Our Hạ Long Bay Cruise: Day 1
By Lauren Gerzina & Justin Hayes
Private Car, Towel Swans, and Whitney Houston
It was time to head to Ha Long Bay for our three-day, two-night cruise.
We were notified early in the morning that we were upgraded to a private shuttle service to our cruise because it was our honeymoon. WIN. Therefore, instead of a possible 30 min pickup window, we had a set pick up time at 8:30am. Unfortunately, most breakfast places around us don’t open until 8 or 8:30am, making it hard to fill up before the long car trip.
Luckily, Lauren found a Starbucks that was only a 7-minute walk from our Airbnb. So, at 7am, we walked to Starbucks and got our first holiday drink of the year! Unfortunately, most places in Vietnam do not have oat milk, but Starbucks always does. Justin loves to get premium oat milk drinks when he can, so he got an iced brown sugar oatmilk latte – his go to in the US as well. Lauren got to try the new iced oatmilk chestnut latte and a charcoal bun egg sandwich – both were fabulous!
Unfortunately, every single item in Starbucks has gluten, so we started looking for any place that he could eat. A traveler we met in Ho Chi Minh City recommended a Michelin guide pho place (Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su) in Hanoi which happened to be around the corner so we walked there and each ordered a bowl of pho (yes, this was Lauren’s second breakfast). This pho broth was SO delicious and full of different spices than most pho we have tasted – 10/10.
It was about 8 at this point so we quickly went to grab drinks in a Circle K and made our way back to the Airbnb. Just as we got back to the room and started sending our stuff down the weird lift, Justin got a call saying that our ride was ready and waiting outside. When we got outside, a nice woman handed us a gift as a honeymoon present and helped us load into a sleek black car (this definitely would have qualified as an Uber Black).
The ride to Ha Long was approximately two and a half hours on the first real interstate-style highway we have been on in Vietnam. It was three to four lanes wide and a toll road, but just like all other roads in Vietnam, the speed limit was SUPER slow (max 80km/h or about 50 mph). It was also surprisingly empty (unlike all other roads in Vietnam), which made us wonder why we couldn’t go any faster. On the way, we watched an episode of Great British Bake Off and spent the rest of the time admiring the countryside.
We arrived at the port at about 11am.
We waited there for about an hour, watching the various tender boats load up with passengers. Orchid Cruises had about four to five different boats loading up for both two-day, one-night cruises and three-day, two-night cruises. We boarded our tender boat and took about a 30-minute ride to the Orchid Classic 01.
Ha Long Bay cruises are smaller than traditional cruise ships with 14 rooms and 26 passengers. On the first level was reception, the spa, and about eight rooms. On the second level was about six rooms, including two executive suites, the restaurant, and a hot tub. On the third was the Sky Bar, tables and chairs, and lounge chairs. The views from the top deck are incredible.
Once we were all on board, we were brought to the dining room for a safety talk and to receive our room keys. We walked out of the dining room and our room was the first on the left – room 206. The room was spacious with a nice deck for sitting outside watching the beautiful scenery. The staff decorated the bed with towel swans kissing and rose pedals all over as a “happy honeymoon” gesture which was so thoughtful. (Also – the gift we received form the cruise line was a beautiful set of teacups/saucers with lotuses on them.)
Once we dropped off all our stuff in the room, we went back into the dining room to eat a buffet lunch. The staff was SUPER helpful trying to get Justin a good variety of food to eat. They made him two full plates of meat, veggies, rice, etc on the spot and delivered it to our table. He felt so bad because they made him too much food. After lunch, they announced that there would be a dry, mountainous cave excursion leaving soon. We opted out of this because it was so hot, and we were really enjoying the breeze and chilling on the boat admiring the views.
Happy Hour started at 5pm (two for one drinks, including non-alcoholic ones), and we each ordered something from the drink menu. Lauren got a virgin pina colada, which was not very exciting, and Justin got a negroni.
At 5:30pm, the cruise director informed us that we could go swimming – which we both had been anticipating all day. So, we changed into our bathing suits and went down to the back of the ship on the first floor. They installed the metal ladder and told us the pool was open. Everyone who was in the area getting ready to swim was concerned that the water looked cold (and even colder because the sun was already almost completely down).
Lauren jumped in with another American she had just met and informed everyone that the water felt delightful, so everyone else quickly jumped in. The water was quite salty, so it was very easy to float, and of course felt refreshing after such a long hot day. It was fascinating to us that they weren’t worried about whether anyone could swim or even take inventory of how many of us got in the water. This would never happen in the US. Too many litigious Americans….
We got out of the water and took a shower immediately. Lauren (surprisingly) took a nap for about an hour, and Justin headed up for Happy Hour Part Two and to watch a cooking class. They were teaching people how to make Bánh xèo, the Vietnamese pancake we learned how to cook in Hoi An.
Then it was time for dinner – and the crew decided to pull out all the stops for us. They decorated our table with an enormous balloon arch in the shape of a heart. In the center was a neon light that said honeymoon, and our table was covered in rose petals and more towel swans. Justin was very embarrassed.
Then started our seven-course meal. Each plate was beautifully presented with different Vietnamese meals and Justin could eat every single one!!! No more eating plain potatoes for him. Near the end of the dinner, the lights in the dining room dimmed. Then, all the staff lined up behind a divider and pumped “I will always love you” by Whitney Houston and filed out in a line dancing behind a woman carrying beautiful cocktails on a platter. They brought the cocktails over to us of course (and the other couple celebrating their honeymoon). After lots of pictures and videos, they finally retreated into the kitchen to grab desserts for everyone. This dinner took a solid 1 hour 45 minutes – how very European we thought.
At this point we were exhausted and turned in for the night.
