Corporate programmes on Ha Long Bay, on our own ships
We own and crew the vessels. That is the whole difference: when a cabin count, a departure time or a gala layout has to change, the decision is ours to make rather than a request we pass to somebody else.
What owning the fleet actually changes
Most companies selling corporate cruises on Ha Long Bay are agents. They hold an allocation of cabins on somebody else's vessel and resell it. That model works perfectly well for a couple on honeymoon. It falls apart for a group of ninety, because almost every decision a group programme needs — moving the departure by ninety minutes, clearing the sun deck for a stage build, holding three vessels on the same anchorage, running a rehearsal the afternoon before — is a decision the vessel owner has to make.
We are the owner. Our crew, our licences, our maintenance schedule, our booking system. When we tell you a thing can be done, nobody upstream can overrule it.
The whole vessel, nobody else on board
Exclusive use of one or more ships. No other passengers, itinerary set to your programme rather than the standard tourist run. Full-ship charter ›
Part of a vessel, shared sailing
Cheaper, and honest about the trade-off: you share the boat, the schedule and the dining room with other guests. Cabin blocks ›
Meetings that actually work at sea
A working session on a vessel has real constraints — space, power, mobile signal. We say which ones bite. Conference cruises ›
Reward programmes on the bay
The format the bay does better than anywhere in Vietnam, and the two months of the year it does badly. Incentive cruises ›
Sun deck or ashore
A deck gala is unforgettable up to about seventy guests. Above that it stops working and we will say so. Gala dinners ›
Kayak, cave, beach, deck
Assigned teams, water-based formats, and a written alternative for every element that needs the sea to behave. Team building ›
The number that decides your budget is not your headcount. It is your cabin count.
On land, a group of forty-six and a group of forty-four cost roughly the same per person. On the water they do not, and the gap is not marginal.
Our largest vessel holds twenty-two cabins. At two guests per cabin that is forty-four people. Guest number forty-five does not get a slightly more expensive programme — guest number forty-five requires a second ship, with its own crew, its own fuel, its own galley and its own harbourmaster clearance, for the entire duration. The marginal cost of that one guest is close to the cost of the first twenty.
| Guests | Vessels | What it means for you | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 – 44 | One | Single vessel, full exclusivity within reach, one dining room, one deck. Simplest programme we run. | 20–44 guest programmes |
| 45 – 88 | Two | Two ships sailing in company. Two coordinators. A gala requires everyone on one deck or ashore. | 45–88 guest programmes |
| 89 – 200 | Three to five | Fleet operation. Deck gala is no longer viable — the evening moves ashore. Site survey before we quote. | 89–200 guest programmes |
| 200+ | Five or more | Beyond our own fleet. We would be chartering third-party vessels, and we would tell you so. | Quoted per project |
If somebody quotes you a per-person rate for forty guests and you scale it linearly to fifty to build a budget, your number will be wrong by roughly a third. Rooms on land are a smooth curve; cabins on ships are a staircase. Ask for the rate at your actual committed headcount, not a rate per head from a different band.
What we run, and what we do not
We operate the vessels and everything that happens on them, plus the road transfer from Hanoi and the shore-based elements attached to the programme.
- We do: the ships, the crew, the catering, the deck production, the harbour clearance, the coach transfer from Hanoi or Van Don, kayak and cave activity, shore galas, and a coordinator on every hull.
- We do not: book your flights, arrange visas, or act as your corporate travel agent. Different business, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.
- We will not: take a group into the June to September window without a written contingency, or promise a deck gala for a hundred and twenty guests. Both are on the list of things we say no to.
How a programme is put together
- You send a brief. Four fields to start: group size band, month and duration, programme type, and a work email.
- We reply within eight working hours with feasibility — whether your dates hold at your headcount, how many hulls it takes, and any constraint worth knowing before you go further.
- Detailed quote within three working days, naming the specific vessels, an hour-by-hour sailing plan, and a rate breakdown by committed headcount.
- Seven-day soft hold, free of charge, on the hulls and the cabins while you get internal approval.
- Deposit converts the hold to a confirmation. Calculated on a guaranteed minimum headcount rather than your optimistic estimate, with a 5–10% shortfall carrying no penalty.
- Rooming list locks at 14 days out. On a ship this matters more than on land — cabin allocation drives the manifest we file with the port authority, and the manifest cannot be rewritten on the pier.
Questions we are asked most often
What is the smallest group you will take?
Twenty. Below that a full charter costs more per head than most companies will approve, and a cabin block on a shared sailing is usually the better answer — which is a cheaper booking for you and a smaller one for us. We will still tell you.
Can we hold a conference session on board?
Yes, with real limits. Our largest vessel has an indoor space that seats around forty theatre style. Mobile signal is reliable near the main anchorages and unreliable further out. Generator power caps what AV you can run. See the conference cruise page for what works and what does not.
What happens if the port authority closes the bay?
No vessel sails. This is not our decision and not negotiable — Quang Ninh port authority suspends departure clearance in bad weather and every operator on the bay is grounded simultaneously. What we control is what happens next, which is a contracted shore programme, not a refund argument. See the port closure page.
Are your rates inclusive of VAT?
Yes. All published rates include Vietnamese VAT and a full tax invoice is issued. Air tickets are excluded — most groups reach us by road from Hanoi in any case.
How far ahead should we book?
Forty-five days up to 44 guests, sixty for two vessels, ninety to a hundred and twenty for a fleet operation. Add a month for October and November, which is the best sailing window of the year and books out first.
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.