What to do in Bermuda?

[skitch57]

We are leaving on July 6th from Norfolk on the Navigator to Bermuda. Are there any excursions that really shouldn't be missed or should we just see Bermuda on our own? We've never been to Bermuda or sailed on Raddison before so I am really looking for some guidance/advice. Thanks!

[JanMD]

There is a ton to do in Bermuda. First when you get off the ship go get a bus/ ferry pass for the next 3 days, saves you money in the end. You can go out to Horseshoe Bay in the morning and come back for lunch and then explore Front Street- downtown area.
Sat. go back out to the beach- best beach around. then come back and eat lunch on board. then go out to the dockyards and do the tour out there by yourself. take the ferry out there. Then on Sunday the ship moves to St. George, we got the bus and took a tour of that portion of the island and then explored St. George. There is also the lighthouse out at Southampton to explore via the bus route and there is a couple of tourist places. Most have opened since the huricanne came through last Sept.
I will be over there during the 4th of July. We were on the Navigator during this week last year. We boarded in NY and stayed a couple days ahead of time to enjoy NY.
Enjoy the Navigator, you will love her! You will be pampered once you get on board. And thus, you will want to come back and eat on the ship for all your meals. Have a great time. You won't want to go back to the mega ships. FYI, there might just be one other ship in port on Friday and then it is just you all on Sat, and Sun. At least that is the way it worked last year. It was a perfect trip. Jan

[skitch57]

Thank you! It sounds wonderful and your advice is really helpful. I was thinking that it would be best to explore on our own. We are looking forward to what sounds like a terrific cruise.

[Jeanne S]

Tobacco Bay is the Beach in St. George and is near the pier. The catamaran ride (where you can go snorkeling and swimming) in Hamilton (the one that mentions homebaked cookies) and the Swim and Sail in St. George are good. Went on them in the past. Do the town crier in St. George or the Horse Drawn Carriage in either port (these are a bargain). I do not recommend the Verdmont tour.

There are many shops along Front Street in Hamilton and we have found it a good idea to first visit them all to compare items and prices, making a note of places you may want to return to later to make purchases as you will find a range.

There is a locally distributed perfume that we only could find in one shop - the perfume shop across from the Ferry in Hamilton. It is called Bermuda Tempest and is on display to the left when you enter the store. Its $20 per bottle is fabulous and makes a great gift. This is not the same as the perfumes you can find in just about every store from the Bermuda Perfumery.

It is a good idea to eat on the ship if you are budget conscious as the prices are high in the restaurants and the ship has the best of everything. You will be busy doing things you probably won’t have time to stop for lunch anyway.

We take the Ferry to Kings Wharf – the Dockyard, get any bus and ask to be dropped of at Black or Hog Beach – it is actually walk able on the road out of the village. This is a very small area of three beaches right by the road that are deserted during the week and on weekends may have a few local families – but hey are up on the grass picnicking. There are no facilities, but we do not stay that long, then using catch the bus or walk to town, go to the Rum Cake Factory and Crafts Bazaar. These are easy to miss – ask directions. They are near to the ferry.

The Rum Factory has about 10 samples of cakes that are wonderful and make great gifts/mementos. The crafts store has offering of local artists and you can get some great Bermuda Christmas Cards if this interests you or Teak Carvings, watercolor etchings, various crafts.

[ChatKatCa]

Right at the Dock you can get a taxi tour. We found a couple to join us and it was $22.50 per person. He said 2 /12 hours but it was more lke 3+ hours and very comfortable. Our driver took us all over including the Naval Dockyard, the Botanical Gardens, the Beaches, resorts and Gibbs Lighthouse. We felt like we really learned a lot and saw most everything. He was very excellent in pointing our varius native things, like why the roof of each house is graded and white limestone and the water collection.

We did the Sunset Catamaran tour, which we thoroughly enjoyed and we also took the ferry from the dock while it went on it's rounds, but, we never got off. The weather was so nice, we enjoyed that, It got close enough to the hillside homes to take some lovely photos as well as photos of Hamilton from the water!