Three days two nights cruise to less touristy area of Lan Ha & Ha Long bay is an ideal trip for those who seek for truly experience. ASPIRA CRUISE with perfect combination of modern & traditional design will not only bring you a journey in comfort & luxury but also take you deep into natural wonders with various interesting activities: kayaking, swimming, biking, etc..
Posted By : Bob009
We enjoyed the whole experience - from check-in to the return to shore. There were two different "directors" during the cruise - both were excellent and went out of their way to ensure that the guests were well-looked-after. The rooms on board were clean, comfortable and provided sufficient space for our luggage. The daily excursions were informative, well-planned, and all was done in a relaxed atmosphere. As senior citizens we appreciated the fact that we were always given a less strenuous option to every activity - an easily accessed boat in place of a kayak, a golf cart in place of a bicycle, etc. The food was excellent and the servers were attentive and injected some of their personality into the service. A sunset drink at the open-air bar was a fitting end to each wonderful day.
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Posted On : 2024-03-17 16:25:02 
Posted By : markcD3071ZK
Ok, so firstly we did the 3 day tour, including the private return transfers from Hanoi. The driver meets is in an old and dirty 4wd, that hasn't been washed forever. He also decides to vape the entire way, also spitting out the window, and tearing down the highway, with not one other car passing us in the 2 plus hour trip. So definitely NOT the transfer you want to take to a 5 star cruise. Room was great, and as was expected.. food was good also, but you couldn't get good outside the meal times, and the bar only opened the serving. So for lunch, and then again at 5pm for their pretty lame excuse for happy hour. Buy 2 hugely overpriced cocktails, and get one free. Or 10% off basic wines, which is all they really offered, or scotch. So nothing on beers, glasses of wines or anything else. We are on holidays and often like a few drinks in the afternoon, but couldn't do this.. inclusions were ok, but nothing special, and you would want to like kayaking, as 3 activities were this, just in different areas. I have done lots of great tours back in Hanoi and HCM, so know what you get for your money, so the activities are at best maybe worth $30-$40 AUD per day. I asked for a water after one of the hour long kayaks, which wasn't lead by anyone, so a pure rental really, and told not included. So for $400 Aud per night, in a lead in room, I think there are much better options out there. Also a few double standards, crew insisted on us wearing life jackets for any and everything on the water,I get it, yet the staff didn't follow this. I come from Australia, so could easily out swim all of them put together. Often the service was too much too, and is fine line between good and overservicing. Yeah, I won't be back, nor will my travelling companions whom booked the best suite on the boat, at around $800 AUD a night.. anyone that considers this 5 star or great value, hasn't obviously done a lot of travel in Asia. Disappointing to say the least!!
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Posted On : 2024-03-05 23:57:00
Posted By : Hoover67
We did a 2 night cruise and stayed in one of the Executive Suites. The food was good and plentiful, the tours were fun. But, the highlight for us was relaxing in our room and private sun deck soaking in the beauty!
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Posted On : 2023-12-13 08:31:59
Posted By : UncleWoll
Very disappointed with this 2 night cruise. It started promisingly, with a warm greeting and a good lunch, then it went downhill. Breakfast was especially poor on both days, with very limited choice. Dinner was OK, but no more than that.
The room was ok, a little on the small size, but the bed was comfy. There was a smell in the bathroom, which never went away and on the second evening I had to have a cool shower as the hot water wasn’t running hot. The safe in the room didn’t work (our friends had the same problem).
The second day was poor. After karaoke until almost 11 pm the night before, we really wanted an easy day, but were rudely awoken at 6 am by what we assume was the anchor coming up and then noise was continuous and loud. After an early breakfast we were rushed off the boat, then ferried around different places at speed. It wasn't at all relaxing. People in our party actually got left behind by our tour guide after the kayaking and had to get a lift back to our boat later in the day. Please see my photo of "the beach" which was sold to us as a highlight of the day. We thought the tour guide was winding us up when we arrived, but he wasn't. That mound of sand was for the use of several boats, and it would have been funny if we hadn't paid so much for the experience. Oh and you had to jump off the boat and swim over to it. Unsurprisingly, not many people thought it was worth the effort.
The staff were quite young, but trying their best. Unfortunately they looked genuinely fearful of the Cruise Manager, Mr Ha. He was snapping his fingers and seemed like a dictator. I explained to him that his conduct detracted from our experience and he actually told me that it was justified because he was so experienced and his team were not. It was borderline confrontational.
At the end of the tour we were asked for feedback. We were honest, with comments in line with this review. I wondered if the feedback forms would have been provided to the tour operator, so emailed them to ask. No response, so I assume that they are perfectly OK with poor reviews as long as they get their money.
All in all, very disappointing for what should have been a highlight of our trip around Vietnam.
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Posted On : 2023-11-28 06:17:40
Posted By : brent a
The staff were very friendly, the food was fantastic the room was also fantastic and the ensuite was huge. The scenery was beautiful the only small issue was the activities were not so exciting.
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Posted On : 2023-10-03 06:13:29
Posted By : khym808
Our experience traveling on a luxury cruise to see an UNESCO destination was mixed.
The pros ~ the crew was very friendly and helpful, food abundant and delicious and there were many fun activities to take part in.
The cons ~ there were parts of the ship that seemed unclean and needed service such as the plumbing, water drainage was poor in shower and the bathroom had a faint sewage smell. Also the pool water seemed murky with an oily film floating on the top of the water and the filter area surrounding the outside of pool was very moldy. The waters was once pristine and beautiful but are now showing severe signs of pollution. There was trash and signs of fuel in the waters which could be seen especially when the boat was anchored.
There were way to many boats in the water making our trip feel extremely touristy and not very luxurious.
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Posted On : 2023-09-08 11:14:53
Posted By : Y397GRjohnt
First off Ha Long Bay is stunning, find a way to go however you can.
The boat was amazing, clean, comfortable and the top deck in particular was brilliant. The balcony attached to the room was also a really nice way to start the day.
The staff were amazing and conscientious making sure everything was to your satisfaction. In particular going above and beyond when one of us was ill to check in regularly and make sure everything was ok.
The food is wonderful (in particular the first night) and is in fact probably slightly too much food to eat.
The coach transfer direct from your hotel to and from the boat was also a real plus point, with everything running smoothly.
We loved the activities on the first day however, I would say the cruise feels more designed for people staying one night (2 day) and doing the extra night (3 day) felt a lot like repeating the same day over and is probably unnecessary. Particularly at dinner time as on your second day you are served a slightly different menu to everyone else who has just come for one night. While we still enjoyed the second day, I would say one day is sufficient. The majority of passengers were doing the one night cruise so it felt a bit strange the second morning that everyone else was doing their final activity and leaving where as we were doing a separate activity with another boat and then coming back to the boat to see a whole new group of people. This also meant the second night didn't have any new activities for us and the menu wasn't as good.
A few other small downsides, if you're on the second floor and people are doing karaoke or even just music is playing in the dining room you will hear it (loudly) in your room until they turn it off. We also found that the bath leaked all over our bathroom floor.
Overall a beautiful place to visit but we would recommend just doing the one night with this company and then maybe visiting Cat Ba separately.
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Posted On : 2023-08-04 08:52:32
Posted By : Adventure58600344997
Best relaxing cruise we've chosen. The rooms was very clean n spacious, staff very attentive n the food was amazing. Highly recommend 2 nights stay to fully enjoy the bay. Will 100% book ASPIRA again.
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Posted On : 2023-07-26 20:31:48
Posted By : Freedom32906291127
We thought that the boat might only do 3 day and 2 night but the 2 day and 1 night people also get on this cruise which means you go back to the docking area the next day also , bit disappointing. Our first guide Jimmy was amazing spoke good English and made jokes and was very funny. The next guide couldn’t speak very good English and was mot very informative, very disappointing. We had a massage on the boat as we stayed the 3 days and it was the worst massage we have ever had , big waist of money. The room we had was amazing and the food was great just a few things disappointing
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Posted On : 2023-07-04 07:21:09
Posted By : 293giselled
We had a wonderful experience
Our tour guide Lee was an amazing warm and friendly person who gave us all the required information . Buses were on time for pick up and were really clean.
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Posted On : 2023-05-20 01:30:03
