We have just completed a downstream journey on the Avalon Myanmar from Bhamo to Bagan. This is a beautiful new ship with a wonderful crew and it, for the first half, covers a part of the river largely not travelled by other companies.
On our cruise there were 24 passengers and a film/video team of 3 ( max of 36) from Canada, Australia, the US and Switzerland. People mixed very well with lively conversation at dinner but by some unspoken agreement, almost complete quiet on the top outside lounge during the day. Ages 55+ (with 2 stellar 90 year olds who were amazing!)
The excursions were all included. Many were walking tours through riverside villages while others involved buses, horse-drawn carts, sampans, truck or motor bike taxis. Everything was faultlessly organised. Our excursion guide, Dorothy, came from Bhamo, studied in Mandalay and Yangon, so knew the areas very well and chatted easily to the local people as they shared their lives with us. There was no option to do a dawn balloon flight over Bagan but 2 people on our cruise had booked it independently. Towards the end most of us felt we had seen enough Buddhas and, at Bagan, would have liked a bit more time just to explore the (3000) deserted stupas.
We booked late so had little choice of cabin. All the cabins are the same size and layout, 6 on the top deck, 12 on the bottom.
Typical well-designed Avalon cabin with the bed facing out and good storage.
It's a very new ship and our cabin had a couple of issues with lights and plumbing. Even though it was very close to the disembarkation deck, you could not hear people outside in the corridor.