Perla Dawn Sails 3 days/ 2 nights

Cabins are well furnished, clean, italian shower... all provide a big window on the bay. Nice food, lovely staff. We went there for a 2 day trip on Halong bay, it was really cool, the boat is really clean and confortable, the sundesk is nice with long chairs, we could do some kayaking swimming.

Spacious, clean and comfortable cabins, great food, absolutely fantastic staff (including the best tour guide I have had anywhere), and most importantly, traveling far from the usual haunts of the vast majority tourist cruises in Halong Bay!! Skip the other cruises that are often owned by enormous foreign cruise corporations and opt for this local outfit that excels in personalized service and getting you away from the thousands of other tourists that cruise the Bay everyday. This cruise follows a gorgeous and secluded route where we only ever saw one of the cruise lines 2 other sister ships (instead of constantly having dozens of other ships in view as on most other lines). We also got to swim all alone on a picture perfect beach on the cruise lines private island!! The staff was also great, the ship was a perfect size (only 18 passengers) and our guide was the friendliest and kindest person I have ever met! Dont go on any other cruise!

We did a lot of shopping around and decided we wanted a smallish, mid-range cruise ship on a one-night cruise to Halong Bay. Kien was our friendly tour guide on the M.S. Garden Bay. Throughout the trip, he kept us informed and right on schedule. Everything was well organized, from the hotel pick-up to the kayaking and caving excursions, squid fishing, cooking class, morning tai chi and vegetable flower-making demonstration. The service was excellent, the food was consistently delicious, and our suite was spacious and had its own balcony. (For the small difference in price, I�d say it�s worth the upgrade from the �deluxe� cabin that�s smaller and only has a window.) Even without all the perks, Halong Bay itself is definitely worth a visit. Our tour took us to Bai Tu Long, which is a bit off the beaten track so our evening on the boat was quiet. The only drawback I could see was that the itinerary didn�t follow what was promised by the agent who booked the cruise for us--but I�m sure it says somewhere in the fine print that the company reserves the right to change it. I think the only site we missed was Amazing Cave (Sung Sot), but we did visit another cave instead. We were fortunate to have one full beautiful day, warm enough to go for a swim. Highly recommend this cruise and maybe even the two-night version.

My primary issues with the boat / tour are 1) activities are highly regimented, but this is understandable given the limited time on board, 2) the drinks are pricey and just a tad watered down, and 3) "2 days 1 night" should really be "2 one-half days and 1 night". On the plus side, the food was delicious, the atmosphere chilled, the rooms clean and cozy, the staff attentive and friendly, and the views stunning. An additional warning, and a result of the area rather than the boat / tour, a lot of the attractions are overly crowded. The result of the Unesco Heritage status no doubt.

The boat is not very big. It has a ground floor deck which we enter the boat from, and there are a few rooms here. The 2nd deck has a few more rooms and also the main hall where we dine and have activities. The 3rd deck is an open deck for sunbathing. We enjoyed ourselves though with the onboard activities. There are classes for spring rolls making and vegetable and fruit carvings. The food is well prepared. The rooms are small but clean and nice. The staff are friendly.