Amawaterways or Avalon for Mekong?

[F19810]

Anybody else planning for 2022?!  Instead of gong on vacation this year, I'm planning my next two main vacations.  Next year, Egypt with Amawaterways, the following year the Mekong.  Looking at 2021 itineraries and price, I'm debating between these two companies.  I've used Ama on the Danube and next year in Egypt, I've never been with Avalon.  Avalon has 2 nights in Ha Long Bay vs one night on Ama, Avalon is also smaller (approx 36 passengers vs 100 on Ama).  Ama has the advantage that it might be a little cheaper for a solo traveler and I've used them before.  Any thoughts?  Also November vs Feb?  I hate winter and being away for almost a month during Feb sounds good to me, disadvantage is the worry about snow delaying the flight and I have to wait 3 more months (I can be impatient!).

Judu  

[Host Jazzbeau]

I haven't travelled as a solo, but I wonder if 100 passengers is actually better for meeting and mixing?  The smaller ship may be almost all groups (large or small) that already know each other.

[gnome12]

Anybody else planning for 2022?!  Instead of gong on vacation this year, I'm planning my next two main vacations.  Next year, Egypt with Amawaterways, the following year the Mekong.  Looking at 2021 itineraries and price, I'm debating between these two companies.  I've used Ama on the Danube and next year in Egypt, I've never been with Avalon.  Avalon has 2 nights in Ha Long Bay vs one night on Ama, Avalon is also smaller (approx 36 passengers vs 100 on Ama).  Ama has the advantage that it might be a little cheaper for a solo traveler and I've used them before.  Any thoughts?  Also November vs Feb?  I hate winter and being away for almost a month during Feb sounds good to me, disadvantage is the worry about snow delaying the flight and I have to wait 3 more months (I can be impatient!).
Judu  

I did AmaDara on the Mekong and Avalon Myanmar on the Irrawaddy both as a solo. On Avalon we had only 18 passengers out of a possible 36, and we had about 145 on the Mekong with AMA.

If it hadn’t been for the precruise in Hanoi, it would have been very hard to meet people. There was one organized group with about 1/2 of the passengers, and they really didn’t mix with others (even though I actually belonged to the demographic of their trip) and another group of 17 that also kept to themselves. Despite that, it was a good trip. The food was fabulous, and I enjoyed the places. The cabin was, however, very tight. The twin balcony takes away from the cabin space, and the outside is really too small to enjoy.

On Avalon, they offer 2 cabins free of single supplement. The panoramic suite (all cabins are the same size; I think that is also true on the Mekong) is fabulous. Periodically I would open the window wide, close the screen and enjoy the breeze. The food was nowhere near as good as on the AmaDara (but it wasn’t on the Mekong so maybe not a direct comparison). Personally, I preferred the smaller ship. I believe that it also docks in Ho Chi Minh City, unlike AMA that docks about a 2 hour bus ride from the city.

I went to the Mekong at the end of October; the temperature was hot but not too bad in Hanoi but really hot in HCMC. (I went north to south.) I flew in 3 days early to get acclimated and to do some of the things that weren’t included on the tour. I can’t imagine coming in the night before and expecting to tour the next day.

The AmaDara has a small pool. In 7 night onboard I used it once; most people never went in.


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[F19810]

Thanks Gnome, so you think that for a solo, the smaller boat will be better?  I plan on also doing the Bangkok extension so can't get to Hanoi or Ho Chi Min early. I hope that I will be able to see everything on the cruise tour.

Judy

[gnome12]

Thanks Gnome, so you think that for a solo, the smaller boat will be better?  I plan on also doing the Bangkok extension so can't get to Hanoi or Ho Chi Min early. I hope that I will be able to see everything on the cruise tour.
Judy

I think you’ll prefer the smaller boat.

If you are doing a Bangkok extension, I’d say the same thing. Go in a day or 2 early, or you won’t get anything out of it.


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[F19810]

1 minute ago, gnome12 said:

I think you’ll prefer the smaller boat.

If you are doing a Bangkok extension, I’d say the same thing. Go in a day or 2 early, or you won’t get anything out of it.


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I was in Bangkok 30 years ago, but it will be interesting to see what has/has not changed.  I'm going to try to get in a day early especially if I go in Feb.  With may luck, that will be when there is a blizzard and Phila doesn't do well with snow!   Any suggestions on what to do for an extra day in Bangkok?

[gnome12]

I was in Bangkok 30 years ago, but it will be interesting to see what has/has not changed.  I'm going to try to get in a day early especially if I go in Feb.  With may luck, that will be when there is a blizzard and Phila doesn't do well with snow!   Any suggestions on what to do for an extra day in Bangkok?

I had one day in Bangkok after my Irrawaddy trip. I had a 6 am flight from Yangon so I was pretty tired, and I was kind of templed out. I did a bike tour a bit off the beaten path combined with a boat tour. I had planned to go to an evening market, but I was exhausted so I just packed for my flight the next morning.


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[kayakcove]

DW and I did AMA this past February including the pre and post land portions (South to North).  We were incredibly pleased with the service and the daily excursions. They broke us into smaller groups and never felt that we were being herded.  I really wanted to get an exposure to the people in the country and it met my goals.  The AMA Dara never felt crowded and it was easy enough to find a quiet spot to enjoy the scenery and relax. 

Our cruise manager Duy was superb.  The local guides were all knowledgeable, and each had personal perspective on their native country. We had 3 solo travelers on our sailing, and they all seemed to blend well with the total group.  The hotels were luxury status.  The one night in Ha Long Bay was quick but gave us a good sense of the area.

February weather there was comfortable.  Traveling with connection in Detroit had me worried about delays as well.  What I had not worried about was thunderstorm in Charlotte holding us up so we could not make that connection. Changed to Atlanta connection but did loose a night in Vietnam, one I had booked a buffer just in case.

Our trip finished in early March as  the virus was closing things down.  We had to switch our return flights. People who had their flights booked with AMA were taken care of at the last minute and were not delayed.  Most everyone flying East had to change flights.  Flights West back to Europe were ok.

I am envious of your Egypt trip.  I tried to book AMA for next October and found them booked.  Now looking forward to the Eastern Danube.

[F19810]

1 hour ago, kayakcove said:

DW and I did AMA this past February including the pre and post land portions (South to North).  We were incredibly pleased with the service and the daily excursions. They broke us into smaller groups and never felt that we were being herded.  I really wanted to get an exposure to the people in the country and it met my goals.  The AMA Dara never felt crowded and it was easy enough to find a quiet spot to enjoy the scenery and relax. 

Our cruise manager Duy was superb.  The local guides were all knowledgeable, and each had personal perspective on their native country. We had 3 solo travelers on our sailing, and they all seemed to blend well with the total group.  The hotels were luxury status.  The one night in Ha Long Bay was quick but gave us a good sense of the area.

February weather there was comfortable.  Traveling with connection in Detroit had me worried about delays as well.  What I had not worried about was thunderstorm in Charlotte holding us up so we could not make that connection. Changed to Atlanta connection but did loose a night in Vietnam, one I had booked a buffer just in case.

Our trip finished in early March as  the virus was closing things down.  We had to switch our return flights. People who had their flights booked with AMA were taken care of at the last minute and were not delayed.  Most everyone flying East had to change flights.  Flights West back to Europe were ok.

I am envious of your Egypt trip.  I tried to book AMA for next October and found them booked.  Now looking forward to the Eastern Danube.

I booked the Egypt trip the day after AMA did a presentation on it.  I'll be flying on Qatar Airways for both egypt and the Mekong trips (one of the best business classes and one of the cheapest business classes) so only have to worry about weather in PHL and Qatar.  Do you know if anybody did the Bangkok extension?  One of the things that I want to do in Bangkok is a visit to an elephant sanctuary, sounds like soooo much fun!

[kayakcove]

It was probably about 30 days after that sip and sail presentation when I tried to book Egypt.  On our Mekong trip, there were people who did Bangkok both before and after, but I don’t think any used the AMA extension. 
I was curious about your comment about the elephant sanctuary and googled them.  When we went to Angor Wat, it was only a couple months before that had stopped all tourist activity (rides) with the elephants.  Looks like a day at one of the sanctuaries would be something you would need to schedule on your own.  
If elephants and other wildlife are an interest to you, I might recommend a land trip in South Africa. We went in 2018 staying in three locations plus Cape Town.   Our favorite was Hillsnek Safari Camp in the Amakhala Reserve.  Late one afternoon we found ourselves with a pack of about 20 elephants grazing and moving around our stopped open top Land Cruiser.  Included one just a few months old.  The last one going by came over to our vehicle where we sat quietly and stuck her trunk about 6 inches in front of my wife’s face and sniffed her, then just kept on walking away.  Picture of the sniffer.

[F19810]

5 hours ago, kayakcove said:

It was probably about 30 days after that sip and sail presentation when I tried to book Egypt.  On our Mekong trip, there were people who did Bangkok both before and after, but I don’t think any used the AMA extension. 
I was curious about your comment about the elephant sanctuary and googled them.  When we went to Angor Wat, it was only a couple months before that had stopped all tourist activity (rides) with the elephants.  Looks like a day at one of the sanctuaries would be something you would need to schedule on your own.  
If elephants and other wildlife are an interest to you, I might recommend a land trip in South Africa. We went in 2018 staying in three locations plus Cape Town.   Our favorite was Hillsnek Safari Camp in the Amakhala Reserve.  Late one afternoon we found ourselves with a pack of about 20 elephants grazing and moving around our stopped open top Land Cruiser.  Included one just a few months old.  The last one going by came over to our vehicle where we sat quietly and stuck her trunk about 6 inches in front of my wife’s face and sniffed her, then just kept on walking away.  Picture of the sniffer.

Yes, if I go to the elephant sanctuary, it will be on my own.