Is there a lot to do & see downtown?

[cruisinqt]

This is our first visit to Bermuda. Since we are visiting in October the water will be too cold so beaches are out. I’ve had total knee replacement surgery so hiking or strenuous activities isn’t a good idea either. So we were thinking of walking around the downtown area to shop and sightsee a bit. Then we wanted to try a local restaurant with some authentic food, we are foodies. Is the walk into town from the cruise ship a short distance? Or do we need to get a taxi? Any recommendations on things to do while in town or for good restaurants would be appreciated. 

[princeton123211]

30 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Since we are visiting in October the water will be too cold so beaches are out.

It can still be in the low 80s and high 70s in October. Everyone's water temp tolerances are different but you can still swim in October. 

 

30 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

So we were thinking of walking around the downtown area to shop and sightsee a bit. Then we wanted to try a local restaurant with some authentic food, we are foodies. Is the walk into town from the cruise ship a short distance?

This will depend on a few things. Assuming you mean "downtown" to be Hamilton (there are two main towns on Bermuda, the other being St George's but Hamilton is the capital and largest).

 

If your ship is docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard (as most do) you will be a ferry ride, bus ride, or taxi ride away from Hamilton. There is no way to walk it-- the distance is about 17 miles overland and can take 45 minutes driving. The ferry is the way to go here. 

 

If you are in the rare group of small cruise ships that actually dock in Hamilton (Oceania Insignia being the main one that does this) then you can just step ashore and you will be right in the middle of Hamilton. 

 

You can also take a longer ferry all the way over to St George's on the other side of the island. St Georges is the site of the original British settlement and has a most historic feel than Hamilton. 

 

30 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Any recommendations on things to do while in town or for good restaurants would be appreciated. 

The food on the island can be quite good but I wouldn't put it in the realm of the world's great food destinations. If your ship docks at the Dockyard I would really recommend getting out of there if you are looking for better than average food. The options there fill a need but aren't the island's best foot forward. 

 

Some favorites of ours (not necessarily in Hamilton so check on a map for distances) in no particular order:

- Waterlot Inn (may still be closed)

- Island Brasserie at the Rosewood Tuckers Point (closer to St Georges)

- Port O Call in Hamilton

- Swizzle Inn (this is a pub and not a food destination but the rum swizzle is a must)

- 1609 at the Hamilton Princess (honorable mention to Intrepid, which replaced a restaurant named Marcus' at the Hamilton Princess-- have not tried the new one but the old Marcus' was a fave)

- Tom Moore's Tavern (back closer to St Georges)

- Blackbeard's Hideout (near St Georges)

- The Hog Penny (pub, but a good one right downtown)

- Art Mels Spicy Dicy-- great example of the Bermuda fish sandwich near Hamilton

Edited September 5, 2023 by princeton123211
made correction

[cruisinqt]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

It can still be in the low 80s and high 70s in October. Everyone's water temp tolerances are different but you can still swim in October. 

 

If your ship is docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard (as most do) you will be a ferry ride, bus ride, or taxi ride away from Hamilton. There is no way to walk it-- the distance is about 17 miles overland and can take 45 minutes driving. The ferry is the way to go here. 

 

You can also take a longer ferry all the way over to St George's on the other side of the island. St Georges is the site of the original British settlement and has a most historic feel than Hamilton. 

 

The food on the island can be quite good but I wouldn't put it in the realm of the world's great food destinations. If your ship docks at the Dockyard I would really recommend getting out of there if you are looking for better than average food. The options there fill a need but aren't the island's best foot forward. 

 

Some favorites of ours (not necessarily in Hamilton so check on a map for distances) in no particular order:

- Waterlot Inn (may still be closed)

- Island Brasserie at the Rosewood Tuckers Point (closer to St Georges)

- Port O Call in Hamilton

- Swizzle Inn (this is a pub and not a food destination but the rum swizzle is a must)

- 1609 at the Hamilton Princess (honorable mention to Intrepid, which replaced a restaurant named Marcus' at the Hamilton Princess-- have not tried the new one but the old Marcus' was a fave)

- Tom Moore's Tavern (back closer to St Georges)

- Blackbeard's Hideout (near St Georges)

- The Hog Penny (pub, but a good one right downtown)

- Art Mels Spicy Dicy-- great example of the Bermuda fish sandwich near Hamilton

Sorry about the lack of info. We will be arriving on the Carnival Freedom on a 14 day transatlantic journey from Barcelona to Orlando. We are from Texas so while the 70-80’s daily temperatures will be welcomed, any water temps below 80 degrees is intolerable for us. But exploring the town sounds fun so we are fine with that. 
 

Our ship is 110,000 gross tons so I’m assuming we will be docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard. So we will either go to Hamilton or St George’s via ferry then. Thanks for the info I appreciate it. And I’ll definitely be keeping that list of restaurants with me. 

[princeton123211]

13 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Our ship is 110,000 gross tons so I’m assuming we will be docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard. So we will either go to Hamilton or St George’s via ferry then.

You will definitely be at the Royal Naval Dockyard. Carnival, because they don't run as many ships to Bermuda as Celebrity/NCL/RCCL, will sometimes get bumped from docking (there are only two berths) and you'll need to tender-- it doesn't happen often but it does happen with Carnival. If you do tender you will still tender into the Dockyard though but you'll need to build that into your touring plans. 

 

Both Hamilton and St George's are fun and worth while. If you only have a full day I might suggest taking the ferry early to St George's and then just using a taxi to get from there to Hamilton and then taking the ferry back to the Dockyard from Hamilton. The taxi will cost a bit more but it will save you time and let you see both towns in one day. 

 

If you wanted to see a beach (and Bermuda has some of the top beaches in the world) but didn't want to do "beach things" you can grab lunch outside at the newer St Regis Resort on St Catherine's Beach just north of St George's. The hotel is right on the beach itself with ocean views and you also have Fort St Catherine right there. 

[cruisinqt]

7 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

 

If you wanted to see a beach (and Bermuda has some of the top beaches in the world) but didn't want to do "beach things" you can grab lunch outside at the newer St Regis Resort on St Catherine's Beach just north of St George's. The hotel is right on the beach itself with ocean views and you also have Fort St Catherine right there. 

We are very interested in the forts so combining a fort along with the beach and a nice meal is a great idea, thanks. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, cruisinqt said:

We are very interested in the forts so combining a fort along with the beach and a nice meal is a great idea, thanks. 

Lunch might be very expensive at the St. Regis and you can not use the amenities at their beach. So no chair rentals or facilities on the public beach there.. There are good restaurants in the town St. George with reasonable prices by Bermuda standards,, The Wharf and Wahoos. Tobacco Bay which is between the town and Fort St. Catherine thas facilities and rentals. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Charles4515

[cruisinqt]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Lunch might be very expensive at the St. Regis and you can not use the amenities at their beach. So no chair rentals or facilities on the public beach there.. There are good restaurants in the town St. George with reasonable prices by Bermuda standards,, The Wharf and Wahoos. Tobacco Bay which is between the town and Fort St. Catherine thas facilities and rentals. 

Those are great suggestions thanks. 

[mets07]

Hi, are all the bars/restaurants mentioned (especially those in hotels/resorts) available to the public i.e. non-guests of the hotels?  Thanks. 

[cruisinqt]

6 hours ago, mets07 said:

Hi, are all the bars/restaurants mentioned (especially those in hotels/resorts) available to the public i.e. non-guests of the hotels?  Thanks. 

I would imagine any bar or restaurant in a hotel that’s on the ground floor is open for business to anyone that walks in. But for those that are on upper floors (or like the hotel I’m staying at that has a rooftop bar) you may need a hotel room card to use to access the elevator to go upstairs. Lots of hotel elevators need room cards to work nowadays. If you call in advance or email them in advance you could probably find out. 

[njhorseman]

On 9/5/2023 at 3:14 PM, cruisinqt said:

Since we are visiting in October

 

On 9/5/2023 at 5:47 PM, cruisinqt said:

We will be arriving on the Carnival Freedom on a 14 day transatlantic journey from Barcelona to Orlando.

Per the official Bermuda cruise ship schedule you will actually be in Bermuda on November 3 for 8 hours.

There likely won't be ferry service to St. George's when you're in port. That ferry route runs during the peak cruise season and the ferry schedule calls for its last run to be on October 27.

 

Given your relatively short time in port and the lack of direct ferry service to St. George's I wouldn't recommend you go there unless you're will willing to pay for a taxi, which would likely cost somewhere north of $75 dollars each way, or possibly take a ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton and then a taxi from there to St. George's. 

 

You indicated possibly shopping and going to a restaurant and that's easy to do by going to Hamilton. Take the ferry from the Dockyard to Hamilton. You can shop at the stores on Front Street. Our favorite lunch spot in Hamilton is the Hog Penny, which has a British pub atmosphere. If you want bit quieter atmosphere right on the water then I would consider going to the 1609 restaurant at the Hamilton Princess hotel or perhaps the Crown and Anchor also in the Hamilton Princess.

 

[njhorseman]

19 hours ago, mets07 said:

Hi, are all the bars/restaurants mentioned (especially those in hotels/resorts) available to the public i.e. non-guests of the hotels?  Thanks. 

 

12 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

I would imagine any bar or restaurant in a hotel that’s on the ground floor is open for business to anyone that walks in. But for those that are on upper floors (or like the hotel I’m staying at that has a rooftop bar) you may need a hotel room card to use to access the elevator to go upstairs. Lots of hotel elevators need room cards to work nowadays. If you call in advance or email them in advance you could probably find out. 

Hotel restaurants are open to the public .

You won't find any rooftop hotel bars in Bermuda.

[princeton123211]

20 hours ago, mets07 said:

Hi, are all the bars/restaurants mentioned (especially those in hotels/resorts) available to the public i.e. non-guests of the hotels?  Thanks. 

As others have said, yes. There are limited exceptions to hotel amenities that are indeed not available to non-guests. The only ones I can think of are the Rosewood's Beach Club (which is in Tuckers Town and they are militant about non-guests) and the Hamilton Princess' beach club. 

 

Anything else at the top resorts are open to the public and well worth a visit. 

[cruisinqt]

7 hours ago, njhorseman said:

You won't find any rooftop hotel bars in Bermuda.

Sorry I forgot this thread was specifically about Bermuda. I was thinking about our hotel in Barcelona that has a rooftop bar and pool only accessible to guests. 

[cruisinqt]

8 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

Per the official Bermuda cruise ship schedule you will actually be in Bermuda on November 3 for 8 hours.

There likely won't be ferry service to St. George's when you're in port. That ferry route runs during the peak cruise season and the ferry schedule calls for its last run to be on October 27.

 

Given your relatively short time in port and the lack of direct ferry service to St. George's I wouldn't recommend you go there unless you're will willing to pay for a taxi, which would likely cost somewhere north of $75 dollars each way, or possibly take a ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton and then a taxi from there to St. George's. 

 

You indicated possibly shopping and going to a restaurant and that's easy to do by going to Hamilton. Take the ferry from the Dockyard to Hamilton. You can shop at the stores on Front Street. Our favorite lunch spot in Hamilton is the Hog Penny, which has a British pub atmosphere. If you want bit quieter atmosphere right on the water then I would consider going to the 1609 restaurant at the Hamilton Princess hotel or perhaps the Crown and Anchor also in the Hamilton Princess.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the ferry situation and the restaurant recommendations. We will just make a day of it in Hamilton.