05. Seabourn Vietnam

Vietnam may seem like an intimidating prospect for a vacation destination – turn on the TV and we still see gun-toting soldiers sailing up the Mekong Delta looking for Charlie – even though the war’s been over for more than 30 years! It’s too bad we’ve been tainted by war movies; today, Vietnam's doors are wide open to tourists, and we found it to be one of the most welcoming and exciting countries to visit in Asia.

With a landscape that varies drastically from North to South, cruising Vietnam is the ideal way to experience the many sides of the country. It’s a long and narrow country, with a very long shoreline, so even ‘inland’ destinations are surprisingly accessible from ports - from the hauntingly beautiful Halong Bay in the North, to the central city of Hoi An where craftspeople carry on centuries' old traditions, to the fascinating chaos of Ho Chi Minh City in the South. Cruising offers a way to see each of these places in one trip, something that could take a lot more time and effort to do by land. And because we sailed on the Yachts of Seabourn, we could sail right into the heart of places like Ho Chi Minh city, where large ships have to stay out at sea and bus their passengers in.

Best of all, Seabourn’s obsession with quality extends from its 6-star ship experience to its superb shore tours. Through our friends at Seabourn, we were introduced to the delightful Mr. Anh, owner of Viet Excursions, who organized all our Vietnam adventures. Admittedly, the Ship2Shore film crew got special treatment - he personally met us at every port of call to make sure our plans went smoothly! But he runs a tight ship at Viet Excursions, and everyone we encountered from his company was knowledgeable, professional and helpful. Great ship’s crew and great tour guides make for great cruise vacations, and these are among the best we've worked with!

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