Tag Archives: Pandaw River Expeditions’

Pandaw to introduce Ganges cruise in 2015

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Pandaw River Expeditions is introducing a new river cruise for 2015 on India’s Ganges and Hooghly rivers on the 40-passenger Rajmahal.

The 16-day itinerary will begin with a three-night land tour from Varanasi to Patna. Passengers will embark the Rajmahal in Patna on day four of the itinerary and sail toward Kolkata. A detailed itinerary can be found here. There is one Pandaw departure of this cruise scheduled for Oct. 27.

The Rajmahal was built in Kolkata in 2013 and features climate-controlled staterooms with en suite bathrooms as well as in-room refrigerators and coffee and tea makers. The onboard restaurant will serve Western and Indian cuisines. There is also a spa on the main deck, a sun deck with open and shaded lounge chairs and a small library and saloon.

The cruise price includes an airport transfer in Varanasi, all meals during the cruise, excursions, port fees and government taxes, porterage, English-speaking tour guides, drip coffee and tea, bottled water, a cruise director and crew gratuities. It excludes laundry, visas, drinks, fuel surcharges and gratuities for local guides and drivers.

Pandaw River Expeditions' 40-passenger Rajmahal will sail a 16-day itinerary on India’s Ganges and Hooghly rivers.
Pandaw River Expeditions’ 40-passenger Rajmahal will sail a 16-day itinerary on India’s Ganges and Hooghly rivers.

No vacancies? River ships offer to pick up the slack

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By Michelle Baran

Insight Hotel room availability an issue? Try a river cruise! That’s the marketing approach some river cruise companies are taking in places like Brazil and Myanmar where demand is outpacing hotel capacity.

For the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil this summer, Amazon River cruise specialist Rainforest Cruises has introduced five-day Manaus World Cup Amazon cruises to correspond with the World Cup matches taking place in the Amazonian city of Manaus. For $1,999 per person, based on double occupancy, passengers will cruise onboard the 24-passenger Iracema, which launched in March 2011, or the 24-passenger Victoria Amazonica, which launched in 2000.

There will be four World Cup soccer matches played in Manaus — including USA vs. Portugal on June 22 — which has a new, 42,618-seat stadium to accommodate the fans. MichelleBaran

“With that in mind and with excitement building, hotels in Manaus are likely to book up far in advance,” Rainforest Cruises told travelers in a recent release promoting its World Cup cruises.

The Rainforest Cruises World Cup itineraries are designed so that the vessels will be docked in town during the matches and sailing through the Brazilian Amazon the remaining days.

It’s not the first time a river cruise line has offered up its available capacity, however big or small, to alleviate a capacity crunch on land. There’s a similar situation taking place in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), where river cruise companies are racing to build overnight passenger vessels that can serve as an alternative to a hotel infrastructure that isn’t ready for the country’s massive increase in tourists.

Consequently, Haimark Ltd. is introducing a 56-passenger river cruise vessel in Myanmar this September; Pandaw River Expeditions will launch two additional 40-passenger river cruise vessels in Myanmar this July; Sanctuary Retreats will launch the 48-passenger Sanctuary Ananda in Myanmar later this year; and AmaWaterways is launching the 56-passenger AmaPura there this year, as well.

And thus, a hotel capacity challenge becomes a river cruise opportunity.

Pandaw river ship sinks

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By Michelle Baran

Pandaw River Expeditions’ Saigon Pandaw sank last week while being towed, a representative of Pandaw confirmed.

The 60-passenger Saigon Pandaw launched in 2012 and was sailing the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia. It was being repositioned to Myanmar when it sank.

Pandaw said that the company is still investigating the cause, but that early reports indicate that strong winds were to blame. There were no deaths or injuries, as the vessel was being towed as cargo without any crew onboard.

For the remainder of the season, Pandaw is going to deploy the 10-passenger Kalay Pandaw in Myanmar, a vessel that launched in 2013.

Pandaw has two additional 40-passenger river cruise vessels launching in Myanmar in July, the Kindat Pandaw and the Kalaw Pandaw, on which the company plans to accommodate passengers affected by the loss of the Saigon Pandaw.

“Our reservation and sales team is working to shift all bookings and if necessary to offer alternatives,” the company said.

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection had previously chartered the Saigon Pandaw as the River Saigon, but the company now exclusively sells the 60-passenger River Orchid for Mekong cruises. The River Orchid launched last January.