Travel

Ambassador Cruise Halong Bay has launched a lavish new a day cruise on a new vessel with restaurants and bars, an outdoor jacuzzi and a striking glass bridge.

The five-star line behind the UNESCO World Heritage site’s most sublime cruise experiences began the day-long ‘Ambassador Day Cruise II’ tours on 10 February.

Elegantly designed, the ship features spacious sundecks across two floors that total 324sqm and 250sqm, affording 360-degree vistas of Halong Bay and its myriad limestone karsts. Two restaurants, two bars, an entertainment area for live music, and the large open-air jacuzzi are among the 45-cabin vessel’s top-notch facilities. The five-metre glass bridge jutting from the vessel’s bow inspires compelling photographs.

The 500-ton five-floor steel craft with a basement measures 90 meters long, 16 meters wide and 19 meters high, making it the largest and most luxurious ship to ever ply Halong Bay’s waters with a total of 10,000sqm of rentable space. Ambassador Cruise is the only Halong Bay cruise line to include an elevator system for the elderly and people with disabilities.

With amenities that hitherto have been the province of overnight adventures only, the new cruise caters for up to 500 passengers, who check in at Ambassador’s Check-In Lounge in Halong City at 9.45am.

The itinerary includes exploration of Sung Sot Cave, a delectable buffet lunch while the vessel’s route plys a passage by Ho Dong Tien Cave, Trong Cave, Me Cung Cave and Cua Van Floating Village. The cruise anchors off Titov Island whose scalable heights offer panoramic views of the bay. Afternoon tea is served on the vessel’s sundeck. Guests return to Halong International Cruise Port at 4:30pm.

A round-trip shuttle bus links Hanoi with Halong Bay via an expressway that opened in 2018, cutting the drive time between the destinations in half to two hours.

Nguyen Cao Son, founder of Asia Premier Cruises Corporation, which owns Ambassador Cruise, said February was the right time to launch the day cruise, following the world’s reopening and 2018’s launch of both the expressway and Van Don International Airport, located 50km from Halong Bay.

“The day cruise opens up Halong Bay in an exciting new way for many travellers, particularly those who can’t squeeze an overnight cruise into their schedule and yet now have the opportunity to experience this breathtakingly beautiful destination in style in a day,” he said.

Since launching its first vessel in 2021, Ambassador Cruise has made a name for itself as the leading luxury cruise operator on Halong Bay and also offers overnight cruises.

Ambassador Day Cruise II is priced from USD 112 per person (VND 2.625 million) including day cruise itinerary and program, round-trip shuttle bus transfer from and to Hanoi, one luxury buffet lunch, onboard insurance, tax and service charges, sightseeing fees and afternoon tea on the sundeck.