1st time to Bermuda

[sailinghappy]

My husband and I are crusing to Bermuda for the first time out of NY on NCL Crown. We are leaving 9/4-9/11. I just have a few questions

Can American money be used or do we need to exchange it?

Where can we find the best beaches. How do we get there(pink sand ?)

Is it wise to rent scooters even though some people drive crazy( alot of people have told us this)

Where are the best resturants to get a bite. Nothing to expensive but not cheap either

Where is the best shopping?

We booked excursions through NCL Bermuda triangle shipwreck snorkel and night reef and stars glass bottom boat. Has anyone done these before?

Sorry for all the questions any help would be great!! :) :)

 

 

NCL Dawn 4/04

NCL Crown..can't wait

[Swizzle v2.0]

Can American money be used or do we need to exchange it?

 

American money is used everywhere in Bermuda, even coins, so you don't need to change it. $1 US = $1 Bermuda so prices are the same whether you pay in US or Bermuda dollars. If you ask, most cashiers will try to give you $US in change if they can, saving you the hassle of trying to convert your Bermuda dollars before you leave.

Where can we find the best beaches. How do we get there(pink sand ?)

The beaches Bermuda is famous for are found on the South Shore, about halfway between Hamilton and Dockyard (King's Wharf). Horseshoe Bay is the most well-known but other nearby beaches such as Jobson's Cove and Warwick Long Bay are also great. In St. Georges there are three nearby beaches (Tobacco Bay, Achilles Bay and St. Catherines). If in St. Georges you can walk to those beaches, for the South Shore you need scooter, bus or taxi.

 

Is it wise to rent scooters even though some people drive crazy( alot of people have told us this)

Generally I only recommend renting scooters if you are already experienced at driving scooters or motorcycles. Bermuda's roads are narrow, crowded, usually have no shoulders, and driving is on the left. Inexperienced drivers have difficulty coping with this AND trying to drive scooters for the first time.

 

Where are the best resturants to get a bite. Nothing to expensive but not cheap either

 

Dining can be found in St. Georges, Hamilton, or there are decent restaurantsat the resorts on the South Shore. The Yellow Pages (www.bermudayp.com) has a menu section where some restaurants have posted parts of their menus, with prices. You may need to define "Nothing too expensive" as Bermuda is one of the most expensive places in the world. Reasonably priced in Bermuda could well be :eek: for you.

 

Where is the best shopping?

Hamilton. Sadly one of the best stores, Triminghams, closed its doors a month ago but the best shopping is still in Hamilton.

[sailinghappy]

Thank you so much for answering all of our questions.:) We can't wait to go!

[JD75]

Hi Sailinghappy

 

 

I'm starting to feel like the ambassador to scooter rentals, but I can't stress how much better of an experience you'll have if you rent one. Unless you have absolutely no experience on a moped/motorcycle you'll have no problems at all. Here's a link to a post with some helpful tips

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=216187

 

So much time will be wasted waiting for the buses and so much money will be wasted relying on taxis.. so go for it, get the scooter, be careful, and have fun ;)

[Surfgirl]

Don't miss the crystal caves. Do them yourself (not the excursion) and it will be less crowded and you can do both the crystal and fantasy caves. Well worth doing both!

 

Be sure to go to the snorkel park in the dockyards. It was some of the best snorkeling I've ever done.

[Joyce and Tim]

We just booked a week's cruise to Bermuda next month. Thanks for the tip on where to snorkle. Can you elaborate on how to get there, etc.? Thanks!!!

[traveller99]

Swizzle knows! I told you that you were the GURU!

Howz it going, my friend? All is OK?

 

Sailing Happy - The night cruise is great. While the underwater part is really nice, hope for a clear night - the stars are amazing! ENJOY!

[Swizzle v2.0]

Hi Rob. Why aren't you pointing Joyce and Tim to your Bermuda website, is it down?

 

Anyway, Joyce and Tim, there are three places that cruise ships dock at in Bermuda: Hamilton, St. Georges and Dockyard (King's Wharf). Which one will you be at? Can't give directions if we don't know where you'll be starting from. :)

[Jeanne S]

Do not recommend the Glass Bottom Boat tour, highly recommend anything on the Rising Sun II cat - especially Turtle Bay/Private Beach.

 

The Irish Linen store is nice to visit in Hamilton as well as AS Cooper (in all ports). Also Carole Holding Studios for homemade jams and watercolor prints and other stuff.

 

At The Dockyard, the Rum Cake Factory.

[BulldogR]

Be sure to go to the snorkel park in the dockyards. It was some of the best snorkeling I've ever done.

 

How does the snorkel park work? You just walk off the beach and there is the reef?

[Joyce and Tim]

We'll be in St George's for a day and Hamilton for 2 1/2 days end of Sept. Snorkeling is our favorite thing, so any tips/directions will be appreciated! Thanks!

[Swizzle v2.0]

Snorkel Park is at Dockyard, so best thing would be to take the ferry from Hamilton to Dockyard. When in St. Georges there is good snorkelling at Tobacco Bay, which is a 15 minute walk away (hilly walk though). At Tobacco there are rocks/islands which shelters the area, the good snorkeling is on the ocean side of the rocks. Bring some bread and you can feed the fish as well. Tobacco Bay has bathrooms and a bar but be warned that it is a small beach so it can get crowded, especially when a cruise ship gets into town as it is one of the beaches "everyone" goes to from the ship.

Snorkel Park has no admission charge to get in and has a large breakwater on the left hand side, with gaps in it that you can swim past. That's where I saw the fish last time I was there. I was even "attacked" by two Saergeant Majors (little yellow & black striped fish about 3 inches long). I just stood there as they would swim up and "bite" me - they're pretty fearless fish. They were cute. :cool:

[Joyce and Tim]

Sounds great! Thanks for the help!!!

[Buster's dad]

We went to Bermuda Oct. 2004 on the Celebrity Zeneith. We had a wonderful time. They met us with champange, the food (especially the high tea-great place for a light lunch if you have the second seating for dinner- it starts at 4pm) and the chilled towles when you got back to the ship. We loved Horseshoe beach, make sure you walk through the knee deep water at the left end to fine smaller private coves. There were three of us traveling and we bought the unlimited bus passes. We used these only to go to this beach and in retrospect we could have spent the same amount to take cabs both days and not have had to swing and sway from one bus stop to another. It is also a long walk from the street down to the beach. It is very downhill and not that bad. They had a back-to-the-top shuttle for $1 each that was well worth it. This is a beautiful-beautiful beach where we spent two days Jumping the waves and having a ball.There are bathrooms at this beach with changing stations and showers, and a small grill with burgers etc. We went to ST Catherines beach on the other end of the island. We were disappointed, no where near as nice as horseshoe.

We are booked on the RCC Jewel of the seas for 11 days 10/2 and will be returning to Bermuda for two days. Anyone have any tips on Labardee, San Juan, or St. Martin? 36 days and counting....................Gary