Halong Bay Stop Shore Excursions - apart from bay cruise

[catweazlecat]

Hi there
we will be stopping next January in Halong/Vietnam during our Asia cruise and I would like to know if anyone can suggest what to do or see apart from going on a day bay cruise inside the National Park.

 

Have read a lot about the bay cruising and it does not seem to be the kind of tour we would like (too many people on boats, long rows of tourists on the stops, dirty waters etc.)

Therefore we would highly appreciate to get recommendations on alternate activities/tours for a whole day in that port. 

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

Best regards

Silke

[MAVIP]

17 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Hi there
we will be stopping next January in Halong/Vietnam during our Asia cruise and I would like to know if anyone can suggest what to do or see apart from going on a day bay cruise inside the National Park.

 

Have read a lot about the bay cruising and it does not seem to be the kind of tour we would like (too many people on boats, long rows of tourists on the stops, dirty waters etc.)

Therefore we would highly appreciate to get recommendations on alternate activities/tours for a whole day in that port. 

Thanks in advance 🙂

 

Best regards

Silke

Try to find a 2-day tour from Halong Bay to Hanoi. Absolutely worthwhile if your ship has an overnight stop in Halong Bay.

[John Bull]

I can't help thinking you're reading too much into what you've learned about Halong Bay cruises.

 

Yes, cruise excursions tend to be quite crowded - the cruise lines go by the junks' capacities.

But booking a private junk means you can limit numbers to as few as a dozen - room for all to lay out on the roof etc. And the cost need not be as much as a ship-sponsored junk cruise. A minor disadvantage is that if your ship is moored you may have to take a tender to shore first, whereas ship-sponsored junks are usually from a pontoon moored against the ship.

Worth checking your RollCall for anyone seeking sharers for a decent private junk trip?

 

Only day-junks can be used since the timings of overnight junk cruises are geared to folk vacationing in Hanoi and  don't usually fit a ship's hours.

For the same reason overnight junk cruises don't fit ships' hours. 

 

Yes, there are lots of junks - quite a gaggle heading across the bay.

And a crowded at the first stop, a cave.

That's two reasons to avoid a two-hour cruise,  it needs a four hour cruise - six hours if that fits the time that your ship is there. Once amongst the limestone karsts you can quickly find solitude.

And it's usually misty - a disadvantage in most ports, but it adds to the eeriness of the watery moonscape. Quite a unique experience 🙂

 

We also took an afternoon tour of the city - a waste of time. The highlights were a neon-lit temple and a dirty & very smelly fish market.

But I've read CC reviews from folks who've taken tours of the surrounding countryside which they've enjoyed.

 

But if you can't be persuaded to take a junk cruise, then MAVIP's suggestion of Hanoi is a good one.

It's a long drive (? 3 hours plus ?) so don't make it a day-trip, it needs an overnight. And altho we're independently-minded, with the long distance and hotel & visa complications  - I think that the visas issued by the ship to all passengers  are only good for overniting aboard 

If we were to go to Hanoi it'd be on a ship-sponsored excursion.

 

JB 🙂 

[catweazlecat]

Dear JB

thank you very much for all the useful information.
Highly appreciate your comments!

Wishing you a nice weekend from Germany
Silke

[catweazlecat]

On 3/9/2023 at 8:44 AM, MAVIP said:

Try to find a 2-day tour from Halong Bay to Hanoi. Absolutely worthwhile if your ship has an overnight stop in Halong Bay.

Thanks a lot for your advise!

We will indeed stop overnight and we have to think about what to do and see over there.
Had been informed by vietnamese people at a restaurant that Hanoi would be much poorer than Ho Chi Min City and lots more crime.
Did you feel safe in Hanoi?

Wishing you a nice weekend from Germany
Silke

[terry&mike]

8 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Thanks a lot for your advise!

We will indeed stop overnight and we have to think about what to do and see over there.
Had been informed by vietnamese people at a restaurant that Hanoi would be much poorer than Ho Chi Min City and lots more crime.
Did you feel safe in Hanoi?

Wishing you a nice weekend from Germany
Silke

My husband and I spent 3 days in Hanoi at the end of December, staying at the lovely Sinfonia del Rey Hotel. We were traveling independently, and we walked for miles through different areas of town, went to a water puppet show, shopped, went to a holiday market, visited a park, and ate in several different restaurants. We felt very safe. 

[MAVIP]

20 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Thanks a lot for your advise!

We will indeed stop overnight and we have to think about what to do and see over there.
Had been informed by vietnamese people at a restaurant that Hanoi would be much poorer than Ho Chi Min City and lots more crime.
Did you feel safe in Hanoi?

Wishing you a nice weekend from Germany
Silke

Yes, we felt very safe. We stayed at the Hanoi Pearl Hotel, small and very pleasant. By the way I found the touroperators name www.smiletoursvietnam.com; www.specialtoursvietnam.com  An american (Cruise critic) couple reserved 2 tours to Hanoi (and Hue) with them and we joined. In 2019 $ 140 per person for Hanoi (hotel not included), for car, driver, guide and the whole programm. 1st night, after a riksja tour we had dinner at Duong's restaurant in the neighbourhood and walked back feeling safe to our hotel. I can send you the programm, but maybe visiting their website is better to see what they offer now.   

(By the way we visited Halong Bay etc on an earlier cruise, beautufull, absolutely, but indeed crowded and some people do not hesitate to "crawl through you legs" to be in front of you... 

I in my turn wish you a good weekend from Holland, and of course a perfect cruise.   

Lenny

[MAVIP]

On 3/9/2023 at 2:38 PM, John Bull said:

I can't help thinking you're reading too much into what you've learned about Halong Bay cruises.

 

Yes, cruise excursions tend to be quite crowded - the cruise lines go by the junks' capacities.

But booking a private junk means you can limit numbers to as few as a dozen - room for all to lay out on the roof etc. And the cost need not be as much as a ship-sponsored junk cruise. A minor disadvantage is that if your ship is moored you may have to take a tender to shore first, whereas ship-sponsored junks are usually from a pontoon moored against the ship.

Worth checking your RollCall for anyone seeking sharers for a decent private junk trip?

We also took an afternoon tour of the city - a waste of time. The highlights were a neon-lit t

 

But if you can't be persuaded to take a junk cruise, then MAVIP's suggestion of Hanoi is a good one.

It's a long drive (? 3 hours plus ?) so don't make it a day-trip, it needs an overnight. And altho we're independently-minded, with the long distance and hotel & visa complications  - I think that the visas issued by the ship to all passengers  are only good for overniting aboard 

If we were to go to Hanoi it'd be on a ship-sponsored excursion.

 

JB 🙂 

Beacause we already would have HAL issued multi entry visa (stop in Hong Kong and back to Vietnam) we did not need to go to the vietnamese embassy for our overnight stay.  In 2019.....

[John Bull]

10 minutes ago, MAVIP said:

Beacause we already would have HAL issued multi entry visa (stop in Hong Kong and back to Vietnam) we did not need to go to the vietnamese embassy for our overnight stay.  In 2019.....

 

Hi, Lenny,

 

Our cruise was a few years earlier.

We had several consecutive stops in Vietnam including overnites.

 

Same as all cruise lines, the "Visas" issued by the ship cost peanuts and were good for all ports. I put "Visas" in inverted commas because these aren't full Tourist Visas, they're only good for entering and leaving on the ship - not valid for arrival or departure by air or land, nor for overnites in hotels - hotels were required to see and note down details of full Tourist Visas. (One couple that we got to know on the cruise missed the last tender of the evening and found a small independent hotel willing to take pity on them and took the risk of providing a room without a full Tourist Visa.)

 

 Perhaps the rules changed between our visit and yours. I'm pretty certain that if CatW'Cat books an overnite Hanoi excursion with the ship they'll take care of any necessary paperwork, but if planning to do this independently they should get qualified up-to-date advice about any need for a Tourist Visa.

 

BTW was your junk cruise ship-sponsored, and was it two -hours or longer? 

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[MAVIP]

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi, Lenny,

 

BTW was your junk cruise ship-sponsored, and was it two -hours or longer? 

 

JB 🙂

 

 

Good morning John, In 2017 It was a Holland America Shore Excursion of 3 1/2 hours . "Halong Bay Cruise and Thien Cung Cave".  The cruise and boat were OK, with of course just HAL passengers. The guided tour of Thien Cung Cave was OK too, but what a pity that tourists from a nearby country did not accept to stay behind the tour and guide and.... see above. 

[John Bull]

2 minutes ago, MAVIP said:

Good morning John, In 2017 It was a Holland America Shore Excursion of 3 1/2 hours . "Halong Bay Cruise and Thien Cung Cave".  The cruise and boat were OK, with of course just HAL passengers. The guided tour of Thien Cung Cave was OK too, but what a pity that tourists from a nearby country did not accept to stay behind the tour and guide and.... see above. 

 

Hi again, Lenny'

As you know, there's open water to cross (? 30 minutes?) to reach the limestone karsts, and the one with the cave is right at the front. 

We'd already researched the cave - and seen photos of the double-parked junks - so declined to stop there and very quickly got amongst the karsts. Hardly saw another junk until we emerged to join the others to cross the open bay back to the mainland.

 

Others  complained  that their two-hour cruise gave little or no time to do more than cross the bay & visit the cave.

But with a 3 1/2 hour cruise you surely spent time lost in solitude amongst the karsts ?

 

JB 🙂

 

[MAVIP]

6 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi again, Lenny'

As you know, there's open water to cross (? 30 minutes?) to reach the limestone karsts, and the one with the cave is right at the front. 

We'd already researched the cave - and seen photos of the double-parked junks - so declined to stop there and very quickly got amongst the karsts. Hardly saw another junk until we emerged to join the others to cross the open bay back to the mainland.

 

Others  complained  that their two-hour cruise gave little or no time to do more than cross the bay & visit the cave.

But with a 3 1/2 hour cruise you surely spent time lost in solitude amongst the karsts ?

 

JB 🙂

 

Pity, those crutches of my husband just enabled us to disembark and mount/decend the steps of the cave. But if my memory is not failing me, the cruise itself was absolutely longer than 30 minutes. If I fiond time I could check the photo's....

[Suzi66]

With the ships excursions, or any for that matter, that have kayaking, how much would be involved?  We are looking at a 6.5 hour excursion through Celebrity which is classed as moderate.

I have been looking for excursions that are mostly boat rather than anything else but the only other one is marked as strenuous and I'm not sure if that is because of the stairs part of it or not.