Tour Review: Chao Phraya Princess II Cruise

TRAVEL DATE: January 29, 2018

THE FEE: Php 1,550.57 per person (via Klook). Children under 5 ride for free 🙂

THE ROUTE: River City to Rama VIII Bridge and back

Photo courtesy of Chao Phraya Princess Cruise

THE DURATION: 2 hours (7:30-9:30 PM)

THE FEATURES: We were assigned to board the Chao Phraya Princess Cruise 2 ship, which is 10 meters wide and 55 meters long. According to their website, it has a capacity of 300 passengers: 180 seats in the upper deck (open air) and 120 seats in the lower deck (air-conditioned). I was not able to take a picture of the ship’s facade and interiors but the pictures below taken from their website are pretty accurate:

THE REVIEW: The boarding was chaotic! There were other cruise ships operating in River City and I guess they had the same boarding time as ours so it was really disorganized. The terminals were not enough to accommodate all the cruise ships. I think our cruise line was the most disorganized since passengers of three Chao Phraya Princess Cruise ships had to go to one terminal at the same time. Three ships of Chao Phraya Princess were lined side by side and we had to pass through two other ships to get to ours. No staff was assigned to help direct the many passengers rushing to get to their respective ships. When we arrived at our ship, we were led to our table. When we finally arrived at our table, to our surprise, a group was already occupying our assigned table. Though they were politely asked to move to their own table, this would not have happened if the staff were attentive.

The ship had two levels and each level had its own buffet table and band. The queue for the buffet was long. The food was just okay. Nothing special. There were also two Thai ladies dressed in their national costume moving from table to table, asking passengers if they want pictures with them. They will give you a printed copy of your picture in a frame for 200 THB, but it’s okay if you don’t want to accept the picture. Some passengers danced while the band played lively music. We just stayed in our table and enjoyed the view.

Pros: You get to see the Royal Grand Palace Wat Pra Kaew, Wat Arun (The Temple of the Dawn), Bangkhunprom Palace, Kanlayanamitr Temple, and the Rama VIII Bridge at night.

Cons: Chaotic embarkment, food was so-so, I’m not sure how they deal with bad weather.