Today, allow me to finally share what happened during our Chao Phraya Princess River Cruise and why we got disappointed. Before that, you may check my previous Bangkok Travel blogs:
- Bangkok Day 1: Ancient City, Three-Headed Elephant, and Coconut Coffee
- Bangkok's Ancient City Video Tour
- Erawan Museum
- Bam Nam Phueng Floating Market
- The Berkeley Hotel Breakfast Buffet
- The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam Room Tour
- Bangkok Day 2: Ramakien Murals and Grand Palace Garden
- Bangkok Day 2: Strolling Through Icon Siam
Our river cruise booking said we must be at the port by four in the afternoon. We don't want to be late or anything, so we headed straight to the port at that time. There were so many people, tourists from different countries, and of course, our group, which consisted of more than 200 people.
We couldn't even sit down because there were no seats around, so most of our companions had to sit on the staircase. We waited for an unbelievable four hours! All the other cruise ships were out and had sailed, but not the Chao Phraya Princess. The ground staff started calling out the passengers an hour before the boat came for their photo opportunity. It was super crowded, and there were even seniors and minors with us!
Finally, the Chao Phraya Princess River Cruise arrived at more or less eight in the evening. It came, however, in a grand entrance with some saxophone players playing upbeat music, which somehow had uplifted our spirits as we came into the ship.
There were two cruise ships. We were assigned to the second one; thankfully, there was a helpful crew who carried our strollers up to the second floor. I have a little energy left that evening, and all I wanted was to eat!
By the way, I booked my parents' and my sister-in-law's tickets from Klook for ₱ 3,182 each. As of 2026, the price is at Php 2k more or less. Arcanys sponsored my ticket and my husband's, as this was a company dinner. The price for me was too much for this kind of service. I guess the reviews online are misleading, or perhaps today was just a different story.
As it was already late, all the guests were hungry, hangry to be exact, and they all wanted to go get food already. I could understand the frustrations, the disappointment, and the hunger. I was hungry too! My little one was already crying for some unknown reason, and I couldn't pacify him. Perhaps, it was due to the crowd, and it was an open-air seating, and because of the rain too, that the crew had to close down open areas so the guests won't get drenched in water.
One more problem was that we weren't seated together due to the lack of space, as it rained at the start of the cruise and there were tables in the open area, which were wet and couldn't be occupied, so we all had to sit close to other guests.
I tried my best to enjoy the buffet, but the food was not good. The photos on the Klook posting were not even close to what we had! What we had was just a common type of food; there weren't many options, either! I only got a little amount of food, not satisfied, I think it wasn't worth the Php 3k that we spent here for each of my family members.
The route - it was a trip back and forth across the river, seeing the view of the Grand Palace, the temple, the bridge, the Ferris wheel, and Icon Siam, and that's it. Actually, the view is nice, especially the Ferris wheel and the temples, as well as the Icon Siam, but there were many areas where it's just dark, so it kills the excitement. The ship took a few rounds.
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I think I was just unhappy due to the long wait. I guess everyone felt the same way. I mean, we had people on the same table, and they were not even smiling! But after dinner, when we had our drinks and were just looking at the views, somehow the bad feelings started drifting away, and we had to brush off any negativities and just enjoy this time of gathering.
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Fortunately, the live band's vocals was a Filipina. She welcomed us, and everyone was jamming with her. After everything, we headed down, and it was another struggle getting a Grab car. We got to the hotel late and exhausted.
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Now, if you ask me if I should recommend this, I would say it wasn't worth it. I was expecting great views, good food, beautiful seating, and a lot more, but they all fell short of my expectations.
That's it, guys, let's go to our next tour! Thanks for reading! You can watch our video here too:
J U N E B R I D E
Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art
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