Amanda Cruise

Amanda is a 25-cabin steel boat on the main bay, sold by its operator as Amanda Halong Cruise, one of a dozen overnight boats in the same group. The cheapest cabin is $235 for two people for one night, with a window onto the water; the senior suite, at $270, is the first grade the operator lists with a private balcony.

The rate table, and what it gives away

Read on 6 August 2026, per cabin, one night: the deluxe is $235, the junior suite $250, the senior suite $270, the royal suite $315. Two triples sit above them, the triple deluxe at $360 and the triple junior suite at $380, each taking three guests. Two nights on the same listing cost $450 to $550 for a double and $670 or $730 for a triple, so the second night is barely cheaper than the first. Those are the highest rates that listing published; ask for your own quote.

Now divide. For one night the deluxe works out at $118 a head and the triple deluxe at $120. The junior suite is $125 a head and the triple junior suite $127. Two grades, two bed counts, the same money per person to within three dollars. What that tells you is that the sheet was built per person and then written out per cabin, which has one practical consequence: there is no couple’s discount here, and the third bed is not the cheap way to travel that it is on some boats. It is a bed at full price.

It also accounts for the from-price. The $118 is what each of two people pays in the $235 deluxe for one night. Every other grade costs more per head.

What does the fare cover on board?

More than the room. The operator’s itinerary pages count in a welcome drink, tea, coffee and water, four meals on the two-day trip and seven on the three-day, a gala dinner on the sun deck when the weather allows, a cooking class, afternoon tea, wifi, the sightseeing tickets, the service fee and insurance. There is a snack menu from 15:00 to 16:30 and again from 21:00 to 23:30. The spa room charges for massage, but the sauna room and the herbal foot bath are free, and the operator’s ship page lists a jacuzzi. Drinks, tips and the shuttle from Hanoi are extra.

Balconies are not on every cabin. The operator puts a large private balcony on the senior suite and the royal suite; its junior suite page describes a large window, and the 20 m² deluxe has a view window. Ask for a photograph of the junior suite if a balcony matters.

How big is each grade, and how many are there?

Each grade has its own floor area, the operator says: 20 m² for the deluxe, 25 m² for the junior suite, 35 m² for the senior suite and 60 m² for the royal suite. The triple deluxe is 30 m² and the triple junior suite 35 m². Families can take a connecting junior suite of 50 m² or a connecting senior suite of 60 m².

Amanda’s operator also publishes a count per grade, and that matters at the bottom of the rate table: seven deluxe cabins on the first deck, ten junior suites on the second, four senior suites on the third and one royal suite. The $235 entry price covers seven rooms, and the balcony grade only four, so book early for those.

Where does Amanda go, and where does it leave from?

Amanda leaves from Tuan Chau. The operator gives the welcome point as its waiting lounge at No 12, Tuan Chau Marina, and two listings read on 6 August 2026 also name Tuan Chau. Be in the lounge between 11:30 and 12:00; boarding is at 12:00. The operator’s shuttle, for guests who book it, collects from Old Quarter hotels between 07:30 and 08:00. Give a driver the number the operator uses, No 12, and write it down.

The operator’s current two-day programme, read on 14 October 2026, spends the first afternoon at Sung Sot cave and Titop Island, where you climb or swim, and the second morning at a pearl farm. Cabins are cleared at 09:30, an early lunch follows at 10:00 and you are back at the marina at 11:00. If you have not fixed on a bay, Ha Long Bay and its neighbours differ more than the listings suggest.

The three-day version moves you onto a day boat at 08:30 on the middle morning: Trinh Nu cave, the beach at Ba Trai Dao, lunch aboard the day boat, then the pearl farm and its museum at 14:00, and back on Amanda by 15:30. Our guide to two days or three sets out whether the second night is worth it.

Who it suits

Couples and threes who want a recent steel hull on the main bay and a private balcony from the senior suite up, and who like a sauna and a foot bath at the end of the cave walk. Priced against the rest of the best-value list, only five of its 70 boats start below $235 for the room for one night (rates read August to October 2026).

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone set on paddling into Luon Cave on a one-night trip, since the current programme replaces it with Sung Sot and a pearl farm. Anyone who wants a balcony without paying for a senior suite, because only four rooms below the royal suite have one. The luxury list has boats with more balcony rooms.

Where these facts come from

The pier, the times, both programmes, the inclusions, and the cabin grades with their sizes, counts and decks are from the operator’s pages on amandacruise.com.vn, read on 10 August and 14 October 2026. Prices and the 2022 launch year are from the halongbaytours.com listing read on 6 August 2026; prices move with season and promotions, so confirm yours on the quote.