Escape to Bermuda 4.29.18 review sailing from NYC!

[kcdancerkc]

It has been a crazy few weeks at work so here is finally our take on what we did/saw and The Vibe process :cool:

 

Your mileage may vary :)

 

We had crazy temps here at home and in NYC. Had to bring jackets, shorts, the whole gamut in between so much that our luggage scale didn’t match that of SW so we had to pay extra :eek:

 

We had 36 hours in Manhattan for first timers me and hubby. Bermuda also now bucket list checked!

 

We have tried to get through the Beach Boys song kokomo ......islands and have one left I think lol.

 

Our goal was to speed through dancing and eating our way through Manhattan! As a night owl this is a great place for me....hubby had to have extra caffeine to keep up lol. We are in mid fifties, but in our heads younger.

 

Hotel was good but hawking shows in the lobby which was annoying. Very old rooms but doable for two nights.

 

Did Times Square, deli after deli, diners, and

Gansevoort-market....

There we ate at Hold My Knots...mmmmm and

warm smores huge cookies at Chip NYC...MMMMM

 

Also Times Square Diner was the best service! But generally good service at most eateries.

 

We did a pedicab in Central Park. Loved it! Told him we had an hour, but I think we got shorted a few minutes but we had so much to see, in a short time! If I could get some time back I would have skipped in hindsight walking through China town personally. Seemed to be the same stuff on every street.

 

We didn’t get tickets to TOR which was a bummer but were determined to get some sunset pictures on a rooftop. We called and went to the Knickerbocker hotel rooftop bar which was only for guests, but a patron used her card to get us up there😊. I think our time in NYC was 50s and rain off and on. Bummer. But we hit two dance clubs and thought the Uber drivers were somewhat more friendly than the cabbies.

 

Hubby had frustrations with walking around and trying to follow maps on phone....signals poor, hubby no directional genes, luckily it was still better being wet and lost, than being at work! Even asked help for one diner and NYPD officer got us wrong directions lol.

 

Embarkation

Got there about 9:15 to hope for vibe passes. This was only the second trip for this ship from NYC so I think it was a learning curve for the crew. I believe we stood in security line for an hour or less, then given Aft #7 loading pass. We purposely walked around the boarding portrait because we weren’t in the mood lol.

 

Got chairs near the entrance and sat till 11:30 ish. When we were allowed, speed walking through to get to Headliners. I think maybe our tickets at Headliners were around the 50s or 60s. When we got to THE table I asked her twice....how many passes for vibe on this cruise....remember we were on just the second sailing, she said 70. Only 70......we were happy to be able to avoid the crowds on our balcony and use the Vibe for solace.

 

Such a big ship for us, of course you just cannot do it all in 7 days! Sail away we were in vibe with coats on lol. We used it probably 4 more times since parked in Bermuda for lengthy time. Last day was chilly also.

Hot tub there was good. Service good,

Warm days in between, Had a mister that kept us from burning up. Hot tub outside vibe full of kids sometimes.

 

Probably the weirdest thing was to have no life jackets in the room, or at Muster....Balcony and room smaller than what we are used to, but when I had a bad back, should have asked for a mattress topper. Room steward B+,

so overworked I’m sure.

 

We never made it to the Grotto or to hang out except for the Glow party in Spice H2O. Never saw broadway type shows, no MDR. Hubby did ropes course but neither his go pro nor the ships pictures came out !

 

We enjoyed Howl at the Moon and the one late night comedy was just ok. Headliners only serves drinks until the show starts for comedy, so double up!

 

We ate at O’sheehans embarkation lunch, two late night snacks and one breakfast. We had three “free” dining options. Spent one at Baymo....was ok....one at Italian dining , not bad, and don’t remember if when we went to food republic if we were able to use the package for part of one lunch....but there were several officers there and food was good but like O’sheehans unless you eat sushi small menu , small food.

 

 

Paid for mini cupcake at the bakery, very dry. Ice cream good.

 

 

Before I forget, on the way back from Bermuda I bought a spa day pass which was $68. Worth it for me! Love tile loungers and huge warm pool with jets....but the little square hot tub wasn’t hot, maybe wasn’t supposed to be? Was not interested in sauna or snow room.

 

 

We spent most nights dancing in the Skyliners bar after dinner and nap .

Music with DJ, good, but the later it got, it was crowded....if somebody broke a glass, lights on and music stopped until cleaned up.....

between dancing, loosing money at the nearby casino which is hard to maneuver when you drink too much to remember your PIN And such lol. We left one card key in the machine.....eeek. Guest services had it the following day.

 

 

Our next ship is the Carnival Magic because we sail primarily for itinerary, hoping it feels not sooo crowded. I hurt myself ten years ago and didn’t get to snorkel in Belize so do over.

 

 

I had one sick day in Bermuda so we didn’t get to go to St George. But being off the grid was the best part. If we travel stateside, hubby gets constantly crisis calls and emails. We refuse social media....not our thing. Did get to learn a lot on the Guy Harvey channel! Love shows about ocean creatures when sick in bed.

 

 

Went to Horseshoe and gorgeous of course.. whole island mesmerizing water! We took the shared van there and a taxi back. We almost always snorkel but knew water temps too cold. Beach got warmer in the afternoon. No Jelly fish around. Only other beach we made was Elbow. It was not as memorable as horseshoe, it was nice but driver was crabby.

 

 

We got ready to go to the Hamilton Wednesday night festival and did not know how slllloowww it would be to wait in the hot sun for island time to get the ferry, cash only. Have water with you and exact change! Ride was nice with 700 other people 😂

 

 

We ate some appetizers and drinks at the Pickled Onion outside. I spotted the exact ring I wanted before we left home, on the street fair. It’s a heart shaped ring with pink sand! We saw the dancers, by then my legs were swelling up like balloons! So we took a cab back instead of taking the ferry. Costly yes, but legs not in shape to deal with ferry again. Were ready for a long trip around the island.

 

 

Most clean island I think we have been on maybe besides Nevis. Lots of money honey here! When I win the lotto we will stay a week :cool:

 

Running out of gas on this review, we got the Rum cake and it was no where near as moist as the Tortuga rum cakes on other Caribbean islands. Ate our last meal at the frog and onion good stuff.

 

Closer to states upon returning, colder and wet air yet again. Time for coats and disembark. Hubbys tip for grabbing luggage tags, look in more than one area near the service desk. We wanted last off the ship because of a late flight. Out of the room by nine, no food or drink available after nine,

 

Had to sit on floor on level 6 or 8 only until last tags called. We went with 6 so,we,could walk down to 7 instead of up from 8 to disembark. Then a 40 min winding walk to get off.

 

Porter gave up on getting us a cab, so we knew his job was to attending arriving cruisers. Grumpy cabbie again on top of many roads closed for bicycles extravaganza on the way back to airport.

 

The end! Thanks for all that answered all my questions while waiting months for this trip and vibe tips!

[kcdancerkc]

PS. only two regrets besides not making it to St George

 

Missing a booked and paid for sunset cruise because of one day of being sick. The only other would be being too tired after shleping all over NYC to make it to our Meet and Greet group the first morning :')

[Kris73]

Great review!!! I will be going on this exact same trip with friends Sept 2019

 

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[jdvmd]

Thanks for your comments!