River cruising in Asia

[lloyd2050]

We are planning to do the Mekong Vietnam,Cambodia river cruise Jan10th2017.

Would appreciate any info to help make our first river cruise a trip to remember. for instance,what to wear,food,best cabin.time of year and any thing else you could think of.Best regards .

[Floridiana]

I'll let you know in March. We are there in February. Our ship is the Ama Lotus. Friends tell me it will be hot.

[Mark_T]

Same here, also February and we are on the Viking Mekong.

 

So you should get some current information from two perspectives quite soon now :)

 

Also there are existing threads on the Mekong, just search for 'Vietnam' or 'Cambodia' and you should get a few hits.

[CJcruzer]

We are planning to do the Mekong Vietnam,Cambodia river cruise Jan10th2017.

Would appreciate any info to help make our first river cruise a trip to remember. for instance,what to wear,food,best cabin.time of year and any thing else you could think of.Best regards .

 

we did this cruise with friends, on AMA La Marguerite, February 2011.

 

here is alink to the review which is posted on CC

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80735

 

hope it helps

 

Carol

[deec]

I would like anyone's research on how you decided between AMA, Viking or Vanatage for this itinerary.

[vada_9]

Did this cruise in 2010 on the Jayavarman (Mekong Explorer) from Heritage line. Back then all the companies basically followed the same itinerary - and think that is still the same - by looking at current brochures etc. We would often be leaving a village and another boat would be pulling in. Were moored next to Le Mageritte in Pnong Penn (think she is leased now). My advice is to see what you get for your money - some include your drinks etc. Our cruise didn't include drinks - there were daily specials , but we had a fridge in our room and it was no problem buying drinks to bring back on board and consume in your room or balcony.

We did some cruising at night and people in the rear cabins said they could hear the noise/vibrations. Also, I beleive that you could smoke on your balcony (would need to check policies) and those cabins aft were affected. We were in a front cabin and could hear the anchor being raised or dropped. You tend not to spend much time in your room so either deck is fine.

It is always hot.

[vada_9]

some extra info - have shoes that are easily removed (thongs/flipflops) as you may have to be bare foot in some temples etc. Also your shoes will be washed on returning to the boat after being ashore. Think your shoulders and knees were to be covered in the palace in P Penn.

[Floridiana]

I would like anyone's research on how you decided between AMA, Viking or Vanatage for this itinerary.

 

We were looking for a company that would do a cruise on the upper Mekong, a 2 night cruise on Halong Bay and a cruise on the lower Mekong in one long trip. The Australian company APT was the only one that offered this combination.

 

As it turned out, the ship on the upper Mekong got damaged. Therefore that part of the APT itinerary was canceled after we had already booked our flights and made other arrangements. We replaced the canceled section by hiring a local Laotian company. We still do Halong Bay and the lower Mekong with APT.

APT leases the AMA Lotus.

 

We never considered any of the other large companies that do 2 week trips. We went with smaller companies in China and in Japan and like their more personal touch and their much smaller groups: 6 - 14 people.

 

They are also less expensive, but you need to be a bit more adventurous such as using public transportation occasionally. In China, we did not have a permanent tour guide that held our hands. We thought that using APT would give us the comfort of a large company that takes care of all details and now see what happened. ;)

[Shorex]

I would like anyone's research on how you decided between AMA, Viking or Vanatage for this itinerary.

 

We had previously used AMA in Europe and were impressed with their level of expertise. They were the only company we considered. Given Viking's spotty record of customer service I would never ever book Viking for anything.

 

AMA came through with an amazing experience for us. IMO, don't book this adventure on price as the dominant factor.

[aquidneck1]

We are just beginning to plan this trip. I am most interested in the quality of the tour guides and the sufficiency of the tours. I read a poor review of AMA with regard to short tours and some communication issues with guides. It seems like an liberation but would like to hear first hand from other river cruisers as to their impressions. We definitely want a nice ship but also want good tours and easily understandable guides.

 

Thanks for your insights.

[Floridiana]

I read a poor review of AMA with regard to short tours and some communication issues with guides.

Thanks for your insights.

 

Was this a Mekong cruise? Based on my experience on ocean cruises and land tours in China and Japan, some countries have a large number of excellent guides with specialized training and good to excellent language skills, other countries just don't have a large enough pool of qualified guides for the number of foreign tourists they suddenly get.

[Mark_T]

Given Viking's spotty record of customer service I would never ever book Viking for anything.

 

Perspectives vary of course :)

 

Given the completely excellent service we received on our China trip with Viking, we didn't hesitate to book with them again for this trip.

 

We did compare with others doing the same itinerary and at the time we booked, there didn't seem to be any reason to pay more with another cruise line, or pay less to get less, so given our recent great experience with Viking it was the obvious choice for us.

 

Our folder just arrived today complete with full details of the trip, a book about southeast Asia and the Mekong, and of course the usual leather luggage labels.

 

Starting to feel a lot more 'real' now :)

[aquidneck1]

Yes, this was the Mekong Delta Cruise with AMA this past October.

 

Here is the exact text from the review.

 

Port and Shore Excursions were poor and thoughtless. You will hurry through to see floating villages and markets galore. They all look the same with no real time to explore during the short port time. Usually under 2 hours and then they herd you back onboard for lunch and then sit in the middle of the river with no way off to continue to explore.

[Floridiana]

Our APT material arrived today as well. Two very nice waterproof backpacks, a short Lonely Planet guide on Asia, a booklet with travel and tour hints, our itinerary day by day, luggage tags, magnetic name tags, a leather bound zippered binder for the printed material and the passports. I'll go read everything now.

[deec]

I think vantage uses Haimark for the ship on the Mekong River part of the journey...we have been on Vantage twice with Haimark ( Irrawaddy and Amazon) each time the boat was wonderful and the crew great....on the Amazon the naturalists were outstanding.

 

I am curious about the land portions and is there much difference in the itinerary?

[pacmom]

We have traveled with all the major lines that include the Mekong. We picked Avalon--smallest boat then and even now their new boat is still small. It has an exercise room and a massage therapist. The older boat that we used had a capacity of 32--we were 19. Our main reason for picking avalon was that Hanoi was a pre-cruise option. We have some very bad memories of No.Vietnam--DH is a retired Naval Aviator who flew in the Vietnam War. It was a wonderful trip--never felt pushed or rushed--humidity was not nice to say the least. It is a very interesting trip. Pat

[deec]

Pat what month did you travel? Were there any water level issues? Hot and humid of course but I wonder if any months really have terrible rain.

 

Can any of you please comment on the "bus ride" to Siem Reap ...how long and condition of the roads/rest stops etc.

 

The bus ride at the end of our Irrawaddy trip was DREADFUL....might have been a better option if we had gone in the other direction and had the bus ride first. Would it have stopped us from doing the trip or recommending it to friends? NO, but Vantage should figure out how to make it tolerable...worst bathrooms that I have EVER seen!!! Penis envy for sure.....

 

thanks everyone for your help as we try and decide when and with whom to do the Mekong!

[deec]

I have checked the Avalon website and their new ship does look very nice plus they seem to cruise the entire way to/from Siem Reap so that the bus ride is not needed and when/if water is too low they FLY....thus cutting out a day long bus trip!

[Mark_T]

I have checked the Avalon website and their new ship does look very nice plus they seem to cruise the entire way to/from Siem Reap so that the bus ride is not needed and when/if water is too low they FLY....thus cutting out a day long bus trip!

 

As I understand it, the periods when the water is too low or too high are a lot longer than the period when the water is high enough but not too high so I'd be very careful about the dates you book if that is an important aspect for you.

[vada_9]

I have checked the Avalon website and their new ship does look very nice plus they seem to cruise the entire way to/from Siem Reap so that the bus ride is not needed and when/if water is too low they FLY....thus cutting out a day long bus trip!

Not sure if there is anywhere to fly to. We travelled early August - monsoon season and water was still too low (from memory either the cruise after us or the next were able to enter the Tonle Sap Lake). We were told that the shallow part is on entering/exiting the lake.

We travelled by bus - about 6 hours in a large coach on a bitumen road - about 1/2 way to Phong Penn (check out google maps). We had a technical stop and met the coaches coming from the cruise and collected lunch packs for everyone. Then 2 other stops - 1 at a large roadhouse? toilets were western -not sure if they had doors though. Other was in Spider village - did not use toilet as didn't look too good from outside - but the little market was amazing. The village children would come up to you and pop a tarantula on your shoulder without you knowing - those scared of spiders stayed in the bus. the children were selling cut pineapple and bananas. The bus ride was a good way to see part of the countryside. When we arrived at the boat fingerfood was served.

Re rain - we had a downpour most afternoons lasting about 1 hour.

[Mark_T]

Not sure if there is anywhere to fly to.

 

I just took a quick look at the Avalon itinerary, when the water is too low they fly to and from Phnom Penh.

 

So that is not exactly ideal either.

[HDS]

We were very impressed with Pandaw's small group, excellent guide and superb attention to passenger needs on our Irrawaddy cruise. Hoping to take their upper Mekong cruise through Laos and into China.

[Floridiana]

Hoping to take their upper Mekong cruise through Laos and into China.

 

When you do, please report back here. I am very interested.

[OBX Cruisers]

Aquidneck1 - that review of AMA is so bad it almost sounds like a "1 of". Did it indicate the reviewer had written a large number of reviews or just that one? Was the review on Cruise Critic?

[Floridiana]

Aquidneck1 - that review of AMA is so bad it almost sounds like a "1 of". Did it indicate the reviewer had written a large number of reviews or just that one? Was the review on Cruise Critic?

 

Very good point. It was a Mekong delta cruise. I have been to the Danube and the Amazon delta, both vast with flat islands and small fishing villages - as is normal for deltas of large rivers.