Bangkok - Klong Toey

[mjz]

We're sailing on an Azamara Quest charter cruise departing Hong Kong March 30th. We arrive in Bangkok on April 5th at 12pm and depart Bangkok on April 6th at 4pm. With that said, would be better off booking a hotel room in the middle of the action to maximize our time? We have a ton of hotel points, so could do so for free. Thoughts?

[bronte2]

We're sailing on an Azamara Quest charter cruise departing Hong Kong March 30th. We arrive in Bangkok on April 5th at 12pm and depart Bangkok on April 6th at 4pm. With that said, would be better off booking a hotel room in the middle of the action to maximize our time? We have a ton of hotel points, so could do so for free. Thoughts?

 

Klong Toey isn't really close to anything much and BKK traffic is awful so it sounds like quite a good idea if you don't mind foregoing a night on the Quest!

Even though there is a freeway from near the port into the city, you still have to arrange a cab etc I think the trip takes about 20 minutes depending on traffic (someone may like to correct this as I didn't really time the drive).

I didn't meet anyone on our cruise who stayed in the city as we had a bit longer there than your cruise, but it would sure maximise your time in this fascinating city.

 

Have a great time!

[alidor]

We were on the Jan 9 sailing and we did this and were so glad we did. Although Klong Toey isn't that far from the city, we just wanted a more relaxing time here and a bit more time to enjoy it. As a bonus, what we did was very similar to what the cruise was offering but lower in price and we got to do what we wanted when we wanted to do it.

 

We booked a dinner cruise the first night through the Shangri-La hotel and stayed there. It is a beautiful hotel, right on the river and it was a great place. There are lower price hotels and dinner cruises available, but we wanted this one. By the way, this turned out to be the exact same price as the dinner cruise offered by the ship, but for the same amount, we got to stay overnight in town. Taking a cab from the port to the hotel was no problem and although I don't remember the cost, it was very reasonable and took about 20 minutes.

 

For the next day, we arranged a day tour with Bangkok Day Tours and they were very good. We had them pick up us up at the hotel and we toured the reclining Budha, had a massage at the 200 year old massage school on the same premises ($11.00 US for one hour!!!), did a long tail boat ride on the river, had lunch, did the Grand Palace, even stopped at a local McDonalds because I like to see how they tweak their menus for their different locations, and got dropped off at the ship. Other people may want to include shopping, etc., change it around, but since we were limited, we chose the basics. The tour company will work with your schedule and your desires.

 

There was just my husband and I and I believe it was about $250 for the 2 of us, which was the same price the ship was charging for a very similar tour, but we did it on our timetable, rested when we wanted, lingered when we wanted, etc. If you have more people, it would work out less per person.

 

The van they had was in tip-top shape.

 

We are very glad we did this on our own in Bangkok - just a way to experience a lot more, often at a better cost, and do what you want to do.

 

We did do the 4 hour ship tour in Cambodia and I'm glad we did. We saw things on that we probably would not have seen had we done that on our own.

 

Hope this helps --

[Jade13]

 

 

We booked a dinner cruise the first night through the Shangri-La hotel and stayed there. It is a beautiful hotel, right on the river and it was a great place. There are lower price hotels and dinner cruises available, but we wanted this one. By the way, this turned out to be the exact same price as the dinner cruise offered by the ship, but for the same amount, we got to stay overnight in town. Taking a cab from the port to the hotel was no problem and although I don't remember the cost, it was very reasonable and took about 20 minutes.

 

 

-

 

Did you like the cruise? We are booked and understand it is 2,300 Baht pp, but only includes coffee and tea. Do you recall the drink prices, and specifically the colas? We were just told they were at hotel rates. Although we will pay for the cruise by credit card, we want to pay cash for any bar drinks.

 

Thanks.

[alidor]

It was nice - the weather was very pleasant and it was an enjoyable evening. The buffet was mainly Thai dishes with some basic American things like a chicken dish, a potato dish. There was enough to go around and they replenished dishes as needed.

 

I don't remember what the drinks were but I thought they were high. I ordered a ginger ale and thought for what it was, it was overpriced.

 

I think the dinner cruise is one of the nicest ones. We saw many going up and down the river and it seemed like a lot of them had music and dancing but were loud - more for a younger crowd.

 

There is an outdoor bar right by the dock at the Shangri-la and we had a drink there before boarding the dinner boat. It was really nice out and it was a great spot to watch the river traffic (lots of river traffic!).

[shepsm001]

If you have a ton of points then use them. If you want something different then get out of town for the day. We rode elephants, played with tigers (not literally) and stood on the Bride over the river Kwai during that time. All in all something not to be forgotten.

[Jade13]

It was nice - the weather was very pleasant and it was an enjoyable evening. The buffet was mainly Thai dishes with some basic American things like a chicken dish, a potato dish. There was enough to go around and they replenished dishes as needed.

 

I don't remember what the drinks were but I thought they were high. I ordered a ginger ale and thought for what it was, it was overpriced.

 

I think the dinner cruise is one of the nicest ones. We saw many going up and down the river and it seemed like a lot of them had music and dancing but were loud - more for a younger crowd.

 

There is an outdoor bar right by the dock at the Shangri-la and we had a drink there before boarding the dinner boat. It was really nice out and it was a great spot to watch the river traffic (lots of river traffic!).

 

Thank you for the update. My DH wanted a buffet and not a set meal. I was told by email that they had piped in music which I figured would be better than live. How dark was it at 7:30-9:30pm?

[ian67]

If you have a ton of points then use them. If you want something different then get out of town for the day. We rode elephants, played with tigers (not literally) and stood on the Bride over the river Kwai during that time. All in all something not to be forgotten.

 

Who did you take a tour with for Bridge on River Kwai or did you travel independently? How long to get there?

We are travelling next Xmas from Singapore to Hong Kong

[alidor]

[Thank you for the update. My DH wanted a buffet and not a set meal. I was told by email that they had piped in music which I figured would be better than live. How dark was it at 7:30-9:30pm

 

It was dark - not a hint of daylight.

 

We sat outside and it was a perfect night. If it's too warm, there is an air conditioned level available. The buffet is available on both levels so no one has to go up and down stairs.

[Jade13]

[Thank you for the update. My DH wanted a buffet and not a set meal. I was told by email that they had piped in music which I figured would be better than live. How dark was it at 7:30-9:30pm

 

It was dark - not a hint of daylight.

 

We sat outside and it was a perfect night. If it's too warm, there is an air conditioned level available. The buffet is available on both levels so no one has to go up and down stairs.

 

It sounds great. So not too chilly sitting outside?

 

So I guess you missed the Thai dancers if they were brought onboard as reported by someone now on Quest? I had asked if Azamara was planning on bringing on-board local entertainment and was told no. I was actually interested in what was going on in Vietnam.

[mjz]

Thanks for the follow ups.

 

We're going to spend the night in Bangkok at a hotel. We've already got a private tours lined up for both days.

 

Can't wait!

[alidor]

It was just a bit chilly due to travelling through the water - bring a shawl or a light sweater.

 

They did bring Thai dancers on board the last night and that was okay. Actually we got bored with it and left a bit early.

[vi1234]

Alidor, thank you for all the helpful info. We are planning this trip for March 2011. The ship will be in klong toey for 3 nights. We had not thought about spending nights off the ship but are now considering. Did you book the day trip through the hotel and was the massage an option or just something you planned yourself?

 

Also, what was the cost of the hotel? I know it is a wonderful hotel. Did you book river cruise and/or day tour before the trip or after you arrived at the hotel. Love your posts and would appreciate any additional info.

[alidor]

I booked the dinner cruise directly through the Shangri-la Hotel, via their website. I have their e-mail address somewhere if you need it. It's a bit early to book for March, 2011 though.

 

I booked the dinner cruise and hotel by myself and we just grabbed a cab on our own when we got in. I used Bangkok Day Tours - www.bangkokdaytours.com. They picked us up at 9:00 am at the hotel and saw the sights, did the massage, etc. You set the time you want to be picked up and the schedule. I debated about going to the Jim Thompson House for some good silk shopping but it was either do that or the long tail boat ride on the river. Time didn't permit both, but if you want to do that, you maybe could skip some temples. It's really nice that it's your choice and the timing you want.

 

By the way, I'm not much of a temple/cathedral type person. It's nice to see but I wouldn't want to spend hours doing so. We were surprised how maginificent the temples are - they are gorgeous and I'm so glad we did spend time in them. There was a point where you really do feel the tranquility (when it's not so busy) of the sites.

 

Go through the roll calls and the Asian information and you'll get lots of good ideas from everyone. Some people like their time scheduled down to the minute but that's not me. Need some scheduling, for sure, but if I want to linger a bit longer some place or not linger someplace, we prefer the opportunity to do that.

[Jade13]

It was just a bit chilly due to travelling through the water - bring a shawl or a light sweater.

 

They did bring Thai dancers on board the last night and that was okay. Actually we got bored with it and left a bit early.

 

Thanks. We are actually doing the dinner cruise on the second night as on the first we will be on our way back from Cambodia.