If you travel on Cruise and land at Danang (Tien Sa Port) you have 1 day to visit from 8am to 5pm so you should travel and visit by car for you have not much time to do motorbike

You can visit Da Nang city or Hoi An ancient town

I would suggest taking a taxi directly to hoi an. I believe the ride is about 1/2 hr and should not be too expensive. Hoi an is a charming city to wander around.

i vote for taxi to hoi an too

Definitely Hoi An.

thank you guys! Hoi An it will be! Short taxi ride (1/2 hr) and walking around ancient town sounds great!

Actual port we dock at is Chan May which I think is closer to Hue and in opposite direction from Hoi An.

Does that change your recommendation?

Hue is also an interesting town -- perhaps not with the obvious charm. I would hook up with a guide or driver and spend the day in Hue. We went with Hue Riders for a day on the back of motorbikes. It was a great day.

It appears to be a slightly under 2-hour drive from the port to HoiAn, and less then an hour from the port to Hue. Since you only have 8 hours, I wouldn't plan to spend 4 of them in the car!

As yestravel said, Hue lacks the charm of HoiAn, but actually has more interesting sites to see.

If you arrive in Chan May Port, it is between Hoi An and Hue. It is 70km to Hue, 30km to Danang and 70km to Hoi An. You have 3 options:
1. Visit Hue city with 2 tombs & Citadel and if possible Thien Mu pagoda
2. Visit Danang city: My Khe beach, Cham Museum and Marble Mountain
3. Visit Hoi An and stop over at Cham Museum

As my experience you should choose Hoi An or Hue city

I found Danag to be underwhelming. The bezch area is much like FLA with big condos up and down strips of it. the Cham Musuem while very nice is quite small. Marble Mtn is ok, but not worth skipping Hue or Hoi An.