Review: AmaWaterways Riches of the Mekong Cruise

Introduction:  Cruising Cambodia and Vietnam
Review:  JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach
Review:  Business Class SilverKris Lounge Singapore Airport
Review:  Singapore Air Business Class – Singapore to Hanoi
Review:  Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel Hanoi
Review:  Paradise Elegance Cruise
Review:  Vietnam Airlines Economy – Hanoi to Siem Reap
Review:  Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort
Review: AmaWaterways Riches of the Mekong Cruise
Review:  Sofitel Saigon Plaza
Review:  Le Saigonnais Lounge (International) Ho Chi Minh Airport
Review:  Changi Airport Crowne Plaza

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We had cruised with AmaWaterways in 2018 for their Christmas Markets on the Rhine itinerary. See my review of that cruise here. We were very impressed with that cruise and had actually booked a Mekong cruise with AmaWaterways for March of 2021. We technically could’ve gone on that cruise, but at the time, there were strict measures in force for getting into Vietnam and Cambodia (Covid tests, quarantine, etc.). Because of that, we decided to cancel our trip.

After travel got back to normal, we looked into booking the cruise again. There was a 2-for-1 deal for a land package before and after the cruise, so we decided to include that as well. We mentioned the trip to some of our friends and family, and ended up having a group of 11 people joining us.

This review is just of the actual river cruise. I have done separate reviews of the accommodations we had before and after the cruise that were included in the land package.

For this review, I am not going to go into great detail of the cruise itinerary or what we did at each stop.  Instead, this review is more of an overview of the cruise/ship itself, with my impressions on the accommodations, food, entertainment, excursions and service.

Our cruise began on Monday, September 9, 2024 in Kampong Chang, Cambodia and ended on Monday, September 16, 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We left Siem Reap at 8:30am for the 5-hour bus ride to Kampong Chang. The Sofitel hotel had provided us with a box lunch, which we ate at a stop along the way.

Sofitel box lunch
Sofitel box lunch

Check-in:

We arrived at the ship at about 2:00pm. We were directed to go straight to the dining room, where we had a 3-course meal. While we were eating, they finished getting the cabins ready and had our luggage delivered to the room. Once we were done lunch, we went to the reception desk to get the keys to our room. A staff member walked us to our cabin.

Reception desk on AmaDara

The AmaDara accommodates 124 passengers and all staterooms have a verandah.

AmaDara

Accommodations:

We had booked a category B stateroom, which included “Twin Balconies” which was both a French balcony and an outdoor balcony.   The category A, B and C staterooms are all the same size (251 sq. ft) and layout. The only difference is the location on the ship.

Our cabin was #107, which was on the Tonle (main) deck (same level as the Mekong Restaurant).

The following is the layout of a category B stateroom.

First floor hallway to the rooms
Room #107

When you entered the cabin, there were shelves and a closet to the left. There was a safe on the shelves. Just past that was a bench for luggage, a desk and a small couch and table.

Under the desk was the mini-fridge. On the bed were some various informational papers and a little welcome folder.

Room #107
Room #107
Room #107 balcony
Welcome information

The bathroom was to the right when you entered the cabin. It was a decent size, and had some good storage under the sink.

Room #107 bathroom
Room #107 bathroom

The shampoo, soap and conditioner were Seaweed Therapy brand.

The stateroom had a queen bed, bathrobes, slippers, hair dryer, and toiletry amenities.  Free Wi-Fi and computers were available in the lounge.  They don’t specify that Wi-Fi is available in the rooms, but we were usually able to surf the net on our iPads in our room most of the time. The Wi-Fi was spotty at times along certain points of the river. For my travel journal and web photo album, I need to use FTP to upload them. Just like on our river cruise in Europe, we weren’t able to FTP using the ship’s Wi-Fi. We had bought an e-sim for our phone, so we connected to the phone to update the travel journal and photos.

The TV had on-demand movies and English-language stations. The room wasn’t huge, but there was quite a bit room for storage. There was room to store our suitcases in the closet, so we could use the bench area for our daypack and other odds and ends.

The room was replenished with drinking water daily. But, because the ship filters its own water, you could actually use the water out of the taps for brushing your teeth or even drinking. They also had water-dispensing machines on each deck so that you could refill any drinking bottles you may have.

On our second evening on the ship, a gift was provided by AmaWaterways. A hat for gentlemen and a scarf for the ladies.

AmaWaterways gift
AmaWaterways gift

The hat was made of a light material with some mesh to help cool (unlike the hat we received on our Christmas market cruise – which was typical ball cap material). The scarf was large enough to use as a shawl – which was good because sometimes the dining room was fairly cool in the evenings.

Schedule:

The following lists the schedule for each day on the cruise. The Daily Cruiser was available on the MyAmaCruise app and they also left a paper copy of the schedule in your room at night for the next day.

Mekong Restaurant:

The AmaDara has a main dining room (Mekong Restaurant) that is used for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was located on the first floor of the ship.

Mekong Restaurant

Breakfast was normally served between 7:30 and 9:30 in the main dining room, but sometimes earlier – depending on the excursions for the day. There was a buffet along with an a menu that you could order food from (e.g. omelettes, waffles, etc.). There also was a Pho station each morning if you wanted soup for breakfast. For early risers, there was always coffee, tea and pastries available in the Saigon Lounge.

Mekong Restaurant buffet
Mekong Restaurant buffet

Lunch was normally served around 12:30pm or 1:00pm – depending on when the morning excursions returned. There was also a buffet available, but you could also order off the daily menu. For dinner, there was no buffet and you would order off the daily menu.

Saigon Lounge:

On the second floor of the ship was the Saigon Lounge. The lounge was used as a meeting place prior to excursions, for briefings on the next day’s activities, drinks before dinner, and entertainment in the evening.

Saigon Lounge
Saigon Lounge

On one of the nights, they had a section of the lounge reserved for passengers that had previously sailed with AmaWaterways. For this little “Welcome Back” party, we were able to order any drink we liked (including premium drinks) and they came around with some hors d’oeuvres.

Welcome back hors d’oeuvres

Snacks and coffee/tea were also available anytime in the lounge (at the far end near the front of the ship).

Tea options
Coffee machine
All day snacks
All day snacks

Chef’s Table:

The other dining option available on the ship was the specialty Chef’s Table restaurant. The Chef’s Table restaurant was only open for dinner and served a set menu with wines selected to go with the meal. The Chef’s Table was free, but you did have to make a reservation as it only seated 28 people at a time. You could make reservations at reception once on board the ship. Since there was a group of us travelling together, our travel agent was able to make a reservation for us a couple months prior to the cruise.

Chef’s table restaurant
Chef’s table menu
Example of menu item at Chef’s Table
Example of menu item at Chef’s Table

The food in both the Mekong Restaurant and the Chef’s Table was delicious. It was like eating at a fine dining restaurant every day. There was always a good selection to choose from and they also had special nights that highlighted the Cambodian or Vietnamese cuise.

The first evening on the ship there was a Welcome Cocktail hour and dinner. And at the end of the cruise was a Captain’s Farewell Cocktail. The rest of the evenings there was a cocktail hour prior to dinner.

Most beverages were complimentary as follows:

  • Unlimited soft drinks, juices, house brand spirits, local beers and coffee and tea anytime during the cruise
  • Unlimited sparkling wine with breakfast
  • Unlimited wine with lunch and dinner
  • Imported wine and premium alcoholic beverages available to purchase at an additional cost

If desired, you could also bring your own alcohol on board. You could even bring your own wine to have with your meal if you wanted. On this particular cruise there wasn’t really much opportunity to purchase any alcohol at most of the stops, but what was served onboard was more than sufficient.

Sun Deck:

On the top deck of the ship was an outdoor lounge area with another bar. During the cruise this is where any yoga/stretching classes were held or any other types of demonstrations. They also had a limited menu at the bar for lunch if you wished to have a light lunch here instead of the dining room.

Sun deck bar and lounge area

On the sun deck there was also a pool and some lounge chairs.

AmaDara pool
Lounge chairs

Ship Amenities:

The ship also provided spa services in rooms on the second and third floors. I never was able to take advantage of the spa because the available spots booked up fast because of the reasonable prices. People that did have spa appointments really enjoyed them.

On the second floor next to the reception desk was a little area that sold gifts. It also sold some school supplies that people could buy for the visit to the elementary school.

There was also a fitness room on the ship, but I don’t think I ever did happen across it.

Excursions:

Excursions were included in the price of the cruise.  For each port, you typically have a choice of 1-2 excursion options.  The excursions are rated on level of difficulty (from 1 to 5), so you know ahead of time how physically active the tour will be.  For example, a walking tour has a difficulty of 2, and a mountain hike has a difficulty of 4 or 5. There were also ‘gentle’ walking tours for those that had more difficulty getting around.

You can pre-select the excursions online after making your final payment, or you can wait until you are onboard. We waited until we were onboard to book our excursions, and other than one tour that had to be booked ahead online, we had no problem getting onto the ones we wanted.

Most of the excursions involved a walking tour, but some involved a bus transfer, tuk tuk ride, trishaw ride and even an oxcart ride. For a few of the stops we were able to just walk right off the ship, but for some of them we had to take a tender to get to shore. Because it was the rainy season, there were always umbrellas and ponchos available to grab on your way out to your excursion. They also provided everyone with a cold bottle of water when leaving for an excursion.

One thing to keep in mind is that this particular cruise isn’t the best for people with mobility issues. There was no elevator on the ship, so you had to take stairs between floors. Getting on and off the tenders was sometimes an issue for some people. And even though there were ‘gentle’ walking versions of some of the excursions, that wasn’t always available for all excursions.

Service:

I can’t say enough about the service we had on the ship. Every staff member we interacted with was friendly and helpful and maybe knew our names by the second day. There were nice touches like being greeted with cold towels when coming back to the ship from an excursion. The staff onboard almost all were Cambodian or Vietnamese and really made the trip that much more special.

Summary:

I had previously cruised with AmaWaterways in 2018 and knew what level of service to expect. The service on this cruise met and exceeded my expectations. The ship gave off an old-world charm and the rooms were spacious and comfortable. The excursions really highlighted the cultures of both Cambodia and Vietnam and allowed a person access to places that a person might not otherwise get to.

I will mention again that this is not a sedentary cruise. There are a lot of activities packed into the itinerary and unlike in Europe, you pretty much need to take an excursion to go see anything once off the ship. The only place a person could go off exploring on their own was in Phnom Penh, since we were docked right in the middle of the city, and it was easy to get a tuk tuk to go places. But a person also saw and did a lot, and it was an experience like no other. I highly recommend visiting this part of the world and AmaWaterways is a great option for doing this.