A SURPRISING BIRTHDAY ON HERMES CRUISES, HALONG BAY

I presented myself a 01 night Halong Bay cruise as a birthday gift. It was so surprising that Hermes Cruises also prepared for my day without my acknowledging it.

Very often when I planned to go somewhere, I used to choose an adventurous trip to challenge myself and nature. It might be a great travel trend for aesthetic youngsters who are eager to conquer the nature and want to reduce the budget. But when my 25th birthday was coming near, I decided to spend my savings for a leisure trip to turn into 25 in a more leisure way, hoping that the new age would treat me well. Hence, I went shopping around and chose Hermes Cruises finally. Important as the trip might be for me, I thought it was simply an overnight cruise, and I would silently celebrate my birthday with my boy without any other people’s attention. But much to my surprise, things did not happen to be the same.

I went shopping a lot before reaching a decision to go with Hermes. I couldn’t find enough reviews about this ship via TripAdvisor and other booking sites cos it’s still very new a ship, but as I was so impressed by its classic northern European design that I decided to take risks while there were still many attractive offers from other ships. I got a quite good price since it’s their grand opening era.

I & my boyfriend landed at Noi Bai Airport and took a day trip to Hanoi first. In the next morning, Hermes bus picked us up right in front of our hotel to start the 01 night Halong Bay cruise. When the guide asked my name, he put on a mysterious smile without telling why.

After a nearly 4 hour ride, we headed to Halong Bay to do check-ins on the ship. The staff sent me the warmest welcome and wished me a happy birthday. I was quite surprised and thought perhaps they saw my birthday on the passport 😀 I thought it’s all, but it DIDN’T.

I grabbed my boyfriend close by for comfort when I entered our cabin. It was so beautifully designed with colorful balloons, banners, buntings, lights, and lanterns. And a bunch of flowers! Well…this was SO BIG A PRESENT for me!!! I turned to ask my boyfriend whether it was him who prepared all those stuff, but he said NO. It was all from the Cruises! At that moment I could not help myself but thanks Hermes Cruises a lot.

There was also a scrumptious and visually appealing birthday cake, which was too much for me and my boyfriend to eat all =))) And surprisingly, all these stuff are FREE of charge!

Perhaps I don’t need to say much about a cruise on Halong Bay as it has been written in numerous articles and reviews. The Bay is exquisite with imaginary caves, innocent and empty beaches, and peaceful floating villages. Kayaking and squid-fishing are much fun, too.

On the whole, my birthday trip just went above my expectations. We got a really good time on Hermes Cruises with lovely staff, tasty Vietnamese dishes, and fascinating bay expedition. May my 25th year go smoothly and joyfully like what I had experienced in Halong Bay.

Patricia Hernandez