Heritage Lines to operate Luxury Mekong Cruises

Ho Chi Minh-based Heritage Lines, is to operate one of the most luxurious boutique cruise vessels ever seen in the region – the MV Jayavarmanand. Part of a project estimated in excess of US$4 million, the 58-metre deluxe river boat has been conceived in what the company describes as a fusion of traditional eastern shipbuilding craft and avant-garde French colonial design overlayed with state of the art technology.

The MV Jayavarman will make its maiden voyage sailing the Mekong River from Ho Chi Minh via Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the jump off point for Angkor Wat, in mid-July 2009.

Boasting some of the most spacious cabins of any vessel currently plying the Mekong, each of the MV Jayavarman’s 27 staterooms comes complete with private balcony.

Accommodation ranges from two ‘Bao Daop’ Royal Hue themed junior suites (26 sqm) to 11 Deluxe standard ‘Indochina-style’ cabins (24 sqm) and 14 Superior standard (21 sqm), each of which will be themed individually.

The ship’s spacious facilities also include a spa, a spacious restaurant serving eastern and western cuisine, two expansive lounges, a shop and a library spread over 800 square metres on a total five decks.

Heritage Line Managing Director, Thomas Peter said while great pains had been gone to ensure the MV Jayavarman would deliver the highest levels of service, the same process had also gone into the selection of the vessel’s 38-strong handpicked local and internationally recruited management team.

Following her maiden voyage MV Jayavarman will commence operation of a medley of Mekong Delta cruise itineraries structured over two, three, four, five and eight days.

These include an eight-day ‘The lost civilization’ itinerary from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap, a five day ‘Serenity cruise’ linking Phnom Penh with Siem Reap and a four-day ‘Pearl of the Orient’ program offering passage between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh.

MV Jayavarman is the first of two vessels the company plans to have operating between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap by 2010.

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