WENDY URQUHART, THE CLASSIC MEKONG, SEP 2015
Hello Paul
I am writing to thankyou for a wonderful trip we recently had on the Mekong Pandaw upstream from Vietnam. We were a party of 4 couples and our trip left Saigon Saturday 5th September.
We had already been in Vietnam for a week or more travelling from Hanoi To Halong Bay, down to Hoi An and then a few days in Saigon. From the check in to final departure everything was of a very high standard. The bus to My Tho port was of high standard, so too the one to transfer us to Siem Reap. (the 5 hr journey most of us were not looking forward to at all, however it was very comfortable indeed)
I was impressed that the trip went ahead despite not full numbers, we started off with 28 and then 9 left us at Phnom Penh. One of these was John Lloyd? your SE Asian manager who was very helpful with tips and suggestions at each stop. A few of us took the opportunity to offer some suggestions so hope he is able to follow those through.
Above all the staff were so courteous to each person and were very accommodating at each stop.
We did have an elderly lady on board with some mobility issues and your staff went out of their way to help her. Initially she had requested a main deck room with her travel agent, however these were fully booked out at her time of booking. The first morning she had not got up in time for the shore excursion and the staff were worried , as I stayed on board that morning I offered to go to her room with them to check. (She was ok just had found the flights of stairs too much and had slept in) At this stage there were 2 vacant rooms on the main deck and staff offered (after I told the passenger they were vacant) to move her downstairs, which they quickly did.
Throughout the rest of the trip, staff were exceptionally helpful to her. One young female Restuarant staff member would ensure she had enough from the buffet and always got a plate of fruit and sweets for her.
We were very impressed with all shore excursions and extremely well organised. The welcome drink and cold towels a very welcome return to "home". On another day, I stayed on the boat and "welcomed" everyone home by helping to hand out the cold towels, the passengers and staff thought it very funny!
I'm sorry I didn't get all the staff names accurately, but in particular the purser Sorone, the bar staff Monerak and S......?. The girls in the spa and our room staff ??? Linh. She also worked in the laundry and provided us with the fluffiest towels we had in 4 weeks of travel!!
The 2 guides from Vietnam ( Wun) n Cambodia ( Son ) had excellent English and a very good knowledge base. Son was exceptional In helping the elderly passenger rearrange her plans for Siem Reap and was very understanding when some of us checked what he was organising for this passenger.
May I offer some suggestions please (as mentioned to John)
# Can the price be quoted in Aussie $$ for the Australians as it makes it difficult when trying to convert to $ us.
# We were embarrassed when we went on some of the shore excursions especially to the schools, to be aware of the possibility of taking some school Items to donate to the teachers or the school.
# On a previous trip to Vietnam we took an extra suitcase full of suitable items to donate to an orphanage/school and would have been happy to do the same this time.
# We were very impressed with the staff that cut steps into the bank when we went ashore and all the staff were very aware of those passengers (I was one of them) that needed extra assistance when embarking/disembarking.
# The headsets we were provided with were a great idea.
We were very impressed with your company supporting the local library building and the other projects in other country's. All passengers in our group thought this cruise to be the best part of our holiday and will highly recommend your company to others. We will be looking at a trip to Burma in a few years with Pandaw and I wish you success and look forward to future cruise details.
Yours sincerely
Wendy Urquhart
Wagga Wagga
Australia.
