Our Hanoi travel consultant at Madam Moon’s in Hanoi booked us on a two day cruise of Ha Long Bay on the Alova Gold.

The Alova Gold is a newer, immaculately clean boat which accommodates up to 12 passengers, (which we found to be a nice number). Our room was not cramped and had a picture window. The bathroom was clean and modern and had a separate shower with lots of hot water.

The meals were really good with more food than we could comfortably finish.

The weather was cool and rainy, but in some ways that added to the mystique, as the dramatic landforms loomed out of the mist.
The first afternoon we went kayaking into caves which was very interesting. As cool as the air was, the water must be fairly warm, as some of our party finished up with a swim. 
Then it was on to happy hour; We recommend the passion fruit Martinis.
The next morning we walked through an extensive and dramatic cave system before returning to Ha Long bay for a so-so lunch on shore.

This is really a 24 hour cruise and when the weather is nicer, it might be nice to do a two night cruise, but this trip suited us very well. The price was very reasonable in fact I would say cheap) considering the high level of accommodation and the quality of the meals. Highly recommended.