Our experience last week - Celebrity Eclipse

[majesty318]

We were just there last week with Celebrity and I wanted to share a few details. I did not do as much research for this trip as I normally do, so it's quite possible some of this is common knowledge, but in case I can help anyone else...

 

Ferries: they do not run enough! I don't understand when ships are in port, why there is not a ferry each hour. I (stupidly) did not realize we could instead take the bus right from dockyard. The bus from Hamilton to dockyard took 45 minutes which is worth it compared to a 20 minute ferry if you would be waiting for the ferry for a long time.

 

We got off the ship the first morning we were docked about 9:45 AM with the intention to catch the 10 AM ferry to Hamilton. The line to buy tokens/passes was miles long so we missed this ferry and had to wait till 11 AM. If you plan to take a ferry the first morning and need a token/ pass, plan to wait in line in the sun for a while.

 

Our plan that day was to take the bus to the caves, but we did not make a reservation. We did not realize that we could not just catch the bus at the Hamilton ferry terminal but rather had to walk to the bus station. It was a short and easy walk, though. When we arrived at the caves, we waited in the ticket line for about 20 minutes and then learned the next tour with openings was not for an hour. We had elderly people and a toddler with us so elected not to wait. By this point we had been off the ship for almost 3 hours and accomplished nothing, which was a bit frustrating. In future, I would reserve the caves for the 2nd day in port so I would already have the tokens and have a more reasonable idea of reservation time.

 

After the failed cave attempt, our elderly family members took the bus back to the ferry. We knew there was a chunk of time with no ferries running and they therefore had to wait till 3:15. (see above where I didn't realize at this point they could have just taken the bus!) The rest of us took the bus to the zoo/aquarium which was excellent. My 3-year-old loved it, and $10 admission was a steal.

 

My husband wanted to go to one beach, and I figured we would just do Snorkel Park since it is the closest. Well - $15 per adult and $5 per child and $75 to include chairs did not strike me as reasonable so I looked for other ideas. This was our last day in port so I didn't want to go too far. After lots of Googling, I chose Somerset Long Bay since it was a short, direct bus route. I asked the driver to let us know when we arrive to Somerset which he did. It was then about a 10-minute walk to the beach (easy walk though sometimes no sidewalk). There was only one other family there and it was postcard beautiful. Calm shallow water perfect for my toddler. A man was renting beach chairs for $20 as well as chips, sodas, and sand toys. There is also a playground and porta-potties. A really cool part is the nature trail right off this beach where you can feed turtles and ducks, which my son loved. We had to wait a bit for the bus going back to dockyard, but once on the bus, it's only a 10-minute ride. I would recommend this beach to cruise passengers as long as you're not looking for a fancy beach club experience.

 

I found the Bermudians to be very helpful - we got lots of advice while on the buses and in stores.

[Charles4515]

5 hours ago, majesty318 said:

My husband wanted to go to one beach, and I figured we would just do Snorkel Park since it is the closest. Well - $15 per adult and $5 per child and $75 to include chairs did not strike me as reasonable so I looked for other ideas. This was our last day in port so I didn't want to go too far. After lots of Googling, I chose Somerset Long Bay since it was a short, direct bus route. I asked the driver to let us know when we arrive to Somerset which he did. It was then about a 10-minute walk to the beach (easy walk though sometimes no sidewalk). There was only one other family the

Snorkel Park iss a dump. You did good going to Somerset Long Bay. I hadn't been recomending it for a close to the Dockyard beach because they had not had chairs or ports potties for years. This is welcome news.

 

As for the rest of your experiences if you had done research you would have been prepared for the ferry and bus system. Bermuda is small, 60,000 so there limitations to how many buses and ferries they can support. Compared to any other island destination I have been on what they have is better. If you had asked about the caves on this board you would have known that reservations are recommended. But thanks for confirming that. 

[majesty318]

Charles, I had read the reservations were recommended "in peak summer months" - but I didn't realize early June was considered peak already. But mostly I didn't reserve cause I had no idea what would be a realistic time to get there :(

[mskaufman]

Need to post as loud as possible that Snorkel Park is not a place to go.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, mskaufman said:

Need to post as loud as possible that Snorkel Park is not a place to go.

Amen. 

[mfabz]

What number bus did you take to Somerset Long Beach -- did they have umbrellas for rent too?

Thanks

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, mfabz said:

What number bus did you take to Somerset Long Beach --

I can answer the bus question. You can take any bus number from the Dockyard to get to Somerset Long Bay. Take either of the bus routes that leave from the Dockyard, the #7 and #8 

[SueMo]

In the past, we’ve taken the ferry to St. Georges and then bus from there to the caves (and stop at Swizzle Inn which is close by).  It seems to be a shorter bus ride that way and the ferry to St Georges offers some lovely views.

Also, take snorkling equipment to Somerset Long Bay.  You might find some sea turtles swimming there.

[Charles4515]

27 minutes ago, SueMo said:

In the past, we’ve taken the ferry to St. Georges and then bus from there to the caves (and stop at Swizzle Inn which is close by).  It seems to be a shorter bus ride that way and the ferry to St Georges offers some lovely views.

Also, take snorkling equipment to Somerset Long Bay.  You might find some sea turtles swimming there.

I prefer going by way of St. George on the ferry because I prefer the views on that route, I like St. George, and I prefer taking a taxi from the ferry, not a bus but time wise bus or taxi it is pretty much a wash from either St. George or Hamilton. The ferry schedule to and from St. George is limited, no weekend service and this year the weekday it is more limited, less daily runs. So often ferry to Hamilton is the best time wise because you don’t have to work around the ferry schedule limitations. 

Edited June 17 by Charles4515

[minniemouse427]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I prefer going by way of St. George on the ferry because I prefer the views on that route, I like St. George, and I prefer taking a taxi from the ferry, not a bus but time wise bus or taxi it is pretty much a wash from either St. George or Hamilton. The ferry schedule to and from St. George is limited, no weekend service and this year the weekday it is more limited, less daily runs. So often ferry to Hamilton is the best time wise because you don’t have to work around the ferry schedule limitations. 

We will be there in a couple of weeks and plan on taking the ferry to St. George and then make our way to Tom Moore's Jungle/Swizzle Inn by bus. When returning to the ship, we will take the bus to Hamilton and then take the ferry back to the Dockyard from there.

Gives us some time in St. George without having to deal with the limited ferry return options.

[pattycake08]

Thanks Majesty for your informative info. We are also going on the Celebrity Eclipse in July (there will be 2 ships in port (Eclipse & NCL Joy). We are planning on visiting Tobacco Bay (St George) but in looking at the ferry Schedule depending on the day of the week, there is only a 9:30 am/11:15 or just a 9:30am.  I saw your post above about a Bus Route to Hamilton.  Are there Buses that go to St George as well? If so, do you know how often, and how long the ride is? Assuming the buses would be close to port when you exit the ship.  Not sure if there is also any ride share vans that would be similar in price.  

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, pattycake08 said:

Thanks Majesty for your informative info. We are also going on the Celebrity Eclipse in July (there will be 2 ships in port (Eclipse & NCL Joy). We are planning on visiting Tobacco Bay (St George) but in looking at the ferry Schedule depending on the day of the week, there is only a 9:30 am/11:15 or just a 9:30am.  I saw your post above about a Bus Route to Hamilton.  Are there Buses that go to St George as well? If so, do you know how often, and how long the ride is? Assuming the buses would be close to port when you exit the ship.  Not sure if there is also any ride share vans that would be similar in price.  

There are no bus routes that go from the Royal Naval Dockyard to St. George. If you were to do the trip by bus you would have to take the #7 or #8 bus from Dockyard to Hamilton...about a 1 hour ride, then transfer to a #1, 3, 10 or 11 bus to travel from the Hamilton bus terminal to St. George, also an hour more or less depending on which bus route you take. So that makes a two hour trip plus any waiting time for a bus. Here's the bus schedule:

https://www.gotobermuda.com/sites/default/files/2022-10/Bus_Schedule_EFFECTIVE_31January2022[1].pdf

 

A quicker way to do the Dockyard to St. George trip by public transit if you're not taking the Orange Route ferry is to take the Blue Route ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton, then walk to the bus terminal...about an 8 or 9 minute walk, and then a #1, 3, 10 or 11 bus to  St. George. This will work out to about a 90 minute trip...faster by about 30 minutes than taking only buses, but still about twice as long as the Orange Route ferry.

 

It's unlikely you'll be able to find a shared ride mini van to do the trip unless you have enough people to fill the van.

 

Taxi for all or part of the trip is also an option but would be very costly.

Edited June 18 by njhorseman

[pattycake08]

Thanks so much NJHorseman, your info is exactly what I was looking for.  By any chance do you know how many passengers the Ferry holds. Majesty said there were long lines, so if I want to catch the 9:30 am Ferry, what time do I need to leave the ship & be in line to make it?

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, pattycake08 said:

Thanks so much NJHorseman, your info is exactly what I was looking for.  By any chance do you know how many passengers the Ferry holds. Majesty said there were long lines, so if I want to catch the 9:30 am Ferry, what time do I need to leave the ship & be in line to make it?

I believe the catamaran ferries used on the Orange Route to St. George can hold about 300 to 350 people. 

I would get there a half hour before scheduled departure. 

[pattycake08]

NJ Horseman, by any chance do you know how many ferries are used on the Orange Route at the departed time, I can't imaging there would only be one with a mad scramble of passengers?

[Charles4515]

16 minutes ago, pattycake08 said:

NJ Horseman, by any chance do you know how many ferries are used on the Orange Route at the departed time, I can't imaging there would only be one with a mad scramble of passengers?

Only one ferry is used for each time on the Orange Route. There is a finite number of ferry boats to cover all the routes. It is not a mad scramble, everyone lines up before boarding, and they actually count the number in line. There are two new boats on order and they have increased capacities. I get there 15 minutes before departure and never had a problem to St. George but that was when they had an additional run so the 30 minutes njhorseman suggested is probably wise. For the return  I suggest 30 minutes, one time I arrived 10 minutes to get back to the Dockyard before time and it was full and had to wait for the next and last run of the day. That was before NCL was running their private ferry, the private ferry if it is running for NCL passengers should free up more space on the public ferry. 
 

 

Edited June 19 by Charles4515

[pattycake08]

Charles, Thanks for the add'l information

[PokerFaceNJ]

Can anyone be more specific on the best transportation route to the caves from the Dockyard?

 

This will be our 7th cruise to Bermuda and we have always stuck to the beach activities.  Thinking about going to the caves this time.  I thought I could just take the bus there from the Dockyard but now I see that taking the ferry to St. George first may be the best.

 

The caves seem worth spending some time in and we have never been to the Swizzle Inn that is a close walk from there as well.

[njhorseman]

55 minutes ago, PokerFaceNJ said:

Can anyone be more specific on the best transportation route to the caves from the Dockyard?

 

This will be our 7th cruise to Bermuda and we have always stuck to the beach activities.  Thinking about going to the caves this time.  I thought I could just take the bus there from the Dockyard but now I see that taking the ferry to St. George first may be the best.

 

The caves seem worth spending some time in and we have never been to the Swizzle Inn that is a close walk from there as well.

Taking the ferry to St. George first, followed by a bus to the caves is best.

 

There is no direct bus route from the Dockyard. You would have to take a bus to Hamilton first and then transfer to a bus that would take you to the caves. Better than that all bus routing, but still not as good as taking the ferry to St. George would be to take the ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton, followed by a bus to the caves.

 

During the height of the cruise season I recommend that you reserve your tour at the caves in advance if that's at all possible. Otherwise you may have to wait after you arrive for a tour that has space.

Edited June 20 by njhorseman

[pete1681]

Just take a taxi to the caves,too many people all trying to get on a ferry at the same time. We just got off the boat,hopped in a taxi,went to the caves,swizzle inn,Gibbs hill lighthouse,the worlds smallest drawbridge,horseshoe bay beach and since it was Wednesday we later took the ferry to Hamilton and went to the fun street party. The buses are cheaper but waste a lot of time waiting in line for tickets and the next bus. Enjoy