Princess Post Cruise Package info on Shangri La Hotel, Bangkok

[bionicbeacher]

Hi Everyone...we are thinking of booking the three night Post Cruise package offered by Princess for the Shangri La Hotel, Bangkok

 

We notice that the Internet pricing for this hotel is a lot lower then the cost for the package ..we realize that transfers are included in the Princess pricing..

 

Would appreciate any and all thoughts....quality of room, of hotel , of staff...was breakfst included....did you have a full river view or was the room tucked away in some secluded part of the building

 

Thanks

Ken & Jan

[ab0si]

The hotel I know. Can not comment on Princess at all. A good arguement can be made that The Shang in Bangkok is the best hotel in the world. I don't think it is QUITE that good, but it is a VERY nice hotel and is certain in my top 10 in Asia. There are no bad rooms. Some are simply breath-taking; some others are merely wonderful.

 

FWIW, my wife and I never take the package deals. We ahve found that we can always get a better deal on our own. Furthermore, the "Better" deal includes a higher class room and private transfers from the ship to the hotel and hotel to airport. I assume Princess does at at least the first of these by bus. Arriving at The Shang in a private car is much nicer, turst me.

[bionicbeacher]

The hotel I know. Can not comment on Princess at all. A good arguement can be made that The Shang in Bangkok is the best hotel in the world. I don't think it is QUITE that good, but it is a VERY nice hotel and is certain in my top 10 in Asia. There are no bad rooms. Some are simply breath-taking; some others are merely wonderful.

 

FWIW, my wife and I never take the package deals. We ahve found that we can always get a better deal on our own. Furthermore, the "Better" deal includes a higher class room and private transfers from the ship to the hotel and hotel to airport. I assume Princess does at at least the first of these by bus. Arriving at The Shang in a private car is much nicer, turst me.

 

Hi and Thanks very much for the information.

 

Your comments in your second paragraph are interesting...Arriving in Bangkok for the first time, I ( Ken) have a preference to stay under the "umbrella" of the Princess Package...whereas my wife would like to try booking on our own ......my main concern with trying it on our own is that Princess is arranging our Air back to Canada as well and we would probably have to pay a deviation fee to stay the extra time

 

With that fee ($125.00 USD PP I believe) I just don't think doing it on our own is worth the additional hassle.....however, I will investigate it further.....thanks again for your excellent information.

 

Ken & Jan

[Jane110]

 

Your comments in your second paragraph are interesting...Arriving in Bangkok for the first time, I ( Ken) have a preference to stay under the "umbrella" of the Princess Package...whereas my wife would like to try booking on our own ......my main concern with trying it on our own is that Princess is arranging our Air back to Canada as well and we would probably have to pay a deviation fee to stay the extra time

 

It's such a personal choice. The cruiselines offer these deals and overcharge (my opinion) so people feel more "secure".

 

Typically hotels charge per room and the cruiselines charge per person.

 

You need really add up the costs and factor it all in along with your own needs and see which one feels more comfortable for you. What does the $125. pp cover? What's the difference in costs?

 

Personally, we never take the cruiseline's hotels. We're more independant travelers and Bangkok is a safe and easy city to get around in. There have been a few times when we stayed in the same hotel as the cruiseline (and got a better room for le$$) and then purchased their transfers. Other times, we've used taxi's. It depends on the city and the cost of taxi's, etc.

 

With that fee ($125.00 USD PP I believe) I just don't think doing it on our own is worth the additional hassle.....however, I will investigate it further.....

 

 

 

Again, personal choice. What you see as a hassle, we see as freedom. We're not ones to travel with the herd and we shy away from buses and group tours.

 

When we landed in Bangkok, we saw tour kiosk's at the luggage pick-up area's at the airport. They're licensed. We went to one and booked a half day tour (noon to 5:00PM) with a private guide and driver in a car with a/c. Guide picked us up next day at our hotel. Entire cost was $30. plus we tipped generously. The rest of our days in Bangkok we just went on our own. We like a private tour the first day in order to see some highlights and get our bearings.

 

We stayed at the Shangri-La for the first part of our visit and didn't think it was all that special. Then we went to Hanoi for 5 days and returned to Bangkok for a few more days and stayed at the Erawan Grand Hyatt, which was terrific.

Shangri-La is on the river and the Erawan is in the city, both have pluses and minuses. River is pretty to look at but city is easier to get to more places and walk around/

[Spikesgirl]

We did the Princess package as a pre cruise, but we stayed in the Four Seasons (now called Crowne Plaza) - an incredibly lovely hotel. We enjoyed the convenience of transfers and having Princess there to ask questions of. We had people in our post cruise that had stayed at the Shangri La and loved it. I believe they said a breakfast buffet was included. I know it was on the post cruise in Beijing and on every other pre or post we've done.

 

I think that you are probably right about the deviation fee and really, it's much easier to just let Princess deal with stuff and you sit back and enjoy the city. You can't do much better for hotels than the two aforementioned and it's much easier getting around with Princess there to guide you. Well worth the money, especially on a first visit.

 

Charlie

[bionicbeacher]

Hi Jane110 and Spikesgirl (Charlie) and abOsi ....Thank You so much for taking the time to answer our question(s).....you have provided that extra info which we needed to allow us to make our final decision.

 

Thanks once again, for taking the time.....It was greatly appreciated.

 

Kindest Regards

Ken & Jan

Toronto, Canada

[Jane110]

You're most welcome!

 

As you can see from the three of us, there is no "right" or "wrong" ,it's only about what's right for you!

 

Feel free to ask more questions that will help lead you to the right decision.