Is a Ha Long Bay cruise worth it?

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We cruise. It’s one of our guilty travel pleasures. We love the bite-sized stops at multiple destinations, the top-notch service and watching the world sail by in comfort. So when when we were planning our Vietnam holiday it was a no brainer to include a Ha Long Bay cruise. 

But would it be that same as an ocean cruise? And, when comparing the price of two nights onboard to the other accommodation we’d booked, would it be worth it?

Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam’s tourist hot spots. Hundreds of vessels rotate around the 1969 jungle-draped limestone islands that look like the set of a Jurassic Park movie.

It’s got a reputation for being a bit crowded and, despite being a World Heritage Site for the past 30 years, having lots of rubbish floating around.

It’s also not cheap to do a cruise. This was the most expensive two nights of our fortnight in Vietnam by quite a margin.

We knew all of this before we booked, so went with our eyes open.

I totally get it that the value and worth of an experience is subjective. In this post I’m sharing what we made of our Ha Long Bay cruise so you can decide whether it’s worth it for you.

As well as our cruise itinerary and a review of our ship, I’m covering a few handy things to know about:

• the weather – we cruised in the height of the rainy season at the end of July
• the floating shops that can supply you with extra drinks and snacks
• transfers to the ships
• and the elephant in the bay, the pollution.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click and buy something, I may earn some commission. This is at no extra cost to you but helps me cover the costs of running this website. See my privacy policy and disclosure policy for more information.*

Our Ha Long Bay Cruise

The vast majority of Ha Long Bay cruises are sold as either two days and one night or three days and two nights. We booked a three days and two night cruise with Mon Cheri Cruises which is part of the Big Bay Group that also runs Peony Cruises and Lily Cruises.

The way the cruise itineraries work is that you join your ship in time for lunch and are off again before lunch on the day you depart. So if you book a two day and one night cruise you really only get two half days and a night. 

We decided that to make the most of our cruise we needed more than 24 hours onboard.

Once onboard, everything but our bar bill was included. A very generous sized breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon snacks, plus all the activities and excursions were wrapped up in the room rate.

This in itself made the price tag of £1,100 or £137.50 per person, per night seem a lot more reasonable.

Our cruise itinerary 

Most Ha Long Bay cruise itineraries are very similar in format. Your cruise company may visit different islands but the activities onboard are very similar.

Here’s an overview of our three day and two night Ha Long Bay cruise with Mon Cheri:

Day 1

• 8.30am: picked up from our hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. We paid extra for this service.
• 11.30am: arrived at the port in Ha Long where we checked in at the Big Bay Group reception area.
• 12pm: we boarded a tender boat that would transfer us to our ship.
• 12.45pm: we arrived on the Mon Cheri 2 were we went straight up to the restaurant on deck three for a welcome brief and buffet lunch.
• 1.45pm: we were shown to our cabins while the ship relocated.
• 3.30pm: kayaking and swimming at Tra Bau.
• 5pm: happy hour on the top deck.
• 6pm: a demonstration on how to make spring rolls.
• 7pm: five course dinner in the restaurant.
• 8.30pm: squid fishing.

Day 2 (NB. If you book a one night cruise then skip this and count Day 3 as your Day 2)

• 6am: Tai Chi on the top deck.
• 6.30am: buffet breakfast in the restaurant.
• 8am: we caught a tender transfer to a day boat that took us on our island excursion.
• 10.50am: arrived on Cat Ba island for a tour of Viet Hai village.
• 12.30pm: back on the day boat for a five course lunch.
• 1.30pm: kayaking in the Three Peach area.
• 3.30pm: back on board the day boat to return to Mon Cheri.
• 4.15pm: arrive back at the cruise ship which had changed location.
• 5pm: happy hour on the top deck.
• 6pm: a demonstration on how to make spring rolls.
• 7pm: five course dinner in the restaurant.
• 8.30pm: squid fishing.

Day 3

• 6am: Tai Chi on the top deck.
• 6.30am: buffet breakfast in the restaurant.
• 7.20am: trip to Trung Trang Caves (however our excursion was cancelled due to bad weather. We kayaked again instead)
• 9.30am: check out of cabin
• 9.45am: buffet brunch in the restaurant.
• 10.45am: disembark and return to the port on the tender boat.
• 11.30am: we arrived back at port and after a short wait were shown to our private transfer bus to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. We paid extra for this service.

Take a look at my Vietnam Story Highlights on Instagram for more from our cruise and our 14 days in Vietnam.

One night or two night Ha Long Bay cruise?

This decision will come down to time and costs for a lot of people. But having done the two night cruise I personally think one night would have been too short for us.

We went from Hanoi. It took three hours to get to the bay and then another hour to get onboard. So it’s a long day of travel and doing the same again the next day would have been too much.

We also found that the first afternoon and final morning of our cruise were pretty jam-packed with activities. We didn’t have a lot of time to relax.

Our full day (day two) was when we had time to stop, relax and appreciate the scenery.

So, I’d recommend doing a two night and three day cruise if you can. It’s definitely worth it.

Our ship: Mon Cheri 2

Our five star luxury cruise ship, Mon Cheri 2*, had 20 balcony cabins, a restaurant, an infinity pool and a bar with lots of seating on the top deck. There was also a treadmill and bike in a small indoor gym area and mini golf on deck.

Cabins

We booked adjoining cabins – the Elegance Connecting Door cabins. There is also an Elegance Family Balcony cabin which has a wardrobe-style divider between the rooms but not a door.

The beds in our two rooms were configured as a double and twins when we arrived. Other than that the rooms were identical, spacious, clean and well decorated.

We loved having the bathtub with a view. It felt very luxurious.

I could tell the kids were impressed. As soon as we walked into our cabins they wanted me to take photos.

Cabins come with robes, slippers, a TV (I’m not sure when you’d have chance to watch it), a paid mini bar, toiletries and seating on the balcony.

Food

Before we’d even left the port our cruise host, Jasmine, had asked if we had any dietary requirements and we were asked again onboard.

Our first meal was a buffet lunch with plenty of seafood, salads, rice, noodles, fresh fruits and cake.

Dinner was a five course set menu that we were shown over lunch to check we were OK with all the dishes. By now we knew the food was excellent so we were happy to eat anything put in front of us.

The girls opted for the kids menu on the first evening are were served a huge plate of breaded chicken, spaghetti in tomato sauce and fries. They ploughed through this while we ate four courses before having the same dessert.

The next night the 11-year-old opted for the set menu having looked at our plates longingly the evening before.

Breakfast is buffet style again with eggs cooked to order, toast, cereal, fruit and yogurt as well as traditional Vietnamese cooked options.

Top tip: if you’re on the two night cruise it’s still worth getting to breakfast at 6.30am as the people on their last day will be at the buffet early. We found most of the cooked food had been snaffled when we arrived just before 7am.

There was still plenty to fill the tiny spaces in our tummies after the feast the night before. Just like an ocean cruise, it would be hard to feel hungry on a Ha Long Bay voyage.

The crew

All of the crew were incredibly friendly and helpful throughout our cruise and the service was exactly what we’d expect from an ocean cruise liner.

We had our own waiter, Mario, who was brilliant with our kids. He noticed the nine-year-old folding a napkin like a boat – it’s one of her and Mr Tin Box’s party tricks – and showed her how to make a rose. He also helped the 11-year-old with the tricky task of de-shelling a tiger prawn.

Our cruise host Jasmine was around from the time we arrived at the port until the moment we disembarked, telling us what was happening next and making sure we were happy.

The passenger turnaround is pretty quick in Ha Long Bay but it felt like we were getting a personal service throughout.

All-in-all our cruise with Mon Cheri was definitely worth the price tag.

Cruise activities

The activities included in Ha Long Bay cruises are largely the same: kayaking, swimming, cooking demonstrations and squid fishing. 

If you book one night you will get an optional excursion off the ship for a few hours like a trip to a cave. And if you book two nights you get an optional full day excursion, like our trip to Cat Ba Island, plus the half day excursion.

We really enjoyed the activities included in our cruise. The opportunity to kayak three times was a holiday highlight for my kids. Cat Ba island was beautiful and worth the visit on day two to learn more about life in the bay.

We were cruising at the beginning of the squid season so didn’t have much success dangling our rods but the kids still enjoyed trying.

Sadly our trip to Trung Trang Cave, which is the largest in Vietnam, was cancelled because of the storms which had flooded the access road. It was a shame to miss it but we were all content to have a bit more time to kayak.

Excursion to Cat Ba island

On day two of our cruise we were up and breakfasted by 8am ready for our excursion to Cat Ba island, the largest of the islands in Ha Long Bay with a population of 45,000.

Cat Ba means ‘lady island’, so named because people who visited it only found women there. Their husbands were fisherman so were rarely on land.

The tender that had brought us from the cruise port and had been towed behind the ship came back into service to take us to the Big Bay Group’s day boat, Orchid.

We were joined by passengers from the other Big Bay boats Mon Cheri 1 and Peony and even a brief by our guide, Karl.

It was a bit of a relief that we weren’t spending the whole day on the tender because it was raining heavily. Orchid had a dining room, indoor lounge and sun deck as well as bathrooms and showers.

The voyage to the island took nearly three hours so we are able to sit back, play games and read our books. If the weather had been better we’d have be up on deck enjoying some sun.

The water was mostly flat but the last 20 minutes were bumpy as we came around to the eastern end of the island and into the open sea.

Viet Hai village

When we reached the dock on Cat Ba we should have had the option to cycle 5km to the village of Viet Hai or take a more leisurely golf buggy ride. But the weather wasn’t on our side and cycling wouldn’t have been comfortable or safe.

It was a bit of a disappointment until we saw some of the hills. But what amazing views.

At the village we were told about some of the rare wildlife on the island, the langur, which is a primate only found here after being hunted to near extinction. We didn’t spot any during our visit – they are clearly good weather animals.

We also tried local wine, saw a traditional home and had our feet nibbled by fish in a pond. It was all very touristy but interesting never-the-less.

Tip: if you are interested in buying pearls during your time in Vietnam then Cat Ba island is the place to do it. A lot of Vietnam’s pearls are produced here so you get a better price than on the mainland.

After Viet Hai we returned to Orchid. It has its own galley for the all important preparation of lunch. I’d honestly been expecting a sandwich bag like you might be given at a hotel. But instead we had another freshly prepared five course meal served by our waiter for the day, Ducky.

Once we’d cleared plates full of crispy chicken, stir fried beef and shrimp salad it was time to kayak near a pretty little fisherman’s temple.

We had nearly an hour in the water before it was time to catch the tide back to Mon Cheri 2 in time for the kids to have a swim in the pool ahead of the evening’s activities.

If I’ve tempted you to try this Ha Long By a cruise here’s where to check availability and prices for Mon Cheri cruises*.

If you’d like to check out another option Travelynn Family took a cruise with Indochina Junk a few weeks later. As well as taking a different route they also got sunshine, so you can see Halong Bay looking at its best!

Transfer to Ha Long Bay

Most people joining a Ha Long Bay cruise arrive from Hanoi, which is about three hours away with a comfort break. You can make your own way or book a transfer with your cruise company. For ease, we asked Mon Cheri to pick us up from our hotel in Hanoi.

Mon Cheri Cruises offer private or group transfers by ‘luxury limoscene’. These are 10 seater mini buses which we found to be good but not pristine. 

One of the reclining seats on the bus that picked us up wouldn’t sit straight again once laid back. And the wifi and USB plugs on the return bus didn’t work. 

The service was punctual but on the way back our driver didn’t seem to be able to keep a steady speed. He repeatedly took his foot off the accelerator making the three hour ride very juddery.

This was by far the ropiest part of our cruise experience but still not terrible.

Check prices for taxis from Hanoi to Halong*.

Pollution in Ha Long Bay

If you’ve done any research about the bay you’ll have heard it has a pollution problem. We knew this before our trip and still wanted to experience this amazing place.

On our first afternoon we kayaked around a smaller island in the Tra Bau area in Lan Ha Bay to the south of Ha Long. 

This was great fun but the girls commented on the rubbish we spotted floating by.

When we got in the water after kayaking there was no visible rubbish.

However, on our last morning in exactly the same location the water was clearly not so clean. The crew didn’t offer swimming as an activity this time.

As the cruise continued we saw more rubbish slicks. It was depressing. The junk is a combination of broken household items, litter and plastic containers. One of the largest pieces of rubbish I spotted was a half sunk inflatable dingy. 

I’m no marine expert but the waste isn’t just created by tourism in the bay. It’s being pushed on the tide from beyond the islands too. 

What we didn’t see was any effort to clean it up. However, some of our fellow passengers had been on a cruise here earlier in the year and said there was a lot less rubbish then. So maybe something is being done about it at different times.

Our cruise ship had refillable glass bottles in the cabins but they didn’t share much about anything else they did to reduce plastic waste or help the environment.

Floating shops – fun but persistent

Something else we’d heard about when researching our cruise was the small boats that approach cruise ships to sell passengers drinks and snacks. 

These are a fun novelty until you realise how many there are. If you’re sat on your balcony they will come over to ask if you want beers or wine, often in quick succession.

We bought a few beers and some crisps on our first day and quickly learnt you should haggle the price. While everything is really cheap, we realised the 200,000 VND (about £6) we’d paid for five cans of beer was more than we would have paid onboard.

Can you enjoy Ha Long Bay in the rainy season?

You can see from my pictures that we didn’t have a lot of sun in Ha Long Bay. The rainy season is at its peak in July and August and we were there slap bang in the middle of it.

And it’s not just rain. In fact, you can get typhoons in the summer months. Things didn’t get that bad for us but it was stormy. The rain was torrential from the first night until late morning on the day we left.

But we still had a brilliant time.

Some of the lightening was really impressive. We were woken up by a huge clap of thunder on our first night and watched the flashes for a few minutes before returning to bed.

The next day a crew member told us some of the larger ships needed to evacuate their guests to the shore during a partially large storm a few weeks before.

Thankfully it wasn’t that bad during our cruise but the weather did affect our activities. We weren’t able to cycle on Cat Ba island and our excursion to the Trung Trang caves was cancelled.

All excursions are advertised as weather dependant and the crew offered alternative activities to keep us entertained.

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We’ve had whole ports cancelled while on ocean cruises so get it that plans have to change sometimes.

But if you are coming to Ha Long Bay for an activity that requires good weather (or you can’t grin and bear the rain) pick dates outside the wet season.

Summary: is a Ha Long Bay cruise worth it?

If you’ve read this far you probably already know what my answer is.

Despite the weather, despite the pollution, and despite that fact that this cruise ate up a lot of our holiday budget, we loved it.

We were wowed by the natural beauty of Ha Long Bay. The soaring islands covered in tumbling greenery that plunges into turquoise water were like nothing we’ve seen before.

It was a wonderful experience to kayak around the coves, even when we were joined by manmade rubbish slicks. 

We were really impressed by our experience on Mon Cheri 2. From the moment we arrived at the port to the moment we disembarked we got nothing but excellent service, living up to the same standards as ocean cruises.

The ship really did run like a well oiled machine, which is no mean feat with the daily turnover of guests. But rather than feeling like we were on a production line, we felt like we received a personal service thanks to the attentive crew.

So yes, we thought our cruise was absolutely worth it and are very happy with our decision to book two nights.

Have you been on a Ha Long Bay cruise? What did you think?

Check availability and prices for Mon Cheri cruises*

More reading about Vietnam travel

Ha Long Bay was the second stop during our two weeks in Vietnam. We came here from Hanoi where we spent two full days exploring independently and with a guide who took us on a street food tour including the famous Train Street.

Our next stop was colourful Hoi An in Central Vietnam. Have a read of our two day Hoi An itinerary including what we squeezed in and where we stayed.

Next we flew to Ho Chi Minh City for three nights where to took a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mykong Delta.

We finished off our holiday at a family-friendly resort in Phu Quoc.

If you’d like to find out more about our cruise and the rest of our 14 day Vietnam itinerary check out my Instagram Stories. There’s three dedicated to this trip.

Usually I’d also recommend the Lonely Planet’s destination guide to help you plan your trip, but I bought the Vietnam 2023 edition and was a bit disappointed. A lot of the information was generic and I spotted several mistakes.

I’d suggest trying the Rough Guide* or Eyewitness travel guide* instead.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links marked with *. If you click on one of these and make a purchase I may earn some commission. This does not affect the price you pay.

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