Le Journey Elegance Cruise

The draw of Le Journey Elegance is a 28 m² suite with a private balcony at the bottom of her price list, on a 22-cabin Lan Ha boat with a pool on her third deck. She is run by Le Journey Cruises, the same group as Amanda Cruises. You check in at the group’s waiting lounge No. 12 at Tuan Chau Harbour, and a transfer boat takes you out at 12:30. That Junior Suite was $285 a night for two on the halongbaytours.com listing read on 6 August 2026, from $143 per person, two sharing.

Which suite should you book?

The Junior Suite, unless you are three. There are ten of them on the first floor at 28 m², each with a balcony. The six Senior Suites on the second floor are the same size, one floor higher, for $30 more. The two Elegance Suites, also on the second floor, are the big rooms at 45 m².

For families, the two Junior Triple Suites on the first floor are 30 m² and take three adults and a child. The two Panorama Triple Suites on the third floor are the same size and swap the balcony for a large panoramic window. In the double suites the operator allows two adults and one child under 11. Children up to four sharing the bed go free, those from five to ten pay 75% of the adult rate, and from eleven they pay the full fare.

What does Le Journey Elegance cost?

The halongbaytours.com rate sheet read on 6 August 2026 prices each cabin for one night: Junior Suite $285 for two, Senior Suite $315, Elegance Suite $345, Family Triple $430 for three and Panorama Suite $485 for three. The two-night trip is priced for the whole stay, at $555 for the Junior Suite and $610 for the Senior. Two people sharing the Junior Suite pay $143 each for the night, which is why the boat sits on our best value list.

The operator’s fare covers the cabin, meals, a welcome drink, tea and coffee in the room, the sunset party, the cooking class, the Ao Dai show, entrance tickets and Wi-Fi. VAT, the shuttle, massage, drinks and tips are not in it. Agencies sell the shared shuttle from the Old Quarter at $30 a person for the round trip, and a private car for two at $206. What is not included covers what else comes off your card.

The operator’s own cancellation terms, read on 14 October 2026, make promotional and advance-purchase rates non-refundable. On its best available rate, cancelling ten days or more before sailing costs 30%, between ten and five days 50%, and inside five days the full fare. Card payments carry a 3% fee.

Where does Le Journey Elegance go?

Into Lan Ha Bay, past Turtle Islet and Candle Islet over lunch at 13:20. At 15:30 you go into Dark and Bright Cave by bamboo boat. The evening runs to a sunset party, a cooking class and dinner on the sundeck, with an Ao Dai show and a bamboo dance. The next morning at eight there is a swim stop at Tra Bau. You check out at 09:15, eat an early lunch at 09:30, and the transfer boat lands you at Tuan Chau at 10:40.

Quan Y Cave, the hospital cut into the rock on Cat Ba during the war, is on the operator’s activity list, and two agencies put it on the second morning by way of the pier at Gia Luan. Ask which morning your date runs. A guest in January 2026 rates the cave and the kayaking as the two things worth doing.

The two-night trip adds a day on the transfer boat: a five-kilometre bike ride through Viet Hai village inside Cat Ba National Park, lunch on board, then at two a swim off the beach the agencies call Three Peaches, and back to the ship by three. Two days or three weighs the second night.

How much time do you spend on the transfer boat?

More than on most boats, guests say. A guest writing in January 2026, who gave five stars, describes a small boat from the Ha Long side across to Lan Ha and the ship moored there the whole time. One reckons the vessel itself moved for twenty minutes in total. Another, in October 2025, spent from half past eight until four in the afternoon on an unbranded boat collecting passengers from about ten other cruises.

What do guests complain about?

Water at meals, and the striking part is who raises it: six guests, at one star, three, four and five alike. The five-star guest, in July 2026, carries the free room bottle down and refills it at reception. A German guest in October 2025 confirms the refills are free and puts a cocktail at eight dollars.

Then the moving. Four guests, between October 2025 and August 2026, describe being moved onto this vessel or off it. Two had booked Amanda boats and were moved here, one of them a few days before sailing, and that guest had booked a wraparound balcony and did not get it. One was moved off a Hera boat the day before because of a leak. One was told on the first night to change ships. Get the vessel name on your confirmation.

Three guests also describe being pressed for a good review before they left, so read the low reviews on the listing yourself. What guests complain about separates the faults of a single boat from the ones every boat here shares.

Against all that, the crew. A waitress called Thao is named again and again, in five languages, and a cruise manager called Tony more than once.

Who it suits

Couples and families who want the quieter half of the water, will take the transfer boat as part of the deal, and care about reaching Quan Y Cave and Viet Hai. The Lan Ha list has the other boats on this side, and the family list the other triples.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who needs to know which boat they will sleep on. Weigh the four transfer accounts and ask for the vessel name in writing before you pay.

Our sources for this page are lejourneyhalongcruise.com (read 14 October 2026) and the halongbaytours.com, originvietnam.com and halongbaycruises.com listings read on 6 August 2026.