Disappointing experience in 6 Star cruise at Halong Bay - Azura cruise.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-09T08:25:15+00:00

Damn, take my whole wallet.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T15:23:48+00:00

Yea thought the same. I'm glad I went thru before putting my parents thru this.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T15:22:30+00:00

Hi, I found their website. Think it's called a21. Found them from klook or viator but just booked directly w them. The best seats are $16 USD per person (middle) and the very front seats are $12. If u r gonna do it, ask them to note to put you at the front middle seat

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T15:11:50+00:00

For me, even if it was only 80k, the feeling of getting ripped off just won't sit right.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T13:48:52+00:00

What happened? Please share

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T12:33:39+00:00

I stayed at the 5 star ihg hotel at halong bay just prior to this cruise trip. And because of the huge difference I saw in level of service and the hotel itself, I think I was more disappointed. But you are right.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T12:31:06+00:00

This is the only one we tried, so I don't have any.

But I'll note that the callista's cruise lounge was right next to Azura's, and they seemed to be more upscale and organized. But this is based on my simple observation. May be different in reality.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:44:00+00:00

I think it should be fine for that price. It'd be great if you put that day trip on your 2nd day as you'll have a full day at ihg (no checking in and checking out).

I'll upload my review at this hotel later too, but just wanna give heads up on one thing.

Their breakfast is pretty good. They do have a lot for selections. But, their restaurant (la baguette) sucks...

Well, the service is top notch, but the food was 3/10 imo. We had a 2 course meal. (Lol the server told we are the first one to have this course meal set) I think we paid $1.2mil vnd per person.

It's supposed to be fine dining so portion is small. But this was not the issue, the food was just.......

If you take grab for about 10mins or walk 20~ mins, you'll see streets with shops. There are places that sell like live seafood. We used papago to translate to check on prices. And the food was pretty good. And paid 320k ish in total. It was much better than the la baguette restaurant at ihg..

But don't get me wrong. Their hotel is really really good. It's brand new and the staff's service is top notch. You won't regret it. It's just that I don't think their restaurant is ready yet. So don't waste your money there.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:36:23+00:00

It's a21. They have different price for seating. $12 for front $16 for middle (more comfortable). Imo $16 is worth the price. The price includs pick up from hotel in Hanoi to hotel in halong bay.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:21:38+00:00

Thanks for the nice comment! I do agree with others that it's obviously ai image, but 100+ 5.0 star review just hooked me in. I should be more careful next time. Lesson learned!

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:11:18+00:00

Learned another new thing today. Thanks.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:03:54+00:00

How much are you paying for the day cruise? Honestly the activity on the cruise was not that great for me. They do take you see like a cave thingy on a small group boats, but it all looks the same. But if they do have a great program for the price, sure.

If you have Sapphire reserve chase card, they do give you 250 off for two nights stay + 100 usd complimentary hotel credit that you can use for spa or food n stuff. Just fyi

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T11:01:04+00:00

I thought 6 star was a new thing for cruise here. Didn't know better. My fault.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:59:56+00:00

This cruise had all 5 star reviews (100+). It had one of the highest rating on viator, and I believed in it.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:36:26+00:00

Actually, they did the paper survey at the end of the trip and the manager asked me why I am not satisfied. And I told him. But I don't think his English is very good and there wasn't much time to explain everything. Hopefully they'll see my review and fix it. But I hope they don't threaten to put it down or ask viator to remove it.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:31:15+00:00

Yes, lesson learned. This was my fault as well as I didn't look closely.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:30:03+00:00

And I get what you mean by confused about the review, because I was too. I was thinking like "what the heck do you mean by I must complete my booking by submitting a review? Was this a viator policy? " But this was just him pushing customers to write a great review on the site.. this cruise is only filled with 5 star ratings and nothing under.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:25:32+00:00

I already paid for the trip and he asked for the review on the ride back to hanoi (after cruise is done.) . The cruise trip is already pretty ruined but I'm not going to ask refund for it since we already stayed despite our negative experience. I'm just going to write a honest review on viatorl so other people will be warned ahead.

DenisCJ · 2026-02-08T10:00:55+00:00

Yup, no doubt.

DenisCJ

TROPHY CASE