jcasale

We are beginning to plan in earnest for a trip to Vietnam in November 2011. Definitely plan to do a 2 night cruise on Halong Bay but would like to get to the more "off the beaten path" parts to avoid the crush of lots of tour boats. Was doing some research and came across the Bhaya Classic itineraries. Anyone have any experience with them? We had originally looked at the Paloma Cruises which looked nice. There will be four of us (2 cabins) and we can go a little more upscale but don't want to break the bank on only 3 of our 21 days.

someotherguy

Indochina Junk claims to be the only company with a license to go to the less crowded (eastern) part of Halong Bay. I've been on their Red Dragon and enjoyed it very much. http://www.indochina-junk.com/

I didn't see anything on the web site for Bhaya Classic that indicates they go off the beaten path.

Some earlier threads are here: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...halong-bay.cfm

jcasale

Thanks for this. The Red Dragon looks great. I have sent them a request for prices.

Clark55

We went on the Dragon Pearl which is also part of indochina junk and we loved it. The cabins were lovely, the food was great and the guide was very informative.

gailmo

My husband and I did a Bhaya trip two years ago. It was very nice...boat was beautiful and the food excellent. But--we didn't seem to do anything different or unusual from what the other boats and tour agencies seemed to do. They may have added something "new"..but our trip seemed to follow the standard routine of most other boats.

someotherguy

The Red Dragon is mostly used for 1-night trips (which is what I did); the 2-night trips seem to use the smaller boats. Our guide said he thought 2 nights was better than 1, and I travelled back to Hanoi with people who'd done a 2-night trip and they said it was great.

I booked my trip a week in advance via Tonkin, and it was a bit cheaper that way than direct from Indochina Junk.

jcasale

I inquired of Indochina Junk about their 2 night cruises and they use the Prince and the Dragon's Pearl for that itinerary. It looks excellent so thanks for the suggestion. We are leaning toward the slightly bigger Dragon's Pearl - it's a little less expensive and looks very luxurious. The price they gave us ($240 per person for the 2 night 3 day itinerary) seemed very much in line with the other tour companies and the advantage of the Dragon's Pearl is that you have three entirely different days rather than being shuttled on to a smaller boat for the second day while the larger boat goes in and picks up another one night group then rejoining the larger boat.