BEST SELLER - Halong 5 Star Day Cruise: Buffet, Wine & Jacuzzi

Be ready for huge crowds at the sites…many cruises…many people….but all in all a good adventure…worth a day away from the big city.

Boat was lovely and lots of choice for food for lunch. Whilst there were lots of other boats in the bay it didn’t feel too crowded as we seemed to go a slightly different toute to the majority, however, be ready for the crowds at the cave and the Island the queue to get into the cave took about 30 minutes and the Island was absolutely rammed!

Well Halong Bay is (almost) a must see, if you are in Hanoi for more than a few days. The trip delivered what it basically should do: Transport from/to Hanoi and a "cruise" in Halong Bay, but that was it on the positive side. And that it unfortunately rained the wholde day doesn't have a negative impact on the rest of the review - it would have been the same anyway. One thing we really liked about Hanoi was, that you as a tourist never felt scammed/overpriced - even on the night market. But expect another setup for this trip. On the way to/from Hanoi there is a stop at an overpriced area with coffee shops etc., the prices for drinks on the ship is overpriced (including iced coconut coffe hat had nothing to do what you get in Hanoi), they try to sell different things on the ship - inclusive jewelry and give you an envelope for tipping staff as examples. As mentioned it was pretty heavy rain that day, and as an example you are dropped off at an island for an hour, where you can't choose to stay on the ship, but "luckily" they sell downpour for 30K (same we had paid 10K for at tourist attractions in Hanoi). Would have been good manners simply to offer a downpour for free if you ask me. The weather forecast was cloudy and rain whole day, but from start they excited talked about the fantastic sunset party to expect - even when we sailed back (still totally cloude and raining) they said now be prepared for the sunset. The final comical part about this was that we actually returned before the official time for sunset (maybe they finally had realized that it would not be visible that day)

Really well organized, perfect itinerary. The bus from Hanoi was basically a giant limo! One thing I wished I had known was that you should bring a bathing suit. Besides the jacuzzi on the ship, there’s also an opportunity to swim at the third stop. Also you are not allowed to bring plastic bottles or bags on the ship, so if you have a metal water bottle that would save you from having to buy cans of water onboard. Plenty of vegetarian options at lunch.

Fantastic experience from the start to finish. Our tour guide Johnny was great. He was very knowledgeable about the places and went out of his way to make sure that we had a great time. The tourist boat was very comfortable and the buffet was nice and varied. We had enough time to explore the cave and take a small boat tour to other cave. It was a very nice day and I definitely recommend it.