Friend and I book a Halong bay tour via the hotel with Alova Day Cruise to Halong Bay. Hotel earned US 5 so if you don’t want to pay the money, go to the cruise company directly. ^^ We were packed with 12 other tourists from all parts of the world (so please be advised that bus will be pretty noisy and all) But what made this trip so good was our tour guide Mr Manh who put in 101% effort in entertaining us during the 4 hour bus ride to Halong Bay. He really put in a lot of effort in telling us many interesting facts about Hanoi, Halong Bay and Vietnam itself. Food on the cruise was surprisingly good too. The other tour guide on the cruise was also very friendly who didnt put up any pretense to act friendly. Oh and don’t worry if you cant swim in the event the cruise sinks (of course touch wood but there’s been accidents) because there are life jackets hidden under the dining tables. of course they are dirty and maybe not useful but they gave us a sense of peace. ^^ overall tour was also pretty good, we went to visit some colorful caves and mr Manh taught us alot of the Stalactites and Stalagmites! awesome trip~