hybrn8

We did one of these a few years ago with LocaBoat Plaisance...

Great fun going about at your own pace. This type of river/canal vacation is really popular with Europeans. We were on Canal Midi rather than big river which would have stressec us.

Did a Viking Christmas market cruise a few years ago and, while enjoyable, we had two unexpected surprises. The first was low water so we berthed in Passau for several nights. Viking did a fine job busing folks to the sights but we opted to do our own thing. Second surprise was ship cruised at night so being able to visit markets in the dark limited til time after we scrapped bottom and stopped. Then, we just hopped train and found smaller towns to visit. Great!

So, this past Dec. several of us took a wonderful Gate 1 coach tour from Munich that gave us the chance to enjoy ten markets, mostly at night; it was a very good trip. Check it out.

Suggest you surf over to tripadvisor Bangkok forum and acquaint yourself on taxis, tuk tuks, Grand Palace scams and other useful topics. I am a frequent visitor to Bangkok and recommend as much research as possible.

The Grand Palace is quite a long way from drop off stop and there is no public transport directly to it (besdes buses which are very confusing), if Asia Hotel I googled is correct it is nearish the very bustlng Sukhumvit Rd.

I would probably try to find a driver/guide to meet you at hotel and there are several on the tripadvisor site who get high marks. I have used Mr. Mana a few times and he is great....prompt, kind, etc.

Why don't some of you folks try one of the smaller ships which offer open seating whenever and wherever you want to eat? There are so many other things to recommend this type of cruising but mealtimes is one of the main reasons I will not cruise on any ship with more than 300 passengers. By the way, small ships are not necessarily more costly than the biggies......