californiagirl

ChrisB that’s so funny! I think we are no longer the Princess target market. That’s okay, at this point in life we can afford Viking. No so when we began cruising back in 1998. I’m pleasantly surprised to hear that there is more included than I thought.

Thank you for the suggestions and recommendations.

Very excited to have booked Bangkok to Bali, November 2024 on Venus. We are long time, experienced cruisers and we are elite on Princess. Over time - especially since the change in leadership we have become more and more dissatisfied with Princess. Also they don’t offer an itinerary in any way similar to this one. Lastly we are at the point in life where we want a more upscale experience. I read many Venus reviews prior to booking and the consistently high ratings were reassuring. Having said all this I understand there is no perfect cruise line and that some Viking cruisers feel the company has slipped. I think that is across the boards since covid. However from reading this board and the recent reviews it appears the Viking experience is heads above Princess. We don’t drink alcohol and rarely take ship excursions. Since we overnight in Bangkok at the beginning of the cruise, early cabin access doesn’t matter to us. (We will have a late checkout at our hotel.) For these reasons we chose the lowest veranda cabin category. I think someone jokingly referred to it as steerage class. We like the location of the cabin. Question: is there an extra fee for the specialty restaurants? I realize we won’t have priority reservations. Looking forward to this cruise!

I think there are significant negative issues with all mass market cruise lines at the moment. We are doing a SE Asia land trip January 2025. We thought it might add another element of interest to combine it with a cruise. Wow, what an eye opener! I looked at Princess first…not doing the region we wanted in 2025. Then Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. I read many current reviews of the ships that were pertinent. So many unhappy cruisers, so many cuts in food quality and variety, such an increase in cost. The overall repeated theme is that the cruiser is spending much more for much less. Then I checked the luxury lines. There was some grumbling there as well but not to the extreme of the mass market lines. Holy cow the price! We would willingly spend double but when it’s exponentially more money for visiting the same ports it’s not worth it to us. (This is a cheap region of the world too.) We could spend the money but the product would never match our expectations of paying so much more. We have decided to upgrade our land accommodations to luxury hotels and add one more country by land. We will have a much more immersive experience by staying 3-4 days in each city than 10-12 hours. Even with the increase in hotels, budget for food, private drivers and small group or private tours we are money ahead by thousands verses going with a luxury line.

The “new” free room service offerings look very similar to the old room serve menu prior to the medallion and the app, The offerings were listed in a book in each stateroom. The main difference being that there was no $5 charge when ordering by phone.

Thank you Host Jazzbeau for cleaning up my post. There was a question that asked are you working with a travel agent. I answered no. Perhaps that was the trigger. I have found an agent I think will be good to work with. Thank you for your replies.

I totally forgot about not mentioning travel agencies by name!! It didn’t occur to me because I wasn’t recommending the agency. Moderators please delete the agency name. The edit window has closed for me so I can’t delete it myself. So initially contact with AMA was via inquiry on the website. I didn’t hear anything so I called the number on the official AMAWaterways website a few days later. The woman asked my name, said I see you contacted us online and said please hold. The next thing I knew I was speaking with the man I referenced earlier. I may try calling again and state that I would like to book directly with AMA, not through a third party.

We are about to book a cruise on the Mekong River with AMA. I tried to book directly with AMA but was transferred to a travel agent. Are they the booking arm of AMA? I was less than pleased with the attitude of the agent. Although I did a lot of research both here (thank you everyone!) and on other sites including YouTube we have only done ocean cruises, so I still had a few questions. The man I spoke with was very condescending. It really caught me off guard. When I asked if the price quoted included taxes and fees he said, “well you still have to pay gratuities.” The way he said it was very rude. I already knew from my research that some river cruise lines include gratuities, but AMA does not, which is fine. It’s not that he clarified what it covers but the way he did it. All this explanation is to say that I will not be booking with that agency! If that is the only option for booking directly then I’ll find a different travel agent that specializes in River cruising.

I’m following your blog. I enjoy your posts and blogs. I’m sorry you were so ill and happy you are much better. Our neighbors are on this cruise with you along with their six children and a few grandchildren. They are celebrating his 90th birthday! They are going ziplining on his actual birthday. 😳 Bon voyage!

To the OP I’m sorry for your bad experience. I hope you end up having a great time. I understand completely how issues like you experienced can leave a bad taste in your mouth so to speak. Sometimes it’s the smaller amounts of money at issue that can be more aggravating and feel petty. As a nearly 22 year member of cruise critic I have learned that I don’t hold much weight in the opinions of contributors who defend a cruise line at all costs. Most companies (and people) make mistakes at some point along the way. It’s how they respond and manage those mistakes that determine whether or not I frequent or use them again. That is why having so many options is wonderful! I appreciate hearing your experience.

Mamamusings I understand completely where you are coming from. In 2013 I talked my sisters in law to a girls cruise out of San Pedro. It was a four day California coastal on Golden Princess (no longer in the Princess fleet). It felt like, as you said, a second class cruise from the food to the entertainment to the condition of the ship etc. I regretted not taking them on a seven day cruise on a newer ship. One of them refuses to cruise to this day because of the poor experience. My husband and I have been on other shorter Princess cruises that have been wonderful. I hope you give Princess another try on a longer cruise and a newer Royal Class ship.

This has been happening since before the medallions and plus fares. Mid-way through a cruise about 10 years ago I went to the pursers desk to check my account. (I was following good advice from CC.) There was a bar tab of several hundred dollars billed to me, and my husband nor I drink alcohol! The Princess employee began quizzing me initially not believing me. When I asked to speak with the hotel manager she removed the charges. I asked her how this could happen and she said bartender or waiter errors. I remarked that’s a lot of mistakes! I think someone found a staff member that wasn’t verifying/swiping cruise cards and was entering my name and room number. Interesting that after I went to the pursers desk the problem stopped.

Also to add the photo with my name was taken from our room looking out onto Poipu beach at sunset! It’s from my iPhone and was not retouched!

We go to Kauai every even year (own Marriott timeshares). Waimea canyon is an easy, beautiful drive. Your risk of delay is not as great as compared to going up to Hanalei on the north shore. (But even that should be doable.) You can take the main highway to Waimea and then go back through Poipu on your return. That way you can stop at spouting horn on the return. You have PLENTY of time. Sometimes you can see turtles swimming in the water at spouting horn. There is a high end shopping center at the round-about in Poipu that has a great shave ice shop. (BTW it’s shave ice not shaved ice.) There is a pie shop called The Right Slice on the east side of the road on the way to Waimea that has delicious coconut, chocolate, macadamia nut pie. You can purchase by the pie or by the slice. They have other pies too but the quality of the other pies has declined over the years. If on one of your trips you choose to go to Hanalei a great place to eat is Chicken in a Barrel. You can get bbq or a Hawaiian plate meal. Renting kayaks in Hanalei is amazing. You can either kayak up the Hanalei river or go the opposite direction and go out into the ocean. Are you renting your car from the airport? Most flights from the mainland arrive after 12:00 pm so lines should be relatively short. The majority of other customers will be your fellow cruise passengers. A word of caution…check your rental car very carefully for damage before driving off. If they tell you to take a photo and that will suffice DON’T BELIEVE THEM! Have them document on the account and paperwork and sign and print their name. We had a missing piece of plastic on a car door. I was told taking a picture would be fine. Well many frustrating hours later we got it resolved. They wanted to charge us $2600! It took several phone calls and aggravation. I did have a time stamp picture, but I had to work up the food chain before anyone would accept it. Hawaii is the only place we have ever had a problem like that. Have a great time, aloha!

Thank you

That’s interesting…there is a big flavor difference between Diet Coke and Coke Light available in Mexico and the Caribbean. It wouldn’t hurt me to drink less soda while traveling. While in Europe only Coke Zero was available. I survived. 😂

Thank you for your response. So there is no difference in sightseeing Port vs Starboard while cruising?

My husband and I are seasoned travelers. We have cruised on several cruise lines. We are elite with Princess. I say this to illustrate that we have been on many cruises. I’m merely a bystander today but I am appalled with Cunard’s behavior with regard to their passengers over these cancelled cruises. I understand clearly what they are legally required to do, but what they SHOULD have done is an entirely different story. I feel bad for every passenger impacted by Cunard’s treatment of them. On every cruise we have ever sailed we have encountered people who are physically impaired for one reason or another. Many of these people are frequent cruisers. Inevitably the most frequent cruisers with physical limitations told us that they boarded cruises near their home (no flights), took a taxi or town car to the ship (limited ground transportation) and rarely got off the ship in port (decreasing the risk of unforeseen obstacles leading to injury). A fair amount of these people cruised b2b or moved from one ship to another at the same port so as to experience different itineraries. For the most savvy traveler, today would be challenging. For the person who’s only form of travel is cruising the requirement to find a last minute flight, book an overnight stay etc. could seem insurmountable. Cunard should assist EVERY passenger with booking flights and hotel or at least offer to do so. Not just the few who had the good fortune to be onboard before the cruise was cancelled. It would have cost Cunard relatively little to assign employees the task of contacting the passengers and helping them find alternative transportation. Regarding who should pay for it is a different topic…I can see both sides to that question. Additionally to imply that an older single person using a walker or not should not cruise is incredibly insensitive. Would I do it? No, but I’m not going to judge someone else whose choice is different.

On a Northbound Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap cruise is there a better side to be on? Does it matter?

Thank you isnowman and TerryandMike! That is exactly what we wanted to know. I’m the planner for our trips but my husband has questions along the way. I’ve looked at all the major players on the Mekong and Scenic seems to have the best offering/experience for the price. We are going to do 3 days on both ends of the cruise in Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap. Then I think we will go to Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand. Thank you again for taking the time to post.

I stumbled on your amazing and comprehensive trip report. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed it. We are in the beginning stages of a South East Asia trip planned for January of 2025. Your first person experience has been incredibly helpful so thank you! I have a few questions about the ship that are not covered by your report or anywhere else on cruise critic or on you-tube for that matter. I’m hoping you drop by the river cruise board periodically and can answer them. If not then hopefully anyone who has been on Scenic Spirit can reply. These questions may seem insignificant to most travelers but they would help us make an informed choice. Managing expectations can make the difference in travel enjoyment. -Do any of the lower end suites have true balconies? It looks like they have french balconies with top windows that lower. I realize that the weather is warm and humid and not much time is spent in the cabin on this kind of cruise but did the windows seem large enough to experience the essence of traveling on the river? -Regarding the bathroom, what is the door like from the room to the bathroom? One of us is bathroom shy so this is an important detail. -Do they serve Diet Coke? If so is it canned or fountain? Neither of us drink coffee or alcohol but we love our Diet Coke! Thank you in advance for your help.

Having sailed in L101 and L102 (one deck above you) I can confirm that you may use your balcony at all times. Having said that the wind may limit the amount of time you want to spend at the rail when under way. We used the balcony everyday when seated back near the door. That is a great upgrade. Someone probably cancelled last minute. Have a wonderful cruise.

It was switched to a main with the new menus.

If you are going to do a cheater version IMHO Rhodes frozen yeast rolls are better. Just thaw and cut into smaller pieces and roll as above instructions. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.