24.

 

Thanks so much for update,,feel MUCH better ..sounds like we made a good choice,,,eh???:)

Swamp1 -

 

You posted, "Freddie's original and plaintive post, 'Where do you go when you've been everywhere?' broke my heart." Perhaps if you had bothered to read the post, you would have discovered that the thread was started by MomC, not by me. That was not my title; and my response, like many on that thread, suggested that she consider traveling to less common destinations, such as the Antarctic, the Galapagos, or the Black Sea. I am not sure which part of my post was "plaintive". It may have been my lack of political comment or philosophical reflection that rendered my post as such. ;)

 

Like other posters, I would "respectfully" remind you that this is a forum for discussions regarding cruising - the name "Cruise Critic" might provide a hint about that purpose. Otherwise, a quick reading of the Guidelines might be useful. Perhaps the teacher in you might allow us to discuss those aspect of cruising that we choose to discuss, including things that seem trivial to you.

 

Oh, back to non-political river cruising: Denmom - We obtained our Cambodian visas online. It was quite easy; and the e-visa check-in process at Siem Reap airport went entirely smoothly. We made several color copies of the e-visa and trimmed one of them to the size to fit into our passports. Your hotel or tour agency in Vietnam can provide you with a visa authorization letter that allows you to obtain your visa for Vietnam at the airport in Hanoi. Be sure that you request a multi-entry visa.

 

By the way, Amalotus carries 120 pax, rather than 175. Even though that is a bit more than the 90 pax on our boat, La Marguerite, it is not likely to overwhelm a small town like the arrival of large cruise ships would. Our adventure with the ox carts, as with the pedicabs, went quite smoothly.

 

Cheers, Fred

Fred, I remember your great sense of humor from your postings before our cruises last year - and how much I enjoyed your writings and insightful comments!

Denmom, I am trying to think of some helpful hints for you. We were impressed with AMA's organization of all the excursions. I do remember having a little trouble getting up onto the last rickshaw ( I think it was called a trishaw). They had a step which helped at the start, but not at the stops and I am fit but quite short! I am sure the driver would assist if needed though. Speaking of the drivers my husband got quite a kick out of these last rickshaw drivers. No sooner had we tipped them,then a number of them found a shady spot, plunked down a cloth, and started playing poker with our tips!

If you would like to borrow DVD's or books onboard I would advise that if you "snooze you lose"...I suspect a lot of people headed right for the library as soon as they boarded, as the pickings were slim by the time we got there.

Also on the Amalotus, during the delightful Khmer kids concert, we were in the second or third row and could hardly see, so I would suggest going early and getting front row seats. (The next night they had the crew presentation so we thought we would be smart and get front row seats- forgetting that naturally we would be first choice to be picked to get up and dance with them!).

Anyhow must get back to work, so that's it for now.

Susan

Thank you for replying. I have been very surprised at the lack of awareness and down right shallowness of some of these posts. Over 50,000 Americans died over there.!They deserve a passing thought.

We are Canadians who were on this river cruise in November and we definitely gave much more than a passing thought to all the Americans and Vietnamese and other nationalities who died over there. Since I have been home I have read a number of books on both Vietnam and Cambodia ( I knew almost nothing about the Khmer Rouge atrocities previously except that they had occurred).

The fact that I have never mentioned the war in my posts on this board is not due to a lack of awareness but rather due to my impression that this is not the appropriate forum for such posts.

Susan

Thanks, guys, that's what I thought. No big deal, except I'll miss that fan! So you went in November also? How was the weather? I imagine Hanoi could be pretty chilly, but how hot was it elsewhere? I'm hoping to pack as little as possible, but with two different climates, it might be difficult.

The weather was hot, even in Hanoi. I remember laughing at the Hanoi kids on the tour we booked with them as they were in jeans and we were in shorts and still hot. Keep in mind I am Canadian so it doesn't take much to feel hot to me! The only time it rained was in Saigon when we had a monsoon like storm one aftenoon- we were luckily under cover.

We had a stopover in Korea on the way back and that was the only time I wore a jacket.

Ed which cruise are you taking with AMA this year? We are doing a Mediterannean ocean cruise this September with our friends. I am going to miss all the free beer on AMA:D.

Susan

We sailed on the AMALotus last Nov., and didn't have any window seats-that might have been only in the suites, and we were on the main deck. Only had a small balcony, just enough for a chair, but we didn't sit out there anyway-too warm. Just used the balcony to take pictures. And no antique fans. But nothing about no paper down the toilets, and had no problem.

Hi Ed,

On our bathroom wall, there was a notice about no paper down the toilets- we ignored it and had no problems.

As you mentioned, we didn't use our balcony, but did enjoy sitting by the window with the little table and chair (s).

It sure was a great trip!

Susan

Thanks for the info. We did apply for the VOA, and got a email letter from the Immigration Dept approving our application. Interestingly, the letter included multiple approvals for numerous applicants of various nationalities. Our names were No.'s 26 &27 on the list. I assumed the letters would be individualized.

 

A couple of other questions:

 

1) AMA wants $60 per person for R/T airport transfers (Hanoi airport to Sofitel Metropole, and Sofitel Saigon Plaza to airport). How does this compare to other options (taxis, private cars, etc.)?

 

2) What types of clothing are considered appropriate for the land excursions? Specifically, are shorts acceptable for men and/or women? We don't want to offend local sensibilities. Any special dress consideration for temples?

 

We are really looking forward to this trip!

We reserved Hanoi Airport Transfer, the driver was waiting with a sign, (along with about 50 other drivers/signs). The cost was $20.00 from the airport to our hotel (around the corner from the Sofitel). Worked out well, though the driver was very aggressive- I closed my eyes, mind you that was my first glimpse of Hanoi traffic! We took a cab in Saigon to the airpor from the Sofitel-I can't remember for sure how much it was- about $15.00.

Susan

Alexandra, We had reserved Hanoi Transfers from the airport, it was $18.00US...the guy was waiting with our name on a sign after we got our luggage so that worked well. (There was actually a ton of men waiting with signs!).

susan

We've just returned from our marvelous adventure in S.E. Asia, including an excellent cruise on La Marguerite from Siem Reap to Saigon. I will post more observations later; but we are at present concerned with inquiring about the one element of our cruise that was far less than excellent - that is, the extremely noisy dining room, particularly at dinner.

 

On most evenings, it was simply impossible to converse with anyone other than the person on one's immediate left or right. The others at our usual table for six were pretty much hors de combat (or at least hors de conversation).

 

We are wondering whether this unpleasant phenomenon is due to the basic design of the dining room or rather may have been related to the presence of a large group of passengers from Oz who were on an APT tour and were exceptionally loud and raucous in all venues on the boat. It appears that, since APT is a part-owner of AMAwaterways, people on APT tours sometimes have a rather insensitive sense of entitlement. That dynamic was reported by several passengers on AMA cruises in Russia this past summer, as well.

 

In any event, I would invite (indeed, implore) responses on this matter from anyone who has recently cruised on La Marguerite or AmaLotus on a full boat. We intend fully to enthusiastically recommend the AMA Mekong River cruises to anyone who asks our opinion, but wish to have a better sense of the necessity to warn potential passengers of the likelihood of a dining room din. Our "Bible" on AMA Mekong River cruising, the wonderful review of 2Flt, does not mention dining room noise as a problem.

 

Please understand that we would not tell people not to take this cruise because of this issue; but we were delighted to be able to have dinner off the boat on the two evenings we were in Phnom Penh, simply to have a quiet, peaceful dinner experience.

 

BTW, we found the food offered at dinner on the boat to be quite good and did not choose to dine in town in PP because of the food offerings on the boat.

 

Thanking you in advance for your observations on this issue, Cheers, Fred

Hi Freddie,

On our recent cruise on the Amalotus we did not notice the dining room to be especially noisy.

We usually sat at a table for 4 but never had any problems. The group from APT numbered about 30 I would guess, and on the last night they all sat together at a long table quite near us. They were a nice, friendly bunch and did not seem overly loud.

Susan

lol lol lol I will have to give you the short version of our "in transit" story. lol We walked thru the wrong door and cost us $18 a piece to go back thru the door. We learned our lesson to not believe the airlines people and to read the signs thoroughly. lol I most definitely would hate to put out this much money on the trip and lose it so a little bit of a worry. Also, we have never been on a river cruise. I am worried about everything. lol I am a picky eater, now after reading all this post, worry about getting sick, worry about what to pack since I am hearing it is super hot - well, yes, I do worry. lol lol lol

 

But before that - I need to get hotel for the Disney cruise and shuttle so will figure out the Vietnam/Cambodia visas in February or March. lol

Lol, I am a big worrier too, I think because I planned the whole trip , as well as shuttle arrangements, Hanoi kids, Zoom, Korea Stopover etc. etc. I wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch and it did!

Only thing that went wrong, (except for dh being sick for a few days), was I lost a good book on the flight over.

On another note here's a little story from our recent trip:

On our AMA Danube river cruise in May 2010 we met 2 couples with whom we hung around/ate dinner etc. ..then when the cruise was over we exchanged emails and agreed to keep in touch, but we never did.

Just last month, in the elevator of the Sofitel in Hanoi, guess who we met! One of the couples from our Danube cruise, they were on our same Amalotus cruise. It was great to see them, and now we figure we absolutely must stay in touch!

Susan

Just wondering - when you say that you have the cruise director handle the Cambodia visas, is that because you are on the land tour with AMA also?

 

I am on my own land package as we wanted to have more days in Hanoi and days on the end in Saigon. So I don't think we will see the CD until we actually get onto the river cruise.

 

Thanks in advance

Yes, I forgot that it would have been done by the CD only for those doing the AMA land portion-which was about half of all passengers. I believe those doing only the river portion met up with us in the lounge at the Sofitel Siem Reap-a beautiful hotel.

Donna, yes we are on the Ruby Sept 15th Venice to Barcelona.

Thanks for all the info. I have my Visa for Viet Nam and wondering if we should get E-Visa for Cambodia. Did you scan your passport picture in to get Evisa? I'm not so good at that.I know when we went to Bali and I think it was Egypt we got Visa at the airport and it just took a couple of minutes. Would love to know how others did it. Thanks

 

Donna

On our recent trip with AMA (Nov 15) almost everybody had our cruise director handle the Cambodian visas....we just gave him our passport size photos and $20.00 each. Worked really well and sure was simple!

Susan

Does anyone have any recommendations for private tour companies in Vietnam or Bangkok? Many thanks.

We recently on November 29th, had a great tour with Zoom. We were on an AMA River Cruise and had a free day in Saigon, so based on Cruise Critic reviews, I had booked Zoom. He was always very responsive in replying to my emails and met us promptly at our hotel. We had arranged a morning tour of the Cuchi tunnels with an afternoon City tour. Zoom quickly realized that we were very interested in recent history, and so we, happily, spent a lot of time exploring the tunnels. For lunch, he took us to Pho 2000 for delicious soup , after which we went to the War Remnants museum, and then coffee at the Rex Hotel. The car he had arranged was very comfortable, and the driver drove well, it was so nice to be driven from place to place- especially when it started to rain very hard for a very long time! Zoom was enthusiastic and his English was very good-all in all it was a very enjoyable day and I would highly recommend him. An added bonus was that he dropped off a DVD of our day at our hotel.

Susan

Good to hear that your DH only missed a day of excursions. Sheila has recommended taking some preventive meds before the trip, which I had never thought of before, but didn't have a chance to pick anything up before we left. Will have to look into it before the next trip.

 

As for the walking pace, it was slow, and some cruises have slow and fast groups, but not this time. But with the listening devices (when they worked), you can wander around yourself, take pics, or peek/go down some of the alleys and still listen to the commentary, so it really was fast enough. Also, most of the time you're walking thru very narrow and crowded alleys with lots to see, so you really can't go very fast.

 

There is one thing about AMA that disturbed me. I don't know if you liked the breads, but I thought they were rather poor, and usually old and stale. I thought that with the French influence the bread would be great. But the disturbing part is that one group pointedly said that they had paid for expensive suites, and why were they being given stale bread? Their bread basket was immediately replaced with fresh bread. They also had a reserved table, which was not supposed to be allowed, but didn't bother us since we enjoyed sitting w/different people. But the discrimination w/food based on cabin class was a bit much.

 

Also, have to compliment 2Fltravelers for a thorough, accurate, and well done review. Used it throughout the trip and found it, along w/other CC comments very helpful.

Yes, we too found the breads poor,and another area where the Amalegro far surpassed the Amalotus was in the desserts. Except for my birthday cake which was very good, I found the other cake-like desserts dry and stale-so I stuck to ice cream which was excellent. The soups were also very good on the Amalotus.

I saw one cruiser complaining about the reserved table which was sitting unused and was the only window table left for breakfast....

Another area where AMA needs to improve on imho is the voice boxes/batteries. Even our guides suggested we should "throw them in the river" or at least comment on how poor they were on our comment sheet.

In many cases the batteries seemed to last less than half an hour.

On the whole though it was a great holiday and my criticisms etc. are very minor in the scope of things.

Susan

Doreen,,I also booked the AMAlotus,,,ex.for being a little loud at nite,,sounds good...

Did you book your own air,,or AMA? Got a quote from them,,,but will check out later when fares come out for next Dec.

Re..your DH sickness,,,did he take any meds ahead of time,,like some have said??Think I may get RX and be on safe side...

Good suggestion re.being active tour,,,from brochure you can t really tell,,but sounds good to me..the slower pace during walking may be a problem...both DH and I are FAST walkers and being from FL..the heat and humidity won t be a problem..just like home..

Good news re Cambodian visa,,,will just get Vietnam one ahead of time,,and take extra passport photo along..got a few guidebooks and will read up...thanks again,,:)

We booked our own air, gives more flexibility etc...we also booked our own transfers, used Hanoi Airport transfer on arrival as we arrived about 10:30 pm and was nervous about cabs at that time of night. This worked well other than the driver was very agressive, and with the chaos of Hanoi traffic I did wonder if I would live to see another day! We just took a cab from our hotel in Saigon to the airport-was very cheap.

DH didn't have any antibiotics, in hindsight this might have helped! DH found the walking pace slow..would have liked a little more exercise!

There was a small fitness room on board, I meant to use it, but never did lol.

Susan

Bob:

Thanks for your reply. Just got back from our trip, and thought I'd provide a few up-to-date comments.

 

Many persons on our cruise got sick, but fortunately it was usually only for a day or two, and they would just skip an excursion and rest on the ship. Think AMA has to look into this problem and see if they can do something-it seems to be much to common an occurrence. They do put hand sanitizer on everyone's hands before they enter the dining room, but that doesn't seem to enough. There were some bugs (mostly small gnats) in the dining room and saw some on the food, which may add to the problem.

 

Another problem that occurred was a bag snatching-and this was from one of the local guides! His shoulder bag was grabbed by someone on a high speed motor bike. So watch your bags and cameras, and don't carry too money/valuables in one bag/pocket.

 

We also had a problem w/a cab in HCMC. It was raining hard one day, and we jumped into the 1st available cab-mistake! They warn you to just use recommended cab companies (the hotels will provide you w/some names). The first thing I noticed was that the meter seemed to go a lot faster then on our previous cab rides. Then when our very friendly driver pointed out some sights for us to see (to distract our attention), the meter reading suddenly doubled! When we got to our stop, the cost was about $10, about 3 or 4 times what the trip should of cost. I told the driver that the meter wasn't correct, but he demanded the $10, or about 150,000 dong. I told him no, that was too much, but he insisted. I got everyone out of the cab while I was arguing, and finally put $5 in his hands and told him that's all I was giving him. He was still complaining when I slammed the door and left. It was still about double what it should have cost so it was enough to make him just leave. Most rides around town were only about $2 to $4. We took a cab from the hotel to the airport for only $7.

 

There have been some questions about visas. We used a visa on arrival service, and it worked out well. A little line at Hanoi immigration, but they diverted some of us to another line they set up to process the paper work, and then called us to the cashier when visa was ready. Visa fee was $50, cash. Took about 10-15 minutes. There is an application for visa form that you can download from the visa service to present (with your picture) and the approval letter that they will send you. The Cambodia visa can be taken care of by AMA. They collected our passports, $20, and picture and took care of the processing. If you didn't have your picture, it would cost another $5.

 

There has been some concern about baggage on the Hanoi-Siem Reap leg. It didn't seem to be a problem w/our group. AMA took all of our bags and checked them all in at once, so don't think it would matter if someone had more then 2 bags as long as total was ok. Although overweight bags may be a problem, and AMA may have a handling fee for extra bags. Think the better idea is to go light, and buy anything you leave out there. Things are very reasonable, and you can can help out a very poor local economy!

 

Met Susan (Doreen22) on the trip, but we were in different groups so didn't have a chance to talk to her much to compare notes, but notice she has been posting, so I'm sure she will be adding her comments. AMA split us up into small groups of about 20+ each, which made it much better for our excursions and bus rides.

 

Although we had some problems on this trip, it was an enjoyable one and don't regret going. Isn't this why we travel, to have an adventure? Ha Long Bay is exceptional, and Angkor Wat is not to be missed. AMA overall did a good job and the hotels were excellent.

Hi Ed, Glad you got back safely! We arrived home yesterday afternoon and I have to work today, yuk!

As I have to jump right into Christmas shopping etc. I thought I had better post a few thoughts while the trip (Amalotus Nov 15) is so fresh in my mind.

All in all it was a great trip! My dh was one of those with the intestinal problems- he was very sick for one full day and missed all the excursions-for the next 2 days he wasn't feeling great but was able to go on the excursions. I would estimate well over 50% on the boat had some kind of stomach problem and I do think AMA should do a better job with the hand sanitizer-they always had it on the counter as you walked into the restaurant but did not always pump it into your hand -so many people missed applying it.

More thoughts (in no particular order).

-We took the Amalegro on the Danube last year so I cannot help but compare the 2 trips. I do think the Amalegro was more luxurous than the Amalotus-but the Amalotus was good. I am not a good sleeper and we both found it more difficult to sleep on the Amalotus-seemed quite a bit noisier than the Amalegro. Our service on the Amalotus surpassed the Amalegro-we always made sure we got Angela and Michael as our servers- and they were very speedy, efficient, and friendly..on occasion they were almost too speedy, but can't complain about that!

As I previously mentioned I would not recommend getting a porthole, not only was the lack of light complained about, but apparently, the little bugs were much worse down there. The crew sprayed, and one passenger mentioned she had 15 dead bugs on her pillow.

Imho, the shore excursions on the Amalotus surpassed those on the Amalegro. I loved that we were able to get right into local life, sometimes going through people's muddy yards to and from the boat, sometimes having to climb muddy banks to get up into the village. At no time did we feel unsafe but one did get the feeling that we were on an adventure. Often we (our boat) were the only tourists around-I doubt that will be the case in a few years.

-The trip was busy, don't choose this itinerary if you want to relax. Though you could opt out of the excursions not many people did-they are included in the price and the main reason why one books this trip. Also one needs to be fairly physically fit-though the pace of walking was slow (a good thing as it was so hot and humid)-one needs to be able to get on and off the rickshaws, tenders etc.

-As Ed said Halong Bay and Angkor Watt were amazing. I am really glad we used the AMA land portion rather than doing it on our own. Yes it is pricey but I loved staying in the 3 Sofitel hotels- the Sofitel in Siem Reap was probably the nicest hotel I will ever be in- and I doubt I would have booked these had I been booking on my own. We did stay one night on our own in Hanoi at the Conifer (just around the corner from the Sofitel) and while the rooms are small it had a nice balcony and a decent restaurant and was a good choice for our extra night. We used Hanoi kids in Hanoi and Zoom in HCMC and both were great tours..

-In HCMC we ate at Ngon restaurant-( I could dig up the address if anyone would like it)-this was a very good choice-inexpensive and crammed full of locals. We also ate at the Lemon Grass which was also good but as many tourists as locals. Zoom also took us to Pho 2000 (Bill Clinton ate there) -was a fairly basic place, inexpensive and good soup!

In Hanoi Highway 4 was the restaurant chosen by the Hanoi Kids and was an excellent choice - we ate there twice- we also liked Quan An Ngon-went there for lunch-incredibly busy but we were shown how to make spring rolls and treated very well. One place I would not recommed is the Opera House near the Sofitel in Hanoi- we went there for dinner- the price for 2 beers, 2 very little bowls of soup and 2 little spring rolls was $27.00 US-my dh was not pleased!

-We flew Korean Air and I would highly recommend them. We would have had to lay over 12 hours in Seoul waiting for our connection to Vancouver so we chose the Seoul stopover- paid $200 and this included the hotel, KAL Limousine, breakfast, and city tour. It was a very good choice for us as broke up the trip and we managed to get a good night sleep before the last leg of our journey.

Well I am off to work now, but would be happy to answer any questions.

Susan

contact info,,,re..above questions,,did you also not use balcony or ask for extra chair?? Now,,I m wondering if its worth it,,,if not able to keep open due to bugs,,and too small to really use?

Same experience,,I assume re buses,,,I m a RN and DH is a Dr.,,,so I guess Im always concerned about bodily functions and illness,,,haha,,sorry,,,have had a few experiences were buses had to stop on road for sick passengers,,like Egypt,,,even one when person threw up all over floor,,whew...guess we attract these??Even on planes,,,if they ask "is there a Dr.onboard"...tempted to hide now,,,we ve had 1 heart attack and one labor,,,luckily she waited to deliver...

 

Guess we will bring some RX to stop any digestive probs,,to be on safe side...booked this for next Dec..maybe you can give review of YOUR trip when you return,,,love all details...:)

I would recommend a balcony, people with the portholes are complaining about the lack of light etc. Will write more on return.

and above poster said balcony only has table and chair,,,can you take a chair,,or get one,,,to replace table,,so 2 can sit??Also,re Hanoi Kids,,,did you take this tour with them AND one from AMA,,,how do I contact them...Re..tour operator mentioned,,,Zoom...same questions??Also,,you mentioned stomach bug,,did you take RX before?Seems most people get one,,Also,,can you keep balcony door open for fresh air,,or will mosquitos,or safety,,be a problem??Last,,on buses,,is emergency toilet onboard,,for those with digestive problems,,could be very uncomfortable??? Thanks in advance...

We did take the Hanoi Kids as well as AMA tour and this worked well, other than we toured with HKids on Monday when everything was closed. We are also touring with Zoom - I can dig up his contact info.

Susan

Thanks for all the tips from return cruisers. Will be on Amalotus for Xmas cruise. Leave in three weeks. Doing 2 nights with Paradise Cruises on Halong Bay. From your advise, have a day tour booked with Hanoikids in Hanoi, and have taken note of recommended restruants.

Excited Aussie.

We are presently on the Amalotus in Phnom Penh, great cruise, though dh has a stomach bug today, and lots of people have colds. Weather is great, though hot. Service is wondeful we were surprised that all beer is free, we thought it was only free with meals. Local tour guides are excellent and we are really enjoying seeing the local life before the area is inundated with tourists. Internet is good here, but has been almost unavailable until now ( we boarded Monday). We toured with Hanoi Kids -really good! The Hanoi traffic is amazing though the only traffic accident we saw was in Siem Reap.

Susan

We are at Tan Chou today, after passing through a VN Visa check on the river. AMA previously collected passports and handled this for passengers.

Visa issues caused problems during the trip for just a few of the 105 land/cruise passengers. The problems were: 1) A multiple VN Visa upon first entry or perhaps check at Hanoi airport departing for Siem Reap was marked "used" in error. This translated into a completed VN visit. This would cause a problem when entering VN from the Mekong River. So, you need to check when your passport is returned from a checkpoint and you are not leaving VN for the final time, that it is NOT marked "used." If so, you need to return to the security desk. 2) A single entry Visa was issued for VN instead of a multiple entry - even though the passenger recalled purchasing a multiple entry visa from CVS. 3) A looseleaf VN Visa somehow was not returned to the passenger after the security check in Hanoi, departing for Siem Reap. Thus, the passenger no longer had a VN Visa in possession.

 

All these issues can be resolved, but generally will cost the passport holder. #2 can be checked before you travel, #1 and #3 can be confirmed as you travel.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up Bob... we should be good for 1 and 2 (our Visa is embedded in our passport) but we will defiinitely check for #1 which we would never have known to do.

Hope you are having a wonderful cruise!

Susan

Hi EKML.

I am really excited, hard to sleep, we fly out Saturday too, only a few things left on the "to do" list.

See you soon!

PS ..my name is actually Susan...confusing I know.

Susan (aka as Doreen)

As we were leaving Ha Long Bay, our tour director collected in a very large personalized zip lock bags all liquid containers by cabin. This included liquids (deet, etc) that were in large bottles. AMA arranged for the tour director to place all 100 or so bags in a larger bag and pass them through security without problem. This was a nice touch and avoided having to access and repack the check-in bags which would have taken a long time for everyone.

 

Free wine, beer and sodas are available on the AMALotus. Mixed drinks on the AMALotus are about $7.50 each. The wine is ok and you can purchase bottles as well. A fellow traveler picked up a gin bottle and was able to bring it on board.

 

Bob

Thanks so much Bob, you are the best!