Your deal with us is included everything. You will need to pay nothing extra for your trip. Personal drinks & expenses, possible tips are not included.

– Some cruises will include the shuttle bus in the quotation when some are not. You can view it easily when you Check Out for your cruise.

– For optional activities not mentioned in the itinerary, you will need to pay for it if you would like to take part.

Cruise itinerary and schedule are subject to change upon weather and operations conditions.

If you are traveling with a special even, please contact us and provide us the information. Almost all Cruises in our list have special offer and arrangement for Honeymoon couple, Wedding anniversary, Birthday celebrations…

Depending on each cruise, there will be a list of extra activities such as Squid fishing at night, Karaoke contest, board game, movie … together with the  cruise activities of visiting Floating village, go fishing, cooking class, kayaking or swimming, biking, climbing… it also depends on the length of your cruise journey.

All of our Recommended cruises in Halong Bay are well equipped with fire extinguishers, life jackets and other tools as support and protection devices for guests in emergency. The cruise is checked and renovated in every 180 days.

There is a bar in any Halong Bay Cruise and it offers all kinds of drinks. Besides the mineral water, tea and coffee included in your program within your cabin, other drinks are on your own expenses. It is also common to see the drinks on the cruises more expensive than on the main land.

The more luxury the cruise is, the better she will serve you with your special diet. We know which cruise you should go with pretty well if you have a special diet of: No-seafood, No-Gluten, No-Meat, Vegetarian, Lactose-Vegetarian, Halal… Please contact us for details.

Day boat cruise will serve all kinds of diet! So please do not worry. Just let us know your diet in advance!

Despite the fact that the bay is very huge, the docking place for overnight is limited due to Military Defense System of Vietnam Army. In a lot of mountains in the area, there are also army places with high security level and all Halong bay cruises have to register the place to visit and stay and cannot go or stay “Anywhere”. This is the place opens the sea to South China Sea.

So please do not blame the mistake to the cruises if one night you see the floating cities with hundreds of cruises. Or visit a cave everybody does!

Some cruises who run the “Off The Beaten Path” will have a less crowded activities and anchoring. However, it is still an authorized place to dock for overnight by our Vietnam military.

When you go for Halong Bay, you should just simply leave your big bags in Hanoi if it is possible. All Hanoi hotel provides free storing. If they do not, please contact us for help

You will HAVE TO bring your original passport a long for overnight cruises. Day tour will not be requested.

Whenever traveling, it’s highly advised to carry insect repellent, hand sanitize, aspirin/paracetamol, medicines for stomach troubles, swimming suites, sun glasses, cash or credit card…

Most of all LUXURY cruises do not include Shuttle bus with their price. However you can simply book this shuttle bus at the end of the service booking form. If your group is from 4 persons up, you should book a Private Transfer for the trip.

All the DELUXE range cruise and lower will include the shuttle bus with their prices. We name the cruises with its services clearly at the introduction and you can see the option of “Free Shuttle Bus” when you proceeds to book a cruise providing it.

For each different cruise, the Shuttle bus pick up time will be different. Common Shuttle bus is from 7.45 to 8.30 AM but sometimes can be 7.30 if you are offered a special free shuttle pick up when your hotel is outside of the Old Quarter (Hoan Kiem district).

With the Shuttle services, it will not be able to fix the correct time for the pick up or drop off since the vehicle have to move around to pick up the group. 

When the shuttle does not come after 8.30 AM, you can contact us for support to know where the shuttle is. We will normally send you a reminder the day before your cruise so you will not have to worry that we could forget your booking like others may.

For the best experience, we recommend you to travel with the Private transfer for Hanoi – Halong Bay – Hanoi (especially for cruises without Free shuttle bus).

Shuttle bus will always need to stop halfway (1 hours 50 minutes drive). For your safety, it is better to get driver a strong coffee middle way. Vietnamese roads are crazy in fact. The itinerary already included with the stop of 15-20 minutes each way.

However, the shuttle bus pit-stop halfway is quite a kind of “expensive” place to shop for souvenir. So it is better to “Shop somewhere else if you have choices”. Bargaining can also be a useful technique to reduce 5-20% prices here even they say no discount.

It is a good place for a look and also for a cold beer or an ice-cream and free wash room. But definitely not for a jewelry or diamond.

Through this warning, VTT would also like to claim the responsibility free for your shopping during the journey. We do not have any relation with these halfway stops.

For private tour, you can have a choice to stop or not as the guide will ask you before your decision. It is all to your satisfaction. At least, you get warned !

Cruise shuttle bus will pick up and drop off at your hotel at the OLD QUARTER (Hoan Kiem District) area of Hanoi. Pick up time is around 7.30 to 8.30 AM and drop off time depending on the cruise disembark time plus the drive of 3.5 hours to Hanoi.

If your hotel is far away, you can request us for a pick up and drop off at your hotel with an extra fee or simply you can take taxi to a meeting point we schedule.

With our Private Transfer, our driver will pick you up at any place in Hanoi City Center.

Shuttle bus actually does not pick up or drop off at the airport as it is too far from city center. You can book our 1 way private transfer from the Airport to Halong Bay or vice versa with a discount price. The distance is around 170 kms 1 way transfer that you can find on our site at: https://asiapearltravel.com/tour/hanoi-car-rental/?cat_book=1.

1. What is the bad weather that might occur in Halong Bay?

All cruises in Halong Bay must have permission from Management Board of Halong Bay to stay overnight in the Bay. They has the authority to cancel all cruises on certain day to guarantee the safety of tourists.

The bad weather may occur in Halong Bay are: foggy, monsoons, cyclone and thunderstorm. Some kinds of bad weather are forecasted in advance from 2 to 3 days (storm, typhoon…) while some are not (monsoons, cyclone, thunderstorm…). Therefore, the cancellation may be informed before you leave Hanoi to Halong Bay or when you arrive in Halong Bay. 

2. Cancellation Policies due to bad weather?

– If the cancellation is informed before you leave Hanoi to Halong Bay (you have not used any service yet): 100% refund.  

– If the cancellation is informed during the trip (you have already used some services: transfer, lunch, day trip, hotel in Halong,…): Only the fee of these services will be charged and we will refund whole remain amount  

– If the trip is cut down from 3 days/2 nights to 2 days/1 night, we will charge as 2 days/1 night trip, plus other services you have already used and refund the remain amount.

Important Notes:  

– The cancellation is announced ONLY by the Management Board of Halong Bay and often in short notice of time. Therefore your understandings in these situations are highly appreciated  

– The period from end of June to August beginning is considered as stormy weather in Halong Bay with many unpredictable weather conditions. Hence more cruises will be cancelled with short notice during this season.  

In all cases, we will follow your booking and ask you to decide once the weather goes bad. We strongly recommend that you can use our 24 HOUR ANY REASON CANCELLATION POLICIES to be able to get the best holiday with Halong Bay Cruises.