Spoiler alert: Our goal is to have the best value for money. Our expected level of comfort is what people now call “flashpackers”. After doing extensive research online and inquiring at several travel agencies in Hanoi we decided to book our cruise through our hotel. Here’s why…
One of the first things you hear when talking about Vietnam with fellow travelers is that you must visit Halong Bay. Located in North East of Vietnam, the Bay contains more than 1969 islands. There are more than 100 boats visiting the bay each day. This provides many options, but how do you choose the best one for your needs ? The easy answer to that is “what is your priority ?”

The level of quality varies but the activities are the same. Hence why some are charging as low as 85 USD and others sometimes more than 175 USD. I will attempt to breakdown the experience for you as well as rating our experience for the specific cruise we took.

What are your expectations ?

On our end, we knew we wanted a safe boat and as we are foodies, food was top of the list. In the past, we tried to convince ourselves that we can reduce our food cost (which usually results in decrease in quality) but the truth is that we are miserable when we do. We rather save on accommodation by staying on the outskirts of a city and spend a little more on the food we eat, than being in a swanky hotel and eating meatless noodles every day. As far as the cruise is concerned, we knew we wanted to do a day two cruise at the minimum to get the best bang for our money.

How to rate your expectations ?

It can sometimes be challenging to measure how much value you place on one thing or another. Thankfully, I created a method that is good as long as you are honest with yourself. Please see my future blog post about it if you need any help.

The boat and the room
Upon researching the cruise, I stumbled onto an article about a boat that had sunk a few years ago. To add to the story I met, Lois, a fellow traveler in Chiang Mai who told me that the company that he chose for the cruise a few years ago had a boat that sunk the very next trip after his. I remember thinking to myself “Can’t go cheap on that one”. And so we opted for the V’Spirit Classic Cruise. The reviews on TA were excellent and most people raved about the food. This was a sure bet for us!

 

The boat can be very classy or very rustic. Our boat was relatively new and in good condition.

Once we were on board, we were provided with a welcome drink and given our room key. Upon checking in, we inspected the room and besides the fact that they had not swept under the bed in a while the room was relatively clean. The shower was hot and the toilet was clean. The bed was comfy and we had a window in the room where I was able to buy  beer from an old lady hustling on her tiny boat.
Speaking of those ladies, they were hilarious. Once you buy from one, five others will gather outside your tiny window in hopes that you may purchase from them. These hustlers were selling beer cheaper than on the cruise and I felt like they deserved a sale for riding their boats all the way up there. I’d rather buy a beer for a slightly inflated price from an old local lady trying to make a living than on the overpriced cruise ship. True story : The government moved the fishing village to make a pier for the cruise departures. With all the boats moving in the bay, and with the disposal of waste from them, the waters now have fewer fish than before.

The only downside about the room is that there was no fridge and since the toilet water is from a stale water tank I couldn’t use the famous trick of putting the beer in a bag inside the toilet tank to keep it cold.

The food
Since we are both foodies and I become the grumpiest man on Earth when I am hungry, we were ready to invest in the quality of food. As I was reading reviews talking to fellow travelers, the one theme of food being disgusting was what came out of most reviews or discussions.

The activities
All the cruises take tourists for a short kayak ride. You get a beaten down kayak on a pier in the middle of the islands and go for about half an hour. It’s probably the nicest part of the trip.
The hike they sell is not really a hike. You get dropped off on an artificial beach where you climb stairs up to a view point. Don’t get me wrong. The view is awesome and it’s nice to climb up some stairs for a change but it shouldn’t be called a hike.

 

Spring roll cooking “class”

The price

We paid 175$ USD each for a 1 night 2 day cruises. It included transportation from and back to our hotel, all the activities and food but no drinks or water. It was really over budget, but we had a good time and were really comfortable. If you are the hardcore traveler type on a budget I would recommend to skip the cruise and head to Cat Ba for few days. Get a kayak and go explore the Bay by yourself. It so much more fun!

Conclusion

Overall, our experience was pretty good, but the highlight, for me at least, was Cat Ba after the cruise.
We had asked our tour company to drop us at the ferry to get to the Island. Beside the food, this place was a gem. There’s so much to say though that I will keep that for a next post.
😉