Vietnam cruise

[Zimmy]

We have booked the Singapore to Hong Kong cruise on the Whisper for November of 2008. Other than the beginning and ending ports, all the ports are in Vietnam. I know that Silversea also did this cruise last November. If anyone on this board was on that cruise, can you tell me about the weather, particularly in Vietnam? We are concerned about excessive rain.

[LibLively]

We did this cruise last year in November, and our weather was fine. It was definitely a good time of year, as far as we could tell, and our guides kept telling us that we came at the right time, as it would get really hot from January on, when a lot of the cruise lines schedule their trips to Viet Nam. We did the pre-cruise Angkor Wat trip too, and again, we had no trouble with rain. Of course, no one can guarantee weather, but I think you'll be fine. It was a fabulous trip, so relax and enjoy!!

[Zimmy]

That is so nice to hear; thank you for replying. Did you use private guides? If you liked them, would you mind sharing the contact info?

[LibLively]

Yes, we used a company that is based in California, but specializes in tours in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia. (There were eight of us traveling together this time, and we have found, in the past, that we can cover a lot more territory and get a lot more out of private tours.) The name of the company we used is Indochina Travel Company. Their web site is: www:indochinatravel.com.

We used this company to book private tours in each location. My friends had never been to Viet Nam, so they wanted to get a feel for the country and its people, therefore our tours emphasized personal contacts with different people. All of our guides were Vietnamese and they all spoke English very well. We pretty much called the shots, giving them a list of specific areas of interest, if we had any, in any of the ports. For instance, in addition to seeing the sights in Hoi An, we took a Vietnamese cooking class with a fabulous woman who owns a restaurant there. Also, for our lunch break in Saigon, we had our guide take us to one of the many restaurants that specialize in Pho, a very famous Vietnamese soup. We also did a special tour in the Mekong Delta that included transportation by boat as well as horse cart, and mini-van. My main point of contact was with a gentleman named Viet Nguyen who is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City. He was absolutely fabulous and took good care of us. He emailed me proposed itineraries for each port several months before we went and we worked together on honing them to include everything we wanted to see and do. I highly recommend this agency. Hope this helps.

[Zimmy]

Thank you so much. 2008 seems very far away, but it does go quickly!

[SonomaWine]

We used the same agency, with an identical itinerary and had a great experience with Viet. Our trip last year in April was exceptional due to Viet and all of his guides from IndoChina Travel.

 

In regards to Cambodia, we made our own arrangements directly with the Amansara Resort. It was an experience in itself, and we highly recommend staying there. Included in the room rate is a personal guide with private transportation (including airport transfers in a vintage mercedes), all of your meals (which are excpetional), spirits, wines, and be sure to splurge for a pool suite.