Victory Star Cruise

Victory Star is a steel boat of 32 cabins on Ha Long Bay, launched in 2009 and run by Bai Tho Junks, the Hong Gai company that also sails Victory and Treasure. She carries up to 64 guests over four decks and boards by tender from Ha Long International Cruise Port, at 9 Ha Long Street in Bai Chay. The entry cabin is $260 a night for two, from $130 per person, two sharing, on the halongbaytours.com listing read on 28 October 2026.

Where does Victory Star go?

The bay’s standard loop. Arrive at the port by 11:45; the tender leaves at a quarter past twelve and she sails at half past. The afternoon goes to Luon Cave, by kayak or a bamboo boat, then Titop for the beach or the climb. Next morning is Sung Sot. Cabins are cleared at 09:15 and you are ashore between 10:30 and 11:15. The port is the main terminal rather than Tuan Chau, and which harbour you leave from explains why the distinction costs people money.

The two-night trip does Sung Sot and Titop on the first afternoon, puts Luon on the last morning, and spends the middle day on a transfer boat: kayaking at Trinh Nu and Trong caves, a swim at Ba Trai Dao in Lan Ha Bay, and a pearl farm. That day boat is the only part of either programme that reaches Lan Ha. The caves and islands covers most of what this trip does.

Which cabin should you book?

The Suite, if the extra $55 is comfortable. These are prices for one cabin, the highest rate the halongbaytours.com listing showed for each grade on 28 October 2026, so treat them as the most you should be asked for. Sizes and decks are the operator’s.

The best room on board costs $100 more than the cheapest. That buys 12 m², a bathtub and the upper deck. What it does not buy is a different kitchen, a different route or a different crew, and the kitchen is where the complaints are. What a luxury cruise actually buys sets out which parts of a boat a cabin grade can change.

Three adults can take the Deluxe Triple Ocean View, 24 m² on the main deck, priced on request. Under Bai Tho’s child policy one child under five sharing a bed with two adults is free and a second pays half; five to eleven pay half without an extra bed and 75% with one.

What does the fare include?

The cabin, every meal on the programme, tea and coffee at breakfast, a welcome drink, one bottle of water a head each night, an English or Vietnamese-speaking guide, entrance fees, the cooking class, tai chi, squid fishing, the sunset party, the bamboo boat or a kayak, insurance on board and the service charge. Drinks, the spa, VAT and tips are extra, and Christmas, New Year and Tet carry a surcharge. The road from Hanoi is arranged on request, with Old Quarter pickups between 08:00 and 08:30. Wifi reaches the restaurant and bar and is weak at times. What is not included covers the rest.

What do guests complain about on Victory Star?

The food is the commonest complaint in the one- and two-star reviews. One guest describes mainly stir-fried plates and a salad of tomato and cucumber, with an almost non-existent breakfast. A vegan guest in 2023 had to send back dishes with dairy or egg in them, and a Gujarati guest in 2025 told others not to expect good food. One guest found a rubber band inside a fried spring roll. Food on board explains what the price bracket normally buys, and this kitchen is under it.

The second thread is time with nothing in it. An Italian guest who took two nights in 2024 says that from three in the afternoon of the second day until eleven the next morning nothing happened. A guest in 2023 saw no added value in staying overnight at all, and one in January 2026 found most of the day empty. If you were planning the longer trip, two days or three is worth reading before you pay for it.

Then the boat’s age shows in small ways guests report first-hand: hard beds, a towel rail that came off the wall, a loud bathroom fan, a dead socket, ancient towels, a bathroom that offered little privacy. A French guest in March 2025 had a cabin sitting directly above the engines and the generator, which ran all night. If the room number matters to you, ask which deck and which end.

Guests in every star band raise the crowds and the state of the water, and most of them say plainly that this is the bay’s problem rather than the boat’s. We agree, and what guests complain about sorts the two.

The praise, as on most boats here, is about people. Guests name Lilly, Scott and a waitress called Menton Jolie; one names the person who handled their booking before they had paid anything. Several of the one- and two-star reviews still praise the crew.

Who it suits

People who want one night on the main channel in a balcony suite for close to the price of an entry cabin, who will eat what arrives, and who came for the deck and the crew. At $315 a cabin the Suite costs $55 more than the entry room, which is why she also sits on the best-value list.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone booking the three-day trip on the strength of the luxury label. A two-night guest describes the extra day as empty hours, the kitchen is the most repeated failure in the reviews, and no cabin grade on this rate sheet buys a different kitchen. Book the one night here, or put the two-night budget on a boat whose kitchen its guests write about.

Where these facts come from

The pier, the times, both programmes, the cabin sizes and decks, the capacity, decks and hull, the inclusions and the child policy come from baithojunks.com, read on 10 August 2026; halongbaytours.com and besthalongcruises.com give the same pier and launch year. Prices are from the halongbaytours.com listing read on 28 October 2026 and move with season, so confirm yours on the quote. Guest remarks are from Google reviews of this boat.