No Tokens and only One Day Passes to be Sold at Dockyard in 2016

[Charles4515]

Thank you for this.

 

We understand you have an issue with the buses.

 

Taxi and minivan is not the solution.

 

And maybe they can try to push the Ferry.

 

or promote another beach that people can get to by Ferry ( instead of bus).

 

.

 

 

 

The solution is more buses. That is the cheapest infrastructure fix. Or to limit the number of cruise ship passengers at the Dockyard. Replace Breakaway with a ship with less passengers or limit the Dockyard to one ship berthed at a time. At the same time widen the cut to St. George. And the channel to Hamilton. That would spread the cruise passengers around like in olden times.

[SailBadtheSinner]

And do they only sell the tokens there, not the ticket booklet? Where in Hamilton can we buy the ticket booklet with 15 tickets? Just to be clear, you us one ticket each time you board a bus or ferry?

 

 

You can buy a booklet of 15 tickets at:

• Central Bus Terminal, Washington St Hamilton
  
• ferry terminal, Front St, Hamilton
  
• also available at many sub-post offices, but I don't think the sub-post offices are convenient for the tourist except for the one in St George at 11 Water St.
  

If someone knows a sub-post office that would be convenient for the tourist, please post the name/location.

And yes, you would use one ticket each time you board a bus or ferry.

SBtS

[DrivesLikeMario]

Interesting article and even mentions me. Ha! Anyway, my main beef is not being able to get the 2-day pass at Dockyard. I don't want to buy 2 one-day passes at the higher cost. So we'll use quarters to get to Hamilton, then buy a ticket booklet which is more than we need. It just seems like an inconvenience.

 

I sure hope the ferry company enjoys rolling US quarters or has an efficient machine to do it because they're going to be inundated with them. ;)

Edited April 19, 2016 by DrivesLikeMario

[BermudaMom]

The solution is more buses. That is the cheapest infrastructure fix. Or to limit the number of cruise ship passengers at the Dockyard. Replace Breakaway with a ship with less passengers or limit the Dockyard to one ship berthed at a time. At the same time widen the cut to St. George. And the channel to Hamilton. That would spread the cruise passengers around like in olden times.

 

They have been studying the possibility of widening Town Cut but to date, no acceptable solution agreed upon due to the likely damage to the marine environment and our coral. As for widening the channel to Hamilton, I believe with the scattering of islands as you enter the harbor, and especially needing to go through Two Rock Passage, again, is it worth the damage to our very small island home? Personally, I don't think so.

I love to cruise but even more love and appreciate my island home and am not prepared to have some of it destroyed just to facilitate larger cruise ships being able to dock right in St. George or Hamilton. Most cruisers will realize that there aren't many ports where you are able to dock so close to the main town, more often it's farther out and often part of a really ugly cruise area.

You may disagree with me and that's your right and it's also your right to cruise elsewhere to a port you'd feel better accommodates your needs. I hope many of you will feel the inconvenience of being in Dockyard is not enough to turn you elsewhere and I do hope Government quickly realizes the stupidity of their recent action concerning the bus passes etc. - hopefully I'm wrong and they do in fact have properly running buses they can make available and at a reasonable cost...I'm sure they don't have the money to buy new ones any time soon!

[Ocean Boy]

The solution is more buses. That is the cheapest infrastructure fix. Or to limit the number of cruise ship passengers at the Dockyard. Replace Breakaway with a ship with less passengers or limit the Dockyard to one ship berthed at a time. At the same time widen the cut to St. George. And the channel to Hamilton. That would spread the cruise passengers around like in olden times.

 

I agree that the solution would be more buses. Even if they widen the cut and the Hamilton channel extra busses will still be needed to accomodate the passengers. They just won't be clustered at the dockyard. I suspect that most people who cruise to Bermuda are not going to be happy about riding around in expensive taxis. So they will go to the beach and back to the ship instead of really visiting Bermuda and spending money around the island. And does Bermuda really want more taxis on the roads? The last time I was there I remember the roads as already being very congested. I would think they would want visitors to use mass transportation.

 

If Bermuda is having so much trouble accomodating the number of cruise passengers then maybe they really have to revert back to the olden times when they had a limit on the number of cruise passengers that could be brought to the country during the cruise season. It seems like they want to collect the head tax for each person landed but don't want to invest in being able to accomodate those people. Again, the government seems to want to have its cake and eat it, too.

[Ocean Boy]

They have been studying the possibility of widening Town Cut but to date, no acceptable solution agreed upon due to the likely damage to the marine environment and our coral. As for widening the channel to Hamilton, I believe with the scattering of islands as you enter the harbor, and especially needing to go through Two Rock Passage, again, is it worth the damage to our very small island home? Personally, I don't think so.

I love to cruise but even more love and appreciate my island home and am not prepared to have some of it destroyed just to facilitate larger cruise ships being able to dock right in St. George or Hamilton. Most cruisers will realize that there aren't many ports where you are able to dock so close to the main town, more often it's farther out and often part of a really ugly cruise area.

You may disagree with me and that's your right and it's also your right to cruise elsewhere to a port you'd feel better accommodates your needs. I hope many of you will feel the inconvenience of being in Dockyard is not enough to turn you elsewhere and I do hope Government quickly realizes the stupidity of their recent action concerning the bus passes etc. - hopefully I'm wrong and they do in fact have properly running buses they can make available and at a reasonable cost...I'm sure they don't have the money to buy new ones any time soon!

 

I would hope that Bermuda would not do anything to harm its environment. That is what makes Bermuda what it is. It was great back when Horizon and Zenith could dock in St. George and Hamilton. Unfortunately, cruise ships have outgrown the harbors and I don't think that Bermuda should look for ways to accomodate the new generation of ships in those harbors. However, Bermuda does need to find a way to accomodate all those folks out at the Dockyard who want to experience your beautiful country. They cannot render the inconvenience of the dockyard location TOO inconvenient or Bermuda will become nothing more than a beach stop and that would be a shame as there are so many beautiful places to visit on the island. We did our best to see as much of theisland as we could and I don't regret it for a second.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Ocean Boy

[SeaDays]

What bothers me the most is the timing of this "experiment" - about a week or two before the first ship arrival. How many people have made their plans based on the still prevelent, but now outdated information?

 

We'll be there in a few weeks. My apologies in advance to Crystal Caves, the aquarium, and the shops and restaurants in our original plans. Not going.

 

We've been sailing to Bermuda for decades. The issue of local citizens' access to transit during cruise days is real. But it has been for many, many years. It's something the Bermuda government has failed to address intelligently for quite some time.

 

Now Bermuda will be transporting more people three-to-a-car with all of the associated fuel consumption, traffic, and pollution. Seems like the opposite of the rest of the world.

 

Way to go, Bermuda.

Edited April 19, 2016 by SeaDays

[SportsFanatic]

You can buy a booklet of 15 tickets at:

• Central Bus Terminal, Washington St Hamilton
  
• ferry terminal, Front St, Hamilton
  
• also available at many sub-post offices, but I don't think the sub-post offices are convenient for the tourist except for the one in St George at 11 Water St.
  

If someone knows a sub-post office that would be convenient for the tourist, please post the name/location.

And yes, you would use one ticket each time you board a bus or ferry.

SBtS

We did a motor boat rental at H2O sports. The post office is along the way right by the bus stop

Mangrove Bay Post Office

55 Mangrove Bay Road, Sandy's Parish.

Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm

Phone: 441/234-0423

[CruiseAdict218]

This is very interesting, despite our cruise to Bermuda still being a few months away.

[njhorseman]

In

What bothers me the most is the timing of this "experiment" - about a week or two before the first ship arrival. How many people have made their plans based on the still prevelent, but now outdated information?

 

We'll be there in a few weeks. My apologies in advance to Crystal Caves, the aquarium, and the shops and restaurants in our original plans. Not going.

 

We've been sailing to Bermuda for decades. The issue of local citizens' access to transit during cruise days is real. But it has been for many, many years. It's something the Bermuda government has failed to address intelligently for quite some time.

 

Now Bermuda will be transporting more people three-to-a-car with all of the associated fuel consumption, traffic, and pollution. Seems like the opposite of the rest of the world.

 

Way to go, Bermuda.

 

So you're going to let 50 cents per person in additional cost prevent you from going to Crystal Cave or the Aquarium?

 

Your trip on the ferry from Dockyard to either St. Georges or Hamilton is going to cost $ 5 in cash rather than $4.50 for a token. Once you're in Hamilton or St. Georges you can easily buy tokens, multi-day passes or a book of tickets...whatever works best for you for all your remaining public transit travel.

Edited April 20, 2016 by njhorseman

[TawnyPort]

FYI I emailed Govt of Bermuda ferry officer he said coins are "preferred" on ferries but he didn't say you couldn't pay with bills.

[leenie77]

Honestly, I just don't get all the anger over the policy change. Buy two one-day passes if you just want the convenience of buying at the Dockyard. Another idea is to go to one of the places that sell the tokens, tickets, and multi-day passes and buy what you need. You can even send one person from your group to do this. It will cost $5. Oh, and the person that said their family of four was only going to St. George for the day and refuses to buy four one day passes. Well, how about four roundtrips to St. George at $5 each way? Yes, the price has increased, but what hasn't?

Sorry, I know this won't be a popular idea, but it's mine and I own it. Use some common sense. Come to think of it, you would probably pay at least as much for a Starbuck's coffee and not blink.

Armor on, flame if you must.

Jennie

 

I agree with you. I will be cruising to Bermuda for the first time this summer and this change is not going to stop me from going where I want. While I enjoy cruising itself and being on the ship, I'm going to Bermuda. Why would I let a few extra dollars keep me from doing what I want to do there? And there are options to get around it if some want to.

Edited April 20, 2016 by leenie77

[Charles4515]

Honestly, I just don't get all the anger over the policy change. Buy two one-day passes if you just want the convenience of buying at the Dockyard. Another idea is to go to one of the places that sell the tokens, tickets, and multi-day passes and buy what you need. You can even send one person from your group to do this. It will cost $5. Oh, and the person that said their family of four was only going to St. George for the day and refuses to buy four one day passes. Well, how about four roundtrips to St. George at $5 each way? Yes, the price has increased, but what hasn't?

Sorry, I know this won't be a popular idea, but it's mine and I own it. Use some common sense. Come to think of it, you would probably pay at least as much for a Starbuck's coffee and not blink.

Armor on, flame if you must.

Jennie

 

The anger is that the new policy is discriminatory. No, the price has not increased. They want to force us to take taxis by denying us passes and tokens at the Dockyard. Why should we have to go to Hamilton or St. George to work around the new policy. Of course we want to buy at the Dockyard. Hamilton is 30 minutes away and St. George is 45 minutes away. Have you ever been to Bermuda? It is not feasable to send one person ahead. They would have to come back. That would mean the rest of your party would have to twiddle their thumbs for a couple of hours. You are correct that your idea won't be popular because it is a silly idea.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Charles4515

[Gershep]

Honestly, I just don't get all the anger over the policy change. Buy two one-day passes if you just want the convenience of buying at the Dockyard. Another idea is to go to one of the places that sell the tokens, tickets, and multi-day passes and buy what you need. You can even send one person from your group to do this. It will cost $5. Oh, and the person that said their family of four was only going to St. George for the day and refuses to buy four one day passes. Well, how about four roundtrips to St. George at $5 each way? Yes, the price has increased, but what hasn't?

Sorry, I know this won't be a popular idea, but it's mine and I own it. Use some common sense. Come to think of it, you would probably pay at least as much for a Starbuck's coffee and not blink.

Armor on, flame if you must.

Jennie

 

I have a lot of common sense, and NO I wouldn't pay that for a Starbuck's.

[Gershep]

the anger is that the new policy is discriminatory. No, the price has not increased. They want to force us to take taxis by denying us passes and tokens at the dockyard. Why should we have to go to hamilton or st. George to work around the new policy. Of course we want to buy at the dockyard. Hamilton is 30 minutes away and st. George is 45 minutes away. Have you ever been to bermuda? It is not feasable to send one person ahead. They would have to come back. That would mean the rest of your party would have to twiddle their thumbs for a couple of hours. You are correct that your idea won't be popular because it is a silly idea.

 

totally agree!!

[Charles4515]

I agree with you. I will be cruising to Bermuda for the first time this summer and this change is not going to stop me from going where I want. While I enjoy cruising itself and being on the ship, I'm going to Bermuda. Why would I let a few extra dollars keep me from doing what I want to do there? And there are options to get around it if some want to.

 

Of course the change should not stop you from going everywhere. I will be there in June for the umpteenth time and I will work around the misguided policy change and do whatever I want. I will bring the quarters and when I get somewhere that will sell me the tokens or ticket booklets I will buy those there. It will likely cost me less for transportation than usual not buying the passes. I won't be taking taxis because this year with only two of us that is not worth it. And with one of us maybe golfing one day with me going to a beach solo that day, I am certainly not taking a taxi solo for $35 each way. Duh.

 

Next year though. If they don't change the policy, there are many other beautiful places I can go. Places that cost less than a Bermuda cruise.

[CGinMTL]

In

 

So you're going to let 50 cents per person in additional cost prevent you from going to Crystal Cave or the Aquarium?

 

Your trip on the ferry from Dockyard to either St. Georges or Hamilton is going to cost $ 5 in cash rather than $4.50 for a token. Once you're in Hamilton or St. Georges you can easily buy tokens, multi-day passes or a book of tickets...whatever works best for you for all your remaining public transit travel.

Question - I know buses have transfers.

But if I take the Ferry to Hamilton, will they give me a transfer to continue the journey by bus to get to the caves ?

[SailBadtheSinner]

Question - I know buses have transfers.

But if I take the Ferry to Hamilton, will they give me a transfer to continue the journey by bus to get to the caves ?

 

Transfers are free when traveling from one bus route to another as long as the transfer is made to the next scheduled trip on the connecting route.

Bus to bus, not ferry to bus.

 

 

SBtS

[CGinMTL]

Transfers are free when traveling from one bus route to another as long as the transfer is made to the next scheduled trip on the connecting route.

Bus to bus, not ferry to bus.

 

 

SBtS

thank you

Note to Bermuda ........ here is another way to get people off the buses in Dockyard.

[njhorseman]

The anger is that the new policy is discriminatory. No, the price has not increased. They want to force us to take taxis by denying us passes and tokens at the Dockyard. Why should we have to go to Hamilton or St. George to work around the new policy. Of course we want to buy at the Dockyard. Hamilton is 30 minutes away and St. George is 45 minutes away. Have you ever been to Bermuda? It is not feasable to send one person ahead. They would have to come back. That would mean the rest of your party would have to twiddle their thumbs for a couple of hours. You are correct that your idea won't be popular because it is a silly idea.

 

If it wasn't so stupid it would be funny. The government of Bermuda spent millions to rebuild Heritage Wharf and dredge the shipping channel in order to allow the newest and largest ships to dock in Bermuda. Of course they completely forgot that once all these additional passengers were in Bermuda there would not be sufficient mass transit capability to take the passengers from the Dockyard to all the other places they will want to visit while in Bermuda.:rolleyes:

[leenie77]

Of course the change should not stop you from going everywhere. I will be there in June for the umpteenth time and I will work around the misguided policy change and do whatever I want. I will bring the quarters and when I get somewhere that will sell me the tokens or ticket booklets I will buy those there. It will likely cost me less for transportation than usual not buying the passes. I won't be taking taxis because this year with only two of us that is not worth it. And with one of us maybe golfing one day with me going to a beach solo that day, I am certainly not taking a taxi solo for $35 each way. Duh.

 

Next year though. If they don't change the policy, there are many other beautiful places I can go. Places that cost less than a Bermuda cruise.

 

Right. Thank you for the information.

[Cauzneffct]

I agree with you. I will be cruising to Bermuda for the first time this summer and this change is not going to stop me from going where I want. While I enjoy cruising itself and being on the ship, I'm going to Bermuda. Why would I let a few extra dollars keep me from doing what I want to do there? And there are options to get around it if some want to.

 

For me its not really the cost, but the added hassle. Buying tokens at the Dockyard would have been ideal, and now we're going to have to bring at least a couple rolls of quarters and/or tweak our schedule so as to head somewhere where we can buy tokens first. Is it a deal breaker? No, of course not. But its an added step/hassle that I'd rather not take.

[LA_CA_GAL]

For me its not really the cost, but the added hassle. Buying tokens at the Dockyard would have been ideal, and now we're going to have to bring at least a couple rolls of quarters and/or tweak our schedule so as to head somewhere where we can buy tokens first. Is it a deal breaker? No, of course not. But its an added step/hassle that I'd rather not take.

 

This is where capitalism should step in and solve the problem.

 

In the USA, there would be no shortage of entrepreneurs buying the tokens in Hamilton, bringing them to the Dockyard, and selling them at a markup. People would pay happily for the convenience.

[Charles4515]

This is where capitalism should step in and solve the problem.

 

 

 

In the USA, there would be no shortage of entrepreneurs buying the tokens in Hamilton, bringing them to the Dockyard, and selling them at a markup. People would pay happily for the convenience.

 

 

That is not the solution. And I doubt that reselling public transportation at a markup would be allowed in the USA.

[LA_CA_GAL]

And I doubt that reselling public transportation at a markup would be allowed in the USA.

 

And, you would also be wrong.

 

Basic economic principles are indisputable.

 

Whenever there is a demand for anything, there will always be someone there to fulfill it, regardless of whether is is "allowed" or not.