Lianyungang Midsummer Night｜The Cruise Dream by Haizhou Bay

Traveling with besties has to be “unique”! This voco hotel, transformed from the legendary cruise ship "Beibu Gulf Star🛳️," combines the romance of the ocean with a touch of history. With 52 cabin rooms, a starry sky bar, seafood buffet, and a viewing deck... it feels like living on a dream cruise ship, and every snapshot looks like a blockbuster!

It takes three and a half hours by high-speed train from Shanghai to Lianyungang. Tickets 🎫 are not hard to get during summer vacation. From the 🚄 station, it’s about a 40-minute taxi ride to the 🛳️ hotel. It’s my first time seeing a hotel converted from a cruise ship, really exciting 😚. Our room was transformed from an old cabin, with square portholes framing the sea view like a moving painting. A real compass 🧭 is mounted on the wooden frame, as if reminding us: everything here once had to do with sailing.

The buffet afternoon tea here offers Cantonese dim sum like shrimp dumplings, beef tripe, and ribs, all in small portions so you can try more flavors. If you’re very hungry, you can also order fried rice and wonton noodles. Drinks, coffee, and beer are available too. After a long journey, having a meal at the hotel instantly recharges you!

🌅 At sunset, the breeze from Haizhou Bay carries a salty freshness onto the deck. The hotel’s all-day dining restaurant lights up with warm yellow lights, and ripples shimmer on the walls as a seafood buffet dinner slowly unfolds. On the long table, Lianyungang’s seafood can’t be missing: 🦐🦞🍣🦀 arranged like works of art; the king crab legs are thick and seem to tell secrets of the intertidal zone; charcoal-grilled prawns curl with agate-red bodies, sea salt crystals crackling in the firelight. The buffet’s cold cabinet also has red and white wine, and seafood paired with white wine, with glasses shimmering with fine droplets of water 🥂.

The next day, we joined a shell carving class taught by intangible cultural heritage inheritor Teacher Chen. “Shell carving is the language of the sea.” Teacher Chen taught us to peel shells and paste them into a picture, which was quite fun～🐬

Post by SoothingHolidays | Aug 10, 2025