markperth

Hi Ricky, depends on your budget. Compare the main companies and ascertain what their optional expenses/ costs are. Not all companies are all inclusive of trips drinks tips etc. I have just completed a scenic spirit Mekong trip which was truly the best. We like the all inclusive but the upfront cost is more. I spoke to staff on board who also work for emerald cruise lines, which are at a cheaper price point. But the add on costs are High, again research all aspects and not just costs. The scenic admin and website is not the the best, but once on board, 💥 cheers mark

If you are embarking in Vietnam, you will need to arrange your own visa on line. Relatively easy process. They will arrange your Cambodian visa on board. but if you are starting in Cambodia you will need to arrange both before hand, that’s what I have been told previously.

🤣🤣 sorry about the mental picture, I just cannot use the the term flip flops. 😩. March seems to be a good month to go, humidity relatively low and the temp lower that time of year. But it will be hot. Just wear light weight clothes when going out, and make sure you take water with you, then go straight to the pool when back on board. 🍺 😁. men don’t need long pants if going to temples. As long as shorts reach the knees. Women need to at least cover the knees and shoulders, but not arms. The tour directors will advise if what your are wearing is not appropriate, however we did not see any be challenged about the dress code at any temple.

@worcestergal the laundry facilities have from memory 2 washing and 2 dryers plus ironing board. They are free. dress code is quite relaxed, no need to dress up. Smart casual. They just asked at diner that men wear collars and no thongs. keep asking if you need more info . 😁

Ok here we go. this won’t be a day to day blog but observations and information that I hope will help potential future cruisers. Terry and Mike did a fantastic blog that was very informative . I would encourage everyone to pour over the on line brochure, it is a very accurate information source. If you had previously been on a European cruise you need to know the Mekong is not comaparable to that. The sailings are at most 3 - 4 hours per day and no nighttime sailing. This is due to the nature of the river, I.e. small boats fishing at night, large logs etc that cannot be seen at night. The Spirit does not have sufficient radar capability to minimise the risk. The scenery is mostly of jungle foliage most of the time, there are no castles around every turn 🤣. pre cruise. We stayed at the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Min City. This is the pickup point on embarkation day. If you are contemplating this hotel, consider the club room option. It was well worth the extra cost. The staff were extremely friendly and attentive. We were given a welcome pack from Scenic the day before pick up, which listed meeting times and what was needed. I.e we needed to handover passports and relevant visas. It also included a name badge for myself and my wife. We were a bit iffy about wearing them, but it did prove an easy ice breaker when meeting other cruisers and was also helpful to the staff and tour guides. Prior to leaving from Australia, Scenic sent information that stated that the Spirit would arrange Cambodian visas for us. We needed passport photos and us$80.00 cash. .. once on board we did not need either.🤦‍♂️. The cost was charged to our on board account, and they used our actual passports. We were advised to meet at 8.30am in the Hotel foyer on the day of cruise and we would then meet our cruise director and hand over documents and luggage. Our bags would be delivered to the ship before we arrived. This was going to take approx 45 min. We would then be picked up at 10.30 am to be taken to the ship. As it turns out the meeting was about 5 min and we were being picked up at 12.30 for transfers 🤦‍♂️. There were 34 people travelling, but the group was split 14 and 20 with each group having its own cruise director who stayed with us for the duration of the trip. Having two small groups worked very well especially for all of the day tours and lunches etc . It was much more personalised. At 12.30 we boarded our bus and were taken to a nearby restaurant for a lunch and a chance to chat to our group members. The trip to the cruise port then took approx 2.5 hours. Once we arrived, we were greeted by all the butlers and were escorted to the ship and greeted by the captain, hotel director and other associated staff. After a glass of champagne we were escorted to our cabin by the butler. Out luggage was in our room…..👍 The ship. The brochure does not misrepresent the ship in any way…… our cabin was the Royal Panorama suite, and the other suite was occupied by our friends. The cabins in all categories are larger than the European ships with staff numbers almost 2 to 1. Our 2 suites shared the head butler who was pleading with us to utilise him. He was incredibly helpful and proactive, always offering to fill up the Spa, bring us snacks, drinks or anything we might require. As we are very self sufficient we did feel that we let him down by not requesting very much from him! 😂 Food / Drink/ Entertainment. I advised scenic that I had some dietary requirements and had a meeting with the Head Chef to discuss options, as did 2 other people. Well, each breakfast and lunch, (buffet style) I was greeted by the chef and he went through which dishes were gluten free. At diner he would make specific alterations to any meal that I chose. 💥. The food was 6 star quality and you would be hard pressed to be critical of any meal you chose. Breakfast had the same options each day, but lunch and diner was changed and obviously had a local leaning. We were invited to a 10 course degustation meal. Each one of my courses was specific to my needs and amazing. The Wine pairing was very well thought out. All guests on the top level suites are invited to this meal. Throughout the entire Cruise our drinks were constantly topped up and the variety is what you would expect from Scenic. The waitresses were so attentive, I am sure they would cut up your food for you if they could! 😂 3 main ladies were Lin, Mom and Smiley. You will understand if you meet them. There were arranged entertainment nights with local dancers and lion dancers on 2 occasions, there was also a live 2 person band one night. The Hotel Director Timea arranged a pool party one night which was a lot of fun, a few cruisers stumbled to bed at around 2am 😁 Aside from that nothing to speak of on other nights, so after diner each night most people retired to their suites. You could certainly stay up and have a few drinks in the lounge or around the pool, but pretty sterile really. To be fair the day trips and weather did take it out of you, so most people were pretty tired. I won’t deep dive into the day trips, as they can be very subjective. But we did the killing fields trip, and interesting village walk and helped teach some children English. But happy to elaborate further if you guys have questions. the saddest day of the trip was disembarking 😢. There were genuine sadness from some of the crew that we spent most of the time with. Oh a this was the other occasion was saw the captain. we had a 3 day add on option in Siem reap and it took 5 hours in a bus to get there😩. As part of the trip we were accommodated at the raffles. What a great historic hotel and the Cambodian staff were outstanding. we had a number of trips over the 3 days and our tour director was with us. the absolute highlight of the trip was the farewell diner. It would be the welcome diner if you were do the reverse itinerary. I won’t give any details as it would spoil the occasion, but Wow. I am more than happy to expand further on any queries you may have, so feel free to ask away. in summary a wonderfull experience and could not rate the crew the ship and locals any higher. regards. Mark

Hi all, just finished the cruise and Siem reap add on. Got o few days in Singapore and will then do a full post when I get home. Need to detox to get my thoughts straight 🤣🤣 cheers mark

Hi all, so we are 1/2 way through the 9night trip.I will post an account at the end,but if anyone has any questions would be happy to answer. cheers mark

Hi Fran, I believe there is only 30 or so guests. So I am sure we gonna be spoilt.

No Hanoi for this cruise. It starts in. Ho chi min 9 days cruising and then 3 days in Siem reap which is still part of the scenic trip.

Hi guys, I will be going on the scenic spirit Mekong river cruise 26 august. we booked this 4 years ago and due to Covid it was cancelled 3 years in a row. We are going with our best friends and it was originally for the girls joint 60th birthday. They now 63. 🤣. Any way will post a full report when we get back. But will be happy to answer any questions on an on going basis. Leaving from ho chi min and going up stream to Siem reap. We will be in the panoramic suites. We have previously done Budapest to Amsterdam with scenic so it will be interesting to see how this one compares. Regards. Mark

Thanks all, so it’s a yes and no 🤣. will take our own just in case

Hi all, pre Covid, we were given upgrade toiletries in balcony suites, as platinum level. i.e. same as suite guests. Elemis stuff. Has this perk still been offered, we are now diamond level with the regrading of levels. hate the standard stuff, and will bring our own if not. cheers

I am going on the epic from Barcelona on a 11 day cruise in October this year. We disembark in Rome. I know the requirements for spain and Italy - all good. Now, if the cruise commences in Greece then negative test is required and needs to be within 3 days. Again all good. a Ncl rep in Australia has suggested we will still need a negative test to visit Greek ports on our itinerary, and that the ship can arrange this. Given that the first Greek port of call is 7 days after we leave Barcelona, this would mean that the whole ship would need testing. that doesn’t sound feasible or correct to me. Is there anyone who has recently returned from a med cruise who could advise or she’d some light on this situation. thanks in advance