ljandgb

I've been to Iceland 3 times. I'd pick the south coast.  It's the iconic views of waterfalls and black sand beaches.  

Full disclosure I've only been to part of the Golden Circle.  Thingvellir is pretty, but not jaw dropping, unless you're really into plate tectonics, local history, or want to snorkel in the rift there. (We did the snorkeling and spent a good deal of time in the museum at the visitor center regarding the history and biology of the park.)  

I've heard the geothermal areas are interesting, unless you've been to Yellowstone.  The consensus on the TA forum is that you should do the GC first before the rest of the country.  If you do it last, people tend to be a little less wowed if that makes sense.

If you really want to do both, I think you could do an early morning GC tour and still make the departure.  You could even just rent a car and start out really early, since you'll have so much daylight.

Back from our trip and still fairly jet lagged.  I'm not going to do a full daily trip report, but will note any important points or differences from European river cruises as I think of them.

We chose Avalon for the small ship size, which was perfect.  The ship was in great condition and the crew were wonderful.  Our friends that traveled with us were amazed at the large size of the room in comparison with their Viking Danube cruise (not sure which ship they were on.)  It was a small enough group that it wasn't too unwieldy to get on tenders, walk thru town, etc.  We were told that because the ship is smaller, it could go on a few branches of the river the larger ships can not.

There were 8 of us that did the Hanoi/Ha Long Bay extension, 7 more that joined us for the HCMC extension, and 19 that did just the 7 day cruise.  Then we peeled off folks in reverse order - 15 of us went to Siem Reap, and the first small group of us went on to do the Bangkok extension.

The Hanoi/Ha Long Bay and Bangkok extensions were outsourced completely to local travel companies.  We did not meet our Avalon guide until we got to HCMC, and he stayed with us thru Siem Reap.  Our Hanoi/HLB guide was good.  The Bangkok portion was disappointing as far as Avalon was concerned.  Avalon provided transfer to the hotel, in 2 different vans, so only the group that traveled with the local guide got any info, and then one half day tour of the city.  The other 1 1/2 days were completely OYO.  The local guide was just OK.  We planned our own tours for the free time, but there were some more newbie travelers that were somewhat at a loss.

**side note - two of the "newbies" tagged on to our time in Bangkok.  I usually arrange tours thru the provider but our friends wanted to book thru TripAdvisor/Viator.  I did what she wanted and regretted it.  It was impossible to add the 2 extras on thru TA/Viator, so we did by just contacting the provider directly thru WhatsApp and paying cash at the time of tour.  Also, one trip cost HALF to book directly thru them.  I look at it as a lesson learned.  The tours themselves were awesome.**

Interestingly, the 7 that joined us for the HCMC extension had just COME from Bangkok, and were going to Hanoi/HLB AFTER Siem Reap.  I had no idea that particular combo was an option, the main differences being that we had 2 nights in Hanoi, and one in HLB at a resort on its own small private island while the other group did 1 night in Hanoi and 2 nights on a cruise ship in HLB.  Since they were going after they left us, I can't tell you any more about the specifics.

The hotels for the extensions were fabulous.  Like, spectacular.  The pool at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap is one of the nicest I've seen.

Our Avalon guides were also fabulous.  We had Khahn, a Vietnamese local, who was our coordinator for the trip, then Chung as the local guide for the Vietnamese portion and Sokun for the Cambodian portion.  I can't speak highly enough about them.

The cruise itself was a bit more low key than European cruises.  Due to the heat, I'm ok with that.  We had 3 days of afternoon sailings.  Our excursions were mostly to VERY small villages along the river, with demonstrations on weaving, noodle making, farm life, etc.  Avalon made sure we experienced a variety of transportation modes - tuk tuk, cyclo cart, and ox cart included.  There were few piers, and we mostly tendered.  I will say that anyone with mobility issues would not do well on this cruise.  The transfers at shore were frequently steep, irregular, and mobile as the tender rocked a bit.  The tender frequently just pulled up to a small trail on the shoreline.  We also rafted once, in Phnom Penh, at a large pier.

My favorite excursion was surprisingly the trip to the English school.  I'm not one that loves kids in principal, but they had the kids (ages 7-12-ish) set out with work books and we were paired with one kid to basically just go thru their work book with them.  It was like going thru homework with my kids and actually quite fun.  That portion went on for about 30 minutes then they had some of us stand in front of the class to answer questions from the kids.  Most people felt the same way I did - it was a highlight of the trip.

The food was very good.  Buffet at breakfast and lunch, menu at dinner, local dishes predominantly.  There was always a choice of sandwich or burger for lunch and chicken, steak, or fish for dinner.  Free wine and beer at meals, a happy hour drink of the day free in the evenings.

I loved all the countries, but Cambodia was my favorite. I think because they have come so far after so much tragedy.  We also loved Siem Reap out of all the extensions due to the temples.  Truly, they were worth the entire trip, and Siem Reap itself is just a nice sized city to navigate.  Hanoi was great, and so bustling.  HCMC started to feel a bit too large to my taste, and honestly I did not care much for Bangkok.  Crowded, loud, a lot of air pollution, and so difficult and inefficient to get around if what you want is not next to the subway or sky train.  

Not Avalon related, but we did several OYO tours, most street food related.  Hanoi thru With Locals, HCMC thru Street Food Man, Phnom Penh with Kingdom of Wonderlust (this was booked just the day before we got there and we had the owner himself,) and Bangkok with Bangkok Food Tours.  All were very good but the HCMC was our hands down favorite as we went places I would NEVER had gone on my own, and had food that you can not get at any restaurant.  We really felt like we were living like locals.  Our Phnom Penh tour was a close second, for the same reasons.  When we were in Siem Reap, we asked the hotel desk where we could get some of the same dishes and he just shook his head and said it wasn't possible unless we went back to the food stalls near the temple. LOL  HCMC and Siem Reap were private tours.

We also did a private tour to Kanchanaburi Erawan Waterfall and Elephant Care thru Idaytrip in Bangkok.  This was a 12 hour day and one of our favorites of the trip.  It was sooo nice to get out of the city, and it really made me think I'd love to go back and see the rest of Thailand that isn't Bangkok.  We swam in the waterfalls at the Erawan national park, and got in the river with elephants to bathe them.  We got soaked, had a blast, and got some amazing pictures as they had us give one of our cameras to a guide while we interacted with the elephants. 

We got a Vietnam e-visa no problem.  If you're getting one, check your dates carefully.  One of the travelers got the date wrong on entry.  Fortunately, they arrived at 11:30pm and she only had to wait 30 minutes to wait before going back to immigration.  The Cambodian visa you can not get online despite what your travel agent might say.  The ship did ours and just charged the $50/person to our ship account.

Money was in local currency at each location except Cambodia, where vendors would happily take $US for small transactions.  I did not have any issue with getting our money turned down due to condition, but our bills were in decent shape.  You can even get US$ at the ATM, but only in $100 bills, which was not super convenient.

Getting around in towns on our own we used Grab, the SE Asia version of Uber.  It worked well everywhere but Bangkok where traffic is so bad it just took forever to get anywhere.  Our cell service, AT&T, did not work well in Hanoi though, so we ended up having to have a random restaurant employee give us his wifi hotspot long enough to call a grab to get back to the hotel. Using the app worked fine on wifi.  If I were going to spend any amount of time in Vietnam on my own, I'd get a local SIM card.

We travel carry on only, and much of my travel wardrobe is performance fabric which washes and dries easily.  I always bring detergent sheets and a 10L dry bag to wash clothes in, but don't usually wash all that much.  This trip was different.  We were so hot and sweaty any time we left the ship that those clothes were not usable again.  I found myself washing every 2-3 days.  I also sent pants to be washed on the ship.  It was $2-4/item and returned in 24 hours in good condition (one group mentioned fears of t-shirts shrinking in the dryer, but that did not happen.)

Every lady in the group found themselves eventually getting elephant pants.  They really are the coolest (temperature wise) to wear there.  My friend said 'it's like wearing air conditioning on your legs." LOL

Generally, you could wear shorts if they were close to your knees (no shorty shorts on women) and short sleeved shirts.  Most places would let you cover with a scarf to correct that if needed.   The Bangkok Royal Palace required long pants, shoulders covered, and no mid-riff showing, scarf cheating not allowed.  We saw guards turning some young ladies away saying "this is no sexy area!"

That's all I can think of right now.  I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

As the title states, we’re on the Avalon Saigon for a Mekong cruise now. We arrived in Viet Nam November 10 for extensions in Hanoi, Ha Long bay, and Ho Chi Minh City. We also did 48 hours in Taiwan prior to all that since we flew EVA Air. 
 

We embarked November 16 in Ho Chi Minh City and are currently in Phnom Penh. We’ll be doing the Bangkok extension at the end as well. 
 

I’ll do more thoughts when we get home but if anyone has specific questions I can try to answer them. Wi-Fi and cell has been very spotty on the ship but we’re docked in the city for a bit yet, which helps. 
 

it’s been hot, low 90’s in Hanoi and HCMC but it’s been a bit cooler here. The ship is great, 36 pax, mix of Americans, Canadians, and Aussies. Crew fantastic. People everywhere super friendly. We’ve done a few OYO food tours which have been huge winners. This trip was my husband’s idea and I’ve not had a huge draw to come to this part of the world but so far it’s been fantastic. It’s really exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. 

Thank you.  That's what I thought but figured I'd make sure.

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

The best views are from the lounge or up top.  As mentioned, there's a good chance you'll wake up and be belly to belly balcony-wise with someone else, so not likely to go out and sip your coffee while staring into the eyes of a stranger, who may or may not be clothed. LOL

I did enjoy the Avalon French balcony just to let in fresh air.

We're doing a Mekong cruise next month.  I don't dress super formal at home, and rarely wear skirts anyways, but my plan is a wardrobe of simple trousers, light weight technical fabric solid color shirts, and a nice scarf or necklace to dress it up.  In the past, when cruising in hot climates, I generally come back from excursions, shower, and put on tomorrow's clothes for dinner that night.

In general, river cruises are more smart casual.  At least the European ones I've been on.

I splurged on a prescription mask for our Galapagos trip. I bought the mask from a dive shop, gave them my glasses prescription from my ophthalmologist, and they sent the mask somewhere that puts lenses in the mask. The lenses, including a lined bifocal, are glued (?) to the inside of the mask front. They worked beautifully. The mask cost $80, putting the prescription in cost $280. Totally worth it, but not cheap. After that trip, my husband brought in the mask he’d bought off of Amazon, gave them his prescription, and we’re now waiting for them to be done. The dive shop said any mask with a tempered glass front could have lenses put in. 

We always prefer to find our own excursions.  Either private, or with a small group, which is way better than being in a big bus with 40 other people. Some companies offer small groups arranged by the company, other times the groups are formed on a CC roll call (I admittedly have not gone this route.) In general, I do some research online to see what's available at any given port, find companies that provide what I'd like to do that also have good online reviews (including from here at CC), then email several.  It's usually apparent quickly which companies are responsive to our questions and communication.  I never book thru a third party like Viator.  It's worked out well for us every time.  Always check cancelation policies, including if the ship can not make it to port.

Something to consider with these port stops is that the towns are small, and for Iceland, tourism is not their main focus.  There will be limited offerings, so if there is something you wish to do in some of the very small towns, I'd work on that first.  

There is also a lot of talk here on CC about Isafjordur.  It is a very small port whose pier does not support large ships, and some ships don't tender. They are working on enlarging the pier, but consequently, many ships have had to skip this port this year.  The weather in this part of the world is also harsher, and some ports have been canceled due to high winds.

I'll always maintain that Iceland is best done as a land trip, as it's easy to navigate and simply beautiful.  Since the common "ports" are often tiny villages, you are frequently left with whatever the ship can provide, and there's so much more to do if you could just get to it.  There are few to no cars to rent and no public transport.  At least consider arriving a day or 2 earlier and seeing more of Iceland.  The Golden Circle is the standard tour, but is honestly less inspiring than a south coast tour for most people, unless you are really into geothermal areas. (If you've been to Yellowstone, you'll probably be underwhelmed in Iceland.)

It was smart casual on our Rhine cruise.  I can't imagine the French rivers are significantly different.  I usually wear the outfit I'm planning on wearing the next day, sometimes changing it up with the one nice shirt or scarf I brought.

We are doing the Mekong with Avalon in November, 2023, with all the associated extensions.  We've sailed Avalon once before, on the Danube, and really liked them, but since it was a pandemic cruise, and there were only 25-45 people on the ship, I can't tell if it was 100% representative of their product. (I'm pretty sure it was, but having the whole ship for 25 people was a unique experience.)

What drew me to Avalon for this cruise was the size of the ship.  It is substantially smaller than some of the other ships on the Mekong.  I love smaller group travel.  The tradeoff is that we overnight in Ha Long Bay in a hotel instead of a ship in the bay like some of the other companies use.  I decided that was a good trade - one night for the rest of the cruise.

Loperamide with slow down your bowels, but won't kill anything, and is, in fact, contraindicated in bacterial GI infections without using antibiotics as well.  Of note, it's also dangerous in high doses due to risk of cardiac arrhythmias.

It looks like that last ingredient also prevents bowel "spasms" but with a different chemical receptor, and a much lower risk of cardiac issues.  I'm fairly certain it is not in use in the US.

I keep track of these things since I seem to pick up every GI bug within a 5 mile radius of me.  I've puked (and more) in more countries than I can count.

On 8/22/2023 at 7:54 PM, newcruisers70 said:

  Re: Iceland, I have done both a land trip to Iceland and a cruise, so have a little perspective on this.  You can't go wrong either way, but why might a cruise be better than a land trip to Iceland?  Specific issues that may be relevant for your situation with kids:  1.  Do they love being on the cruise ship, or if they are first timers might they love it?  Our 11y old son loved being on board, especially the Sports Court, but also other activities such as music shows and entertainment.  2.  Is being able to stay in one room the whole time a plus for you instead of moving hotels every few days?  If so, thats a big advantage for the cruise option.  

 I think this is applicable to any vacation as far as what your kids want. I’m not sure it means that a cruise is the best way to see Iceland so much as the best way to survive vacation when traveling with family that have certain requirements. If my kids wouldn’t tolerate a land trip to Iceland I’d probably skip trying to go and find a cruise/vacation that worked for everyone. YMMV

There’s a reason many of us feel Iceland is best seen as a land trip.  You just can’t easily get to many places from the ports. I agree a south coast tour will not be feasible other than a private tour where you’re willing to pay someone to get you as far as you can go. That would be very pricey, around $1,000 for a private guide for the day. 

We're doing a Road Scholar tour next year that includes a 4 day Nile cruise.  I haven't been yet, obviously, but everything I've seen/read makes it look like I would not compare it to a traditional European river cruise.  I certainly would encourage to OP to made a judgement on whether river cruising is for them based on a European trip and consider any Nile cruise to be unique to the area and not a representative of overall river cruising. 

Regarding GI issues, I am a magnet for GI bugs, no matter how careful I am.  I've started taking a peptobismol pill at every meal (after some research on how to prevent traveler's diarrhea.)  I did 3 weeks in China and 3 in South America and never got sick.  In fact, there were 6 of us in China, and I made everyone take a pill each meal and none of us got sick.  It has to do with coating the GI track to prevent germs from taking hold, essentially.  Not a huge scientific study, but the trips I haven't done it, I've gotten sick.

And FWIW, our Road Scholar Nile cruise is part of a larger trip that includes 2 nights in Petra.  It's those 2 nights I'm most stoked about.

I've done close to 10 Road Scholar tours.  They are not high end, and I'd say solidly mid-level.  Most of their European cruising is done with CroisiEurope.  I enjoy their trips and because they are moderately priced, I stretch my travel dollars.  I appreciate the educational aspect, the fact they don't push shopping (no "here's our next stop, the pearl market, no pressure here!")  I've also found our fellow travelers to be generally very open minded and curious about other cultures.

Looking at those two RS trips, the cruise is on a "boutique" barge, with 24 pax (not Croisi this time.)  Economy of scale says that will be more expensive.  I didn't look at all the other trips, but a quick search of Tauck looks like all their sailings are on larger ships.  

I have heard good things about Tauck, and my husband is itching to do their Australia/New Zealand land trip.

You could consider a land portion to Iceland, which, IMO, is a much better way to see that country, coupled to a cruise to the other destinations.

The ports in Iceland, aside from Reykjavik and Akureyri, are very small and you will be hard pressed to find anything to do beyond the ship's tours, where the passengers will outnumber inhabitants by 3:1 easily.  Iceland's greatest attraction is it's natural beauty, and you'll be barely dipping your toes in with just a few ports.

Iceland is very family friendly, and very easy to navigate.  There are few roads, which are all well marked.  There are self catering cottages all over the countryside, making it easy to find lodging for families, and even very small communities have a local pool, with hot tubs and usually a kids' area as well.  They are mainstays of Icelandic culture.

Caves, glaciers, waterfalls, horses, volcanoes, natural hot springs.  What's not to love if you're a kid?

As you can tell, Iceland is one of my favorite countries.  If you want to consider a land trip, the folks over on TripAdvisor can help you.

It really depends how much you'll truly be outside and exploring nature.  I did a south coast tour on a short break before a Baltic cruise in just light pants, wool socks, and sandals. I got a bit damp at the waterfalls and when it lightly rained on us off and on.  I had not wanted to bring a lot of extra clothes for just that 2 days.  The tour was mostly driving from one location to another, jumping out to see the waterfall or beach, then getting back in the car.

I recently returned from a week long trip to Iceland with a full kit of rain gear, hiking boots, etc.  We spent quite a bit of time outside, hiked in the rain and would have been soaked, cold, and miserable without the right clothes.

I'd for sure bring a waterproof rain jacket, since puffers tend to get very soggy when wet.  As for pants, it just depends how much you want to do outside no matter the weather.

Snaefellsnes is not a bad substitution.  It's got some gorgeous scenery and is generally a bit less crowded than the Golden Circle sites.

I bought rain pants for a lodge to lodge hike in Spain 6 years ago.  Have carried them around on various trips for years.  Never used them once, until this year when I spent several days in them on two different trips.  I was VERY glad to have them.  Like an umbrella, you don't need it until you absolutely do. LOL

Yours are already bought, but for others, something lightweight that isn't too onerous to pack is worth it in the end.  Mine zip all the way up both legs, so I can put them on over my hiking boots.

I do totally agree that having them for your upcoming trip is a good idea.  

Land trip, not cruise. Yikes. 
 

Anyhow, Iceland has too much to offer to just list it all here. Look around and we’ll be happy to answer any specific questions you have. 

Not our job to talk you into it.  Read some here and on TripAdvisor.

I'll just say that Iceland is best seen on a land cruise.  There are few ports, all but two are very small, and there is not the tourist infrastructure that other countries have that will support 1,000+ people landing in a small village so you'll be stuck with ship tours.

23 hours ago, RobInMN said:

 

@CastleCritic

 

Up to this point, the vast majority of our stops was a lesson in why communism failed. Some places barely qualifying for what we might consider a "second world" country, with Vukovar being the "worst". To be honest, back in 2005, some of these stops were depressing. Once we got to Constanta, we were back to first world. Modern, vibrant.

We did an Avalon full Danube cruise down to Romania, and this gets at the gist of the stops south of Budapest.  It was interesting, and I'm glad we did it, but it is fundamentally a different type of trip than the "top" half of the Danube.  Many of those former Soviet bloc countries have not fully found their footing yet.  I liked Belgrade, especially our excursions to smaller, local points (distillery, art coop, farmers market.)  We had a great dinner in a small restaurant set up to look like Grandma's house in Novi Sad.  In general, though, the Serbians still seem a little crabby and "not our fault" regarding the Bosnia/Serbian conflict.

Bulgaria seemed the least recovered.  Our guide remarked that there were few places to take tourists because the infrastructure like sidewalks, toilets, etc, just wasn't there.  We went to Belogradchik fortress (I think that was it), a fortress built on a hill around large rock spires.

We did an extension to Brasov which I really enjoyed.  Romania was my favorite, by far, part of that second leg, due to their ability to overcome their former Communist economy and the vibrant culture they have now.  Bucharest was a nice city, but I'm not sure it would be worth extra time on its own.

I've preloaded maps before.  You even get a blue dot where you are.  What you don't get is directions to a certain place, etc.

On Avalon, the dinner menu was on the app as well, though you could request a paper menu.  It also had info about each port, and a map.

Downside it all disappears after the cruise.  If you want to save it, screen shot it.