Cat Ba Island – Lan Ha – HaLong Bay Cruise Review + Tips

What is the best value for your money and time on a HaLong Bay cruise? These are our tips and full HaLong Bay cruise review to help you make the best choice.

In this post, we share what we learned from our experience on Venezia Cruises 3-day 2-night Lan Ha Bay itinerary and from extensive research on HaLong Bay. We compare 2 night and 1 night cruise itineraries as well as HaLong Bay vs. Lan Ha Bay / Cat Ba Island. 

Is HaLong Bay worth it?

We visited Vietnam five times before going to Ha Long Bay. In other words, there is much more that made us fall in love with this country, and Ha Long Bay is just one small part of it.

Many people recommended Ninh Binh as an alternative, which is sometimes referred to as “Ha Long Bay on land”. I would say Ninh Binh is an excellent, budget-friendly alternative – and it’s even closer to Hanoi.

That said, there’s a reason this spectacular bay is on so many travel bucket lists.

The first day of our trip there was an unusual, immense fog that limited visibility significantly … and it was still amazing. So in short, yes, HaLong Bay is worth a visit.

I suppose if you’re not a fan of boats or you get seasick, you might want to skip this destination. Seeing it from the water is really the best thing to do here.

Is it worth staying overnight in HaLong Bay?

The answer to this really depends on your budget. The cheapest way to see HaLong Bay is on a day trip from Hanoi. If you’re on a budget, you can do a day cruise and be back in Hanoi at night. 

You can see the highlights of HaLong Bay, which are the karst islands, in one day. Unless sleeping on a boat is an important experience for you, I’d say the main advantage of staying overnight in Ha Long Bay has to do with transit time.

The drive from Hanoi to HaLong Bay takes a minimum 3 hours, so going back and forth in the same day means you’re spending a majority of that day in transit. It’s not ideal.

Check out transportation options to Ha Long Bay on BookAway >
Check out accommodations in HaLong Bay on Booking.com >

Is a HaLong Bay cruise worth it?

Many visitors opt for a one night HaLong Bay cruise. To save money, you could also stay overnight in Ha Long City or on Cat Ba Island, then do a day trip by boat into the bay.

Check accommodations in Ha Long on Booking.com >
Check accommodations in Cat Ba on Booking.com >

Compared to the cost of living in Vietnam, cruise prices are fairly expensive. The cost of a one night cruise would get you a couple weeks of food and accommodations elsewhere in Vietnam.

Whether the value of a HaLong cruise is worth it is definitely subjective.

Though it was a splurge, I’m glad we did it. I haven’t met anyone yet who regrets their choice to book an overnight HaLong cruise, though I’ve read some reviews of folks disappointed with the quality of accommodations.

Check overnight cruise prices on Booking.com >

Is a 3 day 2 night HaLong Bay cruise worth it?

The 2 day 1 night cruise seems to be the most common choice, and you get the full experience of sunset and sunrise among the islands.

That said, if you have the budget to pay for a special experience, I would recommend booking a 2 night cruise in HaLong Bay. This is what we did. Here’s why.

1. More time to enjoy, less transit time. After the long journey to the port on Cat Ba Island, I was very glad we did not have to turn around the next day and board the bus back to Hanoi! Staying an extra night allowed us to relax and not feel rushed.
2. A special day 2 itinerary. On our cruise boat, it was a small minority of passengers who stayed an extra night. While our ship went back to port to drop people off, we got to take a private excursion with one other couple. We all agreed the second day itinerary was incredible – visiting a floating fish farm, kayaking and seeing monkeys in the trees, and a multi-course lunch cooked by our fisherman-driver on his boat.

Is a Cat Ba Island / Lan Ha Bay Cruise worth it?

According to the guide on our cruise, there are some 600 boats registered to the main Ha Long Bay port. It gets extremely crowded on that side of the bay.

What not everyone may know is that there is another overnight cruise port on Cat Ba Island which has much less boat traffic. Around Cat Ba Island, the bay is called Lan Ha Bay.

Lan Ha Bay and HaLong Bay are two sides of the same body of water, and the border is somewhat arbitrary. In other words, both offer the same magical islands and captivating scenery.

Our cruise itinerary started from Cat Ba Island’s Ben Beo port and sailed through both Lan Ha and HaLong. The guide said the only way you might know when we cross over to HaLong Bay is you’ll start to see a lot more boats and many are larger ships. 

If you’re deciding between Lan Ha Bay vs. HaLong Bay, our guide recommended Cat Ba Island / Lan Ha Bay for overnight cruises and Ha Long Bay for more convenient day tours.

Cat Ba Island / Lan Ha Bay Cruise Review 2023

Whether or not you take the same boat that we did, we hope this review of our experience and our HaLong Bay cruise tips will give you a sense of what it’s like, if it’s the right trip for you, and how to prepare. 

Venezia Cruises Review: Onboard the Ship

Venezia Cruises, which operates out of Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay, offers a one night cruise and a two night cruise on the same boat. 

The ship consists of two indoor levels with 8 rooms, a dining room and bar, rooftop deck, and outdoor seating area in the front.

There was a local crew of about 4 young guys, a captain, and the tour guide (who is a freelancer so he’s contracted by multiple cruise companies, not just Venezia). The crew managed bedroom turnovers each day, dining service at each meal, and assisted with activities like setting up kayaks.

Bedrooms on the Venezia cruise boat

Venezia is billed as one of the luxury cruises in Lan Ha Bay. I wouldn’t be surprised if Venezia’s quality is better than average for the region, however, it might feel more “standard” than “luxury” to some Western travelers.

If you’re familiar with typical cruises, I’d say the rooms were quite spacious for a cruise and the windows were very large.

Due to the sea air, some surfaces were a tiny bit sticky and some facilities or furnishings were a little bit worn. It felt clean but not spotless.

The private bathroom seemed a bit dated but there was piping hot water. Our toilet seat was clearly mismatched, being smaller than the toilet bowl, but this didn’t cause any practical issues.

There was an AC unit, though we didn’t use it. A small closet contains life jackets and some hangers for clothes.

Room amenities included plastic slippers, commonly used as house slippers in Vietnam but we were advised to wear on the kayaking/hiking excursion. There’s a hair dryer, safe, coffee and tea packets, mugs (hot water must be requested upstairs from the bar), and two water bottles.

Water bottles are also given free before every excursion, however, you must pay for the same water bottles from the bar if you’d like water at a meal.

The beds were comfortable and faced out to the big windows. Watching the scenery go by was certainly a highlight.

We did have some flecks on half of the window, which looked like some muck got splattered on it. It seemed to be permanent, so not a cleanliness issue and it didn’t actually affect our view.

We also struggled to dry our swimsuits, clothes, and shoes in the room. Our things always felt a little damp and some even started to smell of mildew. Just something to be aware of – and granted, this may be less of an issue if you visit during sunnier days.

Check price and availability for Venezia Cruises >

Some things to be aware of when cruising HaLong Bay

There are some aspects of the HaLong cruising experience that can affect your experience, regardless which cruise you choose. I hope none of this is a turn off, but rather helps set your expectations and prepare.

1. Smells – We smelled exhaust more often than I anticipated. Whether it was our ship, neighboring ships, or the tender boat that goes back and forth for boarding and excursions, the scent of exhaust can’t be escaped. Also, and not necessarily unsurprising, our toilet area occasionally had an odor. As mentioned before, the damp enclosed room can also generate mildew.
2. Noises – There were also a few times where I was surprised to hear noises like barking dogs or loud music out on the water. The dogs were guarding some of the floating fish farms. The music came from another boat, most likely doing karaoke, at night.
3. Trash – The amount of trash floating in the water seems out of hand, and it may be worse since the pandemic. Waste processing facilities and employing people to collect it from the water all costs money, and the tourism sector is still recovering after being shut down. Hopefully this problem can be remedied soon.
4. Seasickness – We’re not particularly susceptible to seasickness but we did feel a little queasy at times. The boat rocked very noticeably when we first boarded and were waiting in port. There are also certain parts of the bay that are more open and tend to get more waves. The majority of the time, the boat was fairly still, including at night.
5. Crowds – Even with Vietnam’s tourism numbers still not fully recovered and being somewhat “off the beaten path” in Lan Ha Bay, it’s not a remote nor a solitary experience. Overnight cruises from Cat Ba island tend to leave at the same time, so there can be a couple hundred passengers waiting at the port together.While our boat was sometimes on its own among the islands, we could see 5-6 other boats when anchored overnight. And there were large tour groups kayaking, which meant we sometimes had to wait for other kayakers to pass before entering a cave.

The final thing I think it’s important to share is in regards to over-tourism. I don’t have answers to this issue, but it’s important to be aware of so that we can find ways to improve.

I learned that local fishermen will have to move further out of the bay in order to keep the waters open for tourism. This displacement of locals, as well as the environmental impact of trash and pollution, are unfortunate and unnecessary impacts of over-tourism.

With some pressure from responsible travelers, I hope Ha Long Bay will find responsible ways to protect and uplift this magical area and its people.

Venezia Cruise Itinerary Review 2023

One thing I want to highlight in our Venezia Lan Ha Bay cruise review is the itinerary. Among the biggest benefits of going with this company is avoiding excessive crowds while still getting an amazing experience of the bay and Vietnamese culture.

Here’s an overview of what we did on Venezia Cruises.

Day 1 Cruise Itinerary

Venezia Cruises can coordinate your transportation from Hanoi or Ninh Binh, or you can arrange your own transportation like we did. You’ll need to get to Ben Beo (the port) on Cat Ba Island by noon.

Book transfers to Cat Ba Island on BookAway >

Our bus arrived a little after 11:30am, so we waited for other cruise passengers at the harbor terminal with our cruise guide. There is a restroom and some vendors selling snacks, but nothing elaborate.

We boarded the Venezia tender boat with our luggage, escorted by the guide, in two groups around 12:10pm. You can see the cruise boat from the harbor, and the tender ride is only about 5 minutes.

There was a small delay in room turnovers when we arrived, so we waited on the boat about 30 minutes before accessing our rooms. The free welcome drink was hot peach tea, so we enjoyed that and explored the decks.

Our fellow passengers were mostly from France and the US, with a few other countries (Germany, Brazil, UK) represented. There were a range of ages, several couples, a solo woman, a traveling family with teens one night, and parents with a baby the second night.

After moving into our rooms, lunch was served in the upstairs dining room and we started cruising into the bay. They set two long, communal tables with open seating. Surprisingly, no chopsticks were provided, only Western utensils.

Meals are included in the cruise price, but any drinks must be purchased separately at the bar.

Lunch was a generous multi course meal. It really felt like they kept bringing out more and more new dishes. It was prepared family style so each dish served 4 people, giving us an opportunity to get to know our neighbors. 

They provided extra options for vegetarians and those who don’t eat seafood, which featured prominently on the menu. While nothing was super spectacular, everything was very tasty.

We’re pretty sure we had a different cook on the second day, as almost nothing was spicy on day one, while most dishes had some kick on day two and three.

Shortly after lunch, we saw our tender boat returning with enough kayaks for everyone on board. The crew helped set us up with lifejackets, water bottles, and towels; two people per boat.

We followed our guide around the karst islands and pulled up the kayaks onto a beach. We followed him under cave – literally crawling on hands and knees – to another hidden beach. This was about 2:30-4pm.

The weather was unusually foggy and cool our first day, and we passed on the option to swim back at boat.

Around 5:45pm, the crew had prepared more free tea and watermelon to snack on. You could join the guide to make your own spring rolls (the first night was fried spring rolls, the second night was fresh salad rolls). Admitting he wasn’t much of a cook, the guide focused more on sharing information about Vietnamese culture.

The evening’s dinner was another multi course meal. It included a soup, a variety of seafood dishes, meat or vegetarian dish with cooked vegetables, and fruit for dessert. There was a different menu the second night, so if you choose to stay an extra day, you don’t get any repeat meals.

In the evenings, the cruise offers a Happy Hour deal: buy two, get a third drink free (not buy one, get one), which you can take advantage of during dinner. One of the most common complaints I had seen in reviews of Venezia Cruises was the price of drinks, though that’s all relative.

After dinner, there’s an option to try your hand at squid fishing off the front of the boat. (The other option was karaoke, but I’m not sure anyone ever took the guide up on this.)

It’s pretty simple: just a hook, line and pole under a bright light. No casting or bait. Simply pull straight up if you see a squid close to your hook! In our two nights, only one small squid was caught… and not by Jedd, despite his enthusiasm!

We slept comfortably. There is some light from the boats on the bay, so we opted to close our curtains overnight. You can hear when people open their doors in the hallway, but otherwise, it was quiet and the walls seem soundproof.

Day 2 of the 3 day cruise itinerary

Breakfast was 7-7:30am. Hot tea, coffee, and juice are set out for free. The rest is buffet style: fried eggs, white toast, fried rice, fried noodles with vegetables, a hot dog-like sausage, bananas.

If you’re on the two day, one night cruise, then you go with the guide for a morning excursion, have another meal, and return to the harbor terminal before noon. If you’re on the three day, two night itinerary, then you get picked up by a private boat for a day excursion.

Since we were in the minority staying an extra day, we joined one other young couple and our local driver. It was probably our favorite part of the trip.

First, he took us to a floating fish farm. We walked around carefully on the bobbing walkways to the view the incredible fish of all sizes that they’re feeding.

Next, we made our way to a popular kayak spot with three caves you can float through. There were several large groups, some doing day tours, kayaking together with a guide. In our case, we got to explore on our own.

Somehow, our driver/fisherman guide cooked a full multi-course lunch for us on his boat (there were more dishes to come after this photo was taken). It included fresh fish and tropical fruit, all excellently prepared and delicious.

We had the option to swim, or even jump off the top of the boat. Having seen the trash and pollution, we were a little wary of swimming, but one of our traveling companions enjoyed himself in the water.

By the time the driver brought us back to the Venezia, there was a fresh group of passengers returning from their first kayak trip.

Day 3 – Final Cat Ba Island cruise day

On the last day, around 8am, we took a short ride on the tender boat to a small pier on Cat Ba Island. There, hundreds of one-speed bicycles and small electric buses await for tours to a remote village that’s not accessible by any roads.

There was a nice wide and scenic, paved path about 4 kilometers to the village. The ride was mostly flat apart from two short hills, which some folks walked up with their bikes. Everyone could go their own speed, staying roughly together as a group of 15-or-so from our boat.

Apart form this path to the water, the only other way into the village is to hike through a National park.

In the village, our guide explained traditional ways of cooking, worship, making rice alcohol, the meaning of the Vietnamese flag, and touched on the American War (which we call the Vietnam War).

The group then tried a fish foot massage, which elicited much laughter. If you’re not familiar, the fish nibble on your skin. It takes a while to get used to and few people were able to keep their feet in the water for more than a few seconds.

We were back on our boat by 9:40am and checked out at 10am, setting out our luggage before brunch.

We were treated to yet another multi course meal, just three hours after breakfast. We filled out a feedback form, waited for the tender, and road with our luggage in two groups to Ben Beo harbor back on Cat Ba Island. The guide stayed until most participants had been picked up by various transport companies.

And that concluded our 3 day Halong Bay cruise from Cat Ba Island.

All in all, we were very happy with the level of service and the itinerary on Venezia Cruises. While I’m sure there are more luxurious HaLong Bay cruises out there, this one suited our budget and avoided massive crowds.

If you’re considering cruises from Hanoi, or debating between Lan Ha Bay vs Ha Long Bay, I hope our Lan Ha Bay cruise review and tips will help you decide if it’s worth it for you.

Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to budget, comfort level, activities, and convenience. If you’re hoping to stay away from crowds (where possible), enjoy off-the-beaten path or cultural experiences, and get a good value, definitely consider a Cat Ba Island cruise departure.

If you have questions or recommendations of your own regarding Lan Ha Bay / HaLong Bay overnight cruises, please share in the comments below!

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