Can anyone recommend good cruises at Halong bay?

Question

Please share with me your experience on different junk cruises so that I can shortlist which are the better ones. Thank you. :)

Answer 1

last year my family used huong hai cruises on a overnight cruise which we booked through www.tnktravel.com from australia and had no problems. very good experience

Answer 2

I recently went on the Halong Hai Junk. It was great - but we didn't get to do kayaking etc. which we expected to. The Halong Ginger and Emeraude look good, though I haven't been on them. Make sure you get to see the caves during your cruise - they are wonderful. You should also get to swim and go kayaking.

Answer 3

I've been to HaLong Bay twice, Vietnam 5 times.  Best way to get a cruise is to search the internet for "HaLong Bay Cruise" and find out what the prices are for 1 or 2 nights.  Look at some of the descriptions of the cruises listed on the internet.  I've been on the "Dragon Pearl".  Had a good time.  Write down the names of the cruises and price.  Go to Hanoi, check into your hotel. (Be sure to stay in the Old Quarter, it's much more interesting than the new part of Hanoi.)  Tell the desk clerk you want to go to HaLong Bay on the cruise you picked (Have 2 or 3 choices just in case).  Ask how much.  When you find out walk down the street to any travel agent and ask for his best price for the same cruise.  Check a couple of agencies before commiting.  Be sure to go to the Tamarind Cafe Agency at 80 Ma May St., Hoan Kiem District (that's the Old Quarter).  I've used them twice and they're very professional.  They're recommended by many travel books.  One HINT:  What ever agency you use don't let them tell you the cruise you want to go on is fully booked, they'll try to steer you to a more expensive cruise.  Just leave an go to the next agency.  A one night cruise for one person should be US $75 - $100. Good Luck!

DZ  http://www.yourvietnamtourguide.com

Answer 4

All tour operators are licensed by the government.  It is unlawful for someone to take you on a tour unless they have a license, and it may be unlawful for you to go on an unlicensed tour.

You may find many tour "agents" competing for your booking, but they all seem to end up putting their clients into the hands of the exact same tour "operator".  So in fact, you probably don't have any real choice.

Vietnam's government is reputably one of the most corrupt in the world; this is reflected in the (lack of) quality of the tours.  The tourism industry there is frugally efficient, fairly inexperienced, and challenged on many fronts - so don't get your hopes up.  

My wife and I did several tours in Vietnam.  For our last day in HMC, we chose to go on a day tour to Chu Chi Tunnels.  Even at US$6, it was not worth it and felt like a waste of a precious day!  (Partially because of the "unadvertised" stop at one of the same tourist-trap art galleries that all of the other tours stop at - the operators get a % of sales.)

Sorry to not be particularly positive about Vietnam, but it was definitely the low-light of our feet-in-the-dirt, backpackers', around-the-world trip.  This was probably because we found the language and cultural barriers too great to tackle on our own in five days, which left us with little option but the tours.