In my last post I chatted a lot about the actual ship. I swear we didn’t just spend all our time on the boat and we did make it to Bermuda
When Jeremy and I were discussing vacation ideas the thought of leaving on a cruise via New York was really appealing, it meant we didn’t have to spend the extra money on airplane travel and dealing with transportation once we got to wherever we were going (yes, we are both still too young to rent a car). Sunday morning before the cruise Jeremy came in from Westchester and I took a quick cab ride from my apartment over to the pier– how easy is that?
Cruising out of New York also meant say “Hi” to Miss Lady Liberty and sailing under the Verazzano bridge, which looked like it was shorter than us as we approached
The first two full days of the cruise were spent at sea as we made our way to Bermuda. It was pretty easy to find ways to amuse ourselves on the ship between the ropes course, multiple pools, mini gold and lots of entertainment options. It was great because by the time we got to Bermuda we had checked out all the cool things on the ship already. Once in Bermuda we spent 2 full days there and left around 4:30pm the third day.
Neither of us had ever been to Bermuda before so we weren’t sure what to expect. It was honestly more beautiful and amazing than I could have imagined and is definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited.
Few from the boat of Bermuda!
We purchased a 3 day unlimited bus and ferry pass which ended up being a very well spent $35 (each). During our 3 days there we took 12 rides on either a bus or a ferry. I was initially concerned about how safe it would be to take public transportation in a foreign country. Everyone was incredibly helpful, the people on the bus were friendly and we never felt concerned about our safety. Navigating the buses and ferries was relatively simple since we weren’t afraid to ask a lot of questions about where buses were going and which stop was going to be ours.
Day One
After getting off the ship and purchasing our transportation passes, we decided to explore the nearby area, The Royal Naval Dockyard. Even though there’s not a whole lot in the area, it was still a cute area to walk around.
I resisted the urge to spend lots of money in the mall, I swear.
For lunch we went to The Frog and Onion Pub since I had read about it in a guide book. Even though it was a bit touristy (as many things in Bermuda were) the menu was great and the food was delicious:
Falafel burger? Uh, yes please!
Once we saw all there was to see in the dockyard we hopped on a bus for a 25 minute ride to Horseshoe Bay since it was the beach EVERYONE was talking about visiting. And with good reason…
The turquoise water and pink sand was simply stunning. We were worried that it would be incredibly crowded with fellow tourists. It really wasn’t that bad compared to Jones Beach or Robert Moses in New York. Horseshoe Bay is also broken up into 3 beaches, more or less, and the farther away you go from the main beach the less and less crowded it gets. At one point we had a whole area to ourselves.
There was also this grotto-type area where the water was really shallow and next to it there was an area where you could climb to the top for a better view of the beach. Jeremy took some pictures of me being a lame scaredy cat on the beach while he went climbing…
After spending the afternoon there it was time to head back to the ship and get ready for dinner. We wanted to eat dinner somewhere in Bermuda instead of on the boat so we asked a staff member from the cruise for suggestions, she recommended we take the ferry to Hamilton and it ended up being a great choice. There’s plenty of restaurants right by where the ferry comes into Hamilton and on certain nights of the week there’s live music and an outdoor fair.
For dinner we ended up at The Pickled Onion aka the first restaurant we came across.
I had a delicious spinach salad with apples, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and a hardboiled egg. Considering the lack of veggies I had been eating on the boat, I was pretty pumped for a salad.
Then it was time to head back to the boat to end our night.
Day Two
Our initial plan for day two was to take the Ferry to St. Georges. We had chatted with another young couple on the ferry back from Hamilton the night before and they told us about the beaches they had visited near St. Georges. Unfortunately we missed the first ferry and didn’t want to wait until later in the day, so we decided to hit up Horseshoe Bay again. Why not?
This time I even willingly climbed up the big rock thingy for a great view of the beach
For dinner we decided to take a bus straight to Hamilton from Horseshoe Bay since it was pretty cool to see Bermuda via the bus route. I can’t remember the name of the pub we went to for dinner, but it was also delicious and I had a (very unphotogenic) chicken curry dish for dinner, yes at a pub.
Day Three
Since it was our last day in Bermuda we had to be back on the boat by a certain time in order to head back to New York (womp womp). We woke up a bit earlier so we could definitely catch the ferry to St. Georges. From there we took a bus to Turtle Bay
The beach was EMPTY except for 2 other couples and a few lifeguards. It was still beautiful with the turquoise water and the atmosphere was really different from Horseshoe Bay since it was much quieter and the water was calmer. I even went pretty far into the water which is rare because I don’t like water (kind of exaggerating my dislike of water… but in all honesty I’m a terrible swimmer and avoid water).
After a relaxing afternoon in the sun it was time to head back to the dockyard for one last Bermuda meal at the Frog and Onion before boarding the ship. When we got back to the ship it was essentially a huge New York celebration which I thought was a nice touch
The next day was one last day at sea. The ship was incredibly rocky and it was chilly out so most of the outdoor activities couldn’t run. Most of the day was spent playing chess or card games followed by seeing some shows at night.
And then the next morning we woke up magically back in New York. It was pretty awesome to still get a full nights sleep on a “travel day” and feel refreshed when you arrive home compared to dealing with airplanes and all that jazz. Within 15 minutes we were back in my apartment ready to hit up our favorite brunch place.
All in all we had a seriously amazing trip together from the actual ship to Bermuda. Both of us agreed that we would definitely do it all again in a similar fashion.
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