Halong Bay

Hi,

We will be onboard the Millennium in February 2017 on the South East Immersion Cruise. Can anyone tell me how to find out if the ship will be tendered in Halong Bay please? We are looking at going into Hanoi on the first day and doing the Halong Bay boat trip in the morning of the following day, before we leave at 1300. I can't find any information on my paperwork saying it is tendered but I have read on some peoples reviews of the excursion, that it was easier doing the Celebrity organised trip, as the boats come to the ship and you don't have the hassle of the tendering. Thanks for any help.

When ships are moored in Halong Bay (I don't know whether that's the case with Connie) a floating platform is attached - makes disembarkation easier than direct into boats and allows several boats to be loaded at the same time.

Yes, junks for ships' tours load direct from that platform. Everyone else is ferried to a tender pier in local tender junks - the process is quick but the junks very slow.

A worthwhile junk cruise needs to be a minimum of four hours & preferably six or eight. I suspect yours will be no more than two hours which is barely enough time to cross the open bay as far as the nearest limestone karsts (islets) & go ashore on one to look round a cave.

Ships' excursions are of course over-priced, but because local prices are so cheap the difference is even more marked. Additionally, ships tend to load maximum numbers onto their excursion junks. This means folk will be seated inside, whereas with only a dozen or so on a private junk folk can stretch out on the roof.

But your time window will only be until about noon on that second day, and if you want to go to Hanoi the previous day the ship's junk cruise is probably the only way you can do it.

BTW, the drive to Hanoi is slow & frustrating, over 3 hours each way.

You can do both - Hanoi on the first day & ship's junk cruise on the second morning - but do consider either a full day junk cruise or an overnite in Hanoi.

JMHO of course. ;)

JB :)

I would skip Hanoi (which we loved but you need more time and it is a long drive each way) and take an overnight junk in the bay. If you go with Indochina tours you will get to a secluded bay where only they can go, making it serene and beautiful.

Thank you both for your replies, they are extremely helpful and it has helped clarify things for us. :D

I would skip Hanoi (which we loved but you need more time and it is a long drive each way) and take an overnight junk in the bay. If you go with Indochina tours you will get to a secluded bay where only they can go, making it serene and beautiful.

Hi

We did a tour in January this year with Indochina Junk Tours and it was absolutely amazing. We hired the "Princess Junk" which was a private tour but the money spent was well worth it! I put a review on trip advisor. We only wished we would have done it for more than just 1 day so I would agree, if you have the chance to do the overnight one, I would really recommend you do it.

Hi

 

We did a tour in January this year with Indochina Junk Tours and it was absolutely amazing. We hired the "Princess Junk" which was a private tour but the money spent was well worth it! I put a review on trip advisor. We only wished we would have done it for more than just 1 day so I would agree, if you have the chance to do the overnight one, I would really recommend you do it.

HI, this sounds of interest to us - did you do an overnight tour or just one day. Also, did you have to leave Halong port to get to the marina where the junks are moored?

We were in Halong three years ago on the Costa Victoria. We had talked about taking a junk, but the more we studied, the more we hesitated. And when our transfer from the ship to the shore was in a junk, we had seen enough.

My own recommendation is to witness the arrival in Halong (and departure, if it is daylight). You probably see a better variety of those dramatic karsts than on a few hours' junk tour.

Also, be advised that if you take an overnight junk tour, they usually show the Catherine Deneuve movie, "Indochina." For that, you don't need to go all the way to Vietnam.

Just my two cents. We are planning to return to Vietnam for Christmas 2018 on the Millennium, possibly combining with an Indonesia leg. We have been to Bali, a fascinating island. But the main course (for us) is Vietnam. A fascinating country. The only tour we took was a full-day Costa tour of Saigon. Worth every penny, and more.

One last item. If you go to Hanoi, you may need to get a real visa, instead of the blanket visa that the ship arranges. Check it out.

Also, be advised that if you take an overnight junk tour, they usually show the Catherine Deneuve movie, "Indochina."

Huh? Not on the two night cruise we took. (Or any other movie either!)

It is too bad you missed out on the serenity and fantastic scenery in Bai Tu Long Bay which is so much better than Halong Bay.

Anyone on the smaller ships, such as Oceania, and their experience in Halong Bay?

 

My own recommendation is to witness the arrival in Halong (and departure, if it is daylight). You probably see a better variety of those dramatic karsts than on a few hours' junk tour.

 

.

Each to their own, but I gotta say getting up close and personal with the karsts, on a junk and out of sight of any other boats in that eerie watery moonscape is very very different to sailing the main channel on a hulking-great cruise ship.

JB :)

Keith1010, I LOVE those pictures. Thank you so much. (Couldn't eat the fish with the eyes - :o)

Keith1010, I LOVE those pictures. Thank you so much. (Couldn't eat the fish with the eyes - :o)

Glad you enjoyed the photos.

I remember we didn't eat everything. Definitely not the eyes. :)

We are not big lunch eaters off the ship and it was only supposed to be a snack but all of a sudden it is this multi course meal only for four of us.

Keith

Just found this interesting thread - thanks to all and particularly Keith for the photos.

We are due here at the beginning of February next year on Voyager (VOD). As it is a very small ship we are unlikely to get any response from a roll call and it is our first port of call so it is unlikely we would be able to share hiring our own junk and there are only two of us. Are there any private trips on junks that would be of use to us, or would we be better sticking to a ship's tour that will not be available until later this year?

We are in port from 8 am until 11 pm before we move on to Haiphong the next day (for Hanoi), so can anyone tell me what is in the port at Halong Bay? We have been to two ports in Vietnam previously and are looking forward to just mooching about some of the time during our seven days in Vietnam this time, as we just loved the country.

Just found this interesting thread - thanks to all and particularly Keith for the photos.

 

We are due here at the beginning of February next year on Voyager (VOD). As it is a very small ship we are unlikely to get any response from a roll call and it is our first port of call so it is unlikely we would be able to share hiring our own junk and there are only two of us. Are there any private trips on junks that would be of use to us, or would we be better sticking to a ship's tour that will not be available until later this year?

 

We are in port from 8 am until 11 pm before we move on to Haiphong the next day (for Hanoi), so can anyone tell me what is in the port at Halong Bay? We have been to two ports in Vietnam previously and are looking forward to just mooching about some of the time during our seven days in Vietnam this time, as we just loved the country.

We had 1.5 days there with VoD (their previous ship, Discovery) about 4 years ago.

For the first half-day we had pre-booked a private tour of Halong City for just the two of us (same lack of RollCall). The city is pretty dire, just a pretty grubby indoor market, a very grubby fish market, and a neon-lit temple. The tour was cheap, about 50 USD total, but simply not worth it. If you trawl this forum there are much better reports from folk who'd booked a tour of the countryside.

For the full day we were lucky in that Halong Bay was late into the cruise and we'd hooked-up with like-minded cruisers. About 25 of us - folk we'd hooked-up with & folk we'd never met - fixed up junk cruises with a tout on the tender pier. A dozen of us shared a 6 hour cruise, the others shared a 4 hour cruise. Remarkably cheap - about 10 USD each (even less for those on the 4-hour junk) but bear in mind this was a few years back. That included taxis from tender pier to junk pier and back, chilled drinks were available to buy on the junk (again, silly-cheap), and we could have had lunch bought & cooked for us (fish from one of the floating fishing villages) but that was surprisingly expensive so we all passed on it.

The day junks will hold about 30 to 40 (and ship's excursions did just that, and at ship-excursion prices :rolleyes:) but with just a dozen or so we were all able to lounge on the roof, rather than be cooped-up in inside seats.

A brilliant day, but you do need at least four hours to disappear amongst the spooky limestone karsts, because there's the open bay to cross first.

Our weather was typical - quite misty, which doesn't sound too good but it simply added to the eeriness of the place. Like a watery moonscape.

Even though it's early in your cruise, and even if you've not hooked up with anyone by then, I think you'll find enough folk on the pier to share a junk. You only need to meet up with about 6 to 10 folk.

But no promises. And I do realise it's quite risky not to have anything arranged in advance.

If you choose this path, try to hook up with others on the ship, on the tender, and on the pier. If we'd not hooked up with others by then, there were enough folk on the pier to share at least one junk.

Junks don't sail in the dark, your junk cruise is likely to end by or before around 5pm. So get ashore tolerably early (by 9am?) for the best chance of fixing something up and finding sharers.

You'll deal with a tout, because the junks are elsewhere and anyway the captains & crews speak little English. Agree timescale and total cost of the junk before you commit, pay (US dollars) when you get back - it's the norm. A tip for the crew is appreciated, and I think you'll be more than happy enough to want to do so.

BTW, try to be up and about for the sail-in. It's through the widest channel thro the karsts, but gives you a general idea what to expect of a junk cruise.

When we were there, we moored off-shore and a floating pontoon was attached to the ship. This meant that several boats could load at the same time, and the transfer was very quick & easy. Ship's junk cruises sailed direct from the pontoon, everyone else was tendered to the tender pier on junks (not on ship's own tenders).

The tender pier was in the middle of nowhere on a small waterside road. You would need a cruise or a tour or transport (some taxis were around) to achieve anything.

I'd guess the same arrangements will apply to your cruise.

Unique place, enjoy

JB :)

Thank you very much John for that very thorough and useful reply. It has given us a much better feel for what the place is like.

Our excursions are not scheduled to become available until late October, but Volendam is doing a cruise to Vietnam in October and we have found the excursions they are offering and they include a 3.5hr cruise and another for 5 hours. Both include a visit to a cave and the 5 hr includes lunch and a visit to a fishing village, so for ease, we may just bite for the 5 hr one if offered by VOD, but arranging it on the day does sound enticing.

I know what you mean by it being a few years ago - in 2008 we had hoped to get a taxi to Hoi An from Da Nang, but prices seem a little different now. We did not go then as we arrived as a Typhoon was just settling, but enjoyed Da Nang a lot, with a visit to a local temple and a local lunch. We just asked if we could go into the temple and we were given a guided tour by a trainee monk (who spoke really good English) and we were invited to stay when a local boy was brought in for something similar to a confirmation. There was just the boy, who was with two ladies and the monk who ran the service with the assistance of the trainee monk. We did not understand a word, but it was an amazing to experience that and it was so much more special than being herded round with a group of people, so we would like to try some independent arrangements next time.

Thanks again,

Barbara

We visited Halong Bay last November on a Royal Caribbean Cruise and just loved it! We took the RC excursion to Hanoi and found it fascinating. Even though it was a long 3 hour drive (each way), you travel through beautiful countryside, towns and villages.

We also took the RC tour of Halong Bay in a small boat. The boat picked us up right from the cruise ship, which was great. Enjoy your trip!

http://cruiseports.ca/asia/hanoi-vietnam.html