Emerald Harmony Mekong cruises?

[Kylie]

Has Emerald Waterways resumed their Mekong cruises yet?  Anyone have any reports on this cruise?  The ship looks amazing.  We have rescheduled it several times already.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Moved to River Cruising forum. 

[Ummie4799]

We are scheduled on the Harmony Oct.26 of this year. Our TA has been talking regularly with Emerald. Seems to be a go. We’ve applied for the Vietnam E-visa but have to wait a few more weeks for Cambodia. Testing and quarantine have been lifted for vaccinated tourists. Hooray!

[Kylie]

13 minutes ago, Ummie4799 said:

We are scheduled on the Harmony Oct.26 of this year. Our TA has been talking regularly with Emerald. Seems to be a go. We’ve applied for the Vietnam E-visa but have to wait a few more weeks for Cambodia. Testing and quarantine have been lifted for vaccinated tourists. Hooray!

 

Thanks for the update.  We aren't scheduled to cruise until March 1, 2023.  I haven't heard anything for so long about this cruise (already rescheduled more than once) I was wondering if Asia was open for cruising yet.  Please keep in touch!  I need to look up the E-visa information yet too.  

 

jkbult1 at hotmail.

[terry&mike]

Yes, please keep us posted as to your October trip. We are scheduled on Scenic (parent company of Emerald) for December of this year, and are hopeful that all goes forward. 

[isnowman]

1 hour ago, terry&mike said:

Yes, please keep us posted as to your October trip. We are scheduled on Scenic (parent company of Emerald) for December of this year, and are hopeful that all goes forward. 

We're also on a Mekong cruise with Scenic in March 2023 so would appreciate any updates. Our fare included the free air promotion, but Scenic has told our TA that they will not will not book flights until 4 months before sailing, seems rather short. Any information appreciated.

[Ummie4799]

We also have free air. We have chosen to fly east out of Chicago. 2 Stops outbound and 1 stop inbound. Japan is barely open. Coming back would have required 3 stops. Our air is still not booked, Emerald and our TA are working on it. Should have it resolved soon, our final payment is next week. 

[terry&mike]

5 hours ago, isnowman said:

We're also on a Mekong cruise with Scenic in March 2023 so would appreciate any updates. Our fare included the free air promotion, but Scenic has told our TA that they will not will not book flights until 4 months before sailing, seems rather short. Any information appreciated.

We handled our own air, as our Mekong cruise will be part of a longer trip we are taking in Asia. Used miles for Business over and back, and booked it several months ago. I do have a backup plan, in case Scenic isn't operating in Asia come December.

[isnowman]

17 hours ago, terry&mike said:

We handled our own air, as our Mekong cruise will be part of a longer trip we are taking in Asia. Used miles for Business over and back, and booked it several months ago. I do have a backup plan, in case Scenic isn't operating in Asia come December.

We usually book our own air and, like you, add days before or after the cruise. However this time we chose to just do the cruise so am happy to have their air package, I'm just used to knowing or picking our flights up to 8 months before the cruise. 

[CT-Edin]

Hi all, we're on Emerald Harmony, cruising the Mekong this December (Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap). We're doing our own flights as travelling on elsewhere afterward. Fingers crossed all goes OK! I looked at visa's and it looks like there is a visa waiver scheme for UK citizens travelling to Vietnam, as a tourist you can stay upto 15 days without a visa. Looking forwards to what will be an interesting itinerary!

[Ummie4799]

Our Vietnam e-visas have been approved  and will apply for Cambodia after August 1. Flights are resolved. We are on the 21 day itinerary ….Siem Reap to Hanoi. Husband served in Vietnam , he has a number of bucket list places to visit. 

[terry&mike]

16 hours ago, Ummie4799 said:

Our Vietnam e-visas have been approved  and will apply for Cambodia after August 1. Flights are resolved. We are on the 21 day itinerary ….Siem Reap to Hanoi. Husband served in Vietnam , he has a number of bucket list places to visit. 

Starting to look at the visa info for Cambodia for US citizens. Need to nail down the entry and exit points for the river cruise portion of the trip - does anyone have them handy for sailing in the Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh direction? 

The 21 day itinerary sounds nice, we are on the 11 day itinerary with Scenic, but are adding several stops on our own.

We were in Vietnam in January 2020, and really enjoyed it, and are excited to be going back.  We will fly in to Bangkok, and have 2 weeks traveling around Thailand, then fly over to Hanoi for a couple of nights. Next we'll go to Lan Ha Bay (near Halong Bay, and same scenery, but not packed with hundreds of boats) for a couple nights on a boat over Christmas. We'll then spend 6 days in Hoi An, and then fly over to meet the Scenic tour starting with New Years Eve in Siem Reap for a couple of days, and then board the ship for 7 nights and sail down to Ho Chi Minh City. Home after HCM. 

[Ummie4799]

We used “An Giang” as our entry province and “Song Tien Landport” as the actual entry point. We also had questions about the entry point. Emerald gave us the Landport answer. Turn around time was 4 days. We are exiting from Hanoi, that one was easy.

[terry&mike]

2 hours ago, Ummie4799 said:

We used “An Giang” as our entry province and “Song Tien Landport” as the actual entry point. We also had questions about the entry point. Emerald gave us the Landport answer. Turn around time was 4 days. We are exiting from Hanoi, that one was easy.

Looks like we will need a Multi Entry visa for Vietnam, as we will fly in to Hanoi from Thailand, and spend about 1.5 weeks in Vietnam, then fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia to join the Scenic tour, and a few days after that enter Vietnam again by river.

Is the information you listed above the river entry points for Vietnam when sailing in the Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh direction? I am making a note of this as I plan to apply in early October. 

[Ummie4799]

We travel Siem Reap to Hanoi. Your trip sounds great. Enjoy!

[terry&mike]

13 hours ago, Ummie4799 said:

We travel Siem Reap to Hanoi. Your trip sounds great. Enjoy!

On the river cruise portion of the trip, is your sailing direction Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh?

[Ummie4799]

Yes, Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and onward to Hanoi.

[terry&mike]

21 hours ago, Ummie4799 said:

Yes, Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and onward to Hanoi.

Wonderful, thank you for the information.

[BobandLizM]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:14 PM, isnowman said:

We usually book our own air and, like you, add days before or after the cruise. However this time we chose to just do the cruise so am happy to have their air package, I'm just used to knowing or picking our flights up to 8 months before the cruise. 

We are booked for March 04 2023 19 day cruise with Scenic, booked originally in 2019 for my 50th birthday in 2020.  Then Covid came, moved a few times since. Looking forward to it, but Scenic are so quiet, I phone them about everyone 6 months or so, no flights booked for us yet.

[Kylie]

23 minutes ago, BobandLizM said:

 Scenic are so quiet, I phone them about everyone 6 months or so, no flights booked for us yet.

 

I haven't heard anything from Emerald either!   Makes me nervous to send them final payment until I get more information on this cruise.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Scenic and Emerald have been very sparse on communications since the website hack – but the cruises are still as good as ever.  However the lack of communications-ability would make me lean toward booking my own airfare (especially as the US airlines all have adopted 'no changes fees' policies – if this trip doesn't go, I know I'll be able to use the credits on another one).

[Kylie]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Scenic and Emerald have been very sparse on communications since the website hack – but the cruises are still as good as ever.  However the lack of communications-ability would make me lean toward booking my own airfare (especially as the US airlines all have adopted 'no changes fees' policies – if this trip doesn't go, I know I'll be able to use the credits on another one).

 

Thanks for the reassurance!  The cruise looks amazing so we are anxious to go.
Low priced air fare was part of our booking offer so we are locked in with Emerald now.  

[BobandLizM]

We have been fully paid up for a couple of years now, apart from a charge that will be due to flight upgrade if possible.  I was very nervous about paying remainder, but they suggested that I would be in breach of contract and would lose my deposit if I did not.

 

To be honest, they were going through a difficult time, so I paid.  
 

As long as I eventually go on this holiday I will be happy.

 

We have 13 ocean cruises under our belt, but not a river cruise yet.
 

 

[franski]

On 8/21/2022 at 3:11 PM, Kylie said:

 

I haven't heard anything from Emerald either!   Makes me nervous to send them final payment until I get more information on this cruise.

 

We are scheduled on the February 5th sailing.  We have decided to book our air with Emerald just in case something happens to the cruise --> and then they will deal with everything (including the air).

 

Our TA spoke with someone at Emerald a couple of weeks ago.  We usually have our air booked quite early so this has been a change for us to not have our air confirmed.  The Emerald rep told our TA they wouldn't look at air until 4 months out - especially as things continue to change almost daily. 

 

We have gone ahead and booked extra days in Hanoi before the tour - with the option to cancel without penalty if necessary.  We have decided to fly home via Bangkok - so booked a hotel there as we plan to stop for a couple of days on the way back.

 

Booking air early can result in some great deals - but we have experienced some of the challenges.  Our trip to Eastern Europe has had some significant air changes since we booked.  We now have an 8 hr layover in Frankfurt going (we had just under 3 hours when we booked) and our flight home begins with a 6 am flight out of Warsaw 😵.  That flight was originally scheduled for 9:30 am - so a bit of a shocker to discover that change!!

 

Fran

[Host Jazzbeau]

I like to book my own air, but I only do so with the three US majors because they all have waived change fees and I know I can use any credits up before they expire.  Thanks to the airline consortiums, I can book 'code share' flights that cover many foreign airlines this way – and still get the credits in my American/Delta/United accounts.