AMA Waterways vs. Avalon Waterways vs. Viking River on the Mekong River

[Winesteven]

I'm going to be booking a river cruise on the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia. These three firms (along with Uniworld) offer VERY similar trips. I kind of ruled out Uniworld, as they seemed to be quite higher in price than the others. I've previously sailed on Viking River in Europe, and am a member of Globus Journeys, which provides for a 5% discount on Avalon. I see Avalon will have a brand new ship built in the Summer 2012 with only 15 cabins, while the AMA Waterways boat on the Mekong was built in 2011, and has 62 cabins, but each cabin is about 55 sq. ft. larger. For Viking River, it has 30 cabins, and was built in 2008, with cabins about the same size as Avalon.

 

Thoughts/suggestions in helping me choose among these three companies on virtually identical itineraries?

 

Thank you very much.

[H2Otstr]

Just a few thoughts:

 

If a boat is too new the "kinks" will probably not be worked out yet. We encounted this when we visited China. We were the second sailing on the Emerald and there were a few minor problems; nothing that impacted our trip (we had a WONDERFUL time).

 

If you have traveled with Viking before you do have a credit with them.

 

Good luck on your decision. That trip is on my To Do list :D.

 

Sharon

[Winesteven]

Sharon - Thank you. Thoughts from any others?

[Shorex]

I'm going to be booking a river cruise on the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia. These three firms (along with Uniworld) offer VERY similar trips. I kind of ruled out Uniworld, as they seemed to be quite higher in price than the others. I've previously sailed on Viking River in Europe, and am a member of Globus Journeys, which provides for a 5% discount on Avalon. I see Avalon will have a brand new ship built in the Summer 2012 with only 15 cabins, while the AMA Waterways boat on the Mekong was built in 2011, and has 62 cabins, but each cabin is about 55 sq. ft. larger. For Viking River, it has 30 cabins, and was built in 2008, with cabins about the same size as Avalon.

 

Thoughts/suggestions in helping me choose among these three companies on virtually identical itineraries?

 

Thank you very much.

 

My experience is with AMA Waterways and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone planning this adventure. (I do recommend reading or at least skimming the lengthy AMA Vietnam thread, even if you select a different tour provider. There are gems of information on what to do and see on your free time and what to bring, apart from AMA specific information. Also have a look at one of the most comprehensive and detailed reviews of the trip by 2FLtravelers.)

 

AMA is partnered with Indochina Sails. IS owns the La Marguerite and the Amalotus, and also the junks we used in Halong Bay. IS is a major player in Halong Bay.

 

AMA has invested in the culture of Indochina in a way that, to the best of my knowledge, the other providers have not. Evidence of that investment is their sponsorship of the school we visited in Cambodia:

 

 

The visit to the school was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

One of AMA's promotional videos on youtube is

. And after the fact, I can say they delivered on everything they promised.

 

We absolutely enjoyed the La Marguerite, but remember that you will spend seven nights on the ship, and eight nights elsewhere (2 at the Sofitel in Hanoi, 1 on the Indochina Sails junk, 3 at the Sofitel in Siem Reap, and 2 at the Sofitel in Saigon). It is important to judge the land/cruise tour as a whole, and not just focus on the ship. Before we even boarded the ship, we had already had an amazing experience.

 

One of our friends on the journey said that he thought this trip would be a B, and it turned out to be an A+. His preferred ocean cruise line is Crystal and he is not easily impressed.

 

The entire experience was an A+ for us also. I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating: our "trip of a lifetime" was our expedition to Antarctica. This trip ranks right up there.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Shorex

[Winesteven]

Daniel - Thank you VERY much for the information and insights, including thanks for the links.

[Shorex]

Daniel - Thank you VERY much for the information and insights, including thanks for the links.

 

I wondered where "Daniel" came from -- then I realized. Daniel is simply the author of the quote I use. Any which way, you are welcome!

[PhillyGirl2]

I agree with the post about AMA--trip of a lifetime--everything was first rate--hotels, guides, etc. The ship and its cabins look nicer in the brochure than in reality. Don''t get me wrong, they are nice, especially the bathrooms, but the rooms appear to look larger in the brochure than they actually are in person. We spent a lot of time lounging on the window seat, which was nice because the French balconies were truly a waste--too hot to enjoy them and too small to actually spend any time on them. I have travelled with Viking twice and they do a fine job but the ship that they use with the two separate beds on either side of the room looked just too much like a bunk room. I'm sure that you wouldn't go wrong with either. Enjoy your trip--it is wonderful.

[freddie]

Wilnesteven - We were on AMA's "La Marguerite" two months ago and enjoyed the cruise very much. However, one should approach a Mekong River cruise with much different expectations than a European river cruise. I would consider the two AMA boats, La Marguerite and AmaLotus, to be the most comfortable boats on the Mekong at the present time; but they are not "luxury" riverboats at all in the same league as their European sisters. And the Viking and Avalon boats are certainly not, either.

 

First, one should look at the basic style of the boat. The "Tonle" design of the Viking and Avalon boats have cabins looking out onto a promenade, as far as I can determine from the photos and deck plans. (We saw the Viking boat on the river; so I can confirm that is the design of that boat.) The result of this design is that anyone can walk by one's windows/doors and see into the cabin from the promenade - not my favorite boat design, as we like to have the curtains open all of the time.

 

In contrast, on the AMA boats, all of the cabins are directly on the side of the boat, with totally private windows and balconies. Further, the cabins on the two AMA boats are much larger than on the other boats. But I will admit that for some peculiar reason the 226 sq.ft. in the standard AMA cabins does not feel like that much space. The AMA cabins at all levels (including the Indochine suite, which we were lucky to grab, as the two of them sell out immediately upon the opening of the schedule) do not make the best use of space. They are beautiful, though. :)

 

I agree with Shorex that one should look at the total package, as the cruise is only a part of the experience. AMA appears to do a very good job with the land portion. In our case, we took another approach and did our own land tour at each end of the cruise and then did the AMA cruise as a "cruise-only" option. For us, the whole experience was indeed A+; but the cruise was pretty much a B. That being said, it remains our humble opinion that AMA remains the best choice for the river cruise portion of a Cambodia-Viet Nam adventure.

 

Full disclosure here, one of the things that made us grateful that we were on AMA was encountering a couple of groups from the Viking boat on our same itinerary on land excursions. They were all wearing stupid name tags, as if they were at a convention. Aaarrrggghhh!! We are not name-tag-people and try to avoid tours with that sort of philosophy.

 

Although I don't entirely understand PhillyGirl's logic (if it's too hot to use the balconies, why does it matter that they're too small??), I agree with her that balconies are not important factors in a Mekong River cruise. It is indeed usually too hot or too buggy to use them. However, one should take a close look at the privacy issues in the design of the boat, as I have mentioned above. It is truly a luxury to be able to sit at the big windows of the AMA boats and look out without anyone walking by and looking in.

 

Cheers, Fred

Edited February 7, 2012 by freddie

[Winesteven]

Fred - Thank you VERY much for your terrific insights.

[alexandra cruiser]

due to all the great info here on cC,,then watched you tube,googled reviews,checked ea.website and determined,,FOR THE MONEY,,that was the best deal...

Booked the AMAlotus for Dec.2012 and had only 3 rooms left in category I wanted,,so do book early if want specific deck,etc.Even checked ea.hotel and looked top of the line..

Good luck.;)

[Winesteven]

Thank you.

[Jun0]

Hi - for what it is worth check on Heritage line Jayarvaman or their new boat Jahan. We did the trip From Vietnam to Siem Reap last August on the Jayarvaman and could not fault it. I too looked at alternative boats but was more than happy with our cruise. They have very similar itineraries. In Australia it seems that AMA and Heritage are most often touted by agents with the Pandaw boats also having exclusive Australian cruises. Our cruise was made up of a mixture of nationalities being mainly Europeans with a few Aussies and New Zealanders and some South Americans - a great mix.

It was a wonderful way to experience life on the Mekong.

[Winesteven]

Thank you.

[Sgt. Pepper]

You may want to look a Vantage. I just returned from their Thailand, Viet Nam and Cambodia trip. Had a great experience. The boat was newly refurbished. Food was great and we had excellent Program Directors. Also the hotels we stayed at were superb.

 

Sgt. Pepper

[Winesteven]

Thank you Sgt Pepper. Have a nice weekend.

[tennisfans#1]

Chuc mung nam Moi! (happy new year in Vietnamese)

We very recently returned from a wonderful AMA trip on the Marguerite and it was great. The ship is fine but I agree with a previous post that the balconies are small--not room for a chair but I did love going out there to see the sights as we passed by. And the bathrooms were excellent and at least we had a king size bed, not twins or bunk beds. The food was ample and ok- but not like cruise ships such as the Oceania's or Windstar's(our favorite cruise lines). But we did not spend much time in our cabin:mostly in lounge or sundeck. We once docked attached to the Amalotus and had to walk through their lobby to get to our ship and it seemed a little bigger and fancier but I didn't see anything but the lobby.

All our guides were spectacular and they made the trip special. Plus, we had a tour organizer with us the entire trip from Hanoi to Saigon named Long and he was very knowledgeable and helpful and amazingly seemed to get to know all 90 of us individually. The 90 or so guests were divided into 3 groups so no group was too big and we really got to know each other. Besides Long, each group had one guide in Hanoi and Halong bay, another in Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, another the rest of Cambodia and another in Saigon. All personable and smart and generally easy to understand. The Sofitels were all lovely, especially the one in Siem Reap, which was a divine oasis. (As an aside, we arrived a few days earlier than the tour in Hanoi(cold rainy dreary) and stayed at a fabulous very inexpensive hotel called the Elegance Ruby-$45-50/nite in the heart of old town. Every hotel and the ship give shampoo, conditioner,etc and toothbrushes and toothpaste so you can leave those home!)

There were a lot of Brits and Canadians on the tour and it was nice not to have only Americans.

I wanted to include a picture from my trip in this reply but I can't figure out how to do it so you will have to go yourself and take your own pics. Enjoy!We did.

[Winesteven]

Thank you so much for your detailed comments.

[4774Papa]

I understand the Vietnam is moving away from Communism as China started doing 35 years ago?

[snorklinbarb]

We also spent a lot of time comparing itineraries, sz of groups, the ship itself, etc. and decided on Oct. 12th sailing of Avalon Angkor.

 

We're not Journeys Club members but my Dad is and he will get a nice check after we return. He'll be 92 next month and says he'll still be around to collect that check.;)

 

The Avalon Angkor only has 16 cabins and has just been built. First sailings will be Sept. Not that it's any biggie but have since read a couple of AMA reviews that mention they were split into groups right from the get go and were expected to keep to those groups. Not sure I'd like that part.

 

We preferred the itinerary. DH and I have traveled in Asia extensively and it was the little things for us - extensive lecture on Buddhism, 2 chances to meet with monks at the Buddhist monasteries (we did this in Laos and it was a highlight). Someone mentioned the school tour on AMA and I hope our school visit with Avalon will be interesting & enjoyable, too. There are a couple of other differences and we just ended up liking the Avalon itin.

 

Avalon uses Intercontinental (rated no. 1 in Trip Advisor) in Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok though sounds like those posting here also liked the Sofitel used by AMA.

 

Price also entered into it. Discounted price was much better on Avalon and since we're adding on a few nights in Ho Chi Minh City pre-tour it's a consideration.

 

It's our first river cruise like this. We did take a longtail boat in Laos but it was only for the day. We did sail on Celebrity Xpedition in Galapagos and learned that pepto bismol daily is a good buffer for stomach bugs. Read a couple of the AMA reviews and they mentioned sickness onboard (we had half the ship in Galapagos get very sick) so pepto is at the top of my packing list.:eek:;)

 

With new ships in service, can't wait to read all the reviews. Sounds like you can't go wrong with any of the options!

[Winesteven]

Thanks for your detailed comments. Yes, I've decided to book with Avalon for many of the same reasons you've mentioned. Since I'll be sailing in January (dry season), I think that's even more of a reason to use the "smaller" boat, as it sounds like that can go where other (slightly larger) boats do not, and that could save as much as six or seven hours of bus rides between the north and south.

[TGR4ME]

Winesteven, I hope you don't mind me butting in, but you seem so knowledgeable. And we need some serious help. We are looking at a different cruise, Prague to Paris on the Almadolce. We have a choice of a room under the Sun deck with walking track vs. a room on the middle deck with cabins above us. I would prefer the upper deck, but am worried about people walking and jogging above me. This is our first river cruise and I am pretty anal about noise. I would appreciate any advice you or anyone could give. We need to book on Monday and need to make a decision!!

[Winesteven]

Hi - As a generalization, we prefer the higher decks, but I hear your concern about morning noise if there is a jogging track above your room. I suggest you go on the message board of that river cruise line, and ask your question there. However, since time is of the essence, you might want to just play it afe, and go one deck lower to the middle deck, where only cabins are above you with no jogging track. I hope this is of some help.

[TGR4ME]

Thank you for responding. We decided to go for the upper deck and see what happens. It was such a small price difference. I will let you know what happens. Happy Cruising!

[nancydip]

Wilnesteven - We were on AMA's "La Marguerite" two months ago and enjoyed the cruise very much. However, one should approach a Mekong River cruise with much different expectations than a European river cruise. I would consider the two AMA boats, La Marguerite and AmaLotus, to be the most comfortable boats on the Mekong at the present time; but they are not "luxury" riverboats at all in the same league as their European sisters. And the Viking and Avalon boats are certainly not, either.

 

First, one should look at the basic style of the boat. The "Tonle" design of the Viking and Avalon boats have cabins looking out onto a promenade, as far as I can determine from the photos and deck plans. (We saw the Viking boat on the river; so I can confirm that is the design of that boat.) The result of this design is that anyone can walk by one's windows/doors and see into the cabin from the promenade - not my favorite boat design, as we like to have the curtains open all of the time.

 

In contrast, on the AMA boats, all of the cabins are directly on the side of the boat, with totally private windows and balconies. Further, the cabins on the two AMA boats are much larger than on the other boats. But I will admit that for some peculiar reason the 226 sq.ft. in the standard AMA cabins does not feel like that much space. The AMA cabins at all levels (including the Indochine suite, which we were lucky to grab, as the two of them sell out immediately upon the opening of the schedule) do not make the best use of space. They are beautiful, though. :)

 

I agree with Shorex that one should look at the total package, as the cruise is only a part of the experience. AMA appears to do a very good job with the land portion. In our case, we took another approach and did our own land tour at each end of the cruise and then did the AMA cruise as a "cruise-only" option. For us, the whole experience was indeed A+; but the cruise was pretty much a B. That being said, it remains our humble opinion that AMA remains the best choice for the river cruise portion of a Cambodia-Viet Nam adventure.

 

Full disclosure here, one of the things that made us grateful that we were on AMA was encountering a couple of groups from the Viking boat on our same itinerary on land excursions. They were all wearing stupid name tags, as if they were at a convention. Aaarrrggghhh!! We are not name-tag-people and try to avoid tours with that sort of philosophy.

 

Although I don't entirely understand PhillyGirl's logic (if it's too hot to use the balconies, why does it matter that they're too small??), I agree with her that balconies are not important factors in a Mekong River cruise. It is indeed usually too hot or too buggy to use them. However, one should take a close look at the privacy issues in the design of the boat, as I have mentioned above. It is truly a luxury to be able to sit at the big windows of the AMA boats and look out without anyone walking by and looking in.

 

Cheers, Fred

 

This is sooooo helpful!! Thank you.

[gnome12]

Note that this resurrected a discussion from 2012. Most of the ships have changed (I know the Ama ship is now the AmaDara) but the considerations remain.