What Should You Do If Halong Bay Cruise Is Canceled?

1. Keep in touch with your tour provider

If you still stay at your hotel when noticed that your Halong Bay trip is canceled so it should be fine, you still have time to think carefully about what to do next. However, many people only know that their cruise cannot leave the port when arrived at the port (especially after at least 2 hours of traveling by car from Hanoi). In this case, you should stay in touch with your tour provider/travel consultant first as this is the only one who can help you to arrange a car to travel back or accommodation for that night (which is supposed to be on the cruise).

Halong Bay Cruise Terminal provides detailed information on how to manage unexpected cancellations and can be your reference for port facilities and tips.

You may be interested in: Halong Bay Storm: How to Deal with Cancelation

 Halong Bay in a storm

2. Think about “what next?”

Even though you are still at your hotel or you’ve already been at the port when getting a notice about the “bad news”, you still need a new travel plan for 2 or even 3 next travel days replaced with the old one with 2D1N or 3D2N Halong Bay cruise. For instance, you can opt for the best 2-night Halong Bay cruise to ensure you enjoy the full beauty of the bay, even if it means rearranging your schedule slightly.

In fact, there are many things to do when your cruise trip is canceled suddenly and the following may inspire you for a perfect “Plan B”.

If it’s good weather

• Halong City tour

You don’t think that there is only Halong Bay in Halong, right?

A short city tour in Halong City is a good choice if the cancelation of your cruise is not because of bad weather. Spend your morning at the most famous amusement park in Northern Vietnam: Halong Dragon Park, refreshing with the Typhoon Park, then visit Quang Ninh Museum and Halong market in the afternoon. You can also sleep for one night in Halong and visit the colorful Halong night market to get some lovely souvenirs.

If you are still interested in experiencing Halong Bay differently, consider taking a Ha Long Bay boat trip. This option allows you to explore the bay with short itineraries, even on a tight schedule.

Halong Typhoon and Dragon Park

If it's bad weather

• Hanoi City tour

If it’s just a small storm and doesn’t cause a large effect, you can come back to Hanoi (pretty sure that the cruise staffs at the port and your travel consultant are totally willing to help you arrange a shuttle bus or car immediately) and travel around with a city tour to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Tran Quoc Pagoda, One Pillar Pagoda, Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi Old Quarter, etc. Alternatively, while you are at the port, you can explore the facilities and services at the Halong International Cruise Port. It provides world-class amenities that make waiting for new plans more enjoyable.

Hanoi Old Quarter from above

In case you are still full of energy, you can also join a walking street food tour in Hanoi, which is usually organized at night (from about 5.30 p.m.) with a knowledgeable local tour guide who will take you to about 5 different places in Hanoi Old Quarter and taste the best street food in Hanoi such as Banh Mi (Vietnamese Baguette), Bun Cha (Grilled Pork Noodles), Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodles), Hanoi Beer, Egg Coffee, etc. the menu is changed on different days with different tour guides.

Ta Hien Street - the most crowded food street in Hanoi

You may also like The Best Time to Visit Hanoi and Halong Bay

• Ninh Binh full day tour

If you still feel disappointed as you can’t see the magnificent Halong Bay before leaving Vietnam, how about a trip to Ninh Binh and pay a visit to Trang An – where is called “the Halong Bay on land”? As its nickname, Trang An has exactly the same geographic structure as Halong Bay. And if you are lucky enough to come there in the harvest season, you may have a chance to see the stunning picture of golden rice fields on water, staying among hundreds of small and big rocky mountains in Tam Coc - a magnificent attraction nearby Trang An.

Harvest Season in Tam Coc

• 2D1N Sapa trip

On a lucky day, you still can have enough time to buy a train ticket to Sapa in the evening. Coming back to Hanoi for a shopping and relaxing afternoon, having dinner then sleeping for one night on the train and waking up the next morning in Lao Cai City, traveling by car in about 1 hour to the most popular mountainous town in Northern Vietnam. For someone who loves challenges and adventures, there are many Sapa trekking tours both easy and hard ways to try.

On the other hand, if you just want a few days for relaxing, you can join a city tour in Sapa which allows you to visit all corners in Sapa Town, nearby villages and especially, you will have a chance to reach the top of Fansipan Mountain “the rooftop of Indochina” and diving in the sea of clouds.

Fansipan Peak in the cloud sea

You may also like The Best Time to Visit Sapa and Halong Bay

3. Tips to re-plan your trip if you travel on your own

If you book all the services yourself and don’t have any travel consultant to help you deal with a new plan after your cruise's cancelation, below are some tips for you to deal with the sudden change of your travel plan.

• If Halong Bay is not your final destination in Vietnam, so just choose to visit other destinations first, and maybe you can come back with Halong Bay later. Or else, some suggestions above may help.
• If Halong Bay is your final destination in Vietnam, finding accommodation should be your priority, especially when the cancelation due to bad weather, the number of tourists returning to Hanoi boosted and the Capital becomes short of hotel rooms. After finding a room successfully and you still have time, you can join some full-day or half-day tours as suggested above, other tours you may like are: Tam Coc Full-day Tour, Duong Lam Full-day Tour, etc.

A typical ancient house in Duong Lam Village

In general, don’t be freak out or depressed too much when your Halong Bay Cruise is canceled, as not all plans go fluently as we want, what you should do is stay calm and find another way and new inspiration to continue enjoying your Vietnam trip, after all, Vietnam doesn’t have only a Halong Bay which worth visiting, right?

You may wonder "When Is The Best Time to Visit Halong Bay?" to avoid the cruise cancellation. 

MinKJ

(Image source: Internet)