Asia Cruise Trips

It’s New Years Eve. I haven’t finished my holiday yet having remained in Krabi for a further six nights after the Explore holiday. I have done this holiday twice in the past three years and will probably do it again. It isn’t full on touring with long travel days…….even transferring between island by speedboat is nice. Sometimes you need a more relaxing holiday at this time of year. Thailand and the Andaman Sea is the perfect place for this. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was being allocated a top bunk on the overnight train journey from Bangkok to Trang as this was enforced lying down for eleven hours on a narrower bed because of the curvature of the train roof. The wider, more headroom, able to sit up bottom bunks cost 150 Baht ( about £2.50) more which I would have willingly paid for.

We really enjoyed the trip! The guides treated us very well and explained everything to us in detail; The drivers were very clean and very punctual. Tessa, who was in charge of our trip and itinerary, was always available to us in case we had any questions. I highly recommend it!!!!

Everything was smooth - hotels were clean and well-located, transportation was on time, and guide was professional and enthusiastic. I especially loved the overnight experience on cruise in Mekong Delta and Halong Bay. This tour was perfect for someone wants to explore but also have time to relax. Thanks Realistic Asia for making this so enjoyable!

Did a 10-day Vietnam tour and overall it was well-organized and enjoyable. In Hanoi, we visited a tea farm in Ba Vi — peaceful, with a great local host who shared stories from the war. The foot soak at the end was a nice touch. The Ha Long Bay cruise was scenic and relaxing, with good food and kayaking. Hoi An was my favorite stop — charming Old Town, fun basket boat ride, and some downtime to explore or get clothes tailored. Loved the lantern-lit streets at night. In Ho Chi Minh, we explored the Cu Chi Tunnels and took a busy but interesting day trip to the Mekong Delta. Accommodations were all decent 3-star hotels, and everything ran smoothly from start to finish. The team did a solid job. Good value for the price, and I’d travel with them again.

We started our Dhoni cruise after spending 5 nights on a resort, as we wanted to experience the “real Maldives” in contrast. We wanted to extend our trip as felt it was a long way to travel for just 6 nights. One of the main highlights of the cruise was our outstanding guide Egan and the crew of Koimala, who all worked so hard together to ensure we were incredibly well looked after and safe. The food was out of this world, three beautiful meals a day, healthy and fresh with plenty of variety. Catering for any allergies well. The crew made us an unforgettable dinner on an uninhabited island one evening which was very special. We enjoyed the visits to two inhabited islands as it was good to stretch our legs and see how Maldivians live on land. Although I would say the time spent on Male was quite underwhelming. Our cabin was basic but clean and comfortable. One small double bed with a single bunk on top and en-suite bathroom You definitely need to enjoy snorkelling to consider this trip, as the dramatic scenery is all under water. Huge reefs with so many colourful fish. We were taken out snorkelling at least twice a day. Highlights included swimming with turtles, dolphins and nurse sharks which were so gentle and serene. Also seeing sting rays. I would also suggest that you need to be reasonably fit to do this trip, as although it’s very relaxing you need to be able to climb into a bunk bed, climb in and out of the dingy and negotiate walking around the boat when it is rocking!

We had two leaders - one in Sri Lanka and another in the Maldives. Both were excellent, but particularly Su in Sri Lanka because we encountered very difficult circumstances due to exceptionally heavy rainfall during our trip.