Paradise Grand Cruise

Paradise Grand is a 39-cabin steel boat that anchors out in Lan Ha, and every cabin, from the cheapest up, has a balcony or a terrace. You check in at Paradise Vietnam’s own terminal on Tuan Chau Island, and a speedboat runs you out to the ship in ten to fifteen minutes. On the originvietnam.com high-season sheet read on 8 October 2026, a Grand Balcony cabin for two was $395 for one night: from $198 per person, two sharing.

The operator, Paradise Vietnam, also runs Paradise Elegance and Paradise Legacy on Ha Long Bay. It gives Paradise Grand as 70 metres long and 13.5 wide, for up to 80 guests, and listings date her to 2020. A four-star reviewer puts the sundeck at 450 m² and calls it among the largest in the region. The jacuzzi up there is large and outdoors, and La Terapia spa has six treatment rooms.

Which cabin should you book?

The Grand Balcony is the cheapest: eighteen of them on the main deck, 28 m² each. The seventeen Executive Grand Balcony cabins on the deck above are the same size, for $26 more a night. Two Grand Balcony Suites at the stern and two Captain’s View Grand Suites at the bow are 35 m², and the Captain’s View suites have their own jacuzzi tub.

Be careful with the bathtub. The operator publishes pictures of a tub set beside a window with the karsts through it, and a two-star guest had no tub at all. Those are different rooms. If a bath is why you are booking, put the grade name on the confirmation.

What does Paradise Grand cost?

The originvietnam.com high-season sheet, which that seller applies from 1 September and which we read on 8 October 2026, prices each cabin for two on the one-night trip: Grand Balcony $395, Executive Grand Balcony $421, Grand Balcony Suite $506 and Captain’s View Grand Suite $536. Two sharing the Grand Balcony pay $198 each. Between May and August the same seller charged $365 for the Grand Balcony, read on 6 August 2026, so the season moves the price by about $30 a night. The same seller lists two nights at $789 to $1,073 a cabin; the operator’s own site publishes only the one-night programme, so ask whether the longer trip runs on your dates.

The fare covers meals, two bottles of water a day, the cooking demonstration and tai chi. Drinks, the spa, tips and the road from Hanoi are extra. The operator’s limousines collect from the Old Quarter between 08:45 and 09:15; originvietnam.com lists the round trip at $42 a guest. Wi-Fi reaches the restaurant and bar only. Our guide to what is not included covers the usual extras.

Where does Paradise Grand go?

Into Lan Ha, on one of two seasonal programmes. Check in on Tuan Chau between 11:30 and 12:00 in winter, or from 11:00 in summer; the speedboat leaves at about noon and lunch is at 13:00. From October to April the afternoon goes to Viet Hai village, on foot, by bicycle or by electric car, and the next morning at 07:30 to Dark and Bright Cave by bamboo boat. From late April to September the cave comes on the first afternoon, at 14:45, and the second morning is spent at Ao Ech, the lagoon called Frog Pond. Either way you settle your bill between 09:30 and 10:00 and are back at Tuan Chau by 10:30. A four-star guest counted the clock and got under 24 hours.

Two things get cancelled. The Piano Lounge band does not play every night, and one guest reports late cancellations on technical grounds or low turnout. Kayaking gets swapped for bamboo boats when the bay is choppy or the port authority says no, and the same guest’s objection is the lateness of the telling. Ask at the point of booking what the substitute is. Viet Hai village describes the winter stop.

What do guests complain about?

A family arrived to find a school group of thirty teenagers and five young children on board. The noise ran to one in the morning in the corridors by the cabins and started again at half past four. Nobody had warned the three other families, and the staff manager was never seen. A two-star guest lists what the room did not have: no bathtub, no kettle, no table and chairs, no free tea or coffee. Cold food. And no warm water in the jacuzzi, which a four-star reviewer in January 2026 also reports, adding that it is not heated for winter.

One party in August 2025 never sailed at all: they waited about five hours at the Paradise Vietnam terminal before being told the boat would not go, because of the weather. The operator’s terms explain the wait: the port authority decides by 15:00 on the day. Cancel before it decides and you get nothing back; wait, eat lunch and see the sailing cancelled, and you pay $25 for the lunch and get the rest back. Booking one to six cabins, you can cancel free more than seven days out; from seven to three days you lose half, and inside 72 hours the full fare. Our cancellation guide explains what to ask.

Who it suits

Couples who want a balcony on Lan Ha and will spend the afternoon on the deck. It is on the best-value list and among the other Lan Ha boats.

Who should look elsewhere

Families with young children who need quiet, since a school group can fill the corridors. If you are still choosing water rather than boat, start with the bays.

Facts on this page come from paradisevietnam.com (read 6 August and 14 October 2026) and the originvietnam.com sheets read on 6 August and 8 October 2026.