Halong Bay Islands from ship deck?

[dgraham]

Can anyone who cruised Asia with Azamara last year tell me if one can see the famous islands of Halong Bay as the ship cruises through the bay to its dock. We’re debating whether to take the bay excursion and then go into Hanoi in the evening (for overnight) or proceed directly to Hanoi.

[Zimmy]

We did a Vietnam cruise last November with Silversea. Halong Bay was one of the highlights. While it is beautiful to sail through the area and see the islands (we did this not on the ship but on a junque - I don't recall seeing much from the ship), the really special thing is to go into one of the caves. They are absolutely amazing. I would not skip this in favor of going into Hanoi earlier.

[nevernever]

We called in to Halong Bay in January, and you could certainly see all of the islands from the ship as you sailed in and out. We didn't take the small boat cruise in between the islands, although that was said to be very enjoyable. Instead, we took the tour into Hanoi...a VERY long and tiring drive, and although we found Hanoi interesting, in our opinion it was nowhere near as fascinating as cities such as Ho Chi Minh City.

Nevernever

[uktog]

The sail into the bay was beautiful - we were there overnight so on afternoon day one we did the bay area cruise and then on Day 2 did the trip to Hanoi. We did not find the journey too bad as it was a great chance to go through towns and see life as it is in Vietnam away from the cities. I would not be put off by the distance of the trip

[MVPinBoynton]

The sail into the bay was beautiful - we were there overnight so on afternoon day one we did the bay area cruise and then on Day 2 did the trip to Hanoi. We did not find the journey too bad as it was a great chance to go through towns and see life as it is in Vietnam away from the cities. I would not be put off by the distance of the trip

We are doing the same thing you did in February. I am glad to hear that the there was lots to see on the drive to Hanoi.

[dgraham]

Thanks for your replies, they were very helpful. I agree that a trip through the countryside to a city can be very interesting and give a better total picture of a country.

I remember with fond memories our trip from the Livorno dock to Florence on our first European cruise (trip) in 1971. And I continue to find many countryside drives (but not all of them) memorable.