Really Indian. An Indian chef runs the galley and cooks the entire buffet on board: dal tadka, chole masala, matar paneer, bhindi do pyaza, butter chicken, chicken biryani, egg curry, jeera rice with basmati, and chapati rolled to order at a live tawa. No Vietnamese dish is served at lunch.

Yes. The Jain counter is cooked in separate pots on a separate burner with no onion, no garlic and no root vegetables, meaning no potato, carrot or radish, and it is served with its own spoons at its own counter well away from the non-veg line. Tell us how many Jain covers you need at least 48 hours before sailing so the galley can plan the separate cooking. Enter it in the booking box above and it reaches the chef automatically.

Yes. We buy certified halal chicken and the supplier certificate is carried on board; the Cruise Manager will show it to any guest who asks. No pork and no beef is served at any time. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is laid out on separate lines at opposite ends of the dining room with separate serving spoons.

The non-veg counter sits at the far end of the dining room and never travels to the tables; nothing is plated and carried around. Tell us at booking that your group is pure vegetarian and the Cruise Manager seats you on the vegetarian side of the room. No fish or seafood of any kind is served on a Namaste sailing, so the room does not smell of it either.

Every dish card on the buffet carries a spice level, and plain dal, plain rice, plain chapati, curd and fruit are on the line every day for children. For a nut, dairy or gluten allergy, tell us at least 48 hours ahead: the chef will set aside a portion cooked without the allergen and the Cruise Manager will hand it to you personally rather than leaving it on an open buffet.

Yes. Guests fasting, observing Swaminarayan or Jain restrictions beyond what we cook, or travelling with an infant are welcome to bring their own food. The crew will store it and warm it for you. Outside alcohol is the one exception and is not permitted.

Pick-up is free from any hotel in the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem district, between 07:30 and 08:00. Give us your hotel name when you book and we WhatsApp your exact pick-up time the evening before. Hotels in Tay Ho, Ba Dinh or near the airport are collected for a small supplement, or you can meet the coach at a central point at 07:45 at no charge. Either way you will know the address and the time the night before, not on the morning.

Yes. Under Getting there choose “I will reach Halong port myself”, the coach comes off the price and a Standard fare is ₹4,000 per adult. Be at Halong International Cruise Port by 10:45. Most Halong hotels are ten to twenty minutes away by taxi or Grab.

Yes. Halong is about 170 km from Hanoi and the expressway takes roughly two and a half hours each way. We collect you between 07:30 and 08:00, you are on board at 11:00 and back at your hotel usually between 19:15 and 19:45. You do not change hotels or pack an overnight bag.

Yes, and most of our guests travel with parents. Everything strenuous is optional: the hundred steps into Sung Sot Cave and the four hundred and twenty-seven at Titop Island can both be skipped, and there is a rowed bamboo boat instead of the kayak. Guests who stay on board keep the air conditioning, the sundeck and the chai. Wheelchair access at the cave and island is limited and we will say so honestly; tell us in advance and we plan the day around it.

No. Nobody has to enter the water at any point. Swimming at Titop Island is a choice, and the Luon Cave lagoon is done in a rowed bamboo boat with a boatman, seated and dry. Life jackets in adult and child sizes are carried for every person on the manifest.

Comfortable shoes with grip for the cave steps, a light jacket between November and February, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a hat. Bring swimwear and a change of clothes only if you plan to swim at Titop; the ship has changing rooms. Passports are needed for the port manifest, so carry them. Indian plug points are not standard on board, so a universal adapter is useful for charging.

Very unlikely. Halong Bay is enclosed water sheltered by thousands of limestone islands, so it is calm for almost the whole year and the ship moves slowly. Motion sickness tablets are kept on board and are free; ask any crew member.

Phone signal covers most of the route and drops for short stretches deep in the bay. Wi-Fi works in the restaurant and lounge areas. There are changing rooms and clean toilets on both decks, and the lounge can be set aside quietly for namaz or puja if you ask the Cruise Manager when you board.

October to April is the main season, dry and clear and cool, with October, November, March and April the most reliable. May to September is warm and green and good for swimming, but a tropical storm can close the bay at short notice. If the Port Authority suspends sailing we refund in full or move your date free of charge, so the risk costs you nothing.

You can pay the full fare by Visa, Mastercard, Amex or PayPal. Indian cards are sometimes declined on foreign gateways because of your bank’s international transaction rules rather than anything at our end; if that happens, message us on WhatsApp and we send a UPI or bank-transfer alternative within minutes. Everything is settled in Vietnamese dong at the rate shown when you book; the rupee figure is for your guidance.

You get a confirmation email and a WhatsApp message within minutes carrying your e-ticket, the booking reference and your dietary requirements as we recorded them. Check that line and tell us immediately if it is wrong. The evening before you sail we WhatsApp your exact pick-up time and the driver’s phone number. You do not need to print anything; the name on your booking is enough at the gangway, with passports for the port manifest.

It depends on the fare you picked, and the booking box says so before you pay. On Standard and Namaste Plus: free cancellation up to 72 hours before departure with a full refund of everything paid, half refunded between 72 and 24 hours, nothing inside 24 hours. On Saver: nothing is refundable and the date cannot be changed, which is exactly what makes it the cheapest fare. In every case, including Saver, if the Port Authority closes the bay for weather you get a full refund or a free date change, whichever you prefer, and we contact you rather than waiting for you to ask. Refunds go back to the card used, usually within five to seven working days.

On Standard and Namaste Plus, yes: once, free of charge, up to 72 hours before departure and subject to seats on the new date. After that a change is treated as a cancellation under the policy above. Saver fares cannot be moved at all.

Drinks from the bar, hotels, visas, flights, personal shopping, photographs bought from the onboard photographer, and tips. Pick-up from outside the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem carries a small supplement, or you can book the private car, which collects from any Hanoi address. Everything in the itinerary itself, including the cave and island entrance fees, the bay sightseeing fee, the bamboo boat, lunch, chai, taxes, service charge and onboard insurance, is already in the price.

No. Service charge is already in the fare and nothing is added to your bill. Tips are entirely at your discretion and the crew will never ask.

Yes. Indian passport holders normally apply for the Vietnam e-visa online before travel. This is between you and the Vietnamese immigration authorities and we are not able to arrange it, but you will already have it by the time you are in Hanoi booking this cruise. Carry the passport with you on the day for the port manifest.

There is a bar selling beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks, paid for separately. Alcohol is never served with the buffet and never brought to tables unasked, so a family or a temperance group is not seated among drinks. Outside alcohol may not be brought on board.

Send us your company name, country, licence or IATA number and your expected monthly volume using the form in the fact sheet below, or on WhatsApp. We issue a net rate sheet within one working day. There is no minimum volume to start and no sign-up fee. Net rates are confidential and are not published on this page.

Net. You receive a confidential net rate per pax and sell at whatever price your market supports; the difference is yours. The published fares on this page are our direct-to-guest rates and are the ceiling, so you are never undercut by our own website. Commissionable gross rates can be issued instead if your accounting requires it.

New agents pay per booking by bank transfer or card before the sailing date. Agents with a settled booking history move to a fortnightly or monthly invoice with credit terms agreed in writing. Invoices are issued in USD or VND, whichever suits your accounting, and payment is due on the terms stated on the invoice.

Yes, for contracted agents on request, typically a fixed block of seats on named days with a release back to free sale at a stated cut-off. Ad hoc bookings outside allotment are confirmed on availability, usually within the hour during working hours.

Seats can be confirmed up to 24 hours before sailing subject to availability. Dietary requirements, especially Jain and allergy covers, need 48 hours, because the galley cooks those separately and buys for them separately. A booking made inside 48 hours will be accepted but we cannot guarantee a full Jain counter for it, and we will tell you that at the time rather than after.

Full names as in the passport, passport numbers, nationality, and date of birth for children, 24 hours before sailing. This is a Quang Ninh Port Authority requirement, not an internal one, and a guest who is not on the manifest cannot board. Children under five must appear on the manifest even though they travel free, because they are counted in the vessel’s capacity and issued a life jacket.

Yes, free of charge up to 24 hours before sailing, which is when the manifest is filed. After the manifest is filed a name change is not possible and the seat is treated as a cancellation.

For groups of ten or more: free cancellation up to seven days before sailing; 50% of the total is charged between seven days and 72 hours; the full amount is charged inside 72 hours. Individual seats may be released from a confirmed group up to 72 hours before with no charge, to a maximum of 20% of the group size. Weather cancellation by the Port Authority is always a full refund or a free date change.

The Veg, Non-veg, Jain and Dessert counters are standing counters on every sailing, so a guest who turns up unannounced as vegetarian or Jain will still eat. What we cannot guarantee without notice is quantity for a large unannounced group, or a specific allergy exclusion. Tell the Cruise Manager at the gangway and he will sort out what is possible on the day.

Yes, from 60 paying guests up to a capacity of 99. A charter carries its own departure time, its own menu agreed with the chef including a full Jain or Swaminarayan buffet, and the sundeck for a sangeet, a DJ or a presentation. We quote the same day and hold charter dates for seven days without a deposit.

Yes. Give us the hotel names with the manifest and we coordinate the coach route and WhatsApp each guest their pick-up time the evening before, or send the whole schedule to you instead if you would rather be the only point of contact with your client. Tell us which you prefer when you contract.

This page doubles as the fact sheet, and the PDF version below is built to be forwarded or printed as it is. Photography, the logo pack and the itinerary as an editable document are in the shared drive linked below, licensed for you to use in your own brochures and OTA listings. Ask us for the competitive comparison sheet separately; it is not published on this page.

No. A guest who arrives through an agent stays with that agent, and we do not solicit repeat business from them. Our direct fares are published on this page and are the ceiling, so your price to the client is never undercut by our own site.

Onboard passenger insurance for every guest on the manifest is included in the fare and carried by the vessel as required by Vietnamese maritime regulation. It covers incidents on board and during the included shore activities. It is not travel insurance: your clients should carry their own policy for medical cover, trip cancellation and baggage, and we recommend you tell them so in writing.