elhenry

Thanks for your updates, @Charles4515. The photos in these threads bring back good memories🙂

On 5/29/2019 at 6:52 PM, mrsaknar said:

Elhenry ..... Thanks!  That's helpful!  With the variety of ages and it being our first time in Bermuda I want to plan a fun day for all!  

 

If we were to spend some time playing at a beach for a bit what would you all suggest? 

 

And where would you recommend a good place they take us for lunch? 

 

Thanks a bunch!

As for beaches, we saw on the tour Warwick Long Bay, Horseshoe, and some beaches near St. George's (maybe Tobacco Bay, one near an unfinished resort where Quinton was very unimpressed with the Bermudan government and how they handled the permitting, etc. But we were docked at King's Wharf so those beaches were too far away for a full beach day).

We chose Horseshoe for the next day because I am a woman north of 60 and I want bathrooms😀  I did the isolated beach numbers when I was young, and that was great, but I ain't young no more😉 And I actually enjoy people watching, including people who were literally jumping off of a cliff, better them than me.

If you have enough people, some folks can stay with their chairs and umbrellas, and others can walk toward Warwick. I don't know that we made it all the way, but it was low tide, and we were able to walk beachside over the rocks and through the gullies and it was beautiful.  Our youngest cruiser was 15, so we did not need to account for young children.  

I have only been to the one restaurant that Quinton took us to, the Flame. Just a hole in the wall sandwich place, but with 1) fish caught daily, very tasty, and 2) a view to do for right waterside.  And you can walk down the ladder to the water and cool your feet.

We did book for six hours, which could be long for very young cruisers.

Happy cruising!

Well, I really enjoyed our day, although I don't know what would be perfect. But I liked it. 🙂

We left from King's Wharf, worlds smallest drawbridge, was OK, not anything I would normally stop for.

But Fort Scaur and the scenic sights, I really enjoyed, Gibbs Lighthouse, I wasn't climbing, but probably great for those who did, Hamilton was fun for a brief stroll, and I really liked St. George's, including the main church and the unfinished church. There were all sorts of scenic stops along the way.

Quinton also took us to a cemetery for a "how do you do that on a small island" and showed us the roof collection of water. Presumably his friends will know too.

Really liked seeing all the beaches on the way back, isolated, not so isolated, Horseshoe Bay. We were very amused when Quinton said you see how crowded it gets when showing us Horseshoe. We had to explain we as a family spent innumerable (happy) summers in Wildwood, NJ, and Horseshoe Bay was *not* crowded 😄 I also did say, I understand, I've been to beautiful isolated beaches in North Africa and I get the appeal, but those "crowds" weren't going to be the determining factor. 

The next day we went to Horseshoe😉

On 5/17/2019 at 6:18 PM, ChrisTheDBA said:

 

@CTKarenWe are booked with Quinton June 1st along with another couple. What were the top three things you saw w/ Quinton? We don't have anything too specific, so wondering what he has planned!

We toured with Quinton last August, and truly, gave him nothing but the most general of guidance (historic sites, local restaurant, churches, and on the way back, beaches to scope for the next day).

He was excellent with very little help whatsoever 😉 After all, if I knew where I wanted to go, I wouldn't need a guide. So, from my point of view, I wouldn't do research if you don't have the time. Just let Quinton do it.

And the Flame was a wonderful lunch. Just take shoes you can remove so you can down to the water 😸

Quinton Bean took us to the Flame.

I have no idea whether it is good or bad compared to other Bermuda fish places, (we really enjoyed it, but I can't say we were connoisseurs) but the location was fantastic. Take your shoes off and go down the ladder to the ocean and swirl your feet in the water. Just lovely.

I will never understand why cruisers p!ss and moan about the staff giving the 10 speech.

really, your personal ideology/religious beliefs/political affiliations/hair color/whatever are *that* offended by the speech, I don't care if it's 8 times a day at every venue.

I'm on a cruise and I'm living the good life. These poor people are working. I'm fine with it. And if I do fill out the survey, I give the 10s, with absolutely no thought to how the speech fits into my personal ideology/religious beliefs/political affiliations/hair color.

It's all good😎

Sailed on the Anthem in August.

The CL was great. Spacious, not a lot of folks in there (except the last day), we were drinking and snacking every day from 5 to 7. The sun did get in your eyes if you were in the wrong seats, but I never felt hot.

The DL was a mob scene and not relaxing to me, but I was only there once. I would take the CL in a heartbeat and move with the sun🙂

I do not know if you can get reclining chairs. 

I do know that my brother, who slept in a recliner at his home due to bad back, bad neck, bad knees, and other issues, would cruise in the disabled suite and ask for pillows. Lots and lots and lots of pillows. Both in RCCL and NCL. Which they brought. And fashioned a semi-recliner. I don't know if that would work for your DH, but it's a thought.

I am sorry your cruise did not go as planned, and very sorry to hear of your mother's illness. I hope she is feeling better.

What do you mean by "not resolved"? You are surely not expecting compensation from RCCL for your mother's illness, or the cruising interrupted because of your mother's illness, are you? If no one else in your party became ill, and no one else on the ship became ill, it will be impossible to prove that any conditions you saw at Chops contributed to her illness. No matter how many folks you talk to....

I hope you and your family have better cruising in the future!

8 hours ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

That's who I was going to contact.  I hope he's available.  How long was your tour?

 

 

Our tour was six hours; I believe that is the maximum that Quinton will book, although we had such a good time we went over and we didn’t mind.

We left it up to Quinton where to go, although he will gladly accommodate requests. Our only request, other than a “local cuisine” lunch, was to stop at some beaches on the way back to the ship so we could make up our mind about which beach to go to the next day: out of the way, popular, in between. And it was very helpful.

happy cruising!

On 2/13/2019 at 10:50 PM, nzdisneymom said:

Thanks for the recommendations.  I'll check out the private guide recommendation. The other couple decided they'd like to just go shopping that day, so DH and I will be able to move about a bit faster and can customize our "wish list" to our interests.

As you will see from some other threads, we toured with Quinton Bean and loved him. We did exactly the kind of tour you appear interested in, history and local sites. We saw, in order:

1. World's smallest drawbridge

2. Ft. Scaur

3. Gibb's Hill Lighthouse

4. walk around Hamilton, stopped at Cathedral 

5. walk around St. George's, with a stop at the church, which was fascinating (including the page in the Parish register of the date where they stopped noting the race of the baptized)

6. Unfinished church

also stopped at various beaches, lookout spots, stopped at a cemetery to learn about interment, stopped at a home to learn about gathering water off the roofs, and stopped at a local fish joint right on the water for lunch.

That's just where we stopped. Not to mention the drive-by's...

If there is something in Bermuda's history that Quinton doesn't know, or a person on the island (s) he doesn't know, I would be shocked.😉

Good luck!

That's really hard to answer without knowing more.

Are you a beach person? I would say Horseshoe Bay on your first trip.

Are you a see the sights from high up person? Ft. Gibbs Lighthouse

Are you a nature preserve, cave, see the local towns and churches person?

Enjoy your cruise!

8 hours ago, HardyVA said:

Where did Quinton Bean take you? For how  many hours did you book him?  Did he pick you up at Dockyard? And did he include St George? Hamilton?  

   We were thinking of doing St George ourselves?  

 

 

We booked Quinton for seven hours, on the day that we were in Bermuda overnight.

We did the "cram as much as you can into one day" tour. That may or may not be your idea of a good time.

He picked us up at the Dockyard. The scheduled stops were the Ft. Gibbs lighthouse, Ft. Scaur, Hamilton and St. George's. We like history, so the city stops were heavy on the churches and old buildings. We also stopped at a home to learn about rooftop collection of water, at a cemetery to learn how Bermudians inter those who have passed on, scenic views, famous people's houses, and three different beaches on the way back to scope out our options for the next day. Oh, and the tiny drawbridge and a small fish joint on the water with hoppin John and fish sandwiches.

Yes a full day, but this was our choice, Quinton kept asking, do you want to go here? Do you want to go there? Am I helping you see what you want to see?

It really will be what you make of it. 🙂

As others have said:

1. The paper set sail pass will NOT let you into the CL if no concierge is on duty. I tried that in August. Nope.😁

of course, if the concierge is on duty, your set sail shows your eligibility. But by that time,    you’ll probably have the plastic......

3 hours ago, HardyVA said:

We will be in Bermuda mid May. Is it too early to book Quinton?

I don’t know, we emailed him two months in advance of our cruise. But it certainly couldn’t hurt to email and ask🙂

7 hours ago, Max and Ruby said:

 

Thanks for the idea.  But my husband would agree with another poster that "we don't need a driver".  I checked the price for the caves pp and at $22 pp paying $90 pp fort eh excursion when I have to take a ferry or bus back from one of the main towns anyway if I did go on Royal's excursion is too much money .   I do agree with you that buses and public transportation isn't my preference while in port for 7 hours, but it is what it is. I'll just take my savings and spend it on the mini golf right by the dock. 🙂

 

Speaking of which, does anyone have any comments about that? Bermuda Fun Golf Dockyard?

 

 

I completely agree with you, one cruiser’s “justified extravagance” is another person’s justified savings, and only you can make the right decision for you

unfortunately, I have never been to the mini golf, so I can’t give any info there🤷‍♀️

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Anyone can take a taxi to the caves and back and not pay for those two hours in between. I am sure Quinton or other drivers don’t mind being paid for doing nothing. When I did a taxi tour the driver was very eager to take us to the caves and do just that, and was not thrilled when we passed on the caves and he had to drive us around those two hours. While we got a pretty good tour I never mention his name or recommend him because of how he pushed the caves even after we said no. I had already been to the caves. We got to see a lot in those two hours that we would not have seen if we had not had that time. It is not the bus versus doing the caves on a taxi tour, it is doing a taxi tour without the caves and taking taxis to and from the caves not as part of a taxi tour. You can take taxis without paying for them to wait while you are in the caves. 

I think the only point I wanted to make was to disagree with the term (and you did not use it) “waste of money”.

taking a bus, taking a taxi, having a taxi wait for you, are all options to consider. And of course, cruisers should try to educate themselves on what the costs are of each option (which is where our experienced Bermuda cruisers, like you, are so helpful🙂 

But no one can say what is a good way to spend someone else’s money, that is subjective. I may find a $200 bottle of wine to be an extravagance, someone else may find it a delight. The thing is to know ahead of time that it’s $200😉

ETA: and I have been though all 3. In my 20s and 30s,  I would have taken public transport and saved the money. In my 40s and 50s, split the difference with a cab ride to and back. Now, I’ll actually pay for someone to wait for me and have less wine to make up for it 

Something is only a *waste* of money if that’s how not how you want to spend it😁

Quinton waited for us while we climbed Ft. Gibbs lighthouse, sat with us while we ate lunch, and at various other times was not with us while we toured. He was a bargain at twice the price.

I thought I made very clear that *for me*, the $20 expenses of waiting for two hours at the caves ($70 an hour for seven of us) would have been a bargain. Was it probably ten times what the bus cost? Yes. Would it have been worth every penny for me? Yes.

Each cruiser needs to make their own decision about where to spend their hard earned $$$$. That is how I choose to spend mine😎

For probably what you were willing to pay for a ship's tour, you could also engage a private tour guide who would take you to the caves.  We sailed the Anthem to Bermuda in August, and I know the tour guide we engaged, Quinton Bean, was taking a group to the caves later that week. We ourselves did not go to the caves.

I am sure that it is easy to get around Bermuda and I am sure the buses are wonderful, but it's just not my thing when I'm on vacation. So another option for you to consider. 

Having done this walk in August, you can walk along the water at low tide. At my age, and with any kind of footing issues, I wouldn't want to try walking through those coves at high tide. But maybe that's just me😉

It was lovely.

In August, as a group of five, we took a taxi to Horseshoe Bay and I wanted to leave earlier than the rest of my group, so I took the shuttle bus as a solo on return.

I wanted to say, because it sounds a little confusing in your post, that *both* taxis and shuttle busses pick up and drop off at the bottom of the hill. Returning timely was no problem as they were packing that bus to the gills within five minute That said, given the prices, for five people it’s a no brainer to take the more comfortable taxi.

We were in the Anthem in August in a two bedroom suite (what used to be an RFS) for a five day cruise and had free internet access codes for everyone booked in the suite (five people).

am I missing something about a two bedroom owners suite that is different?

I have only cruised Haven once, and it was in an “Owners Suite” on NCL Jewel. Several GS and one RFS on Royal, never on Allure.

I was not as impressed by the Haven pool. Then again, we were sailing Spring Break and the pool was filled with screaming kids, it was the size of a postage stamp, and the chairs and canopy beds 😉 all taken, so it was scarcely a “Haven”.  Actually I prefer the Solarium, particularly on the Anthem, but it is true it is not exclusive to Suite guests. We never ate on any exclusive venue on NCL, but I never found the Coastal Kitchen on RCCL to be overcrowded or undermanned.

Where NCL did excel was the butler (ours was wonderful), although I have never cruised in a “Genie” class Suite with RCCL, so that may be the equivalent. And the cabin! We got a deal on the OS on NCL, and it was The. Best. Cabin. I have ever been in.

1 minute ago, elhenry said:

Deleted

 

Want a better itinerary (meaning one you like better)? Move to Florida.

Since I live in the Christmas City, (Penna) I’ve sailed out of Bayonne twice, NYC twice, Ball’mer twice. (not all RCCL, also NCL)

I personally would love to stop in Charleston after a relaxing day at sea rather than drive all sorts through all sorts of fresh hell on 95 to get there.

and I presume RCCL keeps the ports on their itineraries to appeal to folks like me😎