Question on Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

[koss]

We are thinking about taking a cruise on the Shadow from Hong Kong to Bangkok on March 4th. According to the routing posted on Silversea´s Homepage the ship will be at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam from the morning of March 6th to the evening of March 7th. The Destination information on their HP states that the ship will anchor in the magnificent scenery of the bay and since it is a nature reserve you will not be able to deboard the ship. As it seems quite weired to me to be anchored for 2 days and not be able to leave the ship I called Silversea to enquire about it. Unfortunately they did not answer my question directly and I still don´t know if I can leave the ship there ...

 

Has anyone been to Ha Long Bay recently and could tell me if you can leave the ship there? I just don´t want to believe that they would virtually "park" the ship there for 2 days and don´t let you off.

[MuseCruiser]

All I can say about Ha Long Bay is that it is specatularly beautiful. Did it on the Seabourn Spirit and it was amazing. We didn't stop along the way though. If your ship is stopping and "overnighting", well, I'd just consider it a sea day (a great one at that!)

[friedgard]

Do not worry about it. We will be on that cruise, and it will be fantastic. The little junk rides will be fun. We are an early 50's croud, and will have a great time...

[jhcrossfield]

I did this on Seabourn as well and wished we had anchored for a day or two. The scenery is amazing. I would assume you may be able to board smaller vessels and take tours of the many small islands, etc. Try looking up day tours in the area to get an idea of what is offered. Trust me, you will think this area is the highlight of your cruise. Amazing!