Pandaw River Cruises and the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company

 

With six luxury ships, Pandaw is the largest river cruise company in South-East Asia. In 1995 we were the first to pioneer and explore the region’s great rivers and their tributaries: the Irrawaddy and Chindwin in Burma, the Mekong  and Tonle Rivers in Cambodia and the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

This year we open new routes on the Ganges in India and the Rajang in Borneo.

These small ships can penetrate remote and otherwise inaccessible areas. Whilst we offer a real adventure experience, travellers are cushioned with incredible  comfort, fine dining, great cocktails and choice wines, not to mention extraordinary levels of service.

Our six boutique ships were built new and designed and finished as replicas of colonial river steamers. These small ships have the highest passenger to space ratio of any ships afloat.

Dining is single sitting with dress smart casual. We also have the highest staff guest ratio of any ship in the world to ensure an incredible level of care.  It is more like being on a 1920s private yacht party than a cruise ship.

The much loved Pandaw staterooms are spacious at 15 square meters.  Finished in traditional marine brass and teak, they have all necessary modcons. All cabins on main and upper decks open onto promenade decks with their own private seating.

A feature of all river cruises is the once or twice daily shore excursions led by expert local guides to explore Buddhist temples, historical sites, markets and handicraft workshops.

The Pandaws have an ultra shallow draft enabling them to moor where other  larger ships could not stop. Inland water navigation in these regions is challenging and the Pandaws have been specially designed to cope with constantly changing river conditions.

Rudyard Kipling based his great poem ‘Road to Mandalay’ on the clunking paddles of Irrawaddy Flotilla Company paddle steamers. Over the past 150 years other poets and writers such as Somerset Maugham and George Orwell have celebrated the company and the river.

Successive Viceroys of India, the Crown Prince of Siam and King Edward VIII as Prince of Wales, are but a few of our former passengers. Today we continue to carry celebrities and royalty, but pride ourselves on treating every passenger the same regardless of fame or rank.

 

What's Included
Cruise Price Includes

Entrance fees, gratuities for crew (only for Mekong cruises, not included in Myanmar cruise prices), guide services (English language), main meals, locally made soft drinks and beers, jugged coffee and selection of teas and tisanes, mineral water. Transfers to and from the ship at the start and end of a voyage are included (except for the cruises mentioned below).  Port dues and taxes for all destinations other than the Mekong

Cruise Price Excludes

International flights, port dues (if levied), laundry, all visa costs, fuel surcharges (see terms and conditions), imported beverages such as wines, premium spirits and liqueurs, fancy soft drinks like Perrier, espressos and cappuccinos at bar. Port dues and taxes on the Mekong.

Mekong Сruise Price Excludes

Hotels, international and domestic flights, laundry, all visa costs, fuel surcharges (see terms and conditions).

Cruise Itineraries

Cambodia / Vietnam                  

Mekong

Myanmar

Golden Land

The Irrawaddy

The Chindwin & Upper Irrawaddy

Road to Mandalay

The Chindwin

Royal Burmah

Malaysia

Borneo

India

Ganges