3-Day Lan Ha Bay Cruise on Calypso Cruiser

The ship itself is good we had rooms with balcony, wi/fi bit and miss usually after 6pm ok Food was very good plenty maybe to much, Trip were good to go on The staff were really good friendly and took care of my husband every were we went as he’s a below knee amputee.

Huge thumbs down. Food was terrible and I’m not fussy. There was literally fish that smelt worse than my cat food. My parents own a pet food factory in Australia I have grown up eating lamb and beef home killed from the farm and I would rather eat something processed from the pet food factory absolutely disgusting. The cruise felt like a turn and burn factory. Our room stunk… like sewerage water. The drink tasted like methanol, and were extremely expensive. I recommend doing harlong bay do not do it with calypso it’s an absolute tourist trap.

The room and bathroom were OK. The staff had ZERO technical and linguistic training. The barman, however, was always helpful and very friendly. That's not something you can necessarily say about the rest of the service staff. The loungers and seats on the deck have no cushions and are outdated. Breakfast and lunch are bad. The drinks are very expensive on the ship. The excursions are completely uninteresting. A day trip to Halong Bay is sufficient

Fantastic few days away in the beautiful Ha Long and Lan Ha bay areas! The trip was well organised and everything is taken care of for you. We opted to be picked up in Hanoi (which cost an additional $10US/pp for the return transfer - payable onboard). The price is fully inclusive for all activities, food and facilities on the boat excluding drinks. We spent Christmas onboard and had a wonderful time, Daisy the amazing tour leader even organised a fun Xmas Eve party for all guests, which was very thoughtful. When you first arrive, all of your big suitcase luggage is taken to your room for you. Our room was on the second floor and was very spacious with a huge shower and long balcony. There is also a TV preloaded with popular movies. You also receive some complimentary bottled water and have a payable mini-bar in the room filled with drinks, snacks and beer. Pricing was okay at about $2 for snacks and $3 for drinks (the same price as at the bar). Lunch was served upon arrival, the food was always great and varied each day with a set menu of around eight smaller courses. This was great as if you didn’t like one, you’d still have plenty more food to try. I pre-ordered vegetarian food as most of the menu consists of fish and meat dishes otherwise. If you are not a big fan of seafood or have dietary requirements, I’d recommend adding this note onto the booking with Viator. The chef and tour company did a great job of ensuring I was well fed at all times! 😀 No time was wasted with getting straight into the first excursion. After lunch we were taken by slow boat to the Light and Dark caves where you could choose to either kayak or join a relaxing Sampan boat ride through the gorgeous scenery if you didn’t want to get wet. After this you return to the boat for dinner, happy hour at the bar (3 for 2 on cocktails and some other drinks), evening activities including squid fishing from the back of the ship, a spring roll cookery class with the head chef and the opportunity to swim either in the sea or in the hot tub on the top deck. The night activities on our first night went on quite late (until midnight) which were a little loud if you just wanted to sleep. But for us it was Christmas Eve so it may not be like that every night? It’s a very early start on the next day as you can join a Thai Che class at 6am and breakfast is served at 6:30am. At around 8am it was time to be picked up by a speed boat that took us to Cat Ba island to visit a local village. To get there we had the choice of taking a 5k bicycle ride or jumping on an electric buggy. The bike ride was relatively easy with only one semi tricky incline (10% incline for about 35meters) the rest is either fairly flat or downhill. The ride was fun and not too strenuous. The village is set in a picturesque inland location surrounded by mountains and farmland. After exploring the village with our guide we had lunch at a local restaurant (which again happily catered for my dietary needs). Drinks were not included here so ensure you have some Dong to pay a small amount in cash. Then it’s back to the boat via electric buggy (no need to cycle back) and onto Kayaking. The location was wonderful, picturesque and quiet. No other boat tours were kayaking in this area so it felt very peaceful. This was an absolute highlight of the day! After kayaking it was time for a quick stop at a small beach for an optional dunk in the sea. In December the water was pretty cold but was worth it for just 5 mins. Then it was time to head back to the ship for a relaxing afternoon in the large hot tub pool on the top deck. More food & drinks and an early night ready for our second early start on day three. After another early start and packing our bags we had a short two hour trip to some local caves on the mainland. This was fun and filled the morning before it was time to have one lasts meal, check-out, settle the bill (this can be done with credit card or cash, Dong and USD are both accepted) The boat journey back to Ha Long dock is about 30mins on the slow tender boat. Everything went very smoothly and we had an absolutely wonderful time. It was the perfect mix of relaxing and fun activities. I couldn’t recommend highly enough!

My husband and I had a fantastic time on this cruise. I recommend the 2 night cruise rather than the 1 night as the 1 night would be just too rushed. Daisy - the manager/organiser was very helpful and her English was very good. English was certainly a barrier with other staff. Travel agent and I had advised to dietary restriction but this wasn't considered most of the time which was disappointing as this information must have gotten lost in translation. However when mentioned to Daisy she was on to it for the following day. The activities were great, kayaking was fun, the day trip to Cat Ba Island was fund too and cycling around the island was an easy ride. The cocktails on board are half the size of a usual cocktail but charged full price so end up being quite expensive. Happy hour is 2 hours - 5pm-7pm and only applies to cocktails, not beer - buy 2 and 3rd free. It would be great if water was provided on tables with meals as I don't believe that guest should have to pay for water with meals on a ship like this when there's a water filter on board. All in all a great experience but could be better with a few tweaks. I would do it again though.