Hermes Cruise
From$160per person, two sharingread 6 Aug 2026A guide, not a quote — we confirm the live rate when you enquire.
Details →Paradise Elegance is a 31-cabin steel boat that has worked Ha Long Bay out of Tuan Chau since 2017, and the owner puts a private balcony on its cheapest cabin. On the halongbaytours listing we read on 6 August 2026 that cabin cost $320 for one night, which is from $160 per person, two sharing.
At $160 a head it sits in our best-value list. It is also among our luxury cruises, because Paradise Vietnam, which also runs the Grand and the Legacy, files the Elegance in what it calls the five-star segment of Ha Long cruising.
A steel boat with a full programme. The 31 cabins come in four classes, and the owner and four listings agree on the count. Two listings put the most it carries at 62 overnight guests, two to each cabin. Launched in 2017, it is about nine years old (how old is your boat); our wooden hull or steel page explains what steel changes.
The owner names the rooms. Le Marin is the restaurant. Le Piano Lounge is the bar, the sundeck has a jacuzzi, and there is a spa on board. The owner rates that sundeck for events of up to 60 people across 360 m².
The detail we like best comes from the owner’s own blog post from March 2023: guests wait in a lounge on Tuan Chau with tea and juice until about 12:15, when an electric vehicle drives them down to the marina. Luggage goes ahead and is waiting outside the cabin door.
Probably, yes. Paradise Elegance sails the Ha Long Bay loop out of Tuan Chau, and several guests write that the excursions felt rushed and busy. A French guest in December 2025 could not land on one islet because of the crush of boats. A four-star reviewer in April 2026 liked the boat but found the excursions short and overcrowded, with little time to take anything in. Another French guest found the organised Titop Island excursion of no interest, and a Vietnamese guest felt the boat never left a small corner of the bay.
How to handle it: treat the stops as a bonus and the boat as the reason you are going. If quiet water is the point of the trip, read our comparison of the quietest bay before you book Ha Long at all. Our Ha Long Bay page lists the other boats on this water.
On the halongbaytours timetable read in August 2026, a day on Paradise Elegance runs like this:
A Spanish guest in February 2026 describes the same order, boarding at about 12:30 with Titop first and Luon in mid-afternoon. Weather can shuffle the order, so take the times as a guide.
The pace is the trade-off. One guest in April 2026 enjoyed the variety but felt the schedule was too full to leave time for rest.
The Deluxe Balcony is the cheapest way on, at $320 a night for two on halongbaytours. Here are all four classes, with the prices we read on 6 August 2026 for a cabin holding two adults:
| Cabin class | Cabins | Size | Deck (owner) | One night, halongbaytours | One night, originvietnam | Three days, two nights, halongbaytours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe Balcony | 14 | 25 m² | Main | $320 | $365 | $630 |
| Executive Balcony | 13 | 24–25 m² | Upper | $345 | $388 | $700 |
| Elegance Balcony Suite | 2 | 35 m² | Upper, at the rear | $430 | $473 | $830 |
| Captain’s View Terrace Suite | 2 | 35 m² | Upper (its text says main once) | $475 | $508 | $890 |
The Executive is the Deluxe moved up a deck for the view. The Captain’s View suite is sold on wraparound glass and a 180-degree outlook; the owner’s own text says main deck once, but two listings put both Captain’s suites on the second deck. The cabin counts are mostly from one listing. If you want a suite, book early. A Spanish guest upgraded to the Elegance Balcony Suite loved its corner balcony.
Ask where your cabin sits before you pay. A Russian guest in May 2026, who booked through Booking.com and paid about $350, was given a cabin at the end of the boat over the engine, with vibration, a smell of fuel, a balcony above the exhaust, and a staircase outside where people talked late. She does not name the class.
A second night barely saves anything. Two nights in the Deluxe Balcony cost $630 against $320 for one, so the extra night costs $310, 97% of the first. Our page on two days or three explains when that is worth it.
Halongbaytours carries a child policy for the boat: under fours free (one per cabin, with two adults), ages 4 to 11 at 75% of the adult rate, and an extra bed at $25 on the one-night trip.
Meals on the programme, entrance fees, an English-speaking guide, tai chi and the cooking class are included on halongbaytours. That listing excludes drinks, spa treatments, tips, kayaking, and a $50 per person per night surcharge on 24 and 31 December. A Vietnamese guest in June 2025 says the boat charges 300,000 VND to kayak at Luon Cave, while halongbaycruises advertises kayaking free with its bookings, so ask your seller which applies.
Whether the Hanoi shuttle is included depends on who sells the trip. The halongbaytours itinerary charges for it and collects from the Old Quarter only, between 08:30 and 09:00; originvietnam lists it at $42 a guest return; and a December 2024 guest had hotel pick-up in the price. One guest in October 2025 found the Wi-Fi reached the restaurant but not the cabins. Our list of what is not included covers the usual extras across the bay.
Mostly warm, and specific about diets. One guest called the Indian food the best they had eaten in years. Another found Jain food on offer and was helped to cook Maggi noodles on board, and a January 2026 guest who eats no pork or beef had every dish explained by the waiting staff. The four-star guest from April 2026 found few vegetarian dishes, though there was fish. A December 2024 guest rated dinner good and lunch and breakfast average.
A guest in August 2025 describes waiting about five hours ashore before being told the boat would not sail because of the weather, and a June 2025 guest also reports a long wait at the shore facilities. We cannot check what happened. Ask for the weather and refund terms in writing before you pay; our cancellation policies guide explains what to look for.
Couples who want a balcony and live music after dinner, from $160 each, two sharing (August 2026 rate). Families with children aged 4 to 11 get a published discount. Anyone with Indian or Jain dietary needs will find guests who were looked after well.
Travellers who want space at the stops. The same busy programme that keeps couples entertained leaves no slack, and the caves are shared. Sunbathers should know that a Vietnamese guest found no loungers on the sundeck and little to do in the evening. Light sleepers should get a cabin away from the engine confirmed in writing.
Nobody publishes the length of the boat. The owner gives no passenger figure, no deck count and no split of the 31 cabins by class; the 62 guests and the cabin split above come from listings only, and four decks is what two listings describe without stating the number. Halongbaytours dates the launch to February 2017; originvietnam says 2018. The owner’s photo gallery mixes its fleet: at least one picture on the Elegance pages shows a hull lettered Paradise Grand, so judge the boat by the guest photos.
Chosen by price proximity within the same bay, computed from our dataset — not by commission. We add no booking fee to any of them.
25 m², private balcony, on the main deck.
25 m², private balcony, on the upper deck.
35 m², private balcony, on the upper deck.
35 m², on the upper deck.
These items appear on both lists. Sometimes that is a real disagreement; sometimes the two sources are describing different things. We show what each actually said rather than pick one.
“Activities: Kayaking and swimming,…”
“Kayaking Services (book in next step).”
“1 Set Dinner”
“Meals not mentioned in the program”
“Insurance and Service Charges”
“Travel Insurance”
Assembled from the 3 sources we read for this boat, grouped by what each line is about and counted by how many sources list it. Quotes are the sources' own wording. Nothing here replaces the confirmation you get in writing when you book.
No source we read publishes check-in or checkout times for Paradise Elegance Cruise. Ask when you book — on this coast checkout is usually between 09:30 and 11:00, and the difference decides whether you get a last morning on the water.
We checked every cancellation ladder in our sources. They differ by who you book through, not by which boat you sail: the same boat carries different terms on different listings. So we will not print one and call it Paradise Elegance Cruise's policy.
Across the 7 distinct ladders we found, free cancellation ends somewhere between 15 and 30 days before check-in. After that the fee climbs to 100%.
Get the ladder in writing from whoever quotes you, before you pay a deposit.
Stops as published across the sources we track. Operators reorder them with the tide and the weather, and the provincial authority can close a cave at short notice.
Tuan Chau Marina. The piers serving these bays are roughly twenty minutes apart and drivers do occasionally go to the wrong one, so name it when you arrange your own transfer.
No source we checked publishes: length m. A further 3 figures rest on a single source. We would rather say that than fill the gap with a guess. If the operator sends us the figures we will publish them and date them.
Read for this boat: operator, source-1, source-2 — one dot per source, filled when that many publish the figure. 3 figures rest on a single source — confirm before relying on them. How we verify
We add no booking fee. The figure we show is half the cheapest cabin for two on the rate table we read, dated the day we read it.
From$160per person, two sharingread 6 Aug 2026A guide, not a quote — we confirm the live rate when you enquire.
Details →From$165per person, two sharingread 6 Aug 2026A guide, not a quote — we confirm the live rate when you enquire.
Details →From$155per person, two sharingread 6 Aug 2026A guide, not a quote — we confirm the live rate when you enquire.
Details →