review of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Trip

SDPA

This trip was disappointing. Not enough time spent sightseeing. Too much time spent traveling and eating. Too many steps to climb in hotels, restaurants and airports. Local guides in Cambodia and Laos hard to understand. Tour of Angkor Wat very disappointing. Only climbed to the tower. Should have spent the time looking at the bas reliefs. In Luang Prabang only allowed shopping on the main street where the prices were the same as in the US. Should instead have taken us to the night market where local goods were sold at very good prices.

susanvivian

I agree with many of your points. This trip was poorly laid out so almost a full day of travel was required for each day of sightseeing. Our trip began during TET so many things were closed. Tauck should not have scheduled a trip at this time. The boat ride to Pnom Phen was scheduled to take 8 hours. This is not clear in the trip description. Ours took 10 hours due to mechanical difficulties. That day was most unpleasant.There was barely any room to move around. The toilet was broken.Our tour director was excellent.I would not recommend this trip.

slw

This information is very disappointing to learn. I am sorry you both came away disappointed from such a highly recommended (by Tauck) trip. We are traveling on the same trip on 3/18/2012. Any highlights at all? Any recommendations on things to avoid or take up with Tauck beforehand? Thank you very much.

susanvivian

these comments are only my feelings regarding my trip. There are many stairs everywhere. I did not find this to be a problem because I am in good health. Re: 8-10 hour speedboat ride-expect a wasted, uncomfortable day. Re: staying at beach resorts-we got to each so late that there was possibly an hour of beach time at dusk. Time spent at Angor Wat is about 2 hours in the late afternoon-very hot and humid. A hightlight was the night spent on the boat in Ha Long bay because it allowed us to see beautiful scenery and to learn about the lives of area fisherman. Luang Prabang was interesting because it is not too touristy yet. Unfortunately, the hotel there is out of town. If you are a shopper, be aware that quality goods cost money and most cheap stuff is not good quality.

Tauck Aaron

Appreciate everyone sharing their concerns. Any time a single guest is not totally satisfied with one of our journeys, we take it very seriously. Rest assured our Trip Managers are on the case and will be looking to make any and all appropriate itinerary changes if necessary. Hope this helps.

slw

Thank you Susan and Aaron. Aaron we hope Tauck takes these comments under serious consideration and makes appropriate itinerary changes. I want to rest assured! I will post a review of our March 2012 trip here, as well as on other travel boards.

Linda9394

Aaron,
I have signed up for this trip in October and hope you have changed the boat trip to Phnom Penh as everyone says it is awful. Has it been changed? Also are you still using le Palais in Luang Prabang? there are so many great hotels such as Le Residence that I hope you will switch hotels. Please let me know about this. I hate to start this exciting trip with negative feelings.

Linda9394

Aaron,
I have signed up for this trip in October and hope you have changed the boat trip to Phnom Penh as everyone says it is awful. Has it been changed? Also are you still using le Palais in Luang Prabang? there are so many great hotels such as Le Residence that I hope you will switch hotels. Please let me know about this. I hate to start this exciting trip with negative feelings.

Tauck Emily

Hello Linda9394,

We have staff on the ground in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the next month or so to go over the entire program and to address some of your concerns. We are working on a solution for the speedboat and looking into several other scenarios that would either eliminate or greatly reduce our boat time. We will also be reviewing all boat options while we are on the ground.

We have had several staff members and of course many guests stay at Palais Juliana and the overall feeling is the majority of people really enjoy the hotel. It provides them with a setting where they can relax and enjoy their surroundings. Laos is just opening up to tourism and we did visit many beautiful hotels but for various reasons they did not meet Tauck's high standards that's why we felt Juliana was our best choice. Again, given the concern that you and others have voiced, we will be conducting full inspection of the hotel as well as revisiting other options.

We will do our utmost to make sure the trip lives up to everyone’s expectations.

Best,
Emily

Tommye Fleming

Emily, Any updates? Wasn't the Tauck visit the end of June? Thanks.

kathleen kee

I'm scheduled to take this tour in November so I'm very interested in the changes that you'll be making to address complaints.

Tauck Emily

Hello Kathleen Lee,

We have made some modifications to the tour, for example deciding to drive from Can Tho to Chau Doc and board the speedboat there rather than taking the speedboat all the way from Can Tho to Phnom Penh. This eliminates about 3 to 4 hours off the speedboat ride.

We will also looking into the possibility of taking our guests back to Saigon and fly from Saigon to Phnom Penh. This would completely eliminate the speedboat.


Hope this helps,
Emily

footsore

Hello, I am making the tour in Nov and An in the process of getting visas. I'd like to know for sure if we're taking the boat to Cambodia and crossing the border on the river or flying in. The e-visa is not usable for the river entry but is for land and airport crossings. Can you give me any information on which entry we'll be making?

Also the visa service company I am using recommended getting the Laos visa at point of arrival at the airport in Luang prabang. It 's 20$ versus 200$ getting beforehand. According to them it's not a big process. Anybody have experience with this?
Footsore

kathleen kee

Thank you, Emily, for responding to concerns about the speedboat. In an earlier post, you indicated that Tauck was also reviewing the Palais Juliana hotel and looking at other options. Has a decision been reached about the Luang Prabang hotel?

Tommye Fleming

We are leaving Jan. 3, 2013 on this trip. Our hotel in Luang Prabang is Le Palais Juliana, So a swith has been made.

laurelhollow

Tauck Emily wrote:

Hello Kathleen Lee,

We have made some modifications to the tour, for example deciding to drive from Can Tho to Chau Doc and board the speedboat there rather than taking the speedboat all the way from Can Tho to Phnom Penh. This eliminates about 3 to 4 hours off the speedboat ride.

We will also looking into the possibility of taking our guests back to Saigon and fly from Saigon to Phnom Penh. This would completely eliminate the speedboat.


Hope this helps,
Emily

Having done this trip last March I would like to cast a vote for at least part of the trip up the Mekong. I thought it was a fascinating trip and really enjoyed seeing the water buffalo being brought down to the river for the washing up. Enjoyed seeing the locals bathing and playing in the river. Enjoyed seeing the scenery - the way the houses were built, the temples that were all along the river, the way the topography changed from Vietnam to Cambodia. Even enjoyed the customs and immigration station. Neat view on the local way of life.

Guess I was with a fairly intrepid crew. Yeah, there were some complaints, but, for the most part, we all took any problems in stride and actually enjoyed some of them.

Even enjoyed the late arrival into Phnom Penh. Would have preferred getting in earlier (we had a problem with one of the boats and spent about two hours in a small village waiting for a replacement. wonderful interaction with the locals) but, the entrance, by way of the river, with the twinkling lights of the city in the distance and coming closer and closer was magical.

mjw

I took the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos trip last March and found it to be excellent in every way. The guide was excellent, and she made it easy for us to make any transitions -- whether it be to river boat, airplane, or van. She also thoroughly explained the day's schedule, alerting us to areas that might be "difficult" (such as the Killing Fields in Cambodia) and some passengers chose to opt out. I thought the city/regional guides were excellent in every respect, and even though I have a hearing problem, I was usually able to understand them all. At one point Tauck provided audio receivers for all participants in an area where it was particularly noisy and guides would have been difficult to hear. I hope such aids could be added to other tours as they are a real boon to those of us with hearing problems. The hotels were world class in every respect, service was excellent, and food was terrific. The exotic buffet breakfasts were almost overwhelming -- both western and eastern food available, and with many choices in each category. In the hotel in Vietnam I believe there were 15 choices of various juices for tasting. [Don't hestitate to sample the sapsour juice.]
I found the trip lived up to its publicity in every way and it is a tribute to the company that it can do so.

NorahKat

I took the Vietnam trip last month. I visited Hanoi, Sapa and Ninh Binh. The weather is a little bit annoying but the sightseeing was wonderful and the foods were great.

thewings

Do you have any information about entertainment and stress cuisine in Halong City? I want to discovery traditional culture like this.

TauckTim

Hi thewings,

Your TD should be able to make recommendations for you, based on their honest opinion and guidance. And since they've generally been through those cities dozens if not hundreds of times, they tend to have good ideas.

-Tim

sherry_schare

TauckTim wrote:

Hi thewings,

Your TD should be able to make recommendations for you, based on their honest opinion and guidance. And since they've generally been through those cities dozens if not hundreds of times, they tend to have good ideas.

-Tim

I would very much like to hear from one of the tour directors of this trip. We are thinking of doing this next spring. This would be our fifth Tauck trip and it was very disconcerting to read some of the negative comments listed here. There is one (obviously disgruntled) traveler who didn't like anything, and I have discounted that review totally because it is so out of line with our positive experiences. But several other travelers have raised issues of concern for us.

One of the tour directors mentioned (favorably) was our tour director in China 5 years ago, and we would love to take another of his tours. We also think he might be a good resource because he is generally right on the money in his descriptions of travel days, health concerns and lodging.

We will definitely plan to take another Tauck trip next spring. The only dilemma is which one to choose. You can email me at sschare@aol.com Sherry

KathleenDuley

I am a travel agent who is contemplating putting a group together for this tour for the fall of 2015. I am quite distressed to see the many negative comments. It is a costly trip for my clients, and I am planning on giving part of my commission as a discount to the clients who will be traveling. Therefore, it is a huge loss of money for all of us if this trip is a disappointment. I would very much like to see some recent reviews of this trip. Thank you for any help you can give me in making my decision to offer this tour. Thank you!

AlanS

travelagent wrote:

I am a travel agent who is contemplating putting a group together for this tour for the fall of 2015. I am quite distressed to see the many negative comments. It is a costly trip for my clients, and I am planning on giving part of my commission as a discount to the clients who will be traveling. Therefore, it is a huge loss of money for all of us if this trip is a disappointment. I would very much like to see some recent reviews of this trip. Thank you for any help you can give me in making my decision to offer this tour. Thank you!

Most of those reviews are from 2012. Hopefully, those who have taken this trip more recently will weigh in.