Ho Chi minh

[palm beach]

Does anyone know where the silver muse dock in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam?

[Stumblefoot]

I would almost guarantee you it won’t be at one of the three piers in the city center.  Therefore, my bet is the Muse will be forced to dock where the mega ships dock at Phu My, about an hour and a half away (80 miles).

[palm beach]

Thank you for your reply.  I was hoping that we would dock close to town.

[Stumblefoot]

23 minutes ago, palm beach said:

Thank you for your reply.  I was hoping that we would dock close to town.

I understand.  Being docked in the middle of the city is fantastic.

[Silver Spectre]

9 hours ago, palm beach said:

Thank you for your reply.  I was hoping that we would dock close to town.

Pretty sure the Whisper/Shadow is as big as is allowed up the river to the city.

[Unibok]

2 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

Pretty sure the Whisper/Shadow is as big as is allowed up the river to the city.

 

Yes, that is what the captain of the Shadow told me last March. What I don't know for sure is if there are other options besides the mega-ship port for vessels smaller than 1000 pax. The Muse may be bigger than Shadow/Whisper, but it's a far cry from a mega-ship. I'll be very curious to learn the answer to this question.

[Bill B]

It will dock at Tang Cang Cai port, 3 miles (5 km) from the town of Phu My (pronounced Foo Me) as it draughts too much water to go up the river into the city.

http://crew-center.com/phu-my-ho-chi-minh-city-vietnam-cruise-ships-schedule-2019

Too bad... because Tang Cang Cai is a container port in the middle of a 'nowhere' industrial area 1.5+ hrs. (depending on traffic) from Saigon (HCMC). 

 

I live in Vung Tau at the end of the peninsula - 30 min. in the opposite direction of Saigon from Tang Cang Cai (Phu My). You can actually see part of Vung Tau from Tang Cang Cai port if you look to the south west.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Bill B

[Unibok]

41 minutes ago, Bill B said:

It will dock at Tang Cang Cai port, 3 miles (5 km) from the town of Phu My (pronounced Foo Me) as it draughts too much water to go up the river into the city.

http://crew-center.com/phu-my-ho-chi-minh-city-vietnam-cruise-ships-schedule-2019

Too bad... because Tang Cang Cai is a container port in the middle of a 'nowhere' industrial area 1.5+ hrs. (depending on traffic) from Saigon (HCMC). 

 

 

Interesting! The site on this link includes the Silver Shadow and Oceania's Nautica, although I saw both ships docked in HCMC proper with my own eyes on those dates. So, although the page says it is for the big port, it also includes the other without saying so. Unless I'm reading it wrong (always a possibility!). Hmmmm.

[palm beach]

You are right about the silver muse docking far away from Ho Chi Minh, it has been confirmed by a travel tour in Viêt Nam.

This is quite upsetting. On the silver muse excursions site, it never mentioned that you are far from town. I can’t imagine being there for 3 days and in the middle of nowhere. Will there be a shuttle of some kind?

it is making me rethink the trip.

[Stumblefoot]

41 minutes ago, palm beach said:

Will there be a shuttle of some kind?

I would encourage you to check with SS directly regarding the shuttle.  They definitely provided one that ran continuously through the day during our 3-day visit this past February, but we were docked in the center of town.  So, don't know if they will provide one for the 160-mile round trip, or how often it might run.

The sad thing to me is that the Muse won't be able to dock in Bangkok's city center port (Khlong Toei) either.  I couldn't imagine being relegated to the Laem Chabang ship terminal which is every bit of 2+ hours south of Bangkok.

[palm beach]

Stumblefoot, I completely agree with you. Now we will be in the middle of nowhere for 4 days, that’s way too much. Very poor planning from Silverseas.

[Silver Spectre]

9 hours ago, palm beach said:

 Very poor planning from Silverseas.

In building a bigger ship?

[Bill B]

19 hours ago, Unibok said:

 

 So, although the page says it is for the big port, it also includes the other without saying so.

 

All cruise lines treat their pax like mushrooms. 

[Tarwood3]

So we did Vietnam in November on the Muse.  We did not dock in Phu My or anywhere near.  We were able to sail up the Saigon River quite a ways but sadly not in downtown.  We were in an industrial port in an area called Xa Long Thoi. Silversea ran regular shuttles to Central Saigon.  The distance isn’t too far to central Saigon, its the traffic that can be difficult.  Sometimes it could be an hour, sometimes it was 30 mins.  At first we were quite disappointed, but it ended up not being too bad.  We had a private guide both days we were there.  The first day he just met us at the shuttle stop in front of the Hotel Continental Saigon.  At the end of the day, he dropped us off there and we took the SS shuttle back to ship.  The second morning we started very early, so our guide just met us at the entrance to the port.  I will try to include a map of where we were docked.  Look for the red dot on the map.  Hope that helps.  Ask if you have any other question.  We recommend you do Saigon one day and the Mekong delta another day...but there are so many tours and different places to go!! You will love it! Its an amazing place.  We love Saigon but we loved Hanoi even more.  Even though Hanoi is a 12 hour excursion from where you dock in Halong Bay stop..its definitely worth it!!!

[Tarwood3]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:17 PM, palm beach said:

Stumblefoot, I completely agree with you. Now we will be in the middle of nowhere for 4 days, that’s way too much. Very poor planning from Silverseas.

Completely disagree with you on the poor planning comment...youhavent been and therefore you don’t understand the area...this is as close as they can get...the large ships like Royal Caribbean and Princess have to go to Phu My ...about a 3 hour drive each way......We have done the Vietnam cruise on the Muse and SS does an excellent job. 

[Unibok]

That’s great news, Tarwood! I was hoping there was something closer to the city than the big port. Thank you for the details and the map!

[palm beach]

Tarwood3, thank you for your helpful post. The distance to town is not too bad, it could be worse and a shuttle is provided. Some ship dock so far away from Saigon. 

You mentioned you had a private tour guide, were you pleased with him? Would you mind sharing his name?

Great pictures!

 

[Tarwood3]

25 minutes ago, Unibok said:

That’s great news, Tarwood! I was hoping there was something closer to the city than the big port. Thank you for the details and the map!

You’re very welcome! Btw...the sail out was unlike anything I had ever seen.  We went to the deck above Tors Observation Lounge for a good view forward...few people go up there btw.  Anyway, I have never heard a ship blow its horn as much as we did...I lost count after about 40 times.  The Saigon River is a very busy waterway with lots of barges and small boats that don’t yield to larger ships...they are pretty ballsy and arrogant.  The captain was getting very impatient with slower vessels not getting out of our way....quite the sight. 

[Tarwood3]

10 minutes ago, palm beach said:

Tarwood3, thank you for your helpful post. The distance to town is not too bad, it could be worse and a shuttle is provided. Some ship dock so far away from Saigon. 

You mentioned you had a private tour guide, were you pleased with him? Would you mind sharing his name?

Great pictures!

 

Yes, I highly recommend our guide.  I actually had found quite a reviews on him through Cruise Critic before our cruise and everyone raves about him and we were not disappointed.  His name is Xuan Le....his English is excellent...and couldnt be a nicer guy.  He customizes his tours to whatever you want to see, but will happily give you examples of itineraries.  No need for advance deposit.  Just pay him when finished with tour.  His email is tourwithxuan@gmail.com and his name Xuan is pronounced like “Soon”.  He is very used to dealing with luxury clientele .  By the end of our 2 days together, we felt like old friends and still keep in constant contact with him.  We have sent several friends to him and everyone has loved him! I will find a pic....  he will reply via email..but once you firm something up, he prefers to correspond via whatsapp.  

Tell him Gary and Ben recommended you....he loves us! 

 

 

[Tarwood3]

One more thing...I just looked back at my texts to my guide...the actual port name that we docked at was called Hiep Phuoc Port in the Xa Long Thoi neighborhood.  The shuttle went hourly to Union Square which is adjacent to the Hotel Continental Saigon that I sent a pic of.  Obviously these things could change but for the mid size ships I think this is the norm.  There was a Viking ship docked on the other side of the river from us.  No ships were downtown.  I think only the very small ships can make it downtown....

Edited May 22, 2019 by Tarwood3

[palm beach]

Tarwood, you have been so helpful. I had looked at private tour guides and his name showed up. I will contact him, his reviews were excellent but knowing someone who used him is a better review. 

I can’t thank you enough for all your help, I hope you don’t mind if I have other questions in the future.

[Tarwood3]

7 minutes ago, palm beach said:

Tarwood, you have been so helpful. I had looked at private tour guides and his name showed up. I will contact him, his reviews were excellent but knowing someone who used him is a better review. 

I can’t thank you enough for all your help, I hope you don’t mind if I have other questions in the future.

You’re quite welcome....I hope you enjoy Vietnam as much as we did!! Xuan does some unique things that big tour groups cant...so that’s nice to have! Book as early as possible ...he’s quite popular. 

Like I said in an earlier post, if your cruise goes to Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam, please do the 12 hour Hanoi excursion .  We were freaked out by the time at first. We only like half day excursions but we were assured by shore excursion staf that it is well worth it! There were only maybe 50 people who did Hanoi.  We were split into groups of 6 and each group was in a comfortable mini van with private guide.  And each group did its own thing.  So we felt like it was a very private tour.  Probably the best ship excursion we have ever done. The description of tour says its a 3 hour drive on uneven roads but this isn’t true.  They built a new freeway and its great! 

[Stumblefoot]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:14 PM, Tarwood3 said:

Like I said in an earlier post, if your cruise goes to Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam, please do the 12 hour Hanoi excursion.

 

If you don’t fancy being in a vehicle for at least 5-hours of a 12-hour excursion, consider the overnight excursion to Hanoi.  You’ll be transported on a coach where everyone gets a window seat, if they like.  Plus, upon the return to the bay before rejoining the ship, you’ll be a given a private junk to sail the bay.  What also makes this excursion fun is the ability to partake in a night time tour of Hanoi, dinner, and entertainment.  We’ll never forget trying to cross the street with all the scooters scurrying about.

[les37b]

On 5/9/2019 at 1:31 PM, Silver Spectre said:

Pretty sure the Whisper/Shadow is as big as is allowed up the river to the city.

 

If you look how close the Shadow is to the river bank, you can see just how close it gets. No room for a bigger vessel.

 

Clip shows the journey up the River Saigon....  wind forward to 3m.00s to see just the turn. Silver Whisper was in port at the same time (sailed in 10 mins in front of us) and we were joined an hour later by Seabourn Sojourn.  All 3 ships had an overnight.

 

 

[CruisinPashmina]

What hotel in Hanoi was part of the SS overnight excursion?