Bermuda redux

Where to even start with our cruise to Bermuda?

Yes, it was fantastic, in answer to the question everyone asks. We had a great time on board the Norwegian Majesty and Bermuda itself is glorious. Due to weather (namely, Hurricane Noel), we had to rearrange our schedule quite a bit, and yes, the sea was rough, but it didn’t affect the overall course of the trip.

I took some notes to have things to share, since Chopper forbade me from bringing my laptop. This was a very reasonable rule, so my recollections and brief handwritten notes will have to do.

After briefly visiting our stateroom, we went up to deck ten, where there’s an open-air grill and buffet on the aft side of the ship featuring quite tasty hamburgers and hot dogs. Before we got there, a waiter offered us two very large tropical drinks of some kind. (Chopper will tell you they weren’t that big, but I have the souvenir glasses that say otherwise.) The views of Charleston Harbor and the peninsula were fantastic from that high up.

The initial plan was to sail around 4 PM, but there was some delay due to bringing water on board for the trip. Bermuda has no source of fresh water other than rainfall (and that, by the way, is why all the roofs are white – they’re rain collectors) so we had to get everything we needed before we left. It turns out that leaving later was a stroke of luck; we had an amazing, fiery red sunset as we sailed out of the harbor and past Fort Sumter. I, thinking it would be dark before we sailed, did not have my camera. I hardly left the room without it after that mistake.

I’ll just give you some things in a more-or-less stream of consciousness format to cover our time on board before we got to St. George’s.

• Our room thermostat went up to eleven. We both had a flashback to This Is Spinal Tap.
• We never did figure out the on-board radio in our room, which was built into the sill under the window. The dial was marked with channels 0-5, and we only got reception at 4 and -2.
• Every time we hit a bump, one of us said “damn those right whales again!” For those of you who don’t know, the right whale is an exceedingly endangered species with a terrible habit of finding, in the vast reaches of the ocean, a ship to swim in front of.
• We went to dinner the first night at one of the lovely restaurants on the ship and confused our poor waiter. We had eaten at the grill earlier in the day and weren’t that hungry. We both ordered a caesar salad and he kept asking us if we were sure that’s all we wanted. I think he was a little upset, like if we didn’t make complete gluttons of ourselves that he had failed in his responsibility. (The service on the ship, by the way, was impeccable.)
• I talked my dear husband into getting in the hot tub. This would have been a great idea except for the probably forty knot winds, the sea spray coming up in huge gusts over the side of the ship all the way to deck ten, and the rocking and spilling out of the contents of said hot tub. Even with tying our towels to the railing, they got soaked. We were almost the first people in history to die of hypothermia while in a hot tub. Chopper, bless his heart, got out and fetched me a dry towel. He’ll probably never let me forget it, either.
• It was rough on the ship the first night out. I could have used a seat belt to keep me in bed. Fortunately, neither of us were seasick, but it was prevalent across the ship. That made getting a table at dinner somewhat easier.
• Chopper played a fair amount of poker and came in third in one tournament and fourth in the other. Not too shabby.
• There was a ceremony on the ship for couples wanting to renew their vows. Chopper pointed it out to me and asked if I wanted to do that. I said no, and the response: “Good, because I’m playing poker then.” Ha.
• There was a never-ending procession of towel animals each evening, and the piece de resistance was a towel monkey hanging from the ceiling. I stopped dead when I walked into the room and Chopper nearly ran me over. We both laughed so hard our sides hurt. The monkey had a mint in its mouth, for goodness’ sake.

Bermuda itself went by fairly quickly. As I mentioned, we had to change our itinerary because of Hurricane Noel. We were initially scheduled to arrive in St. George’s around 1 PM on Tuesday and depart around 11 AM on Thursday. The entrance to the harbor at St. George’s is extremely narrow — twelve feet worth of clearance on either side for the Majesty — so with the storm winds, the decision was made to stay overnight in St. George’s on Tuesday and then move to Hamilton, which has a much more open harbor, early Wednesday morning. We then departed from Hamilton Wednesday afternoon to avoid being caught in the path of the storm on the way back. While I would have liked more time in Bermuda, the change of plans was understandable.

So, we prioritized our time, and we packed as much into it as we possibly could. That meant getting straight off the ship on Tuesday and walking literally across the island past the Unfinished Church to Tobacco Bay. The church was meant to be a replacement for the main Anglican church in St. George’s back in the late nineteenth century, but for various reasons which you can read about elsewhere, it was never completed. It’s an absolutely gorgeous sight. We got there in the late afternoon, nearing dusk, and I’d have loved to spend a couple of hours there. I took lots of photographs, of course.

From there, we walked to Tobacco Bay, which is only a brief walk from the center of St. George’s. It’s easy to see Bermuda’s volcanic origins there; the rock formations almost look sculpted. In the summer, it would be a lively place. In October, there were just a handful of people around so we had the place largely to ourselves.

Once it got dark, we headed back into St. George’s and had dinner at a restaurant called the Carriage House, which is an old renovated stable. We wanted some atmosphere and got it, and dinner was fantastic. On a whim, Chopper ordered this shrimp and scallop appetizer, which I ate most of without him. The seafood had a coriander pesto and was delicious. I don’t often eat shrimp and I made rather short work of these. Beyond that, I ate my first Yorkshire pudding, which was also tasty.

On Wednesday morning, we moved to Hamilton, which is fairly centrally located. We bought two all-day bus passes (a bargain!) and immediately headed to the Gibbs Lighthouse. On a map, it looks like it’s a long way from one end of Bermuda to another (at least for me) but it was probably twenty minutes from Hamilton (center) to the lighthouse (southwest).

Gibbs Lighthouse is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in the world, and that fact from the Lonely Planet guide to Bermuda was enough to get us over there. It was worth it. The lighthouse is stark white and gorgeous against a bright blue sky. Once up a tiring 186 steps, the view is incredible — one end of the island to the other and all the harbors and bays in between.

From the lighthouse, we wandered for a bit and ended up in Church Bay, up the road from the more popular Horseshoe Bay, and waded in the ocean for a bit and harassed some local wildlife a bit. Or, at least I did. Then we walked back to a bus stop, nabbed a ride home, and then watched the impressive sight of leaving Bermuda behind. I now don’t have any question about the whole “Bermuda Triangle” mystery. Once I’d seen the convoluted path that the channel takes from Hamilton out to the main Atlantic, it’s a wonder any ship made it safely through at all. There are reefs everywhere.

The trip home was much like the trip there — lots of naps, poker (for Chopper), and general recreation and gluttony. The food overall was fantastic. We ended up sharing a couple of meals with other travelers and heard a lot of snarking about how this trip was so much rougher than usual, how the change of itinerary was horrid, etc. etc. but really? it was a great trip. I’d recommend Norwegian for a cruise and I can’t speak highly enough of Bermuda. It’s a gorgeous country and we’re already talking about going back. Next time, we will fly, just so we can maximize our time there, but I’d be open to doing another cruise. It’s a great way to unwind and enjoy some time off.

Did I cover everything?  Whew.