Enchanting Far East 1 - Bangkok excursion

[blossomleh]

Hi all

 

The Husband and have recently booked our honeymoon on the Marella Discovery for the Enchanting Far East 1 itinerary which begins in Malaysia on 5th December. The itinerary looks incredible however the excursions offered by TUI don't look amazing. Since we are in Bangkok (or the port 2 hours away from Bangkok) overnight I've looked at the possibility of organising a private tour, this has of course turned out more expensive that TUI however it has more sights and we're definitely getting more for our money and the overnight stay is actually working out cheaper than TUI! 

So I have two questions:

 

1. Has anyone done this before for Bangkok and are there any recommendations of tour guides to use or sights not to bother seeing?

2. Is there anyone else on this cruise who may want to join us? We're looking at either a 1 day or 2 day tour with an overnight stay in Bangkok in order to see the floating markets on the second day.

 

Thanks

Laura 

[jaxw17]

I would do this and stay overnight in bangkok. Lots of things to see and do.

[blossomleh]

1 minute ago, jaxw17 said:

I would do this and stay overnight in bangkok. Lots of things to see and do.

Thanks Jax that's helpful, never been to Thailand so would like to see as much as possible! 

We've been given a proposed itinerary below but we can amend if we'd like to - but I don't know anything about the area - does the below look OK??

 

Day 1: 

+ The Royal Grand Palace & The Royal Temple (Wat Phra Kaew, The Temple of the Emerald Buddha Image)

+ Wat Pho (The Temple of The Reclining Buddha)

+ Canal tour, Private Long Tail Boat, By the river see Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn)

+ Pak Klong Talad (Flowers & Vegetables Market)

Day 2:

+ Maeklong Railway Market (Unique Local Fresh Market)

+ Damnern Saduak Floating Market

+ Private Rowing Boat

 

Obviously don't want to miss any of the must sees but I don't actually know what the 'must sees' are!

 

Any advice from yourself or anyone else greatly appreciated!

 

L x

[jaxw17]

Remember at Grand Palace you have to be covered up legs and shoulders. This is a fantastic place and i would say the top of the list.

 

Canal tour good we just go on the normal ferries.we have done private tour before though lots to see

 

The floating markets we have never done so cannot comment.

 

You have quite a lot of markets in there. What time do you have to be back on board? make sure that you allow 2 to 2 half hours for the trip back

 

Might be a good idea to look on trip advisor look at things to do as well.

 

Would be nice to fit in a massage they are good and cheap.

 

Roads are very busy so takes time to get from place to place.

 

The whole place is an assualt on your senses and there are things to see on every street corner. 

 

We have been 8 times so when we did the far east trip we stayed in Pattaya overnight.

 

Enjoy Jackie

[blossomleh]

Thanks Jackie this is so helpful, I definitely think staying overnight is what we'll do then - it sounds completely worth it! 

 

[suekay]

I would definitely stay overnight to maximise the Bangkok experience which is like no other.  Your first day sounds good,  maybe you could finish up at Patpong Night market (as long as you are broad minded)  I think I'd give the private rowing boat a miss on day 2 and head back to the ship in plenty of time. Bangkok is one of our favourite places although I must admit that on our two Far East  cruises we booked hotels to stay in Pattaya overnight as we didn't fancy the long road journey to Bangkok for a short visit

[blossomleh]

On 9/5/2019 at 2:09 PM, suekay said:

I would definitely stay overnight to maximise the Bangkok experience which is like no other.  Your first day sounds good,  maybe you could finish up at Patpong Night market (as long as you are broad minded)  I think I'd give the private rowing boat a miss on day 2 and head back to the ship in plenty of time. Bangkok is one of our favourite places although I must admit that on our two Far East  cruises we booked hotels to stay in Pattaya overnight as we didn't fancy the long road journey to Bangkok for a short visit

 Patpong night market sounds a lot better than the market we were going to end up near, thanks for the recommendation! 

[suekay]

6 hours ago, blossomleh said:

 Patpong night market sounds a lot better than the market we were going to end up near, thanks for the recommendation! 

Look at online reviews to be sure this place is for you, and dont go expecting great bargains although we did get some cheap genuine fake t shirts which have washed better than the originals. The market is more of an "experience "😊