Ha Long Bay Tours

[cadcruiser]

I will be in Ha Long Bay Vietnam overnight next month with RCCL. I would like to do a tour of the bay itself, however RCCL only offers this tour on the same day it has a tour to Hanoi. As I am going to Hanoi on the first day I have to make independent arrangements for the Ha Long Bay tour. Does anyone know if there is anything near the cruise port that offers tours?

[greatam]

I will be in Ha Long Bay Vietnam overnight next month with RCCL. I would like to do a tour of the bay itself, however RCCL only offers this tour on the same day it has a tour to Hanoi. As I am going to Hanoi on the first day I have to make independent arrangements for the Ha Long Bay tour. Does anyone know if there is anything near the cruise port that offers tours?

 

What are your port times???? How big is your ship (makes a real difference-only ships the size Crystal sails can actually make it into Halong) Most of the cruise ships have to dock at Haiphong, the container port.

 

There are many, many "junks" running day tours in Halong. You will have to make separate arrangements as MOST of the one day Halong tours begin and end in Hanoi.

 

If it was my trip, I would find private transport into Hanoi, really get to see something in Hanoi, spend the night in Hanoi, then take one of the day trips BACK to Halong Bay. Instead of going back to Hanoi as most day trips do, just go back to the ship. By spending the night in Hanoi, you will actually get to see something. Otherwise, you will spend the ENTIRE day (about 6 hours total) getting back and forth from the ship. The traffic is HORRENDOUS>

 

I would contact Patrick at IndoChina Travel in San Francisco. He can arrange a special private tour on a very good "junk" and make your day in Hanoi worthwhile.

 

http://www.indochinatravel.com/

[cadcruiser]

Thanks for the info greatam. We arrive in Ha Long Bay at 7am and depart the next day at 4pm. Originally we were docking at Haiphong but the port has been changed to Ha Long Bay. Someone from my roll call has mentioned that there's more than one harbour at Ha Long Bay and RCCL has no idea which one we will be at. RCCL has been very disorganized for this cruise and has made many changes to the original itinerary so it is very difficult to arrange and prepay for independent tours when we don't know exactly where we will be. Do you know if it is possible to book a junk cruise once we get to the port?

[greatam]

It's possible. HOWEVER, most of the day trips don't return to the dock until about 4:00PM (they leave Hanoi about 8:00AM and don't leave the junk dock in Halong until about 10:30-11:00). So you will really be pushing it on the second day. I sure wouldn't take the chance and I am in Vietnam/Cambodia at least 3 times per year. Booking at the port leaves you at the mercy of a schedule that has already been determined. So asking to get back to the dock (where the junks dock) about 2:30 would be detrimental to other customers who don't have to get to the ship. I think there is a strong probability you could miss your ship sailing.

 

Since you arrive early the first day, I still think I would contact Patrick, see Halong Bay the FIRST day, then go into Hanoi that night for an overnight. You will get to see the night market, eat a great meal at Lemon Grass and probably see the water puppet show. Then the next morning, go see Uncle Ho's tomb and house, a couple of government buildings (ALWAYS on EVERY tour), go to Hoa Kiem Lake if you have enough time, and make your way back to the ship. Patrick will stay on top of which dock the ship is at and if there are any glitches, he will adjust to them.

 

Or have Patrick arrange a VERY early junk cruise from Halong on the second day. You may have to get some other people involved to make it worth his while or pay for the whole boat yourself (we did for an overnight-$650.00)

 

Haiphong is the deep water container port. I am really surprised that RCCL is taking the ship into Halong. It is pretty shallow in quite a few parts.

[cadcruiser]

I already have a tour booked for the first day for Hanoi. Even though I will spend a lot of time on the road, I would rather be closer to the port on the day we depart, so I was planning on taking a relaxing cruise on the bay on the second day.

 

It would be difficult to arrange a group tour as our roll call is small for this sailing. I was told by RCCL today that the Ha Long Bay tour will be added to the second day even though I got an e-mail yesterday stating that it would definitely not be added. Who knows, maybe RCCL will find out about the shallow water and change the port again.

 

I think I'll wait a little longer to hopefully get clarification before I contact Patrick about the Ha Long Bay tour. Thanks again greatam for your advice.