Garden Bay Legend Cruise 3 days/ 2 nights

Ultimately all of the cruises are much the same. There are the cheap party boats, the mid range and the high end ones. This is mid range. Very comfortable rooms and dining experience. Food is westernised asian, 3 course meals for lunch and dinner. Oddly on one 300ml bottle of water per person per day is supplied, otherwise buy or bring your own. We shared the same boat as the 2d1n travellers and new ones come on and off each night. This was not a party boat - there were mostly families. We didn't stay up late and there wasn't much inter-group socialising. I would recommend the 3d2n for the middle day of boating, swimming and kayaking in the beautiful and quieter bai tu bay. It was one of the highlight days of our vietnam trip. Beware of the day trip boat overcharging you for drinks though - look at your bill properly. The 1st and 3rd day were so incredibly touristy and busy that had we not had the middle day we probably wouldn't really have enjoyed halong bay. But everyone has different expectations, you can certainly still enjoy the overall ambience of the bay on a 2d1n. Yes, there is rubbish in the water in halong bay but Bai tu is much cleaner.

We booked the 2 nights and 3 days tour. Pick up was very punctual and smoothly. The crew and the guides are very nice. The food and seafood barbecue the best I had in two weeks in Vietam. We couldnt enjoy a lot of the activities due to bad weather, but the crew still tried to give us the most they can. On the second day we had to make our language because we would get a new room and had to let our bags in the room. Our boat went back to the harbour to pick up new passengers and we spent the day fishing and kayaking. Later it turned out that we would get a new boat. Arriving on that new boat I suddenly realized that I must have forgotten my wallet on the first boat which was now in the harbour. After a couple phone calls with the guide they told me that they found it and will give it back to me when we go back to hanoi. When we had dinner that evening the manager gave me my wallet (they drove with a boat to the cruise ship to give it me...maybe that I can have more drinks :) ) No money no cards missing. Great service. After the trip and drop off at our hotel I (again) forgot a little bag on the bus. Without calling the travel agency the came back to our hotel 1 hour later to give it back to me. Again nothing missing. I didnt expect that and was very happy again.

Booked this luxury tour because I wanted to get away from the very busy halong bay to the smaller Bai Tu Long Bay. The staff was very friendly and their English was really good. My friend got sick during the trip and they took really good care of her. The boat was clean with a good hot shower and a well-working air con. The food was nice as they had a seafood buffet but I think it would have been better for them to serve authentic Vietnamese food instead of trying so hard to serve western-style food. If you're not so much a budget traveler and what to see some nice spots at Halong Bay, then go for it!