Heritage Line Ginger Cruise

Heritage Line Ginger carries twelve suites on Lan Ha Bay, and every one of them has a private balcony and either a bathtub or a Jacuzzi. The entry class is 37 m². The two largest sit at the bow, named Blue Phoenix and White Crane, with their balconies facing forward.

Heritage Line, which also runs Violet in Bai Tu Long, says the current Ginger began sailing in June 2018, replacing an older boat of the same name that made its last cruise in February 2017. How old is your boat sets 2018 against the rest of the fleet.

What do you get for the money on Ginger?

Twelve suites in three classes, and the class you pick sets the deck you sleep on. The operator gives the split: six Junior Suites on the main deck, four Signature Suites on the upper deck and two Regent Suites at the bow. Junior and Signature share one 37 m² layout, with sliding glass doors that run floor to ceiling onto a balcony of about 5 m², a walk-in shower and a bathtub. Deck and decoration separate them. Downstairs gets dark-ink hand painting behind the bed, upstairs gets embroidered silk panels and a gold flower theme. The operator lists three of the twelve suites as twins, so ask early if you need two beds.

The two Regent Suites measure 50 m², with a bed two metres square, a double vanity and a large Jacuzzi in the bathroom. Regent is the one class the operator lists with a screen and film system, though one listing shows a screen in every class. The Regent balcony is the same 5 m² as everyone else’s, so the extra 13 m² you pay for is all indoors.

Outside the cabins, Ginger’s dining room is the part the operator leans on. Glass wraps nearly all the way round it, and an open kitchen sits inside where the chefs cook each dish to order and run the cooking class. The spa fills the whole stern, and its couple’s room has a steam bath the operator says is free to use. At the bow is a pool the operator describes as heated, with Jacuzzi jets and loungers round it. There is a library lounge with a boutique corner too, and one listing adds a fitness room that no other source mentions.

Will a summer sailing actually be on Ginger?

Not always. Heritage Line’s one-night rates page, read on 6 August 2026, says Ginger’s one-night sailings ran on its sister ship Ylang through August and September 2026, and will again from 6 July to 31 August 2027. The swap runs the other way as well. The two-night Lan Ha programme normally belongs to Ylang, and the two-night rates page says Ginger covers it during periods marked on a departure calendar we could not read.

If your dates touch the 2027 window, ask the seller which ship is named on your confirmation and get the answer in writing before you pay. Nothing on this page describes Ylang.

How does the one-night cruise run, hour by hour?

Pick-up in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is around 8:00 to 8:30, and the drive takes about two and a half hours, with the transfer sold separately. These times come from two listings, because the operator’s detailed programme was not in what we read. One listing wants you at the pier by 11:30, and that same listing’s policy gives 12:30 for check-in on board. You wait in Heritage Line’s lounge at Tuan Chau, which one listing places at Kiosk 6 of Terminal 2, and a speedboat takes you out.

Lunch is served while Ginger heads into Lan Ha. The afternoon goes to Viet Hai, the village on Cat Ba Island you ride round by bicycle, with an electric cart offered by one listing; another adds a lighthouse it says French builders put up more than a century ago. Back on board comes the cooking class, then dinner. Squid fishing and a film in the dining room fill the evening. Nobody publishes a dinner hour.

Day two opens with tai chi on the sundeck and coffee with pastries. Ginger then moves to Ao Ech, the lagoon one listing calls Frog Lake, for a swim or a kayak, and one listing mentions a bamboo boat around the Tra Bau area. One listing’s timetable has you out of the suite at 9:30; another’s policy says 11:00, about when the speedboat lands you. Breakfast or brunch, depending on the listing, is served as the boat returns, and the van reaches Hanoi somewhere between 14:00 and 15:30.

What does a night on Ginger cost?

A Junior Suite for two was $620 a night, a Signature $730 and a Regent $920 on the one per-cabin sheet we hold, a listing’s, read on 6 August 2026. That sheet records the highest rate the listing published. Booked direct, Heritage Line’s own fares run from $321 to $423 per adult sharing, depending on season and an early-booking offer, which comes to at least $642 for two (read 30 September 2026). The Signature costs $110 more than the Junior for the same 37 m² of floor.

For scale, take the cheapest cabin on the latest one-night sheet for each of the 51 boats we have one for, read on different dates from different sellers: the median is $310, and Ginger’s entry suite ranks third-highest of the 51. One listing advertises Ginger at $100 per person, and that figure matched no second source when we read the listings on 7 August 2026. We have no two-night sheet for Ginger, so we cannot tell you what a second night adds on this boat.

What is included, and what goes on the bill?

Heritage Line’s own inclusions list covers the suite, the meals in the programme, the excursions and an English-speaking guide on the boat and ashore. You also get a welcome drink on boarding, mineral water, tea and brewed coffee, Wi-Fi where the phone signal reaches, liability insurance, port fees and taxes, and free use of the facilities apart from spa treatments. The operator lists as extra: other drinks, tips for crew and guide, the Hanoi transfer, visas and the admission fee for the bay. The operator and two listings leave that fee out of the price, and one listing puts it at $13 a person for the one-night cruise. One listing warns of surcharges over Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Tet. Read what is not included before you compare quotes.

Who is Ginger right for?

Couples who want room to spread out, in our view. The entry suite here is 37 m² with a balcony and a bath, and the boat carries twelve suites, which puts it seventh from the bottom by cabin count among the 60 boats we compare. The small boats category collects the others at that scale. People who travel for food get a kitchen they can watch and a cooking class at the same station, and the operator offers in-suite or balcony dining for an anniversary or a honeymoon; ask what that costs.

Who should look elsewhere

Families with small children. Every suite is sold for two adults, and one listing allows a single child on a rollaway. The listings disagree about under-fours: one says Heritage Line must give special permission before a child that young boards, while another lets one child under four share with two adults free. Ask Heritage Line directly before you book. Anyone shopping on price should also look further: at $620 for the entry suite, Ginger costs twice the $310 median across the 51 boats we hold one-night sheets for, and the Lan Ha Bay page lists what else sails the same water.

What we could not confirm

Nobody publishes how many guests Ginger takes. One listing gives the length as 38 metres and no other source repeats it. The operator’s deck plan names three decks and one listing also says three. The operator and four listings all mention the pool; only the operator says it is heated.

The hull is disputed. One listing calls Ginger a wooden boat and another prints “metal”; wooden hull or steel sets out what the material does and does not tell you. The operator and three listings give twelve suites, and a fourth gives ten. One listing prints 2006 as the build year, which may belong to the earlier Ginger; another prints 2016, which nobody explains.

Heritage Line’s own booking page, read on 30 September 2026, still offered a Ginger one-night fare for May to September 2026, the same months its rates page hands partly to Ylang.

Everything here about the crew and the kitchen is Heritage Line’s description or a listing’s. We hold no guest review of this boat yet.