Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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Luxury cruise ship opens Can Tho-Phnom Penh route
Victoria Mekong cruise ship began its service between Vietnam’s Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh capital on December 11.
VNA Thursday, December 12, 2019 09:35

Can Tho (VNA) - Victoria Mekong cruise ship began its service between Vietnam’s Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh capital on December 11.

The first luxury four-star cruise ship to connect the two cities is a four-deck cruise ship equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

The ship with 33 deluxe cabins and two VIP suites features a restaurant with a 360-degree view on the upper deck as well as shopping stores, spas, libraries and cinemas.

During the tour, passengers will enjoy circus performances, lion dances, traditional Khmer dances and folk music performances of the Mekong Delta region.

Passengers departing from Ho Chi Minh City will be transported by vehicles to Can Tho.

Vo Xuan Thu, General Director of Victoria Can Tho Resort, a member of Thien Minh Group, said that a Mekong cruise from Vietnam to the upstream of the river in Cambodia is the best way to see the cultural diversity between the two regions.

Prices start from 21 million VND (906 USD) for the tour (three to four nights), including meals and beverages on board.
https://en.vietnamplus.vn/luxury-cruise ... 165293.vnp
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

Post by fsdfdsdf »

SternAAlbifrons wrote: Sun Dec 08, 2019 12:11 pm 5-6 years ago my Oz tax person (easy job) did a Ho Chi Minh - Siem Reap trip in one of those live-cattle export looking ships.
It blew her mind even tho' she is well travelled and sensible headed.
I think even i would enjoy that trip. You don't get that height on a kayak or small wooden boat, and the surroundings are fab.

Not sure how much it cost, but unless the rest of her client group is better than me, it couldn't have been too much.

(PS, this is a good time to slip in my regular little plug for always carrying a good compact pair of binoculars.
Get some!! - all you travellers.)
the river is very low at the moment, doubt you you see the surroundings at all. be an interesting trip all the same
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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fsdfdsdf wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:20 pm
SternAAlbifrons wrote: Sun Dec 08, 2019 12:11 pm 5-6 years ago my Oz tax person (easy job) did a Ho Chi Minh - Siem Reap trip in one of those live-cattle export looking ships.
It blew her mind even tho' she is well travelled and sensible headed.
I think even i would enjoy that trip. You don't get that height on a kayak or small wooden boat, and the surroundings are fab.

Not sure how much it cost, but unless the rest of her client group is better than me, it couldn't have been too much.

(PS, this is a good time to slip in my regular little plug for always carrying a good compact pair of binoculars.
Get some!! - all you travellers.)
the river is very low at the moment, doubt you you see the surroundings at all. be an interesting trip all the same
Yeah, thinking it thru - my friend did this trip in the rainy season. it is the only time you would be able to.
The Tonle Sap lake is only an av of 1 - 1.5 mtr deep in the dry season. (8-10m in the wet - previously)
Maybe now, after dams - no more at all??
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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I took the trip from Siem Reap to Saigon a few years ago with AMA Waterways. I was fortunate in not having to pay but I believe a price of around $600-$800 per day is pretty standard plus tips of about $15 per day. The prices are similar to the European river cruises. The passengers were pretty much all old wealthy Americans. I have to say I felt a little uncomfortable watching the people outside from my suite as if they were museum exhibits. It was dry season so we had to take a bus from Siem Reap to Kampong Chnang to catch the ship. It was very large with around 200 passengers. Tours are included to places like Tuol Sleng, Cambodian village, buffalo cart rides, Vietnamese villages, the Viet Cong tunnels etc. As the ship was very large it always had to stay mid-river and we went ashore in small boats. The villagers were very used to seeing foreigners and were prepared with lots of stuff to sell. The ship had to stop mid-river for a whole day to do the border crossing into Vietnam. The food was top quality but mostly American style.
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

samrong01 wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:38 pm I took the trip from Siem Reap to Saigon a few years ago with AMA Waterways.
What time of year was that, Samrong?

Second Q -
Do you think ANY of the passengers would have paid that kind of serious money for an authentic, small party, small boat experience?
Similar trip - Siem Reap to K. Chhnang. ie, the lake. Sleep in floating villages.
Rough but comfortable, full cultural immersion, knowledgeable guide, close-up wildlife, ect.
Remember it 'til the day you die, kinda stuff.
??
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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I think it was around November or maybe December - i.e. early dry season. During wet season they depart from higher up the lake near Siem Reap. From Kampong Chnang we actually sailed up river to the floating village before going back down again towards Phnom Penh.

I dont think most of the passengers I saw would be interested in a really authentic small cruise although I know there are smaller cruise boats on the river. Many of the people were seriously elderly and needed assistance in boarding and disembarking. They were people who were used to luxury and prepared to pay for it. Like many tourists they were after a flavour rather than a true experience of the local culture. The only young person aboard was a lady from Miami who worked for "The World" - a cruise ship where the passengers own the cabins. She was surveying luxurious experiences for the seriously wealthy people who were her clients. Nice work if you can get it.
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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Viking plan their Mekong cruise comeback for 2021 with a new ship.

Viking to Launch New Ship for the Mekong River
July 15, 2020
Image
Viking® (www.viking.com) will launch a new ship next summer for its popular Magnificent Mekong cruisetour. Currently under construction, the 80-guest Viking Saigon℠ is scheduled to debut for the August 30, 2021, cruisetour departure; the river cruise portion of the itinerary sails between Kampong Cham, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.

“For many of our guests, Vietnam and Cambodia remain top destinations because of their significance in world history,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “We have led the river cruise industry with our fleet development and experiences that bring travelers closer to the cultures of the world for more than two decades. This will be the most modern vessel on the Mekong and will feel like ‘home’ to our loyal Viking guests who are familiar with the comfortable design of our ships.”
https://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/ne ... kong-river

CEO News adds:
You may remember the Viking cruise ships on the Mekong were in the news in March 2020 when some British passengers tested positive for coronavirus whilst cruising in Cambodia. All passengers were then quarantined : the-rest-the-world/outbreak-unidentifie ... se#p403513
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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Mekong river cruises are back in business ...
Emerald Cruises to offer Mekong River tours
By Hoang Phong September 13, 2022 | 02:31 am PT
U.K.-based cruise line Emerald Cruises has announced their tour itineraries for 2023 and 2024, enabling tourists to discover Southeast Asia, including Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

For an 8-day tour, the cruise departs from Ho Chi Minh City before visiting small communities in the Mekong Delta where tourists will explore the ancient house of Huynh Thuy Le who inspired Marguerite Duras' famous novel "L’Amant" ("The Lover"), and will visit a scarf weaving factory.

The journey also allows visitors to drop by the Killing Fields & Tuel Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh before traveling to the Oudong Temple.

The tour scheduled to depart on August 26 next year costs from $1,694 per person.

For a 19-day itinerary that is scheduled to depart from Hanoi on August 19 next year, visitors would cruise the emerald waters of Ha Long Bay in a traditional junk boat before heading to HCMC and embarking on a river cruise along the Mekong River to visit the Mekong Delta, Vietnam's rice bowl and aquaculture hub.

The journey that ends in Cambodia’s Siem Reap, costs from $4,503 per person.

For a 15-day journey scheduled to depart on August 23, 2024, visitors will embark on a luxury cruise from Siem Reap along the Mekong River to visit flower villages and small communities in the Mekong Delta before finishing the journey in HCMC, the cruise line said on its website.

The tour also allows visitors to navigate Phnom Penh by tuk-tuk, receive a blessing from a Buddhist monk and take their seat at Cambodia's world-famous Phare circus. Prices start from $3,568 per person.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/eme ... 10824.html
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Re: Luxury Cruising on the Mekong Delta

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SternAAlbifrons wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:43 pm
samrong01 wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:38 pm I took the trip from Siem Reap to Saigon a few years ago with AMA Waterways.
What time of year was that, Samrong?

Second Q -
Do you think ANY of the passengers would have paid that kind of serious money for an authentic, small party, small boat experience?
Similar trip - Siem Reap to K. Chhnang. ie, the lake. Sleep in floating villages.
Rough but comfortable, full cultural immersion, knowledgeable guide, close-up wildlife, ect.
Remember it 'til the day you die, kinda stuff.
??
Have you heard of any tour company doing such a thing, obviously including the local people?
Always "hope" but never "expect".
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