Velar of the Sea - 5 Star Luxury on Halong Bay 2 days 1 night

The ship is not worth four star the food is not good They should serve bottled water and half a little bit more drink such as tea, coffee and the room have cracked. The door is squeaking. They need to fix that. But scenery is excellent.

The rooms are massive, the bath huge w spa functions. The open air balcony where you can sit and enjoy the view. Seriously I could’ve sat there for days . I’m not much for activities but I love a cocktail and a relax. This cruise was right up my alley. But if I did want to do stuff there was canoes swimming caving . But honestly it’s the lovely staff that made us feel special every part of the journey. I wanted to mention where we docked at night we were only 1 of a couple of boats in that area. Thank you team at Velor of the sea.

The bay is beautiful and having a windowed room is really wonderful because you can enjoy the view while lying down and relaxed. The bathrooms were very nice but the slippers they provided us in the room were already used and dirty. During the first outing activity in a boat we almost fell 2 times because a man kept getting up and moving from one top to the other without respecting the balance. I couldn’t wait to get off because it wasn’t safe at all and I did a lot of excursions like that. I think the kitchen demonstration activity is quite a scam, there is no room for everyone, people are attached and you can’t see anything unless you push people away. The next day I was so disappointed by the activities that I didn’t even participate in the other proposals. At the buffet no queue and people pushing you or overtaking you without rules. The staff is kind and helpful but it is absolutely not a 5 star experience

It is to do at least once on two days, the first day is not very interesting but you can see the Bay of Along (hyper tourist) but to see if you are in Vietnam. On the second very pleasant day, we will see the much wilder Lan Ha Bay. However we take another boat so we do not stay on the big boat we leave from 8am to 4pm but it is very nice. Our room with terrace was very good. Disappointing breakfasts. Meals were good.

We booked an expensive 3day/2-night cruise through an agent in Hanoi, Bamboo Ha Giang.We were picked up from our hotel in Ninh Binh, taken to Halong Bay, then on board the Velar ship, at 12.30pm.Ours was a superior deluxe room, and was excellent. The buffet lunch was good, no complaints there. The set dinner was very average, some of it inedible. We were told we should be ready for being off-loaded at 8.30am the next morning, and we would be taken to a hotel on CatBa island. I protested, as that meant only a few hours on a cruise ship, not even 24-hours. I was then told that a day cruise boat would pick us up. After a sub-standard measly early breakfast, ( 6am) we were off-loaded onto a day boat. After 2-hours on it , we were told we would be landed on our hotel in Cat Ba. Again, we protested, and the manager agreed to arrange for the off-loading for 5pm. The day cruise was okay, we visited a village, went to a pearl farm, the manager " Y" was very good, and we landed in CatBa island in a reasonable 4 *hotel on the island. The next day we were to be picked up at 11am for our drive to Hanoi. This is very misleading-- how is it a 3-day cruise? Most of it was on land! We were barely a total of 28-hours on a boat.How is it a 2-night cruise, when our second night was in an island hotel? The cruise staff were always eager to off-load us from the cruise ship, yet we had paid for a cruise trip, in a luxurious room. I would not recommend this cruise. And, the food was bad.

AVOID. We had a Rat in our Room. Staff were not helpful at all with this issue. The staff/ crew on this boat seemed fine until we had a problem, then they were useless. Please be warned this boat is not safe to travel on. We had a large Rat in our Room at 2.30am. Ran across floor towards a hole in the window. We reported this to night manager, he did very little apart from tell us to wait until the morning & he would get housekeeping to remove the rat. We had to report it again at 4.30am, Rat ran up the curtain & into ceiling. Totally disgusting. We packed our bags & went to reception after reporting it a second time. We were later given a different room (next door) for a few hrs to rest. Obviously it was impossible to rest as we had 2 children with us in an adjoining room & we had to ensure they were OK. Staff told us at 5.30am that they found & removed the Rat.....when we made a formal complaint through our booking agent later that morning the cruise manager asked for photos of the Rat! This is after his own Staff told us they had found & removed it. His response was to offer a discount off the drinks bill. His attitude was very poor. My strong advice is DO NOT VISIT THIS BOAT it is unsafe, not clean & Staff are useless when you have an issue. We are in process of reporting this to the Tourism Dept & Health & Safety Dept. DO NOT VISIT THIS BOAT.

I am Vishesh Jain. It was a brilliant experience. We enjoyed a lot. This was our best trip ever. TU is a very good person & he helped us a lot.

We stayed at the cruise for 1 night. Very bad AC for a cruise that's rated 5 star. In the restaurant they had water drops leaking from the AC vents. The cabin we got was cold when we got in but then it takes 2 minutes before it's hot again. The buffet was not that good. They charge you for coffe and tea (except for the light breakfast timing from 6am-630am). Dinner, set menu, was not good either. Too little variety. However, the receptionist James did his very best to provide excellent service. So goes for the rest of the crew members as well. Good activities but a little too much when one activity is set right after the other.

We booked 2 nights in the "Honeymoon suite" via booking dot com as had private terrace and lots of space. Picked up (at additional cost) in Hanoi. 20 minutes before arriving at harbour, you get herded like sheep into a tacky tourist trap pearl shop. Do not go down the escalator unless you want to purchase overpriced pearls! Really bad first impression tbh. We then checked in at harbour which was all a bit crazy and overcrowded. After this, we were herded into an ugly old tender boat to don life jackets (of which there were not enough of!), and then onto a speed boat which we got drenched on! By this stage, I thought I had made a really bad choice!! Our room was great, except no drawers to put clothes in, or even a case stand. No fridge in room (they will give you an ice bucket on request), only 1 coat hanger and towels that I would only use for my dogs! However, the first bad impressions were soon dissipated by the wonderful staff!! They really are great and give very personalised service! The massage was the best in all of Vietnam. The food was OK, beautifully presented, but meat often overcooked for our liking. Yes, the drinks are expensive, however that is the norm on any cruise. The 'barista' made coffee is awful so either just drink the percolated or bring some sachets with you. On the second day wev were sent off with another company for a day tour which was quite good, except when we were involved in a boat crash!! Their staff were really good about it, but we were a bit sore afterwards.. What really left a bitter (litetally) taste in our mouths, is on the last day after settling our (very large) account, they served brunch where coffee was not included! We had to order a made one, which again was undrinkable, and when we went to pay, they charged us another 200,000 as they didn't have change.. nor a great first, nor last impression, however as stated prior, the staff made up for a lot of the misgivings!!

We did a little of research on various ships and this was rated well however it was disappointing in a few areas. For quite a new ship it is quite tired already. We had lead in cabin (Senior suite) on level 3. Massage on board $45 US which for Vietnam is a crazy price. Alcohol very expensive on board but you can bring your own in room though no fridge. Excursions were a bit underwhelming as others have stated. The food was good but breakfast was a poor and small selection and dinner was too much food (7 courses) - just excessive. We did two night cruise and on the second night dinner I got terrible food poisoning and vomited 6 times in the night - terrible. Had only eaten on board so had to be from their food. A pool on board filled with cold water so no one used it. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this particular ship