Verdure Lotus Grandeur Cruise

The Verdure Lotus Grandeur sells space. The operator’s smallest cabin is 32 m², and on its own page every cabin class has a private balcony and a jacuzzi tub. One guest, comparing it with other Ha Long boats, singled out how wide the glass is: on the balcony, at the bedroom window and beside the bath.

The company behind it, Verdure Lotus Cruises, runs a second boat, the Verdure Lotus Classic, in Lan Ha. This page is only about the Grandeur, which stays in Ha Long Bay and boards from the company’s lounge at Tuan Chau. The two share a Tripadvisor listing, so read any review there with care.

What do you get for the money?

You get a large cabin and a crew that works hard on food. The operator lists six classes, from 32 m² to 75 m². Agencies describe a steel boat of three decks for 48 passengers, which besthalongcruises.com says sailed earlier as the O’Gallery Lotus.

The theme on board is old Vietnam. Guests are offered a staged royal-court welcome, traditional dress to wear for photos at no charge, a Dong Ho folk-print workshop and a spring-roll class at six in the evening. Dinner is served outside on deck. There is a shared jacuzzi at the bow, which a German guest named as one of the highlights.

The kitchen is where reviewers in English are most specific. Indian vegetarians were served poori, another guest praised the daal, and another guest with dietary requirements had separate meals made. Not everyone agrees. One guest found the Indian cooking a letdown and told others to stick with the Vietnamese food. Another enjoyed both buffets but called the set Western dinner plain, with overcooked oysters.

How long are you actually on board?

Twenty-two hours and a bit on the one-night trip. The operator’s timetable has you boarding at 12:15 and stepping off between 10:30 and 10:45 the next morning. Brunch is eaten while the boat heads in, and one reviewer said it was served after they were already back at the harbour. A German guest described the outings as short and tightly scheduled, though an English-speaking guest found the same programme relaxed and unhurried. Read two days or three days before you choose, and allow for the road from Hanoi, which a Brazilian guest put at three hours (getting from Hanoi to Ha Long has the options).

The bay itself is the other cost. The operator’s own comparison page admits Ha Long is among the most crowded places in Vietnam, worst on Vietnamese holidays. One guest’s least favourite stop was a beach that was simply too full.

What has gone wrong for guests?

Four accounts are worth knowing. They are what individual guests say happened to them.

• A French guest gave one star. Their cabin had a speaker that played loud announcements, including at 7:15 in the morning, and the manager reportedly said it could not be turned off because the boat is built that way. They also report that the shared jacuzzi was ice-cold, the whirlpool bath in their cabin did not work and hot water ran short.
• Two guests write that they were moved to another boat. One had booked three days and was shifted to a much smaller vessel for the second night while the Grandeur was being inspected. The other praised how the switch was handled.
• One traveller’s bags, left outside the door at checkout as instructed, went off with another group and came back via the driver.
• A three-star reviewer found some rooms tired. A Brazilian guest said the boat had seen better days. A Spanish guest said everything had been renovated.

What to do about it: ask in writing which boat you will sleep on each night, and whether the cabin speaker can be muted. The complaints guide covers the patterns across the fleet.

What happens on the one-night trip?

You board at 12:15, see Titop and Luon that afternoon and Sung Sot the next morning, and are ashore by 10:45. The operator’s timetable, in order:

Time	Day 1
11:30	Arrive at the Tuan Chau lounge (if you bought the transfer, pickup in Hanoi is 07:30 to 08:10)
12:15	Board, welcome drink, safety briefing
12:45	Buffet lunch while sailing south-east
14:20	Tender to Titop Island: climb to the viewpoint or swim
15:45	Luon Cave by kayak or bamboo boat
17:00	Happy hour (buy two, get one free); spring-roll class and sunset snacks at 18:00
19:15	Dinner on deck; karaoke and squid fishing from 20:30

Time	Day 2
06:15	Tai chi up top, sunrise permitting
06:30	Light breakfast
07:20	Sung Sot Cave
09:15	Check out; luggage goes outside the cabin door
09:45	Brunch on the way in, then settle the bar bill
10:30	Off the boat at Tuan Chau

A guest who sailed in December missed the sunrise because of the weather, so treat the 06:15 slot as a hope.

On the three-day trip you leave the Grandeur at Titop on the second morning and spend the day on a smaller day boat: kayaking at Trinh Nu and Drum caves, lunch aboard, a swim at Ba Trai Dao, then the pearl farm or Me Cung cave, back by 15:30. Drinks on that day boat are charged.

Which cabin, and what does it cost?

Price on request. The operator sells through its own booking page and the large booking sites; ask for the cabin total for your date, with the class named.

What the operator publishes about each class:

Cabin	Size	Count	Floor	Sleeps
Deluxe with Balcony	32 m²	8	First	2 adults
Executive with Balcony	32 m²	8	Second	2 adults
Royal with Balcony	55 m²	2	First	2 adults + extra bed
Trip Suite with Balcony	55 m²	3	Second	3 adults + extra bed
Family Connecting Double	64 m², two rooms	4	Second	4 adults
Family Suite with Balcony	75 m²	1	Second	4 adults + 2 extra beds

Deluxe and Executive are the same size, a floor apart. The Family Connecting cabin is two rooms with a door between them. There is a single Family Suite on the boat, so families should book early.

Verdure Lotus sells two rate plans across both its boats. On the 30-day plan you can cancel free until 30 days before arrival and pay half the room rate after that; on the 7-day plan it is free until a week out and the full rate inside it. You pay a 30% deposit and the rest at the harbour. On the operator’s child terms the first child aged one to four is free, children of five to nine pay 85% on an extra bed, and ten and over pay the adult rate.

What is included, and what is not?

Meals on the plan are included, along with the outings, kayak or bamboo boat at Luon, the on-board activities, a guide who speaks English, and in-cabin tea, coffee and bottled water. Bar drinks are extra, plus 10% VAT on them and a 3.5% fee if you pay the on-board bill by card. So are the spa and the Hanoi transfer, which the operator arranges on request. One guest says their agent never made clear that drinks were extra, another tells future guests to expect it, and one found beer left out of the happy-hour offer. More in what is not included.

Who is it for?

Couples and families who will spend their hours in the cabin. A 32 m² room with its own tub, balcony and wide windows makes the short stay feel like more. Groups of three or four get real choice: a Trip Suite, a pair of connecting cabins, or the one Family Suite. It sits among our family cruises.

Who should look elsewhere?

Anyone who wants quiet water and long sailing. The Grandeur’s route covers Titop, Luon and Sung Sot, the standard Ha Long stops on a bay its own operator calls crowded. The one-night plan gives you Titop and Luon between 14:20 and 17:00, then just over an hour in Sung Sot the next morning. People who want to be left alone may find the programme insistent. That was the French guest’s other complaint about the staff.

Where these facts come from

The lounge, the timetables, both programmes, the cabin classes, sizes and counts, the inclusions and the cancellation and child terms come from verdurelotuscruises.com, read on 10 and 14 October 2026; besthalongcruises.com and bestpricetravel.com name the same lounge. Launch year, hull, decks and capacity are from those two agencies. Guest remarks come from the boat’s own Google listing, which names the Grandeur.