We spent 2 days and 1 night in Halong Bay with Alova Gold Cruise and it was brilliant from start to finish. We had read so many reviews about Halong Bay tours so had no idea who to go with but the people at Hanoi Topaz hotel recommended Alova to us so we booked for the day after. Our tour guide Tom was very polite and you could tell he was very passionate about his job, giving us lots of information about Vietnam etc The journey there on the bus took 3 and a half hours and was very bumpy but roads are like this everywhere in Vietnam! The boat was extremely clean and very modern with a lovely sunbathing area on the top deck! All the staff were really friendly, Mr Hung on the bar makes amazing cocktails and extremely strong shots 😉 Kayaking and the beach in the afternoon was by far the best moment, especially when we got to see the monkeys, nice surprise! All the food was great, so much of it too so plenty to go around. The weather was perfect on our first day but it rained and was overcast on the 2nd so if you can try look at the weather before you book! The only thing I would say is when coming off the boat we had lunch before getting back on the bus but it was only just gone 11 am so we weren’t very hungry… Not a big deal though as it is a long journey back. Tom even sings for you on the way home which was lovely 🙂 we couldn’t have asked for a nicer guide, thank you very much for a wonderful experience!