Denmom

Teva's Omnium Sport sandals worked great for me. They provide support and clean up easily in the shower after a day in the dust or mud.

Thanks, never thought about them. I bet they dry quick. We won't have a balcony to be drying tennis shoes or anything on either so these might be good. Anyway, I will have to check into some of those. Now, just trying to think of my ALWAYS tennis shoe hubby and what he will wear. lol I got him in a pair of sandals last year for the first time in his 56 years of age. lol So will see how that goes. We have at least a couple of trips before this one so will start packing them

Hi Denmom

Thanks for all that information.

I have to admit, since reading the comment about the zip off pants I have now ordered one pair for each of us. So we will get them in and see how they fit. If we like them, we might order a second pair in a different color.

Food - I am fine with it. I did survive China's food and toilets overall. :eek:

We do have the porthole cabin. :( So unlike all the others (except the other three porthole cabins lol) we will be spending more time out of our cabin. The pool just might be our relaxing place out of the room. ;)

We do not drink alcohol (I know boring) so that doesn't matter to us. As long as they have bottle water we will be ok.

Guess I will start looking for light weight rain gear next. And some type of shoes that can handle water better than tennis shoes. lol

Oh well, I have a little less than four months to handle all the things I need. With a full schedule to boot. It will all work out though.

Thanks again.

The food has been very good. I like spicy, hot food but their hasn't been any. There are condiments that will spice things up if you wish.

 

At dinner there's a meat dish, a fish/seafood dish and a pasta dish. They will leave off sauces, etc. if what thry're offering doesn't appeal to you.

 

There's a good selection of both Western and Asian foods to choose from at breakfast and lunch. The pho station is excellent.

 

The pool is not large. It has been well used but not for swimming. There'e a bench around the edge where people sit and socialize.

 

So far there has been no dress code on the tours. I believe that changes tomorrow in Cambodia. I have been in Asia for four weeks now. As long as your knees and shoulders are covered you are good in most temples. The only place capris weren't good enough was the royal palace in Bangkok. I had to rent a skirt to wrap around me

 

The only internet is in the lounge. There's no signal in the rooms. Mine is close but I don't even get a hint of a signal.

Thanks Becky. I spent time in China and their food was mainly tofu and/or vegies and have to admit, I was happy when I found a Ky Fried Chicken and Spaghetti Place. Even breakfast was tofu and vegies. So glad to hear that the food isn't spicy and has real meat. I don't care if it is rabbit, goat or squirrel. I am from the south. I love pasta and fish so that will do also. Figured there had to be some type of options.

We just thought with hot weather, a cool off in the pool would be great. We aren't swimmers and even though we have a pool at our house, I do not use it but maybe 10 days all summer. So not a big swimmer but thought with the heat we might just sit by the pool with our feet in the water. I didn't expect it to be a HUGE pool as 175 people on a river cruise doesn't need a huge pool.

As far as dress, I'm just trying to think of what to buy to wear. I would normally pack pretty much shorts for every day but now wondering exactly what to pack. Did you have rain gear (or guess it isn't the rainy season right now) Also did you wear shorts any of the days? I know people are talking about zip off pants but I don't remember seeing any of those and have been looking when I am out and haven't seen any yet. So maybe someone can say where they bought theirs.

My husband will most definitely need to use the internet as even though he is on vacation, he will have to do some work. Even if he has to miss a tour and stay on the boat to do it. I am sure he will have his laptop so if there is wifi, that should work for him. We are not both retired and my hubby definitely can't be gone for 18 days without checking in and dealing with the problems that are going on. Just part of traveling that we have to deal with.

Couple more questions:

Do they have printers on board that can be used?

You said you have been in Asia for four weeks prior to the river cruise, so did you find places to do laundry? WE will be 7 days in Hanoi, 2 days in Siem Reap prior to the cruise so feel like we need to do laundry before the cruise starts. We plan to have one duffle bag each and small carry on each.

Thanks for your information.

I am worried about the food. I am picky so is it spicy or heavenly seasoned?

Also, are you using your IPAD in you cabin?

How bug us the pool? We will be there in July so very hot then.

Have there been any tours that a specific dress code is needed?

 

I'm on Amalotus right now, typing this on my iPad. No problems.

 

There are no signs in the bathroom. Flushing paper is fine.

 

There has been a change in policy about tour groups. You may now go with whatever group you want to. You are not stuck with the same people the whole trip unless you want to be. :)

 

Thanks for the news from the ship. :)

I tried to work out on the ship how much in tips I gave out. Here's my best guess per person (the number in the parentheses are AMA's recommended amounts; many people tipped higher):

 

Land Guides ($2 per day):

Hanoi/Ha Long Bay - 3 days: $6

Siem Reap - 3 days: $6

Ho Chi Minh City - 1 day: $2

 

River Guides ($3 per day):

Amalotus-Cambodia - 4 days: $12

Amalotus-Vietnam - 2 days: $6

 

Total Guides: $32

 

Bus/Boat Driver ($1 per full day)

Hanoi - 1 day: $1

Hanoi to Ha Long Bay - half day, but it's a long drive: $1

Ha Long Bay - 1 day: $1

Ha Long Bay to Hanoi Airport - half day, but it's a long drive: $1

Siem Reap - 2 days: $2

Siem Reap to Pred Kdam - 5.5 hour transfer: $1

Boat excursions from Amalotus - four days: $4

Phnom Penh - 1 day: $1

My Pho to Ho Chi Minh City - 1 day: $1

 

Total Drivers: $13

 

Local Guides ($1-2)

Hanoi Rickshaw: $2

Oxcart Ride: $2

Tan Chau trishaw ride: $2

 

Total Local Guides: $6

 

Ship's Crew ($10 per day): $80

 

Cruise Director ($2 per day): $28

 

Total tips at AMA recommended rates (per person): $159

 

If you put the crew's tip on your credit card, you need only bring $79 in cash, but remember, you will still need additional small bills for making purchases and for paying for tuk-tuks or taxis back to the hotel or ship.

 

As you can see from the daily tipping, simply bringing four $20s won't do you much good as so many of the tips are in very small amounts.

 

Hope that helps.

Are any of these tips part of the land portion of the cruise??? I most definitely will be printing this off but we are not booked on the land portion of the trip - just the river cruise. We are doing the land portion with another company so we could design it on exactly what we wanted to see. I am sure a lot is the same but we did have some specific things we wanted to see that were not on the list so we thought this would be better. And we have more days scheduled versus the land portion offered thru AMA Waterways. (even though we are paying about the same price)

Thanks for all your information.

I keep hearing about Hanoi Kids. Do they do Hanoi, Siem Reap and Saigon tours. Because we are packaging a deal that included pick up in Hanoi, 5 or 6 days there with tours, flight to Cambodia, 1 or 2 days in Cambodia, drop off at Sofitel then after the river cruise pick up at the end, and 2 or 3 days in Saigon and drop off at airport. Also includes many meals, hotels, tours that we have picked, and a guide.

One stop shopping I like.

We just got back from our Mekong cruise last week (on board from Jan 2 - 9), and I've submitted a review, but in the meantime, here are a few quick comments.

 

The audiovox equipment isn't the best. We ended up wasting a lot of time because individual boxes would suddenly go off with no explanation.

 

As someone noted already, about 40% of the guests were from Australia, about 50% were from the US, with the rest being Israelis and South Africans.

 

Because of the policy of keeping us all within the same color groups on excursions, the only opportunity to meet others was at meals or on the sun deck. (We were on the "green" team)

 

AMA and our cruise director handled everything on our entrance to Cambodia; it went very smoothly. We did have a small snag on our arrival in Vietnam, as AMA goofed and didn't have us down for a transfer from the Hanoi airport, but we were able to find the guy anyway.

 

In Phnom Penh, the Amalotus was moored next to La Marguerite, so I took the opportunity to explore the sister ship. Like Amalotus, the ship has beautiful woodworking and features. It's somewhat smaller, and while it looks like it has plenty of Wifi, I couldn't see any computer terminals. Amalotus had four terminals, though one stopped accessing the internet after the first day. People with Ipads had no trouble accessing the Wifi, but I couldn't get my Iphone to work.

 

I don't remember hearing any din or loud talking in the dining room, but then again, I have often been told I lack an "indoor voice," so perhaps I was a culprit.

 

People will naturally differ in their tastes for food. We were disappointed in many of the meals on board. Personally, I enjoyed the fish and soups the most and meat and desserts the least. We were very happy with the meals in the Sofitels. We didn't eat in restaurants that often, but here are my recommendations:

 

Hanoi: The Hanoi Press Club - just across the street from the Sofitel. Posh, elegant, all dark woods and hush, very good French food.

 

Siem Reap: Abacus. Not exactly a recommendation. If you go, make reservations. We didn't and were seated outside with the mosquitoes. We both ordered the entrecote, which was excellent, but then my father got food poisoning. AYOR

 

Saigon:

 

The Rex Hotel Roof Top Bar - supposedly one of the "1000 things to see before you die." It has beautiful views and somewhat overpriced, but good, drinks.

 

Vietnam House - about three blocks from the Rex Hotel. Fantastic Vietnamese food at very reasonable prices.

 

Augustin - one block from the Rex Hotel. Small, intimate, French restaurant. Very, very good.

 

One last piece of advice: Very few people on our tour brought enough $1s and $5 to handle the amount of tipping that was necessary. I would recommend bringing $100 in singles and $150 in fives; that way you'll have enough for tips and for the occasional shopping purchase.

Is that amount per person or per couple?

Hi Freddie,

On our recent cruise on the Amalotus we did not notice the dining room to be especially noisy.

We usually sat at a table for 4 but never had any problems. The group from APT numbered about 30 I would guess, and on the last night they all sat together at a long table quite near us. They were a nice, friendly bunch and did not seem overly loud.

Susan

What does APT stand for?

Denmom, Denmom, Denmom - You are a bit of worrier, are you not??!! Flying into Hanoi via Tokyo really does not have anything to do with visa issues for Vietnam. As long as you are in transit to another destination, the transit in Tokyo has no visa issues whatever. You need simply focus on your visa issues for your arrival into Vietnam. Those issues are simply addressed as we have discussed previously on this thread. Relax and have a wonderful visit to Vietnam and Cambodia. (And please believe that this message is coming from a seriously O/C person ;) , who leaves nothing to chance. ) Cheers, Fred

lol lol lol I will have to give you the short version of our "in transit" story. lol We walked thru the wrong door and cost us $18 a piece to go back thru the door. We learned our lesson to not believe the airlines people and to read the signs thoroughly. lol I most definitely would hate to put out this much money on the trip and lose it so a little bit of a worry. Also, we have never been on a river cruise. I am worried about everything. lol I am a picky eater, now after reading all this post, worry about getting sick, worry about what to pack since I am hearing it is super hot - well, yes, I do worry. lol lol lol

But before that - I need to get hotel for the Disney cruise and shuttle so will figure out the Vietnam/Cambodia visas in February or March. lol

Denmom - Neither the Cambodian eVisa process nor the Vietnamese Visa-on-Arrival process requires you to send your passport anywhere other than your own bedroom dresser drawer!! Indeed, the Cambodian process does not require anything that you cannot supply yourself. For the Vietnamese Visa-on-Arrival you will need a letter from your tour agency called a Visa Approval Letter. You use that letter to obtain your visa at the airport in Hanoi. The authorities at the Hanoi airport are a bit (to say the least) disorganized; but it all works out in the end; and you will likely get through that visa procedure just in time for your luggage to arrive at the luggage carousels. We were somewhat annoyed by the lack of organization but discovered that it was: either wait a few minutes at visa control or wait a few minutes at the luggage carousel. Total time elapsed was well less than an hour.

 

Then, we were whisked off by our driver to the lovely Sofitel Metropole Legend Hotel in Hanoi.

 

Thus, visa issues for Cambodia and Vietnam should not occupy any part of your mindshare in planning for this trip, irrespective of where else you might be going on the same trip.

I hadn't heard anyone mention this but our flight goes from St. Louis to New York to Tokyo to Hanoi. So I guess there isn't a problem flying into Tokyo since we will be in transit correct?

I do worry about VISA because as I think I have said before, we had to cancel our trip to Brazil once due to not getting a visa in time. Sounds like this trip is going to be easy to get them which will be great.

As we were traveling independently of AMA before we boarded La Marguerite, we could not use the CD to obtain our Cambodian visas. Rather, we used the marvelous eVisa system offered by Cambodian immigration. One does not need to scan the passport photo from the passport. The eVisa application merely reguires a head shot, as described on the website. We used a couple of digital photos we'd taken last year to send to our guide in Rio so that he'd recognize us more easily at the airport. Once we'd received the eVisa back from the Cambodian Embassy, we printed out several copies in color (you can also do it in B&W) to use when we arrived in Siem Reap. Worked like a charm - we were through Immigration & Customs in a few minutes.

 

Since we were doing only the cruise portion with AMA, we met up with the rest of the passengers at the Sofitel in Siem Reap. From there, we all took buses to the port on Tonle Sap Lake, where we boarded small boats (capacity of a couple of dozen pax) to take us out to La Marguerite, which was moored out on the lake.

 

A new port facility is being built at the port on Tonle Sap Lake; so perhaps in the future, La Marguerite and AmaLotus will be able to dock there, rather than use the local tenders.

 

With regard to hotels, we found the Sofitel Metropole Legend in Hanoi to be a superb facility. We booked it on our own, although AMA uses it as well for the land portion of the trip. It's a lovely hotel, with excellent service and fantastic pastries offered in the breakfast venues. The hotel has a very good patisserie/boulangerie on permises, which supplies both of the breakfast restaurants, as well as the lovely little deli called "L'Epicerie". We bought almond croissants and pains au chocolat for our guides each day at that little speciality cafe.

 

Other nice things about the hotel in Hanoi: Amazing water pressure in the showers - the rain shower was positively decadent. We had two excellent dinners at the Vietnamese restaurant in the hotel, Spices Garden - a bit expensive but absolutely delightful in service, presentation, and quality of the food.

The company we have gotten prices with (which said after the first of the year we are to pay the deposit) included our hotels, airfare from Hanoi to Siem Reap, Junk boat, tours, and many of our meals. So we will have to do our visa on our own. How long in advance did you do it? But you didnt' send in your passport correct?

We are going to have to get a India visa for our May 11th trip (and heard Malaysia requires one to but we haven't checked) as we are doing a repositioning from Dubai to Singapore at that time. So that doesn't give us much time between returning on May 29th and then leaving again June 22nd. WE had heard you dont' want to get VISA for Vietnam before 3 months prior so that only gives us less than a month between May 29th - June 22nd. (we also need passport from April 14th - April 25th for a Transatlantic cruise Florida to Barcelona)

Anyway - we realy booked to many things during a short time and now worry about getting these passports. We have held off of booking anything in Feb and March to try to see what we can figure out on Visas. But no matter what - we won't be canceling this River Cruise. :)

Just wondering - when you say that you have the cruise director handle the Cambodia visas, is that because you are on the land tour with AMA also?

I am on my own land package as we wanted to have more days in Hanoi and days on the end in Saigon. So I don't think we will see the CD until we actually get onto the river cruise.

Thanks in advance

Oh my goodness. I never thought about our flight from Hanoi to Seim Reap. I will really need to check that out. My carry on is very heavy due to lap top and magazines and books. So that might be a problem. Do that weigh your purse and carry on or just the carry on. (purse being a personal item) We do only pack ONE bag each on all trips. It is usually a duffle bag each with $50 in each one. We just make that work. (did anyone book their flights from Hanoi to Siem Reap on their own? If so what is the cost doing it yourself?)

I remember once in Copehagen they tried to charge us $150 USD for our back pack. We were on a round trip ticket but this was back when, with American Airlines miles, you could do a stop over for up to 3 or 4 days somewhere on one of the legs. So we flew to Copenhagen from St. Louis no problem. REturn flight was Copenhagen to St. Louis with a stop over for 4 days in Paris I think it was. So Copenhagen airport wanted to call in an intercountry flight. AFter 1 1/2 hours, we convinced a manager and we didn't pay. Now I wonder if this could be the same scenario.

We have business class booked also with American Airlines and their partners. My husband is also Plantinum with American so we usually don't have to worry about how many bags just weight. I don't think I even realized with business class you don't have to worry about bag weight since we fly it so little. But come next year - I will be rereading all of the thread and figuring it out. We have 2 cruise and a land trip between now and the end of January. So hope to really figure out everything after that.

We had never heard of Hanoi kids when we booked our 10 1/2 days filled with tours, flight, etc... with a Vietnam company so we are probably commited on that. Not sure how the prices compare but it was something like $1600 per person but we picked what we wanted to see and where to go versus what AMA Waterways offered. (but lots of it are the same) It also included the Junk at Ha Long Bay and two of the days are in Saigon at the end of the cruise. Pick up from airport, drop off to Sofitel hotel, pick up from AMALotus in Saigon and drop off at the airport. Hotels in all places and some meals. We felt it was a good deal since we don't have to pay anything extra except tips, some meals, visa, and personal expenses. And I am thinking the AMA land portion was shorter and about the same price.

AMA did offer a great package but there were things we wanted to see that they did not offer. Plus, we wanted to see a lot of things relating to the Vietnam War. So those are on our list of things also. (even though reading some peoples reviews they did do a lot of what we were wanting to see) I did check and saw that on Ha Long Bay - Junk we would be with Paradise Cruise Deluxe cabin with balcony. It stops at that Surprise Cave you went to and Cua Van Fishing Village. We also go to Fairy Cave. (says we can snorkel, kayak or swim there) I am really exciting about the junk after seeing all the photos. (DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOS THAT YOU CARE TO SHARE THE LINK with us?)

Anyway, we thought we had gotten the worst of it all settled (River cruise, tours, flights) lol But sounds like luggage and visa can be another worst of the issues. lol I love reading all the reviews though. Gets me more exciting.

Maybe some of you can also give an idea of what the tipping for your junk trip were and also what the tipping for tours during your land trip were. We want to be sure (being our first time) we don't offend anyone and/or miss someone that we weren't aware that was to be tipped. Also, on our China tours for a week a couple years ago, I tipped the guide $100 US and the driver $50 and once we ask our friends and everyone, they said I paid at least double. A friend had told me her and her husband was paying $80 and I thought she meant USD. But later after returning she said that was in Chinese money. Oh well, I knew they were awfully happy. lol (funny, our tours for 4 1/2 days in Beijing and then another full day in Xian was only $200 for the two of us. lol (included all entrance fees, some meals, etc.....)

Thanks everyone for giving your reviews and/or information. I know some have completed river cruises but we have not. So anything is helpful for us.

Hey guys - since this was my first river cruise, I wasn't aware of the tipping of the cruise director and have yet to start reading up on things regarding it. I have had 52 Cruises on cruise ships though and have to admit, really only got to know 2 cruise director well on those. ONe of them I mail him a CHRISTmas card each year. ;) Anyway, just glad someone mentioned it and I ask because I might not have known this is the custom on river cruises.

OK, I need to have my hubby bring his Vietnam book on our next trip. I want to know the "for sure" on getting the visa and the time of it. Someone also said that from the date of your Visa, it expires 6 month after that date. So if you got it six months in advance it could be expiring just about the end of the cruise and/or port visit if you have one. So that worries me also.

I am so looking forward to this trip but have to admit, with so many other trips prior to it, reading this board is about the only information I have gotten. Nothing from AMA regarding rules/advice/suggestions on river cruising.

From reading more post - I am starting to wonder what the luggage weight limit problem is?? Is this regarding your flights to and from Asia? Because I was thinking you can carry 2 suitcases at 50 lbs each. Is that not the case? We have booked a junk in Ha Long Bay also and I read on here a way back that the weight limit for that is alot less. So guess I better find that out also. I sure won't to be prepared to following the rules on this trip. We have a week on our own prior to the cruise and days after the cruise so want to be sure I have everything I will need.

I greatly appreciate all the suggestions and advice.

Australians (like much of the rest of the world) frown on the United States' reliance on tipping to make sure that service folks make a decent wage (there have been numerous past threads on this subject on Cruise Critic). Australians pay their service folks a decent wage, whether they're food servers, cab drivers, hotel porters, etc. In my trips to Australia, I've had service folks refuse tips, saying that they feel it's degrading. That's why many Australians (and Brits and others) are very upset about being asked to provide gratuities on cruise ships that carry mostly Americans. Recommended tips on river cruises are approximately $10 - $12 per person per day, which is split among dining staff, room stewards, etc. The cruise director is generally tipped separately (nominally $5/person/day, but variable). Tour guides and bus drivers are tipped separately - we give $2 to $3 for the guide and $1 for the driver, but again, it's voluntary and variable.

 

 

 

We used a Vietnam "Visa on Demand" service, which is considerably less expensive than going through either the consulate or a visa service such as ZVS. Please e-mail me at mbrill*at*dc*dot*rr*dot*com for details on who I used. I would only recommend going this route if your flight in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh city arrives during normal business hours, as you need to present your documents in a separate line at the airport in order to get your actual visa. We flew Cathay Pacific economy class from LAX to Hong Kong (13 hours), and after a 2-hour layover on Dragon Air from Hong Kong to Hanoi (2 hours). Good service and food; seats reclined as in most economy class seats. Hope this helps.

I agree with the tipping. Much rather pay better wage and strike the tipping. Then if you don't want to use the person, or go to the restaurant, etc.. you don't have to. I am working on a banquet center now for a rehearsal dinner. REHEARSAL I must say. Food 28.95 per person. (buffet) And the tips are 20% of the bill and taxes also abover that. Shocking. OH, and the chair covers are $5 per chair also. Hmmmmm By the time we are done, we are out $1500 for a rehearsal dinner. Amazing.

By the way - I have never heard of tipping a cruise director. Why would you do that? He should be making a top wage for sure. I have heard that people are tipping the person/guide doing the excursions. I have never had anyone not take a tip for sure. Just in New Orleans - we did three tours and tipped all of them. By the way, everyone I have ever known that works a job that gets tips - complains about what they get.

Visa. The more I think about this visa the more worried I get. First of all, we will be in Barcelona, Azores, etc in April. Then IN May/June we will be in Dubai, India, Malyasia, and Singapore. So I feel I need to do something that can get me a visa quickly since I can't give me passport up and not have it for those trips. And you can't get a visa until 3 months prior. Does this service ask for your passport prior to entrance? Or did they take it all right at the airport and give it to you. Did you need photos? Fees? I think I will email you in the next few days and have you give me more information on it if you will.

FLight - first of all I better check and see what time we arrive in Vietnam (we are flying there on our own and doing some tours prior to the cruise)

We are flying with miles so bumped up to Business Class. Figured having that seat that lays almost flat is worth it. Plus, our own tvs. (hopefully lol) On all the other flights that we used business class we had individual tvs at our seat. So will see. We are using American Airlines and their partners.

Greetings,

We are leaving Vietnam this morning, back to California. For the past two full days, we engaged Zoom for a Saigon city tour and a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tour assistance was great and, in particular for the city tour, helped us visit 12-14 stops in a single day that would have been difficult on our own. Moreover, we were able to expand our knowledge of life in Saigon from our conversations with Zoom.

 

On the AMALotus, we met another group that was interested in a Saigon tour and they were able to arrange city tour services from one of Zoom's colleagues after contacting Zoom via email from the AMALotus.

 

All in all, a great trip from start to finish.

 

Bob

Bob, hope you give a review on the cruise when you return. WE do not go until July 2012 but would love to hear about the AMALotus's first cruises.

Mike, what did you mean by the Aussies think we are nuts?? What tipping are you referring to??? Tours?????? Daily tipping????? What exactly are the tips on a river cruise??? This will be our first time on a river boat.

Thanks

Further to the flooding problem on Tonle Sap we recently did the cruise on the Jayavarman ( Heritage Line) from Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap departing on July 30. We were the first trip for Heritage to go through the lake this season thanks to the higher levels of the Mekong ( last year the first one was early September)

 

We were told that as we entered the narrow channel to get into the lake we needed a draft clearance of 1.7 metres. At one stage we were at 2.3 so we were really lucky to go via the lake rather than the bus trip.

The trip across the lake was great and the journey in via the floating villages in the smaller boats was really interesting, as was the whole cruise.

 

I'm sure whatever way you go you will find life on the Mekong a fascinating experience. We certainly did.

 

June

So is the Heritage line boats the same size as the AMA boats? Because we are schedule next summer on July 2nd to do Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh?????? Sure hope we aren't spending our days via bus rather than boat?????? Is the only place that is a problem is the narrow channel at the lake opening?

I read that the president of AMAWaterways, Rudi Schreiner, was brave enough to try deep fried tarantula in Vietnam and says it was like "deep fried hairy bacon". Yum! Apparently the Vietnamese eat all kinds of creatures that would not appeal to westerners; I saw an article entitled "If you can catch it, you can eat it". Note to self: when dining in restaurants, read the menu very carefully before ordering...

Ok, Note to self - pack fruit loops, granola bars, and other items so eating won't be a problem in Vietnam and Cambodia while not on ship. ;). I am picky. I was worried about the ship food to be honest. Maybe this would be the time for a diet. Lol

I laughed until I read about spiders which is about the only thing I am deathly scare of. I insteadly read it to my hubby letting him know I will have camera in hand in case I can take a photo because I for sure won't be eating or touching them. Not sure I can even look at them.

I was hoping to hear something from anyone who did the Mekong in July. How were the river levels?

Denmom -

 

Cambodia has what appears to be a very simple eVisa program:

 

http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/evisa/

 

Alternatively, you can get the visa at your arrival airport in Cambodia. You should not need the help of your tour agency for the Cambodian visa.

 

On the other hand, your tour agency for Vietnam may be of great assistance in obtaining your Vietnam visa. Vietnam has a very handy program called "Visa on Arrival" which I mentioned in my post #201 above. The tour agency which arranged our private tour in Vietnam, Exotissimo, is obtaining our visa approval letter at no additional cost to us. I would assume that your tour agency will be able to do the same. Using the Visa on Arrival program, you don't ever have to send your passport off to anyplace anytime. Good, no??? Further, it is much less $$$ than sending your passport to the Vietnamese Embassy to get the visa.

 

We are off on our S.E. Asia adventure in November and will definitely post about our experiences in Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Sapa), our five days in Siem Reap, the cruise on "La Marguerite", and our several days in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) at the end of the trip.

 

We anticipate that this will be a grand adventure, indeed.

 

Cheers, Fred

Thanks Fred and I look forward to hearing about it. We ordered the Frommers Book on Vietnam and really felt there wasn't a huge amount to see in Saigon that we were interested in. With five days you must have found more than we read about. lol lol Plus, hubby still works so we can't be gone super long so we picked what was the most important to us. At first, we weren't even doing the Ha Long Bay and finally I told him that it was a must for me. :) But I am super excited. We will be on the AmaLotus which I guess just came out!?! And I hear that the boat/ships/whatever they are called have bikes on them for use when you have down time in on a stop so we have been biking also. lol

Of course, my son was engaged just in August and they let us know last weekend the wedding is planned for July 28th. So I guess I will come back and get totally stressed out with all I have to get done in two weeks. (better by dress and have every thing finalyzed before I leave. lol)

Well, happy sailling and I will do some checking with the company we are using. I am thinking it is Handspan but not really for sure which one since Hubby did the talking to them. lol

To those wondering about what you need for Vietnam, as I stated in an earlier posting--you need a multiple entry for Vietnam, a VISA for Cambodia which you can get at the airport or have the AMA people get it for you when you land in Siem Reap--we gave the rep $20 and a photo with our passport. One couple did not have a photo for the Cambodia visa and it still wasn't a problem. The passports and VISAS were returned to us the next day when the tour guide met us at the hotel. As far as Angkor Wat, they take your photo at the entrance gate and then they put it in plastic with a lanyard that you wear around your neck. In fact, because we were with a group, we got to go to a different window from those just visiting on their own. So, you do not need a photo to get into Angkor Wat. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Since we wanted to pick and chose our own places to see, things to do, we have not booked the land portion with AMA. So we are going several days early and staying some days after the river cruise. But we do begin in Hanoi and are doing the Ha Long Bay junk also. Just some different things and some the same around Hanoi (I think 5 or 6 days) Then spending a couple days in Siem Reap. WE did pick a tour company over there that is handling it all along with flight to Cambodia and all the tours both places (with a guide). So I guess I need to ask if they are helping with the Cambodia Visa or we just do it ourselves. It does sound fairly easy for that one. Of course, the Vietnam visa is probably easy also, we just have to find the time to do it when we don't need our passport.

I do thank everyone and was hoping to hear some peoples experience that went during the month of July. Since that is when we are booked. I would love to also see photos if anyone has a blog, photo album, etc..... from their river cruise. I am really excite and I have many other vacations before then. But can't get my mind off of this one. lol lol

You need one photo for Visa application plus you need one for Cambodia Visa and one for temple entrance at Angor Wat (per AMA).

The cost I paid at our local post office was about $13 for the envelope to the embassy, mailing costs (which included certfied mail), and the envelope with the passports returned to us. The application states specifically what tye of mail to use

We live in Arizona and it took about 7 calendar days from the time we mailed the application off to the embassy in Washington DC to the time we received it at home.

As to the time frame, I do not recall seeing any mention of how far in advance you can apply. I applied the end of august for a mid December trip. You can always call the embassy.

This was our second time getting their Visa on our own and it was flawless.

Thanks, we are just a little worried. Once we booked a trip to Rio and couldn't get a visa in time (didn't realize we needed one until to late - it wasn't on a cruise) anyway, sure wouldn't want to cancel this trip so trying to get it all figured out now. I wonder if you went to Washington DC could you go to the embassy to get it? Last year, we were in New York so we went to the China Embassy there and got our China visas.

I will have to check out the site, get the applications and figure it out.

One last question, you said you needed one photo for Visa application, one for Cambodia application, and one for Angor Wat????????? I know for passports we needed two and when we got our China Visa we needed two. So you are saying just one photo for each place???? You sure did get it back quickly. Was it because you have had a visa with them before?? That was really fast. I don't know if our mail gets there and back that quick. lol

We went through the Vietnam Embassy to get our VISAS. You can download the forms from their website. We needed a multiple entry VISA because we entered in Hanoi, then went to Cambodia and then re-entered Vietnam. The cost was $120 per person (cheaper than cruise line offers). The cost of mailing it properly, with a return envelope was not cheap, but it still cost less than getting it through the cruise company. It took about 6 days to get our passports back with the Vietnam VISA. As far as Cambodia, you can get one at the airport in Cambodia but we had someone from our cruise company collect our passports after we landed in Siem Reap and they were returned to us the next morning with the Cambodian VISA attached. The VISA cost $20 per person.

Hope this helps

Thanks both of you.

Another question - you said the cost of mailing it properly???? How long did it take from filling out form and mailing it to returning it? And when did you mail it to??? Did you need photos for the application.

I ask because we have so much booked I am trying to decide when I will be getting our visas. Plus, someone told me it is like China and you can't get them before 90 days before traveling there. We also need a multible entry as we will go to Hanoi, then Cambodia and cruise to Vietnam. So we really have to figure this out.

Aruba - Jan 7 - 14

Cruise FEb 4 - 11

Cruise Mar 4 - 11

Arizona April (not booked yet)

Cruise May (can't remember dates but have to check if we need visa in Dubai or Singapore or the ports we stop in on that cruise)

My hubby just had to renew his passport and it cost a bit more as he had to express mail it off and express mail it back. Still was about 2 weeks.

So, I think I have a valid worry here. ;)