What‘s Included

Reviews

• Outdated boats, nice experience

  Philipp K,

  May 15, 2025

  - Viator

  3.00

  Unfortunately, booking through Viator is very opaque. You don't know what you're going to get. We only found out shortly before arrival which ship we ended up on. The ship was a bit dated the rooms were clean. The staff, especially the guide (Harry) was very nice and accommodating. The food was also very good and meets Western standards in the furthest reaches. We booked a tour for two nights, but were then very surprised that this does not all take place on one ship, but is sailed by smaller boats on excursion ships (we were the only ones on board who had booked 2 nights). Ha Long Bay itself is docked with a lot of ships and it is sometimes very dirty. We would choose Lan Ha Bay next time, as it is less busy and not so dirty. We would recommend booking the cruise as short notice as possible and not as we did far in advance. Then you don't have to pay 300 € a night, which is usury for the service provided. On the day of arrival we had also looked at short notice what the other boats (and also our boat) would cost, so you were at 150€/night.

• Do not book here! Worse experience we had in all of SE Asia

  Cindy S,

  Apr 21, 2025

  - Viator

  1.00

  In one sentence: we hated our experience, there’s some false advertisement, it’s not worth the price and the staff is rude. A longer, explained version: I’ll start with the absolute worse part of our trip: the boat manager. In general, the staff speaks no English, is rude, and seems very very young. On our last day, there was a misunderstanding with the itinerary, so we wrote to the booking company to explain the situation and ask for more information, because we were confused. The result: the manager on the boat came to see us, unannounced while we were playing cards on the sun deck, surrounded by other guests and starting yelling at us. Accusing us of being wrong, of lying, of not listening, saying “well you should just be the guide”. To give context of how unacceptable it was: we are two women, sitting at a table, playing cards. This grown adult man was raising his voice, standing above my friend, his hand on the back of her chair. You can understand that he is towering over her, a few inches from her face. In NO context is that acceptable. EVEN IF let’s say we were in the wrong. More than once did we ask him if he can lower his voice and that he didn’t need to yell at us. We told him, more than once, that we are not angry with him, so why is he so angry at us and can’t have a regular conversation We already were having a very mediocre experience and this just completely ruined it. You could pay me and I wouldn’t set foot on that boat again. Only after speaking with the booking company did he ask to speak with us (hours later) to “apologize”. After this “apology” he asked to take a video of us saying “thank you, we enjoyed our trip”. How manipulative and fake is that? On a more general note, right from the start, when we got to our room, we noticed the AC made a loud noise, the telephone didn’t work and our mini fridge was empty and not cold. When we asked staff about it, they said we can just order drinks at reception. But the prices of the mini fridge are cheaper, so their only solution was to pay more, at reception. This also meant we could never just have cold drinking water in our room. This is not a CRUISE. We do not cruise. The boat drives somewhere and is parked in the exact same spot for 3 days. Same view for 3 days. Surrounded by other boats. There is barely any food for the breakfast and lunch brunch. They say breakfast is from 6:30-7:30. We arrived at 7 and there was no food left. None. When we asked staff, she said “do you want a piece of bread”. I did not pay 400$+ for a piece of bread. The “sunset party” is non existent. Music stops at around 8:30-9:00pm while we hear all the other boats still playing music. The music in the dining area doesn’t work. So we get 10 seconds of a song, then it pauses for 1 min. This was ongoing for the entirety of the meals. At this point, just don’t play music. There is no wifi. When I asked a staff for the password, he just laughed and told me it doesn’t work. Just don’t advertise wifi at this point. Itinerary is super confusing and when we spoke to other guests, they were just as confused. They described it as “being thrown all over the place with no information”. There is a huge lack of communication between all organizing parties: the booking company, the boat manager and the staff on deck. We never got the same information from either one of them. We payed over 800$ for two, which is absolutely ridiculous considering what we had and what we did. It is not worth it, please please please put your money elsewhere.

• Old boat needs renovation

  Jodie T,

  Dec 16, 2024

  - Viator

  3.00

  The crew were great. The food was good. The boat was very old and needs significant renovations. Balcony door did not close, air conditioning did not work. Toilets got blocked and did not work.

• Perfect two day trip. Highly recommended.

  Ally C,

  Dec 13, 2024

  - Viator

  5.00

  This boat was the most beautiful of all the ships in the bay (except the yachts). I highly recommend the 2 day trip. The second day included a very nice day boat where we went further into the bay with much less traffic. The staff went above and beyond to give us a good time. The room and bathroom were very nice and the balcony was perfect. The tour guides were excellent. Other reviews mention a lot of trash in the water but it was minimal. I almost had to look hard to see more than one piece. The food was also delicious. My only complaint was the charge for waters that weren’t in the room.

• Relaxing

  Sarah L,

  Dec 7, 2024

  - Viator

  4.00

  We enjoyed our experience. It was very social, we got to know a lot of other travellers. The food was incredible.