Shore excursion advice

[ruimin]

Need advice on shore excursion in Phu My port and  Kota Kinabalu port , 7hr in each port or less.

 Thanks so much!

[yoolykeme]

Phu My is HCMC.  I would hire a car to take me to and around Saigon, to whatever sites that you're interested in.

 

I used VN rent a car.  They were really cheap.  someone picked me up, drove Mom and me for like 6 hours to all the usual places that I asked, then brought us back to the ship with a lot of time to spare.

[ruimin]

Thanks for the info, we’ll check it out. Were you able to pay the day of?  CC, local currency or USD? Is there any place you visited that we shouldn’t miss?

 Thank you so much!

ming

[mom says]

Highly recommend going in to HCMC. Have you checked your Roll Call to see if anyone is organizing a private tour for that port? We joined one of these- I think there were 13 of us- and had an absolute blast. 

[Miaminice]

For Vietnamese ports we can highly recommend anntours.com.

We did private tours with them and they were fantastic.

 

In Kota Kinabalu we hired a taxi to take us to the interesting spots and around. 

After a few hours we stayed at the last spot (a market) and walked back to the ship.

If I remember correctly, we payed something like 50 USD.

 

[yoolykeme]

Here's the email that they sent me about the whole deal.  Don't know if I can post their contact info, but you can Google it.....

 

$135/day for the whole car was really cheap, and if you can get more people to participate, then you can all share the cost.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Thank you for your email and interesting in VN RENT A CAR services.

I would like to offer you the quotation for hiring the private Toyota Innova (7 seats) for pick you up from Phu My port transfer to Ho Chi Minh city, sight seeing then drop you of at the port on Mar 11th, 2019 with 135 USD/ day.

If you want to take bigger car, Ford Transit 12 seaters, the price will be 165 USD/ day

 

The above price is included: Expense for Taxes,  fuel, toll fee and parking fee, salary for driver, good car with air-con. Our driver are rich of experiences and can speak basic in English.

The above price is excluded: Entrance fee, meal for guest.

 

 

Some places to visit in Ho Chi Minh: Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda, War Remnants Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon Central Post Office,  Tân Định Church (pink church), Hồ Chí Minh City Hall, City Opera House, Dong khoi street, Ben Thanh market, Takashimaya, Jade Emperrior pagoda, Mosque, Bùi Viện street-nightlife    

 

Besides, I would like to introduce another service with tour guide can speak in English: 55 USD/ day

 

Note: If you want to pay in Dong, the rate will be 1 USD = 23.500 VND.

 

To meet driver: 

- You need to walk to the gate around 7-10 minutes. My driver will hold the nameboard with your name at main gate to pick up you.

- I will send you my driver detail before 2 day you use service.

- Please let me know your phone number. It's easy to contact between us.

 

  Method payment:  pay in Cash for my driver directly

Edited May 30, 2019 by yoolykeme

[Expat Cruise]

In Phu My we used Pham Tours, the service was great and the costs was very reasonable USD$60 per person including admissions, guide, lunch and drinks. Do not recommend renting a private car as the laws on tour guides are very strict in Vietnam, your guide must be licensed and bonded. 

 

[supergran]

We used smile tours when we went to HCMC and they were great. We went to all the main sites but we also had a trishaw ride around the flower market and other streets that I haven't seen included with other tour operators. We are using them again in October. They also pick up inside the port where other operators dont.

[CruzinNoony]

I have noticed a big difference of rates for tours in Asia.  For instance, on our roll call someone is posting a tour out of Phu My for $25.00 USD and I found a tour company offering roughly the same thing for $91.00 USD.   Is the more expensive one better quality?  Any advice from those who have done either?