2 nights excursion on Santa Maria Cruise

Posted By : SeanOC53
We had a great 2 night 3 day cruise.
The boat was beautiful and all staff were very friendly and professional.
The locations are stunning.
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Posted On : 2020-02-24 23:25:56

Posted By : HarveyStinson
I had a 2D1N tour with the lovely guide. The way they serve guests make me feel like a king. Can not ignore the Vietnamese food, that was so tastety!
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Posted On : 2020-02-20 01:31:16

Posted By : aoifee608
Mr Thêm is a great tour guide, very entertaining and friendly. Shame that we only have him for one of the two nights.
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Posted On : 2020-02-19 08:21:52

Posted By : B4788LDangelal
We have just finished a 2 night cruise and had a wonderful time. The transport from hanoi was excellent. We did kayaking, climbing and cave exploring. The boat was comfortable and the food excellent.look out for Bien he is just a lovely young man our guide them was brilliant.
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Posted On : 2020-01-20 22:05:11

Posted By : paulrP5054CI
I took the 3day/2 night cruise in Jan 2020. the cabin and shower were excellent but you don't see much of it as they are always organizing tours and every day the boat will return to Ha Long wharf to pick up more passengers. Existing passengers are taken on a tender to elsewhere and cannot stay on the main boat even if they wish (I had some important calls to make but could not stay)

Kayaking and caves are the main activities. In summer you can also swim but in January the water and weather were chilly. Good to get out there but do not expect any isolation - you will be moored with perhaps another 100 boats which makes the advertised squid fishing useless - there is just to much light and activities from the surrounding boats. On would think in a 1500km2 park, the boats could be spread out but they all cluster around Titop Island

Be aware that there are secondary charges. So unless you have an "all inclusive" ticket, you will be hit with the entrance and kayaking fees. Even the "all inclusive" ticket does not include any drinks bar two 300ml bottles of water that are not replenished even if you are there for three days. The two bottles are per cabin, not per person.

Additional water is USD2 (300ml). A plain tea or coffee during the meals are USD2. I rang the company when I found out my ticket did not include meals (USD10 for lunch, USD13 for dinner) and negotiated an "all inclusive" price. Only to be told later that "all inclusive" did not include any drinks whatsoever at meal times. Most passengers found the policy and pricing offensive and resorted to bringing their bottled water to dinner.

You can buy water, soft drinks and alcohol at some of the attractions and there was a girl on a small boat that came around at odd times to sell beer, cigarettes, water and snacks. You can bring your own, which is why I am writing this as many other passengers said that if they had known of the policy, they would have stocked up beforehand.

It was good to get out on the bay and the ship itself was well run (though some passengers complained of the constant noise of the engine - bring earplugs if you are sensitive to this as the engines need to run to supply electricity and water pressure).

The drink policy put a sour note on the whole cruise. I believe it is a common theme across all boats but not to supply fluids during all meals bar breakfast (which was fine btw) just seemed usurious and a blatant grab for cash.

Which made every one wonder.

A good trip but do not expect isolation (the caves were filled with a constant stream of visitors - and this was low season) or any sort of fluid refreshments outside of breakfast and the miserly 2 bottles of water.
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Posted On : 2020-01-12 18:37:17

Posted By : liamsS7486CC
Big thanks to my man Dang. He was there to answer all my questions and provide help for whatever I needed at the time. Beautiful boat, wonderful transfer and everything went smoothly. Not much more than you can ask for
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Posted On : 2020-01-09 22:20:32

Posted By : cryp2t
Having heard so much about Halong Bay I was expecting alot, and these guys didn't disappoint.

The minibus from Hanoi was nothing short of amazing, by far the most luxurious bus I have been on.

After a little bit of a wait at the main harbor, the tender turned up to pick us up, very spacious and open and perfect for zipping around the bay. It was there that Tony introduced himself, this is the Vietnamese guy that runs the show. He was extremely nice, entertaining and knowledgeable throughout the trip and kept us entertained.

The cabin was small, but very nicely fitted out and very clean and was perfect for a little 2 day trip.

Our food throughout was delicious, beautiful and always served on time.

The caves and the mini mountain were absolutely worth seeing.

Overall I had a fantastic time on the boat, treating myself to a little luxury and the amazing views of Halong bay, there will be no complaints from me.

Thanks to the crew of Santa Maria, I'd love to come back one day.
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Posted On : 2019-12-19 00:58:10