Halong Bay Cruise 2 Days 1 Night – Which One-Night Cruise to Book
Book Hanoi: 2-Day Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise with Balcony: $187 per person, ★ 4.8 from 6,049 reviews, a private balcony and a bathtub in every cabin and about 23 hours on the water out of 31. It sails through both Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays; the shuttle from Hanoi or Ninh Binh is $25 per person extra.
Sails both Ha Long and the quieter Lan Ha, and the cabin has a balcony and a bathtub. It is a large 5-star ship, so the sundeck is shared with many guests.
BayHa Long + Lan HaCabinBalcony and bathtubPickupHanoi Old Quarter · transfer $25 extraLength2 days
Short answerA Halong Bay 2 days 1 night cruise is 31 hours from Hanoi and back, about 23 of them on the water. We compare 52; the well-reviewed ones cost $103 to $215 per person. They share one timetable and differ in three things: the cabin, the bay and whether the transfer is in the price.
≈ 23 hon the water out of 31 from Hanoi
35 standard cabins, 7 with a balcony, 10 with a balcony and a bath
Most one-night boats sell a standard cabin: a double or twin room with a window, air conditioning and its own bathroom. The bay, the night at anchor and the programme are the same as on the ships with balconies; what you give up is a private place to watch sunset, so you watch it from the sundeck with everyone else.
The four below have the most reviews. The Bai Tu Long cruise is the busiest standard-cabin trip on GetYourGuide. The three Lan Ha boats board at Cat Ba harbours instead of Tuan Chau; the Venezia boats on the Lan Ha cruise with meals and activities have 5 or 10 cabins and add a bike ride through Viet Hai village on the second morning.
2D1N Halong Bay 5 Star Cruise with Private Balcony
A balcony is the upgrade you notice on one night. Sunset and the 6 am bay come to your door, and in the evening, when the sundeck fills for the cooking class and happy hour, the cabin is the quiet place on the ship.
The most reviewed ship in this group is the 2-day Lan Ha and Halong Bay 5-star cruise with balcony: a junior suite with a private balcony, all meals, kayaking and a cooking class, from $146, with 4,934 reviews. The shuttle is $25 extra and a single cabin adds $80.
The Bai Tu Long 5-star cruise, $175 with ★4.86 from 258 reviews, takes the balcony into the quieter bay. The lowest balcony prices, from $124, are on Lan Ha cruises with far fewer reviews.
Halong Bay Luxury Cruise 2 Days – Balcony and Bathtub
On one night the bathtub costs less extra than you might think. Well-reviewed balcony-and-bath cabins start at $151, $27 above the cheapest balcony and $5 above the most booked balcony ship. Our pick costs $187, $36 more than the cheapest bath: what it adds is the longest record on the bay, 6,049 reviews at ★4.82.
At the top you pay for the ship rather than the cabin: a jacuzzi and a gym on the Lan Ha and Halong Bay luxurious cruise at $182, an infinity pool on the 2-day Lan Ha luxury cruise at $203, and an infinity pool, a spa and a sauna on the Elite at $215.
Suites are sold on top of any price, from $65 to $110 per person on the Luxury Ha Long and Lan Ha cruise with private balcony and $170 for the Imperial Suite on the Elite. The 23 hours on the water do not change.
Bai Tu Long is the same limestone north-east of Ha Long, with far fewer boats. The most reviewed one-night cruise there leaves Ha Long International Cruise Port, kayaks around Cong Do and Cap La islands and visits Thien Canh Son Cave. It sells three cabins: a deluxe window room from $145, a 5-star balcony and a 6-star balcony with a bathtub.
Read the small print: a peak-season surcharge of $10 per person, $15 on the 6-star option, applies from 1 October to 30 April, and the single-cabin surcharge is $60 to $125 by option, paid at check-in.
Times from the 2-day luxury Lan Ha Bay 5★ cruise listing · other ships differ by 30 to 60 minutes
The shape every ship follows
What a Halong Bay 2 Days 1 Night Cruise Holds
Every Halong Bay 2 days 1 night cruise we compare follows the same frame. Day one: road from Hanoi in the morning, tender to the ship at about noon, lunch under way, an afternoon cave by kayak or bamboo boat, a swim, sunset on the sundeck, a cooking class and dinner at anchor. Day two: tai chi at 6:00, a light breakfast, one more kayak or cave, brunch as the ship sails back, off at about 11:00 and in Hanoi at 15:00.
What changes is the water. Ships that go into Lan Ha kayak at Dark and Bright Cave and Ao Ech Lagoon; those that stay in Ha Long visit Sung Sot Cave and Ti Top Island with the day boats; Bai Tu Long ships see neither and meet almost no one.
Worth knowing before you choose
All activities are optional: you can stay on the sundeck while the others kayak
Cabins take up to 3 guests on most ships; booking for three gets a triple cabin
Wi-Fi and phone signal are unstable among the islands, as the listings warn
Most people do the Hanoi to Halong Bay 2 day cruise as a round trip: 39 of the 52 cruises start with a pickup in Hanoi. The shuttle or limousine collects you in the Old Quarter between 7:15 and 8:00, drives 2.5 to 3 hours on the expressway to Tuan Chau Marina, and a tender takes you to the ship between 11:30 and 12:30.
On the way back you leave the ship at 10:45 to 11:30 and reach the Old Quarter at about 15:00, early enough for an evening train or a night bus, too tight for an afternoon flight. A Hanoi to Halong Bay 2 days cruise can also end in Ninh Binh on most five-star ships, about 3.5 hours from Tuan Chau.
For a 2 days Halong Bay 5 star cruise from Hanoi, our pick is the most booked: 6,049 reviews, a balcony and a bath in every cabin, both bays, $187. The Elite cruise with an infinity pool is the one to compare it with: $215, ★4.91 from 2,694 reviews, a spa and sauna, and taxes included for bookings from 1 July 2026. The $28 more buys the highest rating on a large base and a pool.
The price on the card is often the cruise alone. Every five-star balcony ship we read sells the transfer separately: $25 per person for the round trip from the Hanoi Old Quarter, the same for Hanoi to Ha Long and on to Ninh Binh, and $15 one way where offered. Two people pay $50 on top of the cruise.
Some cruises do put transport in the price. The Ha Long and Lan Ha 2-day cruise with meals includes the Old Quarter pickup on its Hanoi options, from $132, so there is nothing to add for the road. The Ninh Binh 2-day Lan Ha cruise, from $124, charges $12 per person each way by shuttle bus or $15 by limousine, starting from your hotel in Ninh Binh.
Open the listing and find the includes list: “transfer” in the not-included column means $25 more per person
Check the booking option you pick: “from Halong” or “start and finish on Cat Ba” options have no Hanoi transfer
If you arrive by yourself, the meeting point is the waiting room at Tuan Chau Marina, usually at 11:30
Every one-night cruise includes its meals, usually four: lunch as the ship leaves the pier, dinner at anchor, a light breakfast after tai chi and a brunch on the way back. A few ships count it as two lunches, one dinner and one breakfast. The five-star ships serve lunch as a buffet and dinner as a set menu of Vietnamese and European dishes, with vegetarian meals on request.
Drinks are the extra. The listings include a welcome drink and one or two bottles of water per person in the cabin; everything else is bought on board, and several ships run a happy hour at sunset, buy two drinks and get the third free. Plastic bottles and plastic bags are not allowed on many boats.
Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve bring a gala dinner and a surcharge of about $40 per person on the ships we read, and the same applies at Lunar New Year.
37 of the 52 one-night cruises list kayaking, and on the ships that go into Lan Ha you get it twice. On the first afternoon, around 15:00, you paddle or take a bamboo boat rowed by a local through Dark and Bright Cave; on the second morning, at about 7:45, you kayak in Ao Ech Lagoon or around Ba Trai Dao before brunch.
Kayaks take two people and the bamboo boat is the choice for young children and anyone who would rather not paddle; both are included. On Bai Tu Long cruises the kayak stop is among Cong Do and Cap La islands, on water that almost no day boat reaches.
39 of the 52 one-night cruises we compare start with a pickup in Hanoi, usually between 7:15 and 8:00 in the Old Quarter. You board at Tuan Chau around noon, sleep at anchor and are back in Hanoi at about 15:00 the next day. Many listings sell the shuttle separately, $25 per person return, so check the includes before you compare prices.
how much does a 2 days 1 night halong bay cruise cost?
For a departure on 7 October 2026, well-reviewed cruises cost $103 to $215 per person, two sharing a cabin; most sit between $124 and $180. Add $25 for a return transfer where it is extra, a single supplement of $45 to $95 if you travel alone, drinks, and a holiday surcharge of about $40 on 24 and 31 December and at Lunar New Year.
is the transfer from hanoi included?
Often not. All seven five-star balcony ships whose listings we read sell the shuttle separately at $25 per person return, and two of them also sell it one way for $15. The Hanoi options of the Ha Long and Lan Ha 2-day cruise with meals include the Old Quarter pickup. Always read the includes line.
is one night on a halong bay cruise enough?
For most people, yes. One night gives about 23 hours on the water out of 31 from Hanoi: the afternoon kayak, sunset, a night at anchor and the morning bay before the day boats arrive. A second night adds a full day in Lan Ha or Bai Tu Long, but only 12 of the 28 three-day trips we compare keep both nights on the ship.
what is the single supplement on a one-night cruise?
It depends on the ship. The listings we checked charge $45 to $95 for a cabin to yourself: $90 on the most booked balcony cruise, $80 on several five-star ships, $50 on the small Lan Ha boats from Cat Ba. It is paid at check-in on some boats and at booking on others. Booking for three usually gets a triple cabin at no extra cost.
can children join a 2 day halong bay cruise?
Yes. On the five-star ships we read, one child aged 0 to 4 stays free in each cabin, a second child under 5 pays 50 per cent, children aged 5 to 10 pay 75 per cent and share their parents' bed, and from 11 they pay the adult price with their own bed. Age is counted by year of birth. Kayaking rules for children differ by boat.
what happens if the cruise is cancelled for weather?
When a storm warning is issued, the Quang Ninh port authority stops departure permits and boats at sea return to shore; in September 2025 about 60 overnight boats were called back. The cruise is then moved or refunded. Every listing we compare allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and from late May to early November it is worth keeping a spare day.
can I get off in ninh binh instead of hanoi?
On many ships, yes. The most booked balcony cruise, the Elite cruise with an infinity pool and several others let you start in Hanoi and finish in Ninh Binh, or the other way round, on the same $25 shuttle. Pickup in Ninh Binh is around 7:00 and the drive to Tuan Chau takes about 3.5 hours. A few Lan Ha boats start in Ninh Binh outright.
