MilaLux Cruise

We had to wait a fair amount of time to get on the boat once we had arrived at the check-in lounge, but once we did, we were in for a great cruise. The first lunch that we got was a very nice meal and everything after that was also fantastic. My mom is a vegetarian and Mr Thanh, the cruise manager, always personally made sure she was taken care of. The level of service on the Pelican Cruise is immense, from Mr Thanh to the waiters. Everyone deserves a lot of credit but I’d like to personally thanks Mr Thanh again for his wonderful care of my whole family, we all think very highly of him after now.As for the excursions, I’d say the cave and the trip to the island were two of the best. My parents are rather elderly so we didn’t end up doing too much other than staying on the boat, but this suited us down to the ground.When it comes to improvements, I just think that it would be a nicer idea to provide a large jug of water for free instead of charging for lots of individual water bottles. Halong Bay does have a plastic waste problem and the amount of bottled water on every single cruise ship doesn’t really bode well for Halong Bay’s environmental wellbeing. Also, though my mom loved the vegetarian food, it was a bit of a scramble to knock something up for her at every meal time. Instead of rushing to throw stuff together, I don’t understand why they don’t just have a vegetarian menu, like how most other restaurants do it. Regardless, I’m highly recommending the Pelican Cruise!

A booking glitch meant that our original booking with the Orchid Cruise went unfulfilled. The same company owns the Pelican Cruise, so they made fantastic amends by apologising and sorting us out with an alternative boat, the Pelican Cruise, and an upgrade to the Royal Suite, the best cabin on the ship. It ended up being a great upgrade. The staff put in such a shift to make sure we were happy and that our once in a lifetime trip wasn’t ruined at all. The cabins were perhaps a touch dated, but the Royal Suite had its own private balcony and a really comfortable bed.We weren’t sure what to expect of what was repeatedly referred to as a ‘day boat’, but when we saw it for the first time, it was certainly a lot bigger than we thought it would be! We had a wonderful 4-course lunch and then began cruising around to some of the quieter areas of the bay. There were 7 passengers and 4 staff, so we were well looked after. We spent much of the day relaxing and kayaking around small coves. A very simple itinerary but a very pleasant one – we couldn’t have been happier with how the second day went.In the meantime, The Pelican Cruise had gone back to pick the new overnight passengers up, so we were fused with their tour. We dined separately from everyone else when we got back, and it was a really nice evening under the stars.I decided to book in for a massage on board, and that was very pleasant. We started both days with Tai Chi, which was an excellent way to begin the day’s proceedings.I would highly recommend the 2 night cruise as you get more time to relax without the rush or the other boats. We were so happy that we got upgraded to the Pelican Cruise! We’d like to thank everyone on board the main boat and the day boat for an utterly fantastic time.

Wonderful experience overall on the Pelican Cruise. What a great service we got from the talented staff, all of whom exceeded our expectations and made the cruise something to. We thought very highly of the cabins, which had very comfortable bed and excellent views of the bay through the big windows (they also open up).The food was absolutely amazing and I was bowled over by the presentation at times. How they got all that delicious food out of the kitchen in one go on a repetitive basis was astounding to me. We had an interesting itinerary with lots of stuff to keep us busy, but definitely preferred the second day, with fewer people on the day boat and a more relaxed itinerary. We enjoyed happy hour on the top deck – it was the best way to celebrate a really fantastic day on the bay. One of our unexpected highlights was the tai chi, which neither of us had tried before. We woke up early and were greeted by the tai chi master on the top deck, who taught us how to regulate our breathing and move our bodies. It was such a peaceful start to the day, with the newly risen sun always in sight. Really good cruise, I will be highly recommending it when I get home.

I know lots of people don’t like the cookie cutter type tours that all of the Halong Bay boats do, and I’m not a huge fan of that either, but I feel that the Pelican Cruise are the best ones to go and do this with! They run these cruises daily and have refined the experience to be amazing for everyone.Pro tip: We got a private car from Hanoi which we felt was worth the extra cost to not be crammed on a bus.We had a bit of a wait at the harbour but it was worth it once we got on the Pelican Cruise. We had a great lunch as we set out, with probably enough food to fill us for lunch AND dinner! The food in general throughout the trip was amazing and the drinks were, while not particular cheap, not badly priced in the grand scheme of things. The rooms come with a mini fridge anyway, so it sort of encourages you to bring your own. We really enjoyed the outing to the cave, which we found interesting and fun. The visit to the beach was more naturally beautiful rather than interesting, but it still equals a good time!The staff throughout were perfect. They had a great balance of helpful advise and respectful distance. It was great to talk and joke with them and it was so nice to see a bunch of young people enjoying their jobs and their co-workers’ and guests’ company. Excellent work!

This trip was done by my friend and I, who were originally looking to book a day trip but were convinced of the positives of the overnight cruise, so we changed to that at the last minute and were very thankful that we did! It’s about 4 hours to Halong Bay so going for a day trip is hard to justify – 8 hours of travel for 4 hours of leisure. The only real glitch was right at the start, when the bus turned up at 7.30, despite telling us that they would be there between 8 and 8.30. We refused to skip breakfast because of this and they got a little bit annoyed, but all was smoothed over and we enjoyed a comfortable ride to the bay.The boat was highly comfortable once we stepped on. I had a couple of worries about all the swaying of the boat during the night but honestly, if it weren’t for the views going outside the window, you wouldn’t notice you were on a boat at all! It was very smooth, much smoother than my night train from Sapa to Hanoi a few nights prior! The windows were large and gave great views, but overall we didn’t spend much time in the rooms, what with the gorgeous top deck available for reclining.All of the food was sublime, with 5 course meals each time. The staff catered for us very well as I don’t eat pork and my friend doesn’t do fish and other seafood. They brought us out some delicious alternatives that were carefully crafted personally to suit our beliefs and allergies.There was loads of stuff to do while on the cruise. We went to Titop Island, which was my favourite spot, as the views from the top (not halfway as some people were doing) are incredible. The cave was interesting and we got some great pictures from the mouth of it. We got very wet during the kayaking but had such a blast trying to figure out which way to paddle that it didn’t matter!We had some weather than I would describe as ‘miserable’ everywhere else, but in beautiful Halong Bay, I would describe it as ‘mystical’ and ‘ethereal’, and it really was. Don’t be put off by a bad forecast as I think Halong Bay finds a way to look beautiful every time, regardless of the weather. We spent so much time sitting on the top deck and just watching the view go past. It was incredibly peaceful and we enjoyed it immensely. Definitely recommend the Pelican Cruise!