A Vietnam travel adventure is a worthy addition to anyone’s travel bucket list, especially a tour of World Heritage Halong Bay. Did you know there are over 500 Halong Bay cruise boats to choose from? With so many options, how do you choose the best Halong Bay Cruise?

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Researching the Best Halong Bay Cruise

In common with practically every holiday, there are two schools of thought:

1. Research and book everything before you leave home.
2. Wait until you get there, and then book your tour locally in either Hanoi or Halong Bay.

Main Advantages to Booking Locally:

• You can haggle for a decent price.
• Cheaper options can be found locally through greater choice. You may have an opportunity to find those tour companies which are not easy to find on the internet.
• You can get last-minute bargains where the operator is trying to fill the last few seats.
• Inclusions/exclusions can be discussed first hand with the tour operator.
• You have a greater chance of avoiding undesirable weather periods.
• Cheaper land transfers may be secured by having greater choice of local alternatives.

Main Advantages to Booking Online:

• You can avoid that feeling of disappointment when the tour you really want is booked out. In other words, you can avoid F.O.M.O.
• Spread the financial shock by paying in advance.
• You can research other travellers reviews online to hopefully avoid a dud tour.
• Heavily discounted rates are often found online.
• You have more chance of finding the best Halong Bay Cruise through your solid research. Don’t forget you also have an opportunity to contact the tour company for more information.

Which are the Best Halong Bay Cruises to Book?

My research revealed that there are three popular cruise durations at Halong Bay:

1. Day trip – for the budget conscious or time limited traveller who wants a glimpse of the bay.
2. Overnight Halong Bay Cruise – for the budget conscious or the traveller who wants to experience more of the bay than a fleeting glimpse.
3. Two night Cruise – for the traveller who wants to completely immerse themselves in the bay and truly experience her glorious ambience.

Time to make some hard decisions. How much do you want to spend? How much time can you afford to devote to your cruise?

Halong Bay Cruise Price

So how much does a Halong Bay Cruise cost? You will need this information to make some decisions. There are three typical Halong Bay cruise budgets:

1. Premium Luxury – US$1000-$1400 per couple per night
2. Luxury – US$500-$650 per couple per night
3. Budget – US$300-$400 per couple per night

We decided to lash out on a Halong Bay Luxury Cruise. The cruise we selected had awesome reviews on Booking.com, and cost us US$630 per night for 2 adults and 1 child. On top of this there was an extra $60 for transfer from Hanoi.

Because this cruise was the absolute highlight or our family travel adventure in Vietnam, I did plenty of due diligence and research. We booked a Halong Signature Cruise on Booking.com, and never regretted it.

Top 10 Halong Bay Luxury Cruises

Here are the top 10 Best Halong Bay Cruises of 2018, according to Halong Bay Tours.

1. Orchid Cruise 
2. Mon Cheri Cruise
3. Aphrodite Cruise
4. Indochina Sails Cruise
5. Pelican Cruise
6. Alisa Cruise
7. Paradise Luxury Cruise
8. Signature Cruise
9. Dragon Legend Cruise
10. Bhaya Cruises

Should You Book a Halong Bay Luxury Cruise?

My research online of budget cruises found problems with every one I looked at, either by dodgy food, uncomfortable rooms, questionable safety or security difficult transfers. All this means that the list of negatives is very long.

I found that a jump into the luxury category and these problems disappeared. We chose the Signature Cruise Halong Bay, which had 9.3 “Wonderful” customer review score on booking.com. How good is that!!! All online reviews I found were positive and happy with all aspects of the Signature Cruise.

Just check out the awesome rating for the Signature Cruise Halong Bay, where you will find customer reviews and booking costs. Unfortunately the Booking.com site does not do a great job in describing the itinerary, for that you need to go to the Signature Royal Cruises website.

How Many Cruise Boats Are There?

I spoke to one of the locals working on the boat, he told me there are about 500 Halong Bay junk boats out doing tours. 200 out of these 500 are overnight Halong Bay Cruise Boats, meaning they stay out on the bay at night.

My arithmetic tells me there are approximately 300 day boats and 200 overnight boats. With numbers like that, you should have no problems securing a last-minute bargain.

How to Get From Hanoi to Halong Bay

Our hotel offered to organise a transfer from Old Quarter in Hanoi to Halong Bay for 1,000,000 dong (US$44). This was the total cot for 3 people.

Signature Cruise had offered bus transport US$15 per person, or Luxury Van transport US $20 person. We took the luxury van option and booked in advance. It turned out to be a Toyota Innova with 6 luxury seats in  the back, with 2 other passengers on board.

The trip took about 4 hours door to door, with a half hour stop half way at an amazingly well stocked and cheap souvenir shop along the way.

Halong Bay Weather

Apparently the best time to visit Halong Bay is September to November, or March to May. June-August is too hot and typhoon prone (Halong is in a typhoon belt which travels westwards across the pacific), and December to February are too cold.

These preferred months are supposed to be clear and mild. What we found was that in mid-March the Halong Bay weather was cold and drizzly, apparently the clear mild weather had not started yet. Sort of a shoulder season.

This turned out to be a blessing because the hazy, drizzly weather meant that the bay was not very crowded with tourists which made it a more pleasant trip. We are photography buffs, and although the sunny clear days definitely make for better photographs, the hazy and foggy weather still made for some stunning photography.

Cold Swimming Weather

The sea water was 18 degrees, which made it rather cold to swim in. But a 10 minute swim is definitely possible. And plenty warm enough for kayaking. There was no wind, so wind chill was not a factor.

Shoulder season is not the ideal Halong Bay weather for those classic blue sky photos, but still this did not lessen the magnificence of our Halong Bay cruise. The dreary weather can actually make Halong Bay boat tours more enjoyable, due to less crowds.

Our Halong Bay Luxury Cruise

We boarded the Signature Cruise Halong Bay at lunchtime on the first day. They have two overnight cruise boats, a 12 cabin and a 16 cabin. We were on the 16 cabin on the third level.

Our room was very spacious with Jacuzzi, sofa and chairs, king sized bed and a private balcony. It was luxuriously appointed and roughly equivalent to a normal 5 star hotel. I absolutely loved the private balcony combined with a 2 night cruise, we had enough time to sit there and soak up the ambience.

Signature Cruise Itinerary

Here is an approximate itinerary, some times may be a few minutes out (sorry Signature Cruises!) but it’s close.

Day 1

• 12:00 arrive at Signature terminal building
• 1:00 board the overnight boat
• 2:00 late lunch on board the overnight boat
• 3:00 fishing village and cave tour on a small row-boat
• 4:00 pearl farm tour on a small row-boat

• 4:30 back to overnight boat
• 5:00 beach trip
• 6:00 cooking lesson – Vietnamese fresh spring rolls
• 6:00 happy hour – good chance to catch up with other passengers
• 7:00 evening meal
• 8:30 squid fishing

Day 2

• 6:00 Tai Chi on the top deck – cancelled due to drizzle
• 7:30 breakfast
• 8:30 board day boat to go to outer Halong bay
• 11:00 kayaking, beach trip

• 1:00 lunch, cruise back to overnight boat
• 3:00 board big boat, free time aboard the overnight boat
• 6:00 cooking lesson – Vietnamese fried spring rolls
• 6:00 happy hour – good chance to catch up with other passengers
• 7:15 evening meal
• 8:30 squid fishing

Day 3

• 6:00 tai chi top deck – cancelled due to drizzle
• 7:15 light breakfast
• 7:30 cave tour
• 8:30 big brunch
• 10:00 arrive back Halong bay
• 11:00 leave boat for land
• 11:15 taxi to other hotel

Top 5 Highlights on the Halong Signature Cruise

My top 5 highlights on our Halong Bay 2 night cruise were:

1. Kayaking – we had a 1 hour kayak trip around some small islands and into a cave in a remote part of Halong Bay. We got to enjoy it all by ourselves (no other boats), including kayaking into a dark cave.
2. The 2 hour day boat cruise to the remote part of Halong bay, with spectacular scenery along way.
3. Every meal time was magnificent, true 5 star dining and delicious in every way.
4. Free time to just chill out on the private balcony, or on the top deck / roof of the boat.
5. Trip to the floating fishing village in a small paddle boat, going through a cave along the way.

My 9-year-old son’s top 5 highlights of the itinerary were:

1. Squid catching – My son caught his first squid ever, then about a dozen more.
2. Kayaking – first time ever, got to kayak through a cave then land on a beautiful white beach.
3. Cruising on the day boat – a great opportunity to play Chess and other board games.
4. Going on the beach – part of the sea kayaking adventure.
5. Swimming in the sea off the day boat – after the sea kayaking we were invited to take a dip in the deep water. This was done by jumping off the moored day boat.

Getting From Halong Bay to Hanoi by Mini Van

After the cruise we stayed at the VinPearl Resort and Spa Halong Bay for a few more days. The hotel offered us a luxury transfer to Hanoi for 3 million dong, or regular taxi for 1 million dong, or 7 seater taxi van for 1.5 million dong. This was all quite expensive.

We found a much better option online through An Binh Travel. They offer one way trips Halong Bay to Hanoi for US $16 per person, and can be booked online. The mode of transport is luxury van, which is typically fitted with 6 spacious passenger seats. Allow about 4 hours for this trip, and ask for door to door service.

Happy Halong Bay cruising! Check out our Quick Travel Guide to Halong Bay for more information.

See the full Vietnam Adventure

If you’d like to see more about our holiday in Vietnam, please click on any of the below links:

1. Arriving in Old Quarter Hanoi
2. Vietnamese Egg Coffee
3. Exploring Hanoi Lakes
4. Vietnam Cave Tour
5. Choosing your Halong Bay Cruise
6. 12 Tips for choosing your Halong Bay Cruise

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