Vietnam

[MarLow17]

Anyone any idea how to get from the port in Ho Chi Minh into town without taking an organised tour. The port seems to be about 80 miles away!!!

[barante]

Yes, it's far away. Check to see whether your line offers a bus in and out. Overall, though, unless you know Saigon and have the language you are far better off by taking a tour. Our ship's tour (Costa) several years ago was reasonable and so worth the money. We hope to return in 2018. Again, a tour is the way to go.

Edited January 28, 2017 by barante

[John Bull]

Phu My is gradually catching up with its cruise business, and I've been told that taxis are now available on-spec. But without good confirmation of that (and sensible pricing) probably best to pre-book either a tour or a simple transfer over the internet with a well-reviewed operator (beware of sound-alikes), or book a ship's "Saigon on your own" transfer. Those transfers drop & collect near the Rex Hotel, and the major sights eg HCM museum, Re-unification Hall, War Remnants museum, Notre Dame, Ben Thanh covered market, etc, are all walkable.

 

Don't quite understand Barante's reference to language, plenty of folk speak very good English and much signage is also in English. But do get your taxi / bus driver to write down in Vietnamese script the name of the place you'll be collected from at the end of the day. As we found out, a lot of the city's taxi drivers have no English and that led to some strange sign language & hieroglyphics :)

Do as I say, not as I do :rolleyes:

 

JB :)

Edited January 28, 2017 by John Bull

[Gwendy]

Look on the destination boards, Asia, join your roll call you might find someone to join a private tour.

It is a long drive and traffic is very busy, roundabouts like you've never driven before!

Check out internet and trip advisor for private tours.

On one trip some passengers boasted about their cheap taxi to Saigon only to find out when they wanted to return to ship taxi driver wanted extra, lots extra to take them back.

I have done ship tours to Saigon and Cu Chi tunnels with both Princess and RCI and found them good value regarding sights seen and time at venues.

[Ashland]

RCI will usually offer a DIY round trip transportation by bus from Phu My to the city center of Saigon to either the Rex Hotel or just in front of the main post office. Sign up for it if your cruiseline offers it...well worth it....especially if you've been to Saigon before and know what you want to do. Otherwise check out your roll call and perhaps join a privately organized tour.

[Koalacash]

In Hanoi we got off the tender and walked past the taxis and crossed the street from the port to a tourist building. Another couple asked if we wanted to share a taxi and it cost us $30 each for the day. It was a long but beautiful fascinating drive. Take toilet paper and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. We took lots of clean fresh US dollar bills. They love the US dollar in Vietnam.

 

In Saigon, that's what locals still call it, we got off the ship and walked out of the port again. We met up with the couple we went with in Hanoi and a 5th lady asked to join us. There will be other people from the ship looking for taxis. Just be bold and speak up and gather a group. The more people the cheaper. I think it worked out to $35 of person. The vehicles are new. You can always split up when you get to your destination.

 

We wanted to go to the Cu Chi tunnels and the presidential palace and a market. You have to do your homework and decide what tunnels you want to go to. There are many Cu Chi tunnels. Our driver got lost but my husband had downloaded google maps to his phone. It is free and works from satellite offline so you don't need a phone service. Anyway the gps guided us. I strongly recommend this. A ranger guided through the 4' tunnels.

 

We then had the driver drop us off downtown. We all split up. Some toured the palace and others went to lunch. There is little infrastructure and hundreds of scooters. To cross the street you just step off the curb and walk at a steady pace and look straight ahead. The scooters will go around you. We ate deep fried street food at every stop and never got sick.

 

As we almost missed the ship in Danang because one couple could not remember where we parked so this is what we learned.

Everyone shoukd have a phone.

Take a photo of your driver, his vehicle and license plate

Take a photo of his business card if he has one.

Give the driver your numbers

Take your cruise bulletin with you. It will have the port info, address and phone

When your driver parks, take a photo of the vehicle in the parking lot and a photo of the nearest street signs.

Exchange phone numbers with others in your group.

Agree on a meeting time. And the time you will wait for a missing person. If someone doesn't show up you are on your own. The ship won't wait for you.

Allow enough time to return to the ship allowing for a flat tire etc.

 

We saved over a thousand dollars by going on our own and made friends from Australia (we are going to visit them in a few weeks before our next cruise) and had some wonderful adventures and flexibility.