any update for bermuda bus and ferry?

[njhorseman]

After nearly ten years, the bus driver's union and the government have finally agreed to have their dispute settled by arbitration. Hopefully in the near future this will mean the end of the long deterioration of Bermuda's bus service.

 

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110513/NEWS01/705139947

[Maple Sugar]

Just heard.. additional ferries have been schedule for ship days in May (and re-evaluated for beyond) as well as taxi & mini van service to/from Horseshoe Beach. The ships will have all the information regarding transportation. Hopefully everyone will get to where they want to go and have a great time.

[durberville]

Just heard.. additional ferries have been schedule for ship days in May (and re-evaluated for beyond) as well as taxi & mini van service to/from Horseshoe Beach. The ships will have all the information regarding transportation. Hopefully everyone will get to where they want to go and have a great time.

 

Well that sounds promising! I was getting a little angsty! :)

[roe2ship]

Things change . . . guess I'll keep looking at this thread until departure in July

Me too!

[BobNY]

Just heard.. additional ferries have been schedule for ship days in May (and re-evaluated for beyond) as well as taxi & mini van service to/from Horseshoe Beach. The ships will have all the information regarding transportation. Hopefully everyone will get to where they want to go and have a great time.

 

I guess am the eternal sceptic, but from whom did you hear this? Are they reliable?

 

I have seen nothing coming out of BDA that would suggest anything has changed.

 

As far as I can tell, neither the Transport Ministry nor the Bermuda Public Transportation Board has made any official announcement. It would appear that the bus situation is actually getting worse, to wit:

 

 

Department of Public Transportation

 

Dear Valued Passenger: The following buses will not run today, Friday May 13, 2011.

 

7 Dockyard – Hamilton 10:20 am

11 Hamilton - St. George’s 10:30 am

8 Dockyard – Hamilton 10:35 am

11 Hamilton - St. George’s 11:00 am

11 St. George’s - Hamilton 11:45 am

1 Hamilton – Grotto Bay 11:45 am

3 St. George’s - Hamilton 12:12 pm

11 Hamilton – St. George’s 12:30 pm

1 Grotto Bay – Hamilton 12:40 pm

8 Hamilton – Dockyard 1:15 pm

11 St. George’s – Hamilton 1:45 pm

8ch Dockyard - Hamilton 2:05 pm

11 Hamilton - St. George’s 2:30 pm

8 Dockyard – Hamilton 2:35 pm

7 Dockyard – Hamilton 3:20 pm

11 Hamilton – St. George’s 3:45 pm

7 Hamilton – Barnes Corner 3:45 pm

8 Barnes Corner – Hamilton 4:19 pm

4 Hamilton - Spanish Point 4:30 pm

4 Spanish Point – Hamilton 4:42 pm

3 Hamilton - Flatts 5:05 pm

5 Hamilton – Pond Hill 5:05 pm

5 Pond Hill – Hamilton 5:15 pm

7 Hamilton – Somerset 5:20 pm

7 Hamilton – Dockyard 5:30 pm

 

Buses may be cancelled with little to no notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your continued support

[FuninWB]

Uh oh. How much is the cab fare from Hamilton to the Dockyard in case we can't get back from our excursion on a bus or ferry?

[Maple Sugar]

I guess am the eternal sceptic, but from whom did you hear this? Are they reliable?

 

I have seen nothing coming out of BDA that would suggest anything has changed.

 

As far as I can tell, neither the Transport Ministry nor the Bermuda Public Transportation Board has made any official announcement. It would appear that the bus situation is actually getting worse, to wit:

 

Actually, this is official... it came from Terry Spencer, Service Officer Ferries. I have (I hope) attached one of the pages regarding the ferries. There is a page regarding each ship until the end of the month. There are too many to post here (I don't know enough to post them all). As mentioned before those travelling to Bermuda can check with the Cruise Ship for further details.

[marci22]

Can the book of tickets now be purchased at Kings Wharf? Last year you had to go to either Hamilton or St. Georges....they were not sold at Kings Wharf.

 

Good question.

[jgnova]

Actually, this is official... it came from Terry Spencer, Service Officer Ferries.

 

Could you post the URL where you found the schedules?

 

Thanks.

 

j

[Maple Sugar]

Could you post the URL where you found the schedules?

 

Thanks.

 

j

I only have the schedule as an email. When the schedule is available I will post it.

[smilz]

Just back on the Gem today. 1, 2 and 3 day passes are available at the Dockyard. The cost is $12, $20, and $28 and must be used on consecutive days. There were no major delays. The ferries ran right on schedule. The buses were reliable as well. The "special" runs from the Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay. Keep in mind, if you are at the lighthouse or the glass beach and wanting a bus back to the dockyard, you must wait for the #7 or #8 bus. The special will not pick you up.

[Journey11]

Just back on the Gem today. 1, 2 and 3 day passes are available at the Dockyard. The cost is $12, $20, and $28 and must be used on consecutive days. There were no major delays. The ferries ran right on schedule. The buses were reliable as well. The "special" runs from the Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay. Keep in mind, if you are at the lighthouse or the glass beach and wanting a bus back to the dockyard, you must wait for the #7 or #8 bus. The special will not pick you up.

 

Thanks very much for the update and the good news.

[CruisinFromCT]

Thanks for the info, we are leaving in two weeks.

 

Just back on the Gem today. 1, 2 and 3 day passes are available at the Dockyard. The cost is $12, $20, and $28 and must be used on consecutive days. There were no major delays. The ferries ran right on schedule. The buses were reliable as well. The "special" runs from the Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay. Keep in mind, if you are at the lighthouse or the glass beach and wanting a bus back to the dockyard, you must wait for the #7 or #8 bus. The special will not pick you up.

[marci22]

Can the book of tickets now be purchased at Kings Wharf? Last year you had to go to either Hamilton or St. Georges....they were not sold at Kings Wharf.

 

Good day,

Unfortunately books of tickets are not available from the Dockyard VIC near Kings Wharf, they can be purchased from the Central Bus Terminal located in the City of Hamilton. The other options available are tokens and coins (US and BDA), however transportation passes are valid for unlimited rides on consecutive days.

Attached is the fare structure and bus schedule, for the ferry schedules please see www.seaexpress.bm.

Regards,

Department of Public Transportation

26 Palmetto Road

Devonshire

Bermuda DV05

[Haether]

Just back on the Gem today. 1, 2 and 3 day passes are available at the Dockyard. The cost is $12, $20, and $28 and must be used on consecutive days. There were no major delays. The ferries ran right on schedule. The buses were reliable as well. The "special" runs from the Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay. Keep in mind, if you are at the lighthouse or the glass beach and wanting a bus back to the dockyard, you must wait for the #7 or #8 bus. The special will not pick you up.

 

 

Just following on to agree with this and say I saw absolutely no difference in the bus and ferry service between this trip and our trip in 2009. I think the longest we waited for a bus was the #1 at the Botanical Gardens--20 minutes.

They do limit the number of people who can board at Dockyard at very busy times but they do not limit the ferry, other than the obvious capacity limits. On the first day St. George was a popular destination, so they added a ferry from Dockyard to St. George at 10am. Actually, I noticed that 10am in general was a very busy time. Earlier and later you are just fine.

They do have 1-3 day passes, and there were a number of locations to buy them in the dockyard area. They did run out of bus maps & schedules (there were 3 ships docked during our stay!) so I was really glad I had a map in my Frommer's guide.

I'll be posting a review of my trip on the Gem to Bermuda tonight or tomorrow, so check it out for more info.

[Haether]

That's good to hear but wasn't the issue the fact that some seating was to be reserved for local residents as opposed to cruise ship pax or am I mistaken? I was under the impression that many people had purchased passes and were stuck in long lines because they were not able to get seats on the bus.

 

They were letting up to about 20 people on each bus at dockyard when it was busy. I think this is reasonable, because it's not really fair to the locals to not be able to board their local bus to get to work because it's full of tourists who mostly don't have to be anywhere at a particular time. That being said, the only long lines were on the first day for the ferries because 2 cruises (Celebrity Summit and NCL Gem) arrived at the same time on the same day and released a flood of passengers at the same time. One time we had to wait for another bus to come, but it was just a few minutes.

 

We did not need to take a single taxi during our entire trip or wait for more than 20 minutes for a bus. It was easy and exactly how it was in 2009.

[allentownahoy]

They also added a 3:00 ferry from St. georges in addition to the 3:45 scheduled. Agree with other recent posters. Everyone from both ships is in a hurry to get somewhere as soon as the ship docks but other thn that no worries. enjoy.

[roe2ship]

Thanks to those with the most recent updates....great news!

[Glamourgal]

I've seen a lot of info on the 2 or 3 day passes but I was just wondering if the book of 15 passes for $30 to ride ferry/bus are still available?

[njhorseman]

I've seen a lot of info on the 2 or 3 day passes but I was just wondering if the book of 15 passes for $30 to ride ferry/bus are still available?

 

I've answered your question on the other thread you posted it on.

[sarahc78]

Just got back and we had no issues what so ever w/ the buses/ferries. I was fully expecting to wait long periods of time to get on either and was pleasently surprised that the longest we waited was about 30 minutes but that was because the scheduled ferry was not supposed to arrive then leave for that 30 minutes.