What‘s Included

Reviews

• Nice itinerary …. Guide from hell. Avoid this at all costs.

  Tyler C,

  May 1, 2025

  - Viator

  2.00

  The tour was wonderful, the guide terrible. Pick up was punctual at our hotel and having a private boat for your group is amazing vs so many of the big crowds you see. The spots on the tour were wonderful too. I would recommend this experience to anybody. Our guide, however, made the day quite unpleasant and we actually decided to ask to end the tour 3 hours early as a result. The highlight of the day was her leaving the van. It started on the way to Ha Long Bay. She made us stop at a really shady pearl store that is a tourist trap. She said she stopped there because they give tour guides free coffee and soup to eat. Again … my friend and I had no desire to go there. And we were stuck looking at pearls and being pressured to buy their crap for 15 minutes while Pink had her free coffee and soup. Then 15 minutes into our time on the boat, she stands next to me and talks for the next 20 minutes about each of the ~10 people I should feel obligated to tip. Even going so far as to say “how” to tip. (She wants separate money given to the driver vs her because otherwise she is expected to split 50/50 with him.). The worst part was after we were on the champagne boats, enjoying a nice trip under the cave and into the inner part of a mountain. As the boat came back, she was on the dock literally yelling for me to make sure to give money to the boat pilot. We were on a boat of 20 people. She yelled that for me in front of everybody. NOBODY else gave the person money. I did because I felt pressured and embarrassed about it. Then we get back on the boat and at the other end of the inner seating area I hear Pink on a very loud voice telling the boat people to not worry because “big boss is rich and will leave big tips for everybody.” I had planned to leave tips. But I do NOT want to be shamed or bullied into it and do not want to do it for entitled people and 7 of the 10 she listed I needed to tip literally did not interact with us. I hated the trip and we asked to please skip the last stops and just go back to the hotel.