Mekong River Cruise - Avalon Waterways

[luv2travel90266]

I am cruising in December on Uniworld on the same trip. It is recommended you you get your Vietnam multiple entry visa prior to the trip. We did it online directly with the embassy http://visa.vietnamembassy-usa.org/ . They don't quote the price on line but we paid $145 for the multiple entry visa. We didn't need to send in the passport and received in approx 14 days the visa on a sheet that is inserted in our passport. Payment was made through Paypal.

For the visa to Cambodia the ship is doing it for us for $50. Don't forget to bring extra passport photos with you. 

[gnome12]

Cambodia is almost exclusively US dollars. I had to work to pick up some small bills in Cambodian reals.

In Vietnam they would generally prefer their own currency, although some things are priced in US dollars I think they prefer credit cards or the Vietnamese cash equivalent. I picked up Vietnamese dong here in Toronto.

I can't help with the amounts; I think I took about CDN$200 worth of dong with me (for a single) for 3 days in Hanoi before I met my group.

[HMforcruise]

Thanks gnome12. Very helpful.

[kattom]

Just checking in here to say that my husband and I will be taking the Mekong Delta Cruise on Avalon from HCMC to Siem Reap in December.  We are also planning to wait until the Vietnam/Cambodian border to obtain my Cambodian Visas.  I have the forms from the website and will have the photo and the US$ with us.  Avalon hasn't been particularly helpful in telling us that this can be done so I appreciate those of you who have done it before letting us know it can be done.  Thanks!

 

Anyone else planning on doing the Avalon Cruise starting on 12/17/18?  

[Expat Cruise]

5 hours ago, kattom said:

Just checking in here to say that my husband and I will be taking the Mekong Delta Cruise on Avalon from HCMC to Siem Reap in December.  We are also planning to wait until the Vietnam/Cambodian border to obtain my Cambodian Visas.  I have the forms from the website and will have the photo and the US$ with us.  Avalon hasn't been particularly helpful in telling us that this can be done so I appreciate those of you who have done it before letting us know it can be done.  Thanks!

 

Anyone else planning on doing the Avalon Cruise starting on 12/17/18?  

 

Yes US Passport holders can just show up at the  official border crossing points and get a Visa on Arrival. But the River cruise may not using these crossing points.  Seems live a lot of risk to take for just a possible few dollar savings.  And even the official points are not always staffed. Several years ago a friend and I wanted to cross from Thailand to Cambodia, we showed up at the crossing point and no guard , no one but a few locals who said just cross no problem.  We did not do this and drove three hours away to cross at a different point.

 

it is your trip and your money but maybe you should look again at this. One thing I have learned living the last 20 years in SE Asia is that things do not always go the way they should here, and the way you fix them is by paying much much more money later vs a nothing amount now. 

[HMforcruise]

On 10/16/2018 at 6:36 PM, HMforcruise said:

Thanks gnome12. Very helpful.

Got my VNDong yesterday and will take US dollarsfor Cambodia and Bangkok.

Time to get the suitcase out. Will begin the typhoid vaccine pills this week too. 

 

Gnome 12.....is the Taipei Airport manageable. I have the same stopover there as you did on way to Hanoi. 

Any suggestions for clothes to pack.......laundry?

 

[gnome12]

Since I was flying business class I had access to the lounge. It wasn't particularly close, but I had no issues getting around the airport. Unless your flight from TO is delayed, you'll have plenty of time.

 

In terms of clothes, I wore capris every day except the day we went to Angkor Wat (in the rain) when I wore long pants. I had a few gauzy tops for really hot days, and otherwise wore short sleeve jerseys.

 

For laundry we had 3 nights at a hotel in Siem Reap. They had a promotion for one bag of laundry for US$40. I used that, and then I also sent the long pants from Angkor Wat because they were all muddy. Anything else I washed by hand in my cabin.

 

Enjoy your trip. I've been getting my stuff organized for my trip which leaves in 10 days.

[gnome12]

4 hours ago, HMforcruise said:

Got my VNDong yesterday and will take US dollarsfor Cambodia and Bangkok.

Time to get the suitcase out. Will begin the typhoid vaccine pills this week too. 

 

Gnome 12.....is the Taipei Airport manageable. I have the same stopover there as you did on way to Hanoi. 

Any suggestions for clothes to pack.......laundry?

 

You might find this link useful.

https://www.taoyuan-airport.com/english/transit-procedures

You arrive in Terminal 2, and I'm pretty sure that your onward departure, like mine, is also Terminal 2, so you are looking at the second set, I think. The terminal map doesn't seem to be very helpful to me, but here is a link to the Terminal 2 map

https://www.taoyuan-airport.com/english/facilities_map#t2