Star to Bermuda review - 9/2/12 - lots of pics and food!

[jdvmd]

Absolutely loved our walking tour when we were on the Dawn back in July. First, it is free. Second: One hour and 30 minutes.

Ours was conducted by the ex-wife (British) of one of the descendants of the original settlers in Bermuda. She was wonderful!

On the way over, we had another Visitor's Centre ambassador answer any questions we needed answered.

Honestly, it was a wonderful way to spend the day. The residents are so friendly and will help you with anything.

[bsblindab]

Thanks a bunch Becky! Great pics and tip on the restaurant too. Love caprese salads and wish they had curry wraps in my neighborhood. Bermuda restaurant association should give you VIP status too after this review. :)

the Chicken curry looks delish! Hopefully I remember the name of the place when we go.

Becky by any chance did you take pictures of the Naval Dockyard at all?

[broadwaystar32]

that's good to know ..the walking type of tour..my husband can't do any fast paced walking..so this will fit him pretty good.

 

Sounds like a good fit!

 

Absolutely loved our walking tour when we were on the Dawn back in July. First, it is free. Second: One hour and 30 minutes.

Ours was conducted by the ex-wife (British) of one of the descendants of the original settlers in Bermuda. She was wonderful!

On the way over, we had another Visitor's Centre ambassador answer any questions we needed answered.

Honestly, it was a wonderful way to spend the day. The residents are so friendly and will help you with anything.

 

I think I would've enjoyed the tour a lot more if I wasn't so hot. There was really not much shade around in the areas we visited. All I could think about was getting into some air conditioning! And yes, everyone is really nice there, it's so pleasant.

[broadwaystar32]

the Chicken curry looks delish! Hopefully I remember the name of the place when we go.

Becky by any chance did you take pictures of the Naval Dockyard at all?

 

Unfortunately, I don't know that I have many pictures of it. As you'll soon find out, we lost our last day in Bermuda because they decided to leave due to the storm. We had planned on exploring the Naval Dockyard that day, so I didn't really get to see it at all.

[oneplustwins]

Love your review so far, Bermuda is one place I've been debating checking out and you're review is giving me lots to think about, so thank you!

[luv2cruise53]

the Chicken curry looks delish! Hopefully I remember the name of the place when we go.

Becky by any chance did you take pictures of the Naval Dockyard at all?

 

 

To see Dockyard and all the highlights of Bermuda try this link to a very professional and wonderful video on Bermuda.

 

[broadwaystar32]

Love your review so far, Bermuda is one place I've been debating checking out and you're review is giving me lots to think about, so thank you!

 

Definitely visit Bermuda! I loved it and it's high up on my list to go back to.

 

To see Dockyard and all the highlights of Bermuda try this link to a very professional and wonderful video on Bermuda.

 

 

Thanks for your help in providing them with some views of the Dockyard!

[broadwaystar32]

We had a little bit of time left before we needed to catch the 2:30 ferry. I should mention at this point that they made it known to us the previous night that there was a change we would be leaving that day due to the coming storm - just in case, they asked that everyone be back on the ship by 5 pm. They were waiting until noon on Thursday to make an official announcement (which didn't help us much since we were no longer on the ship at noon!), so we had to assume that we were leaving and plan accordingly. It made me a little sad to cut our day in St. Georges short, because I really loved the town. With the time we had left we decided to at least take a walk down to Tobacco Bay Beach.

 

The walk wasn't very far, I think only about half a mile, but did I mention how hot it was?! Haha, the walk back just about did me in. But it was worth it to see - the beach is absolutely gorgeous. We walked around for a bit and took some photos before heading back for the ferry. I wish we could've actually gone swimming but we didn't have the time. Plus, there were a lot of rumors going around about which beaches were open and which were closed. I heard that Horseshoe Bay (and all the south shore beaches) was closed the whole time we were there, but I never went to investigate. Just more reasons why I'll have to go back some day! Anyway, Tobacco Bay was open and people were swimming and having a good time! Here's some pics:

 

 

 

 

Also, here's a neat looking building we passed on the walk there:

 

 

After that we headed back, took the ferry to the dockyard, and got back on the Star. It turned out we did indeed leave that evening, and the ship set sail at 6.

 

Here's some more random wall art for your enjoyment:

 

 

[broadwaystar32]

After a short nap we decided to grab dinner in Versailles. I started with the Mexican sausage - it was very tasty and served with hummus (or something very similar to it), which DH stole most of as he loves hummus:

 

 

DH started with the salad, which had apples, walnuts, and a raspberry vinagrette. We both really liked our own appetizers but liked the looks of each other's as well, so we ended up eating half of our own and then trading. That salad was fantastic:

 

 

For his entree, DH got the prime rib. I didn't try it but he said it was "just okay":

 

 

My entree was the teriyaki chicken kabobs, which were pretty good but nothing outstanding:

 

 

My dessert was the "chocolate decadence," and I don't know what exactly it was but it was chocolate and had lots of berries and it was completely delicious. It was very rich but well balanced with the berries and the raspberry sauce. If I hadn't been stuffed this was one dessert I would've ordered another of:

 

 

DH went simple for the dessert with the lemon sorbet, and it was good but there's not too much to say about lemon sorbet!

 

[TX2000]

Fantastic review!! Love the food pics!! I'm already thinking about what I'm going to be eating!!

[broadwaystar32]

After dinner we went to the show, which was the Second City comedy show. They were good - they did some sketches and some improv. The sketches were decent. Some were very funny, while others were pretty corny. Their improv was great through - they had two other shows later in the week that were improv and those are not to be missed!

 

We then headed to Spinnaker Lounge for the Newlywed Game. This was hilarious, as it almost always is on cruise ships, even if it is a bit predictable at times. The one that that did bother me here was that this was a very popular event - and Spinnaker just felt too crowded for it. We had to sit in the back and couldn't really see anything at all because of how that area is set up, with the giant columns in the way. I wish they would've done this in the theater. They might as well have, since it was in between Second City shows and it's not like there was much set up for either of these things. This was my view of the Newlywed Game:

 

 

In the evening we went for the White Hot Party. Again, Spinnaker was very crowded, but at least it felt more suited to this type of dance party rather than a show. We got some drinks in awesome light-up cups and sat down for awhile. They played dance music, which really isn't my sort of thing, so we didn't stay very long - maybe about 45 minutes. I have to say that it was very cool to see everyone dressed up in white though, it made the inside look awesome!

 

The White Hot Party:

 

 

 

More random wall art!

 

 

Back at our room we found our towel animal for the night!

 

[broadwaystar32]

Fantastic review!! Love the food pics!! I'm already thinking about what I'm going to be eating!!

 

Thank you! Haha, I know that the food is usually the thing I'm thinking about the most before I cruise! ;)

[bluesea777]

We had a little bit of time left before we needed to catch the 2:30 ferry. I should mention at this point that they made it known to us the previous night that there was a change we would be leaving that day due to the coming storm - just in case, they asked that everyone be back on the ship by 5 pm. They were waiting until noon on Thursday to make an official announcement (which didn't help us much since we were no longer on the ship at noon!), so we had to assume that we were leaving and plan accordingly. It made me a little sad to cut our day in St. Georges short, because I really loved the town. With the time we had left we decided to at least take a walk down to Tobacco Bay Beach.

 

The walk wasn't very far, I think only about half a mile, but did I mention how hot it was?! Haha, the walk back just about did me in. But it was worth it to see - the beach is absolutely gorgeous. We walked around for a bit and took some photos before heading back for the ferry. I wish we could've actually gone swimming but we didn't have the time. Plus, there were a lot of rumors going around about which beaches were open and which were closed. I heard that Horseshoe Bay (and all the south shore beaches) was closed the whole time we were there, but I never went to investigate. Just more reasons why I'll have to go back some day! Anyway, Tobacco Bay was open and people were swimming and having a good time! Here's some pics:

 

 

 

 

When a hurricane or tropical storm is approaching Bermuda (whether it is a direct hit or a brush-by) they always send up high surf to our south shores *several* days before they arrive.

 

The north shores (including Tobacco Bay) are still sheltered by the island itself.

[Tatka]

Thank you! Haha, I know that the food is usually the thing I'm thinking about the most before I cruise! ;)

 

You sure look very slim for a person who thinks about the food the most. :)

 

Your review is very interesting, well written. Pictures are really nice. Thank you!

 

It is interesting that your cruise was very close to the hurricane path, and you have such a wonderful weather. Last year we cruised in July with no hurricane around and we had very cloudy weather first day, showers on and off second day, and pouring rain the third morning... In total we saw a sun for about 5-6 hours. But we still LOVED Bermuda very much.

 

Too bad you guys had to leave early. My friend who was on Celebrity Summit next to you in port was complaining that they had to leave earlier, while NCL Star was staying longer!

[gambee]

Love your review, brings me back memories from the deserts in my last cruise.

[broadwaystar32]

When a hurricane or tropical storm is approaching Bermuda (whether it is a direct hit or a brush-by) they always send up high surf to our south shores *several* days before they arrive.

 

The north shores (including Tobacco Bay) are still sheltered by the island itself.

 

That makes sense and is what we eventually figured out. Even though we didn't really get to "go to the beach" it's a good excuse to visit in the future!

 

You sure look very slim for a person who thinks about the food the most. :)

 

Your review is very interesting, well written. Pictures are really nice. Thank you!

 

It is interesting that your cruise was very close to the hurricane path, and you have such a wonderful weather. Last year we cruised in July with no hurricane around and we had very cloudy weather first day, showers on and off second day, and pouring rain the third morning... In total we saw a sun for about 5-6 hours. But we still LOVED Bermuda very much.

 

Too bad you guys had to leave early. My friend who was on Celebrity Summit next to you in port was complaining that they had to leave earlier, while NCL Star was staying longer!

 

lol thanks! Well on the cruise they told us the average passenger gains 7 pounds in a week... I only gained 5 when I got home so I guess I did well ;)

 

Hmm, I did see that the Celebrity Summit was already gone when we got back from St Georges, but I wasn't sure if they had arrived earlier than us... regardless, if we got "extra time" it certainly wasn't much!

[broadwaystar32]

Friday, Sept. 7th - Day 6 "At Sea"

 

Today was at At Sea day even though we were originally supposed to be in Bermuda. We started the morning by getting breakfast at Cagney's. Neither of us are really big breakfast people, preferring to eat something small and light in the morning, but since we had the opportunity to use Cagney's for breakfast we wanted to try it at least once. There's a cold buffet where you can grab stuff like cereal, fruits, pastries, cold meats, etc., and then there's a hot menu to order off of.

 

DH got the salmon frittata. One thing you should know about DH is that he can't stand onions. I don't recall if it said on the menu that this had onions in it (and if it did, he should've been paying more attention!), but it definitely did. So he spent half the time trying to pick out every single onion and as a result didn't really enjoy this (He's also way too stubborn to ask for something else or another one without onions, unfortunately). I tried a piece of it though and it was really good:

 

 

I ordered the french toast. The serving was huge and I knew there was no way that I could eat it all - which worked out nicely for DH! We ended up splitting it and he liked this a lot:

 

 

After breakfast we took a nap, then we got up for lunch. Yup, the first part of this day consisted wholly of eating and sleeping! We don't get much sleep at home due to a very rambunctious kitten we have that makes sleep impossible some nights, so try not to judge us too badly! It was so wonderful to catch up on all of that sleep.

 

For lunch we went back to Cagney's. I started with the salad with mandarin oranges. This was okay - despite the oranges it was a little bit boring of a salad for me:

 

 

DH started with the shrimp cocktail, which I didn't take a picture of since I had it the other day.

 

For the entree I had the sesame crusted swordfish burger. It was very good, except that the wasabi mayo was a bit too much for me - rather overpowering. I loved the burger itself though:

 

 

DH got the turkey burger, which was interesting since it was served with pineapple and peppers. I had a bite and really liked the combination:

 

 

For dessert I had the banana cream pie, which was delicious, especially with the nice layer of coconut on top:

 

[broadwaystar32]

DH's dessert was the espresso brownie, which he liked. It was a huge serving though and he was pretty full so he didn't finish it all:

 

 

In the afternoon we headed to an arts and crafts session in the Red Lion Pub, where we learned how to make an origami box. It was pretty simple, but an okay way to pass time:

 

 

 

After that we headed up to the pool area to do a scavenger hunt on the schedule at 3. We arrived at 2:55 and the hunt had already started - not only that, but we couldn't even find where it was supposed to start. I asked someone running around trying to find the items where they got the paper from - they pointed to an area and said a guy had been there handing them out, but he was gone now. That was right at 3 on the dot, so I was pretty disappointed by this. I got some ice cream instead to cheer me up. While wandering around we also came across some cool fruit sculptures at the buffet:

 

 

 

 

After that we watched a bit of a magic show, a sort of "behind the scenes" show where he demonstrated how to do some simple tricks. I found it interesting because I can never really figure out how to do them, even though they look easy - and I like knowing how things work! We ended up leaving that early to go to country line dancing. Even though it was only about 15 minutes long, I really enjoyed that. I'm a huge fan of country music and I love to dance (just not really to the current hip-hop/dance stuff that's popular).

 

We decided to stick around for Bingo, since they had a free card game. We didn't win, but stayed to watch the big jackpot game ($25,000, but no one got it). I know that a lot of really wealthy people are on cruises, of course, but I couldn't believe how much money some people spend on bingo cards! The cheapest "package" was $39, but the ultimate one was $89. I was shocked at how many people bought multiples of that big package. The prizes were only a couple hundred dollars so it really didn't seem worth it, though I suppose the high price also has to do with the fact that you're playing for a chance at that super big jackpot.

[flowers44]

Becky,

That interesting building you past on your way to Tabacco Bay Beach is Bermuda's Unfinished Church. The story behind that unfinished building is a really interesting part of Bermuda's history. The Congregation thought they needed a better place to worship and started building that huge church. They ran out of funds and workers and to this day still worship in the much smaller unique church there in St. George. It is St. Peter's church and is the oldest still active church in the Western Hemisphere.

[broadwaystar32]

We headed back to the room and were surprised to see that a small plate of chocolates had been left for us! I'm not sure why they were there (no note or anything explaining them) - if anyone has an idea let me know! I bunch of things ran through my head: extra VIP perk, a teaser for the chocolate buffet that night, an extra anniversary gift...?

 

 

For dinner we at at Aqua:

 

 

I had the Mexican corn tortilla soup to start, which was very good and had a nice kick to it:

 

 

DH had his beloved salmon tartare for the third time.

 

For the entree we both had the steak mignon and shrimp, New Orleans style. Now, one thing I really regret is not taking a picture of both of our plates. If you could see the difference in size between our steaks, it was ridiculous. Mine was twice the size of DH's, and actually seemed like a different cut. Mine was large and fat and DH's was small and flat. Plus, I had asked for mine medium and he had asked for his medium rare. Mine was super red and his looked well done. We ended up switching but it was such a disappointment. I heard a lot of other people at other tables complaining about the steaks as well. On the bright side, the shrimp was delicious. It was fried and spicy and just really tasty. I would've rather had a plate of just that shrimp than the mediocre steak on there too.

 

 

We decided to skip dessert since the chocoholic buffet was that evening. We headed up there. They had lots of cakes and stuff, but the best was teh fresh fruit sticks dipped in the chocolate fountain. DH was lame - he had ice cream, but chose vanilla and didn't get any chocolate toppings! There were also a number of very cool looking chocolate sculptures.

 

 

[broadwaystar32]

 

 

 

 

Next we headed to Spinnaker for Second City's "scriptless" show. It was really, really funny. DH and I are huge fans of Whose Line is it Anyway, and found this to be similar and almost as good. We enjoyed that a lot. Then we went to the Stardust Theater for the Shark Bait show, comedy juggling. They were pretty funny, and did a few really cool tricks - including balancing a full-sized ladder on his chin!

 

Then it was time for the country western hoedown. I mentioned before that I love country music, so this was one of my favorite events on the cruise. They taught some more line dances, and also just danced freestyle to the band. I thought it didn't last nearly long enough though - it was just under an hour, and about 15 minutes of that time was taken up by a "game" that they had some guys play. After that they had the burlesque show. We stayed for the first few numbers but it didn't really appeal to us, so we headed back to the cabin for bed.

 

We got this towel animal... though I'm not quite sure what it is!

 

[broadwaystar32]

Becky,

That interesting building you past on your way to Tabacco Bay Beach is Bermuda's Unfinished Church. The story behind that unfinished building is a really interesting part of Bermuda's history. The Congregation thought they needed a better place to worship and started building that huge church. They ran out of funds and workers and to this day still worship in the much smaller unique church there in St. George. It is St. Peter's church and is the oldest still active church in the Western Hemisphere.

 

Thank you for that info! I had a feeling there must have been an interesting story behind that building. It's a shame they were never able to finish it, as it looks like it could have been a beautiful building. In fact, it's still beautiful in a way, even uncompleted.

[starshine74]

lovin your review I am going on the Star in two weeks can't wait. And I think the above critter is a very cold penguin wrapped in a blanket or a flasher!

[Lena B]

Becky - I'm loving your review. You're really making me look forward to exploring the Star in February!

[broadwaystar32]

lovin your review I am going on the Star in two weeks can't wait. And I think the above critter is a very cold penguin wrapped in a blanket or a flasher!

 

Becky - I'm loving your review. You're really making me look forward to exploring the Star in February!

 

You both will have a great time when you go!