Emerald Harmony Mekong cruises?

[TriMomma]

I am going October 16th.  It is a trip that has been rescheduled many times due to COVID.   Glad that it seems to be moving ahead finally!  

 

I applied for my Vietnam e-visa but the TA told us that we can get the Cambodian one on the ship (we're Canadian).   Just have to bring our photos with us.  

 

 

[franski]

5 hours ago, TriMomma said:

I am going October 16th.  It is a trip that has been rescheduled many times due to COVID.   Glad that it seems to be moving ahead finally!  

 

I applied for my Vietnam e-visa but the TA told us that we can get the Cambodian one on the ship (we're Canadian).   Just have to bring our photos with us.  

 

 

I look forward to hearing about your trip.   Will you come back and post?  Or perhaps post along the way??

 

Fran

[TriMomma]

I will!

 

[xander]

On 8/24/2022 at 9:22 AM, franski said:

I look forward to hearing about your trip.   Will you come back and post?  Or perhaps post along the way??

 

Fran

Hello guys,

We too are booked on Emerald Harmony, and very much looking forward to finally actually going on this trip! Although we have been to Vietnam before, this will be our very first river cruise.

Like so many others, we also booked back in 2019 for a 2020 sailing and we've ended up rebooking several times. I must say that we have been very impressed with the helpfulness and flexibility that Emerald Cruises have shown through all this pandemic uncertainty. We usually book our own airfares but for some reason on this cruise I decided to book air with the cruise line  .... and that turned out to be the best thing. One call and it was all taken care of, and then all rebooked. 

We sail on the 31st Dec from Saigon up towards Siem Reap. 

 

TriMomma - yes please, we'd LOVE to hear about your trip departing in October!

[terry&mike]

3 hours ago, xander said:

Hello guys,

We too are booked on Emerald Harmony, and very much looking forward to finally actually going on this trip! Although we have been to Vietnam before, this will be our very first river cruise.

Like so many others, we also booked back in 2019 for a 2020 sailing and we've ended up rebooking several times. I must say that we have been very impressed with the helpfulness and flexibility that Emerald Cruises have shown through all this pandemic uncertainty. We usually book our own airfares but for some reason on this cruise I decided to book air with the cruise line  .... and that turned out to be the best thing. One call and it was all taken care of, and then all rebooked. 

We sail on the 31st Dec from Saigon up towards Siem Reap. 

 

TriMomma - yes please, we'd LOVE to hear about your trip departing in October!

I will pass you on the river! We will be sailing downstream at the same time, on a Scenic ship.

[tiggypooo]

Franski - A question please.

Have you done your Vietnam Visa. I have clients doing this cruise in Nov. and they and myself are having a heck of a time trying to secure the Visa for Canadians.

Any advice would be soooo appreciated.

[franski]

13 hours ago, tiggypooo said:

Franski - A question please.

Have you done your Vietnam Visa. I have clients doing this cruise in Nov. and they and myself are having a heck of a time trying to secure the Visa for Canadians.

Any advice would be soooo appreciated.

Not yet...  We are booked on a Scenic cruise in Eastern Europe - leaving in 10 days.   I planned on doing my Visa when I return home from that.  We don't leave until February so I have a bit of time.

 

However, the TA I work with has an escorted tour going there in November.  I will get in touch with her and ask her to discuss with her colleagues about the Visa issue, and see if they have any insights.  It is the owner of the agency & her daughter that are escorting the tour.  And, I know the daughter has been there before - so I expect they should be able to help.

 

I will get back to you after I touch base with them.

 

Fran

Edited September 7, 2022 by franski

[terry&mike]

21 hours ago, tiggypooo said:

Franski - A question please.

Have you done your Vietnam Visa. I have clients doing this cruise in Nov. and they and myself are having a heck of a time trying to secure the Visa for Canadians.

Any advice would be soooo appreciated.

I don't know if it will be of any assistance, given I am American and you are Canadian, but I posted some information on this thread on the Asia board on Visas. 

 

[franski]

 

On 9/6/2022 at 9:12 AM, tiggypooo said:

Franski - A question please.

Have you done your Vietnam Visa. I have clients doing this cruise in Nov. and they and myself are having a heck of a time trying to secure the Visa for Canadians.

Any advice would be soooo appreciated.

 Hi - Still waiting to here from my TA.  Will let you know when I hear something...

 

Fran

[BobandLizM]

We will cruise on Emerald Harmony on the Mekong in March 23, as previously posted ‘booked since 2019’

 

Yesterday they confirmed final payment and booking confirmation for all flights, including upgrade.

 

Good to at last have flight confirmation.  

[CT-Edin]

Hi, we are on the Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap cruise sail date 31/12/22.  I'm just looking at Cambodia visas - the online e-visa doesn't appear to be valid for the river border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia.  The Cambodian government website says you can apply for an on-arrival visa at crossing points not supported by the e-visa.  Does anyone know if Emerald will provide this service while we are on the ship and preparing to cross the border?  I can't find anything on their website about this (other cruise companies seem to support this on-arrival process for a fee and a passport photo).  I've pinged Emerald an email to enquire but would appreciate anyone's input/advice.  We are UK citizens. Thanks!

[Kylie]

I am hoping after people go on this cruise they will come back here and report about it, please.   There is so little known about yet.

Our rescheduled date is March 1.

Thanks!

[CT-Edin]

20 hours ago, CT-Edin said:

Hi, we are on the Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap cruise sail date 31/12/22.  I'm just looking at Cambodia visas - the online e-visa doesn't appear to be valid for the river border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia.  The Cambodian government website says you can apply for an on-arrival visa at crossing points not supported by the e-visa.  Does anyone know if Emerald will provide this service while we are on the ship and preparing to cross the border?  I can't find anything on their website about this (other cruise companies seem to support this on-arrival process for a fee and a passport photo).  I've pinged Emerald an email to enquire but would appreciate anyone's input/advice.  We are UK citizens. Thanks!

I had a reply from Emerald/Scenic:

 

"Flying into Vietnam then cruising into Cambodia will require a visa, and it is best to do this online prior to travel. 

 

We only require guests' Vietnam visa information prior to travel, not Cambodia. For their Cambodia visa, you CAN obtain this onboard, although many people prefer to do this in advance. You will need to take 2 passport sized photos with them & approx. USD50pp cash to arrange this."

 

So if we can't use the e-visa, then we'll just have to pay on board. The Cambodian embassy website has no information, neither does the Cambodian tourist board website.

 

I have 2 friends who are doing this cruise next week so will ask them what they are doing and report back!

 

[CT-Edin]

My friends are doing their Cambodian visa's on the boat, so we'll do the same! We are all UK citizens, and going in the direction of Ho Chi Minh city to Siem Reap.  We will take USDs and 2 passport photos each with us in this case.

 

I'll be seeing one of my pals before we head off so if there's any useful hints/tips to report from their trip, I'll post here!

[BobandLizM]

On 10/26/2022 at 12:01 PM, CT-Edin said:

My friends are doing their Cambodian visa's on the boat, so we'll do the same! We are all UK citizens, and going in the direction of Ho Chi Minh city to Siem Reap.  We will take USDs and 2 passport photos each with us in this case.

 

I'll be seeing one of my pals before we head off so if there's any useful hints/tips to report from their trip, I'll post here!

Thanks guys, this info is much appreciated.  We are In UK, going on same trip in March.  Have just wrestled our through the Vietnam visa.

[TriMomma]

Just back last night.  What a wonderful trip and the Emerald Harmony was truly wonderful.   I can post a more detailed report tomorrow, but if anyone has specific questions, fire away!

[TriMomma]

On 10/25/2022 at 10:06 AM, CT-Edin said:

Hi, we are on the Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap cruise sail date 31/12/22.  I'm just looking at Cambodia visas - the online e-visa doesn't appear to be valid for the river border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia.  The Cambodian government website says you can apply for an on-arrival visa at crossing points not supported by the e-visa.  Does anyone know if Emerald will provide this service while we are on the ship and preparing to cross the border?  I can't find anything on their website about this (other cruise companies seem to support this on-arrival process for a fee and a passport photo).  I've pinged Emerald an email to enquire but would appreciate anyone's input/advice.  We are UK citizens. Thanks!

Emerald took care of everything for us.   It was wonderful.   We had our E-Visa to enter Vietnam and the TA had suggested that we have Cambodian Visa pictures with us (just in case), but we didn't use them.    Emerald completed and submitted the visa application and all we had to do was sign it and show up in the lounge when the Immigration officers arrived.   The $40 app fee was added to our stateroom account.   We are Canadian, but there were Brits, Americans, and Australians on the ship.   

 

Note, they did say that those who had applied for Cambodian E-Visa's would have to reapply as they were not for River landings.  

[CT-Edin]

14 hours ago, TriMomma said:

Emerald took care of everything for us.   It was wonderful.   We had our E-Visa to enter Vietnam and the TA had suggested that we have Cambodian Visa pictures with us (just in case), but we didn't use them.    Emerald completed and submitted the visa application and all we had to do was sign it and show up in the lounge when the Immigration officers arrived.   The $40 app fee was added to our stateroom account.   We are Canadian, but there were Brits, Americans, and Australians on the ship.   

 

Note, they did say that those who had applied for Cambodian E-Visa's would have to reapply as they were not for River landings.  

Thanks very much for this info!

Unfortunately, our friends had to cancel their trip last minute so we can't report back on their trip.  Look forwards to hearing from anyone who's doing the trip meantime - thanks.

[LTC]

16 hours ago, TriMomma said:

Just back last night.  What a wonderful trip and the Emerald Harmony was truly wonderful.   I can post a more detailed report tomorrow, but if anyone has specific questions, fire away!

Glad you had a fantastic trip! We're doing Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh with Emerald in March so can't wait for your review.