RV Indochine II: 62 passengers, 31 crew, cabins of 18.5 square metres
The RV Indochine II was built in 2017. She is the newest and largest of the 4 boats CroisiEurope operates on the Mekong: 65 metres long, 13 metres wide, 62 passengers in 31 cabins across 3 decks, with 31 crew. CroisiEurope rates her at 5 anchors, its top level.
Thirty-one crew for 62 passengers is exactly one for two. On the fleet's European river ships the ratio sits around one in 5, and on the hotel barges one in 4. On the Mekong, crew is not a cost line to be optimised, it is the product.
Eighteen and a half square metres, in perspective
The cabins measure 18.5 square metres. Set beside the rest of the fleet, they are larger than those on the RV Lan Diep, which publishes 16 square metres, and considerably larger than the European ships, which go down to 10, or the barges, which start at 8. On a cruise where part of the afternoon is spent out of the heat, that surface changes the whole day.
The Mekong, from the Vietnamese delta into Cambodia
The itinerary links Vietnam to Cambodia along a river crossing 6 countries over 4,500 kilometres from the Himalayas. You cover the lower section, where the current slows and the banks fill up: floating markets, stilt houses, temples still in use, rice fields touching the water.
This is not a monument cruise. It is a cruise where the landscape is working while you watch it, and that is precisely what travellers describe when they get back.
She is also the only one of the 4 Mekong boats to carry a pool, on her sun deck beside the large bar lounge; the middle deck holds a massage room. Of the 60 vessels CroisiEurope publishes, we counted only 12 with a pool.
The water level question
The Mekong rises and falls sharply with the season. On the stretch towards Siem Reap, the level determines what is covered by boat and what by road. We ask CroisiEurope to confirm for your specific date before you commit. Clients almost never raise it, and it sometimes changes two days of the programme.
Getting to Southeast Asia from Montreal
No non-stop flight links Montreal-Trudeau with Ho Chi Minh City. Allow at least one connection, often two, and a full day of travel each way. We plan one or two nights on site before embarkation: with around 12 hours of time difference, arriving the previous evening is not enough.
Vietnam and Cambodia apply entry formalities to Canadian travellers, and these evolve. We check them at booking and give you the current list.
What is included and what is not
Full board, drinks with meals and at the bar, excursions in the programme. Gratuities are not included. Travel insurance never is, and on a destination with multiple connections it stops being optional. We itemise every line and explain what Quebec's FICAV fund covers before anything is signed.
Who she suits
Travellers who want the best-equipped boat on this destination and accept 62 passengers rather than 28. Anyone wanting the opposite should look at the Toum Tiou II, half the size, or the RV Indochine, between the two. The full fleet is on our CroisiEurope cruises page.
