Best Halong Bay Cruise – Which to Book for Your Trip
Our pick is Hanoi: 2-Day Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise with Balcony: $187 per person, ★ 4.8 from 6,049 reviews, the most booked one-night cruise, with a balcony and a bathtub in every cabin and about 23 hours on the water out of 31. Below are the picks for a day, two nights, $200+, value and each bay.
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 answerThe best Halong Bay cruise for most people is one night on a 5-star ship through Ha Long and Lan Ha: $187, ★4.82 from 6,049 reviews. We choose only among cruises with at least 5 reviews and ★4.5, 137 of 170, most reviewed first, and name a different pick for each need.
Overall: the Hanoi 2-day Ha Long and Lan Ha Bay 5-star cruise with balcony. $187, ★4.82 from 6,049 reviews, the most of any one-night cruise; every cabin has a balcony and a bathtub; about 23 of 31 hours on the water by the partner's times. Transfer $25, single cabin $90. It is not the low-priced choice: it costs $36 more than the cheapest well-reviewed bath cabin, and what that buys is the longest record of any ship.
Medium price: the 2-day Lan Ha and Halong Bay 5-star cruise with balcony, $146, ★4.74 from 4,934 reviews, a junior suite with a private balcony but no bathtub; the shuttle is $25 extra. Value: the Ha Long and Lan Ha 2-day cruise with meals, $132, ★4.81 from 448, a standard cabin with the Old Quarter pickup included on its Hanoi options, so there is no shuttle to add.
$200+: the Elite with an infinity pool, $215, ★4.91 from 2,694 reviews, the highest rating of any one-night cruise with over 1,000 reviews, with a spa and sauna and taxes included.
Our day pick is the Hanoi day trip with a luxury cruise and buffet lunch: $43, ★4.91 from 5,818 reviews, about 6 hours on the water out of 13. The most booked day cruise, at $39, has more reviews, 13,998 at ★4.82, but about 5 hours on the water by its own timetable; for $4 more, the extra hour and the higher rating decide it.
Already on Cat Ba Island? The Lan Ha and Ha Long full day with biking and kayaking costs $30 and gives about 7 hours on the water out of 9, ★4.85 from 1,646 reviews. From Hanoi into Lan Ha, the Taliya day cruise at $55 gives 7 hours out of 13.
Only 12 of the 28 three-day trips keep both nights on the ship; the rest spend one night in a hotel in Ninh Binh. Our pick is the most reviewed of those 12: the Hanoi 3-day 5-star cruise through Ha Long and Lan Ha with Viet Hai cycling, $358, ★4.84 from 550 reviews, about 46 hours on the water out of 55.
Day two takes a tender to Cat Ba Island and a bike ride of about 4 km through Viet Hai village, then kayaking and swimming at Ba Trai Dao beach. If you want a balcony and a bath for both nights, the 3-day cruise with private balcony, $364, ★4.83 from 218, gives about 47.5 hours on the water.
Lan Ha only: the Hanoi 2-day Lan Ha Bay cruise with meals and activities, $124, ★4.72 from 830 reviews. The Venezia boats have 5 or 10 cabins, board at Ben Beo on Cat Ba and add biking in Viet Hai village; a single cabin is $50.
Bai Tu Long: the Hanoi 2-day Ha Long and Bai Tu Long cruise, $145, ★4.72 from 1,633, kayaking at Cong Do and Cap La islands. From Ninh Binh: the 2-day Lan Ha cruise with biking and kayaking, $124, ★4.8 from 126, on boats of 9 to 11 cabins; the transfer is $12 to $15 per person each way.
There is no single best ship; there is a best ship for each length. Among one-night ships, the Hanoi 2-day 5-star cruise with balcony has the most reviews by a wide margin, 6,049 against 4,934 for the next, and keeps ★4.82 across them. The highest rating on a large base belongs to the Elite with an infinity pool, ★4.91 from 2,694, which is also the dearer of the two at $215.
Hours on the water barely separate them: every one-night ship we read gives about 23 of the 31 hours from Hanoi, because the road and the tender take the rest. So the choice comes down to the cabin, the bay and the price with the transfer added.
Most reviewed6,049
Hanoi 2-day 5-star cruise with balcony, ★4.82
Highest rated, 1,000+★4.91
Elite Lan Ha and Ha Long cruise, 2,694 reviews
Balcony and bath from$151
5-star Ha Long and Lan Ha cruise with balcony and bathtub, ★4.7
A day: about 6 h on the water out of 13 from Hanoi. One night: about 23 of 31. Two nights on board: about 46 of 55.
Nights on the ship
On three-day trips, check the itinerary: only 12 of 28 keep both nights on board.
Cabin
Standard window cabin, private balcony, or balcony and bathtub. On one night the well-reviewed bath cabins start at $151, $27 above the cheapest balcony.
Bay
Ha Long for the famous caves, Lan Ha for quieter water, Bai Tu Long for the emptiest.
Transfer
Most five-star ships sell the Hanoi shuttle at $25 per person return. Add it before you compare.
Then choose among the cruises that pass: at least 5 reviews and ★4.5. Inside that group, more reviews count for more than a tenth of a star.
A good cruise tells you plainly what you get. Of the 170 we compare, 31 have five or more reviews but rate below ★4.5. Read past the title to the includes list and the know-before-you-go notes.
Signs of a good listing
Clock times for pickup, boarding and return, not just “morning” and “afternoon”
The cabin named in the includes, with balcony or bathtub stated
Transfer, single supplement and holiday surcharges priced in dollars
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure
Worth a second look
A title that says 3 days with one night on board and a hotel night elsewhere
A rating below 4.5 on hundreds of reviews
No reviews yet: we leave it off this site until it has some
For most people, the Hanoi 2-day Ha Long and Lan Ha Bay 5-star cruise with balcony: $187 per person, ★4.82 from 6,049 reviews, the most booked one-night cruise on GetYourGuide, with a balcony and a bathtub in every cabin and about 23 hours on the water out of 31. The shuttle from Hanoi or Ninh Binh is $25 extra. For one day only, take the luxury day trip with buffet lunch at $43.
how to choose a halong bay cruise?
Decide the length first: a day gives about 6 hours on the water out of 13 from Hanoi, one night about 23 out of 31. Then check four lines on the listing: how many nights are on the ship, the cabin, the bay and whether the Hanoi transfer is included. Last, the reviews: at least 5 and ★4.5 or better, and more reviews beat a slightly higher rating.
what is a good medium priced halong bay cruise?
Between $120 and $200 for one night, the most reviewed after our overall pick is the 2-day Lan Ha and Halong Bay 5-star cruise with balcony at $146, ★4.74 from 4,934 reviews, a junior suite with a balcony but no bathtub. Add $25 per person for the shuttle. For a bathtub as well, the well-reviewed cabins start at $151, and our overall pick costs $187.
is the most reviewed cruise always the best?
Not always, but it is the safest start. Reviews show that a boat runs reliably and that thousands of guests got what the listing promised. We pick the most reviewed cruise that meets ★4.5 in each need, and move down the list only for a clear reason in numbers: an hour more on the water, a higher rating from a large base, or a better cabin for the same price.
how many reviews should a good cruise have?
We set the bar at 5 reviews and ★4.5; 137 of the 170 cruises we compare pass it. 31 have enough reviews but rate below 4.5, and 2 have fewer than 5. Listings with no reviews yet, or rated below 4.0, are not on this site. A cruise with a few hundred reviews at ★4.8 is well tested; one with a handful can be good, but we show it in the tables only and never as a pick.
is lan ha bay better than ha long bay for a cruise?
For a night on board, usually yes: the limestone is the same and fewer boats anchor there. Most of our one-night picks sail through both, leaving Tuan Chau for Lan Ha. For a first day trip Ha Long has the well-known sights, Sung Sot Cave, Luon Cave and Ti Top Island. Bai Tu Long, north-east of Ha Long, is the quietest of the three.
is a cheaper halong bay cruise worse?
Not by itself. One-night cruises start at $103 among the well-reviewed ones, and 6 priced below our medium pick hold ★4.7 or better with 100 or more reviews. What changes with the price is the cabin, the ship's pool or spa and whether the transfer is included, not the hours on the water, which stay at about 23 of 31 on almost every one-night cruise.
when is the best time for a halong bay cruise?
November is the best all-round month: about 6 rain days, clear air and sea at around 25 °C. December is the driest but often foggy and cool. From late May to early November the sea is warm, but typhoon warnings can cancel departures, as in July and September 2025. Book with free cancellation, which every cruise we pick allows up to 24 hours before.
