AMA Vietnam

[Shorex]

And some type of shoes that can handle water better than tennis shoes. lol

 

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.

[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

[freddie]

I will heartily agree that my travel doctor is dead set opposed to prophylactic use of antibiotics. We carry Cipro with us when we travel to deal with serious problems "if they occur".

 

Further, the notion of brushing one's teeth with the tap water on La Marguerite or AmaLotus is highly risky. Those boats do not have water treatment plants on board, as far as we could determine on our trip a couple of months ago. The food is washed with bottled water; but the water in the plumbing system is not purified, in our understanding. Therefore, brushing teeth with anything other than bottled water is tempting the gods of intestinal distress, indeed.

 

We spent almost four weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia, without a single instance of traveler's ailment; but we were reasonably careful and used bottled water for anything that might be ingested. AMA is very good about supplying bottled water to the cabins on the two boats. I would suggest that passengers are well advised to take advantage of that supply and not put themselves at risk by ingesting any tap water.

 

Cheers, Fred

Edited March 9, 2012 by freddie

[amyr]

Denmom, while you're looking at shoes, take a look at these Keen sandals My husband and I both have worn ours around the world and they just do not wear out. He wears his barefoot, but I always put socks on with mine.

 

I'm just going to chew a Pepto tablet each morning, take a pro-biotic capsule each night, brush with bottled water, and hope for the best. I always thought I had a cast iron stomach having eaten some highly suspect things along the way, but something they fed us on Celebrity Xpedition in Galapagos took me down hard, and now I'm a believer. I don't ever want to relive that!

[Denmom]

Ok, we received our pants (zip off to shorts) today in the mail. lol lol Can't say I will ever wear these other than on that trip. And I am wondering if I should wait on getting any other color and go for buying them over there as someone suggested. ;)

 

Shoes, wow, I have looked at them on the website and have to admit, I have never bought a $100 pair of shoes (well, have a couple pair of UGG boots lol) So, I am spending more time trying to find them. Figure stores will get them in soon for summer and we can pick up a pair and try wearing them a bit before going on the trip. They do look comfortable, easy to dry, and plenty of air going thru them.

 

My next big project will be getting Visas. We are thinking about doing a four day weekend to New York in June (our river cruise is in July) I am going to check and see if they have a place in New York to get them (we got our China visas there) We canceled our May cruise so if nothing else, we will get them on arrival as everyone seems to be doing. We have been working with our tour company and are ready to book our tours also. A huge price but we should have everything taken care of by one company from beginning up until the river cruise and back picked up after the river cruise for two more days until getting on the plane. Worth that peace of mind.

 

Again, thanks for the advice everyone is giving.

[texasgal01]

when are you sailing?:o

Edited March 13, 2012 by texasgal01

[Denmom]

when are you sailing?:o

 

 

 

July 2nd - 7th. We leave for Hanoi on June 22nd. Spending 7 days in Hanoi (and area) two or three days in Cambodia then get on the river cruise. Then stay after the cruise in Saigon leaving the 13th.

[Happy Canadian]

Have just completed reading all posts and am more excited than I was before about this trip. Thanks for all the excellent reviews, suggestions, tip breakdown etc. We have river cruised before (Yangtze with Viking) and enjoyed the adventure - no it is not a luxury cruise but then again that is not what we booked.

We have our visas in hand (used on line service for Cambodia and Vietname - very efficient and no need to send passports) and am in the process of hoarding US one dollar bills. I have been to our bank several times as $1 seem to be in short supply (someone must be cornering the market!).

I believe some of you mentioned attending a Water Puppet show which I believe is part of the Ama itinerary (still waiting for our offical package to confirm). We were in Siem Riep several years ago and attended a Shadow Puppet Show on our own. Did any one do that - wondering if it is still performed?

Based on my research it appears we will be in HCMC on their Reunification Day so expect that will throw a wrench into planned tours but should add a special flavour to the city. We stop in Bangkok prior to the Ama tour and spend a few days in Tokyo on the way back to Canada. I discovered that we will be in Tokyo during their Golden Week. So by good luck more than good planning we will be able to participate in these festivals.

Thanks again to all of you.

Danielle and Terry (from beautiful Prince Edward Island)

[alexandra cruiser]

the cruise.

Will you check to see if AMA still provides the visa service in Cambodia..that has been mentioned before??

Funny about the $1.00 bills,,guess I ll start putting some away for Dec.trip.

Strange,,when I saw Prince Edward Island,,just asked for a brochure,,thinking of spending 10 days there in May following my Vietnam cruise.Do you think I should try to do all 3 islands?Nova scotia,New Brunswick...dont want to spend ALL my time driving.Sorry all,,, a LITTLE off topic...:p

[Happy Canadian]

the cruise.

Will you check to see if AMA still provides the visa service in Cambodia..that has been mentioned before??

Funny about the $1.00 bills,,guess I ll start putting some away for Dec.trip.

Strange,,when I saw Prince Edward Island,,just asked for a brochure,,thinking of spending 10 days there in May following my Vietnam cruise.Do you think I should try to do all 3 islands?Nova scotia,New Brunswick...dont want to spend ALL my time driving.Sorry all,,, a LITTLE off topic...:p

 

Write to me at bushpg at hotmail dot com for information about your trip to the Maritimes.

Danielle

[swamp1sg]

My husband did 2 tours in Vietnam. One as a grunt in the Big Red One.(He really has had malaria and had to be medivaced).) He said that despite the beauty in the countryside, he would never return to Vietnam.

 

I've gone back and read most of these posts, and I've been surprised that no one mentioned the Hanoi Hilton, or the Reunification Palace, instead focusing on food on the ship, how stale the bread was, how some people got to reserve a table, etc.

 

Were any of you travelers Viet Nam vets? How did it make you fill? It wouldn't be like traveling in Normandie where you helped save a continent or even Germany where your were the victors. Just curious.

[amyr]

My husband did 2 tours in Vietnam. One as a grunt in the Big Red One.(He really has had malaria and had to be medivaced).) He said that despite the beauty in the countryside, he would never return to Vietnam.

 

I've gone back and read most of these posts, and I've been surprised that no one mentioned the Hanoi Hilton, or the Reunification Palace, instead focusing on food on the ship, how stale the bread was, how some people got to reserve a table, etc.

 

Were any of you travelers Viet Nam vets? How did it make you fill? It wouldn't be like traveling in Normandie where you helped save a continent or even Germany where your were the victors. Just curious.

 

Are you thinking of booking this trip, and is that why you've read all the posts? I don't think this is much of a Vietnam War themed trip (or American War as they call it). I know that there are travel firms that specialize in those, which you might want to investigate. AMA is partially (50%?) owned by an Australian travel company and you'll notice that a lot of posters in this thread are Canadian, British, and Australian in addition to the Americans, so I'm not sure the war is a focus for this particular package. In fact, the Hanoi Hilton isn't even on the itinerary, nor are the Chu Chi tunnels - you have to work those out yourself if you want to see them. We've used the sister site, Trip Advisor, to help with that as we're staying on to do just that.

 

In fact, many posters here only book the 7-day cruise portion from Seam Reap to HCMC, so that's why there is so much interest just in the ship.

[Shorex]

My husband did 2 tours in Vietnam. One as a grunt in the Big Red One.(He really has had malaria and had to be medivaced).) He said that despite the beauty in the countryside, he would never return to Vietnam.

 

I've gone back and read most of these posts, and I've been surprised that no one mentioned the Hanoi Hilton, or the Reunification Palace, instead focusing on food on the ship, how stale the bread was, how some people got to reserve a table, etc.

 

Were any of you travelers Viet Nam vets? How did it make you fill? It wouldn't be like traveling in Normandie where you helped save a continent or even Germany where your were the victors. Just curious.

 

Since you asked -- many of my friends served in 'Nam, some did not return. This trip can be approached on various levels. Frankly, most tourists close their eyes to the devastation that is still fresh in the culture of both Vietnam and Cambodia.

 

My preparation for the trip included reading Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald, The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam, and Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor. The first two I originally read decades ago when they first were published. Even so, I have only a rudimentary understanding of the clash of cultures.

 

Before joining the group in Hanoi we went to the Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison) and the War Museum. The prison exhibits focus on the atrocities committed by the French against the Vietnamese and gloss over the treatment of US prisoners of war. Not unexpected. At the War Museum they have put together wreckage from downed American aircraft to make a sort of sculpture. Again, not unexpected.

 

The Reunification Palace, Choeung Ek (a Khmer Rouge extermination site), and the S-21 Prison in Phnom Penh (now a genocide museum) are part of the tour. We went to the Cu Chi tunnels on our own.

 

How did we feel? Incredibly sad. Sad at the waste of lives, American/Canadian and Vietnamese and Cambodian. We did not belong there. The "brilliant" Ivy League graduates who were the "smartest" of their generation with their presumptuous world views led us to disaster.

 

It was almost a relief to return to the ship and complain about the bread, even after walking the fields where starving children were killed. It is humanly impossible to focus on the ugliness for very long. When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. Friedrich Nietzsche.

[swamp1sg]

Thank you for replying. I have been very surprised at the lack of awareness and down right shallowness of some of these posts. Over 50,000 Americans died over there.!They deserve a passing thought.

[Denmom]

Thank you for replying. I have been very surprised at the lack of awareness and down right shallowness of some of these posts. Over 50,000 Americans died over there.!They deserve a passing thought.

 

Our trip is in July and We booked our own extra time in Vietnam so we could visit many of the places from the war. That is mainly why we didn't book the land portion of the trip thru AMA. So we are spending 7 or 8 (I can't remember a this point) in Haoi prior to cruise and staying 3 extra days in HCMC/Saigon afterwards. If we are going there, we really want to get some history from it from an American's point of view as I had family that fought in that war.

[doreen22]

Thank you for replying. I have been very surprised at the lack of awareness and down right shallowness of some of these posts. Over 50,000 Americans died over there.!They deserve a passing thought.

 

We are Canadians who were on this river cruise in November and we definitely gave much more than a passing thought to all the Americans and Vietnamese and other nationalities who died over there. Since I have been home I have read a number of books on both Vietnam and Cambodia ( I knew almost nothing about the Khmer Rouge atrocities previously except that they had occurred).

The fact that I have never mentioned the war in my posts on this board is not due to a lack of awareness but rather due to my impression that this is not the appropriate forum for such posts.

Susan

Edited April 2, 2012 by doreen22

[swamp1sg]

Honoring American soldiers is appropriate anywhere and at anytime. On the Seine River cruises people always (myself included) frequently comment on the Normandy beaches and the American Cemetery. Also many people visit **** Concentration camps and other sights in Germany. So I don't think that this forum is just reserved for people's packing list. I hope that maybe I've made a few people stop and think about the lost lives of Viet Nam.

[freddie]

Swamp1sg - Might I be so bold as to respectfully ask what your agenda is with your posts on this thread?

 

Are you suggesting that Americans should not visit Vietnam? As a Vietnam-era vet, I am well aware of the loss of many Americans of my generation. However, you might also bear in mind that much greater numbers of Vietnamese and Cambodians lost their lives during that war and its aftermath.

 

It is not dishonoring the memory of the Americans who died there to spend time as a tourist there doing the things that tourists do (including discussing the food on the riverboat, etc.).

 

You posted that, "I hope that maybe I've made a few people stop and think about the lost lives of Viet Nam". I trust that you are referring to the lost lives on both sides of the conflict.

 

With regard to Cambodia and its dreadful recent history (from which it is only emerging over the last 10-15 years), we learned a few disturbing facts while on tour there. The most troubling was that the emergence of the wretched devils of the Khmer Rouge was in direct proportion to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians from the U.S. bombing of Cambodia. That is also something about which we should perhaps "stop and think".

 

We found the people of both Cambodia and Vietnam to be amazingly resilient and welcoming, particularly considering their recent history. Our several weeks in those two countries were quite delightful.

 

If you have the intention to "never return to Vietnam", then this thread is probably not of much use to you. For those of us who choose to visit that region, it remains useful.

 

Cheers, Fred

[swamp1sg]

Well, Freddie, you certainly told me off. I honestly wondered why over 400 posts never mentioned what it would be like to visit a country where we were not the victors, where it wasn't a "good war" and we weren't "the greatest generation." I think when you travel, all the history of a country is important. I noticed that you said that you were a Nam ERA vet? I take it that you were never "in country."

[amyr]

Agreed, Fred. I know I don't need anyone to make me stop and think about the lives lost in Vietnam, I was raised on it. This is not a Vietnam War memorial tribute cruise for Americans, it's a tour of parts of Vietnam and Cambodia. Many of the people in this thread are from other countries looking for information about their upcoming vacation. There's no need to call the participants shallow. As Doreen22 said, this is not the place for those types of discussions.

 

I've been to the beaches of Normandy, and it was an incredibly moving experience. I know that parts of this trip will be too. We're taking extra time on each end to visit the Hanoi Hilton and the Chu Chi tunnels, but as much as that, I'm excited to see the Vietnam of today. And yep, while I'm there paying my respects, soaking up the culture, and listening to the history, I care about what I'll be eating and how the toilets and a/c work. If you were interested in taking this trip, you would care too.

Edited April 3, 2012 by amyr

[swamp1sg]

I went back and looked at some of "Freddie's" posts and saw that I am certainly not the first person that he has "respectfully" told off. He has "respectfully" put down people's grammar, sentence composition, thought process, and their opinions. I really found the lengthy debate on "coat and tie" versus "silk shirt and linen pants" highly entertaining. Freddie's original and plaintive post, "Where do you go when you've been everywhere?" broke my heart. I think, respectively.

 

To the few people that honestly responded to me inquiry: Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

 

To the others, especially "Amyr": I guess my reason for traveling, is pretty different from yours.

 

I'm new to posting, although I've read nearly every past page of "River Cruising". I've so enjoyed how traveling in foreign countries gives you new insights and not just new pleasures. I guess that I wanted these boards to be more than they are. I wanted to hear how various trips have influenced people, made them more thoughtful, driven them to want to know more, encouraged them to find out the why's of a place, its people and its history. I guess I expected too much. Respectfully.

[Charlie Chan]

Swamp1sg

 

Like other here, I am confused by your postings. And 73 postings does not really show that you are 'new to posting'. You obviously have no intention of visiting the area to confirm/deny others' experiences so why condemn others?

 

You state that you " think when you travel, all the history of a country is important" and that you "wanted to hear how various trips have influenced people, made them more thoughtful, driven them to want to know more, encouraged them to find out the why's of a place, its people and its history."

 

This means seeing the story from both sides - not just an American point of view.

 

In my comments about the trip, I used the word 'confronting' - surely that indicates becoming more thoughtful. Others here have expressed similar emotions. Perhaps you need to confront your ideas as well - and such a trip may help you do so - if you are prepared to go with an open mind.

 

Australians died in Vietnam too - including one I knew. Our government at the time was obsessed with the 'yellow peril'. Unfortunately, we have not learned much from this bitter lesson. The Vietnam/American War was not a topic anyone we met while on the cruise discussed. I imagine many of us felt shocked by the chaos and devastation that followed. Even though I had studied these events at university and felt I had a balanced view of the conflict, I was not prepared for the impact still being experienced by the local people today.

 

Thee forums are not designed to debate political issues, as others have already said. They are to help people prepare for river cruising so as to maximise their experience. Thank goodness so many have a sense of humour -even though mine is sadly lacking tonight - and are able to have some fun sharing their stories.

[amyr]

 

To the others, especially "Amyr": I guess my reason for traveling, is pretty different from yours.

 

 

You don't know anything about my reasons for traveling, and to suggest that you do while intimating that your reasons are superior? Well, that's just trolling.

[Denmom]

Do back to rive cruising.

 

 

I know I have beat this topic into the ground but I am just wondering, has anyone gone to a local consultant to get their visas? Hubby and I needed to book a trip to New York in June and thought it might be a way to just get visas. but is it even worth it since everyone seems to be having an easy experience just getting it when they arrive.

 

I paid my final payment yesterday so guess we are good to go. We will return from our next cruise the end of April than I will start working towards getting visas, things needed, etc. Especially those shoes everyone recommends. ;).

 

In the meantime, is there anyone else back from their river cruise with some highlights of the trip? I love reading their experiences of the cruise boat, tours, and food. With 175 people on the boat, just wondering how it works with that many people coming into a town and doing an oxcart ride or something of that nature? Iplan to get some DVDs from the library. This will be different but I am getting so excited.

[freddie]

Swamp1 -

 

You posted, "Freddie's original and plaintive post, 'Where do you go when you've been everywhere?' broke my heart." Perhaps if you had bothered to read the post, you would have discovered that the thread was started by MomC, not by me. That was not my title; and my response, like many on that thread, suggested that she consider traveling to less common destinations, such as the Antarctic, the Galapagos, or the Black Sea. I am not sure which part of my post was "plaintive". It may have been my lack of political comment or philosophical reflection that rendered my post as such. ;)

 

Like other posters, I would "respectfully" remind you that this is a forum for discussions regarding cruising - the name "Cruise Critic" might provide a hint about that purpose. Otherwise, a quick reading of the Guidelines might be useful. Perhaps the teacher in you might allow us to discuss those aspect of cruising that we choose to discuss, including things that seem trivial to you.

 

Oh, back to non-political river cruising: Denmom - We obtained our Cambodian visas online. It was quite easy; and the e-visa check-in process at Siem Reap airport went entirely smoothly. We made several color copies of the e-visa and trimmed one of them to the size to fit into our passports. Your hotel or tour agency in Vietnam can provide you with a visa authorization letter that allows you to obtain your visa for Vietnam at the airport in Hanoi. Be sure that you request a multi-entry visa.

 

By the way, Amalotus carries 120 pax, rather than 175. Even though that is a bit more than the 90 pax on our boat, La Marguerite, it is not likely to overwhelm a small town like the arrival of large cruise ships would. Our adventure with the ox carts, as with the pedicabs, went quite smoothly.

 

Cheers, Fred

Edited April 3, 2012 by freddie