phu my shuttle

I have read on Trip advisor that the town of Ba Ria in vietnam puts on a free shuttle bus between Phu My port and Ba Ria. Can anyone advise if this is true. I am travelling celebrity century in February and it does not appear that celebrity supply a shuttle unlike some other lines.

thanks

Bill

I have read on Trip advisor that the town of Ba Ria in vietnam puts on a free shuttle bus between Phu My port and Ba Ria. Can anyone advise if this is true. I am travelling celebrity century in February and it does not appear that celebrity supply a shuttle unlike some other lines.

thanks

 

Bill

A visit to VietNam just got a whole lot more expensive with the possible policy change and cost increase for a visa :eek::eek:

I have read on Trip advisor that the town of Ba Ria in vietnam puts on a free shuttle bus between Phu My port and Ba Ria. Can anyone advise if this is true. I am travelling celebrity century in February and it does not appear that celebrity supply a shuttle unlike some other lines.

thanks

 

Bill

We were there in October on the Sun Princess and there was a free shuttle. Can't remember who provided it. It dropped us off at a supermarket. Not much there but we had been to HCMC before and decided we didn't want to do the long bus trip again.

A visit to VietNam just got a whole lot more expensive with the possible policy change and cost increase for a visa :eek::eek:

what policy change are you referring to?

I have read on Trip advisor that the town of Ba Ria in vietnam puts on a free shuttle bus between Phu My port and Ba Ria. Can anyone advise if this is true. I am travelling celebrity century in February and it does not appear that celebrity supply a shuttle unlike some other lines.

thanks

 

Bill

Hey Bill we have just come off Sapphire Princess and the town of Ba Ria did put on a free shuttle. It took about 40 mins to get there and to us was not worth the ride in. The bus was airconditioned and comfortable, and we were dispatched outside a supermarket. We had trouble getting out of the bus because of lots of people trying to sell us things right at the step of the bus.

We pushed off to go to the market/mall which was an easy walk but were harassed and physically held most of the way. The mall was a mix of local and tourist items, but very very dirty surroundings. It was also very hot and humid and added to this was the funky seafood and meat smells on the street and in the mall, which was not airconditioned and open to the air. It did have three or four floors, which you climbed the stairs, so it was all in the shade. We walked around the mall and a couple of blocks, fast, and then caught the next bus back.

what policy change are you referring to?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2141795

Ashland and I are on the same cruise, following that thread.

In a nutshell - Vietnam has removed the ability for tour groups/cruise ships to apply for a (cheaper) group visa for their customers/passengers. Individual visas only, which is a lot more expensive. :(

Hi kjets, hope you enjoyed your cruise on the sapphire, we are going on her in February for 15 nights. Having never been to asia before and at this stage have only planned a couple of private tours. The ports are slightly different than your trip, however do you have any suggestions for a couple of newbies to this area!!

Also we are right up the front of the ship, under bridge. Is it going to be rough??

Any suggestions ideas appreciated.

Thanks

Luckily the VietNam visa policy has changed back.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/25368/...vietnam-by-sea

Hi kjets, hope you enjoyed your cruise on the sapphire, we are going on her in February for 15 nights. Having never been to asia before and at this stage have only planned a couple of private tours. The ports are slightly different than your trip, however do you have any suggestions for a couple of newbies to this area!!

 

Also we are right up the front of the ship, under bridge. Is it going to be rough??

 

Any suggestions ideas appreciated.

Thanks

It was our first time to this area as well but we did learn that the Princess excursions were more expensive and next time we would do most of the same places but private tours. This way we would have better use of our time, see what we really wanted to see and not have too many on a bus! There are different places who give you excursions like viator.com or you can ask on this forum for feedback. We found most of our info on CC and it was most informative.

Are you going to Sihanoukville in Cambodia? Had an amazing tour with the Don Bosco Hotel School and would recommend them to you whole heartedly!

Some of our trip was a bit rough so just take meds in case, and be sure to use them before you get too bad. For example I was taking meds when I heard that the weather was going to get a bit rough for the next day, and I was fine.

Happy to answer any questions, but remember that it is just our opinion and this was really our first cruise and first time to this area, so not a huge amount of experience.

Sapphire is a great ship, I'm sure you will love her just as we did!

Hey Bill we have just come off Sapphire Princess and the town of Ba Ria did put on a free shuttle. It took about 40 mins to get there and to us was not worth the ride in. The bus was airconditioned and comfortable, and we were dispatched outside a supermarket. We had trouble getting out of the bus because of lots of people trying to sell us things right at the step of the bus.

We pushed off to go to the market/mall which was an easy walk but were harassed and physically held most of the way. The mall was a mix of local and tourist items, but very very dirty surroundings. It was also very hot and humid and added to this was the funky seafood and meat smells on the street and in the mall, which was not airconditioned and open to the air. It did have three or four floors, which you climbed the stairs, so it was all in the shade. We walked around the mall and a couple of blocks, fast, and then caught the next bus back.

Not surprising. It is quite sad that the Vietnamese people are still very poor.

The Vietnamese Generals certainly knew how to fight wars and kick Uncle Sam out of Vietnam back in the 1970s but since then, they just have been languishing behind, economically.

The GDP per capita of Vietnam today is less than $2,000 USD and this figure masks the huge income inequality.

Thanks kjets for your reply, we are not going to Sihanoukville this time, sounds like an amazing place.

We are not taking any ship tours at the moment, have organised a couple through cruise critic to Saigon and koh Samaui, we are a bit unsure of the others, but hope to do a lot of research in the next couple of weeks. The only problem with this cruise like many Asia ports the ship is a long way from the cities, we will be happy to explore locally and are even thinking of a train to KL..

Our first cruise was to the pacific islands and the first few nights were really rough, I was surprised that I was not sea sick when the waves were up at our window on one of the upper floors. There was not too many people about that night. I wear travel bands the whole trip, and take travel calm also, may need to take it everyday if it is bad. As we have 8 stops it will be good to get off those days.

I do have questions for you, but will try and keep it short, will post these in a few days, mostly about tendering and perhaps get some tips to help us enjoy the cruise. This is an adventure for both of us and we just love being on the ship and meeting new people and getting some much needed time together.

If your cruiseship is going to be providing your VietNam visa (10 hour port stop) do you need to provide them a passport style photo ? Also does the ship (RCI) keep your passports when in VietNam ? If so I'm assuming having a copy of the first page with you when off ship might be advised :confused:

If your cruiseship is going to be providing your VietNam visa (10 hour port stop) do you need to provide them a passport style photo ? Also does the ship (RCI) keep your passports when in VietNam ? If so I'm assuming having a copy of the first page with you when off ship might be advised :confused:

We were with Princess and were told in our cruise personaliser that our visa would be sorted by the ship and added to our onboard account, which it was. We did not have to provide a photo and our passports were held by the ship all the time we were on the cruise. We needed our cruise card to get on and off the ship, never needed our passport while on shore.

We were with Princess and were told in our cruise personaliser that our visa would be sorted by the ship and added to our onboard account, which it was. We did not have to provide a photo and our passports were held by the ship all the time we were on the cruise. We needed our cruise card to get on and off the ship, never needed our passport while on shore.

Thanks so much for responding...but like many questions the answer to this one seems to vary. :confused::)

Thanks so much for responding...but like many questions the answer to this one seems to vary. :confused::)

That was December, too. The confusion started in January. I wish we could get a clear answer on this.

That was December, too. The confusion started in January. I wish we could get a clear answer on this.

I think I'll just bring a passport pic..Never going to get clear answers on any thing VietNam related until we're onboard.