dogster

Damn - Marija has found out my secret. But I have confessed to this before... Dogster is the Ghost Who Walks. He has many guises. He may be sitting next to you, right now.

However, before all of you get excited, I have to record a possible glitch in the plans to unmask me. Dogster, his leg, September and the doctor may yet collide. Things are not tremendously good, as I speak.

Tangata may be Dogless. Dog may be Tangless. It's impossible to know. Kismet.

Kathie

Dogster, that would be a pity if your leg keeps you from the Ganges. Take care of yourself- and tell your doctor to get you cured (I was going to say fixed, but thought better of it) by September.

Marija

Sorry you're not on all fours yet. Surely you know that what's broken in India must be fixed in India...

Have you seen the palanquins in the museum at the fort in Jodhpur? Just an idea.

Tangata

What a waste if the Dog can't make it; I have been broadcasting warnings to everyone! I think he just concerned about being exposed!

Incidentally I checked on the revamped Pandaw site after I made my last post and I see that they are now charging a premium for a cabin on the top deck.

Tangata

For clarity and to avoid any confusion, I am NOT volunteering to handle one end of a palanquin so that the Dog can recline at his ease!

MaryW

Oh Tangata - really couldn't you just lift one corner!

Dog - sorry to hear the hind leg is still giving you trouble .

Marija - Your probably right but just in case he does make the trip, the addition of Mitch to give an unbiased report would be useful - he'd probably enjoy himself too.

Femi

Here's a warning from the Pandaw website which I don't remember seeing before:

River Conditions Warning: the Rajang River is unlike the other great rivers Pandaw navigates which have seasonal rises and falls of water level. On the Rajang water levels can change dramatically overnight at any time of year. A sudden rise can impede our progress upstream considerably. A sudden fall can result in our being unable to get into certain places or go as far upstream as we would hope. Either way itineraries are subject to sudden changes and passengers are asked to be flexible and patient. River cruising on the Rajang is a dramatic and exciting experience - not like cruising the controlled waterways of Europe or America. Note also this is our first season of operation in an area that has no tourism infrastructure at all. As a result local services and suppliers, like boats, buses and guides, can be erratic to say the least. Be prepared for this and it is all more the fun!

Tangata

I've seen that femi, but only I think since our return.

However a brochure I received in April stated:

River and Local Conditions

Every river expedition we run can be a pioneering experience. Every cruise may promise a first with an unexpected adventure. We are subject to ever changing river conditions varying from flood waters to treacherous shallows. We work in ‘transitional countries’ and in some cases the government is non-democratic, Communist and in other places non existent. We can be at the mercy of unscrupulous local officials and delayed by extortionist bureaucracy. Passengers should have read and understood our standard terms and conditions of carriage in which we emphasise the expeditionary nature of these cruises. Please note that itineraries are indicative and for general guidance purposes only. Changes to an itinerary and schedule are quite normal on a Pandaw river expedition. We do make sure that if we miss anything we will make up for it. Passengers who are unable to adapt to the suspense and excitements of such a river journey should probably not book a Pandaw cruise. Real travellers, who truly relish the unexpected, and find such experiences enriching, are very much wanted on board!

somersault

From what I have read above it would seem that Paul, the owner of Pandaw, has nutured what I will call the Pandaw Mystique, to cover any change of plans which may occur during one of his river cruises. He milked this to the limit on the maiden voyage of the Orient Pandaw up the Rajang River. In an entertaining talk on how the Pandaw cruises came into being he kept referring to the flexibility and hardy nature of Pandaw passengers when trips have gone array. He subtly inferred that we, like Pandaw passenger before us, were dealing with the unexpected happenings of the maiden voyage with true grit, flexibility and philosophical humour. Running aground, storms and so on seem to be part of the Pandaw experience but on this voyage it was not the vagaries of the weather but poor planning that was the cause of the chaotic on land component of the trip. In three words "They rushed it". The forward planning for this new route was not sufficient, the communication on board was poor and so it turned into a comedy of errors on many attempts to get ashore and see what we had been told we would see . The marketing department are now doing double somersaults to cover their tracks, referring to the second trip " as much improved" etc. Well the boat is great, the staff are great, the guides are great I enjoyed the food too but if you are thinking of going on this cruise I'd give it 6 or so trips to iron out the bugs and don't pay any attention to all the stuff about wilderness and nature. This is a busy working river and is interesting for that and its reverine communities but wilderness it aint!. Could Pandaw perhaps have fallen prey to its own mystique? I thought it was only Aussies who used the term "aw she'll be right" . Not surprisingly Paul left the maiden cruise halfway through without saying goodbye to his bemused passengers......

LAleslie

Well, thank goodness for boards like this one to get the real story. Actually, all travel companies sell "mystique." At least Pandaw forewarns the potential sissies! Tangata re-drummed into my head one thing: Beware maiden voyages. And I appreciate finding out this ain't really a wilderness trip.

Tawtha

Great report Tangata. I would though add that the team on board were fantastic and really worked hard to make the most of, for them, a very trying voyage.

They were constantly let down by local suppliers of boats and other services and really tried their best to keep things on the tracks. The very notion of an advance itinerary for a maiden voyage in a totally undeveloped (for tourism) area is a bit of a joke.

Those on board who thought that this trip would be like other well oiled Pandaw cruises were inevitably in for a shock and should not have booked the trip. Having said that, Pandaw should have made it clearer that things rarely turn out as expected on a maiden voyage and discouraged the likes of Tangata from coming. I hope that he is not going on the Indian maiden voyage as he will be in for a far worse shock there!

The food was bad but the ship great and the river truly beautiful. It will not take much to get this cruise up to speed and Pandaw have appointed an Australian expedition manager who is developing the excursions. They have also ordered their own speed boat so they can go further up river and not be let down by local suppliers. However for the Old Pandaw hands used to the cultural riches of Burma or Cambodia they are in for an anticlimax. There are no Pagans or Angkor Wats up the Rajang - just a whole load of jungle.

I happen to know the real reason why Paul got off half way. He was down with suspected Swine Flue and had to get off for obvious reasons. Forunately no one else on board went down with it. He did the right thing getting off when he did and did not panic people by telling them he was unwell. Paul returned to the UK and was out of action for a month, at one point hospitalised with suspected phneumonia. I think if Tangata knew the whole story he would not have been so harsh.

Tangata

As I said a few posts above this one, we will be on the maiden cruise on the Ganges; we arranged for our Visas this morning.

I don't believe any of us expected the trip to be without hic-cups, but one "dry" run and that without the Captain!

I don't think India can shock me, I have spent too long there, but maybe Pandaw can!

Tangata

Well guess what? Pandaw has shocked me!

My Travel agent has just forwarded the following to me:

Dear XXXXX,

We would like to offer Mr XXXXXX and his partner Ms XXXXX a full refund as we do not wish them to join this cruise.

During the recent Rajang voyage Mr XXXXX proved a disruptive influence on the other passengers, inciting them against the Pandaw team who were trying so hard to take care of them in very trying circumstances. Since his return Mr XXXXX has posted a number of highly critical travelogues on the internet which really have been very unpleasant and done our reputation
serious damage.

We fear he will make similar trouble on the next maiden voyage - indeed the main reason why he seems to join our cruises is to cause dissent and make trouble. The Pandaw team are operating under great stress on these inaugural cruises and the last thing they need is someone stirring other passengers up against them. Mr XXXXX's attitude is quite at variance with the Pandaw
ethos and we would not accept him on another of our cruises.

Sorry but the decision is final.

I understand that you may have misgivings about other XXXX Travel pax booked on this cruise and would be happy to offer refunds to them too.

All regards,

Paul Strachan
Pandaw Cruises

This thread is the only one that I have posted on regarding this trip.

So, sorry Dogster we won’t be meeting.

We join our Travel Agent in the elite list of people banned from Pandaw; he had the temerity to advertise other cruises as well as Pandaw – though he gave them top billing.

No prizes for guessing who Tawtha is!

Having cruised the Mekong, the Chindwin, the Irrawaddy and the Rajang with Pandaw we were looking forward to the Rajang, but who needs this level of paranoia?

Tangata

I hate this board that doesn't allow an edit.

I mean of course that we were looking forward to the Ganges.

Tawtha

Surprise, surprise Tangata. Do you really think any cruise line would carry you a second time after all you have said and done?

thursdaysd

Wow, that's a remarkably vitriolic response to what seemed like a pretty straightforward piece of description (NOT "a number of highly critical travelogues"). Were you stirring up rebellion in the ranks and not telling us about it, Tangata?

"after all you have said and done" - more than he's written here? Because this really looks like over-reaction.

Maiden voyage glitches are one thing, kicking someone off a paid-for cruise is quite another. Not at all a good advert for this line.

Kathie

Wow, this is quite shocking. Pandaw feels its reputation is so fragile that a single thread about glitches on a maiden voyage causes them to ban Tangata? And I love "Tawtha's" comment "Do you really think any cruise line would carry you a second time after all you have said and done?" given that Tangata has cruised with Pandaw quite a number of times already.

I've just crossed Pandaw off my list.

Kathie

(Take a deep breath, Kathie, and try to write a reponse that might actually be helpful rather than merely reactive.)

Paul, I'm sure I was not the only regular who suspected your identity when I read your initial response to Tangata's report. At the time, I thought it was unfortunate that your response was a bit defensive and had a bit of hostility to it. I didn't see Tangata's report as being all that negative. It was a maiden voyage, after all. Had your response - in your own name - been gracious, a sort of "even Pandaw didn't fully anticipate the complications of doing a cruise on the Rejang" sort of response, I would have felt like Pandaw was, indeed, a class act.

There have been other companies on occasion who have responded to a detailed report of a trip gone awry with information and a gracious attitude, and I've marked those companies as ones I'd be willing to do business with.

The regulars here are a well-traveled bunch. We know that if we opt to travel there will be things that go wrong. We can keep a trip that begins with a comedy of errors from going totally off track by being flexible, adjusting our plans and our expectations. Hearing about a cruise or a hotel or a restaurant that has a bumpy start doesn't scare off seasoned travelers. Indeed, some people like the maiden voyage, the adventure the "roughing it." Others like to read about that, but go when things are more polished.

By kicking Tangata off your next cruise, you've not only lost a regular cruise passenger, you've lost people like myself who have tried several times to fit a Pandaw cruise into my itinerary and planned to do so in the future.

Tangata

"Surprise, surprise Tangata. Do you really think any cruise line would carry you a second time after all you have said and done?"

Read your first post Tawtha, you said it was a great report! Why the change of mind?

I've read through this thread and I don't think there is anything in it detrimental to Pandaw, if anything the opposite. When things went wrong I was at pains to stress that things would improve and I twice praised the professionalism of the crew.

"Somersault" was also positive in her comments, although I suspect that she was the lady who almost fell out of the small boat and would not venture onto them again.

travelaw

Tangata, Pandaw's banning of you, merely for posting your reactions and comments on this forum, is outrageous. It gives me serious cause to reconsider ever taking one of their cruises, which was on my to do list for the near future. This is truly unfortunate, and certainly not a way to treat paying clients.