Highly recommend this cruise! Everything was excellent!… and the staff are stellar! We also did the small boat tour down the canals (a lot of fun for the price)… and stopped off for the $20 1 hour massage….incredible!

Nothing

The houseboat and the crew. We stayed on Kera Chithira, a two-bedroom boat with en-suite bathrooms, on the two-night cruise package. As is standard on the Alleppey backwaters, the boat moors before dusk rather than cruising overnight. The food was the highlight. We were asked in advance whether we wanted vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and whether we wanted fish — we chose vegetarian plus fish, and what arrived was excellent and generous throughout. The Karimeen (pearl spot) preparation promised in the package was delivered, cooked by Unni and served with our meals. Unni is a genuinely talented cook, and nothing we asked for was too much trouble, whether a dish or a refreshment; the crew went out of their way to accommodate us, including a trip ashore to pick up ice cream. The crew, Unni, Suneesh and Surjith, looked after us throughout. All three served our meals, cleared up afterward, and answered questions whenever we had them; available around the clock, as the package promised. We visited a local basilica and a few tourist-specific shops and took a canoe ride through the narrower canals — the latter was easily one of the best parts of the trip and something we'd recommend to anyone staying. The crew mentioned a head and shoulder massage but didn't explain what it involved, so we passed; a short description would have helped, and I suspect we missed out. The management team also arranged an airport transfer for us, which we paid the driver for separately. This worked well for us, and we appreciated them arranging it.

Booking through Booking.com was the weakest part of the experience. The listing gives no boat name or tier, and the photographs did not appear to be of the boat we stayed on — so there was nothing to match against the individually named and graded boats on Kera's own website. It also reads as a generic holiday home, listing desks, wardrobes and baby safety gates rather than a two-night cruise with meals and a crew of three. The gap that mattered was air conditioning. The listing shows "Air conditioning" with no hours or caveats. A day before arrival, the team told me on WhatsApp that I had booked the Deluxe boat, where AC runs only from 9pm to 6am, and offered unlimited AC for ₹6,000 more. None of this was visible when booking. I declined on guesswork alone — not a decision a guest should make the day before traveling. The boat we were given, Kera Chithira, is listed on Kera's own website as a 2 Bedroom Premium with air conditioning in the tier name, yet the terms quoted were Deluxe terms. The package also includes a complimentary short guided village walk. No walk was offered. Instead, we were offered a canoe ride through the narrow canals at ₹2,000 for three—genuinely one of the best parts of the trip, but not what was included —and nothing was offered in its place. The crew handled all of this politely, and they honored most of the package well. These are listing and disclosure problems, and management team comms, not service ones. Naming each boat and its tier, showing photographs of the actual boat, and stating the AC hours would fix all of it.

The staff was incredibly helpful in making me feel very comfortable. They took care of my every need and want.

There isn't a bad thing that comes to mind. Lovely people all round

Natural seen and message

Houseboats have no AC and lots of insects inside the boat are not maintained properly