Bermuda NCL Private Ferry?

[Keata]

The following was written in the Bermuda Royal Gazette in early February 2022:  “The spokesman added it was excellent news that the Norwegian Cruise Line tender would run to St George from Dockyard in the summer.”

Does anyone have insider knowledge that this in fact is still going to happen?  Perhaps someone on an upcoming stop in Bermuda could report back?  Thanks in advance.

[shof515]

When i was in Bermuda in December, i saw the NCL ferry boat docked in St George. Marinetraffic shows the ferry boat is docked in St George and it looks like it is a did a few test runs. All signs appear to be pointing that is will be running this year. 

 

Bermuda cruising season begins next month in April 

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

When i was in Bermuda in December, i saw the NCL ferry boat docked in St George. Marinetraffic shows the ferry boat is docked in St George and it looks like it is a did a few test runs. All signs appear to be pointing that is will be running this year. 

 

Bermuda cruising season begins next month in April 

We're scheduled to stop in Bermuda for 3 days this summer; but NOT on an NCL cruise ship. Anyone know if passengers other than those from an NCL ship can use the ferry?

 

 Doug

[njhorseman]

17 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

We're scheduled to stop in Bermuda for 3 days this summer; but NOT on an NCL cruise ship. Anyone know if passengers other than those from an NCL ship can use the ferry?

 

 Doug

The NCL ferry is only for passengers on NCLH ships.  If you happen to be on Oceania or Regent you should be able to use it, depending on its schedule while you're in port. 

If you're on any cruise line other than NCL, Oceania or Regent you can't use the ferry. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, PaperSniper4 said:

We're scheduled to stop in Bermuda for 3 days this summer; but NOT on an NCL cruise ship. Anyone know if passengers other than those from an NCL ship can use the ferry? Doug

The NCL ferry is for NCL passengers only. The public fast ferry is a very short walk off the dock. You can google the public ferry schedule. 

[njhorseman]

40 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The NCL ferry is for NCL passengers only. The public fast ferry is a very short walk off the dock. You can google the public ferry schedule. 

As I stated it would also be available to cruisers on the other NCLH lines. In fact the ferry service was part of the contract between NCLH and Bermuda that included NCLH offering cruises that docked at St. George and Hamilton as well as securing NCL's docking rights at Royal Naval Dockyard. While the primary purpose of the service was to take passengers from Dockyard to St. George it still can be used by the other NCLH passengers.

 

Initially NCLH was actually going to build two 250 passenger ferries but instead it chartered the larger Bahamian ferry Bo Hengey II for the first year and subsequently bought and refurbished the boat, renaming it Spirit of St. George.

 

IIRC correctly the contract expires this year.

Edited March 18, 2022 by njhorseman

[PaperSniper4]

Oh well, figured that ferry would not be for the rest of us. <g> That's okay, we're going to rent an electric car for the time we're there. Most expensive, but more convenient.

 

 Doug

[jwitt2]

4 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Oh well, figured that ferry would not be for the rest of us. <g> That's okay, we're going to rent an electric car for the time we're there. Most expensive, but more convenient.

 

 Doug

We looked into that but the charge doesn't look like it would get us to St. George and back. It is recommended that you recharge when battery is half down on the charge. We called the rental company and they said there is a $250 tow charge if your battery runs out. They also said that there are several charging stations in SG, but it takes 2 hours or more to charge. It sounded good at first, but we decided to hope the ferry will be running in mid April when we are on NCL. Our TA is looking into it for us. 

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, jwitt2 said:

We looked into that but the charge doesn't look like it would get us to St. George and back. It is recommended that you recharge when battery is half down on the charge. We called the rental company and they said there is a $250 tow charge if your battery runs out. They also said that there are several charging stations in SG, but it takes 2 hours or more to charge. It sounded good at first, but we decided to hope the ferry will be running in mid April when we are on NCL. Our TA is looking into it for us. 

Our plan is to drive to around Bermuda each day, stopping somewhere each day on the way for shopping and lunch while the car is recharging. I believe charging takes 2 hours only if the battery is nearly  dead. We're on Celebrity, so we'd have to take alternate arrangements to get to Hamilton or St George during the three days we're there. There are charging stations near the our ship at King's Wharf so we'd start the day with a full charge.

The bus is always an option, but I like the flexibility of having our own transport. Motorbikes are out for us....at least for my wife. We did that extensively in 1971 when we lived there for a few months, but she'd be uncomfortable on a motorbike now. I'd be okay since I was an avid motorcyclist until 3-4 years ago. So we will try the car this time.

 

 Doug

[njhorseman]

55 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Our plan is to drive to around Bermuda each day, stopping somewhere each day on the way for shopping and lunch while the car is recharging. I believe charging takes 2 hours only if the battery is nearly  dead. We're on Celebrity, so we'd have to take alternate arrangements to get to Hamilton or St George during the three days we're there. There are charging stations near the our ship at King's Wharf so we'd start the day with a full charge.

The bus is always an option, but I like the flexibility of having our own transport. Motorbikes are out for us....at least for my wife. We did that extensively in 1971 when we lived there for a few months, but she'd be uncomfortable on a motorbike now. I'd be okay since I was an avid motorcyclist until 3-4 years ago. So we will try the car this time.

 

 Doug

To get to Hamilton you can take the public ferry from Dockyard.  Fast...25 minutes, and inexpensive...$4.50 for a token. No need for a mini car or a motor bike.

Edited March 19, 2022 by njhorseman

[bermudabound07082018]

Can someone verify if the NCL Bermuda ferry runs specifically on weekends? Doesn't seem to be a public option to St. George's on weekends and our cruise is an overnight from Sat-Sun.

 

The folks on the NCL customer service line and shore excursions have no clue this thing exists, but I'm 100% certain I was on it 4 years ago. 

[rdmurray]

Yes it runs on weekends.  We got here on Sunday (Pearl) and it had trips to St George. 

 

 

 

[bermudabound07082018]

Much appreciated thank you!

Edited July 12, 2022 by bermudabound07082018

[jwinrich]

On 7/11/2022 at 2:48 PM, rdmurray said:

Yes it runs on weekends.  We got here on Sunday (Pearl) and it had trips to St George. 

 

 

 

Do you know the times it ran? We were wanting to head to St. George on Sunday when we dock (NCL Pearl arriving in Bermuda 8/14). We don't want to get there and not have a ride back. 

[andychris]

Does anyone have the ferry schedule?
Thank you

[BlushPell]

46 minutes ago, andychris said:

Does anyone have the ferry schedule?
Thank you 

 

 I sailed in April and also May and both times we had a different schedule. In April the free ferry was cancelled due to weather. In May we received a schedule when we boarded. 

[ggTexasGal]

3 hours ago, andychris said:

Does anyone have the ferry schedule?
Thank you

Might be helpful...

https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_000073.htm#an2

 

 

[andychris]

Thank you