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

[peaches from georgia]

We are accustomed to tendering from protected waters very close to a port's dock. Murray's Anchorage is out in the Atlantic. I wonder how often tendering is done from there and what the waters are like. Topsham, can you give us info on Murray's Anchorage and what the tendering procedure will be like from out there? Chance of a rough voyage on the ferry?

[CruisFran]

Those who stay on the ship for the move from St. George to Hamilton will get a great view of the reefs.

 

Charles, those staying onboard won't really "see" the reefs...but it would/will be a very nice scenic view of Bermuda, on the way to Hamilton, port-side, from the water. Land or sea, all great views!! If they aren't onboard for that, they will definitely see it, in reverse, upon departure from Bermuda, starboard side!!

[RichNY]

All of the above in bold. There would not be any other places for the tender to stop along the way, but it's probably very important to note that the ferry would likely have to stay in the channel all the way, which is a bit longer than simply skirting the coast. You can see the channel in the map below.

 

Murray's Anchorage is north and west of Tobacco Bay. So that's outside the cut, around the point of Fort St. Catherine, then a bit farther to the west. It is open ocean. The 700 passenger ferry is large, but how long does it take to load 700 people single file, plus extra time for those who need assistance, and are in wheeled devices of various sorts?

 

Here is an image of an old map I found with Google, you can see the area of Murray's Anchorage:

 

 

I've also updated my Cruise Map of St. Georges. There really isn't any way to tell exactly where they will anchor, it appears to be quite a large area.

 

Theron

 

That's not entirely correct. Murray's Anchorage is within the protective reefs that surround Bermuda..not exactly open ocean..

 

If you look to the west on the map cruise map you will see a dock and a tank farm. This is where tankers unload gas and oil so the channel does come pretty close to the shore..

[Vic The Parrot]

Charles, those staying onboard won't really "see" the reefs...but it would/will be a very nice scenic view of Bermuda, on the way to Hamilton, port-side, from the water. Land or sea, all great views!! If they aren't onboard for that, they will definitely see it, in reverse, upon departure from Bermuda, starboard side!!

 

 

 

I agree!

 

 

Coming, or going ... it's always a spectacular view sailing by that beautiful island. :)

[TPKeller]

If you look to the west on the map cruise map you will see a dock and a tank farm. This is where tankers unload gas and oil so the channel does come pretty close to the shore..

This map shows the two channels north of Bermuda. These were recorded via GPS during cruise ship passages into Bermuda a couple years ago.

 

Unfortunately at the default zoom level, the Google satellite imagery is very poor quality. Zoom in one level for a better picture.

 

Theron

[Limeygirl]

TP Keller, that is cool! Thanks!!!!

 

I just booked my cruise today. (Eagles Cruise on Veendam on 6/27) For some reason, the taxes/port charges went down since I called for pricing a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if this has anything to do with Tendering VS Docking? (I'm thinking NO, since this was announced in Dec) but figured you all might want to know!

[RichNY]

For those of you who were worried about not being able to tender into St George's because of the weather here is the official answer from the Bermuda Government..so we wont be sitting out at Murray's Anchorage loosing a day

 

The Premier of Bermuda, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown requested I respond to your concern about tendering from Murray’s Anchorage to St. George’s from the Holland America Veendam. The tender ‘Bermudian’ is a 650+ passenger vessel constructed specifically for this type of operation. The vessel has a ramp arrangement that aligns with the doors of the ship to provide ease of access. Although we anticipate that weather conditions will be fine for most of the season, we do have backup plan in case we cannot tender. That plan is to go direct to Hamilton on the Tuesday morning, and we have reserved the berth in Hamilton each Tuesday just in case the tendering cannot be done.

We hope you have a great cruise to Bermuda and I can assure you we will make your visit to St. George’s as seamless as possible.

Kind regards,

Larry Jacobs

Ministry of Tourism and Transport

[seadrifter]

Excellent news:D.

[AlexandNessa]

For those of you who were worried about not being able to tender into St George's because of the weather here is the official answer from the Bermuda Government..so we wont be sitting out at Murray's Anchorage loosing a day

 

The Premier of Bermuda, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown requested I respond to your concern about tendering from Murray’s Anchorage to St. George’s from the Holland America Veendam. The tender ‘Bermudian’ is a 650+ passenger vessel constructed specifically for this type of operation. The vessel has a ramp arrangement that aligns with the doors of the ship to provide ease of access. Although we anticipate that weather conditions will be fine for most of the season, we do have backup plan in case we cannot tender. That plan is to go direct to Hamilton on the Tuesday morning, and we have reserved the berth in Hamilton each Tuesday just in case the tendering cannot be done.

 

We hope you have a great cruise to Bermuda and I can assure you we will make your visit to St. George’s as seamless as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

Larry Jacobs

Ministry of Tourism and Transport

 

Thanks for sharing this.

[mariner]

Tell Larry book a cruise

[Pete Jackson]

We just have to pray for bad weather, then!:D

[peaches from georgia]

If the berth in Hamilton is already reserved for the Veendam in case of bad weather on Tuesday and no tendering, then why not just dock there no matter what the weather, good or bad, for the entire cruise? Folks can still get over to St. Georges by bus or taxi and it is a nice town to visit. They could run special Bermudian buses round trip from Hamilton for the cruise and a lot of people would go. It's very selfish of Bermuda to insist on putting the pax through a long tender into StG even in good weather now that we know it is possible to dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise.

[RareBird]

For those of you who were worried about not being able to tender into St George's because of the weather here is the official answer from the Bermuda Government..so we wont be sitting out at Murray's Anchorage loosing a day

 

The Premier of Bermuda, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown requested I respond to your concern about tendering from Murray’s Anchorage to St. George’s from the Holland America Veendam. The tender ‘Bermudian’ is a 650+ passenger vessel constructed specifically for this type of operation. The vessel has a ramp arrangement that aligns with the doors of the ship to provide ease of access. Although we anticipate that weather conditions will be fine for most of the season, we do have backup plan in case we cannot tender. That plan is to go direct to Hamilton on the Tuesday morning, and we have reserved the berth in Hamilton each Tuesday just in case the tendering cannot be done.

 

We hope you have a great cruise to Bermuda and I can assure you we will make your visit to St. George’s as seamless as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

Larry Jacobs

Ministry of Tourism and Transport

 

fantastic news!! :D

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

If the berth in Hamilton is already reserved for the Veendam in case of bad weather on Tuesday and no tendering, then why not just dock there no matter what the weather, good or bad, for the entire cruise? Folks can still get over to St. Georges by bus or taxi and it is a nice town to visit. They could run special Bermudian buses round trip from Hamilton for the cruise and a lot of people would go. It's very selfish of Bermuda to insist on putting the pax through a long tender into StG even in good weather now that we know it is possible to dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise.

 

Those are my thoughts exactly. Back in the 90's when we sailed on the Meridian and had to dock at Dockyard, the ship would provide tenders to take passengers to Hamilton. If Bermuda is concerned about getting passengers to visit St. G, then why don't they just dock in Hamilton and then provide tenders to go into St. G? Many people may choose not to take the tender from the ship into St. G, but if they have a choice of a free tender from land or taking a bus, then they may visit St. G.

[RichNY]

If the berth in Hamilton is already reserved for the Veendam in case of bad weather on Tuesday and no tendering, then why not just dock there no matter what the weather, good or bad, for the entire cruise? Folks can still get over to St. Georges by bus or taxi and it is a nice town to visit. They could run special Bermudian buses round trip from Hamilton for the cruise and a lot of people would go. It's very selfish of Bermuda to insist on putting the pax through a long tender into StG even in good weather now that we know it is possible to dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise.

 

 

Maybe you should email the Minister of Tourism and Transport and let him know your thoughts..:rolleyes:

 

HAL is giving us the exact itinerary we booked St Georges and Hamilton...Like any and all cruise contracts they are subject to change. Guess what, things changed. There are no guarantees..

[iheartbda]

If the berth in Hamilton is already reserved for the Veendam in case of bad weather on Tuesday and no tendering, then why not just dock there no matter what the weather, good or bad, for the entire cruise? Folks can still get over to St. Georges by bus or taxi and it is a nice town to visit. They could run special Bermudian buses round trip from Hamilton for the cruise and a lot of people would go. It's very selfish of Bermuda to insist on putting the pax through a long tender into StG even in good weather now that we know it is possible to dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise.

Docking in Hamilton the whole time would be my first choice but there's another way to look at this rather than thinking Bermuda is being selfish.

 

The merchants in St. George have felt the effects of fewer ships docking and not having at least one will impact them even more. I just got an email from a friend in Bermuda who said the merchants are not happy about the tendering. Can anyone really blame the government for looking out for their own? The economy is not the best in Bermuda either these days.

[peaches from georgia]

Docking in Hamilton the whole time would be my first choice but there's another way to look at this rather than thinking Bermuda is being selfish.

 

The merchants in St. George have felt the effects of fewer ships docking and not having at least one will impact them even more. I just got an email from a friend in Bermuda who said the merchants are not happy about the tendering. Can anyone really blame the government for looking out for their own? The economy is not the best in Bermuda either these days.

Saying "selfish" was a poor choice of words on my part. We have been to Bermuda many times, I love StG, and wouldn't miss going there for anything in the world. I understand what has happened to the merchants there and what is trying to be done for the town by having a cruise ship stop there. But the ship is not really stopping in StG when it is anchored many miles away.

 

I should have said that I think tendering to StG when docking in Hamilton is available is "misguided or shortsighted". IMO pax will be a lot happier when they get to StG by bus from Hamilton, if that transportation is provided, than loading onto a ferry for a comparatively long tender ride. Just read the long thread of negative comments here about this tendering. And also for the pax they would get to see more of the island and also enjoy Hamilton at night. There certainly can be merchant incentives to entice pax to bus over to StG from Hamilton. Keeping customers happy is important and I think Bermuda would be more enjoyable for pax docked in Hamilton and it is possible to still make it profitable for StG.

[iheartbda]

Saying "selfish" was a poor choice of words on my part. We have been to Bermuda many times, I love StG, and wouldn't miss going there for anything in the world. I understand what has happened to the merchants there and what is trying to be done for the town by having a cruise ship stop there. But the ship is not really stopping in StG when it is anchored many miles away.

Understood.:)

Seems the government feels the pax might stay longer in St. George if they're ferried over and would probably be more likely to have lunch rather than go back to the ship.;)

 

I should have said that I think tendering to StG when docking in Hamilton is available is "misguided or shortsighted". IMO pax will be a lot happier when they get to StG by bus from Hamilton, if that transportation is provided, than loading onto a ferry for a comparatively long tender ride. Just read the long thread of negative comments here about this tendering. And also for the pax they would get to see more of the island and also enjoy Hamilton at night. There certainly can be merchant incentives to entice pax to bus over to StG from Hamilton. Keeping customers happy is important and I think Bermuda would be more enjoyable for pax docked in Hamilton and it is possible to still make it profitable for StG.

I guess finding out the Veendam will not fit late in the game threw everyone, HAL and Bermuda, in a tizzy. I guess we all have our idea of what should be done, me included, but there are probably things at play that no one here considered or even knows about. Why they didn't come to CC and ask, I'll never know.....tongue planted firmly in check.:D

 

I don't think Bermuda has ever given cruise pax enough credit for what we spend on the island. Somewhere I read it was only something like $178 pp. I would like to know how they came up with that figure. That $178 pp., (which I don't believe anyway), must have added up because the store started to hurt last year already with fewer ships. So many stores have closed in St. George as it is that they must be hoping to get whatever revenue they can with only one ship.

[BigGreenFan]

If the berth in Hamilton is already reserved for the Veendam in case of bad weather on Tuesday and no tendering, then why not just dock there no matter what the weather, good or bad, for the entire cruise? Folks can still get over to St. Georges by bus or taxi and it is a nice town to visit. They could run special Bermudian buses round trip from Hamilton for the cruise and a lot of people would go. It's very selfish of Bermuda to insist on putting the pax through a long tender into StG even in good weather now that we know it is possible to dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise.

 

I understand fully that the itinerary includes St. George's and that the merchants there (and the government) would like us to spend a day. But why not make the move to Hamilton early on Wednesday morning instead of Wednesday afternoon? I would like to be onboard for the trip - it should be interesting and scenic - but I hate having the full day broken up by the move.