Nostalgia Cruise

Ten cabins on Lan Ha, each with a balcony and a bathtub, is the whole of Nostalgia. On a boat that size everyone goes out on one tender and everyone eats at the same sitting. She first sailed on 1 February 2023, from Lot 33 at Tuan Chau Harbour. The Princess Suite came to $310 a night for two on the halongbaytours.com listing read on 6 August 2026, or from $155 per person, two sharing.

Her owner, Nostalgia Cruises in Hanoi, sells her on its own website. Guests describe her as part of the Orchid group, and one guest who had booked with Orchid Cruises was transferred to her, so check the boat name on your confirmation. The cabins sit on two decks, with a sundeck above them and a heated outdoor jacuzzi on it. Massage is available on request at extra cost.

Which cabin should you book?

The Princess Suite, unless there is one particular room you want. Five of the ten cabins are Princess Suites on the first floor, 28 m² with a king bed. The four Queen Suites on the second floor are 30 m². The single King Suite, at the bow of the second floor, is the biggest room at 35 m². There is exactly one of it, so if that is the room you want, book months out.

Families can take two cabins joined as a connecting pair: 56 m² for two Princess Suites, 60 m² for two Queens. Each suite takes at most two adults and a child, with an extra bed on request.

What does Nostalgia cost?

The halongbaytours.com rate table, read on 6 August 2026, prices the Princess Suite at $310 for two on the one-night trip, the Queen at $350 and the King at $480. Two people sharing the Princess Suite pay $155 each. The operator’s own site, read on 10 August 2026, started the one-night trip at $257 a person.

One guest gives a real number: roughly A$650 for two people in a base-grade room on the one-night trip in 2024. The fare covers meals, an English-speaking guide, the cooking class, tai chi, squid fishing, films, wine tasting, a tea party, sightseeing fees, a welcome drink and bottled water. The road from Hanoi, massage, drinks and tips are extra, and card payments carry a 3% fee. The operator’s limousine collects from the Old Quarter between 08:00 and 08:30, and halongbaytours.com sells the round trip at $35 a person.

Where does Nostalgia go?

Into Lan Ha Bay, by way of Ha Long. The published run works the Cat Ba side properly. She leaves Tuan Chau around noon and serves lunch on the way. At 15:00 she reaches the lagoon at Ao Ech, and at 17:00 she anchors for the night in the Tra Bau area, with a happy hour and a cooking class before dinner. The second morning starts with tai chi. At 08:30 a bus takes you from the jetty to Trung Trang Cave inside Cat Ba National Park. Cabins are cleared between 09:45 and 10:00, a light lunch is served on the way back, and you dock at Tuan Chau between 11:00 and 11:45.

The two-night trip adds a day boat to Cat Ba and a ride by bicycle or electric cart through Viet Hai village. Kayaking is included and listed by the operator, which matters because it is the inclusion most often dropped between the listing and the day itself.

Where do you board, and at what time?

At Lot 33, Tuan Chau Harbour, where Nostalgia has its waiting lounge and check-in dock. Check in between 11:00 and 11:30, at least half an hour before the tender leaves at about noon. Which harbour you leave from explains why your driver needs the lot number.

What do guests complain about?

The checkable complaints are worth planning around. Two guests say the two-night trip is really one full day with two half days on either side of it, built around the schedule of the one-night guests; our guide to two days or three weighs that. Another guest describes the three-hour drive from Hanoi, boarding a small tender at about one in the afternoon, and fifty minutes on that tender in the smell of diesel before reaching the ship. Plumbing failed in a cabin on one trip, and the operator itself warns that the Wi-Fi is unstable until the boat is at anchor. Read the one-star reviews on Google before you book.

The good record is specific in a way that is hard to fake. Crew members get named individually, over and over, by different reviewers. A couple with a shellfish allergy had every meal adjusted without argument. One guest was moved up to a Queen Suite on arrival, and another booked late through an agent when their first choice sold out, then wrote the trip up as the best part of their holiday. Several say the ten-cabin count is exactly what they were paying for: quiet, and nobody queueing.

What if you cancel, or the weather does?

The operator’s terms, read on 10 August 2026, ask for full payment at booking. Cancel 30 days or more ahead and it is free; from 29 to 14 days you lose 30%, from 13 to 7 days 50%, from 6 to 3 days 70%, and in the last two days 80%. If weather stops the trip before you leave Hanoi you get a full refund. Once you are in Ha Long, or aboard, you pay for the services already used and the rest comes back to you. Our cancellation guide sets these terms against the others.

Who it suits

Couples and pairs of friends who want a genuinely small boat on Lan Ha, and groups of six or eight who could fill most of the vessel between them. It is on the small-boat list and the best-value list.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who wants somewhere on board to disappear to. Ten cabins across two decks means your room is the only place you can be alone. If the water itself is still an open question, the three bays compared is the page to start on.

Facts on this page come from nostalgiacruises.com (read 10 August 2026) and the halongbaytours.com, besthalongcruises.com and originvietnam.com listings read on 6 August 2026.