Adventures in Bermuda

Onboard the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Location:  Atlantic Ocean, 33 N. 57.7 W, northwest of Bermuda

This is the first opportunity we have had since our embarkation on Sunday to add to our Blog.  Port Liberty, the cruise ship port of Bayonne NJ, is basically an industrial port located across New York harbor from the Brooklyn Bridge.  Looking out from the sports deck, we could view Manhattan, Brooklyn and get a rather distant view of the Statue of Liberty. The skyline was lovely and was back lighted by a perfectly blue sky. The new building replacing the World Trade Center is not yet completed but it already towers over all of the other structures in Manhattan and can be seen easily from our ship. The weather is wonderful for a September afternoon and there is no wind.

As we left the harbor, our ship looks like it will scrape the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, but the captain assures us we will have a number of feet to spare.

After checking into our inside cabin on deck 8, we await word from the cruise director’s office for our speaking schedule.  Eventually it is delivered and we discover that we have one presentation on Monday and two on Tuesday.  Very rarely have we had more than one presentation scheduled per day.  We also find that our venue is a rather small bar, as opposed to larger area.  Well, onward and upward.

We are pleased to have been given an early 6:00 dinner, something that doesn’t happen for us on most of our cruise jobs.  Our tablemates are two couples from far northern New York State and are pleasant conversationalists.  The food and service meet the high standards that we have come to expect from Royal Caribbean.

Monday, Sept 17

At Sea and our First Show

We slept well, did our morning one mile walk, and rehearsed early for our first presentation we call Beautifully British Bermuda.  We had a bit of difficulty with the a-v setup, since we are used to a large screen and not a television screen, but the room was packed to overflowing and more and we received wonderful comments from our audience.

We went to a wonderful ice show in the afternoon. It amazes us that these 10 ice-skaters are able to do such elaborate shows on a moving cruise ship on a rink which is ¼ the size of a normal rink. It was a tribute to the seasons of the year the costumes and moves were all wonderful.

This was the first of two formal nights on board so we dressed in our finery for dinner and then the captain’s champagne reception in the Royal Promenade. This area is nice for strolling and shopping as it goes most of the way through the center of the ship and includes all of the shops, many bars and pubs and a nice café for a quick cup of coffee and a snack and it open 24 hours a day. We then went to the first stage production show. This excellent presentation showcased the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers and they were excellent. We try to go to the show each night since we can’t go out at home in the evenings due to our limited evening ferry schedule.

Tuesday, September 18

A Busy Day

This was a busy day for us.  We had two presentations today, quite unusual, but the show must go on.  Immediately after breakfast at the Windjammer buffet, we rehearsed for our morning show, Buccaneers, Brigands and the Bermuda Triangle.  Since tomorrow is “Talk Like a Pirate Day”, Donna’s pre-show was a short lesson on the essentials of pirate talk.  We had a nice turnout for this early show and this it was well received by our audience. 

Following the morning show, we decided to postpone lunch and rehearse for our 1:00 pm program, The Immigrant Experience and the Great Liners.  Since so many of our fellow passengers are from the greater New York area, we received many personal comments about this material.

Wednesday, Sept 19

Ahoy, Mateys, We Be in Bermuda!

We got our first off work day and we decided to tour Hamilton, Bermuda’s capital city today. The best way to get around this fish-hook shaped country is either by ferry or bus since they do not allow rental cars. The country is only 22 miles long by we are docked at the most westerly point and Hamilton is in the middle so we decided to take the ferry to the city. We are experienced ferry riders so it was any easy way to get around. We purchased a 3 day pass for $28 each as it is good on all of the ferry and bus routes throughout the country.

The ferry gave us a good view of the harbor as we approached the city. When we arrived in Hamilton, we decided to walk around the downtown area first since it had been so many years since we were last here. Our next adventure took us up the tallest hill so we could visit one the many forts and get a wonderful view of the city and the harbor from which to take pictures. It was a nice walk up the hills to the fort and we weren’t a bit disappointed with the view. The weather is wonderfully warm and the day was lovely so we enjoyed this time in Hamilton.

We decided to take the bus back so as to get a view of the various neighborhoods. Even though it took about twice as long as the ferry, the experience gave us the opportunity to see the wonderful colors of the houses as we meandered through all of the small villages. Everyone paints their homes with lovely pastel colors and it is not unusual to hear directions given by house color instead of addresses in each neighborhood.

We didn’t meet up with any pirates but it was fun to be able to use a few expressions on this being “International Talk Like a Pirate” day.

The evening show was a silly juggler and his show was much like many of the other jugglers that we have seen on other cruises but the other guests seemed to have enjoyed the show. Afterwards, we went to one of the lounges and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the big band music preformed by the ship’s orchestra. We even got the chance to dance so it was a nice ending to a lovely first day in Bermuda.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bermuda

We spent the day in the charming town of St. George’s.  It is at the other end of the country and can be reached either by bus or ferry.  The ferry takes 45 minutes and the bus two hours, with a transfer in Hamilton.  We chose the passenger ferry.  The trip was very smooth across the open ocean and gave a beautiful view in the wonderful, sunny weather.

St. George’s was the capital of Bermuda until the late 1800s.  It has been preserved in much the same way as it was when it was built and there are many buildings from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  St. George’s has a town square, complete with pillory, stocks and a ducking stool.  The Anglican church has been in continuous operation since the time of the Pilgrims and has been honored personally by the Queen. 

We spent four hours walking the quaint streets and had a light lunch at Tavern by the Sea, overlooking St. George’s wonderful harbor. John even dared to drink a rum swizzle, the national cocktail.

We then visited the Heritage Museum.  St. George’s was honored as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000and it was well earned.  If you ever travel to Bermuda, don’t miss St. George!

Donna fell asleep for a few minutes in the warm weather on the ferry ride back and were are now planning for our evening’s activities.

Friday…. Beach Day and our last day in Bermuda.