Veendam 'too big' to get into St Georges, Bermuda

[MERIDIAN]

Nice 1 Copper! Btw how do you plaster a big image right on here like you did before?

[Copper10-8]

Nice 1 Copper! Btw how do you plaster a big image right on here like you did before?

 

You can save it in something like Photobucket (free) and then copy and paste it from there

[MERIDIAN]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

Thanks,I gotta try that!

[MERIDIAN]

New Paint in Singapore:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2401671810102422134OrWEUN

All that work for nothing:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2016925500102422134xmIdfc

Painting the new name:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2303867740102422134eUmMah

The props that pushed her to 27kts.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2303867740102422134eUmMah

[DebP97]

Hi everyone. I am new to the boards (long time lurker) but have some questions that I thought several of you could help me with.

 

My husband has recently surprised me with a cruise to Bermuda for my 40th birthday (a dream of mine). We would like to go Aug. 1 so that leaves only a couple choices....the HAL Veendam or the NCL Dawn (I think that's the one). Anyway, the HAL docks at STG and Hamilton and is in Bermuda for I believe 3 1/2 days and the NCL docks in the Dockyard and is in Bermuda I believe for 2 1/2 days. I would like to spend as much time in Bermuda as possible but with the tendering in St. George now is it worth it? Would it be better to go to the Dockyard or is the tendering still a better choice in St. George.

 

I would love any advice you all could give me.

 

Thanks.

[peaches from georgia]

...... I would like to spend as much time in Bermuda as possible but with the tendering in St. George now is it worth it? Would it be better to go to the Dockyard or is the tendering still a better choice in St. George.

 

I don't think anyone can answer that for anyone else. Depends how you feel about tendering. It will be a long tender ride (could be rough waters) and possibly even longer than it would take to get a cab or other transportation into StG from the Dockyard. I personally hate to tender, but would cruise HAL anyway rather than be way out at the Dockyard on NCL because HAL will be docking in Hamilton which means everything to me. A lot depends on how important it is to you to be docking in Hamilton rather than spend the whole time in Bermuda going back and forth to the Dockyard.

[ziggypup]

I personally don't mind tendering, and I've done it numerous times in the past. This tendering issue with Bermuda seems to be quite different than any tendering I've ever experienced. Just about every place that I have had to tender to has been a quick ride on a small tender. No longer than 10 or 15 minutes tops on the tender. What HAL has planned is more like a 40 minute ferry ride each way on a 700 person capacity vessel. So like Peaches stated, no one can answer that question but you.

[Vic The Parrot]

New Paint in Singapore:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2401671810102422134OrWEUN

All that work for nothing:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2016925500102422134xmIdfc

Painting the new name:http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2303867740102422134eUmMah

The props that pushed her to 27kts.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2303867740102422134eUmMah

 

 

 

She was a beautiful ship. Thanks for the photos!

[above sea level cruiser]

I don't think anyone can answer that for anyone else. Depends how you feel about tendering. It will be a long tender ride (could be rough waters) and possibly even longer than it would take to get a cab or other transportation into StG from the Dockyard. I personally hate to tender, but would cruise HAL anyway rather than be way out at the Dockyard on NCL because HAL will be docking in Hamilton which means everything to me. A lot depends on how important it is to you to be docking in Hamilton rather than spend the whole time in Bermuda going back and forth to the Dockyard.

 

You don't "tender" from the dockyards - you go via hi-speed boats into town. Nice ride via catamarans and no more than 20 mins each way. Cabs take almost an hour to achieve the same result.

[Vic The Parrot]

You don't "tender" from the dockyards - you go via hi-speed boats into town. Nice ride via catamarans and no more than 20 mins each way. Cabs take almost an hour to achieve the same result.

 

 

And, that's part of the charm of visiting that island. Do what the natives do.

 

Be it ferry, the pink bus, bikes ... :) ;)

[peaches from georgia]

You don't "tender" from the dockyards - you go via hi-speed boats into town. Nice ride via catamarans and no more than 20 mins each way. Cabs take almost an hour to achieve the same result.

I think you misread or I wasn't clear. I know you don't tender from the Dockyard. We've been in Bermuda many times. I meant that tendering into StG from the HAL ship will take longer than it would to get from the Dockyard by cab or other transportation (catamaran). Between loading the tender, rough waters, etc. it could or would take longer to tender in from the ship than transportation from the Dockyard. That is a plus for being at the Dockyard versus tendering from the Veendam. However, docking in Hamilton, which only the Veendam will do, might more than make up for the inconvenience of tendering during the StG portion of the cruise.

[Copper10-8]

And, that's part of the charm of visiting that island. Do what the natives do.

 

Be it ferry, the pink bus, bikes ... :) ;)

 

Wearing Bermuda shorts!

 

Having a Dark 'N' Stormy;)

[Vic The Parrot]

Wearing Bermuda shorts!

 

Having a Dark 'N' Stormy;)

 

 

 

Have the shorts ...

 

 

And Dark 'n' Stormy 's ... pure bliss! ;)

[RareBird]

we are on 5/16/10 to Bermuda on Veendam. We too would rather dock for 5 days in Hamilton and take a ferry/bus to St. Georges.

 

We're been too many times to Bermuda, and still I would not change back to Explorer, I love the smaller ship and docking in center of Bermuda.

[dkathi]

In my humble opinion, it would be pure bliss if Hal would do what we, the pax want, in regard to this situation. Probably, everyone would prefer the docking in Hamilton for the entire time versus the tendering in St George. Unfortunately, I get the impression that "Frankly darling, they don't give a ..."l Kathi

[CruisFran]

We too would rather dock for 5 days in Hamilton and take a ferry/bus to St. Georges.

 

 

We don't want to mislead anyone...it should say "3" days in Hamilton.

 

 

In my humble opinion, it would be pure bliss if Hal would do what we, the pax want, in regard to this situation. Probably, everyone would prefer the docking in Hamilton for the entire time versus the tendering in St George. Unfortunately, I get the impression that "Frankly darling, they don't give a ..."l Kathi

 

You never know...after all, some marketing yo-yo's bought the idea of rock-climbing walls, ice-skating rings, and surfing...so my guess would be anything can happen!!

 

My dream was to one day have a 10 day cruise to Bermuda with 5-7 days in port/s....but, unfortunately, that will never happen!! I first dreamt that when I was not flying...now I am flying again, but the dream is still the same......:cool:

[dkathi]

.

 

 

 

 

"You never know...after all, some marketing yo-yo's bought the idea of rock-climbing walls, ice-skating rings, and surfing...so my guess would be anything can happen!!"

 

Oh, that it were true! The things that you mention, however, I think were all RCL innovations. We all can dream, though. Kathi

[RalphWiggum]

I just want to echo what many others are saying in the hope that HAL is listening. While the St George/Hamilton itinerary is my favorite of all sailing out of NY, having to tender to st George on such a long tender really takes away a lot of the enjoyment of visiting Bermuda on a small ship. On top of that, if passengers are going to be penalized for failing to reboard the ship before Hamilton, then essentially day three in Bermuda is really a sea day.

 

 

I hope HAL decides to dock in Hamilton for all four nights. I hope they alternatively let people reboard in Hamilton on day three.

[Topsham]

On top of that, if passengers are going to be penalized for failing to reboard the ship before Hamilton,

quote]

 

 

I cannot think of a single way that HAL can 'penalize' a passenger for not being aboard when the vessel sails from St Geo Anchorage to Hamilton.

 

Fact: There is no legal requirement or regulation in Bermuda that required passengers to be aboard for port to port shift.

 

Stephen

[RalphWiggum]

Stephen,

 

That's great and others have posted that they stayed in st George on other ships in the past. With no problem. A few pages back someone posted that theygot the impression from HAL customer service that staying in st George was discouraged. Unless you got written preclearance. Which seems a bit unneccesary.

[Topsham]

YW - Here's one more - There are not that many quality pics of here in her X colors

 

[url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/"http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/photos/rw/24093/Ship+Photo+MERIDIAN.jpg&quot][/url]

 

 

John,

 

Nice **** of MERIDIAN. Of course she looked much better before her rebuild!

 

 

John, Pls e-mail .... prinsendam@hotmail.com I have some other photos that I can post directly to you.

 

Stephen

[DebP97]

Thank you to all who responded to my previous questions regarding tendering in St. George. I also had a question regarding reboarding the ship when it moves from St. George to Hamilton but it seems people have started to touch on the subject already. Pretty much my question was....do you have to board the ship when it goes from St. George to Hamilton. I'm not sure how long the process takes from going to one port to the next but not sure why you would have to get back on and waste a day in Bermuda.

 

Thanks.

[peaches from georgia]

I think the Veendam will have a mutiny on its hands if officers insist all pax must tender back from StG in order to move with the ship to Hamilton. Don't forget there is power in numbers and not enough room in the brig for everyone who just might not make it back in time. There really is not much that can be done as 'punishment'. You are paying pax after all and are fully capable of making your way to Hamilton on your own. I, for one, would never tender back nor would I lose a day in Bermuda by feeling I had to stay on the ship. If they insist on you signing a release, so what. Sign it. We are thinking of taking this cruise ourselves.

[ziggypup]

I think the Veendam will have a mutiny on its hands if officers insist all pax must tender back from StG in order to move with the ship to Hamilton. Don't forget there is power in numbers and not enough room in the brig for everyone who just might not make it back in time. There really is not much that can be done as 'punishment'. You are paying pax after all and are fully capable of making your way to Hamilton on your own. I, for one, would never tender back nor would I lose a day in Bermuda by feeling I had to stay on the ship. If they insist on you signing a release, so what. Sign it. We are thinking of taking this cruise ourselves.

 

Don't forget about the mutiny they are going to have when they inform the guests about the tendering into St. George. Probably 90% or more of the passengers aren't even aware of the tendering issue and expect to be docked. It seems like HAL isn't going to notify passengers of the change and leave it up to the crew to take the brunt of it.

[sapper1]

Don't forget about the mutiny they are going to have when they inform the guests about the tendering into St. George. Probably 90% or more of the passengers aren't even aware of the tendering issue and expect to be docked. It seems like HAL isn't going to notify passengers of the change and leave it up to the crew to take the brunt of it.

 

I have yet to be notified. We have been booked since last August for June.