AMADara in August

[luvtocook]

We are doing the Mekong river in August.  Can anyone comment on the weather, AMA's excursions especially the overnight on Ha Long Bay and the overall experience of the ship itself.  Also, if you did the pre and/or post land tours with AMA.  This will be our third AMA cruise, but I know the Dara is a whole different ship than the Sonata and Prima.

 

Thanks in advance.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, luvtocook said:

We are doing the Mekong river in August.  Can anyone comment on the weather, AMA's excursions especially the overnight on Ha Long Bay and the overall experience of the ship itself.  Also, if you did the pre and/or post land tours with AMA.  This will be our third AMA cruise, but I know the Dara is a whole different ship than the Sonata and Prima.

 

Thanks in advance.

First, could I ask you to please not use the font you are using. On a phone it translates to a very hard to read cursive font. Thanks. 

 

I did this trip in the first half of November 2017, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City including pre-cruise in Hanoi with overnight on Halong Bay, flight to Siem Reap, then cruise to My Tho and post-cruise in HCMC. Even in November it was warm everywhere and I found it unbearably hot in HCMC, to the point that I really didn’t feel like exploring. The only rain we had at all was in HCMC. 

 

The ship was very comfortable, although the cabin was a bit cramped. I don’t find the twin balcony particularly useful, since the both the real balcony and the French balcony are too small to do anything with. If I wanted air I went up to the sun deck which was lovely. A couple of us even used the pool one day. 

 

I very much enjoyed Halong Bay. It is crazy how many boats are out there, but once you get a bit away it is incredibly beautiful. 

 

Feel free to ask ask any questions; I’ll try to remember. 

[luvtocook]

Thanks so much.  I appreciate your input.  Sorry about the Font.

[gnome12]

48 minutes ago, luvtocook said:

Thanks so much.  I appreciate your input.  Sorry about the Font.

By the way, I didn’t look at your screen name before. One of the things we did on-board the junk was a cooking class making Vietnamese spring rolls and one other item I can’t remember right now. 

 

And, just before they disembarked in My Tho for the transfer to HCMC they announced a cooking class for the unscheduled final day. I didn’t go on it because I had made plans of my own. I don’t know if they got enough people for it to happen. I don’t understand why AMA waited until almost the last day on-board to announce that, as well as an excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels. 

[luvtocook]

That is great to hear.  We love taking cooking classes. We have done them all over the world during our travels.  Looking forward to learning something new.  Thanks for the info!!!

[travelfreelasvegas]

On 3/3/2019 at 9:20 AM, gnome12 said:

First, could I ask you to please not use the font you are using. On a phone it translates to a very hard to read cursive font. Thanks. 

 

I did this trip in the first half of November 2017, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City including pre-cruise in Hanoi with overnight on Halong Bay, flight to Siem Reap, then cruise to My Tho and post-cruise in HCMC. Even in November it was warm everywhere and I found it unbearably hot in HCMC, to the point that I really didn’t feel like exploring. The only rain we had at all was in HCMC. 

 

The ship was very comfortable, although the cabin was a bit cramped. I don’t find the twin balcony particularly useful, since the both the real balcony and the French balcony are too small to do anything with. If I wanted air I went up to the sun deck which was lovely. A couple of us even used the pool one day. 

 

I very much enjoyed Halong Bay. It is crazy how many boats are out there, but once you get a bit away it is incredibly beautiful. 

 

Feel free to ask ask any questions; I’ll try to remember. 

I have a question.  I am taking AMA extension to Siem Reap.  Should I hire my own guide touring Angkor Was/  Thanks

[gnome12]

24 minutes ago, travelfreelasvegas said:

I have a question.  I am taking AMA extension to Siem Reap.  Should I hire my own guide touring Angkor Was/  Thanks

Answered in the other topic.