Best luxury Ha Long Bay cruises: ten 5-star and 6-star ships compared

We read and compared the ten overnight cruises on this site that sell themselves as 5-star or 6-star: seven 2-day ships, one 3-day cruise with two nights aboard, and two 3-day trips that add a night in Ninh Binh before the cruise. One of the seven, the Bai Tu Long cruise, sells standard, 5-star and 6-star cabins under one listing. Every one of them includes all meals on board, kayaking or a bamboo boat, a guide and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

The price for two is GetYourGuide’s lowest price a person on 15 November 2026, doubled, for two sharing a cabin. Five ships sell the shared return shuttle from Hanoi separately at US$25 a person; both Ninh Binh trips include all transport. All but the Bai Tu Long cruise board at Tuan Chau; the Bai Tu Long boat leaves from Sun World port (Halong International Port). The Bai Tu Long price is for its standard ocean-view cabin; the balcony and bathtub come with the 6-star option, priced in its calendar.

Read the table by what you care about most. Every 2-day ship except the Bai Tu Long boat puts a private balcony and a bathtub in every cabin, so the differences are the deck, the route and the reviews.

The Elite ship with a panoramic pool wins overall. It has the best rating of any overnight on this site, 4.9 from more than 3,100 reviews, the fullest deck of the 2-day ships (a four-season panoramic pool, jacuzzi, spa, sauna and gym), and taxes and peak-season surcharges already in the price for bookings from 1 July 2026, all for €13.60 a person more than the cheapest balcony ship (GetYourGuide, 15 Nov 2026).

The other verdicts depend on the trip you want. The balcony and bathtub cruise is the best value: the same kind of cabin, a pool and a jacuzzi on the sundeck, taxes included and a free move to the second floor when there is space. The 5-star cruise from Hanoi or Ninh Binh has the most reviews of any overnight, more than 6,300, and is the only balcony ship here that also takes in Sung Sot Cave on the Ha Long side. For two nights, the 3-day 5-star cruise with Viet Hai cycling spends a full middle day on Cat Ba and at Ba Trai Dao beach. And for the quietest night, the quiet-anchorage cruise moors in what its listing calls the quietest area of Lan Ha Bay.

Luxury on Ha Long Bay starts lower than most people expect. The balcony and bathtub cruise, from €99.79 a person, is cheaper than the classic boats without stars, which start at €101.22 (GetYourGuide, 15 Nov 2026). From there, every step up buys something specific rather than a bigger cabin: the cabins on all the 2-day balcony ships already have the balcony and the bath.

The first €14 a person buys the most. For €13.60 more you get the Elite ship’s panoramic pool, spa, sauna and gym and its 4.9 rating; for €14.51 more, Sung Sot Cave, a limousine the listing times at 2.5 hours from Hanoi, and the option of a Ninh Binh pick-up. Around €28 more buys a junior suite on the two BAT Group ships, which run almost the same programme, so pick between them on your date’s price. The 6-star balcony ship, at €62.95 more, has the panoramic pool, spa and gym plus mini golf and fine dining, and is the only 2-day luxury listing that also sells a second night.

The biggest step is a second night, and it is good value per night. The 3-day 5-star cruise costs €241.30 a person for two nights aboard, €120.65 a night, which is less a night than the 5-star quiet-anchorage and most-booked ships charge for one.

If you need the bus from Hanoi, add US$25 a person return on the Elite, Hanoi or Ninh Binh 5-star, quiet-anchorage, most-booked and 6-star balcony ships; the balcony and bathtub cruise and the 3-day cruise sell transport as an option priced at booking.

Vietnam’s Law on Tourism grades tourist accommodation ships from 1 to 5 stars, so “6-star” is a seller’s label rather than an official grade; our guide to choosing a Ha Long Bay cruise explains the scale. On the listings we compared, the label is still a useful guide to the deck.

The three ships sold as 6-star, the Elite, the 6-star balcony ship and the ship on the 6-star Ninh Binh trip, all add a spa to the balcony cabin, and the first two have a panoramic pool and a gym. The six 5-star ships have the same balcony and bathtub and a pool or jacuzzi on the sundeck; they differ more by route than by facilities. So choose a 6-star ship if the pool and spa are part of the holiday, and a 5-star one if you will spend the afternoon in a kayak and want the saving or Sung Sot Cave.

On the Bai Tu Long cruise the label is the cabin class you pick: the standard cabin has an ocean view, the 6-star option a private balcony and bathtub and a chance to try on traditional Vietnamese dress, and the single supplement rises from US$60 to US$80 for 5-star and US$125 for 6-star.

A one-night cruise is a little under 24 hours on board, and reviewers on the 2-night trips say they were glad not to rush. The 3-day 5-star cruise is the best of them: after the first night a tender takes you to Cat Ba for about 4 km by bicycle or electric car through Viet Hai village, inside the national park, then lunch on board and an afternoon at Ba Trai Dao beach, with vegan and allergy-friendly menus on request. The 6-star balcony ship’s 3-day option gives you the bigger deck for the same two nights.

If Ninh Binh is on your list too, the two 3-day combinations save you three transfers; our guide to Ninh Binh from Hanoi compares them. Day one is Hoa Lu, a boat through the caves of Trang An and the climb of around 500 steps to the Mua Cave viewpoint, with a night on land; day two you drive to Tuan Chau for the cruise. The 5-star version has three times the reviews, 1,526 at 4.8; the 6-star version, from €204.11, adds an ecolodge option and a bigger ship. Both include transport from and back to Hanoi.

For a different bay, the Ha Long and Bai Tu Long cruise heads north-east from Ha Long to kayak around Cap La Island and visit Thien Canh Son Cave, with fewer boats around you, rated 4.7 from 1,680 reviews; our guide to Ha Long Bay or Bai Tu Long Bay weighs the two.

The standard cabin on every luxury ship here already has the balcony and the bath, so an upgrade buys height and space rather than the view. The listed prices agree with our guide to choosing a cruise: on the most-booked 5-star ship a second-floor senior suite is US$10 a person more, a VIP cabin US$65 and the President Suite US$110; on the 6-star balcony ship the second floor is US$25 and one of its two VIP rooms US$135; the Elite ship’s Imperial Suite is US$170. The 6-star Ninh Binh trip lists a Horizon Suite at US$30 and an Imperial Suite at US$170 a person, and the balcony and bathtub cruise moves you to the second floor free when there is space. The quiet-anchorage ship’s presidential suite comes with a bottle of wine.

Drinks at the bar, massages and tips are extra on every cruise, and three ships, the balcony and bathtub, 6-star balcony and 3-day cruises, run a buy-two-get-one-free happy hour at sunset. Travelling alone, the single supplement is US$80 on the most-booked ship and US$90 on the 5-star cruise from Hanoi or Ninh Binh. Christmas, New Year and Tet carry surcharges on most listings; the Elite ship’s are on 24 and 31 December and 5 to 8 February 2027.

Choose the Elite cruise with a panoramic pool if you want the best ship for one night: the top rating, the fullest deck and taxes settled up front, from €113.39 a person.

Choose the balcony and bathtub cruise if you want the luxury cabin for the least money, from €99.79, and the 5-star cruise from Hanoi or Ninh Binh if you want Sung Sot Cave, the most reviews and a Hanoi or Ninh Binh pick-up, from €114.30.

Choose the 3-day 5-star cruise with Viet Hai cycling if you have the time for two nights, from €241.30; the Ninh Binh and 5-star cruise if you want Trang An and the bay in one booking, from €199.57; the quiet-anchorage cruise for the calmest night in Lan Ha, from €127.36; and the Bai Tu Long cruise if you would rather see fewer boats, from €126.55 (GetYourGuide, 15 Nov 2026).

If a balcony is not important to you, the classic boats without stars are in our guide to the best budget Ha Long Bay cruises; two of them include the Hanoi bus on some options. Every ship here is also in all our cruises and tours, with its calendar.