Hoyaheel

It's not that complicated - TWOV requires two different countries with China as the transit country. A-B-C. B is China. A and C must be different (from each other AND not China). If your immediate country before China is Japan, Japan cannot be the country you go to immediately after China as well. If you flew to HKG or SIN or.....It would be fine.

34 minutes ago, Bizmark'sMom said:

I have a pair of skirted leggings I use for kayaking and shallow snorkeling.

Land's End is only showing them in plus size, but it might give you an idea of what to look for.

 

https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-plus-size-swim-cover-up-skirted-leggings/id_330363?sku_0=::BLA

My link is also to Lands End and it's regular size, not plus. So they're there 😉

Rash guard & at least board shorts/swim shorts, if not swim leggings. How cute is this skirt/leggings combo? [my husband - who shaves his head - adds a swim bandanna too ;-)]

Had a fabulous trip, one of the best vacations we've ever had. Alas, haven't written up a review - I have a list of reviews I want to do! But work has been super busy since I got back. Hoping it calms down so I can write up a few things!!

Some individual data points from my recent experience [with an American passport]:

1. Vietnam evisa is $25 (single entry only, not all entries/ports allowed- check with the consulate website).
2. Our Azamara provided visa was $6 or $7 in 2016.
3. The multiple entry visas we had for our Aug 2019 Vietnam & Cambodia trip were $135 per person + $20 fedex - I did the application online and emailed the consulate (instructions are online). 

Pay as you go and buy something for your cabin for a nightcap - that's what we did on Avalon. Oh - and 1/2 price happy hour (which meant German draft beer for €2.50 I think). But I like wine with meals (and husband likes wine or beer). We brought ingredients for Manhattans and that's what we had for nightcaps in the cabin, and brought on board local wine & beer we bought in port.....

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I thought this thread was discussing Viking's policies.

I was specifically responding to the idea that US outlets were available. Sorry if you were specifically referring to Viking - I didn't realize. There have been other non-Viking posts. It's the internet; we're flexible here ;-)

4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

There are 120 outlets in the cabin -- no power converter needed.

That's not necessarily true. Just did 2 weeks with Avalon  in the Mekong- no US style voltage there. Don't think Avalon in Germany did either. Ocean cruise, maybe, some lines..... 

I would totally do it! Just tell the instructor you're a novice and ask that s/he note any modifications that should be done for people who aren't experienced. Esp if it's a small group -it shouldn't be a problem. If you're not comfortable trying something, skip it.

Is Jasper a company chartering boats owned by Scenic? If that's the case, makes sense the cruise won't be on Scenic's website - it's not "their" cruise....

15 hours ago, Shipswap said:

I myself have purchased an European one so as to not have to worry. Just a thought.

 

Ditto, though I don't often travel with it (I go "au naturel" for hair quite often when I travel). I prefer having 220v to dual voltage - had a dual voltage a few years back and didn't like its performance at home OR abroad. As always, YMMV....

Something comfortable that won't move too much or show too much if you're bending over & around. If you don't have leggings, you can wear a knit short (you want a stretch waist!) and a t-shirt. (I would wear a sports bra but I *need* to wear a sports bra 😉 What other sorts of exercise do you do; what clothing do you wear for that?

We were on Azamara and sailed from Harborfront in 2016 - there's a mall attached (VivoCity, as noted above). We dropped off our luggage and roamed the mall for a half hour to spend our last S$. They do have a duty free shop there. Husband ended up buying some insulated pants at Uniqlo. It was 95 degrees F in Singapore, but hey, we had cash we wanted to use up, the pants were a good deal ;-)

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

The rules are there as curling irons generate heat, could overload the ships circuitry possibly  leading to a fire.

Viking has changed their rules and now allows curling irons, per another thread (that included a link to the new policy on the Viking website, I believe)

I think if you accept assistance with some of the landings, you would be able to do the Mekong then. As I mentioned, there are likely to be accommodations if you can't walk long distances as well.

We had a multi-generational family on our trip - grandfather, parents, kids (11 & 14) and they were delightful - we spent a fair amount of time with them during the trip, in various permutations. The youngest perhaps wasn't always thrilled but he had a device and headphones 😉 The family traveled like this all over the place - wasn't even their first river cruise 😉 I wouldn't use age as the determining factor on whether or not to bring your kids - if they want to do it (understanding what is involved) then that's all you need to know! [my parents took me wherever when I was young too - it's why I love to travel so much as an adult, and I'm grateful they did it!]

Christmas markets are how my husband got me on a river cruise the first time 😉 I LOVE the Christmas markets, he wanted to go to Germany, so in 2014 we took an Avalon cruise from Nuremberg to Basel. It was a lovely trip, even if river cruising in Europe is not my preferred method of travel at this point. In Europe, I'd prefer to be on land. On the Mekong - I think the river cruise was the best (and perhaps only) way to see what we saw. We could have done the cities and Siem Reap on land (and are planning to go back to Vietnam yet again for other stuff we haven't seen yet....) but to sail along the river - well, that made the trip so perfect!

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

We want to book a Christmas markets cruise but hesitating because of water levels and with my medical condition bus trips are not possible.  

It's my understanding that water levels are unlikely to be an issue with late Nov/Dec Christmas Market trips. I don't recall reading about issues at that time of year (either high or low). 

We just did the Mekong on Avalon and agree it was one of the best vacations we've ever had (that's out of all types of vacations - and I am not even a big river cruise 😉 ) Depending on what sort of medical issues you have, the Mekong might not be possible or enjoyable for you - some of the forms of transport aren't comfortable, there's a LOT of walking, and often disembarking the ship is a challenge. We did have one woman on our trip who uses a walker and she did as much as she was able to do and had a good time - but I think she had set appropriate expectations ahead of time that there were things she wasn't going to be able to do. And of course, the fantastic cruise director did everything possible for those with issues (eg a couple of people rode in a tuk tuk instead of the oxcart one day, there were crew available to help assist up/down awkward "stairs")

9 hours ago, cruiseej said:

I think a lot of the posts here reflect a misunderstanding of what brining does and how it works.

Agree -when I read that first post, I thought -I brine a LOT of poultry at home and it never tastes too salty! I haven't tried TK's chicken though (after reading various reviews here, I chose something else when we dined there 😉

6 hours ago, tv24 said:

Note that on the Sojourn and Quest there are free laundry machines that are not necessarily busy, so you can probably plan to do your own wash of clothes that are machine friendly.  If you hate hanging round laundry machines, consider ordering a glass of champagne to improve your attitude.

Yes to all of this ;-) Husband and I would trade off - each bringing the other a drink as needed, so one person could wait with the laundry (so as to quickly remove items and allow others to use the machines) and the other person could be up on deck with binoculars (we were in Alaska ;-)

And yes, by the end of a trip, I'm sick of what I packed. That's life - I can handle that ;-) I know I'll be home soon and can wear different things. But again - different priorities. We do all have the ways of packing that work for us.

No matter how long I'm gone -I pack for a week of mix & match layers (60 to 80 is no problem for me to easily layer - 30 to 80 might be a little more challenging ;-) Then I do laundry as needed. I have no problem doing laundry on vacation and traveling light is a priority for me. Others may have different priorities.

I wear dresses during the day and for dinner (lots of knits - I wear for work as well ;-) I am just back from 2+ weeks in SE Asia (river cruise plus some land touring) and I had 4 dresses. My husband had 3 pr pants - all lightweight khaki & light gray. This was a very casual trip; if we had been on Seabourn he would have added a travel blazer ;-) He did have button down shirts (though lightweight & wicking).

We'll be on an Oceania cruise over the holidays - in the Caribbean so a jumper/sweater just seems too HOT for me to pack. But surely I'll be packing some fun holiday themed earrings ;-)

We're about halfway through the trip now and LOVING it!!! Yes, it's hot and humid but honestly - it's not worse than NC in the summer and we spend a lot of time outside so we're fairly well acclimated. A few afternoon storms but that doesn't bother me. We packed dry bags so the important stuff stays dry if we're on an excursion. And I brought my waterproof camera 😉

Our ship has 28 passengers, so not full. Few Americans (4 or 5 of us?) Mostly Australian, and a few from New Zealand and Canada. I'll do my best to post a review when we get back 🙂

We LOVED the Univ of Alaska Museum https://www.uaf.edu/museum/

We leave Friday for the Avalon Siem Reap- test packing today - I will have a 22" rolling bag and a backpack, plus a small nylon crossbody bag. My 22" bag weighs 26 lbs today :-) I do need to add a couple more things - I've been aiming for 30lbs.  I'll do the last things and reweigh, and also pack my backpack and weigh that and it better all be less than 20kg.

The weight limits are due to the flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. And also low cost carriers in SE Asia are well known for having strict baggage limits as well as pretty steep baggage fees. 

Thailand does not require visas for short term tourism (<30 days) if you have a US passport.

$25 is what a single entry 30 day e-visa for Vietnam costs, so it makes sense that might be what they are charging for cruise passengers....