Southern Panorama Houseboats

We boarded a day cruise on Southern Panorama premium houseboat last year during Kerala tour. Was skeptical on what type of boat would it be and the facilities, all that gone away as soon as we boarded the boat and welcomed by ever smiling captain and staff. We reached late but they ensured to take us a complete backwater tour even if ended a little late. Bedroom was well appointed, neat and clean. we enjoyed snacks and tea coffee on beautifully architected deck. Captain was kind enough to let us touch the wheel and get some photo op.
Chef ensured to dish out delicious vegetarian dishes for us- so many of them indeed ( about 10)- for light eaters like us it's enough for 2 days :) . We filled ourselves to the brim and alighted for next destination thanking the team from bottom of our hearts.

Excellent overnight backwater cruise, set off from Varkala. Just the 2 of us, the driver, chef and kitchen hand. Very clean and comfortable houseboat, very tasty food and plenty of it. Very tranquil and relaxing. I'd read some dodgy reviews from other companies so was relieved this was so good

in a two week trip through kerala, goa, and mumbai, i and my friend agree that the best meals we ate on our entire trip were on our boat. our chef (whom we later found out is in school to get an advanced degree in hospitality) was like michelin level great in the kitchen. the dishes were sumptuous.

side note, there was too much food for two. there's like 7 dishes per meal, and each is large enough to be plenty for two on its own, so we only wound up making it through like half the food on the table. but believe me we *tried*. cause wow.

highlight dish was actually the giant river prawns we'd bought from a canalside fish market. our chef pan fried them up with butter and spices, and it absolutely rocked. single best dish we ate at any restaurant on the trip (a trip that included ekaa, ishaara, gunpowder...)

the chef was a soft spoken, articulate, friendly guy, as was our ship's captain, who handled all my questions and dumb jokes with aplomb (we communicated by writing to each other on google translate. it was really fun).

five stars for the food alone.

short caveat to start for anyone out there who thinks like me: to get the experience i think i really wanted, i would have gone for a longer trip that goes deeper into the backwaters. we wound up doing a one-nighter and while we eventually went a little more into the "neighborhood" area of the canals where people actually live, i may have been secretly hoping to fall asleep and wake up somewhere other than just across the river from where we embarked/disembarked. and by the way, if you're actually a person who thinks like me, you don't know the difference between those two things and at the moment can't be arsed to look it up. but that's not really the cruise line's fault. that's just what we signed on for.

Biju, Nirmal, Sagith have been the best crew member we could wish for. They really took care of us. The captain was amazing and the chef cooked for us the best Kerala dishes. Always available with us, smiley and they told us a lot about Alleppey lake and canal. 24h of pure relax in a peaceful quiet place. I truly suggest this experience with the company and specially with this crew.
Thank you

We spent an afternoon on the houseboat cruising the backwaters of alleppy. It was beautiful & charming. The boat was clean & well maintained and all staff were very friendly. The food was provided on board by the chef which was plentiful & delicious.