Christmas and New Year on Ha Long Bay: surcharges

Expect to pay a surcharge on most Ha Long boats if you sleep aboard on 24 or 31 December. For 69 boats, the boat’s own site or its halongbaytours.com page, read on 15 October 2026, puts an amount on those nights. Eighteen of those lines are clearly current: the operator’s own terms, or a listing that names December 2026 or Lunar New Year 2027. On the 16 of those with a flat dollar figure, the charge runs from $30 to $100 an adult, and 10 ask $45 to $65. Cozy Bay Grand asks VND 400,000, and Halora Nova’s listing 20% of the room rate.

In 2026, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fall on a Thursday. Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, with its eve on Friday 5 February, and many of the same boats charge for that week too.

How much is the Christmas and New Year surcharge this season?

Between $30 and $100 an adult on the 16 flat-dollar lines written for 2026 to 2027, with $50 the middle figure. Cozy Bay Grand’s VND 400,000 is lower still. The figure is added for each holiday night you spend on board. Operator rows come from the boat’s own site; the rest come from its halongbaytours.com listing, which gives Lunar New Year 2027 dates (or, for Athena Premium, December 2026) in the same line. All were read on 15 October 2026.

Boat	24 and 31 Dec, per adult or person	Child	Source
Heritage Line Ginger	$100	$50	Operator terms
Heritage Line Violet	$100	$50	Operator terms
Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan	$80	$40	halongbaytours.com
Athena Premium	$65 a night, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Hermes	$60	$45, ages 5 to 11; under 5 free	Operator
Mon Cheri	$60, gala dinner	$50	halongbaytours.com
Peony	$60, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Aqua of the Seas	$50, gala dinner		Operator
Orchid Luxury	$50, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Orchid Premium	$50, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Athena Royal	$45 on the 24th, $50 on the 31st	$40 on the 31st	halongbaytours.com
Larissa	$45 a night, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Orchid Classic	$45, gala dinner		halongbaytours.com
Doria	$35, for “Christmas” and New Year’s Eve		Operator
Renea	$30, compulsory gala dinner		Operator
Starlight	$30, compulsory gala, 31st only		Operator
Cozy Bay Grand	VND 400,000 (the operator puts it at about $16)		Operator
Halora Nova	20% of the room rate		halongbaytours.com

For a couple, double the figure. On those current lines, two adults on Christmas Eve add $90 to an Orchid Classic cabin and $120 to a Peony cabin (both from halongbaytours.com), and $200 to a Ginger cabin (Heritage Line’s terms). A family of two adults and one child on Mon Cheri on New Year’s Eve adds $170, on its halongbaytours.com listing.

What do the other listings show?

The other 51 boats have a figure on their halongbaytours.com listing, read 15 October 2026, but the line either carries last season’s dates or names no season at all. Treat these as a guide to the size of the charge, and ask the seller for the 2026 amount.

Per adult or person, 24 and 31 Dec	Line dated for 2025 to 2026	No season on the line
$80 to $85	Capella $85, Emperor $80	Bhaya Soul $80, Lyra Grandeur $85
$60		Orient Legacy
$50 to $55	Ambassador Signature, Diana, Signature, Venus $52	Au Co $55, Paradise Elegance, Paradise Grand $55, Paradise Legacy
$45	Aime’e, Catherine, Genesis Regal, Le Journey Elegance, Majesty Prime	Calista, Emeraude Classic, the three La Regina boats (Grand, Legend, Royal), Sea Stars
$40	Aspira, Cycad, Hera Grand, Indochine, Indochine Grand, Indochine Premium, La Casta, La Casta Regal, Rosy, Scarlet Pearl, Sena, Swan, V’Spirit
$35	Alisa Premier, Amanda, Amanda Legend, Hera Classic Boutique	Calypso (31st only), Oriental Sails (31st only)
$20 to $30	Erina $30, La Pandora $25, Victory Star $25, Treasure Junk $20, Victory $20
A share of the room rate	Syrena 15%

Two halongbaytours.com listings mix the seasons. Nostalgia asks $40 an adult in a December line that still names 2025, beside Lunar New Year dates for 2027. Victorious asks $60 an adult under a heading marked 2025, with Lunar New Year 2027 dates in the same sentence.

Across all 69 lines, 33 set a lower figure for children, between $15 and $50, and 23 describe the surcharge as payment for a gala dinner.

Is the gala dinner compulsory?

As the listings and the boats’ own sites word it, yes. Each of the 69 lines ties the charge to the holiday night itself, with no mention of opting out of the party, and Renea’s and Starlight’s own sites use the word compulsory. Young children can be exempt, as on Hermes, which charges nothing under 5.

The phrase “gala dinner” turns up in ordinary itineraries too. Amanda lists a sundeck gala dinner, weather permitting, among what its ordinary fare includes, and Hera Grand’s three-day trip has one built in. That dinner is part of the fare. The holiday charge is the separate line in the exclusions.

Two Indochina Junk boats stand out. The halongbaytours.com pages for Dragon Legend and Dragon’s Pearl, read 15 October 2026, put “Not any” against the peak-season surcharge, and the company’s own Bai Tu Long festive page for Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025 describes crew dressed as Santa handing out candles and canvas bags to adults on 24 December, gingerbread for children to ice, mulled wine and hot chocolate, then fireworks, cold cuts and champagne on the 31st. Get the “no surcharge” in your confirmation, because that page was written for a past season.

Do 25 December and 1 January cost extra?

Only two of the 69 lines name either night. Capella’s halongbaytours.com listing, still dated for 2025 to 2026, charges $85 an adult on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 January. Lyra Grandeur’s halongbaytours.com listing, which names no season, charges $85 an adult for 24, 25 and 31 December and adds 15% of the booking for 1 January. Of the other 67, 66 name 24 December, 31 December or both, and Doria’s own site says “Christmas” and New Year’s Eve, so a cruise that boards on 25 December or 1 January falls outside the holiday rule as those boats write it. Get that confirmed in the booking.

Three lines name only 31 December: Calypso’s and Oriental Sails’ listings and Starlight’s own site. Ask them to confirm in writing that Christmas Eve carries no charge.

Guests posting on the days after describe what the surcharge bought. One on Alisa Premier, posting on 10 January 2024, paid $30 extra for Christmas and got a Christmas dinner with drinks and snacks thrown in. Another Alisa Premier guest, posting on New Year’s Day 2025, had a New Year party with fireworks. A Peony guest posting on 29 December 2023 spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day aboard with live music and the crew singing Jingle Bells, though by their own account they had eaten better than the Western and Vietnamese mix served on board. A family on Capella, posting on 25 December 2024, filled Christmas Eve for the children with an evening film, mini golf, the pool and a visit to the bridge.

The catch is that what the charge buys varies by boat, and not every holiday evening lands. A Catherine guest posting on 30 December 2025 thought the Christmas cookie-decorating session could have been better run, and found three squid-fishing rods for the whole boat, with some guests waiting an hour for a turn. A Sena guest posting on 2 January 2026 found the boat dressed for Christmas but older than its photographs. Our December guide shows what guests say about crowded excursions that month.

How do you tell whether a figure is this season’s?

Look at the dates in the same line. Of the 61 halongbaytours.com lines, ten name December 2026 or Lunar New Year 2027: Athena Premium, Athena Royal, Halora Nova, Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan, Larissa, Mon Cheri, Orchid Classic, Orchid Luxury, Orchid Premium and Peony. Those are this season’s numbers, and so are the eight operator figures.

Thirty-four of the 61 still print Lunar New Year dates of February 2026, or, in Capella’s case, December 2025, which reads to us as a block carried over from last season. Fifteen give no season, and two mix the seasons. For any of these, ask the seller to confirm the 2026 amount in writing before you pay. Figures do move: the Alisa Premier guest who paid $30 for Christmas 2023 would see $35 on its halongbaytours.com listing today, in a line still dated for 2025 to 2026.

What is the weather like over Christmas and New Year?

Cool and mostly dry, with cold nights on deck. These are averages over ten years of ERA5 reanalysis, a model grid about 25 km wide, for the exact dates.

Date, 2016 to 2025	Daytime high	Night-time low	Years with 1 mm of rain or more
24 December	21.1°C	17.3°C	1 of 10
25 December	21.3°C	17.1°C	1 of 10
31 December	19.5°C	15.0°C	1 of 10
1 January	19.1°C	15.0°C	2 of 10

New Year’s Eve runs about two degrees colder than Christmas Eve. The coldest December day in the ten years, at 8.1°C, fell on 31 December 2018. If your boat lets off fireworks at midnight, you watch them in that air on an open deck, so pack a proper warm layer.

Over the whole run from 24 December to 1 January, nine seasons from 2016/17 to 2024/25, 14 of 81 days had a millimetre of rain or more, and 8 had gusts of 50 km/h or above. The strongest was 68.8 km/h on 28 December 2018. Three seasons of sea-surface readings average 18.5°C over the same dates, which is cold for a swim. Cloud covered 65% of the sky on an average day of that run, and the sun showed for 6.2 hours. The weather guide sets the province’s rules for stopping boats in bad weather beside the rest of the year.

Does Lunar New Year 2027 cost more?

Yes, on most boats that print a rule. Lunar New Year 2027 is Saturday 6 February, with its eve on Friday 5 February, and most of the listing pages that have already moved to 2027 apply their charge from 5 to 8 February.

Boat	Lunar New Year 2027 surcharge	Dates
Peony	$60 a person, same gala rule as December	5 to 8 Feb
Mon Cheri	$60 an adult, $50 a child	5 to 8 Feb
Victorious	$60 an adult, $30 a child, a night	5 to 8 Feb
Orchid Premium and Orchid Luxury	$50 a person	5 to 8 Feb
Orchid Classic	$45 a person	5 to 8 Feb
Larissa	$45 a person a night	5 to 8 Feb
Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan	$40 an adult, $35 a child	5 to 8 Feb
Nostalgia	$30 an adult, $20 a child, a night	5 and 6 Feb
Renea	$30 a person	5 to 8 Feb
Athena Premium	$25 a person a night	5 to 8 Feb
Athena Royal	$15 a person	5 to 8 Feb
Halora Nova	20% of the room rate	6 to 8 Feb
Stellar of the Seas	20% of the cruise rate	5 to 7 Feb
Elite of the Seas	20% of the cruise rate	5 to 7 Feb

All from the boats’ halongbaytours.com pages, read 15 October 2026. Three operators state a Tet figure on their own sites without naming 2027 dates: Aqua of the Seas charges $25 a person for the eve and days one to three, Doria $35 a person, and Cozy Bay Grand VND 300,000 a person for the eve and days one to three. A Peony guest posting on 20 February 2026, after a cruise over Tet, describes fireworks at midnight and lucky-money envelopes from the crew.

The bay in early February is greyer than at Christmas. From 5 to 8 February across 2016 to 2025 the average high was 19.3°C and the low 15.7°C, but 12 of the 40 days had rain of a millimetre or more, cloud covered 77% of the sky against 65% over the Christmas run, and the sun showed for 4.6 hours a day against 6.2. Our January guide has the month before Tet.

What should you ask before booking a holiday night?

Five questions, by email, so the answers are in writing.

1. What is the surcharge for my night, in dollars, for each adult and each child, and is it already inside the price you quoted?
2. Is it for 24 and 31 December only, or for 25 December and 1 January as well?
3. Is the figure confirmed for 2026, or carried over from last year’s terms?
4. What does it buy: a set dinner, drinks, fireworks, a party on deck?
5. If the province stops boats sailing on my date, do I get a new date or my money back, and does the surcharge come back too?

Our cancellation policy guide shows how much the ordinary terms differ between sellers, and what a fare leaves out lists the other extras that arrive as a separate bill. If you are bringing children, the family boats list and our guide to cruising with kids cover cabins and child fares.

Christmas and New Year cruise questions

Can I book a Ha Long cruise on Christmas Eve without the gala dinner? Not on a boat that charges one. The charge is tied to sleeping on board on 24 or 31 December, and Renea’s and Starlight’s own sites call their gala compulsory. Some boats exempt young children: Hermes charges nothing under 5. To avoid it, board on 25 December or 1 January, which most lines leave out of their holiday rule, and get that confirmed when you book.

How much should I budget for New Year’s Eve on a Ha Long boat? For two adults, $90 to $130 on top of the fare covers most boats whose figure is current. Of the 18 lines written for this season and read on 15 October 2026, 10 of the 16 flat-dollar ones ask $45 to $65 an adult. The dollar figures run from $30 a person on Renea and Starlight, both from the operators’ own sites, to $100 an adult on Heritage Line’s Ginger and Violet, from Heritage Line’s terms.

Do children pay the holiday surcharge? On the current lines, six of the 18 set a separate child figure, from $40 to $50: Athena Royal, Ginger, Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan, Hermes, Mon Cheri and Violet. The others quote one figure a person, so ask how they count a child. Age bands differ: Hermes charges $45 for ages 5 to 11 and nothing under 5. Ask for the child figure by age before you book.

When is Lunar New Year 2027, and do boats charge for it? Lunar New Year 2027 is Saturday 6 February; its eve is Friday 5 February. Most halongbaytours.com listings with a 2027 rule, read on 15 October 2026, charge from 5 to 8 February, from $15 a person on Athena Royal to $60 on Peony, Mon Cheri and Victorious, or 20% of the rate on Halora Nova, Elite and Stellar of the Seas.