La Pandora Boutique Cruises

We had a wonderful time on the boat and the views were absolutely beautiful. A real highlight was our tour guide, Hung (Kevin) — he was fantastic, very engaging, and genuinely funny. All the staff on La Pandora were extremely attentive and made us feel well looked after. Highly recommended!

We had an absolutely wonderful experience with Pandora Cruises on our family’s first trip to Ha Long Bay, and it ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Vietnam. Pandora’s boat has a rustic, authentic charm, but don’t let that description fool you — the cabins were extremely comfortable, with great beds and everything we needed for a relaxing overnight stay. The food onboard was excellent, plentiful, and thoughtfully prepared, and the views from the boat were simply breathtaking at every hour of the day. The overall vibe was relaxed, friendly, and social — we met some really lovely fellow travelers and felt genuinely comfortable the entire time. The cruise was also very well organized, with smooth transitions between activities and no feeling of being rushed. A huge part of what made this experience so special was our guide, Hung, who accompanied us from start to finish. He met us at our hotel in Hanoi, traveled with us on the bus to Ha Long Bay (with rest stops along the way), stayed overnight on the boat with the group, and returned with us to Hanoi the following day. While there were excellent crew members from Pandora Cruises onboard, Hung was our main guide throughout the entire journey. Hung joined us on all activities, including kayaking in Ha Long Bay and, the next morning, taking a tender boat to visit local villagers who rowed us in traditional bamboo boats through the Dark and Bright Cave (Hang Tối & Hang Sáng). He is incredibly knowledgeable about Vietnam, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay, and shared fascinating information along the way — from the meaning of Ha Long Bay (“descending/landing dragon”), to local history, silk production, oyster fishing, and why places are named as they are. Beyond his knowledge, Hung was funny, warm, and highly attentive.

I would like the food to be labelled as I have food allergies and restrictions.

キレイな部屋で、ゆったり過ごせました。 シーカヤック、料理教室、イカ釣り、洞窟探検、アクティビティも充実してました。 世界遺産のハロン湾の上で過ごせるって最高。

船だから仕方ないのかもしれないが、少し生乾きの匂いがしたのと、シャワーのお湯がぬるかったです。

Room was clean and staffs were so good

Night activities were less and boring

Our guide Hung, picked us up from Hanoi and took us to Ha Long Bay. The La Pandora Boutique boat is smaller than some of the others in the harbour, which meant a smaller guest base. This allowed us to have a more personalised experience. The staff were very friendly and accommodating.

Nuestro guía Victor , muy buena atención

The tour of Cat Bah island was great. The staff did what they could on board the boat in terms of service. The food was okay after the first day.

The boat is in considerable disrepair. Our bathroom door was coming off the hinges and didn't close properly. There was a hole in the floor that we kept tripping on. The fridge and the safe in the room both didn't work. Tour guides kept changing and the mix of 1-day and 3-day guests meant some repetition of activities and a bit of confusion over the schedule.

The room had a massive wow factor. The surroundings are second to none.

A little maintenance is needed.