When the port closes, nothing sails — including us
The one risk on this bay that no operator controls and no budget solves. Worth understanding precisely, because the difference between operators is not whether it happens to them — it is what they have contracted in advance for when it does.
How clearance actually works
Every vessel carrying passengers on this bay requires departure clearance from the Quang Ninh inland waterway port authority for each sailing. It is granted on the day, on the basis of the weather and sea state. There is no advance guarantee available to anyone, at any price.
When a storm warning is in force the authority suspends clearance for the whole bay. This is not selective and it is not commercial. Every vessel — ours, our competitors', the large operators, the small ones — stays alongside.
Any operator claiming they can sail when others cannot is either misunderstanding the question or misrepresenting it. The right thing to evaluate is not whether they can avoid a closure. It is what they have contracted for when one happens.
What happens to your programme
| Scenario | What we do | Commercial outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Closure announced 24h+ before departure | Shore programme activates. Contracted venue, revised schedule issued to your team the same day. | Programme runs. Price adjusted for the accommodation and catering difference. |
| Closure announced on the morning | Group is redirected to the shore programme en route. Coaches divert. | Programme runs in reduced form. Adjustment settled after. |
| Closure mid-programme, group already aboard | Vessels return alongside or remain at a sheltered anchorage under the authority's instruction. | Programme completes where possible; unused elements credited. |
| Multi-day closure, programme cannot run at all | Force majeure. Rebooking offered. | Credit valid 12 months, transferable. Not a cash refund. |
What a contracted alternative should contain
This is the section to compare across operators. Ours is specific and we put it in the quote rather than in an appendix.
- A named venue, held for your dates, not a category of venue.
- A revised hour-by-hour programme, written in advance, that your team can be sent within an hour of the decision.
- A decision deadline and a named decision-maker on both sides.
- The commercial adjustment stated as a formula, so the conversation on the day is about logistics rather than money.
- Coach rerouting already planned, because on a morning closure the group is often already on the road.
- A gala fallback if the evening was going to be on the deck. A shore venue with a ballroom, not a restaurant with a long table.
We will not take a group into the typhoon window without a contracted shore alternative in place. It costs a little to hold and it is the difference between a programme that adapts and a programme that collapses. If another operator is willing to take that booking without one, that is worth thinking about.
What the shore programme looks like
Not a consolation prize, and not a day in a hotel lobby. The Ha Long area carries enough to build a genuine day around.
- Ballroom or function space at a Ha Long city venue for the working content and the gala.
- The Quang Ninh museum complex and the cable car, both of which run in weather that stops the boats.
- Team building indoors or at a sheltered shore location.
- A shore-based dinner with the same production standard the deck gala would have had — this is the element most worth protecting.
- Accommodation ashore, since the cabins are not available.
Groups that end up on the shore programme generally report it as a good day. What makes it a good day is that it was written down three months earlier.
Questions we are asked most often
How much notice do we usually get?
For a tracked typhoon, usually a day or more. For a sudden deterioration, sometimes only the morning. Both scenarios are covered by the same contracted alternative, which is why it is written rather than improvised.
Do we pay the same if we end up ashore?
No. The adjustment reflects the difference in accommodation and catering, and the formula is in the contract so it does not become a negotiation on the day.
Can we get a cash refund?
Under force majeure the position on this bay is a credit valid twelve months, transferable to another date or another group. We state that up front rather than burying it. If cash recovery matters to you, event cancellation insurance is the instrument, not the supplier contract.
Does this apply to a day cruise as well?
Yes, identically. The clearance requirement is per sailing, not per programme type. The shore alternative for a day charter is normally a Ha Long city venue with lunch.
Where to go next
Four fields and you can send
Tell us the basics and we will come back within eight working hours with feasibility — including how many hulls your headcount actually needs — and within three working days with a detailed quote.