Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama!! Ninjacat123 is LIVE on the Pride Sept 1 - 8 2024!!​🏖️​

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Are they scrapping this ship?

No moving it to Norfolk, VA.😔

[ninjacat123]

4 hours ago, ARcruisin2 said:

Loved your review!

Thanks for taking the time to bring us along!

 

Thank you ARcruisin2!! Happy you enjoyed it.😻

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, Volsfan86 said:

Thanks for the great live review. We really need to get to Bermuda sometime! 

 

Thank you Volsfan86!! Bermuda is so worth it especially being there for almost three days😸👍

[Drazil65]

Thank you...fun review and really enjoyed the pix.  Great to see how a little rain (?) didnt stop your get up and go, love that attitude!  

 

We too love the Sunshine (and Charleston) and do our farewell to her (in Charleston) cruise the week before Christmas.  Will be very sad to see her go from there for sure BUT about same distance for us to head north on 95 to Norfolk to catch her in the future.  Just not as big of fans of Norfolk (compared to Charleston) so it will be a little different I guess until we board the ship.  Just happy to still be able to sail her.  

[ninjacat123]

2 minutes ago, Drazil65 said:

Thank you...fun review and really enjoyed the pix.  Great to see how a little rain (?) didnt stop your get up and go, love that attitude!  

 

We too love the Sunshine (and Charleston) and do our farewell to her (in Charleston) cruise the week before Christmas.  Will be very sad to see her go from there for sure BUT about same distance for us to head north on 95 to Norfolk to catch her in the future.  Just not as big of fans of Norfolk (compared to Charleston) so it will be a little different I guess until we board the ship.  Just happy to still be able to sail her.  

Thank you Drazil65!! Being I grew up in Oregon’s Willamette valley, I’m used to rain but that early morning storm was a doozy! I felt like the bishop on the Caddyshack golf course saying “this all you got?!?” Or something like that😸

 

[ninjacat123]

[ninjacat123]

I’m a little tired so I’m going to write up a summary of our cruise with links to the places tomorrow. Please post questions. I’m so happy you all enjoyed this LIVE 😻

[rrraydon]

8 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

The Swizzle Inn was great!  Good thing we got there at 11ish am because by 12:00 it was packed.  

I'll be sure to get there early!

 

"Sailing" along with you, looking at your fabulous pictures, has given me a hankering to get back to the pink sands of Bermuda! I booked my cruise just a few hours ago. I'll be back to walking along the cliffs and looking at that beautiful scenery in April. 😍

 

On my last visit to Bermuda, many years ago, we had the bus drop us off a few stops down past Horeshoe Bay. We hiked along the shoreline, up and down the cliffs (such amazing ocean views!), stopped at numerous private, little alcoves along the beach, until we reached Horsehoe Bay. It was absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!

[ninjacat123]

4 minutes ago, rrraydon said:

I'll be sure to get there early!

 

"Sailing" along with you, looking at your fabulous pictures, has given me a hankering to get back to the pink sands of Bermuda! I booked my cruise just a few hours ago. I'll be back to walking along the cliffs and looking at that beautiful scenery in April. 😍

 

On my last visit to Bermuda, many years ago, we had the bus drop us off a few stops down past Horeshoe Bay. We hiked along the shoreline, up and down the cliffs (such amazing ocean views!), stopped at numerous private, little alcoves along the beach, until we reached Horsehoe Bay. It was absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!

Sounds awesome!! I was very pleased with the transit system there and how helpful locals were. Such a great place to visit!!

when is your cruise?

Edited September 9 by ninjacat123

[rrraydon]

4 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Sounds awesome!! I was very pleased with the transit system there and how helpful locals were. Such a great place to visit!!

when is your cruise?

It's April 27 on MSC.

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, rrraydon said:

It's April 27 on MSC.

If you do a LIVE or review please post a link here. I’ve never cruised MSC and would love to hear all about it👍😻

[rrraydon]

12 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

If you do a LIVE or review please post a link here. I’ve never cruised MSC and would love to hear all about it👍😻

I do plan to do a live, so I definitely will post here. I sailed my first MSC cruise this past February, also first solo, it was fabulous! I booked a few more solos and sailed them over the summer, also a fantastic time.

[cellfree]

9 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

If you do a LIVE or review please post a link here. I’ve never cruised MSC and would love to hear all about it👍😻

Bethany, if interested, @pirate4me2 just wound up her “live” out of Port Canaveral on MSC Seashore in the Yacht Club. She is mostly a Carnival person and this was her second MSC cruise. We have cruised on MSC 12+ times, we cruise between Carnival and MSC, both different experiences, enjoy both. 

[ninjacat123]

24 minutes ago, cellfree said:

Bethany, if interested, @pirate4me2 just wound up her “live” out of Port Canaveral on MSC Seashore in the Yacht Club. She is mostly a Carnival person and this was her second MSC cruise. We have cruised on MSC 12+ times, we cruise between Carnival and MSC, both different experiences, enjoy both. 

Good to know!! I’ll look up Pirate’s LIVE. Thx cellfree😻

[ninjacat123]

28 minutes ago, rrraydon said:

I do plan to do a live, so I definitely will post here. I sailed my first MSC cruise this past February, also first solo, it was fabulous! I booked a few more solos and sailed them over the summer, also a fantastic time.

Yay!! Looking forward to it👍😸

[ninjacat123]

Allrighty!  Here is my summary of our Bermuda trip/cruise!

 

Drive to Laurel Grove Inn on the South River from Charlotte, NC: we drove up the Shenandoah Valley and it was lovely.  Driving back from Baltimore Port on I-95 was quicker but at times frustrating with congested traffic (I'm looking at you DC area) and not as pretty.

 

The Laurel Grove Inn on the South River was wonderful!  So pretty, so charming, so relaxing!  A great way to start off our trip.  Our host Tiffany was perfect and her breakfast buffet was delicious! Only five guest rooms so call ahead. https://www.laurelgroveinn.net/

 

The Pride is a favorite of ours, easy to get around and as always great staff and crew.  Food was fine, Alchemy busy and Serenity would get packed. We could find seats at the shows and the lines for pizza, sandwiches and MDR breakfast wait time was great.  Our steward Gigi kept our room in shape.  Speaking of our room, the large picture window between the lifeboats made for a lot of light and seeing the ocean was nice.  We love a balcony but that type room is a nice alternative.

 

Taking the shuttle from the street in front of the ship to Horseshoe Bay was great!  Packed to the gills but worth the convenience of pick up and drop off right at the beach for $7 per person. And there seemed to be shuttles available all the time.  I asked another passenger how long she had waited from getting on to departing since she was one of the first ones on and she said 20 minutes. YMMV.

 

Craig and I found workers at the Dockyard stores to be a little less charming than the rest of Bermuda.  Not mean, just a little negative and short of charm.  Don't judge Bermuda by these examples because the rest of Bermuda was helpful and upbeat.

 

Taking the ferry was exciting in more ways than one with the storm pelting us from all sides!  We were dropped off in Hamilton and had no idea where to catch a bus.  Did I think of using GPS?  Nooooo. Fortunately a nice gentleman from Bermuda directed us and we were on our way.

https://www.bermuda.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Summer-Ferry-Schedule-2024.pdf

this will possibly change with the seasons and year so keep that in mind.

https://www.bermuda.com/transportation/public-bus/bermuda-bus-schedule/

I suggest walking up the hill to Church street, turn left and the Central Bus Terminal will be on your right.  There is a kiosk to ask questions or get tokens for the bus.  I also asked a bus driver questions as well. Very helpful.

 

Crystal Caves was great!  If you are not good with stairs, don't do it.  Lots of stairs.  Our tour guides for both caves were informative and charming.  The caves were beautiful.  If you can only go to one, I suggest Crystal Cave.  The steps are not as steep and there is more to see that is sparkly. https://caves.bm/crystal-caves/ I called about two weeks in advance to reserve tickets.  I didn't need to pay for them until we got there which was less stressful.  Wear sneakers.

 

The Swizzle Inn was only a short walk away from the caves and the bus stop. Because of the drizzly weather, we decided to forgo The Blue Hole Park (next time!!) and go directly to The Swizzle Inn.  Good thing we did!  We were there at 11:00 and by 12:00 it was packed with customers.  We sat at the side of the bar at a counter so we could take in the funky atmosphere.  I suggest getting the whole jug of rum swizzle which saves you $16 instead of getting two half jugs like we did.  Very tasty!  The fish sandwich on raisin bread was better than I thought it would be.  It's not listed on the menu specifically, we had to ask for a Blue Hole Fish Sandwich on toasted raisin bread. https://www.swizzleinn.com/

 

We loved our time in Bermuda and are looking forward to a revisit!  Please let me know if you have questions.  Next cruise is this Thanksgiving on Sunshine to Nassau with Craig, our 2 DDs and me!  I will post a link here when I start that LIVE.  Thank you again for following me on another cruise LIVE!! 😸

 

[pirate4me2]

14 hours ago, cellfree said:

Bethany, if interested, @pirate4me2 just wound up her “live” out of Port Canaveral on MSC Seashore in the Yacht Club. She is mostly a Carnival person and this was her second MSC cruise. We have cruised on MSC 12+ times, we cruise between Carnival and MSC, both different experiences, enjoy both. 

Hey, thanks for the shout out! 🙂

 

And @ninjacat123 I also did a Live on my first MSC cruise last year, also out of Port Canaveral, the link to that one is in my signature. 🙂 

 

13 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Good to know!! I’ll look up Pirate’s LIVE. Thx cellfree😻

 

[ninjacat123]

16 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

Hey, thanks for the shout out! 🙂

 

And @ninjacat123 I also did a Live on my first MSC cruise last year, also out of Port Canaveral, the link to that one is in my signature. 🙂 

 

 

Wow!!  You are a cruising machine, pirate!!  I opened your signature and BOOM cruise after cruise.  You are giving me goals😺

[pirate4me2]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Wow!!  You are a cruising machine, pirate!!  I opened your signature and BOOM cruise after cruise.  You are giving me goals😺

HAHAHAHA well, I am a Pirate after all! 🤣

My cruising will probably slow down some after neat year tho. Got some life things to take care of. 

[ninjacat123]

Found this in my backpack 😻

[cellfree]

@ninjacat123, if you read “pirate’s” lives know that she is in the Yacht Club, they are in a balcony but Interior Yacht Club Cabins (there’s not a lot of them) are IMHO the best bargain at sea, all the same benefits of YC Balconies but better pricing, if you can do an Interior. YC pricing includes premium beverages, Wi-Fi, private dining room, private lounge, it’s own pool and loungers, it’s own buffet, a butler, etc. As I said we’ve done 12+ MSC cruises and they have all been great but our latest was YC and since then have booked two more Yacht Club Interiors. (I realize this is a Carnival site, didn’t know how else to reach you and thought this might be helpful.)

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, cellfree said:

@ninjacat123, if you read “pirate’s” lives know that she is in the Yacht Club, they are in a balcony but Interior Yacht Club Cabins (there’s not a lot of them) are IMHO the best bargain at sea, all the same benefits of YC Balconies but better pricing, if you can do an Interior. YC pricing includes premium beverages, Wi-Fi, private dining room, private lounge, it’s own pool and loungers, it’s own buffet, a butler, etc. As I said we’ve done 12+ MSC cruises and they have all been great but our latest was YC and since then have booked two more Yacht Club Interiors. (I realize this is a Carnival site, didn’t know how else to reach you and thought this might be helpful.)

Thank you cellfree!!  Very helpful info!!😻👏

[TravelE]

On 9/9/2024 at 6:08 PM, rrraydon said:

I'll be sure to get there early!

 

"Sailing" along with you, looking at your fabulous pictures, has given me a hankering to get back to the pink sands of Bermuda! I booked my cruise just a few hours ago. I'll be back to walking along the cliffs and looking at that beautiful scenery in April. 😍

 

On my last visit to Bermuda, many years ago, we had the bus drop us off a few stops down past Horeshoe Bay. We hiked along the shoreline, up and down the cliffs (such amazing ocean views!), stopped at numerous private, little alcoves along the beach, until we reached Horsehoe Bay. It was absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!

 

Yes, I did that hike when I was in Bermuda last week. Start at Warwick Long Bay and walk west along the beach trail. It was easy and the little coves are gorgeous.

[3smithboys]

3 hours ago, cellfree said:

@ninjacat123, if you read “pirate’s” lives know that she is in the Yacht Club, they are in a balcony but Interior Yacht Club Cabins (there’s not a lot of them) are IMHO the best bargain at sea, all the same benefits of YC Balconies but better pricing, if you can do an Interior. YC pricing includes premium beverages, Wi-Fi, private dining room, private lounge, it’s own pool and loungers, it’s own buffet, a butler, etc. As I said we’ve done 12+ MSC cruises and they have all been great but our latest was YC and since then have booked two more Yacht Club Interiors. (I realize this is a Carnival site, didn’t know how else to reach you and thought this might be helpful.)

I’m actually glad you posted this! After reading about the YC, I went over and read her live review. We really only travel on Carnival and have been thinking about trying other lines. We are in our early 50’s and look at Virgin and wonder if it’s for us or will we be out of place... Then we saw the MSC YC and thought that might be a nice one to try. I’m a bit apprehensive to do something different because we only travel 1/2 x per year, and I’d  hate to make a mistake with my vacation! 

[cellfree]

26 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

I’m actually glad you posted this! After reading about the YC, I went over and read her live review. We really only travel on Carnival and have been thinking about trying other lines. We are in our early 50’s and look at Virgin and wonder if it’s for us or will we be out of place... Then we saw the MSC YC and thought that might be a nice one to try. I’m a bit apprehensive to do something different because we only travel 1/2 x per year, and I’d  hate to make a mistake with my vacation! 

Sort of hate (strong word, didn’t know what else to use) that I have this MSC info ongoing on ninjacat’s thread, sorry @ninjacat123. Because the YC venues are so convenient and beautiful, we are very content with an Interior YC Cabin, we take full advantage of all the YC has to offer, and still have access to everything else on ship. That makes the YC more affordable for us. The Balcony Cabins are beautiful but we do not feel the need to pay the additional dollars, of course everyone works within their own budget. We too cruised Carnival 100% of the time but discovered MSC several years ago and the YC for the first time in April of this year.

Edited September 11 by cellfree