Viola Cruise – Wonderfull Trip to Halong Bay…”

My family and I went on the Indochina 3 day, 2 night cruise around Ha Long Bay. It was a truly memorable experience. The crew, managed by Tom, were brilliant. The food was sensational, sitting down to a 10 course lunch and dinner everyday. The boat was really well appointed with plenty of space to lounge around. On the second night, we had dinner in a beautiful cave, all lit up by candlelight. It was a highlight. We thoroughly enjoyed our itinerary. Thank you to the crew for such a wonderful trip.

 

Take your Halong Bay Cruise with Halong Viola!

We went on 3 day 2 night cruise last week and had a fantastic time. Our cabin was very comfortable and clean, we even had a housekeeping visit! The food was plentiful and delicious. The service was faultless, the crew were kind, attentive and provided 4* service. We thoroughly enjoyed our itinerary, such beautiful sights, the sea kayaking was brilliant fun but the highlight has got to be the dinner in the cave and at present this is the only company that provides this. Also the company took us on a tour that was not overcrowded with other boats which was really appreciated. Met a great bunch of people too!

Halong Viola Cruises was a fantastic way to see this beautiful place

We booked our overnight stay on “Viola cruises” and we would recommend to anyone. We paid $135US each (food included) and got our own room with an ensuite. From the moment we were picked up in our air conditioned van and made the trip to Halong Bay to our Junk boat we had an experience to remember. The guide Tai was brilliant with his knowledge and willingness to do anything for us, a warm and generous host. Once we arrived on our boat we were treated to great hospitality with nice food and plenty of drinks. Just a magnificent way to see a truly beautiful part of the world. We kayaked around a floating village and then anchored up for the night and had a very nice sunset party on the roof deck of our junk. Then we woke up to the beautiful views once again and paid a visit to the cave which had to be seen to be believed. Upon getting dropped back at the hotel we were said to say goodbye to Tai our host and knew we had experienced something very special

“Book the honeymoon suite!”

After agonising for hours over tour brochures and poring through reviews online, we finally booked the Viola. Cruise is a slightly more flash boat than the original ship and they have 3 room types. Because there wasn’t that much of a price difference, we booked the honeymoon suite and it was the best choice!

We were thrilled when we arrived on the boat and saw our cabin. It was large with a comfy bed, large window, nice bathroom with a porthole and a bath. The best feature though was the private deck with 2 sun loungers. There was a TV and DVD player, wine and fruit and a very special surprise; a beautifully decorated cake that said “Happy Honeymoon”. We informed them that we weren’t actually on our honeymoon but they didn’t mind at all, it was a perk of the room. We brought our cake out after dinner and shared it with all the other guests as a part of our karaoke party.

The night time activities are completely up to you and your group. On the first night, mostly everyone had a few drinks and sang karaoke. On the second night most of us went squid fishing (didn’t catch anything) and chatted over some quiet drinks.

The food was absolutely incredible and fiercely abundant! I put in a request for no seafood and no beef. They were completely happy to accommodate any food requests and as a result, our table got a larger variety of dishes than others.

We did a 2 night trip and on the middle day, the Opera goes back to Halong City to drop off and collect new people. Therefore, we transferred to a “Day boat” and met up with the 2 night people from the viola boat. The day boat is much smaller with just a lower deck (dining area) and a sun deck. We kayaked through some more caves and visited another beach as well as a pearl farm. The bravest in our group ignored the cold temperatures and went swimming, jumping off the sundeck into the bay which was lots of fun.

The obvious drawback in every trip to Halong Bay is that it is a tiresome, bumpy and cramped 4 hour ride in a minivan each way from Hanoi. There’s no denying it’s an awful way to start and finish your trip, but the destination is worth it. Based on that, I would always recommend the 3 day/ 2 night trip.

Thanks to Anna and her staff at Alice’s Booking Office (32 Dao Duy Tu, Hoan Kiem District. Opposite the Hanoi Backpackers) for not only listening to our requests and making a perfect recommendation to suit our needs and budget, but also giving us free bottles of water to take with us and doing our laundry! We had great service from Viola Cruises!

 

 

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