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Ho Chi Minh with Zoom


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After reading glowing reports in this forum . I have been in touch with Zoom for a 1 day city tour of Ho Chi Minh. He has quoted US $140 per person including lunch. Is this expensive ? or am I out of touch ? Thoughts please :confused:

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After reading glowing reports in this forum . I have been in touch with Zoom for a 1 day city tour of Ho Chi Minh. He has quoted US $140 per person including lunch. Is this expensive ? or am I out of touch ? Thoughts please :confused:

 

I received the same quote from Zoom. For 2. It seems right in line with

other tours I've booked for my cruise. 2 people, driver/guide & car. Nha Trang is lower and Bangkok a bit higher.

 

And compared to the many private tours I've booked in GB, northern Europe and the Med, I was pleasantly surprised at the cost quotes. A full day tour for 2 with private driver/guide in Italy is 450 euros for example.

 

If cost is an issue, it may well go down if you are able to have others from your Roll Call thread join you. And, even if cost is not an issue, having a few others join in is also fun. Enjjoyable (and often helpful) to either "see" things from others perspectives or "see" things you'd have missed. I've done this a few times and we've always enjoyed having others along.

 

Martha

Edited by FinelyRetired
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After reading glowing reports in this forum . I have been in touch with Zoom for a 1 day city tour of Ho Chi Minh. He has quoted US $140 per person including lunch. Is this expensive ? or am I out of touch ? Thoughts please :confused:

 

He has to pay a tax of about $20 pp to get into the port. Try to get another couple or 2 from your roll call. We did one day with 4 and one day with 6. Highly recommended.

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Who did you book a tour in Nha Trang with ? Dung Zoom is in Saigon, isn't he ? A local tour operator is surely better than a broker who sell tours of someone else's . Click on this, you will find a local tour operator with many recommendations http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70 Have a good choice . ;)

 

OP said HCMC which is Saigon. Zoom isn't a broker.

Edited by Earl Rosebery
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  • 1 year later...

We too have contacted Zoom to arrange tour of HCMC,and he has quoted us $220 Dollars per person (there are 3 of us)which includes Mekon delta trip on 2nd Day,Return trip to Phu Mi Port.he has alson offered to book accomodation for us in a choice of hotels.

He said we would be in 15 seater A/C Mini Van.

Is anyone else going on this tour,and what do you think about the prices? Reasonable or not?

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We too have contacted Zoom to arrange tour of HCMC,and he has quoted us $220 Dollars per person (there are 3 of us)which includes Mekon delta trip on 2nd Day,Return trip to Phu Mi Port.he has alson offered to book accomodation for us in a choice of hotels.

He said we would be in 15 seater A/C Mini Van.

Is anyone else going on this tour,and what do you think about the prices? Reasonable or not?

 

if I remember correctly, our tour with Zoom included 2 lunches and coffee at the rex hotel. Remember he has port fees and has to pay his driver for 2 days. Well worth it. You could go on your roll call and get 3 more. 6 is ideal.

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We too have been working with Zoom regarding tours throughout Vietnam - HCMC, Hue/Danang, and Halong/Hanoi. The quote he gave you for HCMC is very close to our quote and we have a group of four. Additionally, he did not increase the quote or add extra fees once he realized our tour date(s) to HCMC falls on the weekend of the Tet holiday! Normally, the tour rates on holidays are higher than those on "normal" days, but he is a man of honor and did not change the quote.

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I just got back from our Voyager o.t Seas cruise today and we booked our Saigon tour with Zoom. We also paid around 140 USD per person and were picked up in a very comfy and modern car with guide (Mr Tuc) and a driver.

We ended up going to all the places the ships tour goes to as well, I guess HCM City simply does not have that much to offer, but it was great to be independant from others. At lunch we met others on ship´s tour ( seemed to be a favourite restaurant...) as well. Lunch was cheap and nothing fancy but very good ! We really enjoyed it. Coffee at Rex Hotel was the best coffee I ever had in my life.

 

The tour is quite exhausting due to the endless drive from port to city and back with lot´s of traffic. If you want to do things very individually with Zoom, make sure you tell him before, otherwise everything is planned ahead, oncluding your choice of food. That does not mean that this is a bad thing though, .

The war museum, by the way, is a terrible way to start into a fun filled day. The pictures ( very one-sided of course ) are downright terrible and not suitable for all ages and not for the faint hearted! Be forwarned.

 

I can reccommend Zoom.

 

Michael

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Thanks for the info Michael. We have planned a 2 day tour with Zoom in February staying overnight at the Rex Hotel. We know in advance that Zoom will not be with us for the full tour. On the second day we go to the Mekong Delta. Hopefully it will not be quite so tiring if we spread it out over 2 days.

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  • 6 months later...
The Rex hotel is beautiful, you will be very pleased with your choice! I think it is a very wise choice to spread it over 2 days and also visit the Mekong Delta which I guess will be a great experience!

 

I guess Saigon Saigon bar on the 10th floor of Caravelle hotel could be an option. A famed photographer selected this bar as best view giver in Asia. Just a reminder to personal choice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

As a part of our hoenymoon we will be doing a cruise from HK to Singapore. We are considering hiring Zoom for Saigon; we sill arrive one day at 12:00 PM and leave next day at 3:00 PM. Does anyone have some suggestions if we should visit only Saigon or include the Mekong Delta?

 

Thank you

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We were on Celebrity Cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore in February and we booked a tour with Zoom while in Saigon.

It was a 2 day tour,which included transfers,all meals and a guide,1st day in Saigon staying 1 night in Hotel that Zoom organised at extra cost,but very reasonable price depending on what hotel you choose to stay.2nd Day we did a trip to the Mekong Delta .

It was very well organised,everything went to plan,excellent guide.There were 7 of us in our group,we found that was the perfect size of group,and it made the tour a bit cheaper too.

I can't remember the exact amount of tour,think it was about £160 per person which was very good value.

I would thoroughly recommend.

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Thank you.

We already contacted Zoom and received some quotations. He said he will check if he can be our guide, if he gets another guy to guide us. Would it also be a good option to tour with them?

 

He also gave us quotation from the other ports (Ha Long Bay and Chan May) and we also contacted exotissimo. We are not sure if either one of them is better, or both will be as good.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have booked a 2 day tour with Stephen of Best Cruises. It seems very reasonable for a private tour and US190 for each of us.

 

Mekong Delta/Saigon Overnight Tour from Phu My Port

 

Day 1 -Pick up at Port in a mini bus for Mekong Delta cruise. On arrival, cruise along small creek to Mekong River estuary, to Con Phung (Phoenix Island) and stop over at a garden restaurant for a Vietnamese lunch. The motorized boat cruise sails along natural creeks to a quiet village in Ben Tre Province. Visit orchards, bee – keeping farm, taste natural honey and honey wine, enjoy tropical fruit, traditional music, see round a distillery, explore the local coconut candy production process, taste candy & coconut pulp. Travel to Saigon.In the evening free to shopping at Ben Thanh Market.

 

Overnight in Saigon

 

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City Tour ( Meals: Breakfast & Lunch )

 

Visits to: China Town - Cho Lon, the Re-Unification Palace, the Central Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the War Remains Museum, Ben Thanh Market. If the time permits we will visit Jade Emperor temple, a lacquer ware factory. Then back to Phu My Port.

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He has to pay a tax of about $20 pp to get into the port. Try to get another couple or 2 from your roll call. We did one day with 4 and one day with 6. Highly recommended.

What ship are you an and when are you cursing? We are 4 people that might be interested.

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We are on the Celebrity Millenium, departing Singapore 2nd March 2014.

We have also booked a private tour, different tour agent, for Bangkok(BKK Tours) and at Halong Bay the ships excursion.

Is this the same cruise you are on?

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We have booked a 2 day tour with Stephen of Best Cruises. It seems very reasonable for a private tour and US190 for each of us.

 

Mekong Delta/Saigon Overnight Tour from Phu My Port

 

Day 1 -Pick up at Port in a mini bus for Mekong Delta cruise. On arrival, cruise along small creek to Mekong River estuary, to Con Phung (Phoenix Island) and stop over at a garden restaurant for a Vietnamese lunch. The motorized boat cruise sails along natural creeks to a quiet village in Ben Tre Province. Visit orchards, bee – keeping farm, taste natural honey and honey wine, enjoy tropical fruit, traditional music, see round a distillery, explore the local coconut candy production process, taste candy & coconut pulp. Travel to Saigon.In the evening free to shopping at Ben Thanh Market.

 

Overnight in Saigon

 

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City Tour ( Meals: Breakfast & Lunch )

 

Visits to: China Town - Cho Lon, the Re-Unification Palace, the Central Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the War Remains Museum, Ben Thanh Market. If the time permits we will visit Jade Emperor temple, a lacquer ware factory. Then back to Phu My Port.

 

 

We have the same itinerary with Zoom in HCMC in February but unfortunately Celebrity Millennium revised all itineraries for all southbound & northbound sailings. We will only be calling on HCMC for 1 day :(

Edited by celyvabeach
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We had booked Zoom and his associates for tours of Saigon, Hue, Ha Long Bay, and Hanoi but had to cancel due to my wife's illness. When I notified him he promptly returned our deposits. In all my correspondence with him, he was very responsive and helpful in setting up our tours. If we are able to make this trip in the future, I shall definitely book him again.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Hi,

 

As a part of our hoenymoon we will be doing a cruise from HK to Singapore. We are considering hiring Zoom for Saigon; we sill arrive one day at 12:00 PM and leave next day at 3:00 PM. Does anyone have some suggestions if we should visit only Saigon or include the Mekong Delta?

 

Thank you

A city tour for the first day and a Mekong Delta tour for the second day. The option for the 2nd day is My Tho or Ben Tre. In my opinion, My Tho is too much touristic whilst Ben Tre touring offers a fairly good itinerary with horse riding.

Actually, the best tour in MK Delta is 2 or 3 days in deep Mekong Delta with Can Tho but, out of discussion here

Edited by Calisense
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What ship are you an and when are you cursing? We are 4 people that might be interested.

 

 

Hi,

 

We are on Silversea Voyage 3334 (departs November 25). We have been reviewing tours, but had not decided yet.

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