Vela Dinner Buffet Cruise Bangkok

The start was very chaotic. Showed up at the booth, at the designated time, and no one was there. No arrow or indicator to check in with the booth next door (different name). Once outside, no big indicator where you're supposed to line up....there's a 8x10 sign and you REALLY have to be looking for it. Once on board, it was a blast. Food was good, the free beer was a plenty, and the visuals along the river are beautiful. Even with the hiccups at the beginning, I would do it again.

first time in Bangkok, sceto to do river cruise with my girlfriend, very good buffet dinner with lots of things to eat, good service, good price, recommended

We thought it would be nice to see the city from the river with all the temples and other buildings lit up so we booked this cruise through an agent near our hotel. We were offered a discount fairly quickly and, call me sceptical, I believe that the agency was selling trips offered by a number of companies and just happened to reserve one that corresponded to the price you were prepared to pay. Making our way to the starting point was not straightforward in the heavy traffic and we rushed to find the correct pier only to be told afterwards that we had to go inside the building to exchange the voucher for a ticket. We returned to the pier and waited for quite some time before the boat arrived and needed to disembark the passengers on the sunset cruise. This took ages. Meanwhile other boats left on time as we just stood there. Eventually we boarded and were ushered into the downstairs area even though our voucher stated a rooftop table. As promised there was unlimited beer from a dispenser that was refilled with draft from the taps. The welcome drink was an unidentifiable sweet concoction and we also had water. The hostess, who doubled as a singer, announced that the buffet was open and…wow… the mainly Chinese passengers swarmed over it. We hadn’t noticed that there was sushi and freshly cooked seafood until there was virtually none left! During this time the live music began, was of poor quality and painfully loud as we were placed right in front of the speakers. Several of the people nearest us (a party from Hong Kong) took to the microphone and one could actually sing. Karaoke was not mentioned on the promotional leaflet. The “cultural” show consisted of two Thai dancers for about 5 minutes for two sets then came two scantily clad performers of indeterminate gender but likely male with a tacky cabaret act that seemed to appeal to some men in the audience. They were accompanied by two young male dancers whose costume was spoiled by wearing white training shoes. All this time the sights of Bangkok were passing us by but taking a close look or any photos needed access to the deck which wasn’t easy. There are probably better companies than this one but, either way, it wasn’t really our cup of tea. We’d have preferred a cruise without food or entertainment beyond looking at the scenery.