Would like to hear from people who have taken these river dinner cuises. Pearl of Siam, Loy Nava Rice Barge, etc.
How was the food and what was provided- set menu or buffet.
How was the boat- open air or closed/ac
Music/entertainment?
Cost?
Anything else you would add.

Hi,
We have been on the pearl of siam twice.Both times were great,although the first was more exciting and romantic ,as we sat on the top deck,and ate our meal outside by candle light.Unfortunatly it was raining in April this year when we went again.The food is really good,all buffet,and the male singer is excellant.You can get up and dance on the way back if you feel like it.Seeing the temples all lit up is lovely.The dinner cruise was one of our highlights of Bangkok.
sue

Bill,
We just returned from attending our son's wedding in Bangkok and as a surprise for our own anniversary he booked us on the Loy Nava Rice Barge. We saw other dinner cruises float buy and they were all on much larger boats and did not seem as romantic or intimate. The rice barge has about 8-10 tables and offers a choice of fixed Thai, fish or vegetarian meals. The barge is open on the sides for a clear view of the sites but completely covered and they have plastic wind screens available if a storm brews up. They greet you with a Thai hand sprinkling and Jasmine bouquet which you place on a lotus flower at your table - what a great start. It was a truly beautiful experience!
We chose both the Thai and fish dinners and were not disappointed. They provided two Thai dancers and live Thai music throughout the cruise.

Except for the wedding itself this was one of the highlights of our two weeks in Thailand.

They have a website you can do a google search.


.

Hi

I am really interested in doing this when we visit Bangkok next February. I have checked out the website and it doesn't have any prices - does anyone know how much this is please? I did notice that they offer a 20% discount if you make a reservation by e-mail

Thanks

Cathy

I believe the cost is about 920 baht p.p. without wine or beer. Quite reasonalbe considering the ambience and quality of the food.

Have a great time.

This is another option.

Oriental Hotel has day trips starting from the hotel, but available to everybody. The bus portion takes you to the ancient ruins of the old capital city of Ayutthaya, with 2 other temple stops. In the early afternoon, you board a boat for the return trip to Bangkok(about 3.5 hours). There is a wonderful buffet lunch served(included in the price), and a great bar(extra). You get a wonderful view of the busy river life as you make your way back to the Oriental hotel. I paid 1600 Baht(about $40) couple of weeks ago. The bus is a top of the line Mercedes with A/C and a wonderful guide, who talks about life in Thailand in general inbetween the stops. He was very knowledgeable about Thai history and the 'little' stories that you don't hear anywhere else. The boat is also A/C in the dining room, and has wonderful open decks in front, top, and the back.

Highly recommended. No need to make res till you're in BKK. Have your hotel concierge make res, once you decide on the day. The tour starts at 8am and the boat docks back at the Oriental at 5pm.
I heard they do this trip in reverse, but I would take the bus first and the boat return. It gets hot in the afternoon, so you don't want to walk around temples at that time.

We took the Loy Nava and thought it was a fun experience. We had the seafood and vegetarian dinners and honestly weren't impressed with the food. The veg dinner consisted mostly of fake fish, meat, etc, made from veg protein. It was way more food than we could eat. The Thai dancers and music were really nice and the boat is beautiful.

AAFrequentFlyer - A recent post said that the Oriental has discontinued the day trip to Ayutthaya. Perhaps others can shed some light on this.

Craig,

I just did this 2 weeks ago, so I don't know what to tell you. There were only 9 people on the bus, but a family of 6 or 7 joined us for the boat trip coming of what seemed to be a private tour of the temples in a mini-van.

Andy - Thanks much for the post on the Tour/Cruise!! It sounds like that would be a great thing to do on my upcoming MR in February!

Hope all is well....Best wishes, Dave