Lan Ha Bay Cruise Review & Costs

So we took this cruise ship called Cozy Boutique from Cat Ba Island, Vietnam to Lan Ha Bay, Vietnam. I will tell you a little bit about the journey and our budget. It is a 3-star cruise ship and because of the lack of tourism caused by COVID19/borders closed here, it cost 85$ USD a night. Usually this type of cruise costs between 150-300$ USD. We chose the 2 day one night tour. This included food: breakfast, lunch & dinner but we did pay extra for drinks. The first day was more like a half day. The car picked us up from our hotel in Cat Ba around 11am and drove us to the pier where we took a small speed boat to our cruise ship along with other tourists going to other cruise ships. The ride was very quick around 15mins. Shout out to our hotel (Cannon fort hotel) for arranging everything for us and helping us continue our journey to Hanoi! The speed boat & car fare were included in the cruise ship cost. When we arrived onto the boat we checked into our room then had some lunch. The room was amazing! Huge bed and balcony, views of the bay from every angle. Just a few cons: there was no hot water in the shower and the bed was actually 2 small beds pushed together. The food was amazing! We were basically served fresh Vietnamese seafood the entire time. It was delicious! After lunch we had some free time to explore the ship. This Cruise ship had  3 floors. Bottom floor was where we arrived and staff quarters. 2nd floor has all the guests rooms and the main dining area. By the way I forgot to mention, there were just 6 of us TOTAL on this cruise! So crazy, I still can't believe it! Saving the best for last the 3rd floor was the rooftop & bar. It's very spacious with lots of chairs, tables and places to lounge and enjoy the view. After exploring the boat we packed all our gear and took a speed boat to Prince Beach, a small secluded beach in Lan Ha Bay. It was a gorgeous and there was a small stand on the beach selling drinks and snacks. At first it was so hot so we sat down with some friends from the cruise and had a drink. Then it cooled down a bit so we decided to go for a swim.It was a beautiful beach, very calm water and a few caves to explore. We stayed at the beach until around 5 then headed back to the ship for dinner & an amazing sunset.

We had dinner and a few drinks then the karaoke started. This is a typical Vietnamese pastime, karaoke and rice wine shots with a few local Saigonese we met on the cruise. There was a beautiful view of the stars as well. The next day we had breakfast then went kayaking & swimming in the bay. By 11am we checked out and were headed back to Cat Ba Island on the speedboat. When we arrived at the pier we took a motorbike taxi back to our hotel for 20,000vnd and the hotel arranged a bus to Hanoi.

In conclusion the cruise was great. The only thing was the actual cruise ship didn't move. We are not sure if it was because of COVID-19 or just this specific cruise we picked. Overall I would give the Cozy Boutique Cruise 4.7 out of 5 stars. The staff were very helpful and friendly and the fresh seafood was delicious. I would definitely recommend this cruise to my friends and family. I just don't  know if it will ever be this cheap and unusually empty again. Thanks for reading!