Mekong River (Vietnam) cruise

[Rickyku]

What do folks think about the different cruise options?
Ama waterways,

viking

Emerald

Avalon

Uniworld

etc.?

 

Which would be considered the "best", and based on what criteria?

[gnome12]

I think that you will have difficulty getting an answer to this question, because almost no one has cruised the Mekong with more than one line. SE Asian cruises aren't really the same as European cruises, so the views of the different lines are less helpful here.

 

That said, I have sailed in SE Asia on 2 lines; I sailed the Mekong with Ama and the Irrawaddy with Avalon. First, let me mention that I travel solo, so I am a bit less concerned about space. Ama touts their twin balconies; personally, I found that they split a reasonable size space into 2, so you end up with a little alcove off the room, and a very small balcony, neither of which I found very useful. The food was incredible; I'm not a very adventurous eater, but on the entire cruise I never once ordered the standard options, there was enough choice every day that I found something I was happy with. I did the cruise with extensions from Hanoi to HCMC, we had an overnight on Halong Bay, flew from Hanoi to Siem Reap, then cruised to My Tho Port with a 2 hour bus transfer into HCMC. We had a group that was together from Hanoi; on board the ship there were 2 groups, one just under 50 people and one of 17 people that really didn't seem to want to mix with anyone else. I was not impressed by that. We were divided into 4 groups for touring; they sort of expected that we would stay in the same groups, but I didn't really like our tour leader, so I tried to join different groups when I could. The AmaDara had a small pool which I used once. Next to the pool there was a nice outdoor (covered) lounge area.

 

As I mentioned, I did the Irrawaddy with Avalon. Their ship on the Mekong is the same size, only 18 cabins, 12 on the main deck and 6 on the next deck up. The cabins were slightly larger than the Ama cabins, but felt much roomier, because they are all Avalon panorama cabins, with floor to ceiling windows 14 feet wide, that can be opened 9 feet (and have a screen). The beds face the river. There was a little sitting area with a love seat, small table and a chair or 2; I occasionally sat there when we were sailing and enjoyed the breeze, when I wasn't upstairs in the outdoor or indoor lounge. Because the Avalon ship is smaller, it can sail all the way into HCMC (Saigon) avoiding the bus transfer at the end of the cruise.

[dcl999]

One you do not have on your list is Scenic. We have only used Viking (4 river) and Scenic (2). Scenic’s Vietnam and Cambodia cruise with pre cruise was a very special trip. We felt the food, cabins and excursions were generally a notch above Viking. Scenic ran excursions even if just 4 people were interested. One night they did a dinner and show at one of the temples. Some of the evening entertainment was done by orphanages. Performances were at the level of AGT finalists. Scenic trains a lot of their own staff. All were very friendly and helpful but there were a few that were not fully polished. 
Guests and dress code were similar on both cruise lines. Scenic attracts few Americans and lots of Australians.
I do not like Scenic’s website. You have to call for most information. Their cancellation policy during COVID has not been as good as Viking’s. Our travel agent said that Scenic was difficult to work with. 

[Cruisin Wannabe]

Can I ask which Scenic Vietnam cruise you did? Which month? We are considering one there and it seems there are several options in length. Just curious what part of the itinerary you think is a must and which you would have passed on. Did you extend trip on either end? Any advice appreciated as we plan.           

Thanks much.

[terry&mike]

We have on Viking, Uniworld, AMA and Scenic, as well as some private ships of smaller companies,  in different places. We are booked for the Mekong for December 2022, and we chose Scenic for this trip. All of the lines I mentioned have given us wonderful trips and experiences, so I don't think you can go wrong, but we found the Scenic experience to be a slightly above all the others in every category. The only thing I will say, that has been said before, is that Scenic admin stuff is difficult, and they can be a pain to work with. But once you get to the ship, oh my, things are wonderful!

[ljandgb]

We looked at several companies and chose Avalon primarily for their smaller ship.  I much prefer excursions with smaller groups.   We did have a very good experience with Avalon on our Danube cruise, but am not going to assume that automatically translates to the Mekong given different type of ship, different ports, etc.  We sailed Sept 2021, in that sweet spot of Covid quiet and before a lot of tourism started up.  Our Danube cruise had 30 some people on the Prague to Budapest leg, and 50 on the Budapest to Bucharest section.  We found we really liked the smaller crowds.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, ljandgb said:

We looked at several companies and chose Avalon primarily for their smaller ship.  I much prefer excursions with smaller groups.   We did have a very good experience with Avalon on our Danube cruise, but am not going to assume that automatically translates to the Mekong given different type of ship, different ports, etc.  We sailed Sept 2021, in that sweet spot of Covid quiet and before a lot of tourism started up.  Our Danube cruise had 30 some people on the Prague to Budapest leg, and 50 on the Budapest to Bucharest section.  We found we really liked the smaller crowds.

I  did the Irrawaddy with Avalon on the same size ship that they use on the Mekong. We had only 18 passengers, and, in fact, I was the ONLY passenger in the forward section; everyone else was on either the upper or lower deck in the aft section. The crew was incredible. I was recovering from a knee issue and using a cane, and anytime I needed it (or before I needed it) someone was there with an elbow to give me assistance.

[suspaul]

In 2016 we did the Mekong and land in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City  and Hanoi with Avalon.  Can’t say enough wonderful things about them, especially on this tour/cruise.  We had a total of 28 passengers, 4 of them did the cruise portion only, so our #’s dropped to 24.  
 

It has been the best of all of our cruises, be it river or ocean.  Avalon paid attention to every detail, lovely land accommodations and large and spacious cabins on the river cruise portion. Excellent food and crew, wonderful excursions and enough free time in ports to do your own touring if wanted.  Just perfect.

 

We enjoyed Vietnam and Cambodia (not as much) that we booked a return trip to visit Central Vietnam in 2019 with a customized land tour, no river cruise.

We would definitely recommend Avalon for the Mekong.  
 

 This is not a comparison as we’ve only cruised with Avalon but it was fantastic.

 

 

 

 

[Bill Y]

21 hours ago, suspaul said:

In 2016 we did the Mekong and land in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City  and Hanoi with Avalon.  Can’t say enough wonderful things about them, especially on this tour/cruise.  We had a total of 28 passengers, 4 of them did the cruise portion only, so our #’s dropped to 24.  
 

It has been the best of all of our cruises, be it river or ocean.  Avalon paid attention to every detail, lovely land accommodations and large and spacious cabins on the river cruise portion. Excellent food and crew, wonderful excursions and enough free time in ports to do your own touring if wanted.  Just perfect.

 

We enjoyed Vietnam and Cambodia (not as much) that we booked a return trip to visit Central Vietnam in 2019 with a customized land tour, no river cruise.

We would definitely recommend Avalon for the Mekong.  
 

 This is not a comparison as we’ve only cruised with Avalon but it was fantastic.

 

 

 

 

Did Mekong 2019 with APT/Travelmavel so cannot compare with other lines, however one option was to do two nights in Hanoi and two nights on a cruise junk on Halong Bay, before flying to Siem Reap for the normal Angkor archaeological park and then to the Mekong etc. Can thoroughly recommend this extention

 

[OldBoot]

On 2/8/2022 at 10:37 AM, gnome12 said:

I think that you will have difficulty getting an answer to this question, because almost no one has cruised the Mekong with more than one line. SE Asian cruises aren't really the same as European cruises, so the views of the different lines are less helpful here.

 

That said, I have sailed in SE Asia on 2 lines; I sailed the Mekong with Ama and the Irrawaddy with Avalon. First, let me mention that I travel solo, so I am a bit less concerned about space. Ama touts their twin balconies; personally, I found that they split a reasonable size space into 2, so you end up with a little alcove off the room, and a very small balcony, neither of which I found very useful. The food was incredible; I'm not a very adventurous eater, but on the entire cruise I never once ordered the standard options, there was enough choice every day that I found something I was happy with. I did the cruise with extensions from Hanoi to HCMC, we had an overnight on Halong Bay, flew from Hanoi to Siem Reap, then cruised to My Tho Port with a 2 hour bus transfer into HCMC. We had a group that was together from Hanoi; on board the ship there were 2 groups, one just under 50 people and one of 17 people that really didn't seem to want to mix with anyone else. I was not impressed by that. We were divided into 4 groups for touring; they sort of expected that we would stay in the same groups, but I didn't really like our tour leader, so I tried to join different groups when I could. The AmaDara had a small pool which I used once. Next to the pool there was a nice outdoor (covered) lounge area.

 

As I mentioned, I did the Irrawaddy with Avalon. Their ship on the Mekong is the same size, only 18 cabins, 12 on the main deck and 6 on the next deck up. The cabins were slightly larger than the Ama cabins, but felt much roomier, because they are all Avalon panorama cabins, with floor to ceiling windows 14 feet wide, that can be opened 9 feet (and have a screen). The beds face the river. There was a little sitting area with a love seat, small table and a chair or 2; I occasionally sat there when we were sailing and enjoyed the breeze, when I wasn't upstairs in the outdoor or indoor lounge. Because the Avalon ship is smaller, it can sail all the way into HCMC (Saigon) avoiding the bus transfer at the end of the cruise.

Hello. I see this post is from 2010 so I hope you still participate in these boards. This was very helpful as I am considering the AMAWaterways itinerary on the Mekong. Just wanted to thank you for your post.

[gnome12]

31 minutes ago, OldBoot said:

Hello. I see this post is from 2010 so I hope you still participate in these boards. This was very helpful as I am considering the AMAWaterways itinerary on the Mekong. Just wanted to thank you for your post.

You are welcome, but my post was only from last February (2022). The 2010 is when I joined Cruise Critic. Enjoy your cruise whatever you decide.

Edited September 14, 2022 by gnome12

[OldBoot]

3 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

You are welcome, but my post was only from last February (2022). The 2010 is when I joined Cruise Critic. Enjoy your cruise whatever you decide.

Oh dear! Well good. Looking at September 2023. We will have to make a decision in the next few days. Excited to be thinking about it for sure. Do you have any other thoughts about your experience that you would care to share?

[franski]

We are booked with Emerald in February 2023.  This is an itinerary that my DH has wanted to do for quite a while...  We were booked in February of this year - but it was cancelled due to Covid. 

 

To be honest, it was the price that drew me.  My DH wanted to go to Hanoi as part of the trip - and I wanted to cruise Halong Bay.  So - we have a 17 day trip that includes both of these things at a price point that I could live with.  We have travelled with Emerald before and had a great trip.  It also helps that they cover all gratuities so that affects the price as well. 

 

Emerald's boat - Emerald Harmony - was built for the Mekong.  It actually sails right into Ho Chi Minh City - and not all of them do. For example, Scenic buses you to My Tho to board.  Not sure how far out of the city that is, but it will be nice to board without a long bus transfer. The Harmony holds 84 passengers - so bigger than some, but I can live with that number. 

 

Take a look at the itinerary.  When we were deciding which direction to sail, I looked at the stops.  If we start in Siem Reap, we miss one stop that we will get sailing from Ho Chi Minh city.  Also, if you do Hanoi first - then sail from Siem Reap, you will need a multiple entrance visa.  We only need a single entrance as we will not be going back into Vietnam after we enter Cambodia. 

 

The travel time - there and back - is pretty brutal.  So we are going in 2 full days ahead, and stopping in Bangkok for 3 days on the way home to try and mitigate the jet lag.

 

Good Luck with your planning!!

 

Fran

[terry&mike]

Our Mekong trip with Scenic is in late December, and I will try to post either along the way or soon after I get home, to provide some more content on cruising this area. 

 

In booking, I booked the pre- and post- portions on our own, it's a bit more work but saves a lot of money. 

 

When booking, also take a look at the cabins themselves to be sure you are comparing apples to apples in price. Scenic's lowest category cabin on the Mekong is a suite with a small living room, which tipped the scale a bit for me, plus it's a line I know I enjoy.

 

Ours is part of a longer trip, where I have mixed and matched tours and independent travel to get a trip that works for us.

 

Fly U.S. to Bangkok in early December, and transfer up to Hua Hin, Thailand for 3 nights (independent) to relax and get over jet lag, and allow for any flight chaos that could ensue. Come back in to Bangkok and next day start a Gate 1 Tour around Thailand for 1.5 weeks. Then back to independent travel for a bit, as we fly on to Hanoi and stay there a couple of nights. Then head over to Lan Ha Bay (the less crowded bay next to Halong Bay) for 2 nights cruise over Christmas. We next fly on to Da Nang, and transfer out to Hoi An where we have taken a tiny villa for 5 nights. We'll fly from there to Siem Reap, Cambodia, have one night on our own, and then join the pre-cruise land portion with Scenic for 3 nights at the Raffles Hotel in Siem Reap and their exciting program there. Then we board the Scenic ship, for a 7 night down river sailing. We leave the Scenic bubble in Ho Chi Minh, have a couple of nights on our own there, and then fly home in mid-January. 

[TriMomma]

Just back from the 17 day tour with Emerald that included seven nights on Emerald Harmony.   It is a lovely, lovely ship and as a previous poster mentioned it embarks right in Saigon.   So nice to get on right in the city.   Also, as it is slightly narrower than other river cruises, it can go through the Cho Gao Canal which is a nice way to get to My Tho.   (I was tired of buses by that time!).

 

Would definitely recommend!