I just returned from a 2D1N cruise on Halong Bay, and want to share my nightmare so other travellers don't get conned like me.
Prior to my trip I had spent hours researching and decided to go on the Dragon's Pearl operated by Tropical Sails. The trip was quoted at US$97 per person for 2D1N. For those who don't already know, it's supposed to be a luxury cruise on a Chinese junk with seafood meals and the works.
Unfortunately, as Tropical Sails did not get back to me in time on the availability, I did not book prior to arriving in Hanoi.
Upon arrival (at night), I proceeded straight to Hang Bac where all the travel cafes were. I went into this cafe which had the name "Handspan" on the door. I asked if I could book the Dragon's Pearl through them and the sales person said yes. He proceeded to show me this brochure which had pictures of the Dragon's Pearl which I recognized. He quoted US$77 per person and I was quite pleased, thinking I got a good deal. After all, it is common for travel agents to give discounts out of their commissions to get a sale. After 10% VAT and 3% for credit card payment, I ended up paying US$174, or US$87 per person.
When we arrived at Halong Port, I realised that our fellow traveller was a backpacker who would not have paid for the Dragon's Pearl. I quickly approached the guide and tried to confirm with him that we were going on the Dragon's Pearl. He said "yes yes". I assumed that we were simply being transferred to our respective boats out in the bay later.
We were ushered to this boat called the Bien Mo 25. I asked if this was going to be the boat we were sleeping on and the guide said "yes". There were a few other travellers who were not happy as they were promised a small group of maximum 14 persons and there were like 30 people on board. I asked them how much they paid for the trip. The price survey was that those who were doing a 2D1N trip paid US$30, whilst those spending an extra night on Cat Ba Island paid US$35 to US$36. Another Australian couple also paid around US$85, like us. I threw a fit and refused to get on the boat as this was not what I had bargained for, but the guide raised his voice at me and basically told me I had no choice as there was no transport back to Hanoi. He also called presumably the travel agent about the 4 of us who had paid 3 times more than others, and I think was instructed to let us have the air-conditioned cabins. He told us we would be getting the best cabin on the boat, with air conditioning.
Basically, what you get for US$30 is:-
(1) cramped, dark cabin with grotty ensuite bathroom;
(2) windows that cannot open properly;
(3) no electricity until 9pm, and it gets turned off at 6am;
(4) the cheapest food available - potato chips with every meal, vegetables, and small bits of a scrawny chicken and a small fish for lunch. Dinner was vegetables, a tofu-liike meat dish and prawns;
(5) being shouted at by the crew to "hurry up!", "if you spoil the kayak you have to pay US$600!" and really poor service, if it can even be called that.
(6) you have to pay extra for everything - water, drinks etc. The only time a free beverage is offered is coffee or tea with breakfast (2 slices of bread, with jam and an omelette).
(7) an air conditioner in your room which you cannot turn on as the remote control is kept by the crew. so don't let "air-conditioned cabins" mislead you into thinking you can actually use them!
Hanoi/Halong Bay at this time of the year is HOT. Most of the passengers spent the night on the top deck as it was simply too stuffy to sleep inside the cabins.
I'm not even going into the hygiene and cleanliness of the cabins and food prep - ignorance is bliss....
the "extra" we got for the additional US$57 we paid per person:-
air conditioning from between 9pm to 6am. The cabins were identical.
When we returned, our minibus transfer was nowhere to be found. Our hapless guide (a new one swopped on Cat Ba Island) had to beg another bus driver to drive us to our lunch place - a sweltering basement of a local eating place (I don't want to call it a restaurant). They don't believe in opening windows and turning on fans/A/C.
The Aussie couple and us were put on a "special" table as we were entitled to special treatment for being conned. The "special treatment" was an extra dish of porkballs. I also found a hair in the fried springrolls. We all had to pay extra for drinks again.
Upon our return to Hanoi, we complained to our hotel and were told that for that price, we could have gotten a private tour and the whole boat to ourselves. When asked if there was any recourse, like some tourist bureau or police we could complain to, we were told that there wasn't and calling in the police was going to be "complicated" and we should just see the travel agent directly.
We went to see the travel agent immediately. Having been forewarned the previous day by the first guide, he immediately said he was selling us the "Dragon Boat" and not "Dragon's Pearl", and said we had a special cabin and air conditioning. I retorted that the cabins were identical and asked how it could be possible that air conditioning cost US$55 per person more? He had no answer. When I asked for a refund, he flatly refused.
In broad daylight, I saw that the name on the signboard, instead of being "Handspan" as it did on the door, read "A-Z Queen's Travel, recommended by routard and lonely" (sic). The namecard I got said "Handspan". My credit card charge slip said AZ Queen. I noticed that every other travel cafe was called Sinh Cafe, Handspan, AZ Queen or Kim. Well, the one thing that can't be faked is the address. This crooked unscrupulous travel cafe is located at 116 Hang Bac. Avoid it like the plague!
Moral of my rather expensive story:-
If you have your heart set on a particular cruise operator, book with them directly.
If you don't and am easy with any boat, don't pay more than US$30 for 2D1N and know what to expect.
Oh yes, don't expect anything in terms of safety. There was no safety demo or information on where life jackets, life boats, life buoys etc could be found. I'm not sure if there were any. We heard that a few days before our trip, a 35 year old New Zealand man drowned when his boat sank. The Vietnamese crew did not even know how to swim, and the travellers had to take charge of the situation. The captain of another cruise boat which eventually came to their rescue did not want to let them on board initially, as they were not paying passengers. He also refused to give them any food and the passengers on his boat had to give their food to the victims of the sunken boat. There was no publicity in the media but the story spread amongst the backpackers.
Hope the foregoing will help you make an informed decision.
