bleacher04

On 4/10/2024 at 12:22 AM, mexico8 said:

My husband got his Visa in 5 days.   He brought it there in person on Monday afternoon and they called that it could be picked up on Friday.   He went on Monday and they said they would be closed for the rest of the week.    I don't know why but we were happy he got his so quickly.

Glad to hear that the turnaround was so quick.  Out of curiosity, did your husband go to the embassy in Ottawa or the consulate in Montreal? (it would depend I know on where you live in Quebec).

They were probably closed because Eid was last week.

On 3/21/2024 at 6:04 PM, willing292 said:

Thanks for the visa forms.  Our trip there was cancelled, unfortunately.

Sorry to hear that.  Was it a cruise, and if so, which line?

Thanks @RobInMN and @CastleCritic for your helpful comments!  I will read your reviews to double-check the excursions that we've selected.

On 3/16/2024 at 9:46 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

On a European river cruise it will be one or the other.  And frankly, as the cruise progresses and you are worn down by an early excursion, an after lunch excursion, and a lovely but lengthy dinner with your new friends – a little 'down time' becomes a really welcome thing!

Thanks @Host Jazzbeau  And I already know you are correct on your comments; on our first river cruise we started looking forward to any down time that came our way (including the very exciting "getting stuck on a sandbar").  And we met and connected with more great people on that cruise than we ever have on a larger sea-going cruise ship.

Greetings all!  My wife and I will be taking our second river cruise next month (April), on the AmaVerde from Bucharest (Giurgiu) Romania to Budapest ("Gems of Southeast Europe").  Our first river cruise was on the Mekong in December (fantastic and highly recommended), and so realizing that things might be a little different on the Danube, we have a few questions for you more experienced river cruisers:

1) Tour Guides:  On the Mekong, we kept the same three Vietnamese guides for the first 5 days (land+river), swapping for three new Cambodian guides for the second half (again, land+river).  Will that be true on this cruise, or will we have new local guides each day for each different country?  We are doing a 4-day pre-cruise land tour with Ama in Romania, so this questions extends to this portion & these guides too.

2) Currencies:  Ama's tipping guidelines for this cruise are in euros, but only one of the five countries we will be visiting actually uses the euro as official currency.  I'm not about to get currencies for countries we will only visit for one day, but four days in Romania suggests it might be wise to acquire some leu (or lei?).  Any thoughts/comments?

3) It looks like our itinerary is a lot less "packed" then on the Mekong -- there are some days when we only have a morning excursion, or only an afternoon tour.  Are we sailing during these non-tour mornings & afternoons?  Or are we docked and can go explore / shop on our own?  On our first cruise we could only disembark on our own when docked overnight in Phnom Penh.

Thanks in advance for everyone's assistance!

46 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

That link doesn't provide access to the document, and instead provides a link to request access, presumably from you. You may receive an email from anyone requesting access.

 

In the mean time, here's the embassy application form:

 

https://embassyofegypt.se/onewebmedia/Visa Application Form (updated).pdf

Thanks.  And I updated the sharing access for my link, that should work now too.

Egyptian Visa Application Form

Okay, I have uploaded the file to my Google Drive, and here is the link.  Hopefully this works:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HsLlV2G7cFyy0g9D7d3GxtNYuyu5fPgJ/view?usp=drive_link

Note that this form is labelled as being for the consulate in Montreal.  Presumably the form for the embassy is the same -- geez I hope so -- with a different header.

Post #28 shows the instructions.

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Unfortunately, that link to the application form is not valid.

Sorry, I'm not sure how to post PDF's on CC.  I've deleted it from post #28 and will re-post when I figure that out.

On 3/12/2024 at 8:50 PM, willing292 said:

Can you tell me where you got the application for the visa for Egypt? Although we cancelled our upcoming tour for this spring, I would still like to visit there.  Thanks.

We emailed the consulate in Montreal and received the attached documents.  Where you apply (in person or by mail) depends on where in Canada you live.

The other thing we learned is that visas are only good for 90 days from the date of issue, so you can't get them too far in advance.

2 hours ago, nicki-k said:

Did you arrange your own transport from HCMC airport to the hotel. We land about 11am on the Saturday and plan to explore as soon as we arrive at the hotel but do you have to register or do anything with Amawaterways on the Saturday? Thanks for your help.

We arrived one day early and had booked an extra night at the hotel (so three days total).  We landed around midnight and just took a taxi from the airport.  There was a taxi desk just as you exit the luggage area, we paid by credit card (around USD $20 as I recall), and then a woman from the taxi desk escorted us outside to the taxi stand and to our cab and told the driver where to go.  Grab (SE Asia’s Uber) might have been cheaper but this was clean and painless and easy.

AmaWaterways will have desk set up in the lobby of the hotel.  If it is manned you can register any time — it’s really just checking off your names and giving you luggage tags with your cabin number and coloured ribbons for your luggage (this colour is your group, at least for your time in Saigon and your bus ride to the ship).  They can also provide suggestions for exploring and restaurants.

An info brochure from AmaWaterways was provided to us by the hotel when we checked in.

If you’re staying at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza, then the old Post Office and the Notre Dame church are within easy (< 10 minutes) walking distance (although Notre Dame is still covered in scaffolding).  You will go there briefly as part of the Day 1 tour but you may wish to explore on your own — the PO is a weird combination of colonial history on the walls surrounded by jewellery and souvenirs.  Between the Sofitel and the church/PO is a charming little pedestrian alley that’s mainly devoted to bookstores (and coffee shops).  And there’s a long concrete park near the city hall (?) with a large statue of Uncle Ho; you can walk down to the river and then take another street back to the hotel.

16 hours ago, nicki-k said:

This thread has been really informative, thank you! We are doing the identical itinerary in April and then returning to the UK via Singapore where we will be spending 3 nights. It's our first time on a river cruise so we will be out of our comfort zone mixing with other guests, it's reassuring to read that you really enjoyed this aspect. We plan to make the most of every experience and can't wait to go. 

IMO (and limited experience) it’s way easier to meet people on a river cruise than on a big cruise ship.  The lounge and the dining room are set up to encourage mixing (although there are some tables for two if you’re so inclined).  Two of the couples that we spent a lot of time with we met on the pre-cruise leg in Saigon, and another couple just sat with us for drinks before dinner and we hit it off.  And then you just meet people randomly on tours or just chatting on the top deck.

You will love it, it was a fantastic experience.

Part 2:  Some Tips

It was really, really hot, and very humid.  We’d been to SE Asia at this time of year before, and it seemed hotter this time.  We were constantly washing dri-fit shirts and underwear and stringing them around our cabin.

The ship provided cold bottles of water each time we were disembarking for a tour, and the buses always had coolers of water too. AMA also provided water bottle carriers. We went through a lot of water every day.

Bringing a stack of crisp US $1 bills was the best advice I got from the people on this forum (thanks @gnome12 and @franski). And $5’s too. Most people tipped guides and drivers during the cruise, even though AMA said that gratuities were included for the river cruise portion.  And we bought lots of scarves and rattan mats using cash, and cold beers for $1.

Did I mention that it was really, really hot?

We brought old shoes in case of mud but never needed them; it had dried up considerably in the short time since @hoosier2017 took their cruise (and the water level had dropped a lot too, according to one of the bartenders).

We never unpacked our raincoats. We only had two major rainfalls, one in the evening and one during a temple tour. AMA provides umbrellas and cheap plastic rain ponchos, and the hotels also provided umbrellas.

Electrical:  The AmaDara does indeed have 220V/50Hz outlets that accept both N. American and European plugs. As noted, most modern devices will convert as needed, but be careful if you have an old curling iron or something that is only 110/60. The Sofitel in Siam Reap had the same outlets. The Sofitel in Saigon had UK-style plugs, which was a surprise.

Insects were not much of a problem. We applied a 30% DEET cream whenever we were in rural settings — the Cu Chi tunnels, the Killing Fields, rural villages where we walked on dirt paths, and the Angkor temples — and I don’t think we were bitten once. But we did get a couple of undetermined bites at the hotel in Siam Reap.

My almost-knee-length shorts were quite acceptable for the Cambodian temples and holy places. As @franski mentioned, they seemed to be more concerned about bare shoulders. In some (but not all) cases, women were allowed to covered their shoulders with scarves.

Dinner on board the AmaDara was very casual. The hotel manager only had one request, and that was that men wear long trousers to dinner.

Finally, I want to thank everyone on this thread for all of your tips and advice!

Long post so I am breaking it in two!

Wow, what an experience!  This was our first river cruise, and the trip up the Mekong was unlike anything we’ve done before.  A lot of the excursions were in rural Vietnam and Cambodia, visiting villages with small markets and workshops and visiting people’s homes in the villages.  A different side of travel, which we really enjoyed.

Without exception, the crew on the AmaDara were fantastic.  As others have already said, they really do go the extra mile to make your time aboard special and enjoyable.  The local guides in Vietnam and Cambodia were also top-notch.  I liked that they stayed with us for the duration of the time in their respective countries.

The AmaDara itself was very nice, but by no means luxurious, compared for example to the boats from Scenic and ATP that we were docked alongside us in Phnom Penh.  But it was certainly comfortable enough and I would not hesitate to recommend it.

The food was always good but rarely great.  Breakfast was buffet plus standard items that could be ordered from the menu.  The coffee was terrible but you could get lattes, cappuccinos, etc. made to order.  The lunch menu typically had 2-3 choices plus a sandwich of the day, with salads and soups and 1-2 appetizers at the buffet.  A light lunch menu could be had from the bar on the top deck.  The dinner menu typically had a couple of appetizers and soups, and three entrees to choose from.  I would say that most of the dishes were either locally-inspired or Asian-western fusion.  We ate at the specialty Chef’s Table restaurant one night — same fixed menu every night — and that dinner was excellent.

Wine and beer flowed freely at lunch and dinner, but if you wanted a glass of wine before or after dinner that cost extra (whereas beer and local spirits were free all afternoon and evening).  The complimentary house wines were decent quality, apparently not the same standard as on European cruises, but not so poor that we ever thought about buying the upcharge wines.  The bar liquors were all Vietnamese; the gold rum was good enough to drink neat or on the rocks, and the gin was fine in a G&T.

There was not a lot of choice on the tours, because most of the stops had only a limited selection of things to do.  Really the only choice for tours was to choose an “active walking” tour or a more sedate and often shorter version of the same tour.

We found the agenda very busy, with early starts and little downtime, but not so much that we ever elected to skip a tour.  There just wasn’t much free time; no “sea days” like you’d typically have on a sea-going cruise.  With the exception of Phnom Penh, where we were docked for 2 nights, we usually moored in the middle of the river overnight, and the boat would sail to a new destination during lunch and at dinnertime/evening.  For excursions in Vietnam we were transferred from the ship to the shore using local tenders, in Phnom Penh we were docked as mentioned, and in the rest of Cambodia we just pulled up to the shore and disembarked via the gangplank.  Fortunately it was no longer muddy as @hoosier2017 had described.

Evening entertainment was definitely one of the weak points on this cruise; they had an on-board pianist most nights and did a crew talent show one night.  The first night in Phnom Penh we sat on the upper deck and listened to the singer & guitarist from the Scenic boat next door, and the second night a group of us took a tuk-tuk tour around the city and to a rooftop bar for a nightcap.

Our cruise had 77 passengers, well below the maximum capacity of 124.  We were divided into three “families” in Saigon, but you could elect to join a different group (or sometimes had to due to the active vs. “gentle” excursions).  I was told that the typical maximum number of passengers was around 100-110, because there are always a lot of singles.  When the number is that high they split into four groups for tours.  Organization was generally excellent

Pre-cruise we spent three nights in Saigon, two with AMA and one extra.  The Sofitel Saigon Plaza hotel was comfortable and well-located, and the breakfast was excellent.  I can also recommend two restaurants nearby: Quan Nem (or just Nem) for lunch (5 minutes walk), and Propaganda for dinner (10 minutes walk).

The excursions in Saigon were okay, but that was partly because we had been there before.  On our fist evening we went off on our own on a scooter foodie tour with a guide that we’d used in the past, and that was great fun.

The 5-hour bus ride from Kampok Cham to Siem Reap was not as painful as I feared; they used smaller coaches and made a couple of stops.  But the chicken Caesar wrap in the boxed lunch from the boat was terrible IMO, so I would suggest grabbing some extra food at breakfast.

Post-cruise in Siam Reap was all about the Angkor temples of course.  Four different temples in less than 48 hours, and while we found them all very interesting and very different, some people did get templed out.  The Sofitel in Siam Reap was a very, very nice hotel; we stayed an extra night and just spent the day relaxing by the pool.  Food and drink was relatively expensive to compared to the rest of the country (which comes with staying in a resort hotel).  One night we went into the city, to a good restaurant and then to "Pub Street", which has to be experienced.

Overall it was an excellent experience and a very enjoyable trip, enough so that we put down a future cruise deposit for another Ama cruise.  Because of the (relatively) smaller number of passengers, we met and socialized with more people who became good friends than we ever have on larger sea-going cruises (with 20X the number of passengers).  Highly recommended.

Tour Info: HAL 14-day Voyage of the Midnight Sun, N. Statendam, May 2023

He all -- we sailed with HAL to Norway in May of this year, and I was looking for a place to post our tour information as an info source for others.  This thread looks as good as any.

Stavanger:  We hiked Pulpit Rock with a HAL excursion, because what I'd read said to allow 7.5 to 8 hours, and we were only in port for 9 hours.  In hindsight we probably could have done it independently.  But aside from the usual higher cost, it worked out fine.  There were three busloads of 50 people from our ship, plus several other tour buses, but the trail was not too crowded.  And each bus had a very good & experienced guide on board who climbed with the group (if you wanted to stay with the group, which you did not have to).
It's not a difficult hike, but it is strenuous at times; there were several people in our ship's group of 150 who should not have tried it IMO.  But if you are reasonably fit and can hike 2 km uphill and back down again in under 4 hours, it is absolutely worth it (and perhaps the highlight of our trip).

Flåm:  We were supposed to do the HAL "Flåm Railway and Downhill Hike to Blomheller" excursion, but when we boarded the ship we were told that that excursion was cancelled because there was still too much snow.  We could have recreated it on our own -- and one of our friends did just that -- but frankly we were not as keen on a 10-km downhill hike the day after hiking Pulpit Rock.  So we just wandered around the town and hiked up to a waterfall.

Ålesund:  We did a "Private Tour of Troll Road and Ålesund Highlights" with Calm Giant Tours.  Unfortunately, the Troll Road was still closed due to late snow-melt, but Iggy (the calm giant) was a fantastic tour guide and improvised.  He was really an interesting and entertaining guy and even without the Troll Road I would highly recommend this.

https://www.calmgianttour.com/

Trondheim:  We did a 3-hour City & Waterfront Tour with Trondheim For You.  Wanda was a terrific guide and everyone enjoyed this tour very much.  Trondheim is a delightful town and I would recommend Wanda very highly.  https://www.trondheimforyou.com/

Hammerfest:  A group of us hiked the Gammelveien "Old Trail" and had lunch at the Turistua Lodge up on top.

Honningsvåg:  The main reason you're here is to go to the North Cape, and we booked the Blue Puffin North Cape Sightseeing Tour, https://www.blue-puffin.com/en/

It was a good tour, you stop at other places along the way, and our guide (the owner) was excellent.

It was an unseasonably nice day in Honningsvåg so we went for a short hike when we returned, and then sat outside at a pub and a had a beer with the locals.

Geiranger:  Another Calm Giant Tour, "Geiranger Fjord Highlights".  Again, Iggy is a terrific guide, so I would highly recommend this one too.

Warning:  The bus traffic coming back down the switchback roads to the port at the end of the day was horrific, and I think one bus misjudged a turn and blocked the road for a while.  Our departure was delayed by at least an hour waiting for ship excursions to return.  This was May, and it's apparently even worse in the summer months.  Just plan accordingly...

Bergen:  We did a 2-hour Historical City Walk with Bergen Guideservice.  It was good, but not great, but maybe we were just tired -- when you're up above the Arctic Circle in the late spring / summer and the sun never even comes close to setting, you tend to stay up later, and we had not caught up on sleep!

Overall this was a fantastic cruise itinerary and we really enjoyed it.

Will answer questions if I can.

17 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

I’ll blame my poor spelling on residual jet lag!!!
 

You’ll have an amazing trip.  Honestly, everyone we met couldn’t do enough to keep you happy and comfortable.  
 

Let me know if you have any other questions.  Most importantly have a safe and wonderful trip! Can’t wait to hear your opinion!

Hey, your spelling was darn near perfect!  I lived in Montreal, and I certainly can’t tell the difference between “du” and “de” in spoken French!

We’re really looking forward to this adventure.  We leave for Saigon in 10 days.  I will try to post if there’s any free time, or when we’re chilling between cruises in Siem Reap and Singapore.

2 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

People definitely tipped the bus drivers and guides additional $$$.  They were outstanding.  And yes, you can tip the cruise manager at the very end.

 

The second to last night in Ho Chi Minh City, many guests went to a cirque de soleil (spelling…sorry) type of show that they liked very much.   We’ve been to those before so decided we’d do the Vespa tour which I had researched before the trip.   The Vespa,was very comfortable.  There was a place to put your feet, and a handle bar to hold onto both in front of you and behind you.  
 

Last important tip is to take small,packs of tissues with you.   Many rest stops (or happy room stops a they were referred to) had no toilet paper or paper towels.  We also had hand sanitizer with us and the before getting on the bus the tour guide had for each person as well.   
 

we had no issues ice or drinks.  Just be careful.  We did travel with antibiotics, as well as cipro.   Take a pharmacy with you…the ship (as you know) has no infirmary and very little OTC medicine on board.

 

we also visited a school and brought school supplies with us (crayons, pens, pencils and markers).  Other guests brought items as well.  You can purchase on board if you didn’t bring, and the school also accepts cash donations.   Interacting with the students was a highlight of the trip!  

@hoosier2017 you are fantastic!  If I can figure out how to game the system I will give you bonus cruiser points! 😎

Thanks re: tipping -- I will go back to the bank next week to top up.  We have a US dollar account so it's easy to get nice new bills.

We're starting HCMC and coming in a day early, so we have already booked a private foodie tour on scooters with a great guide that we have used before.  I will ask his opinion about those evening entertainment options, didn't consider that sort of thing.

Glad to hear from everyone that riding on the back of scooters is easier than riding on a motorcycle; HCMC is crazy with moto and scooter traffic!
(and as a non-Canadian, your spelling of Cirque du Soleil was pretty darn close, so bravo!)

We learned our lesson about always carrying tissues in South America in 2017 😁

We have our pharmacy already stocked: cipro, azithromycin, and clarithromycin (plus vax'd for typhoid and cholera, and of course Hep A/B).  Hopefully we will be mindful enough and lucky enough not to need them.

Good to know about the school supplies, we were wondering about that.  We may bring some with us from Canada or go shopping in HCMC on the day we arrive.  Looking forward to that encounter!

Thanks again, your advice (and everyone else's on this thread) has been terrific and greatly appreciated!

14 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

Gratuities - the guide from Hanoi (one to each bus) goes as far as the airport when you fly to Siem reap.  We gave her cash when we were at the airport.   The staff onboard you can pay via credit card, the cruise manager is with you from start of the land portion through departure at the end in Ho Chi Minh city so we gave him cash.  Also cash to the guide in Cambodia, and the second guide in Vietnam.    There is an ATM next door to the Sofitel in Ho Chi Minh City (which dispenses Vietnamese Dong). We took American currency (new bills) as well.   Also tipped bus drivers, Tuk tuk drivers, ox cart drivers, tender drivers, etc.   singles come in handy especially in Cambodia.  The boat will give you envelopes for crew tips.

Thank you @hoosier2017.  This of course gets into personal discretion, but it raises a question from me:  In our brochure from AMA (probably the same as yours), they say:

"For our guests’ convenience, during their 8-day/7-night cruise on the Mekong River, gratuities are covered for transfer drivers, as well as cruise guides who take you off the ship to see their home countries, for the duration of the cruise."

Guidelines are provided for pre- and post-cruise gratuities for guides and drivers, which are not included.  I had counted in those tuk-tuk and ox-cart drivers already, but from what you and @gnome12 have written it appears that people generally still tip the transfer drivers and local guides each day during the cruise, regardless of what AMA says they cover?
We already have some VND and a stack of crisp new US $1 and $5 bills, but there is still time for us to get more of the latter.

If the same cruise manager is with you for both ends of the land tour as well as the cruise itself, then it sounds like it's okay to just tip him/her at the very end?

Again, thank you!

14 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

...as an aside, we took an extra pair of old sneakers with us (left them behind).  When it rains there is plenty of mud, etc that you will walk through.  Plus the wet markets.   Some people had their shoes/sneakers cleaned by the crew upon returning to the boat.

An excellent idea, thanks!  I have an old pair of Merrells that I was going to take to the donation centre next week!  I will have to find room in my luggage for one more pair of hiking shoes, but I'm sure that someone in Cambodia will find a use for them, and I'm also sure that there will be purchases made along the way that will fill up that space 😁

13 minutes ago, LTC said:

Paul, we're leaving tomorrow to go on an AMA Egypt cruise and no luggage tags came with our documents. It's been a few years since we sailed with AMA and then they sent you luggage tags. I'm assuming that your bags will be given tags at the hotel. We did a Mekong cruise with Emerald in March and that's what they did.

As I remember gratuities were paid on the last evening and you had your choice of leaving it at reception in an envelope or added to your room bill.

You will have a fantastic trip! Our trip was 8 months ago and we still talk about what a wonderful trip it was.

Thanks LTC!  Have a terrific time on your Egypt cruise!  The Mekong is our test run with AMA; we have a couple in Africa on our to-do list.

On 11/4/2023 at 6:41 AM, hoosier2017 said:

Just returned and fighting massive jet lag.

We washed quick dry shirts in our cabin and had a travel laundry line with us.  Worked very well.

Rooms on boat can be very very cold!

Dinner was pretty casual.  A few casual sun dresses but mostly capri pants and casual shirts. 

Bug spray is a must.  Walking through villages, and cu chi tunnels a few bites here and there.   

Happy to answer questions.

@hoosier2017 -- some rudimentary questions from first-time river cruisers:

Do we need to print our own luggage tags, as on larger cruise ships?  I don't recall seeing anything about that.  I assume there will just be an Ama check-in area at the hotel on embarkation day?

Ama provided suggested guidelines for gratuities for the cruise manager and crew, but how are these paid?  Envelopes of cash dropped in a box?  Added to your room bill?

I'm sure I will think of more when packing panic sets in!

Thanks!  Paul

8 hours ago, franski said:

I would model a pair of your shorts - and ask the opinion of the Cruise Manager.  They will be able to tell you if your knees are covered enough.

 

Fran

Thanks Fran, good idea.  We start in Vietnam, so there will be several days to inquire about the suitability of my shorts.

1 hour ago, franski said:

That being said, my DH wore knee length shorts almost every day.  There didn't seem to be as much concern about knees as there was with shoulders.

 

Fran 

Thanks Fran, good to know.  Although I'm not sure if any of my shorts are truly knee-length.  We seem to have two different tours each day, so I plan to wear shorts when there are no temples etc. on the agenda, and long (lightweight) hiking pants when I have to, changing at lunchtime.  No worries about me not covering my shoulders!  My wife will wear capris every day I suspect.

2 hours ago, ljandgb said:

We leave Monday for our Avalon Mekong cruise.  Regarding pants for temples, does this include men also?  My husband lives year round in shorts.

Buddhist temples and other religious or "sacred" sites in Cambodia typically require that shoulders and knees remain covered (even when sitting down).

10 hours ago, franski said:

Laundry is one "luxury" I will splurge on when cruising. It is done and returned so quickly...  If I need items washed that won't dry overnight (and it would have been hard in Vietnam)  then I will plan to do laundry once while away.   Figure that is a small price to pay, and "peanuts" in the overall cost of the trip.

Fully agree, Fran.  The AmaDara has laundry available on-board, for a fee, but no self-service machines.  And I'm okay with that.  But most of our "hot & sweaty" day-time clothes get washed in cold water and don't go in the dryer, so I suspect that our cabin will look like a tenement!

4 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

Yes  this trip started in Hanoi then Siem Reap, the cruise and ending  In HCMC.   Don’t skimp on bringing extra clothes because you’re gonna sweat!       It’s been an amazing trip..

Great to hear that it's been amazing, @hoosier2017 -- we are really looking forward to this.  We are going the other direction, from HCMC to Siem Reap, but I suspect the stops and tours will be the same.

We have a lot of clothes ready that are lightweight and dry quickly!

In post #4 above, gnome12 mentioned that dress for dinner was pretty casual -- was that your experience too?

12 hours ago, hoosier2017 said:

Good morning.   Last day aboard AMA Dara.   Everything has been wonderful.  Regarding malaria pills, some who have taken them report bad side effects.  We did not take them.    
Many people have come down with colds, but we go constantly from air conditioning to hot heat and humidity.   
Staff is amazing!   Know you by name from the minute you walk on and they cannot do enough for you.  Each one goes above and beyond.   
Food has (mostly) been good.   Hotels are outstanding. 
Bring bug spray, light pants (required for temple visits), hat, cooling towels or mini neck fans (lots of people brought them). 
Also electrolytes for water bottles are helpful.  
any questions let me know.   I’ll check back after the morning excursion. 

Thanks very much @hoosier2017 -- appreciate all of the info, and glad that you are having a great time!  Good suggestion about the electrolyte powder.

It looks like we visit a temple or sacred site almost every day LOL!

Are you doing the before-and-after tours with AMA as well, in Saigon and Siem Reap?