bridetobe - questions about Bermuda cruise

I saw that you went to Bermuda on a Celebrity cruise. My FH and I are going next month. One month from tomorrow - yay!

We are actually with a huge group. My friend is getting married on the island. Can you give me some recommendations on places I should see or things I should do? Neither one of us has ever been on a cruis before. Also, is it very expenseive to drink on the boat? Our package does not include alcohol

Thanks!

Becky

My friend just went on a cruise with her husband and a group of their friends (not sure what cruise line thought) but their drinks were not included either....so they brought a bunch of mini bottles. She said that saved them. She said the drinks were watered down and over priced so they would just get a soda and add their own liquor. hehe sneeky

Hi Becky,

I just got back from a cruise to Bermuda. We had a great time ! We took Celebrity's HORIZON for a 7 night cruise. We had an incredible time. Drinks are not included and can be very pricey. I didnt drink but saw prices ranging from $4-$10 a drink and maybe more for fancier drinks. Horizon also gives a $50 card p/p to spend in Bermuda (the ZENITH does not give this - this was basically the only major difference between the 2 ships -they are sister ships). DH and I bought new FOSSIL watches :) Save your card for the department store called TRIMINGHAMS in Hamilton.

As far as eating 90% of us skipped lunch while we were sightseeing and got back by 4pm or so to eat on the ship. Its a good way to save money and make the best of the cruise you paid for ! You eat a hearty breakfast before leaving the ship and beleive me you are not hungry all day. A cruise is a food-fest as you will see !

Some more tips off the top of my head:
-Bring sunblock and Aloe for sunburn relief-just incase. Its not humid at all but the sun is stronger than you would think !
-Pack capris, long sleeve shirts and pants also (in addition to your summer wardrobe). We usually dont think of these things when going to an island, but the days that you are 'at sea', the ship is totally air conditioned and it can get quite chilly in there. Lots of people are just comfy/casual on those days. Also for formal dinner nights, lots of people like to go back to the room and change, before spending the rest of the night at the casino, by the pool etc. They have an exercise room also incase you are interested.
-OH, I learned the hard way, there are NO IRONS on board, so iron DH's shirts b4 you go, unless you want to pay their hefty CLEANING fees.
-Dont sign up for an excursions on the ship. First of all incase it rains, you dont waste your money, and also, its MUCH cheaper to get a 3day bus/ferry pass at the Bus Terminal in Bermuda (only $23 pp) and do everything on your own. Renting scooters I would not recommend, its not very easy to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, the roads a VERY NARROW (kind of like those small towns in Europe, if youve ever been), and a bus is just more practical. You get a bus map and youre ready to go. You'll feel comfortable right away. The people on the buses, on the street, everywhere, are SOOO friendly, its GREAT !

Let me know if you have any questions.

You can also email me at [email protected]

You'll have a GREAT TIME !!!!!!!!!!!

I took Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress to Bermuda 2 years ago and had a fabulous time.

Drinks are not included on the ship, so be careful and you could easily rack up a bill.

While on Bermuda, we rented a scooter and found a really secluded beach. We also went to Hamilton (the capital) and went shopping there. The Royal Navy Dockyard has some shops too. If you have the money, you can go to the Southampton Princess Hotel and do the Dolphin Encounter. There are also the Crystal Caves, which is kind of like Howe's Caverns.

Try to go the Green Olive or some name like that. It's a pub and it was a lot of fun.

Karen

I had a really nice time on the Cruise last year. It was my first cruise experience. I also went on the Celebrity Horizon. You are going to have a blast because you are going with a large group. I would love to go back in a group.

The food was great. Like another poster, often we skipped lunch when we were in port. We would get back too late to have lunch..but there is 24 hour room service! Also there is pizza and ice-cream from like 4-6. You can order as much as you wnt at dinner..if you want two appetizers..do it! Two dinners..do it...We felt weird at first, but by the end it was common place. We just wanted to try everything.

As far as drinking..I think the drinks are average NYC bar prices...probably $6-8 a drink. Our end bill wasn't too bad but we didn't party too too much..the other couple we went with are not really into the party scene (a little disappointing to me)! Plus, when we went the crowd was kind of older...I am talking 65+. The club would be empty at night just a few hs kids! We had a bottle of wine with dinner 3-4 nights. They range in price .. we probably paid about $30 a bottle.

The island is so nice. The water is so blue! We got around mostly by bus. It is pretty easy to do especially from Hamilton. I highly recommend going to Horseshoe Bay. We have some great pictures from there. You can climb all these rocks and get to private secluded beaches. We went as far as we could. (I am not normally a rock climber..this was fun). We went to Elbow beach which is a beach on a resort. Nice beach but not much to do...suppose to be pink sand...but it wasn't too pink. We went to some cavarn...that was ok. We went to the shops in Hamilton and used our Celebrity gift card. (Buy bottled water/cans of soda on the island..cheaper than on the boat by far.) In St. George we rented snorkling equipment and snorkled in the bay. If you have you own equipment, bring it. It can be useful. We went out to the bars and a club in Hamilton on night. It was fun...prices aren't bad..we are New Yorkers so I guess $$ doesn't surprise us easily. There is alot more to do in Hamilton. Not much in St. George.

I recommend enjoying all the little activities on the boat and have fun. We entered a ring toss and won a bottle of champagne! We went to the silly parties and played along with the games...made it fun!

Have a blast. Drop me a line if you have additional questions b/c this post is so lengthy already!