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Travel in August 2018
I really wanted to go to Halongbay. It's so beautiful. I mean the scenery. So, I wanted to stay there in the beautiful scenery of Halongbay. So I chose "Halong Bay 1 Night 2 Days Cruise." - "Alisa Cruise." Alisa Cruise from the name of the beautiful princess, and Five Star Cruise with elegant and beautiful styles. I made a reservation at Tobi Travel in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam. Of course, I cantacted them in advance in Korea, and finished payment of the deposit. The first place I visited when I arrived in Hanoi was Tobi Travel office to pay the remaining balance.
I reserved room for two people for US$300 on 2D1N under the following conditions.
1. Room: Junior Suite Ocean View
2. Includes: Room, breakfast(1) and lunch(2), dinner(1), WIFI, two beds, various activities (including kayak, bamboo boat, etc.), shuttle Limousine(round way)
3. NOT INCLUDED: Beverage
▶ It was definitely more expensive than making reservations through a Korean company.
I am going to put information of Tobi Travel and how to make a reservation in the end of this article. Let's talk about Cruise now.
What is Halongbay?!
"Halong Bay National Park" is the background of the films "Indochina" and Robin Williams' "Good Morning Vietnam." The Halongbay National Park, located in eastern Hanoi, is famous for its magnificent spectacle and is one of Vietnam's most beautiful national parks, accounting for 1,553 square kilometers of land. The landscape of more than 3,000 islands covering the bay is the spectacle itself. The word "Halong" literally means "the Dragon came down to sea." According to legend, a group of dragons saved people from foreign invasions, and the jewels thrown out to fight the invaders became an island. Jewels that the dragons spit out to fight the invaders were said to have become islands.
1. Departing from Hanoi
Alica Cruise called me to pick me up at 7:30 in the morning. Each hotel in Hanoi had a different pickup time. And the limousine shuttle may not arrive at that time. At La Beaute de Hanoi hotel, employees advised me not to go out in advance and let me know when it came, so I could eat breakfast leisurely in the hotel.
After the limousine shuttle picked up, the guide gave a brief introduction in the car. They gave us simple instructions such as how long we would move and when we would arrive in Halongbay. And she left the car and the rest of the information was from the driver. Thanks to a very kind driver, the move was not inconvenient.
We also stopped by the rest area. It was a tough time to run for four hours. This was a place where they sold handmade fish made by the blind. There were also restaurants and souvenir shops. It was convenient for people who didn't have time to shop here. It wasn't very cheap, but it wasn't very expensive. There were many handicrafts, but I just did window shopping.
Then we ran again and arrived at Halong Bay dock. Cruise customers leaving today and now arriving people gathered together and were a little complicated. Nevertheless, there were enough places inside or outside. The luggage from the shuttle bus had a tag with the customer's name on it. Cruise staff brought the bag to the cabin in the cruise. It was very convenient.
I waited for a long time until I got on board the cruise. I was a little tired than the excitement of traveling because of the high humidity. The person in charge instructed the traveler to board the cruise and the travelers headed for the cruise. In the photo, Cruise looked small, but as I approached it, the four-story Halong Bay Cruise was very large. If this cruise is small, how big is the Royal Caribbean?!
2. Welcome!
The meal was to be served. Before that, the general manager and staffs in charge of cruise had a small welcome party. They offered light drinks to passengers and told them about the rules we should follow while staying here. I enjoyed the time very much because the general manager had quite sense of humor. He made many jokes, greeting in every language on board, leading to a good reaction. His explanation made us laugh. Then lunch began! There were not many kinds of menu in buffet, but there were good food that suited my taste. I was satisfied with the food and the drink was fine. After finishing the meal, we headed for the room. For your information, dinner was served on the course, and the next day brunch was served in light buffet style.
3. Room/Bathroom/Top
Looking at the picture, the room with the balcony looked prettier. But the month I traveled was in August. It was soooo humid. Come to think of it, I would have stayed in an air-conditioned cabin without going on the balcony. So I chose a room without a balcony.
There are two types of Alisa Cruise. Alisa Cruise and Alisa Premium Cruise. Alisa Premium Cruise has balconies in all rooms and Alisa Cruise has balconies in some rooms. When I got an estimate from Tobi Travel, Alisa Cruise (without a balcony) was 300 dollars/2D1N and Alisa Premier Cruise(with a balcony) was 345 dollars/ 2D1N.
As soon as I entered the room, I was pleased with the cool air conditioner inside, and I liked the room where beautiful Halong Bay View was seen through the window. Of course, the room was very small. The room was 22 m². However, the small space did not mean that the bathroom was small. The bathroom was very luxurious. The room was small but the atmosphere was wonderful. It was like being in a scene in a movie. What a front view of Halong Bay View!
The space was wonderful because I could see the Halong Bay view, whether it was in the bedroom or the bathroom. I was so sad to know that I only stay in this space for one night and two days. And the longer I stay here, the more days I want to stay! I liked this place so much.
I got hungry when I joined Cruise's offer of an activity. Looking at the beautiful Halongbay view, having Korean Cup Noodle on my bed!!! It was amazing! When you’re going to Halongbay with Cruise, You should Korean cup noodle and enjoy it with Halong Bay view!
p.s. Halongbay is a sea. But there is no waves, so it is very calm. So even if you stay in the cruise, you never meet the waves that are big enough to make you feel motion sickness or your stomach shake. It was so calm that I couldn’t even realize I was floating in the ocean.
There was an outdoor lounge bar up the ship. Of course, there were so many quiet people that no one came to the bar at night. So the Sky Lounge Bar did not open. This place has a green floor with sunbeds and holds the Taichi class every morning.
4. Activities
Cruise offers the following activity: Activity time is always told by the manager in advance. You can be at the designated place in time.
① Cooking class
: It wasn't hard to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Rice Paper, which is familiar to Koreans, but I learned good tips here. I would never have known if I wasn't there! Cooking class started before dinner. In fact, it wasn't difficult at all to make the Vietnamese Spring Rolls itself. However, Vietnamese rice paper was very thinner and bigger than korean one. The manager of the cooking class taught us how Vietnamese women roll and how Vietnamese men roll Spring Rolls. With fresh vegetables tasted good, when you want to eat the Vietnamese Spring Rolls more, the manager and staffs makes them for you.
② Kayak or bamboo boat
: I chose kayak. I tried kayak there for the first time and it was very hard but fun. There was plenty of time. It was a great time, and I felt very unique. It felt like a small human being was in a great nature.
In a small boat (Cruise anchored), we moved to a small dock with kayak. At that time, no one of us choose a bamboo boat because everyone wanted to do kayak. I choose comfortable clothes even if being wet. And as I saw on TV, I had to row hard, which required a lot of stamina.
③ Song Sot Cave Tour
: We had a guide that was our cruise manager. The cave looked small from the outside. And the cave was very unique and was made on the ground, not underground. So the cave was one of the unique places in Halongbay. There were a total of three chambers, and the more I moved to the last space, the larger it was. The cave was made on the ground, So it was not cool and the humidity was huge.
If you have ever visited a large cave in Jeju Island or in Korea, you might not feel Song sot cave is not great.
④ Titov Island
: I sprained my ankle three weeks before my vacation and my doctor told me to be on vacation with ankle pads! The top of the Titov was so steep and narrow that I went up to the middle and gave up going up any more. Fortunately, there was a small observatory in the middle of Titov, so I could be satisfied with it.
Many tourists aim for the Titov Observatory, but it was also a good place to have fun on a small beach. The way up to the observatory was very steep, but the view of Halong Bay from there was really beautiful. If you don't want to go up the observatory, you can have fun with the water at the beach.
⑤ Taichi Classs
: I was going to take part in this, but after drinking.......
⑥ fishing for squid on board
There were actually quite a few customers who caught the squid. Of course, I didn't go to see... drinking at that time.
It was not necessary to participate in all these activities. However, if you participate, you must board a small boat at the appointed time. Otherwise they think you are not participating in the activity and a small ship can leave without you. And this is an activity that can take any cruise. Therefore, this is not an activity that can only be done on Alisa Cruise. However, this course is the most passionate course in a short time of 1 night 2 days.
5. There are no on-board stores.
There were no separate stalls on board. The FNB was all about restaurants and bars. So, you can buy your snack at the mart before boarding the Alisa Cruise. But what if you weren't prepared? There were some boat-stores. With or without balconies, all Alisa Cruise rooms has glass windows so it was possible to open and close. In this case, the more advantageous the first floor is. There are vendors selling snacks as shown in the picture above. In her boat, cookies and drinks were perfectly prepared. They were selling pearl souvenirs here as well! Of course, it might seem a little more expensive than the local supermarket, but it was not too expensive
AH!
It's completely ungrateful. At that time, there were several five-star ships of the size of Alisa Cruise. They anchored at a certain place at night. But in that distant alisa-like class of Cruise, there was a wild party for someone. That sound was so big and loud, I could hear the noise as far as my cruise. The other passengers on that cruise must have been worse than me. There were no such passengers on my cruise. they were mostly very quiet.
7. After leaving the train, to downtown Hanoi.
Pack all my bags and put them in front of the room door. Staff took the luggage to Alisa Cruise's office. I paid the tip and the drink amount and got off at Cruise, and all schedules were completed. You should check the shuttle limousine assigned to you depending on where you should go back from there. Talk to the person in charge of your name, country, and the area where you get off and they'll give you the shuttle limousine number.
I was very excited for one night and two days of staying at Alisa Cruise because even the lobby had a Halong Bay view in front of me. Halongbay was as beautiful and calm and comfortable as I was told. There were many round islands, so many of them were spectacular in itself. It was the saddest thing to see black and grey clouds all over the trip, because the weather was supposed to rain, but I still liked it here.
Next time I had a chance, I wanted to enjoy the cruise from Harong Bay again. I don't know when it will be!
The meal here was good and the Harong Bay view was the best view of Vietnam. It was good to warm your body when the hot tub was full of warm water with the view! Thanks to the air conditioner, it was very pleasant as a place without humidity. The best thing is that there was not much inconvenience except that the room was small!
------------------------------ INFO of HalongBay Cruise ------------------------------
I booked Cruise here. You can use e-mail or instant messaging to consult with staff and make cruise reservations. It was easy to book by Tobi Travel, not directly reserved by a cruise company, not a Korean company. This is because each company has no different product configurations. All the products of Cruise from company were the same. In this case, it is important to know what price you can book. And the price offered by Tobi Travel was good when I made the reservation
1. How to book a Halong Bay Cruise
(1) Booking in OTA as if by hotel
① Agoda, Booking.com
② You can compare hotel rates at HotelsCombined.
▶ When booking in OTA, the Hanoi-Halong Bay shuttle may not include. After making a reservation by considering this, you can request additional shuttles on the official website of the cruise company you have reserved.
(2) Reservations available from companies in your area
: "Halong Bay Cruise" can be found in the portal search. It is good to compare prices there and check exactly what the inclusion is and make reservations. Sometimes, there are products that do not include the Hanoi-Halong Bay shuttle.
(3) Vietnam Travel Agency
: There are several travel agencies. I just chose Tobi Travel(tobitravelinhanoi@gmail.com) among them. To make a reservation through a local travel agency, you can make a reservation through e-mail or international phone call in advance, or directly at Hanoi (a lot of local companies in Hanoi). However, it's important that you can trust them when booking it by the travel agency in Vietnam!
(4) Booking through your hotel
: Most Hanoi hotels offer the sevice as concierge and reserve Harong Bay Cruise.
(5) Book directly on the official website of each cruise companies
: In fact, most Halongbay - curise companies operate official websites in English because Because most of their customers are foreigners. Ironically, the price from official website is the most... It was expensive.
(6) Booking for travel product
: This place is fully traveled even if it is not for one night. For example, you can travel by cruise for only a few hours or half a day or so.
Halong Bay Deluxe Cruise: Just one day tour, 2 Days 1 Night, 3 Days 2 Nights
2. Alisa Cruise
① Address
(Office in Halong): Lounge 16 Tuan Chau Port, Halong Bay, Quang Ninh, Vietnam
(Office in Hanoi): 23 Hang Voi Street (Floor 3rd & 4th), Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Vietnam
② Contact: +84-2436895999(Hanoi) +84-2438685666(Halong)/ booking@alisacruise.com
④ Price: $300 (per night, Full board meals) ~ (Such as each season)
⑤ Total rooms: 19
⑥ Service: Free Wi-Fi, ticket service, 24-hour front desk, dry cleaning, concierge, shuttle service, etc.
▶ Check specific hotel services 8. Hotel Pick Up Service (based on 4 people): Regular Taxi $16, Private Car $17
>> Let's find your stay! <<
In addition, there are many Great Cruise in Halong bay. If you are planning a trip to Halong bay, why don't you search for various Cruise? If you search the area you want in the search box below, you can book accommodations at up to 60~80 percent off.