Azalea Cruise

Me and my two friends booked a triple cabin for our 3 days and 2 nights in Halong Bay and were not left disappointed at any point! The first of our many surprises was the limo van that came to pick us up from the hotel. It was so much more spacious and luxurious than we had expected! And that continued once we had stepped onto the boat and saw our cabin for the first time. It was very spacious and impeccably clean. The massive windows meant that we spent a lot of time in here, enjoying each others’ company with the most beautiful backdrop imaginable! Everyone working on the boat is very good in their roles and catered perfectly for us. My friend is a vegetarian but this was no problem for the chef. Our other friend unfortunately missed her flight and was worried she had missed her chance to enjoy the bay, but Azalea Cruise had arranged for an airport pick-up to bring her from Hanoi to enjoy the second night with us, which was at least something nice for her! I would highly recommend the Azalea Cruise, it really was outstanding and we hope to be back soon!

This cruise was everything we had wanted and so much more! It was a short trip from Hanoi to the port, which was a very comfortable and professional job in the breezy minivans that they have! We had the pleasure of beautiful, attentive staff the whole time. The director of the cruise was a man from France, who is running a very tight ship! He was very friendly and made a conscious effort to talk to all of the guests and give them personal attention.We couldn’t fault the views at all! You can watch the limestone mountains from anywhere on the boat, but we opted mostly from our cabin’s gorgeous balcony, and I personally spent a lot of time in the luxurious bathtub, soaking in the suds and soaking up the views! The food was delicious and gave us a lot of choice – all fresh ad cooked and presented to a very, very high standard! This is the perfect break from the city for a few days, I highly recommend Azalea Cruise to take you there.

Just returned from one night in Lan Ha Bay with the Azalea Cruise with my friend and we are already regretting not booking for two nights!The most important part of our enjoyment was definitely Rim and her wonderful staff, who looked after us so well and were thoroughly professional throughout. They had a strong focus on safety and were very relaxed and fun people to chat with!The boat is very new so it looked amazing! The cabins were massive and had very clean bathrooms. The restaurant and sundeck were both great places to eat, drink and watch the beautiful scenery fly past.We had a great transfer from the hotel to the bay. Not only was it just 2 hours instead of 4 to Halong Bay, but it was so luxurious that we felt we were already on a 5-star cruise before we had even stepped foot on board!there were lots of different activities organised by the cruise, which were generally fun but a little bit rushed at times. The kayaking and the boat trip through the ‘caves’ were both a great way to see the bay and get up close and personal with it.We were never left dissatisfied by the food, which stayed consistently amazing. We had a great buffet lunch and a good few drinks in between.We had flawless views of the Lan Ha Bay the whole time, due to its natural beauty, fewer boats and the gorgeous weather that we had during cruising. I have to agree with other reviews I read though which mentioned the piles of plastic that mounted up near the caves. It’s not great to see, and I think  Azalea Cruise and the other companies of Lan Ha Bay need to clock onto this quick and cooperate with the government and the locals to get it clean. It was my first time kayaking but they had a perfect system to I felt very assured Rim lead us from the front and some other crew brought up the rear, which made sure no one go left behind.The sampan boat ride towards the caves was actually really great, but we couldn’t get through the caves themselves as it was low tide, so we had to turn back. I know the caves of Halong Bay are much more grand, but personally I think it’s worth sacrificing a cave visit for a more quiet time in Lan Ha Bay.So overall I have zero hesitation in recommending this cruise and its wonderful crew! Definitely do the 2 night cruise if you can, you are guaranteed to be in for a treat!

I recommend this company and itinerary over anything else I have seen in Halong bay. We did the 3 Day 2 Night and it was the perfect cruise.-I have to mention the staff first as they were excellent. Rim and her fellow crew were always friendly and the smiles never left their faces. They accommodated all of our needs and looked after us properly, right down to the little details. Safety seems to be number one concern for the staff and they were very efficient at giving out life jackets.-We had a great cabin with some excellent views of all the bay, which we could see was less crowded as the Azalea Cruise goes to a different part of Halong Bay than most. The dining room and top deck had some really good seating and were beautiful areas where you can watch everything float by.-Great planning in the activities, including the kayaking, fishing for squid, cave visit, village tour, tai chi, and swimming. It was a little busy on the first day, but the second day we spent on a day boat with a much more relaxed itinerary – mainly kayaking and swimming with a visit to a village as well.Because of this, I highly recommend doing the 3 day version of the cruise as we found this to be the perfect amount of time to explore everything we wanted to see and do. My friends and the crew surprised me with a birthday cake, which the team presented, as well as singing a song and giving me a mocktail (I can’t drink alcohol), which was so lovely of them!-The food was really outstanding and the crew did an excellent job in remembering who required what, as we are an Indian group with various different dietary requirements.Billy and Jessie did some much to make this trip for special to us, and they are still fondly remembered by me and my family!

The ship of the Azalea Cruise is just half a year old, so we decided to select this one to go through Halong Bay with. It has fewer rooms than the average boat, which we preferred, and went to a harbour much closer to Hanoi than the other boats that go to the bay.We were very lucky and received a free upgrade to one of the suites, despite the fact that we had booked the least expensive room. No matter what room you go for, you will get the same outstanding service from a great crew – especially from Hugo and Jennifer, but also from everyone else!We only opted for one night in the end and we really enjoyed ourselves. We had some great views to look at and some wonderful activities to do. It is a shame about the bay being so polluted in small areas, but I suppose its inevitable, given how popular Halong Bay has become. We all very much enjoyed the food, which was impressive as they had to cater to various dietary requirements in our group.I did think it was a bit strange that the sun loungers didn’t come with accompanying parasols to block the sun, so we couldn’t really use them. We booked our own transfer there, which was probably not a great idea as it wasn’t as comfortable as the company transfer we got on the way back, plus it was much more expensive!