Halong Bay 1 day excursion Nov. 30, 2023
Does anyone have any suggestions for a one day, semi-private or private excursion to Halong Bay on November 30, 2023? My husband and I will be embarking on the Tauck Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand small group tour on December 1st. Really looking forward to the trip. Thanks!
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Myabster Hi.
I did this tour; it is Amazing and Halong Bay beautiful- it is a little far out from Hanoi- about 3 h. so I would suggest arriving into Hanoi 2 days prior to the tour and take this trip on the second day.
Tauck included an overnight boat on the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos tour and yes it is three hours there and back. The bus ride was fascinating watching the sites and four people on a scooter, or with live chickens dangling out of the car trunk etc!
I am doing this trip on February 21, 2024 and am also interested in joining up with anyone on that tour who would like to do a Ha Long Bay excursion. I've checked a few options on Viator and Tours by Locals. Any feedback from anyone who has done the Ha Long day trip would be appreciated.
It’s definite worth scheduling an overnight on a boat to get a better overall experience. We really enjoyed the floating village visit and the monkey ’cave’
We did this tour several years ago and I agree Halong Bay is a must do excursion. We arrived in Hanoi 2 days early, took an early morning departure for an overnight tour to Halong Bay and arrived back at our hotel in plenty of time for the welcome dinner. The excursion gets to Halong Bag in the early afternoon. There is a bay excursion after boarding your ship, dinner and breakfast on board and time for another tour of the Bay before lunch on board and travel back to Hanoi. I think we went through President Cruises but it was a while ago and I don't know if this is the correct name or whether they are still in business.
I was woken up by a woman’s voice in a boat outside of my cabin’s window calling ‘Mommy, Mommy’. It took me a few moments to realize it was from a woman selling her wares - not my children calling out to me!!
Myabster, We contacted the concierge team at the Metropole, and after several back-and-forth emails, they arranged a full-day trip and cruise on Ha Long Bay, with pickup and return at the hotel for our January 2024 trip.
Hi jteiii, That sounds terrific. Would you mind sharing the price you were quoted and for how many people. Wondering if there is anyone on my 2/21/24 departure who would be interested in doing this prior to the start of the tour. Thank you so much.
Halong Bay will be beautiful however you decide to visit it, but it will be all the more so if you can arrange to do an overnight on board. I would try to ask the concierge if this fits with your schedule.
I did the same thing as jteiii. I set up a day cruise through the Sofitel concierge. It's private for three of us - they will pick us up about 8am at the hotel and guarantee to get us back by 6pm for the Tauck welcome meeting. It was about $741 for the day cruise for the three of us. They wanted to take us to a pearl place (of course) but I refused that part of the excursion.
I tried to arrange things so that we could do an overnight but I couldn't make it work because of the flights we could get. We come in the day before the tour starts and the Ha Long Bay excursion is done on the day the tour actually starts.
I really think Tauck should offer the Ha Long Bay cruise as a pre-cruise excursion.
I don’t think such a short time is worth it, three hours each way, a two day one overnight is required to do it justice.
British is 100% correct. You have to allow for all the “what ifs” that could happen.
Sometimes you have to do what you can. I'd prefer to do an overnight but was unable to schedule it. A day trip is better than no visit.
The last time I was in Vietnam, I couldn't get to Ha Long Bay so I want to see it this trip.
We did this , after getting in 3 days early for the tour. It was well worth it for the one night cruise. There were about 5 guest rooms on the boat. I like to meet other people, even if you will never see them again.
Appreciate all the information. Jteiii and Mike, I think we will arrange the one day excursion and cruise, probably through the metropole concierge. Would you let me know which company the concierge booked with and was there a per person price? Thanks.
I'm booked with HanoiTourist Travel company. They do private tours for a group. I suspect the only difference in price for more people is because of the lunch. For three of us - private group - it was about $741.
We have to be back for the welcome dinner at 6pm so they're picking us up at 08:00. Also, I refused the visit to the pearl place - recommend you do also - I'm sure it's just an attempt to sell you some pearls.
There are many cruise companies at Ha Long Bay so I'd go with what the concierge recommends. It's almost certain that the concierge gets a cut of the fee but they don't want customers bad mouthing them, or the excursion. I'm sure the excursion company will bend over backwards to avoid the customers complaining to the concierge. If they don't do a good job, they won't get any more business from that hotel.
Debi, I like meeting other travelers as well. We have become very good friends with other Tauck travelers that have been on the adventures as we have.
Myabster: The concierge team will give you a couple of choices re boat: luxury, non-luxury, private and shared. They all have different costs, and it's up to you to decide among the costs. British, the trip each way is no longer three hours, as there have been road improvements. However, you are correct that overnight is preferable. Like MikeHenderson says, you do what you need to do.
I do understand people’s frustration that Halong Bay is not included on the tour, but it is already a long tour for Tauck, 16 days and it would need to be at least 18. Retired people could easily do a longer tour, but those still working might find it extra difficult if you include the length of time included to get there and back. Tauck is trying to broaden it’s customer base. When we went on the Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos tour, the flights were easy. We are going to Vietnam and Cambodia next year and we just booked our flights and it is much more complicated. My husband was about three hours on the phone in total, if you count Amex emailing the proposed itinerary, reviewing and then calling back.
Again, when you book this tour, if you know you already want to go to Halong Bay, then plan to arrive two days early. I’m sure that is what Tauck would expect people to do. Almost every Tauck tour never spends much time in its start city and many people plan tours of other sites before the tour begins. The day of, it’s stressful and you have to think about conserving energy for the tour ahead. I’ve been on tours where people run out of steam before the end of the tour and have to miss included site seeing.
I think what most people would like is if Tauck offered Ha Long Bay as a pre-tour option. That way, people who really want to see Ha Long Bay - and have the time - could do it, and those who are not interested, or don't have the time or endurance, could skip it.
It would also not affect the price of the actual (advertised) tour since the pre-tour option would be an extra cost.
Pre and post excursions are common on cruises (for an extra cost). No reason Tauck couldn't do it on a land tour.
Are you referring to Tauck cruises? I've been on a few Tauck cruises (small ship and riverboat) and there were no pre or post tour excursion options offered for an additional price.
I know the practice of offering pre and post excursions for an additional price is common for some tour companies (like OAT).
I've always liked the all-inclusive nature of Tauck tours - very few additional price extras. What I fear is that by offering pre or post tour excursions for an additional cost, that Tauck would be taking one more step toward an Ala-carte type of tour company. I see some of that in Tauck's new fondness for offering excursion options for which you pick one (with typically no option to do more than one even if you wanted to pay more). This approach can be frustrating - you can have candy or ice cream, but not both.
There are similar contrasting styles/approaches for beach resorts. You can opt for an Ala carte approach where you pick and pay for everything separately - resort, food, beverages, activities, etc. or you can opt for an all-inclusive approach where those things are paid for in advance.
Personally, I prefer the more all-inclusive approach so as to have a better feel for the total costs before leaving home.
I know others likely prefer the Ala carte approach to travel.
I think Mike mentioned cruise when he meant the land tour.
The only tour I am aware of is one of the Italy tours which now offers an optional Capri tour. And guess what, that used to be included like Halong Bay did on our tour, (which was of course the Laos one) when I took that Italy tour .
back in 2003.
I’m unhappy about the choices now appearing on the river cruises and small ship which used to be both included back in the day. We did the Iceland cruise the first year they changed that to choices and you could not do both, spent far too much time on the ship doing the stuff like quizzes and origami demos when we could have been out site seeing.
Anyway, why have Halong Bay as a tour option, you can do that yourself which you are doing Mike and it saves all the organizing and hassle for Tauck.
Tauck is far from being all inclusive these days or why are we having to find so many meals on our own and have to organize extra touring in the ‘free time’ that is now standard as if they are giving us a bonus?
I did mean cruises and didn't restrict myself to Tauck cruises. While we use Tauck for land tours, we have a cruise company that we generally use for ocean cruises, and they offer both pre and post cruise excursions for just about all their cruises. For example, we are taking a cruise from Hong Kong to Tokyo and have a pre-cruise excursion to Xian to see the Terra Cotta warriors. It's a three-day excursion.
Only those people who want to see the terra cotta warriors will choose to take the extra days and the extra expense of that excursion. That allows the cruise company to advertise the fare for just the cruise, but also offer the chance to see the warriors while the customer is in the area.
If you would like to know the cruise company, message me and I'll give you the name of the cruise company and a link that that specific cruise.
To address Smiling Sam's comment about à la carte, I don't think that offering pre or post tour excursions is the first step to an à la carte tour (where every item is charged separately). The cruise company we travel with is all-inclusive (including business class air, all tips, etc.) and they offer pre and post cruise excursions. You can offer those excursions and still be all-inclusive for the main part of the tour.
And, to answer British's note about saving Tauck from having to make the arrangements. It's a lot more efficient for Tauck to make the arrangements for a pre-tour excursion than it is for each traveler who wants to do Ha Long Bay to do it. Tauck has the expertise and
bargaining power to negotiate a good deal with a reliable tour provider. The travelers do not have either the expertise nor the bargaining power - each one must research the options and attempt to find a reliable provider.
Tauck would be providing a valuable service to their customers and they could make some money on the deal, also.
Well stated, MikeHenderson.
As so many others have said, an excursion to Ha Long Bay is so worth it. The caves are extremely fascinating as well.
The caves are quite extensive!
Guys, you know I love to debate. I have never been in business but I don’t think Tauck would make any money on an option to Halong Bay. Let’s say for example, the regular tour has, 36 people on it, but only say 10 sign up for a Halong Bay trip. It might need two extra nights at the start hotel. Tauck gets good hotel rates by guaranteeing a certain number of people, in this case 36 or a few less….unless there is a pandemic 😀 will be there to fill hotel rooms, likely around 18 if it’s all couples. If then only 10 sign up, that’s potentially the hotel now just fills 5 rooms. Plus, Tauck has to pay a TD the same amount of money as if he/she is leading a full group…and more money if it was a small group of 24. That”s just an examples of an extra consideration. Most people know how to book something like a Halong Bay trip, by emailing the concierge or doing research online or even asking on the forum….this subject has been fully discussed on the forum and lots of people have suggested companies they used.
As for big cruises, yuk!
Well, British, many other companies know how to make pre and post cruise excursions profitable (or they wouldn't offer them). I don't think Tauck is less smart than they are.
It's all in how much you charge. For example, the pre-cruise excursion to Xian that I'm signed up for as part of a future cruise is not cheap. The cruise company is obviously making money on it.
Ha Long Bay is a site many people seem interested in. I would be willing to bet that Tauck could get enough people to make an excursion profitable.
[Added note] People sign up for the pre or post excursions a long time in advance - often more than a year. That gives the company time to figure out how many people they need to plan for, and to arrange for the hotel rooms and the cabins on the boat. Most companies have a minimum number that they will do the excursion for, and if that many people don't sign up, they just cancel it. There's no reason I can see that Tauck couldn't offer a pre-tour excursion to Ha Long Bay, and even make a profit on it.
Additionally, the majority of the people on a Tauck tour do not use this blog. So, even if information about how to set up a Ha Long Bay tour was readily available here, it would not help any of them.
I agree with Mike. To travel so so far (and likely won't be back) and then realize you missed something so priceless or important. I have done a tour with before or after excursions and the group got smaller, but that was nice too.
For those with the means and the time to go, don't hesitate! Here are some shots from a 2018 overnight trip when Tauck included it in the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos tour to whet your appetite.
