Heritage Line I Refined Waterway Voyages [Guest Lounge at Tuan Chau Marina, Halong Bay]

Ginger one night cruise. Great service by all with call out for Anna, Que and James. Also - Top chef, best food so far in Vietnam. Rooms are great. They need a new electrical generator (noisy) but this was turned off at 10pm and the night was very calm. Happy to recommend.

We were on the Violet for a two night cruise around Ha Long Bay which I would highly recommend. I would suggest that one night is not enough to enjoy all the boat and staff have to offer as well as the scenery! Ann, the manager, looked after our every need, as did all the other members of the staff. The food was of the highest quality, presented beautifully and tasted amazing. Attention to detail throughout the trip was second to none, all the activities and tours were well planned and thoroughly enjoyable. We really enjoyed the whole experience, the views from the boat were incredible and we also enjoyed getting to know the staff.

We had a wonderful time on the Violet boat during a one-night cruise in Ha Long bay in March 2025. The boat is small with only six spacious rooms which gives you a sense of exclusivity and luxury. The rooms look and feel new, are thoughtfully decorated and very clean (considering the high turnover of almost daily clients that is a feat worth noting!). The top deck has some wonderful loungers and couches where one can enjoy the views as the boat travels through the bay especially at dusk before dinner with a glass of wine or a cocktail. The food is truly delicious (you are invited to chose which dishes you wish to have before boarding which is a brilliant idea as it enables the team to work more efficiently on board and you enjoy your food faster). Congratulations to the chef and kitchen staff for the quality of the food which really was some of the best we had during our trip. The staff were wonderful on all fronts, making sure nothing was ever amiss, and always doing so with a smile. Shout out to manager Ann who was incredible covering so many different tasks from guiding us during the excursions to working alongside her team during service and ensuring everyone’s safety and comfort. Keep in mind that during the cruise different excursions are offered that you can choose to participate in or not (I definitely recommend participating as you will learn and see very interesting things). All in all I definitely recommend booking your Ha Long cruise through Heritage Line ! We will definitely be booking again with them !

This is a ‘must do’ cruise. Halong Bay is a natural wonder and a real privilege to visit and sail around. But the exceptional part of this journey is the cruising. We had the privilege of boarding the ‘Ginger’ and it was first class from start to finish. Beautiful cabin, amazing food, fantastic staff and a memory that will stay with us forever. If you are visiting Vietnam, then please ensure you take the time to visit Halong Bay and cruise with the Heritage Line. You will not be disappointed in any way!

Unwelcoming manager: I have spent 2 nights on the Violet ship. The manager of the boat is so impolite and rude compared to her staff. The rooms are great but the manager really doesn’t care about hospitality nor client satisfaction. Whenever we saw her, she never smiled , never said hello. Anything that we asked for seemed to be bothering her.

Jahan Heritage Line: August 2024: Our primary concern regarding the cruise was the presence of a group consisting of 25 couples and singles who gradually dominated the atmosphere on board, becoming increasingly boisterous as the journey continued. By the final evening, they had arranged a lengthy table for themselves, which resulted in my wife and I being relegated to a separate table. At times, certain nationalities can exhibit a rather authoritarian demeanour, behaving as though they are the only ones of significance and displaying a disregard for the other guests. We approached the boat manager about this issue, who stated that guests are allowed to act freely without interference. I sought clarification on the reasoning behind our feelings of isolation, but received no answer, nor was there any acknowledgment or apology for the situation. Consequently, I cannot recommend this river cruise line to others, despite the fact that we enjoyed our experience on the Mekong, which provided a refreshing alternative to sea cruises.

Heritage Line Ginger is NOT a luxurious or premium experience. The marketing and the price make this appear a 5 star experience on paper, but if you’re used to luxury hotels then I think you’ll be disappointed. We’re talking £750/$1000 price point for a 1 night cruise which is a huge amount of money in Vietnam so I expect the best of everything like what I’ve got in the top hotels in Vietnam (Reverie Saigon, Capella Hanoi, Regent Phu Quoc, Four Season Hoi An etc). The boat looks tired as it’s clearly not cleaned and maintained properly, presumably as it’s essentially a work horse where one load of passengers disembark at 10:30, and they then load the next passengers on at 11:45, and this happens day in day out. The rooms are looking tired (scuffed walls, broken lamp shades held together by cable ties, poor lighting) and they are low standard with low quality sheets, cheap pillows and duvet that are manmade fibres not down, tea and coffee selection is atrocious with the cheapest Lipton bags and very strange flavours like strawberry tea. My room was also meant to come with a bottle of sparking wine but it turned out to be a cheap half bottle of red wine. The hot tub temperature was tepid at best and dirty. The a/c unit worked but was filthy with dust. The food was abysmal. They are aiming for fine dining cuisine but clearly the chefs haven’t been to catering college. The food was so bad that I struggled to eat it and preferred to go hungry. Call me boring, but I also didn’t appreciate them pumping out loud club music from 17:15 what penetrated all parts of the boat including our room. The refillable water bottles also made me feel uncomfortable and I think it should have been sealed bottles in a country like Vietnam. In fact after drinking some of the water, my partner then saw the plastic seal on the refillable bottle’s lid was covered in mould which was grim to say the least and made us question the cleanliness in other areas of the ship. I didn’t get angry with the staff as clearly they know no better; they clearly haven’t been trained like what they do in top hotel brands. The staff are lovely though and are clearly trying their best, which in turn makes you feel bad about making a fuss as they simply can’t fix the situation as the problems are fundamental and across the board. The tender boat also had quite a significant crash into a fishing boat while transferring us to Ginger. The manager gave some bull about it being because of the currents, but it was plain and simple because the driver was chatting away to his colleagues and not paying attention. The incident could have been very serious, and I was surprised by the complete nonchalant response. We were also given a letter after dinner which included a request for a tip and recommending that $40-50 is typical per room! I could go on and on, but I trust this warns others not to make the same mistake as us booking heritage line. DO NOT BOOK A HERITAGE LINE CRUISE! I’ve no idea if there’s better cruises out there though. One last word of warning, obviously nothing to do with Heritage Line, but Ha Long Bay is extremely polluted with rubbish and what looks like raw sewage which doesn’t exactly wet your appetite when you’re being served local seafood. I later read that most of Hanoi’s sewage is pumped untreated into the river which then reaches Ha Long Bag ….

I stayed for 2 nights, 3 days on board the Heritage Line’s Ylang boat, cruising the Lan Ha Bay. Every aspect of the cruise was amazing. The boat is beautiful, the room was luxurious with a private balcony, the staff were awesome, especially Phuc and Ann, who were so personable, funny and caring. Great outdoor activities – a visit to a village on the main island, including a visit to the house of a local family; kayaking around the steep little islands and outcrops; relaxing and swimming at a local beach; also swimming off the boat, which was great fun. Also plenty of low-key things to do, a jacuzzi on the bow and shaded lounge chairs, places to sit inside as well when the heat got too much. Options like yoga, massages and other activities. I wish I could have stayed for 100 nights more! I will definitely come back next time I’m in Vietnam.