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Bermuda As A Cruise Embarkation Port Under Discussion


njhorseman
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Per this article quoting Bermuda's Minister of Transport Lawrence Scott,  Bermuda Premier David Burt has had discussions with (unnamed) cruise ship operators about using Bermuda as a departure port .

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20210204/scott-predicts-groundbreaking-tourism-changes-are-coming/

 

 

"His comments came after David Burt, the Premier, said in an interview with Bloomberg that talks were taking place with cruise ship operators about using Bermuda as a departure point for ships.

The transport minister pointed out that the island’s testing regime and protocols for travellers meant it was well-placed for the reintroduction of cruise ships later this year.

Mr Scott said: “Cruise ships being restricted out of the United States would not face the same restrictions in Bermuda.” "

 

Here's the earlier article where Burt's Bloomberg interview is mentioned:

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/economy/business/article/20210131/burt-spotlights-fintech-in-bloomberg-interview/

 

"Mr Burt added that there were discussions with cruise ship operators about the use of the island as a departure point for ships.

He said: “If the Biden administration extends the no-sail policy, there are some cruise lines that are looking to launch their cruises from here in Bermuda, which is very close to the US, of course, and the New York market, so people could cruise from here.” "

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How Intere$ting. I can $ee how convenient it might be, but can't imaging it will be attractive to the thou$and$ who crui$e from NYC for the lower co$t of avoiding plane flight$.

 

Kidding aside, this would add over $1,000 to the cost of a cruise for those of us who usually drive to NYC ports.  We'd have to take 2 flights each way, plus expensive hotel and local transportation on Bermuda. Think we'll wait. And I think demand will not be great to fly to Bermuda even for those for whom it would be a single flight.

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8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

I read those articles this morning and my first thought was where would cruises from Bermuda sail to? A cruise to nowhere? The Bahamas? 

The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cuba, longer cruises to places like Barbados, the ABC Islands, transatlantic cruises.

 

You don't have to limit the possibilities to relatively short cruises.

 

How about Oceania's annual 180 day around the world cruise starting in Hamilton rather than Miami?

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8 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cuba, longer cruises to places like Barbados, the ABC Islands, transatlantic cruises.

 

You don't have to limit the possibilities to relatively short cruises.

 

How about Oceania's annual 180 day around the world cruise starting in Hamilton rather than Miami?

That Oceania cruise might make sense, but the typical 7 day itinerary from an East Coast port:  not so much.  The round trip air and likely hotel cost would drive it out of most short itinerary sailors’ price range.   Also, I do not think Bermuda’s infrastructure would survive intact - I really doubt their powers that be would want to turn that rather special island into a mid-ocean Asbury Park.

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Royal Caribbean will sail out of Barbados, which is an equally inconvenient departure port.  It looks like they plan to offer hotel packages, flights (via Air2Sea), and a late departure time to make it less of a hassle. I would guess that any cruise line homeporting a ship in Bermuda would do something similar.

 

I don’t see any real advantage to sailing out of Bermuda, considering its location. Sailing out of Barbados in a smaller ship lets RCI visit some less-trampled ports in the southern Caribbean. From Bermuda, wouldn’t you only have time on a 7-day cruise to visit the Bahamas and maybe USVI/BVI?

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41 minutes ago, coastcat said:

Royal Caribbean will sail out of Barbados, which is an equally inconvenient departure port.  It looks like they plan to offer hotel packages, flights (via Air2Sea), and a late departure time to make it less of a hassle. I would guess that any cruise line homeporting a ship in Bermuda would do something similar.

 

I don’t see any real advantage to sailing out of Bermuda, considering its location. Sailing out of Barbados in a smaller ship lets RCI visit some less-trampled ports in the southern Caribbean. From Bermuda, wouldn’t you only have time on a 7-day cruise to visit the Bahamas and maybe USVI/BVI?

 

They could do longer than 7 day cruises.

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1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cuba, longer cruises to places like Barbados, the ABC Islands, transatlantic cruises.

 

You don't have to limit the possibilities to relatively short cruises.

 

How about Oceania's annual 180 day around the world cruise starting in Hamilton rather than Miami?

 

I think I would rather fly to Bermuda and stay at a hotel or a rental.

 

However Cuba would be a selling point to me. Bermuda to Cuba and back I would do.  

 

Another question would be flights. They would have to get an airline involved.

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1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

That Oceania cruise might make sense, but the typical 7 day itinerary from an East Coast port:  not so much.  The round trip air and likely hotel cost would drive it out of most short itinerary sailors’ price range.   Also, I do not think Bermuda’s infrastructure would survive intact - I really doubt their powers that be would want to turn that rather special island into a mid-ocean Asbury Park.

 

They would have the infrastructure to have a few sailings a week. 

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Interesting...but not sure how practical this is.  Flights in/out to transport passengers, hotel space, etc...all needed as many would be flying in day before departure.  Not sure how much infrastructure would be there to have embarkation staff, luggage transport, provisioning, etc. out there at King's Wharf.

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The longer the US cruise ports stay "off line," the more other locations will try and capitalize on the opportunity.  It won't appeal to all cruisers but something may be better than nothing from the perspective of the cruise lines.

 

Can these places fully replace US ports?  No.

Do they have an opportunity at least in the near term?  Yes.

Could this result in a permanent movement of ships?  Maybe.

 

Realize that shifting cruises outside of the US might create some additional traffic for those not wanting or not being able to get a US visa.

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3 hours ago, coastcat said:

Royal Caribbean will sail out of Barbados, which is an equally inconvenient departure port.

It's a bit less so than Bermuda-- there are a bunch of cruises, especially those on smaller luxury ships, that start and end in Barbados and have for years. Its actually a fairly popular embarkation/disembarkation point-- you are an overnight sail to a number of other islands.

 

Bermuda on the other hand would be a bit further and require basically at least 2 days at sea to and fro on a round trip cruise. A lot of the Barbados itineraries you see are actually one way-- ending on another island such as Puerto Rico 7 days later.  

 

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3 hours ago, msmayor said:

Interesting...but not sure how practical this is.  Flights in/out to transport passengers, hotel space, etc...all needed as many would be flying in day before departure.  Not sure how much infrastructure would be there to have embarkation staff, luggage transport, provisioning, etc. out there at King's Wharf.

I don't know why you think it would be  a problem. There's hotel space available in Bermuda since there's little tourism at this time.

 

Cruise ships have been departing from Barbados for years. There's no reason they couldn't do so from Bermuda. Cruise lines can run charter flights to Bermuda, which is a very short flight from the East Coast, if there aren't sufficient scheduled flights. That's been done in Barbados for years for passengers who are making much longer trips there from Europe.

 

Cruise ships are provisioned in foreign  ports all the time. The cruise lines can ship via container ships from the US to Bermuda to provide all the necessary supplies.

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Celebrity has been doing cruises from San Juan, but that must be under the same CDC restrictions as Florida.  Bermuda would allow 10-14 day Southern Caribbean itineraries.  This is what the market does: when you close one door, another opens!

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21 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

They could do longer than 7 day cruises.

Exactly.

RC sailings out of Baltimore, unless doing a 5-night Bermuda cruise, are typically 9 to 12 nights, with the first three and last three all sea days, if going to the Caribbean.  That length cruise is very popular.

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On 2/4/2021 at 5:17 PM, njhorseman said:

I don't know why you think it would be  a problem. There's hotel space available in Bermuda since there's little tourism at this time.

 

Cruise ships have been departing from Barbados for years. There's no reason they couldn't do so from Bermuda. Cruise lines can run charter flights to Bermuda, which is a very short flight from the East Coast, if there aren't sufficient scheduled flights. That's been done in Barbados for years for passengers who are making much longer trips there from Europe.

 

Cruise ships are provisioned in foreign  ports all the time. The cruise lines can ship via container ships from the US to Bermuda to provide all the necessary supplies.

One problem with Bermuda is its distance from ports other than on the US mainland -- itineraries would be very limited vs. what is available from Barbados, etc.

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21 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

One problem with Bermuda is its distance from ports other than on the US mainland -- itineraries would be very limited vs. what is available from Barbados, etc.

The cruise lines can offer longer cruises originating in Bermuda...10, 12, 14 days or more to make up for the distance issue. There's nothing limiting itinerary length....Oceania could start its 180 world cruise there instead of Miami .

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2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

There's nothing limiting itinerary length....Oceania could start its 180 world cruise there instead of Miami .

And that could be a perfect sort of trip to launch from Bermuda-- world cruisers tend to be well off and retired to some degree-- most passengers wouldn't be put off by additional time or expenses of sailing from Bermuda-- in fact it could be a selling point for them. 
 

I really think though that Insignia might be about the largest ship that would be viable to originate or end cruises in Bermuda. I can't imagine them trying to embark 6000 passengers on one of the big NCL ships with all the current covid testing thats required to even land on the island by air. 

 

I can see it working really well for ships under 1000 passengers though. 

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Although Bermuda may be in talks to provide an alternate path, I am betting on their British heritage and sensibilities to stop them from doing something really risky.  Most of the world listens to the CDC closely and follows their guidance.

 

And there is the lesson from Barbados a few months ago. If a 12 day cruise departs from Bermuda and returns with 50 infected people on board... will they continue?  And how will the US react to planeloads of people returning from Bermuda based on one negative test knowing they were potentially in contact with infected people?  I can see the entire ship being quarantined in Bermuda 10 days. Not a lot of hotel space there. Leaving them on the ship sounds a lot like Princess Diamond...

 

Now that we are single-digit months from a significant amount of the population being vaccinated, I bet Bermuda will decide to hold off a bit longer and see if disease variants run rampant or vaccines suppress the spread successfully.

 

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Bermuda could easily make proof of Covid vaccinations a requirement for all entering. Trans Atlantic cruises could either start or finish there.

 

Flights are simple. The major cruise lines ran charters to Tahiti for years. Bermuda would be far easier and less expensive for the cruise lines.

 

Cruise ships could return from Europe to Bermuda, then head directly to the Carribean, South America, the South Pacific, and other Asian ports and never touch a CDC port. Both logical and practical.

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2 hours ago, marieps said:

Bermuda's travel restrictions are quite extensive, as posted last week.  A $75 dollar fee and a test required before arrival, and again upon arrival.

 

https://www.gotobermuda.com/bta/press-release/bermuda-tourism-authority-update

Which is exactly why Bermuda is probably one of the safest places to travel to right now and why it makes some sense as an alternative to the US as a cruise embarkation port.

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12 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Which is exactly why Bermuda is probably one of the safest places to travel to right now and why it makes some sense as an alternative to the US as a cruise embarkation port.

 

Yep. Several days last week no covid cases reported. They are vaccinating and have 30,000 doses on hand with 9000 more arriving before the end of the month. Bermuda population is 65,000. 

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