First time to Bermuda- Lost and confused- Need help

Booked a last minute cruise to Bermuda yesterday leaving on July 14 from Boston for 8 days/7 nights. Other then me and my spouse there will be 2 kids and 2 seniors with us on this trip.

Need assistance and expertise from my peers who have been on this trip prior about various parking options at Boston cruise terminal - found 2 close by at 24/day and $19/day. ANy other options even with a night stay with shuttle service is good.

Secondly once we reach Bermuda what are the pricing of various excursions we are looking at. Are private tours from the port itself are recommended or should we book through the cruise ship.

Renting scooters or bicycles for kids and us receommended or shoud we stick to group trours.

Any additional guidance and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Bermuda has very good bus and ferry services. I would not rent scooters. The beachs are beautiful and the people are very nice. This is one port we always do everything on our own. On either Tuesday or Wednesday night they have a great street festival with Gombey dancers in downtown Hamilton that is great fun.

Booked a last minute cruise to Bermuda yesterday leaving on July 14 from Boston for 8 days/7 nights. Other then me and my spouse there will be 2 kids and 2 seniors with us on this trip.

Need assistance and expertise from my peers who have been on this trip prior about various parking options at Boston cruise terminal - found 2 close by at 24/day and $19/day. ANy other options even with a night stay with shuttle service is good.

Secondly once we reach Bermuda what are the pricing of various excursions we are looking at. Are private tours from the port itself are recommended or should we book through the cruise ship.

Renting scooters or bicycles for kids and us receommended or shoud we stick to group trours.

Any additional guidance and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

There is not much time now, but if you could find a private tour, with a van, that would almost definitely be less than paying cruise line costs for 6 passengers!

We've had good luck with TripAdvisor, locating private tour guides in many locations, so you might get going with that.

Don't rent scooters. Roads are very narrow, and traffic drives on "the other side" if you are from the USA.

(Even if you think you could pay attention to that, until one gets *very* used to that, if there is an emergency road situation, you'll probably be likely to swerve "the wrong way" for the situation.

And with van pricing for all, it's also probably not worth is.

Also, look at the NCL-offered excursions, and just Google them, to see if you can find a private guide for the same thing.

Or take a taxi/van if you want to do something like a museum. The more people in the vehicle, the better it is financially.

Finally, see the Roll Call for your specific cruise sailing. There may be other ideas there.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

How old are the children and are there any mobility problems with the seniors? Are you on the Dawn which is normally a Fri. to Fri. cruise?

For excursions, suggest you look here - Island Tour Center but have to add that a lot in Bermuda can be done DIY.

What are your interests? Anyway, there is a 'to do' list here.

Here's a map of the Dockyard where you will tie up to King's Wharf:

To make the photo larger for easier viewing, sometimes clicking on the post number will make the photo larger or put the cursor over the image, right click, and select Copy Image from the drop down menu and then paste it into your photo editing software.

SBtS

You might still have time to post on East Coast Departures Port of Call Forum for parking options in Boston.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=415

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Bermuda has very good bus and ferry services. I would not rent scooters. The beachs are beautiful and the people are very nice. This is one port we always do everything on our own. On either Tuesday or Wednesday night they have a great street festival with Gombey dancers in downtown Hamilton that is great fun.

Harbour Nights is usually on Wednesday night, and if the OP is on the Dawn, it will have departed by then.

SBtS

Yes its on the Dawn - Friday to Friday.

One senior has mobility issues so a van tour might be the an option. Any recommendations on where I can look for a van/tour guide other than TA or should we just go there and bargain our way as we did in St Marteen last year.

Yes its on the Dawn - Friday to Friday.

One senior has mobility issues so a van tour might be the an option. Any recommendations on where I can look for a van/tour guide other than TA or should we just go there and bargain our way as we did in St Marteen last year.

How old are the children?

What you want to do is hire a 'blue flag' taxi for a tour. The blue flag on the taxi indicates that the taxi driver is a government qualified tour guide; if there is any question as to whether the driver is blue flag, ask to see his badge. Picture below.

There is a recent thread on the Bermuda Ports of Call forum titled - Bermuda private guide. The posts include the names, contact info, and CC member comments for many of the more popular guides. You can design your own tour or let the driver/guide show you his Bermuda. You could always wait until you reach Bermuda to hire a taxi.

The tour rate is: $50/hr for 1 to 4 passengers or $70/hr, 5 to 7 passengers, with a minimum of 3 hours.

Badge:

Originally posted by CC member GrandmaR.

SBtS

Awesome- Kids are 14 & 10.

Would spend one day sightseeing and seeing what Bermuda is and the other 2 days may revisit a spot we might like.

These blue cabs prices are they negotiable? How reliable are the non blue cab tour operators.

As for scooters and motorcycle-any recommended places- might just take it for a day and go on a ride with my spouse?

Awesome- Kids are 14 & 10.

Would spend one day sightseeing and seeing what Bermuda is and the other 2 days may revisit a spot we might like.

These blue cabs prices are they negotiable? How reliable are the non blue cab tour operators.

As for scooters and motorcycle-any recommended places- might just take it for a day and go on a ride with my spouse?

The taxi tour prices are set by the government.

As for motorcycle rentals, they are not available to tourists.

If you are serious about renting motor scooters, please read the post by member hamlletm titled Should you rent a scooter in Bermuda???

SBtS

Please don't rent a scooter, so many locals drive so badly it's too risky. Every day I see a near miss.

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Every week there are several scooter accidents. They are a common occurrence.

A beach day is a must! Get a taxi or shuttle to Horseshoe Bay. They drop you off at the bottom of a very steep hill!

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Check out Ricky's tours...6 hour tour of island. We did this tour in June. Great perspective. Then decide where to go the next day. We did the Crystal Caves in St George then Horseshoe Bay beach .:cool:. Going back next June.

Check out Ricky's tours...6 hour tour of island. We did this tour in June. Great perspective. Then decide where to go the next day. We did the Crystal Caves in St George then Horseshoe Bay beach .:cool:. Going back next June.

Ricky's tours requires payment in advance. Someone posting here had an issue and while they eventually got a refund , it took some doing. In addition Ricky did Dynamic Currency Conversion, which cost them a loss on the exchange, and which made no sense, except to stick it to them. The Blue Flag taxies you pay at the end. For prearranged tours, Heidi Cowen of Byways Tours gets great reviews and she does not require advance payment.

That was one issue. Mistakes were made and corrected. My opinion is it was a wonderful tour. Ricky is only one person and is trying his best. Please don't judge on this one mistake especially if you have not done a Ricky's tour.

tour

Ricky's tours requires payment in advance. Someone posting here had an issue and while they eventually got a refund , it took some doing. In addition Ricky did Dynamic Currency Conversion, which cost them a loss on the exchange, and which made no sense, except to stick it to them. The Blue Flag taxies you pay at the end. For prearranged tours, Heidi Cowen of Byways Tours gets great reviews and she does not require advance payment.

1. Horseshoe Bay. Shuttle cost (last year) was $7 each. Or, you could taxi, as our cost for the taxi came to about $50. Very easy to do.

2. Consider the ferry to St. George. Enjoyed the ferry ride itself. We walked around St. George, then grabbed a taxi to Fort St. Catherine's, which is very cool. After that we walked to Tobacco Bay (about 15 to 20 minute walk) and spent about 2 hours there. Then took a shuttle back to the ferry.

As others have stated, do not rent scooters. On my last two trips to Bermuda I saw two scooter accidents that involved cruise ship passengers. Not only does driving on the opposite side of the road take time to get used to, the roads are narrow, with no shoulders, and in many places with walls on either side, so absolutely nowhere to go. There are also more cars than ever on Bermuda which makes scooter driving more risky.

Great Thanks for the insight. Will keep that in mind.

A great website on Bermuda that has a wealth of information is "GOTOBERMUDA.COM.Agree with the previous posters,don't rent scooters.My wife and I always rented a tandem scooter until we witnessed a fatality .A young couple was riding a tandem and instead of going left at a roundabout,turned right into a truck.The young man was killed and his wife was seriously injured.Both were passengers on our cruise.

Mate, you are scaring me now. ;)

It seems that for a party of 6 ,a private tour and bus will be a better option.

Just a couple of questions I need clarrified. - Does this $7 bus ride is for a day or one single trip? The $50-$70 taxi per hr fare is negotaible ior written in stone. What if I hire the cab as a private tour guide for a private tour - will this still fall under government rates?

Any recommendations on private tour operaters who have price listed or can be contactable. Rickeys tour has no pricing. Any other private tour operators whom I can get in touch with who have been well spoken for.

Also, how do I get access to internet/wifi while we are docked. Will need access to intenet a couple of time a day. Is there a wifi hot spot access I can purchase or places which provide free wifi??

Mate, you are scaring me now. ;)

It seems that for a party of 6 ,a private tour and bus will be a better option.

Just a couple of questions I need clarrified. - Does this $7 bus ride is for a day or one single trip? The $50-$70 taxi per hr fare is negotaible ior written in stone. What if I hire the cab as a private tour guide for a private tour - will this still fall under government rates?

Any recommendations on private tour operaters who have price listed or can be contactable. Rickeys tour has no pricing. Any other private tour operators whom I can get in touch with who have been well spoken for.

 

Also, how do I get access to internet/wifi while we are docked. Will need access to intenet a couple of time a day. Is there a wifi hot spot access I can purchase or places which provide free wifi??

The $7 is the rate for the private minibus shuttles to Horseshoe Bay. That price is per single trip. Taxi rates for single rides and for taxi tours are regulated by the government. They are not negotiable. There is a 25% surcharge on Sundays for single taxi trips. The surcharge does not apply to taxi tours.

As for private tour operators Heidi Cowen of Byways gets good reviews. There is also a thread on the board called Bermuda private guides that has some info.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53348476&highlight=bermuda+private+tours#post53348476

WiFi is an ever changing landscape so I will defer to more recent Bermuda visitors. I intend to do $10 a day international travel passes with my cellular provider on my next visit.

Booked a last minute cruise to Bermuda yesterday leaving on July 14 from Boston for 8 days/7 nights. Other then me and my spouse there will be 2 kids and 2 seniors with us on this trip.

Need assistance and expertise from my peers who have been on this trip prior about various parking options at Boston cruise terminal - found 2 close by at 24/day and $19/day. ANy other options even with a night stay with shuttle service is good.

Secondly once we reach Bermuda what are the pricing of various excursions we are looking at. Are private tours from the port itself are recommended or should we book through the cruise ship.

Renting scooters or bicycles for kids and us receommended or shoud we stick to group trours.

Any additional guidance and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

The public ferries & buses run regularly and are reliable. I wouldn't rent a scooter either (as someone mentioned earlier). I personally would check out Tobacco Bay. It's a shallow beach which is great for snorkeling and accessible for seniors & fun for kids.