AMA Vietnam

[doreen22]

Thanks for all the tips from return cruisers. Will be on Amalotus for Xmas cruise. Leave in three weeks. Doing 2 nights with Paradise Cruises on Halong Bay. From your advise, have a day tour booked with Hanoikids in Hanoi, and have taken note of recommended restruants.

Excited Aussie.

 

We are presently on the Amalotus in Phnom Penh, great cruise, though dh has a stomach bug today, and lots of people have colds. Weather is great, though hot. Service is wondeful we were surprised that all beer is free, we thought it was only free with meals. Local tour guides are excellent and we are really enjoying seeing the local life before the area is inundated with tourists. Internet is good here, but has been almost unavailable until now ( we boarded Monday). We toured with Hanoi Kids -really good! The Hanoi traffic is amazing though the only traffic accident we saw was in Siem Reap.

Susan

[alexandra cruiser]

We are presently on the Amalotus in Phnom Penh, great cruise, though dh has a stomach bug today, and lots of people have colds. Weather is great, though hot. Service is wondeful we were surprised that all beer is free, we thought it was only free with meals. Local tour guides are excellent and we are really enjoying seeing the local life before the area is inundated with tourists. Internet is good here, but has been almost unavailable until now ( we boarded Monday). We toured with Hanoi Kids -really good! The Hanoi traffic is amazing though the only traffic accident we saw was in Siem Reap.

Susan

 

and above poster said balcony only has table and chair,,,can you take a chair,,or get one,,,to replace table,,so 2 can sit??Also,re Hanoi Kids,,,did you take this tour with them AND one from AMA,,,how do I contact them...Re..tour operator mentioned,,,Zoom...same questions??Also,,you mentioned stomach bug,,did you take RX before?Seems most people get one,,Also,,can you keep balcony door open for fresh air,,or will mosquitos,or safety,,be a problem??Last,,on buses,,is emergency toilet onboard,,for those with digestive problems,,could be very uncomfortable??? Thanks in advance...

[ReturnCruiser]

and above poster said balcony only has table and chair,,,can you take a chair,,or get one,,,to replace table,,so 2 can sit??Also,re Hanoi Kids,,,did you take this tour with them AND one from AMA,,,how do I contact them...Re..tour operator mentioned,,,Zoom...same questions??Also,,you mentioned stomach bug,,did you take RX before?Seems most people get one,,Also,,can you keep balcony door open for fresh air,,or will mosquitos,or safety,,be a problem??Last,,on buses,,is emergency toilet onboard,,for those with digestive problems,,could be very uncomfortable??? Thanks in advance...

 

In November, the weather was too warm/humid to keep the balcony door open or sit out there for an extended period. AMA advised keeping balcony door closed due to bugs - largely fruit fly types. Although we had a single chair, we never used it for sitting. For brief times, we used the balcony to dry clothes via plastic hangers.

 

More info on the non-profit Hanoikids organization can be found at www.hanoikids.org.

 

On my tour, the buses did not have toilet facilities. In many cases, a regularly scheduled toilet stop occurred 60 to 90 minutes after the start of a bus trip or excursion.

 

Bob

[doreen22]

and above poster said balcony only has table and chair,,,can you take a chair,,or get one,,,to replace table,,so 2 can sit??Also,re Hanoi Kids,,,did you take this tour with them AND one from AMA,,,how do I contact them...Re..tour operator mentioned,,,Zoom...same questions??Also,,you mentioned stomach bug,,did you take RX before?Seems most people get one,,Also,,can you keep balcony door open for fresh air,,or will mosquitos,or safety,,be a problem??Last,,on buses,,is emergency toilet onboard,,for those with digestive problems,,could be very uncomfortable??? Thanks in advance...

 

We did take the Hanoi Kids as well as AMA tour and this worked well, other than we toured with HKids on Monday when everything was closed. We are also touring with Zoom - I can dig up his contact info.

Susan

[alexandra cruiser]

contact info,,,re..above questions,,did you also not use balcony or ask for extra chair?? Now,,I m wondering if its worth it,,,if not able to keep open due to bugs,,and too small to really use?

Same experience,,I assume re buses,,,I m a RN and DH is a Dr.,,,so I guess Im always concerned about bodily functions and illness,,,haha,,sorry,,,have had a few experiences were buses had to stop on road for sick passengers,,like Egypt,,,even one when person threw up all over floor,,whew...guess we attract these??Even on planes,,,if they ask "is there a Dr.onboard"...tempted to hide now,,,we ve had 1 heart attack and one labor,,,luckily she waited to deliver...

 

Guess we will bring some RX to stop any digestive probs,,to be on safe side...booked this for next Dec..maybe you can give review of YOUR trip when you return,,,love all details...:)

[RachelG]

Just popping in to spy as this is a cruise we are considering for future.

 

Alexandra, I would be ok with the laboring patient, even if she decided to deliver. Don't like heart attacks though. Had a full code on a flight from Rome to Chicago. I was an RN before being an MD and ran the code team. So not problem with that. But the guy was probably hypoxic for several minutes before the stewardesses found him in the bathroom, so not a good outcome.

[doreen22]

contact info,,,re..above questions,,did you also not use balcony or ask for extra chair?? Now,,I m wondering if its worth it,,,if not able to keep open due to bugs,,and too small to really use?

Same experience,,I assume re buses,,,I m a RN and DH is a Dr.,,,so I guess Im always concerned about bodily functions and illness,,,haha,,sorry,,,have had a few experiences were buses had to stop on road for sick passengers,,like Egypt,,,even one when person threw up all over floor,,whew...guess we attract these??Even on planes,,,if they ask "is there a Dr.onboard"...tempted to hide now,,,we ve had 1 heart attack and one labor,,,luckily she waited to deliver...

 

Guess we will bring some RX to stop any digestive probs,,to be on safe side...booked this for next Dec..maybe you can give review of YOUR trip when you return,,,love all details...:)

I would recommend a balcony, people with the portholes are complaining about the lack of light etc. Will write more on return.

[freddie]

We are in Siem Reap after five marvelous days here and look forward to boarding La Marguerite tomorrow (Monday) about noon. I am sending this message from a laptop borrowed from our hotel and will try to keep my message short, as this little keyboard is making me even crazier than my normal state of whackiness. We will post in much more detail about the whole trip when we return home on Dec. 9.

 

A few comments, to the extent that I can remember issued raised:

 

We flew Biz on Vietnam Air from Hanoi to Siem Reap (very small premium in fare in exchange for a much better checked luggage - two bags- and carry-on allowance, not to mention the very comfortable Biz cabin). Our eVisa check-in at Cambodian immigration went very smoothly. We certainly recommend the use of that excellent eVisa process.

 

We brought a large box of pencils, pens & sharpeners, which we gave to our hotel, which supports the local school and saves up on such supplies until there are enough items to give something to each student in the village school. Otherwise, it becomes a sort of sad frenzy of little kids trying to get a pencil or pen, with many being left out. We saw an example of that sad dynamic when we visited one of the floating villages, where a Korean NGO was giving out a few school uniforms and lollipops, but not nearly enough for all of the kids. It was quite a depressing scene, with lots of little kids being left with nothing. This was a good lesson to us to only give such things to the teachers at the school so that they can give them out in a rational manner to the kids.

 

We do not intend to remove bathroom products from the boat to give to local people, as that is essentially forcing the riverboat company to sponsor our personal charitable choices with products intended for our use on the boat. If we wish to donate items to local people, whether soap or pencils, we will purchase those items ourselves.

Edited November 27, 2011 by freddie

[alexandra cruiser]

Did you upgrade to Biz air,,,with AMA before,,or at airport? How much?

 

Re.Cambodian visa,,,other posters have said that AMA handled this,,,am now confused,,,was planning on the Vietnam one on my own,,but was "assuming" AMA would handle this as mentioned before..NO???

 

Did you have AMA handle your air,,,on own,,,have looked at both and the AMA quote seems less,,but want the least amt.of hrs..??:confused:

[Retired Mike]

Freddie-Excellent comment about the pencils, paper etc, taking them from the ship and giving them to the kids (the same goes for the jerks that take food off the ship and give it the people-have seen that a lot in my travels). I too would be interested in how to up-grade to biz class from Hanoi to Seim Reap. We are going to be gone about 6 weeks (re-visiting my youth in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Korea-that was all on tax payer's money, this trip is on me). We will have 4 suitcases so any info would be appreciated. We are doing this the middle of January. Enjoy the rest of your trip and for your comments

[freddie]

A quick reply before we leave the hotel to meet up with the AMA group in town and go to the boat.

 

We did our own land trip and did not participate in the AMA land package. We spent 8 days in Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Sapa) before flying down to Siem Reap for five days. The Vietnam days were a private tour that we had organized with an excellent premium tour agency called Exotissimo. The Siem Reap stay were done independently directly with our hotel.

 

We did not upgrade to Biz on Vietnam Air. We simply had Exotissino purchase Biz tickets for us in the first place. The difference in fare was not significant; but the difference in both checked and carry-on luggage (2 pieces allowed per person for both categories) was significant.

 

More later from La Marguerite if I can get access to one of the two public computers.

[Shorex]

A quick reply before we leave the hotel to meet up with the AMA group in town and go to the boat.

 

We did our own land trip and did not participate in the AMA land package. We spent 8 days in Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Sapa) before flying down to Siem Reap for five days. The Vietnam days were a private tour that we had organized with an excellent premium tour agency called Exotissimo. The Siem Reap stay were done independently directly with our hotel.

 

We did not upgrade to Biz on Vietnam Air. We simply had Exotissino purchase Biz tickets for us in the first place. The difference in fare was not significant; but the difference in both checked and carry-on luggage (2 pieces allowed per person for both categories) was significant.

 

More later from La Marguerite if I can get access to one of the two public computers.

 

Thank you for the updates and info. We booked the whole land tour package and were told by AMA that upgrading to biz for the Hanoi-Siem Reap flight was not possible.:(

 

We may end up paying for a few extra pounds in checked bags but c'est la vie.

 

Still, we are so encouraged by the positive reports from those who have taken the Mekong cruise.:)

 

In a few weeks, we will posting live updates from Vietnam and Cambodia. Can't wait.

[EKML]

It's not clear where the bug was picked up. The travelers I met and indicated the issue were pretty careful as well as myself. If there is a good thing, most recovered within 24 to 36 hours with some over the counter product assistance. I know this didn't hit everyone. My wife was fine during the trip (and may have taken more food risks) - but did pick up a cold (lots of moving between hot/humid and AC temperatures).

 

I met someone who took pro-biotics and was fine during the trip. A friend on the trip with us took daily Pepto Bismal tablets and did not have any bug reports. Of those affected, I don't know if they were on any preventive practices.

 

Bob

 

Bob:

Thanks for your reply. Just got back from our trip, and thought I'd provide a few up-to-date comments.

 

Many persons on our cruise got sick, but fortunately it was usually only for a day or two, and they would just skip an excursion and rest on the ship. Think AMA has to look into this problem and see if they can do something-it seems to be much to common an occurrence. They do put hand sanitizer on everyone's hands before they enter the dining room, but that doesn't seem to enough. There were some bugs (mostly small gnats) in the dining room and saw some on the food, which may add to the problem.

 

Another problem that occurred was a bag snatching-and this was from one of the local guides! His shoulder bag was grabbed by someone on a high speed motor bike. So watch your bags and cameras, and don't carry too money/valuables in one bag/pocket.

 

We also had a problem w/a cab in HCMC. It was raining hard one day, and we jumped into the 1st available cab-mistake! They warn you to just use recommended cab companies (the hotels will provide you w/some names). The first thing I noticed was that the meter seemed to go a lot faster then on our previous cab rides. Then when our very friendly driver pointed out some sights for us to see (to distract our attention), the meter reading suddenly doubled! When we got to our stop, the cost was about $10, about 3 or 4 times what the trip should of cost. I told the driver that the meter wasn't correct, but he demanded the $10, or about 150,000 dong. I told him no, that was too much, but he insisted. I got everyone out of the cab while I was arguing, and finally put $5 in his hands and told him that's all I was giving him. He was still complaining when I slammed the door and left. It was still about double what it should have cost so it was enough to make him just leave. Most rides around town were only about $2 to $4. We took a cab from the hotel to the airport for only $7.

 

There have been some questions about visas. We used a visa on arrival service, and it worked out well. A little line at Hanoi immigration, but they diverted some of us to another line they set up to process the paper work, and then called us to the cashier when visa was ready. Visa fee was $50, cash. Took about 10-15 minutes. There is an application for visa form that you can download from the visa service to present (with your picture) and the approval letter that they will send you. The Cambodia visa can be taken care of by AMA. They collected our passports, $20, and picture and took care of the processing. If you didn't have your picture, it would cost another $5.

 

There has been some concern about baggage on the Hanoi-Siem Reap leg. It didn't seem to be a problem w/our group. AMA took all of our bags and checked them all in at once, so don't think it would matter if someone had more then 2 bags as long as total was ok. Although overweight bags may be a problem, and AMA may have a handling fee for extra bags. Think the better idea is to go light, and buy anything you leave out there. Things are very reasonable, and you can can help out a very poor local economy!

 

Met Susan (Doreen22) on the trip, but we were in different groups so didn't have a chance to talk to her much to compare notes, but notice she has been posting, so I'm sure she will be adding her comments. AMA split us up into small groups of about 20+ each, which made it much better for our excursions and bus rides.

 

Although we had some problems on this trip, it was an enjoyable one and don't regret going. Isn't this why we travel, to have an adventure? Ha Long Bay is exceptional, and Angkor Wat is not to be missed. AMA overall did a good job and the hotels were excellent.

[doreen22]

Bob:

Thanks for your reply. Just got back from our trip, and thought I'd provide a few up-to-date comments.

 

Many persons on our cruise got sick, but fortunately it was usually only for a day or two, and they would just skip an excursion and rest on the ship. Think AMA has to look into this problem and see if they can do something-it seems to be much to common an occurrence. They do put hand sanitizer on everyone's hands before they enter the dining room, but that doesn't seem to enough. There were some bugs (mostly small gnats) in the dining room and saw some on the food, which may add to the problem.

 

Another problem that occurred was a bag snatching-and this was from one of the local guides! His shoulder bag was grabbed by someone on a high speed motor bike. So watch your bags and cameras, and don't carry too money/valuables in one bag/pocket.

 

We also had a problem w/a cab in HCMC. It was raining hard one day, and we jumped into the 1st available cab-mistake! They warn you to just use recommended cab companies (the hotels will provide you w/some names). The first thing I noticed was that the meter seemed to go a lot faster then on our previous cab rides. Then when our very friendly driver pointed out some sights for us to see (to distract our attention), the meter reading suddenly doubled! When we got to our stop, the cost was about $10, about 3 or 4 times what the trip should of cost. I told the driver that the meter wasn't correct, but he demanded the $10, or about 150,000 dong. I told him no, that was too much, but he insisted. I got everyone out of the cab while I was arguing, and finally put $5 in his hands and told him that's all I was giving him. He was still complaining when I slammed the door and left. It was still about double what it should have cost so it was enough to make him just leave. Most rides around town were only about $2 to $4. We took a cab from the hotel to the airport for only $7.

 

There have been some questions about visas. We used a visa on arrival service, and it worked out well. A little line at Hanoi immigration, but they diverted some of us to another line they set up to process the paper work, and then called us to the cashier when visa was ready. Visa fee was $50, cash. Took about 10-15 minutes. There is an application for visa form that you can download from the visa service to present (with your picture) and the approval letter that they will send you. The Cambodia visa can be taken care of by AMA. They collected our passports, $20, and picture and took care of the processing. If you didn't have your picture, it would cost another $5.

 

There has been some concern about baggage on the Hanoi-Siem Reap leg. It didn't seem to be a problem w/our group. AMA took all of our bags and checked them all in at once, so don't think it would matter if someone had more then 2 bags as long as total was ok. Although overweight bags may be a problem, and AMA may have a handling fee for extra bags. Think the better idea is to go light, and buy anything you leave out there. Things are very reasonable, and you can can help out a very poor local economy!

 

Met Susan (Doreen22) on the trip, but we were in different groups so didn't have a chance to talk to her much to compare notes, but notice she has been posting, so I'm sure she will be adding her comments. AMA split us up into small groups of about 20+ each, which made it much better for our excursions and bus rides.

 

Although we had some problems on this trip, it was an enjoyable one and don't regret going. Isn't this why we travel, to have an adventure? Ha Long Bay is exceptional, and Angkor Wat is not to be missed. AMA overall did a good job and the hotels were excellent.

 

Hi Ed, Glad you got back safely! We arrived home yesterday afternoon and I have to work today, yuk!

As I have to jump right into Christmas shopping etc. I thought I had better post a few thoughts while the trip (Amalotus Nov 15) is so fresh in my mind.

All in all it was a great trip! My dh was one of those with the intestinal problems- he was very sick for one full day and missed all the excursions-for the next 2 days he wasn't feeling great but was able to go on the excursions. I would estimate well over 50% on the boat had some kind of stomach problem and I do think AMA should do a better job with the hand sanitizer-they always had it on the counter as you walked into the restaurant but did not always pump it into your hand -so many people missed applying it.

More thoughts (in no particular order).

-We took the Amalegro on the Danube last year so I cannot help but compare the 2 trips. I do think the Amalegro was more luxurous than the Amalotus-but the Amalotus was good. I am not a good sleeper and we both found it more difficult to sleep on the Amalotus-seemed quite a bit noisier than the Amalegro. Our service on the Amalotus surpassed the Amalegro-we always made sure we got Angela and Michael as our servers- and they were very speedy, efficient, and friendly..on occasion they were almost too speedy, but can't complain about that!

As I previously mentioned I would not recommend getting a porthole, not only was the lack of light complained about, but apparently, the little bugs were much worse down there. The crew sprayed, and one passenger mentioned she had 15 dead bugs on her pillow.

Imho, the shore excursions on the Amalotus surpassed those on the Amalegro. I loved that we were able to get right into local life, sometimes going through people's muddy yards to and from the boat, sometimes having to climb muddy banks to get up into the village. At no time did we feel unsafe but one did get the feeling that we were on an adventure. Often we (our boat) were the only tourists around-I doubt that will be the case in a few years.

-The trip was busy, don't choose this itinerary if you want to relax. Though you could opt out of the excursions not many people did-they are included in the price and the main reason why one books this trip. Also one needs to be fairly physically fit-though the pace of walking was slow (a good thing as it was so hot and humid)-one needs to be able to get on and off the rickshaws, tenders etc.

-As Ed said Halong Bay and Angkor Watt were amazing. I am really glad we used the AMA land portion rather than doing it on our own. Yes it is pricey but I loved staying in the 3 Sofitel hotels- the Sofitel in Siem Reap was probably the nicest hotel I will ever be in- and I doubt I would have booked these had I been booking on my own. We did stay one night on our own in Hanoi at the Conifer (just around the corner from the Sofitel) and while the rooms are small it had a nice balcony and a decent restaurant and was a good choice for our extra night. We used Hanoi kids in Hanoi and Zoom in HCMC and both were great tours..

-In HCMC we ate at Ngon restaurant-( I could dig up the address if anyone would like it)-this was a very good choice-inexpensive and crammed full of locals. We also ate at the Lemon Grass which was also good but as many tourists as locals. Zoom also took us to Pho 2000 (Bill Clinton ate there) -was a fairly basic place, inexpensive and good soup!

In Hanoi Highway 4 was the restaurant chosen by the Hanoi Kids and was an excellent choice - we ate there twice- we also liked Quan An Ngon-went there for lunch-incredibly busy but we were shown how to make spring rolls and treated very well. One place I would not recommed is the Opera House near the Sofitel in Hanoi- we went there for dinner- the price for 2 beers, 2 very little bowls of soup and 2 little spring rolls was $27.00 US-my dh was not pleased!

-We flew Korean Air and I would highly recommend them. We would have had to lay over 12 hours in Seoul waiting for our connection to Vancouver so we chose the Seoul stopover- paid $200 and this included the hotel, KAL Limousine, breakfast, and city tour. It was a very good choice for us as broke up the trip and we managed to get a good night sleep before the last leg of our journey.

Well I am off to work now, but would be happy to answer any questions.

Susan

Edited December 2, 2011 by doreen22

[alexandra cruiser]

Doreen,,I also booked the AMAlotus,,,ex.for being a little loud at nite,,sounds good...

Did you book your own air,,or AMA? Got a quote from them,,,but will check out later when fares come out for next Dec.

Re..your DH sickness,,,did he take any meds ahead of time,,like some have said??Think I may get RX and be on safe side...

Good suggestion re.being active tour,,,from brochure you can t really tell,,but sounds good to me..the slower pace during walking may be a problem...both DH and I are FAST walkers and being from FL..the heat and humidity won t be a problem..just like home..

Good news re Cambodian visa,,,will just get Vietnam one ahead of time,,and take extra passport photo along..got a few guidebooks and will read up...thanks again,,:)

[doreen22]

Doreen,,I also booked the AMAlotus,,,ex.for being a little loud at nite,,sounds good...

Did you book your own air,,or AMA? Got a quote from them,,,but will check out later when fares come out for next Dec.

Re..your DH sickness,,,did he take any meds ahead of time,,like some have said??Think I may get RX and be on safe side...

Good suggestion re.being active tour,,,from brochure you can t really tell,,but sounds good to me..the slower pace during walking may be a problem...both DH and I are FAST walkers and being from FL..the heat and humidity won t be a problem..just like home..

Good news re Cambodian visa,,,will just get Vietnam one ahead of time,,and take extra passport photo along..got a few guidebooks and will read up...thanks again,,:)

 

We booked our own air, gives more flexibility etc...we also booked our own transfers, used Hanoi Airport transfer on arrival as we arrived about 10:30 pm and was nervous about cabs at that time of night. This worked well other than the driver was very agressive, and with the chaos of Hanoi traffic I did wonder if I would live to see another day! We just took a cab from our hotel in Saigon to the airport-was very cheap.

DH didn't have any antibiotics, in hindsight this might have helped! DH found the walking pace slow..would have liked a little more exercise!

There was a small fitness room on board, I meant to use it, but never did lol.

Susan

[shoshona2]

Hi all,

 

We took pro-biotics for two weeks before our Egypt/Jordan trip and our doing the same for India in March! I also chewed a pepto-bismol tablet with every meal as well as the pro-biotic capsule. We brushed our teeth with bottled water in the hotels and on the ship. We were among the few who did not get "mummy Tummy"! Go to a health food store and ask them about pro-biotics which do not need to be kept refrigerated.

 

Sheila

[EKML]

We booked our own air, gives more flexibility etc...we also booked our own transfers, used Hanoi Airport transfer on arrival as we arrived about 10:30 pm and was nervous about cabs at that time of night. This worked well other than the driver was very agressive, and with the chaos of Hanoi traffic I did wonder if I would live to see another day! We just took a cab from our hotel in Saigon to the airport-was very cheap.

DH didn't have any antibiotics, in hindsight this might have helped! DH found the walking pace slow..would have liked a little more exercise!

There was a small fitness room on board, I meant to use it, but never did lol.

Susan

 

Good to hear that your DH only missed a day of excursions. Sheila has recommended taking some preventive meds before the trip, which I had never thought of before, but didn't have a chance to pick anything up before we left. Will have to look into it before the next trip.

 

As for the walking pace, it was slow, and some cruises have slow and fast groups, but not this time. But with the listening devices (when they worked), you can wander around yourself, take pics, or peek/go down some of the alleys and still listen to the commentary, so it really was fast enough. Also, most of the time you're walking thru very narrow and crowded alleys with lots to see, so you really can't go very fast.

 

There is one thing about AMA that disturbed me. I don't know if you liked the breads, but I thought they were rather poor, and usually old and stale. I thought that with the French influence the bread would be great. But the disturbing part is that one group pointedly said that they had paid for expensive suites, and why were they being given stale bread? Their bread basket was immediately replaced with fresh bread. They also had a reserved table, which was not supposed to be allowed, but didn't bother us since we enjoyed sitting w/different people. But the discrimination w/food based on cabin class was a bit much.

 

Also, have to compliment 2Fltravelers for a thorough, accurate, and well done review. Used it throughout the trip and found it, along w/other CC comments very helpful.

[doreen22]

Good to hear that your DH only missed a day of excursions. Sheila has recommended taking some preventive meds before the trip, which I had never thought of before, but didn't have a chance to pick anything up before we left. Will have to look into it before the next trip.

 

As for the walking pace, it was slow, and some cruises have slow and fast groups, but not this time. But with the listening devices (when they worked), you can wander around yourself, take pics, or peek/go down some of the alleys and still listen to the commentary, so it really was fast enough. Also, most of the time you're walking thru very narrow and crowded alleys with lots to see, so you really can't go very fast.

 

There is one thing about AMA that disturbed me. I don't know if you liked the breads, but I thought they were rather poor, and usually old and stale. I thought that with the French influence the bread would be great. But the disturbing part is that one group pointedly said that they had paid for expensive suites, and why were they being given stale bread? Their bread basket was immediately replaced with fresh bread. They also had a reserved table, which was not supposed to be allowed, but didn't bother us since we enjoyed sitting w/different people. But the discrimination w/food based on cabin class was a bit much.

 

Also, have to compliment 2Fltravelers for a thorough, accurate, and well done review. Used it throughout the trip and found it, along w/other CC comments very helpful.

 

Yes, we too found the breads poor,and another area where the Amalegro far surpassed the Amalotus was in the desserts. Except for my birthday cake which was very good, I found the other cake-like desserts dry and stale-so I stuck to ice cream which was excellent. The soups were also very good on the Amalotus.

I saw one cruiser complaining about the reserved table which was sitting unused and was the only window table left for breakfast....

Another area where AMA needs to improve on imho is the voice boxes/batteries. Even our guides suggested we should "throw them in the river" or at least comment on how poor they were on our comment sheet.

In many cases the batteries seemed to last less than half an hour.

On the whole though it was a great holiday and my criticisms etc. are very minor in the scope of things.

Susan

[2Fltravelers]

Thanks to EKML for the kind words about my review. I'm so pleased that it was helpful and accurate for you. I actually went back and read it again since it had been several months. it brought back very fond memories.

[EKML]

Yes, we too found the breads poor,and another area where the Amalegro far surpassed the Amalotus was in the desserts. Except for my birthday cake which was very good, I found the other cake-like desserts dry and stale-so I stuck to ice cream which was excellent. The soups were also very good on the Amalotus.

I saw one cruiser complaining about the reserved table which was sitting unused and was the only window table left for breakfast....

Another area where AMA needs to improve on imho is the voice boxes/batteries. Even our guides suggested we should "throw them in the river" or at least comment on how poor they were on our comment sheet.

In many cases the batteries seemed to last less than half an hour.

On the whole though it was a great holiday and my criticisms etc. are very minor in the scope of things.

Susan

 

Susan, I completely agree w/you (except maybe for the ice cream-it could have been creamier-but maybe they're worried about our health?). The listening devices are very useful, and better, longer life batteries should solve the problem. Another comment about the pace of the excursions-at the Angkor temples, thought it was too fast-so many interesting things to see and photograph, wish we had more time. Also, my complaint about the cabs should not be a major concern. After all, even if we were cheated, it only amounted to a few dollars-no big deal. Fares are so cheap!

 

Couple of additional tips-if you have an early morning flight before the dining room opens, request a breakfast box. And remember to carry an umbrella-if not for the sun, then for the rain. We were caught in an unexpected downpour and were trapped indoors for awhile.

 

My comments are only meant to inform people about our experiences and what to expect. The main idea is to just enjoy yourself, appreciate the good times, and don't let the minor annoyances bother you-then you can have fun on your trip. Did we enjoy the cruise? Yes! Would we recommend going? Definitely!

[alexandra cruiser]

since I m on constant diet,,it seems,,,no temptation,,,yeah,,haha,,and good idea about umbrella,,since I m from Fl...know about the quick downpours,,but would have forgotten small one for backpack...

Have to wait for AMA to give me airline options,,,anyone used them,,what was scedule like,,,airlines used???,,etc...will check on own,,but AMA price for Business quoted was less,,,so far...

Will take first AMA trip in May,,,booked the AMAcerto,,,with 2 balconies,,,looks great,,,now off to Regent cruise in Carib.on the 16th...will SOON need to check out 2013 cruises...like to plan ahead...thinking of Black Sea,,,;)

[SuSuTrav]

Doreen,,I also booked the AMAlotus,,,ex.for being a little loud at nite,,sounds good...

Did you book your own air,,or AMA? Got a quote from them,,,but will check out later when fares come out for next Dec.

Re..your DH sickness,,,did he take any meds ahead of time,,like some have said??Think I may get RX and be on safe side...

Good suggestion re.being active tour,,,from brochure you can t really tell,,but sounds good to me..the slower pace during walking may be a problem...both DH and I are FAST walkers and being from FL..the heat and humidity won t be a problem..just like home..

Good news re Cambodian visa,,,will just get Vietnam one ahead of time,,and take extra passport photo along..got a few guidebooks and will read up...thanks again,,:)

We were on the AmaLotus with land tour in October. To clarify the balcony furniture...there are cabins on three decks, the # 100 cabins don't have any furniturevon the balcony, the #200 have a table and one chair and the #300 cabins have two chairs and a table with larger balconies. It didn't matter as it was too hot to sit outside and I only went out there to take photos of the interesting river traffic.

Luggage..AMA took care of our checking in our luggage for flight to Siem Reap and no one looked at our carry ons. One couple had three large suitcases which seemed to be overlooked. We took two other flights in SE Asia on our own and there were no problems with weighing carry on weight being checked.

[SuSuTrav]

As far as Visas, it is very easy to get one for Vietnam. Print out forms from Vietnamese Consulate or Embassy website. Mail to embassy in Washingon DC. It takes a week, . Most of othe yravelers on our land tour had gotten the Cambodian E-visa in advance. It took 24 hours tobreceive it. Easy..

[hazand]

Did anyone do the tethered balloon ride in Siem Reap? Was it worth doing? Hazand. :cool: