Passenger Feedback

Dear Saroun

Wow....! Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the wonderful service on my recent trip on the MV Pandaw. Your knowledge, service, efficiency, helpfulness and humour was very much appreciated. It was really great to have some chats with you and learn more about your family, your life and your second family – Pandaw.

One of my highlights was visiting one of the local villages and dancing with the children. Such happy faces. The other highlight was visiting the schools and seeing the commitment of the teachers and the students that want to improve their future.

Our guides were all excellent. Lee is a true asset to Pandaw, very knowledgeable. Long was wonderful, funny, committed and was able to share true stories regarding the Killing Fields. It astounds me that I was able to see the smiling, happy faces considering what Cambodians have endured in the past. I hope life will improve for these wonderful people. I wish you and your family the very best.

As travel agents, we do get very well looked after on our educational trips, however, I believe all the guests onboard felt very special and looked after. I feel so confident to offer Cambodia and Vietnam to our clients as a truly enlightening experience.

The little touches such as bottles of water when leaving for day tours, cold face towels and cleaning of shoes were all exceptional. The fact that the staff were cutting out steps into the mud embankments was beyond belief. I don’t know of any other company/staff that would do this for their guests.

Every single staff member was wonderful. We all loved Pha, his smile was so genuine and always so polite. It was so relaxing to go to the Sun Deck and have a cocktail and chat with other guests. Housekeeping, kitchen staff, waiters, and all those behind the scenes were fabulous. I cant talk highly enough of them.

I have now come to believe that Cambodians are truly the most beautiful people. The locals in the villages that we visited were so happy to see us and regardless of the fact that they had so little, were always smiling and welcoming. The staff onboard MV Pandaw had smiles that were infectious and the hospitality was second to none.

I am hoping to travel to Cambodia again and bring my children with me for them to experience true happiness and humbleness of the Cambodian people.

As I mentioned to you, I would like to send some items (books, pens, pencils etc) that you can provide to some of the schools and villages that we visited. If this is possible, could you please advise the best address to send these to. I know you will ensure these go to the correct people that will appreciate the assistance.

It was great to meet you and your staff. Many thanks for making this trip truly memorable. I will never forget this special journey. Please pass my regards to your staff and if allowed, I would love to make contact with them so if you can pass on email addresses, phone numbers or facebook details, I would greatly appreciate this. I know you are very busy with the new destination Laos but if you have time, please send me an email.

Looking forward to seeing you again in the future.

Thanks and regards,
Vivienne Zaarour

Mr Strachan, my wife and I have just returned from a 7 night cruise on the Mekong Pandaw and it was the highlight of the holiday. The attention to the smallest detail and the friendliness of the crew made the whole trip such a delight. We were even presented with a cake to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary which as lovely thought. The shore excursions were interesting and varied and we saw some of the poverty that exists in Cambodia. It was good to see Pandaw helping out in the local communities and putting something back.

The whole crew were amazing from the dining room staff, [who loved having a joke with us] to the chefs, [who provided the wonderful and varied food] to the housekeeping staff, [who kept our rooms so clean] and ,of course,.. the lovely barman [ who always remembered what you drank]. So to pick one member of the crew out for special praise was not easy but it just had to be the Purser, Rorn Saroun who ran a ' tight ship'. He was always keeping an eye on things and nothing seemed to escape his attention. He was often in the background but his organisational ability was always evident. In particular when we had a problem getting back to the boat after heavy rain he was the one coordinating things with our guide on the bus!

I can't think of anything much you could do to improve things but if they do decaf coffee in Indo China it would be good to have some on board?

Do keep up the good work and I wish you continued success.

Kind regards
David Williams

PS I was part of the cruise where all the passengers wore their Pandaw kimonos to dinner on the last night. I am sure you will hear about that as even the Captain had to come and take a look!!

Reply from Pandaw

Dear Mr and Mrs Williams

Thank you for writing to me and I am so glad your Mekong cruise went well and that Purser Saroun and his team looked after you. Congratulations on your 30th Anniversary - you certainly chose the best place to celebrate it. I will pass on your kind words to Saroun and all the team.

I am sorry there was no decaffe. Normally there should at least be a jar of instant. I will remind them, thanks for telling me!

Best wishes for future trips!
Paul

Dear Sven

I would like to thank you most sincerely for the opportunity of joining Pandaw for the Cruise along the Mekong.

The journey itself was magical, the sights en-route quite mesmerising and the service on board was absolutely second to none.

The staff were courtesy and attentive and took every step to make the journey memorable for all the passengers, their attention to detail seemed quite effortless but it is apparent just how much work goes on behind the seems to creative this effect.

Please pass my thanks to them for such a wonderful journey.

The food was delightful and the cabin very comfortable.

Thank you for the very special memories I now hold.

With many thanks and kind regards,
Laura

Hello Paul,

November 21st 2015 my husband and I (second time Pandaw travellers), my brother and sister-in-law ( forth time Pandaw travellers) and 6 of our friends embarked on the Pandaw Laos at Chiang Sean. The next 10 days we were looked after, fed and spoilt by your staff, what a great trip, so unspoilt by other tourists, so relaxing, so peaceful, we all loved it.

We are cattle producers in Australia so the rural views especially appealed to us and we appreciated our local guides information when we didn't know what some crops were.

Matthew may have been young and inexperienced in this area but he worked so hard and nothing was a problem. We could not praise him enough.

We are now looking at a trip in Burma, my father was a POW in Chiangi and worked on the Burma Railway and was sent home from Rangoon on liberation of the allies at the end of World War II so we think this is somewhere we would like to visit and how better to see this area than from the luxury of Pandaw. All our friends are keen for more.

Also I must tell you how much we enjoyed the food, your Chefs were amazing, 10 days of different , delicious and the freshest food we could ask for. Incredible from such a small work space.

Look forward to many more memorable holidays aboard Pandaw.

Regards
Narelle and Trevor Petith

Response from Pandaw

Dear Narelle and Trevor

Thank you so much for writing to me and I am glad that the Laos expedition went well. I am so glad it all worked out and that you had a relaxing but interesting time. I am glad that Matthew took good care of you all and that food was good.

I was interested to read about your family connection with Burma. Your father must have been through some horrendous experiences. If you liked Laos you will like Burma and I would recommend one of our more remote routings like the Upper Irrawaddy which is similar in feel to Laos. Please make sure to register on our website so you get all the latest information and offers too.

Best wishes for future travels and hope to see you again on one of the Pandaws before too long!

All kind regards,
Paul Strachan

Dear Mr Strachan

This journey on the Chindwin was our fourth river trip with Pandaw, the third being in Borneo. As always, it was the most wonderful seven nights. We loved the small Pandaw and the fact that we had access to both the port and starboard sides from our excellent cabin. But, above all, we were so impressed by the usual superb Pandaw service. The Purser, Wyn Myo, is an absolute star and did absolutely everything to make sure we were looked after. I am quite sure you know what a gem you have there. He is thoughtful, efficient, organised, knowledgeable and charming. We all (we were travelling with another couple who have also Pandawed with us on all our trips) could not praise him more and we became very fond of him. But all the crew were outstanding and, despite the language difficulties on our part, had great fun with them on outings. They were at all times hugely helpful and dignified and patient.

But the food! Goodness knows where you found the two chefs! Everything we ate was delicious, with the terrific Burmese flavours we all love. The presentation was of the standard one gets at Michelin starred restaurants - probably better! It all looked stunning. Completely memorable.

Please let Win Myo know how much we appreciated him. It was such a very 'happy ship'. We miss them all (and that food .....).

I much enjoyed your book on the Pandaw Story. Quite a story!

Yours sincerely
Vanessa (and Peter) Davis

Dear Mr Strachan

I know that you have already received a hugely glowing report from Vanessa Davis but, as we are the other lucky couple who have enjoyed your wonderful Pandaw cruises, I want to add my few words of thanks to your amazing staff.

It was so obviously such a happy team lead by Win Myo and they couldn't have done more to ensure that we had the most relaxing and enjoyable time. And Wyn is certainly a jewel in the Pandaw crown!

And as for the chefs....well, each meal was a total delight and SO beautifully presented. It was with a heavy heart that we had to say au revoir at Homelin. I hope you will pass our thanks and comments to Win.

With best wishes
Minnie and Anthony Greayer

Dear Marek

I was not sure who to write to at Pandaw, but I was keen to write to you on behalf of myself and my husband following our cruise on the Katha Pandaw that finished on 8 November in Mandalay.

As you are probably aware, early on the morning of 8 November 2015, our cruise boat became grounded on a sandbank in the Irrawaddy. Although the ship's crew made innumerable attempts to get the boat off the sandbank, we were stuck on the sandbank for around 10 hours. As three of us on the boat needed to get back to Mandalay by that evening in order to get our flights out of Mandalay for our next destination, my husband and I and the third passenger, John, were very pleased with the service and care provided by Pandaw Cruises in ensuring that we were picked up by an Irrawaddy fast river boat that was heading downstream towards Mandalay. The Pandaw also organised for one of the crew to accompany us on the fast boat to ensure that we were looked after and that we were picked up by our taxi to transfer to our respective hotels in Mandalay. We would especially to thank the crew member who looked after us so well on our adventure back to Mandalay.

We were very pleased with the exceptional service proved by the Pandaw Cruises, and we would like to express our thanks to Pandaw, and to the company management, and especially to the crew on-board our boat for the care and kindness shown to us.

We had a wonderful time and many memorable experiences on on Mandalay-Katha-Second Defile cruise, and Harry was a great guide for us. Could you please express our thanks to Harry?

We have just boarded the Laos Mekong this morning and we are looking forward to our next adventure up the Mekong with Pandaw Cruises.

With many thanks and kind regards
Dr Frances Cunningham & Maurice Paul Collis

Mingalabar!

Here is a sampling of the messages from my group! The tour was better than I expected! Everything went smoothly, from start to finish, except for the cancelling of the hot-air ballooning.

You did a great job, Pannir. You followed up with all the details which made our a trip a Success! We all enjoyed the cruise especially. There were only 24 psgrs. So it was friendly and cozy group. Our cruise/tour guide was excellent. In fact, all the tour guides were attentive and accommodating. The hotels were wonderful, more modern than we had thought. We loved the Sule Shangri-la. The last night there was the perfect finale, along with your dinner.

I could go on and on, but I am jet-lagged.

From Audrey Sidney:

Just wanted to let you know that I arrived home safely around 9 am Thursday. It was a great trip and even more so being with fellow travelers such as each of you. Each of us have wonderful memories of Mynamar and we all know more about the country. We need to find out the results of the election. Wow! We saw so many of the temples. I look forward to having another trip with each of you. Thanks to Flo for all her efforts in planning this trip, for the message, the farewell dinner from Pannier, for arranging the visas and tips for guides and bus drivers, for the use of the airport lounge, etc. Take care and keep in touch! Happy Thanksgiving!!