Era Cruise Lan Ha Bay

Our experience with Era Halong Cruises was fantastic! What truly stood out was the impeccable hospitality and attentive service provided by the staff—they went above and beyond to ensure every guest felt welcome and well-cared for. Our cruise struck the perfect balance of comfort and exclusivity, never feeling overly crowded, which made the experience all the more relaxing. The amenities onboard were well-appointed, offering everything you needed for an overnight getaway. There was a range of activities to participate in whilst on board, making it an enjoyable experience for the whole family. Overall, we had a fantastic time and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Era Halong Cruises to anyone considering exploring this part of the world.

Obviously the location is absolutely stunning, but the boat itself is beautiful. Our room had enormous windows and a view that nearly made us cry. The windows are mirrored on the outside so you can sit in your jacuzzi bath and watch the sunset without any other boats seeing in.

The boat was great and reasonably new. Rooms were clean and large! Greats views everywhere and lots of activities to do. Food was exceptional and lots of different seafood!

The crew/staff were excellent and the ferry was clean and comfortable. The food was good and there was variety.

High price. We paid for all meals but you have to pay every time you have a drink including water, tea, coffee, a soft drink and alcohol. In my opinion, water, soft drinks, tea and coffee should be included. The kayaking and bamboo boat trips were excellent but there wasn't anything special about the dark and bright cave and it wasn't a proper cave. The quality of the road bikes for cycling wasn't good.

Buffet lunch and brunch was delicious with a good spread of dishes. Rooms and bathrooms are huge and very newish.. Balcony with 2 chairs was a good experience. We had booked 2 family rooms. During check in we were told that we had been upgraded to the new cruise ship Venus. That was a pleasant surprise. Everything was very well coordinated and safe. Sufficient drinking water was provided during the stay.

Activities were jam packed. With not much time to just chill and laze around. 7 course sit down dinner was too much food considering we also had spring tools and other nibbles with drinks just before the dinner. Instead of a sit down dinner, a traditional Vietnamese buffet dinner would have been better. I am not a big fan of seafood especially lobster. Vegetarian food we ordered for 2 people was not compliant with Indian taste, but that's very personal. Some activities like kayaking was cancelled, but that's a govt restriction, so we were told. Swimming pool is very very shallow with no spa. A spa would have been good to relax instead of squatting in the pool.

We don’t recommand ! If you like good food and luxury environment you can forget… Worst experience ever! Only the people working there were 10/10.

To our great surprise we were welcomed at the port in an office that I would describe as very dilapidated (2*) without air conditioning where we waited more than an hour before finally being able to board a boat also of class 2/3* in which we spent almost 1h30 before finally arriving on the Venus. We had been informed when booking a check in at 11am but finally arrived at 1:45pm on board. When we arrived, the boat had a very unpleasant smell in the common areas. Once checked in to our room we were incredibly surprised by the size of it which was supposed to be 45m2 but is finally about thirty m2 (approximate) and in a state that does not correspond to a luxury standard. Holes in the ceiling filled and not repainted, crooked walls, dirty windows, and little decoration. Fortunately the sheets and towels were clean. We also realize that the internet is non-existent in our room. No network available. Once on the upper deck the wifi is present but does not work. Even sending a message on WhatsApp is almost impossible. Bummer! The air conditioning did not work well because at 18 Celsius with the fan at maximum we were still hot. We did not have hot water the first 2 days. The boat's swimming pool was not clean at all. The pool towels had an unpleasant smell when used. We were also informed that we had to pay for water and juices which normally seemed to be included in the paid package. How dare you ask people to pay for water?! Regarding the food we are also dissatisfied because far from a 5 * luxury standard even considering the fact that it is Vietnam. The food was hardly above 2 * The activities on and off the boat were relatively not up to standard. A lot of time wasted being transported from one place to another waiting at each boat of different companies to pick up passengers joining the activities. Finally we spent more time on low quality boats than on the boat we paid for.

The cruise was clean and welcoming, enjoyable time

On arrival, Aircon / fridge were off because the key needs to activate it, therefore the fridge remained warm majority of the time. Need additional keys. Wifi was a painful experience, if wifi was available 100% of the time, enjoyment would be a 10.

The meals, rooms and general cruise ship are amazing. We are happy we chose Era cruises (now called Venus).

The water in the pool was quite dirty. It looked like it was not cleaned in a while. The staff also tried to sell drinks with every meal. After buying a bottle of water they would then come to you table with a bottle of free water each (after you ordered something you had to pay for). Just before leaving the cruise we found out there was a water fill up station for free and we wouldnt have needed to buy wate3r the whole time if we had known. Apart from this everything was amazing and the staff was really friendly.