Angkor Wat 2-day adventure

[djheck67]

My wife and I are doing the 14 night Hong Kong to Singapore cruise on Millenium on December 21, 2018. We were told that we must see Angkor Wat in Cambodia while the ship is overnight in Bangkok. Does anyone recommend this over sightseeing in Bangkok, and should we take this 2 day excursion with Celebrity or with another touring group? We are aware Celebrity would probably be more expensive, but if they do a great job and give us more peace of mind, we are willing to pay extra. However, a more intimate group with a highly reputable and reliable tour company (Viator?) AND much lower cost would be attractive. Any advice is much appreciated!

[easyboy]

We are also going on an Asian cruise in Jan with ports including Thailand and Cambodia. I have found useful info on the ports and guides on shore excursion at the Asia Port of Call Forum. You may want to post there too.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?70https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?70

 

 

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[hampshirelad]

We did a Mekong River cruise this Feb which finished with 3 days in Siem Reap. Our experience was that Angkor Wat is completely and utterly commercialised and you will be sharing the experience with hundreds of others and to see it in 2 days I doubt if you feet will touch the ground. To add to the pain you will be delayed by endless couples who wish to be photographed by their partners posing in every doorway and window you come across. I would say you are 10 years to late.

 

Bangkok - The downside you have is that the Port of Bangkok for ships of this size is some considerable distance from the City. I suggest you go to the Roll Call and see if anyone is organising a private tour for a small group. We have joined these sort of arrangements on many occasions and never been let down

[DYKWIA]

If you've never been to Bangkok, I would suggest sightseeing there - there is lots to see that could keep you busy for days

 

Klong tours - by long tail speedboat

Floating Markets

Grand Palace

Temples - Reclining Budda

Teak Palace

Great shopping

Night Markets

Spectacular evening entertainment (... and I don't mean of the infamous variety)

Great food

 

You could perhaps book yourself a night in a hotel in Bangkok - great prices and at least you have a base near the attractions from which to operate. The Riverside hotels are great for sightseeing (Shangri La, Royal orchid Sheraton, Peninsula, Oriental). For shopping (and also good for sightseeing - places like the Anantara (former Four Seasons), Grand Hyatt Erewan, Kempinski are all very good

[IDLnyc]

In 2013, we took Celebrity's three day/two night excursion to Siem Reap. It was pricey, but memorable. I would do it again.

Our cruise, Singapore to Hong Kong, was the reverse of yours, so our itinerary to Angkor Wat might be a little different for you. Here is our day-by-day:.

• We were docked two days at Laem Chabang, the port for Bangkok. We didn't leave for Cambodia until day 2, so we did have one day to tour Bangkok before our trip to Cambodia began.
  
• Day 1 of the tour (day 2 at Laem Chabang), we were bussed to the Bangkok airport, and flown on a Bangkok Airways jet to Siem Reap. Our tour guide met us at the airport and assisted with immigration (which was fast). We drove past the main temple entrance, checked into our hotel, and toured two smaller (but still amazing) complexes, Ta Proehm and Pre Rup. (Ta Proehm is the complex where the temples are surrounded by strangler fig trees - it's been used as a set for several films.) Our hotel was Le Meridien Angkor.
  
• Day 2 of the tour we visited the main Angkor Wat complex in the morning, Toril Sap Lake (an area of floating villages) in the early afternoon, and a Buddhist temple (Wat Atvea) in the late afternoon. We watched a ceremony and received a "blessing" at the Buddhist temple. That evening the tour took us to a dinner and performance of Cambodian dance at the Raffles Hotel in Siem Reap.
  
• Day 3 people who wanted to could get up early to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. Then we all went to Angkor Thom, the temple complex with large sculptures of faces. Mid-day we had a shopping opportunity at Les Artisans d'Angkor (which had many exquisite hand-made items), then boarded a Vietnamese Airlines jet to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We had a final group dinner in town, then were bussed to the ship, getting back around 10p.
  
• Ho Chi Minh City was another 2 day port. So we missed day 1 (which was day 3 of our tour), but were able to go back and see it in daylight on the ship's day 2.
  

I thought it was a good experience. There are lots of other tourists visiting the temples, but the sites are huge- we weren't tied up in lines or stumbling over people. The lessor known temples were less crowded than the main site. (Yes, we had to wait to take the "perfect picture", but mainly we were waiting for our fellow Celebrity passengers to move out of the way!) Our tour guide for the three days (a Siem Reap native) was superlative - knowledgeable, a great guide, efficient, and able to help passengers deal with unexpected problems (like a broken camera). The Meridien was a good four to five star hotel, with excellent food. We were so busy, there wasn't a lot of time to explore the hotel's amenities. (I used the pool once)

 

So Celebrity did a great job. I have no criticisms. If you've always wanted to see Angkor Wat, I'd say go - especially if your itinerary will also give you a day to see Bangkok, which is fascinating itself.

Edited October 29, 2017 by IDLnyc

[BosoxI]

We did a Mekong River cruise this Feb which finished with 3 days in Siem Reap. Our experience was that Angkor Wat is completely and utterly commercialised and you will be sharing the experience with hundreds of others and to see it in 2 days I doubt if you feet will touch the ground. To add to the pain you will be delayed by endless couples who wish to be photographed by their partners posing in every doorway and window you come across. I would say you are 10 years to late.

 

Angkor Wat is the last substantial stop on my bucket list. I guess I should thank you for your information, but I am a bit saddened, too. This is the way of the world, of course. I found the same situation at the Alhambra. Virtually empty and a delight in 1984 and an overcrowded disappointment in 2012. And then there's Paris and Venice in 1967:D

[Jade13]

Go on your own. The flight is an hour each way. Find a hotel, who can set you up with a driver / guide.

 

 

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[ghstudio]

Easy answer: spend the time in Bangkok....don't skip Bangkok, one of the great cities in Asia with so much to see day and night...in fact, if you dock at Laem Chabang, make arrangements to stay in Bangkok overnight....it's a long drive back and forth and Bangkok is at it's best at night.

 

Visit Anchor Wat on some other trip and then do it on your own unless it's included in your itinerary (river cruise on the Meekong, etc)...