Pandaw River Cruises

River Cruises

Family Cruises

Romantic Cruises

Senior Cruises

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Asia River

Asia

Vietnam River

Vietnam

Very Good

Excellent

Mekong Pandaw

Katha Pandaw

RV Kalaw Pandaw

Pandaw II

Angkor Pandaw

Kindat Pandaw

Kalay Pandaw

Tonle Pandaw

We have been on eight Pandaw cruises so far and are trying to do a river cruise alternately with ocean cruises. Pandaw is pioneering cruises to places where no one else goes and that’s my kind of stuff: I‘m sick and tired of the run-of-the mill touristic „offerings“ that are the same with all operators on the same routes.

This is where Pandaw delivers, also in Vietnam.

The cruise starts at Halong Bay, which has been hugely commercialized over the last few years. Already here Pandaw did a clever thing: By setting a route that bypasses the masses. Going up the Red River and the Black River gives an insight into true Vietnam. The day going through the vast harbour area of Haiphong might be a bit boring and the widespread dredging in the rivers, which will ultimately  lead to erosion and extinction of river-life, saddening. The cultural events and the multitude of artisans visited on the shore excursions were just great.

On board there was the typical Pandaw offering: Breakfast and Lunch buffets with table service for dinners. A good choice of western and local dishes and all with attentive service.

The cabins on Pandaw, although called „state rooms“ are in fact cabins as you would have had them in colonial times, think „Teak and Brass“.

Discovering remote areas of Vietnam

New York (Manhattan)

Joined the ship in Saigon for a 3 night / 4 day cruise to Phnom Penh. Cost was approximately £500 (GBP) per night for a double cabin. Passengers met for registration at the Intercontinental Asiana in Saigon. It was disappointing that Pandaw did not arrange for coffee to be available during what turned out to be a 2 hour wait for transport to the ship. Not a good first impression.
That said, instead of the expected 2 hour bus ride to My Tho on the Mekong delta to meet the ship we had a 10 minute ride to Saigon Port and the bonus of an extra half day on the water as we proceeded down the Saigon River to the Mekong delta from there. This included a spectacular sunset.
The ship itself is very beautiful and well maintained. There are 16 double cabins - and our cruise had 28 passengers. All were middle aged (or older) Europeans, Australians or Canadians. The atmosphere was friendly and enjoyable throughout with free seating at meals and all local beers and spirits included. Cabins are spacious and the bathrooms amazingly large and functional with an excellent shower. Without exception, the staff are wonderful.
On the downside, the excursions and the food were slightly disappointing, especially given the price paid for what is classed as a "top of the range" cruise. The fact that the cruise took place during the lunar New Year (Tet) meant that the river was not its normal bustling self and the floating market had everything except any floating markets!! The excursions ashore were not particularly interesting (and not as advertised) - again maybe due to Tet - though it was always good to get off the ship and stretch ones legs for a couple of hours. The food was OK but nothing to write home about - interestingly we had much better on a 1 night cruise in Halong Bay (which cost half as much per night). We also thought it slightly mean that a "house wine" could not be provide for dinner.
All-in-all a very enjoyable experience, though a little expensive for what it was. For us, 3 nights was certainly enough.

Good but could be better

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