Doria Cruise

Doria gives every one of her 28 cabins a private balcony, on a steel boat that started carrying guests on Lan Ha Bay at the start of 2025. You board from Lot 36 at Tuan Chau Harbour. On the operator’s own tariff, read on 10 August 2026, a Junior Suite for two was $290 for the night: from $145 per person, two sharing. That is below the middle of the 82 boats we hold a one-night rate for, where the midpoint is $310.

The first thing to settle is which boat you are buying. The booking site is doria-cruise.com, with the hyphen, run by Ha Thanh Travelmate in Hanoi. The unhyphenated doriacruise.com belongs to the company behind Doris Grand and sells a different ship. Two agency sites now list this boat as Kairos or Halora Kairos, on pages that still name Lot 36 and the Doria programme. One guest booked MGloria and sailed on Doria. Another booked the new Doria through a third-party site and was asked, weeks later, to move to an older ship because a group had come in. Have the ship’s name typed on your confirmation and say in the same email that you will not accept a substitution.

Where does Doria go?

Into Lan Ha, on a programme the operator publishes hour by hour. You check in at the reception at Lot 36 between 12:00 and 12:30, and the tender takes you out to the ship by about 12:45. Lunch is a buffet at 13:45 while she sails south. From 15:15 to 17:00 she anchors in the Tra Bau area, where you can swim off the ship or sit in the jacuzzi pool. The evening is a sunset party, a cooking demonstration, dinner and squid fishing.

Tai chi is at 06:15 on the second morning. At 07:50 a local rowing boat takes you through Dark and Bright Cave, when the tide allows it. Check-out is at ten, brunch at 10:15, and at 11:15 a transfer boat carries you back towards Tuan Chau, where you land at about 12:10. That is a full day of travel on either side for one night aboard, and several guests who did two nights say the extra day is what made the trip.

The two-night trip adds a day on a smaller boat. It leaves at 08:20 for Viet Hai village, where you cycle or ride an electric car from about 10:30 to noon. Lunch is on the day boat. The afternoon, from 13:30 to 15:30, is spent swimming around Ba Trai Dao, and you are back on Doria between 16:30 and 17:00. The cave visit then moves to the final morning. Kayaking is included in the fare. If the bay is still undecided, the comparison of the three comes first.

Where do you board, and at what time?

At Lot 36, Tuan Chau Harbour, also written as Dock 36. The operator, besthalongcruises.com and halongbaytours.com all name the same lot. Check in at the reception there, then take the tender to the ship. Give your driver the lot number, because the harbours here are easy to confuse.

The operator’s bus from Hanoi costs $30 a person for the round trip or $15 one way, collecting from the Old Quarter between 08:45 and 09:15 and getting you back between 15:30 and 16:00. One guest paid AUD 250 for a private car, was dropped at the check-in office at 11:00 for a 12:30 boarding, and waited. Hanoi to Ha Long lists the other ways down.

Which cabin should you book?

For two people, the Junior Suite. Every cabin except the Honeymoon Suite is 30 m², so the Senior Suite’s extra $18 buys a higher deck and nothing larger. These are the operator’s fares, read on 10 August 2026, turned into a price for the cabin:

The eight Triple Suites, four on each of the first two decks, are also 30 m² and have three single beds. They are priced at the Junior or Senior rate per person, for three people. A solo traveller pays a supplement of $122 in the Junior Suite, $130 in the Senior and $171 in the Honeymoon Suite for one night. Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Tet carry a surcharge of $35 a person.

Children up to 3 travel free on the operator’s terms. From 4 until their eighth birthday they pay 75% of the adult fare, and from 9 they pay the full fare.

What is on board, and what is extra?

Restaurant, skybar and jacuzzi pool share the third deck, with a sundeck above; the jacuzzi pool sits at the prow, and the restaurant seats 80 to 90. Agencies list a spa. The fare covers your meals, a welcome drink, a bottle of water each in the cabin, an English-speaking guide, the cooking class, tai chi, entrance fees and on-board insurance. Drinks, the minibar, tips and the Hanoi bus are extra.

Guests say the on-board bill is where the money goes. One account has water charged for at lunch and neither coffee nor tea in the fare, and more than one guest calls the cocktails expensive. Several make the same point in different words: the boat is sold as five-star, the extras are priced that way, and the trip sat below that for them. Budget for drinks before you compare her fare with a boat that includes them; our list of what fares leave out helps.

What happens if the weather closes the bay?

The operator’s terms are specific. If the cruise is cancelled and you have to go back to Hanoi, you get a full refund. If the closure is announced when you reach Tuan Chau and day trips are still allowed, you are offered one instead. A two-night trip cut short is charged at 75% of the two-night fare if you stay until 17:00 on day two, or as a one-night trip if it ends then. Booking direct, cancelling more than 15 days ahead is free, 7 to 15 days costs 30%, 3 to 7 days 50%, and inside 72 hours the full fare. Agencies apply their own scales, so check the one on your quote.

Who is Doria for?

Couples, friends travelling as three and value-minded families who want a boat built in the last two years with a balcony on every cabin, and who will spend fifteen minutes pinning the ship’s name and cabin grade to the booking. She belongs on the best-value list and on the Lan Ha list.

Look elsewhere if you want the price you see to be close to the price you pay, since the drinks bill on Doria runs on top. The same goes if the paperwork worries you.

Where these facts come from

The pier, the times, both programmes, the cabin classes with sizes, decks and counts, the fares, supplements, surcharges, the bus, the child rates and the weather and cancellation terms come from doria-cruise.com, read on 10 August 2026. besthalongcruises.com, halongbaycruises.com and halongbaytours.com, read on 6 August 2026, name the same lot and the 28 cabins and give the hull and deck details; the January 2025 first voyage is from halongbaycruises.com. Fares move with season and promotions, so confirm yours on the quote. Guest remarks are from Google reviews.