Juliana

Jun 8, 2023

Once in a life time trip….

Unfortunately, it wasn't this time around. We booked this Scenic Grand Indochina and Luxury Mekong cruise months in advance, expecting a month-long of oriental charm and culture. It turned out a bureaucratic script, too rushed and with several unplanned and unpleasant situations. It started with a total lack of information and interactivity on the Scenic site. We didn't get the booking details and summary a week before the cruise started, and they changed the final flight schedule, which means our post-cruise private arrangement had to be adjusted as well. Stress!! During the arrangement, we had another huge delay, waiting hours in the airport of Hanoi, due to a mistake made by the Scenic main office, which just forgot to inform the tour director of the changed airline schedule. And, a third change of route this time, when we had to end up in Vientiane for a night instead of flying directly to Luang Prabang in Laos. This last change in the airline company triggered several unpleasant situations and confusions, like less allowed luggage, which nobody knew to inform in advance and the tour director did not have the expertise to deal with. We experienced this confusion on the way from Cambodia to Laos, as well as from Laos to Thailand. Propeller planes instead of jets, less allowed weight and no previous information. The local guide asked us not to worry because "he knew the guys at the airport" (!!!) and the tour director again looked with “no expertise” to solve the situation. Of the seven hotels we stayed in during this trip three were what we expected and what the company was selling us. The other three were beyond our expectations, and one was beyond any expectation or common sense possible. This last one was in Vientiane, Laos, which was not on our schedule; we just got there by a last-minute change of route. And last, but not least, the Halong Bay boat was far from a five-star experience. Closer to a 2-3 star, not very clean, poor quality food and drinks. Unbelievable choice of accommodation and some of the restaurants considering what we paid for the arrangement. The Scenic Spirit is a nice and comfortable boat, one of the pleasant experiences of this rather “adventurous” trip. Well-sized cabins, nicely decorated interiors and professionally managed by the Hungarian cruise director. The scenery around is not really wow, nor pulsating life and energy. After 25 days of traveling around old Indochina, we remember an interesting traditional dinner in Hue, the old imperial capital of Vietnam, and the gala dinner at the ruins of Prasat Kravan temple in Angkor Wat. Of course the Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi and the Killing Fields in Cambodia are very interesting sights. The rest faded away amid (many, very) early wake-up calls to start the activities, lots of them rather uninteresting, repetitive, or accompanied by less prepared guides. Heard lots of political nonsense chat about the region’s actual situation from most of the guides and the tour director; and very little historical art, political, and religious erudite knowledge. We did not have the energy anymore at the end of the trip, neither physical nor mental, to participate in the dawn ritual of the local monks in Luang Prabang to collect their daily alms. And this was one of the main highlights of this trip. Everybody was exhausted, nobody else from the group volunteered to participate and we gave up as well. Pathetic end of a long-awaited trip, with no goodbyes and a bitter aftertaste. Scenic never again, no cost benefit, no client value.