Aspira Cruise for private events.

Facts and figures

• Cabins:  22, across four grades
• Charter size:  40–50 guests; the published bed mix comes to 47 adults
• Cabin decks:  1st and 2nd, with a sundeck above
• Largest grades:  Executive and Presidential, both 55m² with a sun terrace
• Connecting pairs:  Two — rooms 101/103 and 102/104
• Departs from:  Tuan Chau Harbour
• Hanoi transfers:  Round trip included in the fare
• Formats:  2D1N and 3D2N

What the operator does not publish

• Build year, length, beam, deck count, total capacity and crew size are all absent from their site. We have asked; we will not invent them in the meantime
• A bathtub is stated only for the Executive suites. The Presidential listing mentions the sun terrace and nothing else, so we do not credit it with one
• The deck pool is called a jacuzzi pool on one page and a seasonal swimming pool on another, which is why this site says both

2 days, 1 night — Hang Sang Cave and Tra Bau

Day 1 · Hang Sang Cave, then the pool and a cooking class

• 11:30  Departure from Tuan Chau Harbour
• Lunch  Regional seafood, served as the ship passes the islets
• Afternoon  Hang Sang Cave with a guide — kayak in, or take a bamboo boat
• Late afternoon  Back aboard for sunset over the Gulf of Tonkin, the seasonal pool, and a traditional cooking class
• Dinner  Set menu of Vietnamese and Asian dishes, then games, squid fishing or a massage — massage is charged separately

Day 2 · Tra Bau fishing village, and back by lunch

• Morning  Tea or coffee watching the bay wake up, then Tai Chi on deck or the gym, then breakfast
• Mid-morning  Tra Bau fishing village with a guide — kayaking, and the working life of the village
• 10:00  Back aboard and check out of the cabin
• Brunch  Served in the restaurant as the ship sails back to the pier
• 11:15  Return to Tuan Chau Harbour

3 days, 2 nights — the one that reaches Cat Ba

Day 1 · Ha Long Bay into Lan Ha, and the Tra Bau anchorage

• 11:30  Departure
• 13:00  Lunch — regional seafood and a buffet, served as the ship passes the islets
• 14:30  Hang Sang Cave, in the Bright and Dark Cave area of Lan Ha Bay. Kayak it, or take a rowboat steered by a local villager
• 16:30  Back aboard for the outdoor jacuzzi, or a swim off the ship
• 17:30  Tea on deck for the sunset, the rooftop jacuzzi, and happy hour — buy two drinks, get one
• 18:15  Anchor at Tra Bau fishing village. Cooking class onboard, making traditional Vietnamese dishes
• 19:00  Set-menu dinner, then squid fishing, karaoke or the spa

Day 2 · Cat Ba National Park and Ba Trai Dao, the day you book three for

• 06:30  Dawn over the bay. Morning exercise on the sundeck, or the onboard gym
• 07:00  Breakfast buffet
• 08:15  Viet Hai Village, in a valley inside Cat Ba National Park on Cat Ba Island
• 12:00  Lunch
• 13:30  Ba Trai Dao — kayaking in clear water, swimming, and the beach
• 17:30  Happy hour, plus a Vietnamese spring roll demonstration or a fruit-carving class in the restaurant
• 19:00  Dinner
• 20:45  The bar, music, games, squid fishing or the spa

Day 3 · Lan Ha by kayak, then back

• 06:30  Sunrise, morning exercise on the sundeck or the gym
• 07:00  Breakfast
• 08:00  Kayak Lan Ha Bay properly — through the limestone islets and the corners only a kayak reaches
• 09:30  Brunch, and settling anything charged onboard
• 11:30  Return

Where the event actually goes

• The 16:30–18:15 stretch on day one is the natural ceremony window — the ship is at anchor, everyone is aboard, and the light is right
• Day two's 20:45 slot takes a dinner speech or an awards segment without displacing anything
• Two separate cooking activities and a fruit-carving class are already scheduled, which for a corporate group is a team session you do not have to plan

Both sailings leave from Tuan Chau Harbour, the same pier Azura uses — not the Ha Long International Port the Athena ships work from. The operator notes two things plainly and so do we: menus change with the season and what the kitchen can source, and the schedule moves with weather and traffic. Build a run of show with slack in it.

The first lunch, as a buffet

Four stations while the ship leaves port: salads, a hot counter, a bread and soup counter, and desserts. Grilled shrimp skewers with salt and chilli, squid stir-fried with green pepper, aubergine in a seafood and soy sauce, beef with vegetables and mixed fried rice; chicken soup with corn and lotus seed on the soup counter; a coconut longan chè to finish.

Dinner, plated, with a choice of two mains

One set each night rather than a list to order from, and within it the table chooses a main. Night one is smoked goose breast with passion fruit, pumpkin soup, then grilled sea bass with orange sauce or pan-fried Australian beef with black pepper, and a flan with black sugar pearls. On the 3D2N, night two opens with Ha Long seafood soup and a grilled vegetable salad, then salmon with shrimp roe cream or grilled chicken with orange, and ice cream with a pear poached in red wine.

Breakfast, with a pho counter and eggs cooked to order

A buffet, but two parts of it are made in front of you: beef and chicken pho with the condiments set out beside it, and an egg station doing rolled, fried, poached, boiled and both kinds of sunny side up. Pastries, cereal, cold cuts, yoghurt and juice around them. The 3D2N runs the same breakfast on both mornings.

Lunch on the day boat, on the 3D2N

The second day moves to a day boat, and lunch moves with it — a set served to the table rather than a buffet, which is the sensible arrangement on a smaller vessel. Steamed prawns, sea fish in tomato, stir-fried chicken with mushroom, vegetables and rice, and chả mực Hạ Long, the squid cake the bay is actually known for.

Brunch on the last morning

Served while the ship cruises back to port, and closer to a late breakfast than a lunch: bacon and sausage, baked fish in butter and garlic, chicken with bell peppers, fried rice, spaghetti, a salad and dressing counter, bread with cheese and jam, and seasonal fruit.

Dietary menus — ask early for this ship

Neither 2025 file carries a separate vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher or children's menu, where Azura prints two and Athena Premium prints five. It does not follow that the kitchen cannot cook for a requirement, only that there is no printed menu to point at. If your group has one, it is the first thing to raise rather than the last.

Menus move with the season and with what the kitchen can source, and a wedding menu is usually built rather than chosen off this page. Tell us the dietary requirements in your group early and we will get the current sheets from the ship.

Wine, by the glass and by the bottle

House whites and reds run Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, available either way. Beyond the house list there are separate French and New Zealand sections.

Champagne and sparkling

Prosecco in white and rosé, a Pol Remy brut, and Champagne proper — Charles de Cazanove and Deutz Brut Classic. Enough of a ladder to pour something different for a toast than for the reception.

The full bar

Whisky, bourbon, cognac, liqueurs and spirits, plus cocktails and a mocktail list — which matters more than it sounds for a mixed group, and is the thing most often forgotten when planning a bar.

Soft drinks, juices, coffee and tea

Fresh fruit juices, soft drinks, mixers, and a coffee and tea list for the morning after.

Treat this as a reference for what a bar on Aspira can look like. We will confirm the current selection and pricing with the ship before anything is committed. Drinks are charged on consumption unless you arrange a package up front, which for a wedding is usually the calmer way to do it.