Pandaw Cruises: The Company Behind Expedition Riverboats
Pandaw cruises are the closest thing modern river travel has to the old Irrawaddy steamers. The company takes its history from the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, founded in 1865, which it revived in 1995 under the historian Paul Strachan. Pandaw marked the Flotilla’s 160th anniversary and its own 30th year in 2025.
The Boats
Pandaw’s riverboats are built in a traditional style — teak and brass fittings, wide open decks, shallow drafts for shallow rivers — and are small by river-cruise standards. Its K-class boats, designed for narrow and shallow waterways, carry only about ten to fourteen cabins. The RV Kha Byoo Pandaw (ten cabins, completed in 2016) and the newer RV Kanee Pandaw (fourteen cabins) are the two ships assigned to the Irrawaddy Delta sailings.
Expect a relaxed, communal atmosphere: one dining room, an open top deck, shore visits every day and few formalities.
Where Pandaw Sails
Vietnam and Cambodia
The Mekong between the delta and Cambodia, plus Halong Bay and the Red River in the north.
Laos and Thailand
The upper Mekong between Vientiane and the Golden Triangle.
India
The Ganges, the Hooghly from Kolkata, the Brahmaputra in Assam and the Kerala backwaters.
Burma
The Irrawaddy Delta, restarting November 2026 after a six-year pause.
Pandaw also sells longer combination voyages that link several regions back to back. Details and current dates are on Pandaw’s own website; our cruise advisors can check them for you. For a wider view of the lines on the Mekong and Ganges, see Mekong River Boat Cruises and Ganges River Cruises.
How Pandaw Differs From the Big River Lines
Lines such as AmaWaterways, Avalon or Viking build larger, hotel-style ships for the most popular stretches of the Mekong and other rivers. Pandaw’s boats are smaller and plainer, and the company has made a point of going where larger ships cannot — shallow tributaries, delta creeks and upper rivers. If you want a spa and a choice of restaurants, a bigger ship suits you better; if you want to land at a village with no jetty, Pandaw is closer to the mark.
Who Pandaw Cruises Suit
- Travelers who prefer a small group and a simple, characterful ship to a large modern one.
- People who want daily shore visits to villages, monasteries and markets rather than big-city stops.
- Flexible travelers: water levels on Asian rivers can change routes at short notice.
- Anyone curious about the history of river travel in Burma and Indochina.
Pandaw Questions
Where do Pandaw cruises sail?
According to Pandaw’s website: the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia, the upper Mekong in Laos, the Red River and Halong Bay in Vietnam, four routes in India (the Ganges, Hooghly, Brahmaputra and Kerala backwaters) and, from November 2026, the Irrawaddy Delta in Burma.
Are Pandaw cruises luxury?
They are comfortable and well run, but the style is colonial-era riverboat rather than modern luxury hotel: small cabins, teak and brass, shared public spaces and an emphasis on the places you visit.
Can I book Pandaw cruises through Mister Cruise?
Ask us. We will check availability and dates for the river you want and send you a free quote.
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