Advice on Ho Chi Minh City shore excursion

In February 2015, my wife & I will be flying to Singapore, then boarding Sapphire Princess on a 11 day cruise around Sth East Asia.

I did a web search on Princess shore excursions, and found a couple for Ho Chi Minh City on Princess Cruise website, and are as follows -

* Best of Ho Chi Minh City - guided tour of city's historic landmarks, visit to the National History Museum, and the Thien Hau Temple in Chinatown. Yes, and obligatory stop of a lacquerware factory.

Then lunch is included at ? on this tour.

My question - has anyone done this tour, if so, did you like it, were the places mentioned worth seeing, and what was the lunch like ? (I like vietnamese food - we have Vietnamese Restaurants where I live)

Last question, how long does it take to travel from where the ship berths to get into the city itself?

Would love to hear from you guys, you have so much good information to share.

My advice for you is to stick to the ship excursion for Vietnam.

it takes approx 2 hours to go from the port to city.

With the ship excursion, at least you know you won't be left behind.

Danny8826 - thanks for the advice. After I read you reply I researched Princess cruise website regarding shore excursions, and there it was 2 hrs to get into Ho Chi Minh City, wow 4 hrs out of the day, going into the city then back out of the city.

Oh well we are only doing this south east asian cruise "once", then after that its going to be somewhere else on this planet.

Hi,

I just got back on the Diamond Princess from Singapore to Hong Kong. For your information the travel time to HCMC from Phu My is now only about 75 - 80 minutes because of the new express way completed last year. So it does not take 2 hours. I booked a private tour with PA Tours, http://www.privateasiatours.com/, and dealt with a Mr. Do Ha. The guide, who spoke excellent English, met us at the dock with the driver as arranged. We then drove in an air conditioned van to HCMC. Because we were on a private tour, we were able to spend as much or as little time at each attraction without following the fixed schedule in a big group. We also booked tours with this same company for Nha Trang and Chan May. I highly recommend this company.

I did this tour a few weeks back. I was on a Royal Caribbean ship but it is the same tour.

I decided a ship tour would be best due to the distance from the port. It wasnt the best tour Ive ever taken, but it was enjoyable. The museum was interesting - I like to wander in museums but the tour guide kept trying to rein us all in and make us listen to his commentary!

The temple...well, it was a bit grotty and you have to watch you dont get pooped on by the pigeons!!

The lacquerware factory - if strong chemical smells give you migraines or asthma or anything, dont go in! Some of the stuff is actually quite nice and you can get some cheap little souvenirs.

Lunch- depending on how many buses, they will spread the groups across a few hotels. The lunch is a buffet including salads, fruits, curries and Vietnamese dishes. I am a bit wary of these types of set ups so I just had fruit, bread and rice, but none of my more adventurous companions did not have any ill effects.

The tour moves at a cracking pace and there is no spare time for shopping unless you make a break for it! The tour stops at the Cathedral abd the Post Office and there is a good souvenir shop in there.