Halong Paloma Cruise

Our Senior Suite with Balcony was spacious and beautiful, and we had a wonderful time on the ship. Mr. Morning was warm, sweet, and attentive, always checking that we were okay. Tom, our tour guide, was helpful and shared interesting information. We can only recommend the ship. It was hard to say goodbye after just one night.

Our group was vegetarian, and the cruise crew made sure our meals were tasty and good. We had a one-night stay on Signature Cruise in Bai tu long bay, with pickup from our hotel in Hanoi and good transport to the port in Halong. From there, Mr. Morning helped us board and guided our group. He made a real effort to make the experience feel special. We had fun kayaking through a fishing village and doing the other cruise activities.

The kayaking trip to the island and fishing village was my favorite part. At each stop, it felt like we had the place almost to ourselves, which was quiet and relaxing. Signature cruise is part of the Athena Group, which owns four semi-private cruises; the two Signature boats each take up to 32 people. The trip ran smoothly, the scenery was lovely, and they made an effort to keep it easy and fun. The food was pretty good too. Our guide, Morning, was professional and knowledgeable, and the activities worked for our whole group, from 9 to 81 years old.

I'd recommend keeping the stay to one night. My wife and I did a two-night cruise in Bai Tu Long Bay, and while the food and service were good overall, the crew changed completely between the first and second nights. The new crew was fine, but not as good as the first. We missed Morning and Ning: Morning knew everyone's names and got us playing fun games over dinner, while Ning checked the menu with us before meals and asked if we wanted anything changed. The second crew didn't introduce themselves and seemed more focused on the passengers who joined on day two. We saw Morning on land the next day, and he still remembered us. He always called my wife “Chi,” which felt very respectful.