Lyra Grandeur Cruise

Lyra Grandeur is the newest boat in this write-up and the one we know least about. It launched in 2025, it sails Lan Ha rather than Ha Long, and it carries 33 cabins across three decks. Those are the load-bearing facts. Nearly everything else the operator publishes about it, we have only from the operator.

It comes from the same company as Capella, which is worth knowing if you have been comparing the two. Capella has been running long enough to accumulate 292 reviews. Lyra Grandeur has barely started.

What you are actually booking

Every cabin on this boat has a balcony. That is unusual at the price and it is the single strongest reason to look at it. The entry class is 32 m² and the range runs up to a 92 m² owner’s suite, with a 64 m² duplex in between, so the gap between the cheapest and dearest room here is wider than on most boats this size.

The rate we have for the entry suite is $390 per cabin. One listing publishes that figure. Treat it as the number to open a conversation with rather than the number you will pay.

The specifications below list four different figures for cabin floor area, which looks like a warning and is not one. They are 32, 44, 45 and 48 m², and each is a grade rather than a rival account of one room. Twenty-three cabins sit at 32 m², split across three named classes that differ by view rather than by floor area. One family suite is the 44, the two terrace suites are the 45, and two more family suites are the 48. What the label should say is narrower: nobody publishes a single standard-cabin figure for this boat, because there is no single standard cabin. Ask for the square metres against the class name on your invoice, in writing.

Where it costs you

There is no review history to lean on. A boat launched in 2025 has not been through enough seasons for the usual signals to mean anything, and we would rather say that than dress up a thin sample as a verdict. If you want the comfort of other people’s experience, this is the wrong boat this year.

We cannot tell you how many passengers it actually carries in practice. The operator states 90, and no source we read publishes a second figure. Thirty-three cabins at two guests each would be 66, so the 90 presumably assumes families in the larger suites. We have left it as stated rather than doing arithmetic and presenting the result as fact.

The day, roughly

Check-in is around half twelve and check-out the next morning at about a quarter to twelve, with the van back in Hanoi mid-afternoon. One source publishes those times, so treat them as indicative.

Three Peaches Beach is on the itinerary, as is Viet Hai, the village on Cat Ba that most Lan Ha boats call at. You also get the Dark and Bright Cave, and the Ao Ech water. None of that is exotic; it is the standard circuit, and the boats you see at each stop will be the same ones you were moored beside overnight. What Lan Ha gives you over Ha Long proper is fewer boats at the same anchorages and better swimming, at the cost of a longer road transfer.

Departure is from Tuan Chau Marina. If you are arranging your own car rather than taking the boat’s transfer, say Tuan Chau and repeat it, because the Ha Long international cruise port is twenty minutes away and drivers do sometimes take people to the wrong one.

Who it suits

Couples who want a balcony without paying Ha Long luxury prices, and families who need the 45 m² and larger connecting rooms. The balcony-on-every-cabin point is real and it is not common at this level.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who books on evidence. There is not enough of it yet. If that is you, Capella is the same operator with a track record, and the Lan Ha Bay page lists the alternatives. It is also worth reading how the bays differ before you fix on one, and our new boats category collects the rest of the recent launches if novelty is what you are after.