Athena Premium for private events.
The first overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay to operate a Japanese onsen, with an 800m² sundeck that takes a 400-guest cocktail reception. One hundred and ten metres, 41 cabins for 158 guests, a four-season infinity pool, Sea Spa and yoga studio — on a route through Ha Long Bay proper rather than Lan Ha.
Same vessel. Two very different days.
What makes this ship different.
Athena Premium also bills itself six-star, so the star class is not what separates it from Azura. The sundeck is, and the onsen — along with a heated pool, eleven more cabins and a route through Ha Long Bay proper.
The largest event space of any ship we work with, and the figure that changes what can be planned here: 400 for a cocktail reception, 300 theatre, 250 for a seated banquet. Aspira and Azura charter for forty to seventy.
The first overnight cruise in the bay to operate a Japanese onsen, with a sauna alongside it. No other ship we work with has one, which makes it the only genuinely new thing to put in front of a group that has cruised here before.
The infinity pool is heated for year-round use. That matters more than it sounds: it keeps the deck usable for a December wedding, when the other ships' pools are decorative.
Eleven more cabins than Azura and nearly double Aspira, across seven grades — four standard, three VIP. From a 30m² Ocean View up to the 400m² Imperial Suite on Deck 5. Every cabin has an ocean-view bathtub.
Facilities you can build a programme around.
Taken from the operator's own 2026 presentation and its website. We have walked the photographs rather than the ship, because nobody has sailed on it yet — see the note below.
Wellness, which is the reason this ship exists
- The Sea Spa & Wellness Centre fills the basement deck: onsen bathing, a dry sauna, a steam room, a Himalayan salt sauna and five therapy rooms
- The first onsen on any overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay, open 06:00–22:00
- A four-season infinity pool on Deck 3, heated for use in the cooler months
- A yoga studio and a separate meditation room, both on Deck 2
- Fitness centre on Deck 1, so a 3D2N retreat does not break anyone's routine
The rest of the ship
- 110m long, 18m wide, six decks plus a basement, 41 cabins and 70 crew for 158 guests
- Seven cabin grades — four standard, three VIP — from a 30m² Ocean View to the 400m² Imperial Suite on Deck 5, all with ocean-view bathtubs
- Ambrosia Gallery Restaurant on Deck 2, serving 07:00–14:00 and 17:00–22:00
- Sol by the Sea Lounge, an Observatory Lounge on Deck 6 open to midnight, and a library
- A virtual 3D golf bay and private karaoke rooms for the evening slot
Where it sails
- 2D1N through Ha Long Bay proper: Sung Sot Cave, Ti Top Island and Luon Cave
- 3D2N adds Me Cung Cave and the Tung Sau area, and a slower second day the onsen earns
- A different route from Azura, which sails Lan Ha — worth knowing if a group has cruised here before
Sailing sooner than October 2026? Azura and Aspira are both in service now.
What two days actually look like.
The operator's own 2D1N programme, hour by hour. The 17:00 to 18:30 stretch is the natural ceremony window — the ship is at anchor, everyone is aboard and the light is right — and the 20:30 slot takes a speech or an awards segment without displacing anything.
2 days, 1 night — Sung Sot Cave, Ti Top Island and Luon Cave
- 12:00 Check in at the Athena Premium lounge, Ha Long International Cruise Port
- 12:30 Welcome drink and cold towel, then into the cabin
- 12:45 Lunch buffet in Ambrosia Gallery, the restaurant on deck three
- 14:45 Sung Sot Cave — the largest in Ha Long Bay
- 15:45 Ti Top Island: the white sand beach, or the climb to the summit
- 17:00 Back aboard for the four-season infinity pool, the sundeck, and the onsen, sauna and spa
- 18:00 Sunset hour — buy two drinks, get one
- 18:30 Cooking demonstration with the head chef
- 19:00 Dinner in Ambrosia Gallery
- 20:30 Squid fishing, the karaoke lounge, the onsen, a film in the restaurant, stargazing, or the library
- 06:30 Day two: Tai Chi on the sundeck
- 07:00 Light breakfast in Ambrosia Gallery
- 08:00 Luon Cave by kayak, or by bamboo boat rowed by a local boatman
- 09:00 Luggage outside the cabin, check out at reception
- 09:30 Brunch buffet while the ship cruises back to port
- 10:30 Ashore at Ha Long International Cruise Port
What the fare covers
- Every meal on board, welcome drink, and in-room tea, coffee and Vietnamese snacks
- All sightseeing entrance fees, a bilingual guide, and kayaking, swimming, trekking and night squid fishing
- A film screening with popcorn, and morning Tai Chi
- A complimentary room set-up for honeymooners, anniversaries and birthdays — worth asking about before you pay for one
What it does not — read this one carefully
- The onsen and sauna are not included. They are the reason to choose this ship and they are charged separately — reception quotes on the day. Build it into a budget rather than assuming it
- Spa and massage, karaoke, and drinks are all charged on consumption
- The Hanoi round trip is not in the fare. Neither is VAT, nor the bamboo boat at Luon Cave, which is a 50,000 VND public ticket
Two practical notes the operator states and we will not bury. Passports are required at check-in — full name, date of birth, nationality and visa expiry are taken in advance, and the port authority can refuse boarding without them. And wi-fi is weak: the ship works far from shore.
Forty-one cabins, seven grades.
Four standard grades and three VIP. Every cabin has an ocean-view bathtub, which is not true of any other ship on this site.
| Grade | Cabins | Deck | Size | Key feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athena Executive Balcony | 14 | Deck 1 | 43m² | Private balcony, ocean-view bathtub |
| Athena Connecting Balcony | 2 | Deck 1 | 70m² | Private corridor, ocean-view bathtub |
| Athena Ocean View | 2 | Deck 1 | 30m² | Window, ocean-view bathtub |
| Athena Premium Balcony | 18 | Deck 2 | 45m² | Private balcony, ocean-view bathtub |
| Athena Elite Suite | 2 | Deck 2 | 70m² | Terrace, sun loungers, outdoor jacuzzi |
| Athena Captain's View | 2 | Deck 4 | 55m² | King bed, ocean-view bathtub with jacuzzi |
| Imperial Athena Suite | 1 | Deck 5 | 400m² | Private pool, dressing room, VIP lounge |
Quantities total exactly 41, which is how two contradictions in the operator's own material were settled: their older deck gives the Executive Balcony as 12 cabins, which would total 39, and puts the Imperial Suite at 200m² where the brochure and their website both say 400m².
Facts and figures
- Enters service: 1 October 2026
- Built: 2024, registered in Vietnam
- Length and beam: 110m × 18m
- Decks: 6, plus a basement
- Capacity: 158 guests, 70 crew
- Port: Ha Long International Cruise Port, Bai Chay
- From Hanoi: 170km, about 2h25m by road
- From Cat Bi airport, Hai Phong: 50km, about 55 minutes
Five dietary menus, in print.
From the operator's own menus. The useful part for an event is not the dish names — it is that dinner is a plated set with real choice, and that a kosher, halal, Indian vegetarian, vegetarian or children's guest can be handed a printed menu rather than a promise.
Five dietary menus, already in print
Vegetarian, halal, kosher, Indian vegetarian and a children's menu — each a separate printed menu, not a kitchen improvising on the day. Kosher and halal as standing menus are rare on this bay, and for a mixed corporate group or a wedding with guests flying in from several countries it is usually the question that decides the ship.
Lunch, as a buffet
A bakery basket and a cheese board, a salad bar with half a dozen made salads, and a hot selection built around Van Don oysters, Van Chai steamed prawns, La Vong turmeric fish and five-spice braised beef. A carving station runs alongside it — herb-roasted lamb leg, grilled duck breast with northwest herbs — plus soups and a dessert station.
Dinner, as a plated set
Two set menus on the 2D1N and four on the 3D2N, so a group sailing three days is not served the same dinner twice. Both programmes also run a breakfast and a brunch service.
A children's menu that children will eat
Fries, grilled sausage, pizza, sandwiches, hamburger, spaghetti in four sauces and American-style fried chicken. Worth knowing for a family wedding — it is a real menu rather than a smaller portion of the adult one.
Wine and drinks, on separate lists
The wine list runs France, Chile, Australia and Italy, with Champagne and Prosecco, and a Bordeaux. The drink menu covers spirits, liqueurs, a long juice list, coffee and tea. Both are quoted subject to government tax and service charge.
Menus move with the season and with what the kitchen can source. Tell us the dietary requirements in your group early and we will get the current sheets from the operator rather than working from this page — and confirm how much notice they need.
Every room, and what it actually seats.
The operator's own figures. This is the table that decides whether a run of show fits — a 400-guest cocktail hour on the sundeck can move to a 110-cover banquet in the restaurant, on one ship, without anyone going ashore.
| Venue | Area | Cocktail | Theatre | Banquet | Boardroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundeck | 800m² | 400 | 300 | 250 | 300 |
| Ambrosia Gallery Restaurant | 400m² | 160 | — | 110 | 90 |
| Sol by the Sea Lounge | 250m² | 120 | 80 | 60 | 48 |
| Observatory Lounge | 130m² | 40 | 30 | — | 30 |
| Pool deck | 105m² | 60 | — | — | — |
| Athena Wine & Cigar Lounge | 90m² | 32 | 20 | — | 20 |
| Meeting room | 40m² | — | — | — | 20 |
Taken from the operator's MICE brochure. Capacities are for the ship at anchor and assume the venue is used on its own — combining the sundeck and pool deck, or running a ceremony and a dinner in sequence, changes the numbers. We will size it properly against your run of show rather than quoting a headline figure back at you.
No reviews yet, and we will not borrow any.
Athena Premium enters service on 1 October 2026. It has never carried a guest, so it has no review history — and every score you may find under the Athena name belongs to a different ship.
Why this page has no rating on it
- The "Athena Cruise" listing scoring 4.9 from 2,680 reviews is a brand score covering Athena Royal and the group's older vessels. None of it describes this ship.
- The operator's own website currently shows five-star testimonials on a vessel that has not sailed. We have not copied them across.
- Every photograph on this page is of Athena Premium itself, confirmed by the name on the hull and on the cabin amenities — and not a sister ship. The operator's renders are real and useful, but they are kept in their own section and labelled as renders rather than mixed into the gallery.
- When it has sailed and has a review history of its own, it will appear here with a link out, exactly like the ships that already sail.
If a sailing record matters more to you than the onsen — and for a wedding it often should — say so and we will point you at Aspira, which has four years of it.
What the ship actually looks like.
Real photographs of the finished vessel. Every listing for this ship is running the operator's CGI as though it were photography — these are not that. The renders are below, in their own section, labelled.
The spaces nobody has photographed yet.
The ship enters service on 1 October 2026, so the onsen, the Sea Spa, the sundeck and most public rooms exist only as the operator's CGI. They are shown here, in their own section, because a render in a photo gallery is a quiet lie — and because these are the rooms the ship is being sold on. Treat them as intent, not evidence.
We will replace these with photographs once the ship is in service and we have been aboard. If a render and the finished room turn out to differ, that is worth knowing before you commit a wedding to it — ask us and we will tell you what we have seen.
Five steps from first message to sail away.
No mystery pricing, no vendor roulette. You see the full plan before you commit to anything.
Goals, guest count, dates, and whether this is a wedding or a company retreat.
We recommend a vessel and a 2D1N or 3D2N itinerary that fits your group.
Run of show, space planning, vendor scope and transparent pricing, in writing.
Logistics, vendors, guest flow and styling, including the cruise-specific constraints.
Onboard coordination from arrival to departure. You get to be a guest.
Send these and we will tell you if it fits.
No pricing is published on this page. We quote against your actual dates, headcount and priorities.
Wedding, retreat or celebration
Including any children or elderly guests
One window, or two to three options
2D1N or 3D2N
Ceremony, dinner, speeches, after-party
Decor, photo and video, AV, MC
VIPs, couples, families
Dietary, accessibility or timing limits
Register interest in Athena Premium.
It sails from 1 October 2026. Tell us your dates and guest count — including whether you need the sundeck as an event space — and we will come back on availability, pricing and whether it is the right call against the ships already sailing.
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WhatsApp us- Response time24 to 48 hours, Singapore business days
- Where we operateHa Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay, Vietnam
- Formats2D1N and 3D2N, cabin block or full charter
- Email[email protected]
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