RV Bengal Ganga

RV Bengal Ganga is an intimate yet large riverboat owned and operated by the luxury travel brand Antara River Cruises (India).

The 8-day Ganges River cruise itinerary offers departures from Munger and Kolkata (India ). The route has a total length of approximately 650 km/400 mi, enabling the discovery of parts of India only just opening up to international tourists.

The boat's primary voyage-charterer, Riviera Travel UK/fleet, is currently the UK's second-largest river cruise company and the country's largest overseas escorted tour operator. The family-owned Riviera River Cruises has control over all aspects of the cruisetour itineraries via a hand-picked team led by professional land tour managers.

This luxury riverboat features excellent use of Burmese red teakwood and hand-made brass fittings throughout. The three passenger decks on Bengal Ganga have as facilities an air-conditioned Dining Room (on Main Deck), a spacious Upper Deck Lounge & Bar (forward-facing on Upper Deck) furnished with comfortable rattan armchairs, and the Ayurvedic Spa.

The Sun Deck offers both open-air and shaded areas with hardwood steamer chairs.

A small gift shop sells handicrafts and traditional souvenirs and artworks.

The Bengal Ganga ship has 28 staterooms, all of which fully air-conditioned. Main and Upper Deck cabins are the same size (13,5 m2/145 ft2) and feature local textiles, paneled teak walls and floors.

All passenger staterooms have twin beds, private bathrooms (shower, hairdryer), plenty of storage plus personal safes, and doors opening to a shared outdoor deck deck promenade areas.

Premium Suites are larger (sized 21 m2/224 ft2) and located aft on the Upper Deck. The suites have double beds and sliding glass doors.

There is just one sitting in the restaurant at meal times. The ship offers an extensive breakfast buffet, lunch buffet (few served dishes) and a sit-down dinner. Complimentary coffee and tea are available throughout the day in either the dining room or on the Sun Deck. Saloon Bar is open daily and offers a variety of local and imported wines, beers, spirits, liquors, cocktails.

Onboard activities include expert lectures themed on Indian religion, culture, life, chef’s cooking demonstrations, documentary movies in the evenings. Onboard life is informal and unhurried.

The upgrades during the boat's refurbishment in 2024 included renovation of the 1970s-inspired interiors, all balconies, and windows, as well as machinery overhaul and full cleaning/repainting.

Note: You can see CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.