Past cruisers' experiences at/through Halong Bay

[KCNo]

Input please. I am considering an itinerary which includes Hanoi and Halong Bay. Do the ships usually dock in Hanoi and then passengers take local excursions through Halong Bay? I would be interested to hear details of your trips through this area and thank you.

[Maryandi]

Try asking the question on the 'Asia' section of Cruise Critic. I'm interested in the answer, too.

 

MaryAnn

[Shorex]

Um, no, the reverse. Hanoi is inland by 90 miles or so. The ships dock in Ha Long, and offer land excursions to Hanoi. Google earth can give you an excellent picture of the geography. Ha Long Bay is amazing.

[kitty9]

When I've done cruises to Vietnam, we docked in Ho Chi Minh City and then took a land tour to Hanoi. But Ha Long Bay is absolutely amazing. It's beauty is beyond anything you can imagine.

[dfb]

In 2006, we docked in Bai Chay or Hong Gai. Link below for our blog entry there. If you have the chance, definitely do the junk boat tour of Halong Bay. Debbie

http://westwardworldcircumnavigation200.blogspot.com/2006/02/day-61-monday-feb-27-bai-chay-on-halong.html

[KCNo]

dfb

I cannot thank you enough for the link you posted. Halong Bay has been a priority destination for me for a long time and is the primary reason I am looking at a Singapore-Hong Kong itinerary.

 

And from the poster remarks, I'm not the only one who thinks the area is breathtaking.

 

Thanks again, all.

[greatam]

Hanoi is approximately a 3 hour drive from either HaiPhong and Cai Pha. Traffic is totally horrendous, even with the new "expressway".

 

There are SOME cruise ships that can actually get into Halong Bay-Seabourn, Silversea and one of the Crystal ships, IIRC. The Bay is very shallow and the large cruise ships simply cannot get into the Bay due to their size. So they dock at the two commercial ports in the Hanoi area.

 

I spend a lot of time in the port areas of the world for business. An overnight in Halong Bay is truly a great experience. When I am in the area, I book one of the Chinese junks as hotel space overnight. I have been on quite a few of them, but the Ginger and Dragon Pearl are two of my favorites. There are new junks popping up every day, so it is getting very crowded in Halong.

 

The junks vary in prices, but if you can round up a members on your roll call, you can charter one of the junks for about $1500 (10 people-5 couples), Deal direct with the boat owners or their AUTHORIZED representative. Be careful if you just book a day trip-some of them are truly "backpacker" trips with everyone getting plastered and jumping off the boat and in general, acting like 20 something backpackers. I spent one evening moored next to the Emeraude which was FILLED with 20 something backpackers, partying and carrying on until about 3AM. NOT a night to remember. Enjoy!!!

[FlyerTalker]

FWIW, one of the later scenes in the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, was shot in Halong Bay. Towards the end before the formulaic "final confrontation".

 

Having been there, it's something to behold. Have plenty of memory and batteries for your camera.

[Shorex]

There are SOME cruise ships that can actually get into Halong Bay-Seabourn, Silversea and one of the Crystal ships, IIRC. The Bay is very shallow and the large cruise ships simply cannot get into the Bay due to their size. So they dock at the two commercial ports in the Hanoi area.

 

Good point -- we were on the Silver Shadow and I should not have assumed that any size cruise ship could dock in Halong. Guess the excursion to Hanoi could be from just about any port in Vietnam, or even as a flight from Saigon (oh, okay, Ho Chi Minh City.) As a side note, we have pictures of the statue of Ho in Saigon -- Ho is looking at Citicorp and HSBC is visible in the background -- and Kentucky Fried Chicken was a block or so away. Capitalism is making its way there after all.

 

But the here opinion is unanimous that if you have any opportunity to see Halong Bay, take it.

[bento2744]

Input please. I am considering an itinerary which includes Hanoi and Halong Bay. Do the ships usually dock in Hanoi and then passengers take local excursions through Halong Bay? I would be interested to hear details of your trips through this area and thank you.

 

Hanoi is 3-4 hours drive from any port you dock, you can do Ha Long Bay also, if your ship overnight in Haiphong, Chan May or Ha Long. Most luxury liners offers Ha Long Bay as complimentary excursion. No port anywhere near Hanoi, it is inland. Although I didn't care for the long drive, if you're in Vietnam, Hanoi is a must see. Some people overnight in Hanoi, if ship overnight.

[bento2744]

Input please. I am considering an itinerary which includes Hanoi and Halong Bay. Do the ships usually dock in Hanoi and then passengers take local excursions through Halong Bay? I would be interested to hear details of your trips through this area and thank you.

 

I was on Regent Seven Seas Mariner from HKG to Sin on a 16 day cruise. This was before they started offering all excursions free of charge, except private tours. I arranged private tours for all ports of calls in Vietnam through

 

 

Ha_Vietland Discovery info@discovervietnam.com.vn

 

I recommend this tour operator highly for their accountability and trustworthyness. We booked Hanoi, Hoi An and HCMC, was very pleased.

Contact Mrs. Ha at luong ha <lgmha4@yahoo.com>

[MJC]

Ha Long Bay is superb. We saw the Dragon Pearl (mentioned above) anchored in a secluded bay and thought, that's the way to go.

 

We were on a Clipper cruise and our ship anchored in the bay rather than docking. We took a tour of the bay on a junk, boarding directly from the ship. Most of the tours visit the same locations. We also had a zodiac ride from the ship that took us through some more secluded areas, which I preferred. We also stopped at a small beach for swimming, very special.

 

The transfer to Hanoi took most of the morning, between disembarkation and driving. From Ha Long to Hanoi and back makes for a grueling day trip and I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Hanoi was lovely. We spent two days there on our own -- one day touring the city, one day biking in the countryside. We had a picnic by a river in a small village and visited with the children who gathered there out of curiousity. It was truly special.

 

We arranged our own pre- and post- cruise activities. We got our guides through Patrick at Indochine Travel in San Francisco. Our guides were excellent and very well organized.