Private boat charter on Ha Long Bay

A charter puts your group alone on the boat, on an itinerary agreed with the operator in advance. Operators sell it for weddings, company trips and family occasions. Every boat listed here belongs to an operator that offers whole-boat hire on its own website. Two of them carry a printed whole-boat price, both from the same operator; for the rest, you send dates and numbers and the operator quotes back.

What does it cost to charter a whole boat?

A whole-boat charter of Stellar of the Seas costs USD 18,711 for one night, and Elite of the Seas USD 34,619, in each case roughly what all the cabins would cost booked one by one. A Class Cruises Group lists both in a tariff headed “PRICES 2026 & 2027”, read on its website on 16 October 2026. Each figure is for the boat and the whole programme, in US dollars.

Boat	Cabins	One night (2 days)	Two nights (3 days)
Stellar of the Seas	22	USD 18,711	USD 34,558
Elite of the Seas	35	USD 34,619	USD 64,055

Add up the double rates for all 22 suites on Stellar’s own tariff and you reach USD 19,362. The charter comes in about 3% below that. On Elite the gap is about 2%, against USD 35,399 for its 35 cabins.

Split across a full boat, the one-night charter comes to about USD 425 a head on Stellar, with two adults in each of its 22 suites, against USD 366 a head for its cheapest suite on a regular departure. Elite with two adults in each of its 35 cabins carries 70, at about USD 495 a head.

The catch for a group of eight is that a charter of Stellar of the Seas still prices every cabin. Four couples could book four of Stellar’s Junior Suites on a regular departure for USD 2,928 between them, at USD 732 a suite; the same eight people taking the whole boat pay USD 18,711, and most of that pays for cabins nobody sleeps in. For a group of eight to twelve, a boat of four to six cabins fits better. Prince has four cabins, Orchid Premium five, and Heritage Line’s Violet six, which its operator says sleep 12.

Who charters a whole boat?

Groups marking an occasion, going by what operators advertise. Indochina Sails writes about wedding and company charters on its three Indochine boats. Nostalgia offers exclusive charters of one or two nights on its 10-cabin boat, on the same page as its birthday offer. Indochina Junk offers Red Dragon charters to families as well as groups, and both Indochina Junk and Bai Tho Junks print a separate children’s rule for chartered trips.

How many guests can a charter take?

Operators give limits from 12 guests on the six-cabin Violet to 168 on Diana, so have the exact headcount written on your quote. These are the limits operators state on their own sites:

Boat	Cabins	Guests the operator gives
Violet	6	12
Venezia	10	10 to 18
Dragon’s Pearl	10	up to 20
Emperor	10	30, the number it is licensed and insured to carry
Cozy Bay Grand	17	up to 34
Calista	38	114
Diana	56	up to 168

A Class sets its limit per room: two adults and two children under 12, or three adults with an extra charge for the third. For how crowded those numbers feel on deck, see how many people are on board.

How long can a charter last?

From a day to more than a week, depending on the operator. A Class prices Stellar and Elite from two days up to five days and four nights, USD 66,424 for Stellar at that length. Emperor takes charters from a day trip up to six nights. Lux Cruises Group arranges private charters of four to eight days on Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan, out into the Gulf of Tonkin or along the coast; its regular trips cruise Lan Ha Bay.

What should you get in writing?

Ask for each of these on the quote itself.

Who counts as an adult

On an Indochina Junk charter, children from four pay the adult rate; on its shared departures, children from 4 to 12 on a separate bed pay 75%. On both, one child under four per cabin goes free when sharing a paid cabin. Bai Tho Junks charges the adult rate from five on a charter and lets up to five children under five travel free.

What comes with it

A Class’s cabin programmes currently come with a round-trip limousine between Hanoi and Ha Long and free-flowing drinks with meals. Have the charter quote say whether both are in. Our guides to what is not included and the road from Hanoi cover the usual extras.

The route and the times

Emeraude publishes charter itineraries and Cozy Bay Grand advertises custom timing. Have the stops, the boarding time and the return written down.

The day of the week

Cozy Bay Grand says its full-charter rates move with the season and the weekday, and that midweek dates are easier to secure.

The cancellation scale

Several operators give charters an earlier cancellation scale than cabin bookings. Five print the scale that applies to a charter:

Operator	Charter cancellation scale
Orchid Cruises (Orchid Trendy and three other Orchid boats here)	free from 60 days out; 25% at 45 to 59 days; 50% at 30 to 45; 100% inside 30
Emperor	25% at 90 to 119 days; 50% at 60 to 89; 75% at 45 to 59; 100% from 44 days out
Orient Legacy (charters of seven or more cabins)	free more than 120 days out; 25% at 90 to 119 days; 50% at 60 to 89; 75% at 45 to 59; 100% from 44
Aimee	30% more than 61 days out; 50% at 46 to 60; 75% at 30 to 45; 100% inside 30
A Class (Stellar, Elite)	one scale for every booking: free until seven days out, 100% after that

Our cancellation policies guide has the cabin-booking rules side by side.

Which of these boats do guests rate highest?

Among the boats here with more than 300 reviews in our collection, the three with the highest five-star share are Stellar of the Seas, at 99.0% across 3,305 reviews, Orchid Trendy at 97.0% across 435, and Nostalgia at 93.5% across 446 (counted 25 October 2026). Those scores cover all the reviews we have collected for each boat, from guests on any departure.

How do you ask for a charter quote?

Send an enquiry from the boat’s page with your dates, the number of nights, adults, and children with their ages. We pass it to the operator, who quotes and takes payment directly. How booking works has the rest.