Venezia Cruise

Venezia sells a night in Lan Ha Bay on a small boat that you join by tender in Cat Ba town, with all meals, kayaking and the Viet Hai village ride in the price. The operator’s lowest figure, read on 10 October 2026, is $125 per person, two sharing, for guests already staying on Cat Ba.

What are you booking on Venezia?

A small group on one of two small boats. The operator describes a 10-cabin boat that takes 10 to 18 guests and a 5-cabin boat that takes 5 to 10, and either can be chartered whole.

You board at Beo Harbour in Cat Ba town, a short tender ride out, and the afternoon is spent around Ba Trai Dao after passing Coc Ngoi islet and the Cua Dong channel, with a swim and the kayaks out before sunset.

On the second morning, Venezia takes you ashore for Viet Hai, a village inside Cat Ba National Park, by bicycle or electric car. One parent who sailed in January 2025 with a three-year-old says they skipped the bike and took the car because the child liked it better. Our Viet Hai village guide covers what the ride involves.

What does the overnight look like, hour by hour?

You are on the Venezia boat for a little under 24 hours, from about 12:15 to 11:45 the next day. That is the owner’s own timetable, and a solo traveller in May 2026 described it the same way: noon to noon.

• 07:00 Hanoi Old Quarter pick-up, if you bought the bus; arrival at Beo Harbour is around 11:30.
• 12:10 Tender out to the boat; lunch at 12:30, and the route afterwards runs by Coc Ngoi islet and through Cua Dong toward Ba Trai Dao.
• 14:30 Kayaking around Ba Trai Dao, and a swim from about 15:20.
• 17:15 Back aboard for sunset, a cooking class and the happy-hour deal.
• 19:00 Dinner, then squid fishing and karaoke from 21:00.
• 06:00 Sunrise and a light breakfast.
• 08:00 Tender to Cat Ba island, then a bicycle (or an electric car) to Viet Hai, with a fish foot spa and local wine.
• 10:45 Lunch on the way back; ashore by 11:45, Hanoi around 16:15.

The operator’s two-night version keeps the boat as your hotel for both nights. On the middle day a day boat leaves at 09:45 for Dark and Bright Cave, lunch is served on board it, and you are back on Venezia at 15:30; Viet Hai moves to the last morning. A Dutch guest who took two nights in January 2026 found the Dark Cave closed and the second afternoon close to the first, with the same mooring and a fish-farm visit added. Our two days or three guide sets out when the extra night is worth it. For the water itself, see Lan Ha Bay.

What does a cabin cost?

From $125 per person, two sharing, read on the operator’s 2D1N page on 10 October 2026. That figure covers pick-up and drop-off at a Cat Ba hotel. The owner says these prices apply only to bookings made through a sales contact it names on the page, Jasmine, so quote the page when you book. It publishes per-person tour prices, so $250 for a cabin of two is our arithmetic.

One-night prices were read on 10 October 2026, two-night prices on 14 October.

All three prices are before the 8% VAT the owner lists as excluded, about $10 more per person on the $125 version.

The owner publishes one per-person price per transfer option and lists no surcharge for any cabin class. Ask before you book whether the triple, family or ocean-view cabins cost more. The classes run from the 18 m² Deluxe Double/Twin through the 22 m² Ocean View to the 25 m² Deluxe Triple and Deluxe Family, and none has a private balcony.

The other terms on the same page: a single guest pays $50 extra a night; children up to four travel free sharing with parents, five to nine pay 75%, and ten and over pay the adult rate.

Which boat, and which cabin, will you get?

Ask, because the operator allocates both. The cabin pages list four classes of four cabins each and a single Honeymoon Suite of 18 m². A guest who booked through Booking.com in June 2025 says the main boat was full and their party was put on a different vessel that did not match the pictures.

The cabin itself is the second risk. In April 2026 a French family booked two cabins and found one matched the photographs while the other was much smaller, with a tiny window, beside the kitchen and the engines: hot, noisy and smelling of both. The May 2026 solo traveller describes the same kind of room, small and next to the engine. That guest had also paid the single supplement and got no better cabin for it.

None of the four classes on the owner’s site reads like that room. All four are listed at 18 to 25 m², and three are placed on the first deck. Ask for the boat, the cabin class and the cabin number in writing, and ask directly whether it is the cabin next to the engine room. If the reply is vague, book elsewhere.

What is included, and what is not?

All meals on the programme, the activities, entrance and government fees, an English-speaking guide, a welcome drink and bottled water in the cabin are included, according to the operator. The bus is included only in the version that sells it.

Excluded: drinks, the 8% VAT, tips and anything not listed. Water is where guests get caught. The cabin bottle is free, but three English-language reviewers, writing between May 2025 and May 2026, say other water was not, and one says they were charged per 500 ml bottle without warning. Budget for drinks, and pay in cash on board: the owner adds 11% to card payments. Our guide to what is not included explains how this works across the bay.

The owner’s terms say a paid booking is non-refundable, that it will help you move the date, and that a no-show is charged in full. Get the date-change terms in writing before you pay; our cancellation policies guide lists what to ask.

Who is Venezia for?

Travellers already on Cat Ba get the best of it: the $125 version starts at their hotel, avoids the long bus, and sails what the operator calls the less visited side of the water; compare it with other Lan Ha Bay cruises. Families of three do well too, since the triple and family classes are the largest cabins the owner lists. Anyone after a small group gets one: the operator caps the larger boat at 18 guests.

Who should look elsewhere?

Solo travellers, first. The $50 supplement buys no better cabin, and the one solo account we have ended up beside the engine. Anyone who needs to know the exact boat before paying should pick from our small boats list a cruise that sails one named hull, because here the operator decides between two. The same small size cuts the other way for people who like room to spread out: the owner lists a restaurant, bars and sundecks. And if drinks with dinner matter, expect a bar bill.

Where these facts come from

The two boats, the timetables, the cabin classes and sizes, the prices and the inclusions, child and booking terms come from veneziacruises.com, read on 10 and 14 October 2026. Beo Harbour is in Cat Ba town, on the far side of Lan Ha from the Ha Long piers in our harbour guide. Guest remarks are from reviews we collected.