La Casta Regal Cruise

La Casta Regal has a small outdoor pool on its third deck as well as a jacuzzi, according to two listings, and that is the main reason we would pick it on Lan Ha Bay. The 24 cabins were priced from $300 to $380 a night for two on the 6 August 2026 rate sheet. Every class on one listing’s cabin sheet comes with a minibar and a bathtub, and four of its six classes, the Junior Suite among them, add a coffee and tea maker.

How big is each La Casta Regal cabin, and what does it cost?

Three listings give sizes and they differ by a few square metres, so the table shows all three. Prices are per cabin for two, from the sheet read on 6 August 2026.

What the sources agree on is the pattern. On every one of them the Senior Suite matches the Junior in floor area; you pay $20 to be on the second deck, where two listings count ten Senior Suites, against six Junior Suites on the first. The Honeymoon Suite Balcony is the real step up, at 50 m² on both listings that size it, and one listing counts only two of them.

For three days, the Junior Suite is the class to book. Its second night comes in $25 under the first; in the Senior Suite and the Honeymoon Suite Terrace the second night costs exactly what the first did, and in the Honeymoon Suite Balcony it costs $20 more. Two days or three weighs up the extra night.

Is the La Casta Regal pool worth booking for?

Yes, in summer, with a question in winter. One listing places an outdoor pool on the third floor and sells it as a free public jacuzzi or mini pool; the other calls it a seasonal swimming pool in one paragraph and a four-season pool a few lines later. Asked by a guest planning an end-of-December trip, that second seller’s staff said the pool is heated in winter but, being outdoors, may not feel as warm as expected. Ask whether it is open, and how warm, in the month you are going. Ha Long Bay weather gives the air and sea temperatures to set against that answer.

Can three of you, or a family, share a cabin?

Yes, though nothing for more than two is on the rate sheet. One listing’s cabin sheet has four Triple Junior Suites of 40 m² and a connecting family suite made of two Junior Suites joined by a door, 50 m² in all. Ask for those by name. A seller’s staff also told one group of three that a single cabin with an extra bed costs less than two cabins.

Children need the price in writing, because one seller gives two answers. Its published terms let one child under four go free when sharing with two adults, and a child of four to ten is charged an extra 75% of the adult rate; ask what that works out to. A staff reply on the same page told a family that one child under three is free and a second child pays half. The family boats category has the alternatives.

What happens on board, and when?

Pickup from Hanoi’s Old Quarter is between 7:45 and 9:00, depending on the seller, and the drive is about two and a half hours. The seller with the rate sheet quoted a shuttle seat at $30 a person return on 6 August 2026, from your hotel or the Opera House. Its staff give check-in at Lot 17, Tuan Chau Marina, as 11:00 to 11:30; its policy table says 12:10.

The weak point of this trip is the first afternoon, and the timing comes from Origin Vietnam’s timetable, almost identical to the one that seller prints for La Casta Star. You reach Tuan Chau at 11:30 and take a high-speed canoe of about 25 minutes out to the boat. Lunch is at 13:00 while it crosses into Lan Ha, and the first stop, Three Peaches Beach, is not until 15:45. Have breakfast before the early pickup, keep swimwear in your day bag and expect lunch to be the long sail. How the bays differ sets out what Lan Ha has that Ha Long does not.

At Three Peaches you kayak, swim or take a bamboo boat; in bad weather the stop moves to the Bright Cave. Back aboard between 17:30 and 18:30 there is happy hour with buy-two-get-one-free on some drinks, a cooking class at 18:00, dinner at 19:30 and squid fishing or karaoke from 21:00. Next morning, tai chi is at 6:15 and breakfast at 7:00, and at 8:00 you go out to Tra Bau to kayak or swim. Check-out is 9:30 on that timetable and 10:00 on the other seller’s policy. Brunch is at 10:30, you are ashore by about 11:30, and one listing has you in Hanoi at 2:30pm.

On the three-day trip a day boat collects you at 8:00 on the second morning for Viet Hai village on Cat Ba Island, which you ride round by bicycle or electric car, then kayaking, lunch on the day boat and about an hour of swimming at Ba Trai Dao before you return for sunset. The Viet Hai guide covers the village.

What you pay on top of the fare

Drinks and tobacco, spa treatments, tips, a Vietnam visa and the Hanoi shuttle are all outside the price. One listing also charges $40 a person a night for the gala dinners on 24 and 31 December, and $15 a person at Lunar New Year and on the 30 April, 1 May and 2 September holidays. Inside the fare are kayaking, the cooking class, tai chi, entrance fees, a welcome drink and two bottles of water in the cabin, and a staff answer adds instant coffee and tea in every room. Two sources include an English-speaking guide; they split on meals and travel insurance, so confirm those. Our guide to what is not included lists what else a bill can carry.

Should you book La Casta Regal?

Book it if the pool is part of the appeal, or if a 50 m² Honeymoon Suite Balcony for $340 is. It is also the sensible three-day choice in the Junior Suite, where the extra night is cheaper.

Think twice if you are three or a family and want a fixed price before you commit, because the rate sheet has none for more than two. The same goes if you book on guest opinion. The Lan Ha Bay page and our Lan Ha Bay cruises cover the other boats on this water that we write about.

Gaps and mismatches in what sellers publish

No guest review of La Casta Regal is in our records yet, so no guest opinion is quoted on this page. Nobody publishes its length or its number of decks. Listings give its launch year as 2019 or 2020. Three sites agree on 24 cabins, while only one listing gives the 52-guest capacity; 24 cabins at two apiece is 48, and the triple cabins could account for the rest.

Both timetables we hold for this boat are shared almost word for word with other La Casta boats. One calls the ship La Casta Cruise, another ends its La Casta Regal programme by naming La Casta Star, and one cabin description on a third site says it is on Doris Cruise. La Casta Cruise, a different boat, is sold on the La Casta website, lacastacruise.com, too. In the aerial photograph there, La Casta Regal has a blue hull with HP 6336 on the bow, and La Casta Cruise a white one with HP 5558. Check that your booking confirmation names La Casta Regal.