Choosing a boat

Ha Long Bay cruise companies and the boats they run

The 90 boats in this guide belong to 59 cruise companies. Seventeen of them run two to four boats each, often with near-identical names in different bays, so here is which Paradise, Bhaya, Orchid or La Regina boat is which.

halongtrip crew·Updated 2026-10-22·9 min read·Part of Best Ha Long Bay cruises by 15,466 guest reviews

Most Ha Long cruise companies run one boat. Counted on 22 October 2026, the 90 boats in this guide belong to 59 companies, and 42 of those companies have a single boat on our list. The other 17 run two to four boats each, 48 boats between them, and that is where bookings get tangled: Paradise sells an Elegance, a Grand and a Legacy in two different bays, while Orchid, La Regina, Indochina Junk, Athena and Bai Tho Junks each sell four.

Which Ha Long cruise companies run more than one boat?

Seventeen, and the table lists every boat each of them has on our site. Bay is where the boat spends the night.

Company	Boat	Bay	Cabins	Launched
Athena Group	Athena Luxury	Ha Long		2017
Athena Group	Athena Premium	Ha Long	41
Athena Group	Athena Royal	Bai Tu Long	22	2019
Athena Group	Signature	Bai Tu Long	12	2013
Bai Tho Junks	Aime’e	Ha Long	29	2025
Bai Tho Junks	Treasure Junk	Bai Tu Long	14	2017
Bai Tho Junks	Victory	Ha Long	21	2007
Bai Tho Junks	Victory Star	Ha Long	32	2009
Indochina Junk	Dragon Legend	Bai Tu Long	24
Indochina Junk	Dragon’s Pearl Junk	Bai Tu Long	10	2010
Indochina Junk	Prince	Bai Tu Long	4
Indochina Junk	Red Dragon Junk	Bai Tu Long	8	2025
La Regina	La Regina Classic	Bai Tu Long	22
La Regina	La Regina Grand	Lan Ha	27	2019
La Regina	La Regina Legend	Lan Ha	27	2018
La Regina	La Regina Royal	Ha Long	20	2018
Orchid Cruises	Orchid Classic	Lan Ha	14	2016
Orchid Cruises	Orchid Luxury	Lan Ha	14
Orchid Cruises	Orchid Premium	Lan Ha	5	2019
Orchid Cruises	Orchid Trendy	Lan Ha	20	2017
Aqua Hospitality Group	Aqua Classic	Ha Long
Aqua Hospitality Group	Aqua Legend	Lan Ha	21
Aqua Hospitality Group	Aqua of the Seas	Lan Ha	32	2023
Bhaya Cruises	Au Co	Ha Long	32	2012
Bhaya Cruises	Bhaya Classic	Ha Long	20
Bhaya Cruises	Bhaya Soul	Ha Long	20	2025
Indochina Sails	Indochine	Lan Ha	45	2019
Indochina Sails	Indochine Grand	Lan Ha	32	2025
Indochina Sails	Indochine Premium	Ha Long	37	2023
Paradise	Paradise Elegance	Ha Long	31	2017
Paradise	Paradise Grand	Lan Ha	39	2020
Paradise	Paradise Legacy	Ha Long	42	2025
Aclass Cruises	Elite of the Seas	Lan Ha	35	2022
Aclass Cruises	Stellar of the Seas	Lan Ha	22	2018
Ambassador	Ambassador	Ha Long	45	2018
Ambassador	Ambassador Signature	Lan Ha	39	2023
Hera Cruises	Hera Classic Boutique	Ha Long	19	2017
Hera Cruises	Hera Grand	Ha Long	13
Heritage Line	Ginger	Lan Ha	12	2018
Heritage Line	Violet	Bai Tu Long	6	2009
La Casta	La Casta	Lan Ha	22	2020
La Casta	La Casta Regal	Lan Ha	24	2020
Lyra Cruises	Capella	Lan Ha	30	2020
Lyra Cruises	Lyra Grandeur	Lan Ha	33	2025
Premier Cruise Group	Genesis Regal	Lan Ha	20	2019
Premier Cruise Group	Majesty Prime	Lan Ha	24	2025
Verdure Lotus	Verdure Lotus Classic	Lan Ha	16
Verdure Lotus	Verdure Lotus Grandeur	Ha Long

Launch years are the operator’s where it prints one, otherwise the year listing sites give. Five companies here sell their boats under more than one website, and the operators’ own pages tie each set together: Aime’e is sold as “Aime’e Cruises by Bai Tho Junks”, the three Aqua websites carry the same Aqua Hospitality Group footer, and the Aclass group’s own fleet list includes both Elite and Stellar.

Nine of the 17 send their boats to more than one bay. La Regina covers all three, so the brand name alone does not tell you whether you will sleep among the limestone of Lan Ha, in Bai Tu Long or in Ha Long Bay proper.

Which Paradise cruise is which?

Paradise Grand is the one in Lan Ha; Paradise Elegance and Paradise Legacy both stay in Ha Long Bay. All three check in at Tuan Chau.

Paradise Elegance is the oldest. Every Paradise Grand cabin has a balcony or terrace, and a speedboat takes you from Tuan Chau out to where she lies in Lan Ha. Paradise Legacy is the newest and the largest, dated 2025 by listing sites, and the one of the three in our new boats list.

They are the three Bhaya Cruises boats. Each sails Ha Long Bay from Tuan Chau and puts you back ashore at 10:00 on the second morning, the earliest of the 72 landing times in the operator timetables we hold. They differ in hull and size.

Au Co is steel, and Bhaya runs two Au Co hulls of 32 cabins each. Bhaya Classic is wooden, with only Deluxe and Terrace Suite cabins. Bhaya Soul is the one the operator calls its newest cruise, and listings date it to 2025. A fourth line, Bhaya Legend, uses boats of one to five cabins sold as private charters and on a shared one-night trip; it does not have a page on this site.

What is the difference between the four Orchid boats?

Size, mostly, because all four Orchid boats sail Lan Ha from Tuan Chau and all four are on our small boats list. Orchid Premium has five suites. Orchid Classic and the new Orchid Luxury have 14 each, and Orchid Trendy has 20.

Orchid Luxury is the newest, and halongbaytours.com gives October 2026 for her launch; the same site has sold Orchid Trendy under the name Azalea. One thing all four share is the way Orchid charges a single traveller: the operator’s rates are per room, so one guest pays the full cabin rate, which our solo travellers guide sets against other operators.

Which La Regina boat goes where?

La Regina Royal stays in Ha Long Bay, La Regina Classic in Bai Tu Long, and La Regina Grand and La Regina Legend both go to Lan Ha. Three of the four start at Tuan Chau; Classic leaves from Ha Long International Cruise Port instead.

La Regina Grand and La Regina Legend are the pair to double-check: same bay, same pier, same cabin count. Classic has 22, and it is a different boat from a 16-room one that a listing site sells as “La Regina Classic 2”, so check the cabin count on the quote.

Are Indochina Junk and Indochina Sails the same company?

No. They are two separate operators with separate websites.

Indochina Junk runs all four of its boats on our list in Bai Tu Long, from Ha Long International Cruise Port, on one shared clock: lounge at 11:30, boarding at 12:30, ashore at 11:30 the next day and back in Hanoi at 16:00. Dragon Legend is steel; Dragon’s Pearl Junk and Prince are wooden. By the operator’s account, Red Dragon Junk is a new steel boat of eight cabins, launched in 2025 under the name of an earlier wooden Red Dragon that sailed from 2010 until 2019.

Indochina Sails names its boats Indochine. Indochine and Indochine Grand sail Lan Ha; Indochine Premium stays in Ha Long Bay. All three check in at Tuan Chau.

Who owns Elite, Stellar and Aqua of the Seas?

Elite of the Seas and Stellar of the Seas are Aclass boats; Aqua of the Seas, despite the name, belongs to Aqua Hospitality Group with Aqua Legend and Aqua Classic. All five are based at Tuan Chau.

Stellar is the older and smaller of the Aclass pair; by their own factsheets she is 65 metres long and Elite 85.

Where do the Athena, Signature and Heritage boats sail?

Athena Group’s four boats all leave from Ha Long International Cruise Port: Athena Luxury and Athena Premium stay in Ha Long Bay, while Athena Royal and Signature go to Bai Tu Long. Athena Premium is the big one, with 41 cabins and, the operator says, 110 metres of hull; the operator’s site gives Athena Royal 60 metres and 22 suites.

Signature, a wooden boat, belongs to Athena Group; Ambassador Signature belongs to Ambassador and sails Lan Ha. Both Ambassador boats board at the Ha Long International Cruise Port terminal, and Ambassador Signature is the only one of the 46 Lan Ha boats on this site that starts there. Heritage Line runs Ginger and Violet; Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan is a different operator’s boat, sold on the Lux Cruises Group website.

Which other companies run two or more boats?

Six more: Premier Cruise Group, Lyra Cruises, La Casta, Hera Cruises, Bai Tho Junks and Verdure Lotus.

Hera Cruises runs two wooden boats in Ha Long Bay, Hera Classic Boutique and Hera Grand. Bai Tho Junks has the widest spread of launch years of any company with several boats on our list: Victory from 2007 and Aime’e from 2025. Verdure Lotus splits by bay, Classic in Lan Ha and Grandeur in Ha Long Bay.

Which companies have a single boat on our list?

Forty-two. Each of these companies has one boat on our list, so a search for “Sena cruises” or “Renea cruises” leads to the one boat linked below.

Bay	Boats
Lan Ha (23)	Amour, Aspira, Aurora, Calypso, Diana, Doria, Doris, Erina, Heritage Cruise Binh Chuan, La Pandora, La SEN of the Bay, Le Journey Elegance, Mon Cheri, Nostalgia, Orient Legacy, Peony, Rosy, Scarlet Pearl, Sena, Unicharm, Venezia, Venus, V’Spirit
Ha Long (13)	Alisa Premier, Amanda Legend, Calista, Catherine, Cozy Bay Grand, Emeraude Classic, Hermes, Oriental Sails, Sea Stars, Secret Halong, Starlight, Syrena, Victorious
Bai Tu Long (6)	Cycad, Emperor, Larissa, Paloma, Renea, Swan

Listing sites still sell Amour under its former name, Dora Cruise.

How do you make sure you get the boat you booked?

Get a quote and a confirmation that name the boat, the bay and the cabin class. “Paradise, 2 days” fits two bays and three boats.

The catch with a company that runs several boats is that a booking for one can end up on another. One guest booked Genesis Regal and, after a booking error, sailed on Majesty Prime, the group’s 2025 boat; they did not mind, because she was the newer boat. Ask, in writing, what happens if the named boat cannot sail: which boat replaces it, whether the cabin class stays the same, and whether you can cancel instead.

Match the harbour on your transfer to the boat too, since La Regina has boats at both Tuan Chau and the international port. Our guide to the three bays covers what the bay itself changes, and which harbour you leave from covers the piers.

Common questions

What are the biggest Ha Long Bay cruise companies? By boats on our list, five companies run four each: Athena Group, Bai Tho Junks, Indochina Junk, La Regina and Orchid Cruises. Aqua Hospitality Group, Bhaya, Indochina Sails and Paradise run three each, and eight more run two, which makes 48 of the 90 boats in this guide.

Is Au Co a Bhaya cruise? Yes. Au Co belongs to Bhaya Cruises, alongside Bhaya Classic and Bhaya Soul, and is the largest of the three; Bhaya runs two Au Co hulls. All three sail Ha Long Bay from Tuan Chau. Bhaya Classic is the wooden one.

Which Paradise cruise goes to Lan Ha Bay? Paradise Grand, which you reach by speedboat from the Paradise check-in at Tuan Chau. Paradise Elegance and Paradise Legacy both stay in Ha Long Bay, so a quote that only says “Paradise” could mean either bay.

Who owns Aqua of the Seas? Aqua Hospitality Group, which also runs Aqua Legend and Aqua Classic. The “of the Seas” name suggests a link to Elite of the Seas and Stellar of the Seas, but those two belong to Aclass Cruises. Aqua of the Seas sails Lan Ha from Tuan Chau.