Capella Cruise

Capella has an inflatable slide running from its top deck down into the bay. The food is the most common complaint in its low reviews.

Thirty cabins on a steel hull, which the operator says was launched in August 2020. The pool is an all-season heated infinity pool with a jacuzzi beside it, and there is a floating pool in the sea as well as the slide. There is a gym, kayaking is included, and the Sea Memory spa charges for treatments. Every cabin has a private balcony or terrace.

How big are Capella’s cabins?

The standard suites are 32 m², whichever deck they are on, and the larger grades run up to 92 m². Sizes and decks are the operator’s; one-night prices are per cabin for two from a listing read on 6 August 2026.

The extra $80 from the first-deck suite to a Sky Suite buys height and view; the floor area stays at 32 m².

What the cabins cost

halongbaytours.com’s rate table, read on 6 August 2026, puts the first-deck suite at $380 a cabin for two for one night and the two family suites at $820 and $900. The operator’s own site, read on 10 August 2026, quotes from $490 a cabin for one night and from $980 for the three-day trip, so compare both before you book. The operator asks for full payment 60 days before sailing.

Halve the $380 first-deck suite and you get $190 each for two sharing.

What guests report paying is more use. One writes that the night cost $500 and the food did not match it. A Canadian family put CAD 4,100 on a three-night booking and CAD 550 more on the bar. A Vietnamese guest gives over nine million dong for one night.

What goes wrong on Capella?

Mostly the kitchen. A guest describes chewy meat, a soup made from apple and peanut butter, and a restaurant manager who told them visitors do not want to eat Vietnamese food. A Vietnamese guest paying over nine million dong writes that the fish and prawns were not fresh, and that in squid season they were served no fresh squid.

The second theme is the road. A guest in August 2026 spent longer travelling to and from Hanoi than on the boat, and writes that the bus makes stops so that passengers can be sold things.

Smaller things, all first-hand. A cabin with no working air conditioning. A happy-hour bill presented at checkout for drinks a manager had appeared to write off. A boat that docked at eleven against a transfer that arrived at twelve, costing one guest a pre-paid cooking class. One guest found the top deck in full sun with no shade.

Many of the good reviews are about people, with cruise managers named by guests who booked years apart.

The route, and the boat you actually board

The itinerary stays on the Cat Ba side of Lan Ha. Viet Hai village sits inside Cat Ba National Park, the Bright and Dark caves are worked from rowing boats rather than on foot, and the Frog Lagoon area is where the slide goes into the water. Quieter stops than Sung Sot and Titop, and the argument for the Lan Ha boats over the main channel. If the bay question is still open, our comparison of the three is the page to read first.

Boarding is at Pier 20B, Tuan Chau International Port, where guests are welcomed between 11:45 and 12:00. The operator’s DCAR limousine collects from Old Quarter hotels between 08:00 and 08:30, and on the way back the shuttle leaves Tuan Chau at about 11:45 and reaches Hanoi around 15:00; Origin Vietnam charged $52 a guest for the round trip in August 2026. Then budget for the water. One guest times the tender from the drop-off to the ship at about forty minutes; a Vietnamese guest puts it at about an hour and felt seasick on it. Capella boards on the Ha Long side and sleeps on the Lan Ha side, and that crossing comes out of a short holiday.

One more thing to pin down. In August 2025 the operator was refitting Capella and put those guests onto Lyra, a newer ship in the same fleet. They were pleased about it. If you have chosen this hull for a reason of your own, get in writing that it is the hull you will sleep on. Sailing permission is decided each day by the bay authority, and the operator’s terms do not refund parts of a trip you have already started.

Who it suits

Families whose children will use the slide, the pool and the jacuzzi, and who treat the meals as the part that might disappoint. It holds its place on the best-value list on that basis.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone for whom dinner is the point of the evening. The complaint here is not one cold plate on one night. It is a kitchen that guests at several price points describe in the same terms, and no cabin grade fixes a kitchen.

Where these facts come from

The pier, the cabin grades with their sizes and decks, the launch, the pool, spa, programmes, transfer, from-prices and terms are from lyracruises.com, the operator’s site, read on 10 August 2026; three sources give 30 cabins. The rate table and the steel hull are from listings read on 6 August 2026. Guest remarks are from Google reviews.