I got back from Bermuda yesterday. The ship left out of Baltimore last Saturday evening. Sunday was a horrible horrible day at sea - very rocky the entire day. Everyone was getting sick. On the plus side, the ship gave out free vomit bags. You know how I like "free". Oye, it was baadddddd. It was so bad that some people got off the boat in Bermuda and decided to fly home. I tried toughing it out that day and even took the line dancing class that was around 10am. I think there was about 5 people in the class. That was the first time I remember seeing a cute little couple in their 80's who danced at every opportunity. They were even at the ship's dance club at 11pm dancing it up on that awful day.
Then on Wednesday at the Salsa class, I saw the little old lady by herself. I asked her where her husband was and she said he fell in Bermuda and hurt both knees, bumped his head etc. How awful, they were such a cute couple, I hope he gets better soon.
The day we boarded, they had a few raffles and both my sister and I both won prizes. She won Ben & Jerry's ice cream for two in the ship's Ben & Jerry's, and I won a Royal Caribbean mousepad. On Monday we attended an art auction and my sister won some artwork. The art auctions on cruiseships is some sort of racket - some sort of mass produced artwork that they want you to buy frames for - for an additional $200. Anyhow, my sister got her choice of 6 different pictures. It's a good thing I poked her to wake her up for the raffle drawing. I had been dozing too, I swear the sea sickness pills just make you want to sleep. Everyone was feeling bad that day and no one thought anything about seeing someone snoozing in one of the common areas. But here is how the cruise ship makes money - you don't take the artwork with you. You have to pay $35 for shipping.
Tuesday we arrived in Bermuda. So good to get on land. We bought two day bus/ferry passes for $20. We took the ferry to Hamilton (the big city in Bermuda). We walked around and shopped a little, bought a few postcards. Then we went to the Salvation Army thrift store (it's located at the intersection of King and Victoria Street - I think - I can't find my map). It was closed on Monday, we talked to knee sock wearing Carl who work next door to the Salvation Army who recommended we walk to nearby Fort Hamilton for a good view of the city. We took a wrong turn and saw some really nice houses with a fantastic view before we got on the right street to Fort Hamilton.
After that, we found the Post Office and wrote out and mailed the postcards. It was
.70 for a postcard stamp. Then caught a caught a bus going to St. George (an historic smaller city on the island). Everything was closed there. We did find an immigration office and got our passports stamped (for the first time) - a little freebie souvenir. Then caught a ferry back to the ship.
Oh, one thing I should point out is that driving on Bermuda is crazy. The roads are narrow and some appear to be carved out of the side of hills, the side of the bus was inches away from trees, rock walls, etc. I'll have to put some videos on YouTube. Not for the faint of heart.
I was in Bermuda in 1986 - I had rented a moped for a week so I never rode the busses back then. We either rode our mopeds or took a taxi.
On the second day in Bermuda, the sun was out and we took a bus to Horseshoe Bay beach. That was one beach I do remember from my time on the island back in 1986. It was these huge rock formations in the water. The sand was super soft. Except when the wind kicked in, then it felt like you were having a full body microdermabrasion. After the sun went away, we took a bus back to the ship and did some shopping near the pier. There were artists blowing glass, bakers making rum cakes, and a wonderful little internet place that only charges $5 for 30 minutes.
So if you find yourself in Bermuda and needing an internet fix, the YSQueen recommends the Swiss Connection - located in the Clock Tower Mall at King's Wharf.
On the second day in Bermuda (Tuesday), we had to be back to the ship by 3:30pm. Wednesday was a day at sea. But not nearly has rocky as the first day, so we were able to do a lot of activities and got our money's worth of the food. You know, like having a pre-dinner dinner. Ordering a few (I won't say how many) desserts with your second dinner. Diet starts soon....
Ok I have some stuff I need to do today so I will write again and share lots of pics at another time. But one last thing before I go. know what you're wondering....what sort of souvenirs did you buy yourself??? Well you know me, I stuck with practical stuff. Stuff I can use everyday. Like a Bermuda grocery bag (.99) and liquor. Liquor was much cheaper on the ship, I should have had my DH make me a liquor shopping list before I left, but I wasn't thinking. And my cell phone didn't work on board. And if you smoked, you made out, two cartons of Marlboros were $41.95
The Cruzan rum was 4 for $28.95 (my sister bought 2 and I bought 2 - so we split it) and the Absolut was 2 for $19.95
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