Cruise Review: Escape From New York, Sept. 2-9, 2018

We took the shared mini bus to Horseshoe Bay for $7 per person. The bus leaves from Transportation Zone 5, and it’s very well-marked as you’re leaving the ship. We waited for less than five minutes and we were off. The ride was only about twenty minutes, and the mini bus dropped us off right at the entrance to the beach. If Horseshoe Bay is on your Bermuda agenda, this mode of transit could not be any more convenient.

Because we’re not exactly beach people (I refer you to my previous post about not being a fan of the sun), we decided not to pay the $40 to rent chairs and an umbrella. Instead, we dropped our beach bag off in a shady spot under a ledge of rocks and went straight in the water.

The beach was absolutely beautiful. The water was clear and quite calm (though there were signs up warning of dangerous rip currents). We spent a very enjoyable time just bobbing and floating around in the warm clear water.

When we made our way out of the water, we found that our bag was probably only minutes away from being washed out to sea. The high tide definitely comes up to our shaded rocky overhang, but we luckily got out of the water just in time to save our stuff.

View from our balcony.

More view from the balcony.

Horseshoe Bay Beach.

Following along.. I was ok with our recent Canada diversion on the Dawn last week, until seeing these beautiful Bermuda pics! Ahhh... next time :)

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Following along.. I was ok with our recent Canada diversion on the Dawn last week, until seeing these beautiful Bermuda pics! Ahhh... next time :)

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

Understandable. I do love the Dawn though; the cruise we took on her out of New Orleans a couple years ago was probably my favorite cruise ever. The Mexican restaurant on the Dawn is absolutely insane.

After drying off, we grabbed the same mini bus back to the Dockyard. We went back to our cabin to shower and change, and then we made our way back out to explore the town of Hamilton.

Our timing was impeccable (and completely accidental), and we managed to get to the ferry dock right on time to grab the 2:15 ferry to Hamilton. We stopped in the visitor information center right across from the ferry dock and purchased our ferry tokens. The ferry trip was quick and comfortable, and we were soon exploring the town.

We spent some time walking along Front Street and popping in to various shops. Our first stop was at the bustling Gosling’s store, where they had quite the selection of rum, and a very large selection of wine. Before leaving, I’d read a post here on Cruise Critic about things to purchase while in Bermuda, and one thing that was mentioned was Bermuda Gold Liqueur. We saw some for sale at the Gosling’s store, but we weren’t sure what it tasted like, so we decided to try to find that out before committing to bring some home. We ended up stopping in another wine and spirits shop further up Front Street, and while they did not sell Bermuda Gold, the proprietor did fill us in on what it’s like. It sounded like a citrusy treat that would go well in fruity, tropical concoctions, so we decided to swing back by the Gosling’s store to pick some up on our way back to the ferry.

A view from the ferry.

A mosaic we encountered while walking around in Hamilton.

By now, we were definitely ready to find some food. Our first stop on our Bermuda culinary tour was at the Hog Penny Pub. Naturally, we tried the Bermuda signature cocktail, the Rum Swizzle. As you might expect, it was fruity, rum-y, and refreshing. I also tried a local beer, which was quite delicious, though I forget the name.

The real revelation for me, though, was the Bermuda Fish Chowder. It’s a delicious, flavorful soup, served with a splash of dark rum and sherry peppers. Blew. My. Mind! I became obsessed with this chowder, and I tried it at two other restaurants in an attempt to find the best. We also tried wahoo nuggets, which were similarly fantastic, though not quite the revelation of the chowder.

Bermuda fish chowder at the Hog Penny Pub!!!!!

We wanted to do our own mini “food tour” of Hamilton, so we didn’t order a lot at Hog Penny. Our next stop for food was at a small, somewhat hidden restaurant called Lost in the Triangle. The vibe in this restaurant seemed very authentic, as we were the only tourists in the place. Now on a mission to try as much chowder as possible, we ordered this restaurant’s offering. We both agreed the chowder here was even better than the one at Hog Penny (the Rum Swizzle was better here, as well). We also tried something called Shark Hash, which was basically slightly spicy, finely shredded shark. The hash was a bit dry, but dropping some of the shark inside the chowder took both dishes to a whole new level. We also split a fish cake—basically a lightly-spiced mixture of potatoes and flakey fish mixed together and fried. This was my wife’s favorite dish we ate in Bermuda.

Finally full, we made a quick stop at the Gosling’s store to buy our Bermuda Gold, and then we hopped on the 6:00 ferry back to the Dockyard. Before heading back on the ship, we took a brief walk around a couple of the shops at the Dockyard. We looked at some hand-blown glass items, but we didn’t see anything that particularly grabbed us. We also sampled some rum cakes, which my wife quite enjoyed, but we ended up not buying any to take home as the flavors we wanted were only sold in the very large size.

Fish cake!

Because we ended up getting hot and sweaty all over again, we yet again hit the shower to freshen up before checking out the ship’s nighttime activities. Our first stop was at Cellars for a relaxing glass of wine, this time with some delicious cheese. One nice thing about Cellars is you can order food from Pinchos which they will bring over to you to enjoy alongside your wine. Because we were stuffed full of chowder, we opted to just try some Manchego cheese, which was excellent.

Seeking some entertainment, we made our way over to the District for some beers and piano music. Piano Manny was livelier in the evening, and we spent a very enjoyable couple hours listening to him and drinking a fantastic concoction called a Retribution. This is a very refreshing drink, much like a German Radler. It’s made with beer, St. Germane liqueur, Aperol, and lime. It is absolutely delicious and perfect after a hot day in Bermuda.

Like at Cellars, you can order snacks at the District, though their snacks are supplied by the nearby Food Republic. Because we weren’t hungry for an actual dinner following our Bermudan feast, we decided to share a couple small plates while enjoying the music of Piano Manny. We tried the shrimp with spicy Thai chili sauce (think bang-bang shrimp), but the thing that stole the show for me was the chorizo Scotch egg!!! Possibly my favorite food item on the ship, these deep fried, spicy egg treats were just amazing. I long for them even now.

When Piano Manny finished up at 10:30, we made our way over to Tobacco Road and listened to Orly shred on the guitar until after midnight, all the while enjoying delicious Getaways.

We finally made it back to our cabin, energized after a full, fun, and delicious day. We were headed to St. George the following morning. This actually required us to be up at an early hour in order to get on the first ferry, so rather than party the night away, we acted responsibly and called it a night.

Up next, Day 7: A seriously hot day in St. George.

Thank you for this review, nov will be our second time on the escape and I'm looking forward to trying pinches, we never had time last cruise, looks great.

Enjoying your review -- thanks for sharing it with us.

Wonderful review! Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.

Because of our large lunch late in the afternoon, we weren’t ready to commit to a full dinner. This led us to our favorite food onboard the Escape at Pinchos!

We sat outside, and, while it was warm out, it was still very nice. It was very quiet, and it was the perfect setting to enjoy some small plates and some excellent wine. Even though we didn’t think we’d need a full dinner, our first round of orders was so delicious we couldn’t help but go back for more. Hands-down, this was our favorite food on the ship and is well worth a visit (and we’d visit again in only a couple days).

Yay!! Glad Pinchos did well last week! Hardly anybody went there when we cruised in late July. When we sailed in Nov 2016, it was much busier. This is my favorite, too! We ate there many times (sometimes skipping apps some evenings).

Also good to hear Orly was still on board. We stalked him all over the ship - he's amazing!!

Thank you for this review, nov will be our second time on the escape and I'm looking forward to trying pinches, we never had time last cruise, looks great.

Yes, Pinchos is fantastic. Don't miss the beef skewers!

Enjoying your review -- thanks for sharing it with us.

Thank you. It's been a lot of fun reliving the trip.

Wonderful review! Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.

Thank you. Glad it's not too self-indulgent:)

Yay!! Glad Pinchos did well last week! Hardly anybody went there when we cruised in late July. When we sailed in Nov 2016, it was much busier. This is my favorite, too! We ate there many times (sometimes skipping apps some evenings).

 

Also good to hear Orly was still on board. We stalked him all over the ship - he's amazing!!

Yes, Pinchos was not at all busy both of the nights we went. I'm not sure about inside, but there was typically only one or two other couples sitting outside. It made for a very quiet, relaxing meal, which can be hard to come by on such a large ship, even at the specialty restaurants.

Day 7 (Cruise Day 5): A Ferry Ride to the Surface of the Sun, I Mean St. George

This being the only morning of the trip we had a scheduled activity, we endeavored to get up at an early hour. My wife had the good idea to utilize room service for breakfast, giving us a little more time to get ourselves together after a late (for us) night the previous evening. The room service breakfast was surprisingly good. We breakfasted on our balcony and enjoyed customized omelets and some breakfast pastries.

We made it off the ship in time to take the free ferry to St. George provided by NCL, which is located just off to the right once you leave the terminal building, not to the left where the regular ferries dock. The ferry left at 9:00, but I’d advise showing up at least a bit earlier, as there was quite the line to get on a very crowded ferry.

The trip to St. George took about an hour, putting us in St. George at about 10:00. Our plan for the morning was a walking tour of historic St. George. The guided tour is provided by the St. George’s Foundation and takes place Monday through Thursday and Saturday at 10:30. The tour is $15 per person and you do not need to book it in advance; just buy your tickets at the Visitor Information Center next to the Town Hall.

The walking tour was great, and I’d definitely recommend it. My only complaint is the tour was billed as lasting an hour and ten minutes, but in reality the tour lasted about two hours. While it was great that the guide took his time and gave us a lot of interesting information, the day was extremely hot and, thinking the tour was only an hour, we neglected to bring extra sunscreen. And, stupidly, I left my hat back in Alexandria. I’m sure I would have gotten more out of the experience had I not been worried about the sun melting my face off.

The longer-than-expected tour also cut down on the time we had to do other activities in St. George. We were also hoping to ride a horse and carriage around the historic town, but we ended up not having time to do that because of the extra time we spent on the tour. It didn’t help that the horse and carriage tour provider no longer provides half an hour rides.

St. George.