One less day in Bermuda

[sail7seas]

It's not about casino revenue any longer...the casinos are now permitted to be open in Bermuda.

 

It's essentially physically impossible to have four ships share the two piers at Dockyard during a seven day week on the schedules the cruise lines want (NCL wants the same departure day every week) and have them stay as long as the lone ship that docks in Hamilton.

 

By the way, while staying an extra night in Bermuda, the Veendam provides far less than day's worth of additional hours, and very little additional in the way of the most useful hours...daylight hours when you're going to be out on the Island.

 

The Veendam is in port from 1 pm Monday through 1 pm Thursday, a total of 72 hours. Of those 72 hours, 36 are what I would call prime daylight hours...8 am through 8 pm.

 

The Breakaway is in Bermuda from 7:30 am Wednesday through 5 pm Friday, a total of 57.5 hours...14.5 fewer hours than Veendam. Of those 57.5 hours, 33 are in the prime 8 am to 8 pm range, only three fewer hours than provided on Veendam.

 

For all intents and purposes, Veendam is only providing an extra night's sleep in Bermuda, not a full extra day to actually do something in Bermuda.

 

 

That extra night to enjoy dinner/drinks/dancing ashore is lovely. We always have dinner ashore when in port late and it was possible.

 

 

 

The extra night worked great when the ships could dock in Hamilton. You give a ship with zero nightlife (HAL) the spot and the extra time in BDA for what purpose? Most of those cruisers are in bed by 10PM! :eek: The crew must love it though! :D

 

 

<snip>

 

 

I read your list of cruises and must have missed where you listed all your HAL cruises. :eek:

 

I have sailed more than 80 cruises on HAL ships and never have I been in bed on a ship at 10 P.M. I'm happy to help you get a better idea of cruises on HAL, if you are interested. :)

 

Edited May 21, 2015 by sail7seas

[Chuck2810]

Some might like to pay less, and enjoy another sea day.

 

Most cruises (all that I take) the sea days make it. Ports can be overwhelming.

[fridaythe13th]

On the Dawn last week, while docked, the casino did not open until 9:00pm and closed in the morning (not sure what time, maybe 5-6).

Edited May 21, 2015 by fridaythe13th

[jmkennett]

As I said back in post #6 the casinos are open while in port. The law was changed effective with the 2014 cruise season.

 

What is the advantage of arriving in port at night? I can eat drink and gamble, go to shows and sleep all I want while the ship is at sea, so being in port at night adds nothing, other than the additional port charges that the passengers will have to pay. It's not as if Bermuda is a can't-miss location for night life. If anything it's the opposite...there's relatively little to do. Why would I want to pay more and get nothing more for it?

 

NCL doesn't want the Dawn to sail on Thursdays. They want the have a weekend to weekend cruise to the extent possible so that people don't have to take additional time off from work for a one week vacation. If anything I'd wager they're not that happy with the Friday sail date and would prefer Saturday if it were feasible...which it isn't.

 

My error on the casino part. Still, less people on the ship at night, if it is in port.

 

The main reason for the Bermuda cruises are to go to Bermuda. It's not like the island hopping cruises in the Caribbean. I love sea days in the Caribbean or on a Trans Atlantic, but if I'm going on a cruise, like the Baltic, Med, Bermuda, etc. I want as much time as possible in the port(s). My argument is this is just another cutback, in a roundabout way, by the cruise lines.

 

Having spent more than two months there, I disagree that the island has nothing at night. Harbor nights in Hamilton on Wednesdays, great restaurants, Harbor Rd. drive at night, the Queen's view at Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, some good bars in Hamilton, etc. It's a great island to explore at all hours.

 

If you sail Thursday to Thursday or Friday to Friday, you still miss the same amount of work if you work a normal work week.

 

If I leave on Thursday, I miss Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs. Back to work on Friday. If I sail Friday to Friday, I miss Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday, back to work on Monday. Six days, regardless. Same thing if it is Monday to Monday, etc. What the difference? If it is a Sat or Sun sailing, then yes, you can miss five days.

Edited May 21, 2015 by jmkennett

[brooklynphil]

I rather have the extra sea day. 3 days in Bermuda is enough.

[mjkacmom]

My error on the casino part. Still, less people on the ship at night, if it is in port.

 

The main reason for the Bermuda cruises are to go to Bermuda. It's not like the island hopping cruises in the Caribbean. I love sea days in the Caribbean or on a Trans Atlantic, but if I'm going on a cruise, like the Baltic, Med, Bermuda, etc. I want as much time as possible in the port(s). My argument is this is just another cutback, in a roundabout way, by the cruise lines.

 

Having spent more than two months there, I disagree that the island has nothing at night. Harbor nights in Hamilton on Wednesdays, great restaurants, Harbor Rd. drive at night, the Queen's view at Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, some good bars in Hamilton, etc. It's a great island to explore at all hours.

 

If you sail Thursday to Thursday or Friday to Friday, you still miss the same amount of work if you work a normal work week.

 

If I leave on Thursday, I miss Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs. Back to work on Friday. If I sail Friday to Friday, I miss Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday, back to work on Monday. Six days, regardless. Same thing if it is Monday to Monday, etc. What the difference? If it is a Sat or Sun sailing, then yes, you can miss five days.

You do realize that this is just your opinion. A lot of people have to take certain days off for a vacation week, One weekend until the next. Also, while I'd like to go to Bermuda some day, it's pricy. I already paid for my meals on the ship, so I'm not going out to eat in Bermuda. When we went to Atlantis for the day, on the BA, we ate a big breakfast, and ordered room service when we got back on the ship. I wasn't shelling out money for lunch off of the ship (for a family if 7).

[njhorseman]

My error on the casino part. Still, less people on the ship at night, if it is in port.

 

The main reason for the Bermuda cruises are to go to Bermuda. It's not like the island hopping cruises in the Caribbean. I love sea days in the Caribbean or on a Trans Atlantic, but if I'm going on a cruise, like the Baltic, Med, Bermuda, etc. I want as much time as possible in the port(s). My argument is this is just another cutback, in a roundabout way, by the cruise lines.

 

Having spent more than two months there, I disagree that the island has nothing at night. Harbor nights in Hamilton on Wednesdays, great restaurants, Harbor Rd. drive at night, the Queen's view at Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, some good bars in Hamilton, etc. It's a great island to explore at all hours.

 

If you sail Thursday to Thursday or Friday to Friday, you still miss the same amount of work if you work a normal work week.

 

If I leave on Thursday, I miss Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs. Back to work on Friday. If I sail Friday to Friday, I miss Fri, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday, back to work on Monday. Six days, regardless. Same thing if it is Monday to Monday, etc. What the difference? If it is a Sat or Sun sailing, then yes, you can miss five days.

 

Fine...you're entitled to your opinions, as I am to mine.

 

We've been regular visitors to Bermuda for more than 25 years so I'll stick to my opinion of Bermuda's nightlife. We went to Harbor Nights once, which was more than enough for my lifetime. There are more than enough bars and clubs on the ship, and I've never seen any on Bermuda that were so special that I simply had to go there. In addition to cruises, we've done hotel vacations in Bermuda. Restaurants are very expensive, so we stick to a lunch or two on the island. Given the prices I'd just as soon eat dinner on the ship.

 

I guess you've never had a job where they prefer you to take a week's vacation within the boundaries of a single calendar week.

Edited May 21, 2015 by njhorseman

[Letsgo 2]

First cruise ever was on the Gem in 2008. At that time they were doing 7 day runs to FL/Bahamas from NYC, you got to go to Port Canaveral, private island, Nassau, and Freeport -- 4 ports in 7 days.

 

Nowadays the Gem does 8 day runs to FL/Bahamas, but they no longer go to Freetown, so you only do 3 ports in 8 days. So yeah, they are running those ships a bit more slowly!

 

As long as we are on a ship and not at home,we don't care.The ship is my vacation

for the most part.

[NH Cruisers]

 

The main reason for the Bermuda cruises are to go to Bermuda. It's not like the island hopping cruises in the Caribbean. I want as much time as possible in the port(s). My argument is this is just another cutback, in a roundabout way, by the cruise lines.

That is opinion.

 

I love Bermuda. Cruised there 5 times. I do love the island and long to visit again. I will May 29th aboard the Dawn. But the ship for me is the destination. The port is the icing on the cake. But the two sea days in a row are what I like. I wish the two sea days started the cruise instead of ending it. My take is... A ship is best experienced while at sea, not tied up at a dock. I could easily stay a couple nights in St. Marteen too and spend a whole day at Majo Beach and watch the jumbo jets land. Bermuda (other than staying multiple nights) isn't all that different or special to me because I could stay overnight on a number of islands if the cruiselines did it.

 

I don't feel staying only 2 nights is a "Cut Back". Schedules and docking space are so limited. If NCL would only invest in a 30,000 to 40,000 GRT new build and stay in St. George a couple nights then Hamilton a couple, that would be attractive to me.

[sail7seas]

If someone wants more time in Bermuda and less time at sea, Veendam is an alternative. It's about choices,,,,,,, all about choices. :)

[jmkennett]

Here we go! I'm simply stating this is another cost cutting move (it is) in the cruise industry. Not judging anyone or trying to ram down my opinion. Relax, people! Bermuda always used to be three nights up until the last decade. The change is obviously economical, just like the $7.95 room service charge, etc.

 

NJ Horseman, if you don’t want to go out on the island at night, great! If you don’t care about two nights versus three, great! If you are on the ship at night, then it’s just like any other night at sea, especially with the casino open! So, it shouldn’t affect you if some want to have the extra night. OK, maybe a few extra dollars for port charges. It does affect those who want the extra evening.

 

I also realize that different days affect different people, so how does it matter if a cruise leaves on any given weekday? If one doesn’t work a Monday to Friday schedule, than maybe a Tues-Tues sailing would be better for you. Perhaps a Thursday – Thursday? It could be different for any situation. So, if a ship sails on any given weekday, it may benefit some more than others. I highly doubt it would affect NCL if the Dawn sailed on Thursdays. European sailings depart on all different days of the week, and it doesn’t seem to affect anything.

 

Obviously, if one works a M-F schedule, then a weekend sailing is ideal. Not quite sure how my work schedule has anything to do with it. However, yes, I have worked non-traditional schedules, so I’m capable of understanding boundaries of a work week.

 

Bermuda is the only SINGLE destination in the World, that I'm aware of, that a cruise line dedicates two to three days, week after week, for an entire season. That, in my opinion, makes BDA different than most places, and many who choose to go on these sailings are going there specifically to spend as much time as possible in BDA. Bermuda is the highlight.

 

I, of course, love to be on the ship, but in certain places in the World, the destination is more important to me than the time on board. The less time at sea, the better, in my opinion on those cruises. To me the Caribbean is different and I love the sea days. Other may not, so they choose one that is port intensive. If I go on the port intensive sailing, I can stay on the ship and treat it as a sea day. Doesn't bother anyone.

 

If the ship stays in BDA for three nights, no one is forcing you to get off and spend money, go to dinner, etc. Stay onboard and have a good time. In fact, the cruise line will love you for it. Hence, my point. Nothing more.