Ho Chi Minh City Which Port?

[LJRVancouver]

Sailing aboard aboard VO Orion Oct 18 to Nov 1 from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Which port does the Orion dock for Ho Chi Minh City?

Thank you. Pura Vida

 

 

[kkinaus]

Hi , we are also boarding in Hong kong but going through to Sydney.

I have found this on a website (whats in port) thought this might help us both.

 

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Cruise Port (whatsinport.com)

 

Seeing we are a smaller ship we should be closer in to city.

 

Karen 

[Jim Avery]

Both recent world cruise ships docked at the far out container port.  Same as our last visit also.  I personally have not heard of any Viking ship docking at the close in port.  Not saying it didn't happen but mostly it's the container port.  Port of HCM website will have the berth assignments but be advised that is always subject to change.  And it is a long ride in especially when traffic gets worse.  

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, LJRVancouver said:

Sailing aboard aboard VO Orion Oct 18 to Nov 1 from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Which port does the Orion dock for Ho Chi Minh City?

Thank you. Pura Vida

 

 

 

I'm not aware that Saigon has a dedicated cruise terminal, so cruise ships still use a cargo berth, which as Jim mentioned, is often a container terminal. Since cargo ships are often delayed, the berth is often not confirmed until the pilot boards and can change again during the transit.

 

I have always docked at one of the river berths at Phu My, which used to be 1 hr to 1.5 hrs from the city centre.

 

Smaller ships can get further up river, just hasn't been my experience.

[Mich3554]

10 hours ago, kkinaus said:

Hi , we are also boarding in Hong kong but going through to Sydney.

I have found this on a website (whats in port) thought this might help us both.

 

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Cruise Port (whatsinport.com)

 

Seeing we are a smaller ship we should be closer in to city.

 

Karen 

Not necessarily.  Both last year on the Neptune WC and earlier this year on SE Asian Horizons on the Orion, we docked about 60-90 min out from HCMC in a container port.

[LindaS272]

Ditto on SE Asia cruise in 2019. About 45-60 minutes away from HCMC.

[LJRVancouver]

Just chatted with Viking Ocean which was as follows

 

Because many locations have more then one dock, and the location depends on traffic our ocean docks during the sailing are announced once on board! At that time the dock address will be provided for our guests.

You

does it usually dock at 1 of the 3 smaller docks near city or at the cargo dock at Pho my which is quite a bit further away from city?

 at 12:56, Jun 5:

do it usually dock at 1 of the 3 smaller docks near city or at the cargo dock at Pho my which is quite a bit further away from city?

 

Lacy

 at 12:56, Jun 5:

Allow me a moment to see if I can review a previous sailing.

Lacy

 at 13:03, Jun 5:

One of the commonly used ports is Port Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). However, I would be unable to confirm this will be the port used.

You

Thank you. If it is the port which is far from city does Viking provide complementary shuttles?

 at 13:04, Jun 5:

 

 

Lacy

 at 13:05, Jun 5:

Shuttles are announced on board as well as shuttle service outside of Viking activities are tentative.

 

Guess we continue to be in the dark and keep our fingers crossed

[LindaS272]

They provided shuttles for us in Nov. 2019, so I’m sure they will for you as well.

[Mich3554]

Shuttles were provided both last year and this year for us as well. 

[Clay Clayton]

As mentioned previously, both of this year’s World Cruises docked at Phu My.  Viking provide a shuttle to the Opera House in HCM City.  The port provides a shuttle from the dock to the port gates which is where any independent tours will pick up and drop you off.  If you’re there overnight, highly recommend booking a hotel in the city, relatively cheap and saves anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half each way.  Traffic can be awful and hence the wide range of times you are seeing.  
 

Just for fun, here is a video of us on Sky waving to Neptune as we passed each other as we left and she arrived at Phu My. 

 

Edited June 9 by Clay Clayton