Leave tonight: Vietnam & cambodia

[Vineyard View]

Very interested in your return recap of the new AmaDara and your total experience. Thank you for taking the time for all of us who are either already committed to this adventure or are considering it!!

[kool kruiser]

I too am going on this trip in February, also on the Ama Dara.

Looking forward to hearing all about it and hopefully getting some ideas for our adventure!

We took our first river cruise this summer with APT and had a wonderful holiday. We were so impressed with the company, their organisation and the quality of everything. So excited as we countdown:)

[Foxie02]

Hubby and I are going on the AmaDara on 19th March, if anyone can help with information regarding their trip, would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Pamela.

[harbourside]

Hi Foxie02

I was on the AmaDara in December. I see you are from Australia, so you will be on the APT operated cruise .I am from NZ and we were the only New Zealanders on board.

The cruise was great, the hotels excellent. Could not fault anything. The food was wonderful. It was very hot and humid, although this was the coolest time. We had no rain. It was great sitting on the top deck, while cruising, as there was a good breeze. We only had 58 (takes 124) on board, which I thought was a bit strange, as I had been checking the website before we went, and saw at one stage there was limited availability, then it said full.??? I did not expect it be full because of the dates (we arrived home on Christmas eve.

Ask any questions. I have kept all the daily schedules, so will try to answer any questions you may have.

[patrinka]

What do you mean APT cruise?

[patrinka]

We are thinking about doing the AmaDara in October. Is that a good time for the weather? What can you recommend from your trip that would be helpful?

What tours did you like best?

[Foxie02]

APT is an Australian leading travel company. Their prices are fully inclusive, meals, transfers where applicable, land tours some of their prices also include air. Look them up.

 

Some one else may be able to tell you about weather for travel in Oct.

Pamela.;)

 

patrinka;48903380]What do you mean APT cruise?

[Foxie02]

Thank you for your quick reply, gee only 58 on board, I think I wouldn't mind that.

Our tour also says it is full, so we will see.

Yes, we are doing the trip with APT. I was hoping that in March the weather might have been a bit milder, but, seeing you were there in their coolest time doesn't look like it.

Did you have to do the 6 1/2hr bus trip to Siem Reap??

Also is the dress on board in the evening casual??

 

Thank you,

Pamela.

Hi Foxie02

I was on the AmaDara in December. I see you are from Australia, so you will be on the APT operated cruise .I am from NZ and we were the only New Zealanders on board.

The cruise was great, the hotels excellent. Could not fault anything. The food was wonderful. It was very hot and humid, although this was the coolest time. We had no rain. It was great sitting on the top deck, while cruising, as there was a good breeze. We only had 58 (takes 124) on board, which I thought was a bit strange, as I had been checking the website before we went, and saw at one stage there was limited availability, then it said full.??? I did not expect it be full because of the dates (we arrived home on Christmas eve.

Ask any questions. I have kept all the daily schedules, so will try to answer any questions you may have.

[harbourside]

APT is Ama Waterways partner. APT uses the boat from Ho Chi Minh City to Seim Reap, Ama Waterways does the return trip. APT sells only to Australians and New Zealanders. The new 2016 season that starts July 2016 APT will use the AmaLotus with AmaWaterways using AmaDara for the complete season.

 

There is a difference in the two trips. APT is fully exclusive with no extras. I would imagine that the excursions on the boat would be the same, but I have not seen details of the AmaWaterways trip.

 

I have read that the meals for APT are more Asian. They have a food Ambassador, Luke Nguyen, who overseas the menus for APT.

I will go and look up the AMA website and see if there is any differences in itinerary.

 

The daily trips are mainly small villages, which you have to use a sampan boat to get to. Small local industries and food markets. The main stop was Phnom Penh , were we went to the Killing Fields, the Palace and the markets. The markets are good here.

 

We did not sail to Seim Reap but had to go by bus, due to water levels on Tonle Sap Lake. We were told that very rarely do they sail direct to Seim Reap. APT uses a specially fitted out bus. I would presume AMA would also use this bus. It has had all the seats removed and now have 1 row with only 1 seat in, and the other row 2 seats in. (3 seats across). The seats are large and comfortable .

 

The hotel in Seim Reap was the Sofitel Angkor. Lunch was provided when we arrived from the long bus trip. About 6 hours. We were given a choice of restaurants to choose from that night. Tut Tuts were supplied to take us there and back. (all included).

 

Apart from doing the ankor Wat temples over 2 days, we also had a choise of excursions to choose from.. I did a cooking class, and my husband did a quad bike ride in the country side , through rice fields etc. He said it was fantastic, and came back covered in dust. APT had arranged for late check out so that they could shower before departing for the airport that afternoon.

Our Tour director, had taken our passports and tickets to the airport and got boarding passes for everyone.

Edited January 28, 2016 by harbourside

[Foxie02]

Thank you very much for the information.

What currency did you use?

 

Pamela.

[harbourside]

Thank you for your quick reply, gee only 58 on board, I think I wouldn't mind that.

Our tour also says it is full, so we will see.

Yes, we are doing the trip with APT. I was hoping that in March the weather might have been a bit milder, but, seeing you were there in their coolest time doesn't look like it.

Did you have to do the 6 1/2hr bus trip to Siem Reap??

Also is the dress on board in the evening casual??

 

Thank you,

Pamela.

 

The dress was very casual in the evening. Not much different than during the day. I did make an effort for Captains night and the Private restaurant.

I actually like to change for dinner, but did bring mainly casual clothes.

Very different from the Europe cruise and the France cruise I will be doing this year.

Yes, we did do the long bus trip. Details are in the report above.

[Foxie02]

Thank you very much, I appreciate your information, it is very helpful, specially in relation to Siem Reap.

I imagined that the dress would be different to the other river cruises.

I see where you have done a few River cruises, we have also done the Amsterdam to Budapest, with Scenic, we enjoyed it very much, also we have done the Yangtze River.

Was it difficult to board the smaller boats off the main one, when you were transferred to land?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

Pamela.

The dress was very casual in the evening. Not much different than during the day. I did make an effort for Captains night and the Private restaurant.

I actually like to change for dinner, but did bring mainly casual clothes.

Very different from the Europe cruise and the France cruise I will be doing this year.

Yes, we did do the long bus trip. Details are in the report above.

[harbourside]

Thank you very much, I appreciate your information, it is very helpful, specially in relation to Siem Reap.

I imagined that the dress would be different to the other river cruises.

I see where you have done a few River cruises, we have also done the Amsterdam to Budapest, with Scenic, we enjoyed it very much, also we have done the Yangtze River.

Was it difficult to board the smaller boats off the main one, when you were transferred to land?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

Pamela.

You were always helped on and off the small boats, and it was easy. There are no nice docks as in Europe, and in places, crew would form a line and help us up a bank from the ship or small boat. The crew are wonderful. You are always welcomed back on board after a excursion with a cold drink and cold towels. (and your hands are sprayed, also, whenever you enter the restaurant.). Having only 58 on board was great. Only two buses were needed. Very easy to get to know everyone.

 

We had great waiters on our Europe cruise, but the waiters were also fantastic on this cruise. I did not wear my name badge?? but our waiter asked me my name the first night, and every day afterwards he greeted me by name.

 

The currency on board was US, but Dong was also accepted. Most things in Cambodia are in US dollars. I got about $80.00 NZ in Vietnamese dong before leaving, and used the leftover to pay my on board bill. As everything is included I only needed money for purchases in the shop and Cambodian visas.

[Foxie02]

Thank you.

You have been a great help.

Bye for now,

Pamela.

[kool kruiser]

APT is Ama Waterways partner. APT uses the boat from Ho Chi Minh City to Seim Reap, Ama Waterways does the return trip. APT sells only to Australians and New Zealanders. The new 2016 season that starts July 2016 APT will use the AmaLotus with AmaWaterways using AmaDara for the complete season.

 

There is a difference in the two trips. APT is fully exclusive with no extras. I would imagine that the excursions on the boat would be the same, but I have not seen details of the AmaWaterways trip.

 

I have read that the meals for APT are more Asian. They have a food Ambassador, Luke Nguyen, who overseas the menus for APT.

I will go and look up the AMA website and see if there is any differences in itinerary.

 

The daily trips are mainly small villages, which you have to use a sampan boat to get to. Small local industries and food markets. The main stop was Phnom Penh , were we went to the Killing Fields, the Palace and the markets. The markets are good here.

 

We did not sail to Seim Reap but had to go by bus, due to water levels on Tonle Sap Lake. We were told that very rarely do they sail direct to Seim Reap. APT uses a specially fitted out bus. I would presume AMA would also use this bus. It has had all the seats removed and now have 1 row with only 1 seat in, and the other row 2 seats in. (3 seats across). The seats are large and comfortable .

 

The hotel in Seim Reap was the Sofitel Angkor. Lunch was provided when we arrived from the long bus trip. About 6 hours. We were given a choice of restaurants to choose from that night. Tut Tuts were supplied to take us there and back. (all included).

 

Apart from doing the ankor Wat temples over 2 days, we also had a choise of excursions to choose from.. I did a cooking class, and my husband did a quad bike ride in the country side , through rice fields etc. He said it was fantastic, and came back covered in dust. APT had arranged for late check out so that they could shower before departing for the airport that afternoon.

Our Tour director, had taken our passports and tickets to the airport and got boarding passes for everyone.

 

Maybe there weren't any on your trip but APT now markets heavily and sells here in the UK.

We are really looking forward to our similar adventure in two weeks time and your various posts are really informative and helpful.Any other recommendations for the excursion and restaurant options?

[harbourside]

I hope we have some people from the UK on our France cruises in July . It has been mainly just Australians. We were the only New Zealanders on the Vietnam cruise, but there was 12 of us when we did our Amsterdam to Budapest tour. I would have though there would have been more, because river cruising is coming extremely popular here.

The long flight time is a bit of a problem. My husband always says after each one, (I cannot do that again) but we do. We are hooked on river cruising.

We took the restaurant option of The Square 24. This was a popular choice, so two dining times were given. We had a large menu to choose from (3 courses). It was not a set menu. I did not hear comments from any other persons about their chosen restaurants.

I enjoyed my cooking class. We were taken by tut tut to a small riverside hotel. Very authentic cooking. We all sat down and enjoyed the food afterwards. It was not a full hands on cooking class, but we all did the preparation, and had turns at the cooking.

I did not go to the cooking class in Vietnam, but it was a full hands on class, and I heard good comments about it.

We did the Chi Chi tunnels trip in Vietnam. It was a bit cooler walking through the jungle. We were taken to lunch afterwards. Were told this would be a light meal, but had a five course meal in a beautiful outdoor setting overlooking a lake.

[Foxie02]

I just looked up The Square 24 restaurant, I think I will

be choosing this one when we are in Siem Reap.

You mentioned your day out at the Tunnels, is it a long bus ride. Is it late when you arrive back to the Hotel?:confused:

[harbourside]

Ii was not a very long bus ride. About 3/4 hour from memory. We definitely arrived back in time for me to have a rest before getting ready for the dinner at XU resturant. This was fantastic. A great degustation modern asian menu with matching wines. A very short walk from the hotel. A matter of minutes.

[Brismarg]

I too am going on this trip in February, also on the Ama Dara.

Looking forward to hearing all about it and hopefully getting some ideas for our adventure!

We took our first river cruise this summer with APT and had a wonderful holiday. We were so impressed with the company, their organisation and the quality of everything. So excited as we countdown:)

 

What date in February are you cruising on AmaDara as we doing an APT tour commencing in Hanoi on 22nd February? 3 weeks to go.

[kool kruiser]

What date in February are you cruising on AmaDara as we doing an APT tour commencing in Hanoi on 22nd February? 3 weeks to go.[/.

 

Our tour starts in Hanoi on February 16 and we embark the Ama Dara in HCM City on February 22. Perhaps your Mekong river section starts when we leave the boat in Siem Reap and you are doing the reverse itinerary ?

[Foxie02]

Thank you once again for the information, it has been great help. I am was quite excited to hear about the restaurant's that you visited, I hope we have the same selection in March. I think our weather will be hotter too.

Ii was not a very long bus ride. About 3/4 hour from memory. We definitely arrived back in time for me to have a rest before getting ready for the dinner at XU resturant. This was fantastic. A great degustation modern asian menu with matching wines. A very short walk from the hotel. A matter of minutes.

[Brismarg]

What date in February are you cruising on AmaDara as we doing an APT tour commencing in Hanoi on 22nd February? 3 weeks to go.[/.

 

Our tour starts in Hanoi on February 16 and we embark the Ama Dara in HCM City on February 22. Perhaps your Mekong river section starts when we leave the boat in Siem Reap and you are doing the reverse itinerary ?

 

We are embarking in HCMC on March 7 as our APT tour is 24 days and we have been to HCMC prebiously which we enjoyed even though we were only there about 5 hours.

[deec]

We have just reserved a November cruise on the Mekong with Vantage. Anyone sailed with them?

All the information here is great especially the Visa as it had me confused.

 

We are going to do a pre-trip to HongKong.

 

I will be checking soon about any immunizations needed and malaria prophylaxis. Any thoughts?

 

will a rain poncho be sufficient or should we take a real raincoat (packable.)

[harbourside]

We have just reserved a November cruise on the Mekong with Vantage. Anyone sailed with them?

All the information here is great especially the Visa as it had me confused.

 

We are going to do a pre-trip to HongKong.

 

I will be checking soon about any immunizations needed and malaria prophylaxis. Any thoughts?

 

will a rain poncho be sufficient or should we take a real raincoat (packable.)

 

We did not have a drop of rain in December. We arrived on the 11th December.

[Foxie02]

Gee, I hope we are that lucky, but, I betl it will pour!