Can't Decide on a Halong Bay Tour [Vietnam]

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  lonepine on 05/05/2019 - 12:24

  +1

  Hi,

  we did the Orchid 2 day cruise: https://www.halongbaytours.com/cruise/orchid-cruise/2-day-1-…

  Very classy, and not crowded and I believe it leaves from a different location, so less travel time.
  We regretted not doing the 3 day one, as its such a special place. It was the highlight of our trip.
  The 3 night one basically puts you on a beach/island for the day, and then takes the 2 day guests back to port, before returning with more people.

  They had a cooking class at night, a happy hour, great food, kayaking and swimming off back of boat.
  A great room too, with a private balcony.

  • 

    Kiwi131313 on 05/05/2019 - 13:25

    Thanks very much, Orchid was probably the main one I was looking at - it looks amazing!

    Price for the cheapest cabin for a 3D/2N is $600 USD, so around $855 AUD. The price also doesn't include transfers at $100 AUD for both of us. So I can see it costing at least $1000 after we buy drinks on-board. Seems like its just an expensive place to cruise and we just need to do it and not worry about the cost.

    Do you remember how much drinks were on-board roughly? I think I saw somewhere that is was pretty much Australia prices - $7 for beer & wine and $15-$20 for cocktails.

    • 

      lonepine on 06/05/2019 - 18:52

      Can't recall drink prices, but what you wrote sounds about right.
      I believe 1/2 price happy hour was 5-7, and that made drinks Ok.

      Bring a bottle of something for afterwards on your balcony, although we chatted with others on the main deck till the wee hours.

      Yes, price is step, but I thought it was pretty unique and worth it.
      My wife researched it, and we weren't looking for a bargain.
      Cheaper cruises may be bigger boats, with more people, and maybe leave from a different place?

• 

  Dachi on 05/05/2019 - 13:13

  Hi,

  Also planning on a similar cruise. Just wondering if the weather in July is fine as I was told May to Aug is the rainy season.

  • 

    Kiwi131313 on 05/05/2019 - 13:30

    From this website - https://www.selectiveasia.com/vietnam-holidays/weather

    July to September are often the wettest months of the year. During these months severe weather can prevent junks sailing in Halong Bay although such weather is rare.

    Just make sure whatever cruise you book has a cancellation policy that will refund you the entire cost if it gets cancelled.

• 

  ilikeradiohead on 06/05/2019 - 08:42

  +1

  Can't remember for certain who we went with, but I just looked through my Vietnam trip budget from June and I paid for a trip to Sapa + Halong 2D/1N and altogether it was $422 USD which included transfers to both places. I think you get a good feel in 2D/1N, although it is a lot of travel there and back for what amounts to less than 24H on the boat. I think $600USD would net you a pretty good time, although you might be able to get something a bit cheaper.

  Travel agents in Hanoi can hook something up for you if you don't mind waiting til the last minute. Unlike in AUS, they can actually often get you a better deal than what you can find on the internet.

  Regardless of what you end up doing it'll be a great time!

• 

  nissa on 06/05/2019 - 23:05

  We did the three day 2 night Halong Bay cruise on the Dragons Pearl.
  I chose this amount of time so we could just stay on the boat and not have it used for daytrippers.
  I figured this was a once in a lifetime experience and I wanted it done right.
  There was a mix of both older and younger guests and the boat went to some of the quieter areas where we were the only ship.I think there were abut a dozen cabins
  We booked most of our trip through Mrs Ha in Danang. I believe she also has a few copycats.
  After driving from Hanoi we didn't board til 12 oclock and returned about the same time so you pretty much lose half a day at the beginning and the end.
  After Halong Bay we took a transfer to Ninh Binh which seemed more real than some of the other places we'd been to.
  We took a trip to Tam Coc which is like Halong Bay on land. The tour is done by the feet rowing woman who harass you like crazy at the end for bigger tips. Not sure if this is still the case but ours must have been a softy who took no for an answer.

• 

  balkandishlex on 08/05/2019 - 09:30

  This may not work for you, but I can tell you categorically that the best way to get a good deal on a Halong cruise is to walk around the Old Quarter in Hanoi the day before you want to go - the agents there have up to date info on which boats have spare capacity and you'll get a significantly better deal that way. I do understand that it's a bit scary going about it that way, particularly if you have specific requirements around the level of comfort etc.

  The SECOND best way to get a decent deal is to talk to Cham from Halongsapa Tours, who is a dead set legend and also has access to some pretty good deals.

  http://halongsapatours.com/

• 

  balkandishlex on 08/05/2019 - 09:48

  Oh also you're 100% correct about going 3d/2n to get the best of the time there. There is, however, a THIRD option, which is PRIVATE junks operating out of Cat Ba Island. On one of my trips, we took this option and it was totally delightful, spending 4 days putting around the islands on our own timetable. There are quite a few operators but Ecofriendly are the guys we went with…. http://ecofriendlyvietnam.com/ha-long-lan-ha-bai-tu-long-4-d…

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  nomoneynoproblems on 14/07/2019 - 23:25

  Holy shit dude are you me? Which one did you decide on?

  • 

    Kiwi131313 on 20/07/2019 - 21:48

    Haha, it seems to be a common problem. I ended up going with Genesis Regal Cruises because they had a boat that is only 3 months old. Unfortunately, we wouldn't recommend them. They still have some issues to iron out and we felt like we didn't get the luxury experience that we paid for. My advice is that all of the luxury cruises look good from what we saw. Try to pick one which has less cabins for a more intimate feel and also look at the itineraries (some focus on relaxing, others have some hiking and kayaking) and find one which you would enjoy.

    • 

      nomoneynoproblems on 21/07/2019 - 08:30

      Damn, photos look stunning though. We ended up booking palamo cruises as their itinerary semi lined up with what wanted (more activites and less fluff). I think ours has 20 or so cabins so hopefully that isn't too much. We paid a touch over $830 for a 2 night cruise which included accommodation transfers.

      No joke, we're similar in age and have the same itinerary (although may not have time for hue) We leave on Thurs, do you have any tips in general too? Happy to discuss via a pm if that suits you.

      • 

        Kiwi131313 on 21/07/2019 - 15:09

        +2

        That price is good! We paid $1030 for ours including transfers. We booked the nicest room but the itinerary didn't allow for much time to be spent in the room other than sleeping so that was a bit of a waste. Ours had 20 cabins and we thought that was a good number.

        I'll give you a breakdown here because it is general advice and might be helpful to other people, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me. Ill PM you the email I sent to Genesis Regal after our cruise so you can get a better idea of how bad it was.

        My biggest piece of advice is get a Vietnamese sim card (any provider is fine I think) but you will have the choice of getting data only or data and calls. MAKE SURE YOU GET CALLS!!! Why? To sign up for Grab (basically Asian Uber) you need a Vietnamese phone number. Grab is the best, it is so cheap and saves you so much time walking or trying to explain to a taxi driver where you are going. Anything longer than a 10 minute walk you should get a Grab because it is so hot outside and the grab only costs a few dollars.

        We flew into Ho Chi Minh City, this was our favourite stop. We stayed at the Huong Sen Annex hotel which was fairly average. It is near the Opera House which is an ideal location. There are so many great restaurants, massage places and things to do around that area. We would recommend see the War Remnants Museum (fairly confronting), the Bitexco Skydeck (add the Heineken Experience if you can) and going to the backpacker street for some drinks. The Notre Dame Cathedral and Post Office were interesting but don't worry if you can't see them.

        We then flew to Hue. We stayed in the Vinpearl which was amazing and the staff were lovely. It was a bit pricey and it was a 10-15 minute walk to restaurants, the riverside and touristy area. You said you might not have time for Hue and you can probably skip it. The only thing we saw there was the Imperial City (Citadel) and it was interesting but not really worth the whole trip to Hue.

        We then hired a driver from Hue to Da Nang and he took us over Hai Van Pass which was spectacular. Da Nang was not what we were expecting though. We stayed at the Monarque Hotel which was great. I was expecting a beach resort place like the Gold Coast or Miami, but it wasn't very western friendly. Apparently Korean tourism is big in Da Nang so it was common to see signs and menus in Vietnamese and Korean, but no English. We were still able to find places to eat but it was different to what we were expecting. One night we went to Hoi An which was amazing and I would definitely recommend staying in Hoi An over Da Nang, definitely a cooler place with better things to do. The Grab from Da Nang to Hoi An took about 45 minutes and was only $20 each way, so its not too expensive to go there for an evening. The next night we went to the river to eat and it did seem like it was a bit more Western friendly there. I should also mention that we both got sick with a head cold in Da Nang so we didn't go out an explore as much as we normally would.

        We then flew up to Hanoi and stayed at the Hanoi Marvelous Hotel. It was very highly rated (ranked 4 in all of Hanoi). The rooms were nice, not amazing, but the staff were so good. They went above and beyond to help us, including sending green tea and ginger to our room when she noticed that I wasn't feeling well. Unfortunately we were still sick in Hanoi so I don't have many suggestions for you as we spent a lot of time resting, but form what I saw Hanoi definitely looked like a cool city and it was disappointing that we couldn't get out and about as much as we wanted to.

        • 

          nomoneynoproblems on 21/07/2019 - 23:17

          @Kiwi131313: Good call on the SIM cards, we planned on going data only but will definitely go the other option for Grabs.

          We based ourselves in Da Nang with 2 trips on the cards to Hoi An. It looks like Grabs are probably the best mode to and from there.

          How did you go with tipping? Is this customary?

          Great info btw!

          • 

            Kiwi131313 on 22/07/2019 - 17:45

            @nomoneynoproblems: Grab is the easiest way to get to Hoi An, there are plenty around so you'll have no problems getting one.

            From everything I read tipping isn't customary, but remember that Vietnam is a lot poorer than Australia so even a very small tip is much appreciated. We would almost always leave a tip at restaurants (unless the service or food was bad), we would also tip drivers if it was a particularly long journey and housekeeping. At restaurants we would just round the bill up to the nearest 100000 VND, drivers and housekeeping would usually get tipped whatever small notes I had but not more than 50,000 VND (~3AUD). But don't feel like you have to, especially if you don't have any small notes.

• 

  sal78 on 23/07/2019 - 06:42

  wow $1000 that’s crazy! we booked in the old quarter when we arrived. Lots of photos to look at. I think we paid $50 pp for 1 night 2 day

  Had a huge room with windows and views on both sides and i think only about 10 ppl on board. They were all lovely and we still keep in touch with 1 couple. This was about 12yrs ago.

  You won’t be spending a lot of time in the room at all lol perhaps on the top deck looking at the beautiful views and enjoying the night and stars. Our boat had really good food too. Choose a smaller boat. Don’t worry about luxury etc The big popular boats are packed with ppl. The itinerary is all the same. The caves, snorkelling, kayaking etc

  For us 1 night 2 day is enough. $1000 is too much.

  Don’t skip Sapa, it was the highlight of our Northern vietnam trip. When we were there we felt the tremors/aftershocks from the earthquake in Sichuan/Wenchuan that destroyed an entire city and took the lives of 87k ppl. We only knew about after we arrived back in Hanoi. I think we paid US$20pp for rtn train tickets 1st class sleeper carriage. It was 2 adults and 1 child so we just bought 4 tickets and got the entire cabin. Not sure if they have upgraded the tracks but if not there’s no way you will sleep much. Very loud n bumpy. Hotel was around $50-$100 and whilst there we got an english guide to trek through the village. Bring lots of gifts the children. My son hurt his arm and we thought it was broken. The hotel took us to SapaHospital on motorbike and a doctor came to hospital after hrs to do an Xray. Not broken, put him in a sling and only charged usd$50!! best service n nicest ppl.

  Visiting the small school and people’s homes was a very humbling experience. No need to buy a tour? just get hotel to book train tickets, lots of photos to look at n pick which carriage and book hotel online.

  We loved Hue but I suggest you base yourself in Langco. Very beautiful part of Vietnam. White beaches.

  A few yrs ago we did HCM and middle vietnam. Not a big fan of HCM so 1 night 2 days was enough. Flew to Hue, picked up by hotel and stayed at Banyan Tree LangCo. For beach stay highly recommend. So private and exclusive and beautiful villas. Took the complimentary hotel bus to Hue and spent 1/2 day exploring citadel and food. The best food in Hue especially the Bun Bo Hue. Hue has many famous food. The highlight is still Banyan Tree LangCo. Riding bicycle around resort, all the included water activities etc

  We then took a coach transfer to Hoi An and stopped at a few spots along the way. Some lookout, very scenic. In Hoi An we are happy to recommend Hoi An Emotion Villa. New, close to city centre, nice pool, clean and free bicycle hire. So much fun riding bikes everywhere. Vietnam is hot so best to chill by pool/beach in the day and go out late afternoon. Hoi An is beautiful. I would recommend staying in Hoi An for 2 nights.

  We flew out of Danang airport but did not visit Danang. It’s like 2nd singapore. We had no interest on a couples trip but it would be a great place to go with kids. Hoi An, Hue, LangCo are quite romantic places though n perfect for a couple trip.