What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• Christmas frolics?

  Isabelle B,

  Dec 25, 2024

  - Viator

  3.00

  It was average, the food was nothing exceptional, the experience was marred by a very loud group. I was hoping for a different Christmas night but the entertainment was poor and the few of us who were not part of the group all retired to our cabina early. 6.15 am, Tai- chi on deck, are you aure ???

• Booked Lavender Cruise, didn’t get Lavender Cruise

  Jasmin L,

  Nov 29, 2024

  - Viator

  3.00

  We booked Lavender Cruises but got put on Syrena Cruise without any explanation or being informed at all. The boat itself and our room was nice (and had a great bathroom!) and the activities were the same which good. The views were beautiful and we enjoyed the activities and the food. The pick up and drop off process was pretty seamless, though note that we were on the boat less than 24 hours despite the itinerary suggesting we would get off and get picked up around lunch time - we were off at 10am which was a little disappointing and meant the itinerary was quite rushed. There was a large group of French tourists on our boat (all bar 4 of us were French). This meant that they had a French translator/group leader and unfortunately for us most of the communications/instructions were given in French which made us feel quite clueless as to what was happening, and like we were not part of the group which was a bit off-putting. Some staff really made an effort to include us which was appreciated (one of the younger staff members). Mr Son (team leader?) spoke clearly and his English was good, but his manner was not great, and it felt like we were being treated like children at times.

• Moved to Mila Cruise and very much overcommercialised

  Richard B,

  Apr 14, 2024

  - Viator

  4.00

  I was lucky as this trip was cancelled on short notice, and I was moved to Mila Cruise. This happened with other guests from other ships as well having paid a much higher fee. As a solo traveller, Ha Long Bay is definitely on the more expensive and touristy side, with tens of ships constantly being in the Bay. Mila Cruise had nice staff, which ushered you from activity to activity and tried to entertain as much as possible. Squid fishing did not happen and the time at each activity, especially at TiTop Island on the last day was very rushed as we had to return to the harbour already at 10am and leave the boat by 11am. But this happens on most if not all the 2 day cruises.

• Do not recommend (read below) Halong Bay Cruise

  David G,

  Jun 7, 2023

  - Viator

  1.00

  Hello, one thing before I write this review, the tour guide Bobby was AMAZING and made this tour fun by himself. For the review, here are few points that made this trip terrible: 1. Food on the cruise is inedible, tastless and flavourless 2. Boat Staff (excluding Bobby) attitude was rude and unhelpful 3. Halong Bay, there are so many other tourist cruises on the Bay that there is even some traffic on the water! Cruises honking at each other 4. Water at the beach (smallest beach ever seen) is polluted with cigarettes and fuel. 5. At night, all the the boats are playing loud music and/or karaoke which leads to nature pollution, innability hear natures beauty, hear each other talk and leads to difficulty falling asleep. 6. The most important point the Halong Bay Harbour and City is a ghost town inhabited, half built resorts, abandonned construction projects dating from 10 + years. Its like you see in scary movies. 7. Could go on and on.

• The Lavender Elegance...

  Marcelo S,

  Apr 14, 2023

  - Viator

  5.00

  The Lavender Elegance Cruise was more than I expected, the boat is realy nice, the rooms were great, the crew in the boat was nice and Alex the tour operator was awesome. Alex was the person who picked us up from the hotel and helped us in every step of the trip. Me and my wife did the one night cruise and it seems like it is not enough time but we liked it a lot.