Following their success operating luxury super yacht like cruises in the Peruvian Amazon Aqua Expeditions is launching its third vessel in 2014.
This new yacht will sail the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam and like her Amazon based sisters can the whole boat can be chartered.
In just five years, Aqua Expeditions, founded by Francesco Galli Zugaro, has become a leader in luxury small ship cruises on one of the world’s greatest rivers. The custom-built Aqua and Aria cruising yachts brought the first luxury cruise line to the Amazon River in Peru, offering travellers nature-based adventures combined with the comfort and sophistication of 5-star, boutique hotel accommodations and gourmet cuisine.
The new yacht, Aqua Mekong will be the first boat of its class on the river. Keeping in style with the Aria and Aqua, Aqua Mekong will be small enough to be intimate, and large enough to be spacious and luxurious, paying every attention to detail from the design and decor to the cuisine and service.
The yacht will have 20 suites, decorated in a lush contemporary Asian style, using local materials and fabrics, each with floor-to-ceiling picture windows enabling travellers to relax in bed and watch Asia float past. There will also be a generous-sized spa and fitness centre, dining room, library, screening room, and an observation deck with a pool and a lounge bar.
Construction will take place in Vietnam where the boat has been designed by Noor, renowned local architects based in Saigon. Drawing inspiration from local cultures and traditions, the designers David Hodkinson and Luc Lejeune have created an elegant floating boutique hotel that will be unique to the destination.
Itineraries will run from Siem Riep down river to My Tho, near Saigon, stopping in Phnom Penh along the way, and vice versa. Modelling the water safari experience that the Peruvian Aqua boats have perfected, the experience will include daily river and shore excursions off the boat in skiffs.