Day trip/overnight Bangkok

[Dundee12]

Looking to possibly to do day trip to Bangkok while aboard voyager of seas in June/July. Anyone done this that can provide approx drop/pick up time from  central world? Would it be safe to say we would not be back to ship for even the late dining time in main dining room? If we did overnight what time does rci arrange pick up just so we have an idea when we would be back on ship.

any info appreciated

 

[Clarea]

You may also want to give the Asia port of call forum a try:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/43-asia/

[Dundee12]

Thanks

 

[dani negreanu]

I've recently returned from a cruise with overnight in the port near Bangkok (Laem Chabang).

With other roll callers, we booked a transfer from the port to BK and back. We booked the hotel in BK independently.

We started the journey at 8AM (the lines for Thai immigration were long), and were in BK at 10.30AM. The pick up (at MBK mall) was at 1PM and we were back on ship at 3PM.

The company was Oriental Escape/Mehke. The cost was 24$ pp for a van with 10 pax. The hotel was Chatrium Riverside (100$ including b'fast), since its location was ideal for beating the traffic in BK and visiting by ferry instead.

[Dundee12]

Thanks for this, pretty sure we don't arrive in port til 11am which is annoying so earliest we would be in Bangkok would be 130-200 so even doing the day trip of 6hrs at your leisure we would still miss our dinner on ship. Love the idea of $24 ea as ship is $69 ea I think which makes it expensive if 3 of us plus hotel etc and admissions for attractions.

 

[4774Papa]

We did Bangkok many years ago on a land trip and loved the city, but even then the pollution and traffic was horrible.  I understand that it has gotten much worse.  Bangkok is said to be one of the most unhealthy cities in the World now, as bad as many cities in China.

 

If I were on a cruise in SE Asia and the land trip took that long to get there and back, leaving you 2-3 hours in the city, I would forget that and plan on visiting the city at some other time.  You could likely see the temple with the Golden Buddha in that time, but probably not much else.

[dani negreanu]

2 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

 

If I were on a cruise in SE Asia and the land trip took that long to get there and back, leaving you 2-3 hours in the city, I would forget that and plan on visiting the city at some other time.  You could likely see the temple with the Golden Buddha in that time, but probably not much else.

 

I couldn't agree more. The only way to do it is spending the night in BK -- that is, if you ship is overnighting in Laem Chabang.

The hotel mentioned above is allowing early check in (11AM in our case), enabling us to leave our overnight bag, taking a shower and starting afresh to visit. The traffic on the river was very agreeable, and much quicker than with a taxi.

[SRF]

Hmmm.

 

I would NOT be worried about missing dinner on the ship.  You can get WONDERFUL food in Bangkok.

 

 

[Dundee12]

Not worried about missing dinner on ship at all, it's more about getting idea of times if someone has done day trip what time we would get back to ship I'm guessing 10pm ish and likewise nextday if we did stay overnight what time would we get picked up just so we can plan an itinerary.

[dani negreanu]

16 hours ago, Dundee12 said:

Not worried about missing dinner on ship at all, it's more about getting idea of times if someone has done day trip what time we would get back to ship I'm guessing 10pm ish and likewise nextday if we did stay overnight what time would we get picked up just so we can plan an itinerary.

 

It depends really on your port times.

We docked at 7AM on the 1st day, and the depart on the 2nd day was at 5PM.

From BK, we were picked up on the 2nd day at 1PM, and were back a few minutes after 3PM.

The "all aboard" was 4.30PM.

 

[Dundee12]

We dock at 11am and following day ship sails 6pm I think

[micruiser2002]

Just arrange private transportation and set your own times.  It really is not that expensive in Thailand.  We also used Oriental Escape years ago and they were great.  Try Trip advisor for other recommendations.  You could book a private transfer and a tour guide for both days with the same company.

[taxatty]

RCI Cruise Planner (we have booked the overnight Bangkok trip through RCI for your cruise) shows it as leaving the ship at 12 noon and returning to the ship the next day at 4:00PM. That likely means the return bus will leave Bangkok around 1:00-1:30 PM.