Full Day Tour Halong Bay on Premium Cruise Starting from Hanoi

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Hanoi, Vietnam

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

11 to 12 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

A cruise on UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ha Long Bay is a must-do North Vietnam experience, but some cruise vessels are more comfortable—and safe—than others. Enjoy a premium cruise on a sleek modern ship. After a transfer from Hanoi, spend the day floating through the beautiful karst landscape, dining on buffet food, and enjoying activities including kayaking. A handy return transfer to Hanoi is provided at the end.

An easy way to get to Ha Long Bay and back to Hanoi in a day
Learn more about this beautiful landscape from your guide
No need to stay overnight if you are short on time
Includes transfers from the Hanoi Old Quarter or Opera House

What's Included

Hotel pickup & Drop off by luxury limousine vehicle
Buffet Lunch on cruise
5 Start cruise in Halong; Kayaking or Bamboo boat
Professional English-speaking guide
All entrance and sightseeing fees
Bottled water on transfer

Tips/ Gratuities
Drinks during lunch

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to your preferred meeting point, or request pickup.

Pickup points

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Pickup details

Within 7:15am - 7:30am Our tour guide and the vehicle will pick you up at your hotels in Hanoi Old Quarter. If your hotel located outside Hanoi Old Quarter, then please go to the meeting point (Hanoi Opera House) at 7:30am join the tour or WhatsApp the local tour operator at +84-982-804-399 for further support.

Meeting points

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End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Hanoi Opera House (Pass By)

Cat Ba National Park

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Halong Bay

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Sung Sot Cave

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Hang Luon Cave

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Ti Top Island

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Halong Bay

1 minute • Admission Ticket Free

Old Quarter (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps

Infant seats available
Most travelers can participate
If you request vegetarian foods for lunch, please note this in the booking form
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 150 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

ML_L

An excellent day spent on Halong Bay in a beautiful premium ship. Great food and service and enjoyed the time spent on the bamboo boat visiting Luon cave and the Surprise cave later. You could really see the value in spending a bit more to get such a beautiful boat, great quality good on the buffet and nice quality cocktails (drinks cost extra) and a limousine pick up. A short 30 minute stop half way to get a coffee/break after leaving Hanoi do early and then on to Halong Bay. It is beautiful and there are a lot of boats but then everyone is coming to see and do the same things. It was actually very quite when we arrived at the 1st area so made it easy to get plenty of photos without lots of other boats.

Reviews

4.6

based on 28 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Disappointing

Toni_H, Sep 2026

This is not a cruise and don’t expect to see ha long bay. You will travel about 3 miles from the harbour and park the boat at t top island. The boat does not move again until you return to harbour. The trips to the caves and island are by tender from the stationary boat which was disappointing as I expected to see ha long bay. It isn’t all bad the boat is lovely the food and staff really good and the prices for drinks are reasonable considering they have a captive audience. It is disappointing that you see so little of the bay that you paid to see. We could actually still see the harbour from where the boat parked up. Definitely a let down I am sure ha long bay is beautiful I wish I could have seen it.

Response from Host, Sep 2026

Dear, Thank you very much for using our service. Honestly, you cannot expect to much activities with a limited time. The tour itinerary and time scheduled was clearly written and you and other passengers must have read before booking. So in this case all were good as you said but what made you disappointed was "The boat does not move again until you return to harbour. The trips to the caves and island are by tender from the stationary boat which was disappointing as I expected to see ha long bay". Obviously, the ship is so big and high so it would take to much time to embark and very difficult for the group to go down and up. Then the tender boat is the best option we arrnged and the whole group was very happy with that. We were so surprised with your statement. We think that you should have booked the overnight cruise. Thank you!

Beautiful trip .

Rajashekar_P, Aug 2026

It was a good experience friendly staff, Henry was a very good and helpful tour guide. There was a good spread of buffet though not much vegetarian options. The activities were good. At the end when it started pouring the staff helped every one get to their vehicles . Our only regret is it was not a bright and sunny day.

Excellent day, excellent staff.

Stuart_F, Aug 2026

the trip itself was fantastic, the staff were wonderful an helpful. Everything went smoothly. I however was disappointed in the boat only having one western toilet to use with so many people. I was also disappointed with the buffet as I feel it was misrepresented on the Viator website as premium al-cart affair. Change this to represent the actual buffet and it wouldn't have disappointed.

Good service

Renee_G, Jun 2026

We had a lovely time and enjoyed the cruise with staff on the ship very attentive. Gave 4 stars because hotel pick-up was an issue as the Van couldn't get down the street we were in despite it being verified as a pick-up point and also we didn't get water on the van. Other then that we had a great time :)

Ha long Bay Cruise, Indochina Cruises

Charlie_F, Jun 2026

Amazing day and what an experience…enjoyed by my wife and I. Buffet lunch was enjoyable. Great day will travel again and pass on information to friends and family

Beautiful Yacht But Some Photos of Offerings Misleading

Joshua_A, Apr 2026

The ship itself was gorgeous. The staff were attentive and polite. The activities were a bit nonchalant and went very quickly. I would have loved the opportunity to swim in the open water of Ha Long Bay. Now, for the parts where this cruise fell short: the lunch buffet: First, it was served very early for lunch, 11 am. Next, it was largely Vietnamese influenced i.e. just the same food you get everywhere and anywhere here. They had some photos of gourmet meals which looked a la carte but there was no such thing on the cruise. They mentioned an upstairs restaurant at the beginning but it was never operational that I noticed. All in all, some very good things about the cruise but some things were misleading or disappointing.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear, Thank you for booking our services. Our cruise served lunch at 12:00, not 11:00 and it was written in the program because we picked up customers since 7:15am. Nothing was misleading in our service. It is a pity that our buffet lunch did not satisfy you because you said the buffet was largely Vietnamese influenced. However, the group was very happy with the lunch and said it was vey delicous. Honestly, the buffet style is Vietnamese mixed Western and you were the first person who did not like the mixed style. Maybe your food style is a bit unique. We hope you could find the suitable style in the future.

High quality beautiful boat, food and amazing scenery

ML_L, Mar 2026

It’s a blast and you feel like a baller. Book it!

Nicholas_C, Nov 2025

We had an incredible time. We debated between an overnight trip in Halong Bay or a full day cruise and we couldn’t have been happier with our choice. The natural landscape is breathtaking. The boat was perfect. It was stylish, spacious, offered multiple view points and had a water slide! Yes, this cruise may be more expensive, but it’s worth every penny! We loved our tour guide Nam Ang who was friendly, focused, entertaining, and fun. He really seemed like a genuine person. I could go on, but my recommendation is to book this cruise. Note: The food is decent, but I am a foodie and would have preferred something less western. With that said, they did have a salad roll class and those were delicious. Lastly, the beer and cocktails were good, not a fan of the wine, but I live in a wine region of the world so I may just be picky.