Emancipation Day & Somers' Day

[monkeyface]

We will be in Bermuda for 3 days - two of which will be over Emancipation Day & Somers' Day. I know that a lot is closed, but imagine we can still have a fantastic time. Looking for suggestions as to what would be a good plan from all experienced cruiser out there! :)

 

Anyone have any idea how to get tickets to the cricket match activities. I know it is possible, but websites seem to only show information for the 2011 game -- is it too early?

 

Thanks

[davetecsgirl]

I do believe you just pay to get in at the gates of the club.... There are many places you can still go during the weekend. I do believe that alot of the touristy areas are still open, Its mainly the stores that shut down for the weekend. You can still head to the beach for the day, or go on an excursion.

[monkeyface]

I do believe you just pay to get in at the gates of the club.... There are many places you can still go during the weekend. I do believe that alot of the touristy areas are still open, Its mainly the stores that shut down for the weekend. You can still head to the beach for the day, or go on an excursion.

 

 

Thanks -- that is great news!

[garrahyd]

I just found out about the national holiday. Here is what I found out.

 

The beaches will be crowded - especially Horseshoe Bay because it has all the amenities like food, restrooms etc.

 

Transportation runs on a holiday schedule....last run is 4:30 so be careful.

 

Cricket match tickets at the gate - should be $10. Lots of vendors for food etc. There is a separate area for tourists in the bleachers.

 

Dockside is still open.

 

There may be some street fairs...still trying to figure it all out. Wish that I knew before I booked....oh well.

[DeeT]

Will we find any quiet beaches in Bermuda during this time? I'm seriously freaking out over this. I'm not one, nor is my husband, for big roudy crowds of people on the beach. I saw one photo and it was scarey packed with people. I was really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful beach. Help! Can someone please calm me down.

[garrahyd]

I called the tourism bureau and asked for information. I don't like crowded beaches either. What they told me is that other beaches would not be as crowded as Horseshoe, but they don't have all the amenities. There will be at least 2 cruiseships in, so it would be crowded regardless. Go to www.bermudatourism.com and get the number to call them. They made me feel a bit better because I was also freaking out. I am not happy about this at all. I think I should have been informed by the travel agency, but I don't think they knew.

 

Everyone keeps saying that we should go to the cricket match, my DH is not interested. The agency tells me there are other festivals, but I can't find them anywhere. I am trying to get the info. I just found out yesterday. At least we know! imagine all those going that have no idea!

[DeltaOne]

Will we find any quiet beaches in Bermuda during this time? I'm seriously freaking out over this. I'm not one, nor is my husband, for big roudy crowds of people on the beach. I saw one photo and it was scarey packed with people. I was really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful beach. Help! Can someone please calm me down.

 

While Tobacco Bay and Horseshoe can get crowded, it should be easy to find another beach along the south shore that isn't crowded. I just read a review where the poster said they were "two of the seven" people on the beach.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34212700#post34212700

 

The buses will stop at all of the beaches along the south shore -- I'd look for a nice quiet beach there.

[DeeT]

Thank you Paul from Maryland . We will try to find less crowded beaches.

[DeeT]

I called the tourism bureau and asked for information. I don't like crowded beaches either. What they told me is that other beaches would not be as crowded as Horseshoe, but they don't have all the amenities. There will be at least 2 cruiseships in, so it would be crowded regardless. Go to www.bermudatourism.com and get the number to call them. They made me feel a bit better because I was also freaking out. I am not happy about this at all. I think I should have been informed by the travel agency, but I don't think they knew.

 

Everyone keeps saying that we should go to the cricket match, my DH is not interested. The agency tells me there are other festivals, but I can't find them anywhere. I am trying to get the info. I just found out yesterday. At least we know! imagine all those going that have no idea!

 

Thanks for the research. I was thinking that NCL should have told us but I guess they are not obligated and probably don't keep track of those things anywhere with all the places they sail too.

 

I will try to keep an open mind but am really not looking forward to telling my husband this. I pretty much talked him into this cruise. Showing him pictures of Horeshoe Bay and Elbow Beach and how beautiful they looked. Ugh. I will call the Tourism Number as well, maybe they can calm me down too.

 

A cricket match is not what I had in mind for my Bermuda visit! I did have some shopping in mind but heard that stores will be closed too?!?

[SanderMC]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just an FYI. I was there over the same period last year.

The one problem my family had was with the buses.

As was mentioned above they will be on the holiday schedule.

What they don't tell you is that the buses will be packed with people going to the cricket games, both tourists and locals.

My family gave up trying to go to tourist places because we couldn't get back on a bus.

Buses weren't even stopping at the bus stops because there wasn't any room to pick up people.

[Shanni423]

We were there last year during Bermuda Day festivities. A big island holiday much like our July 4th. I too was very worried about things being opened. I emailed and called ahead of time to find out that Kings Wharf was all open - shops and restaurants. They live for the ships to come in so I am sure if there was not a ship in port they would have been closed. We stayed away from Hamilton where there was a parade through town and went the day before. Maybe if you book an excursion through the ship they can assure a good beach experience. Have fun! :)

[DeeT]

Dear Shanni423 and SanderMC. Thanks for posting. Did you still enjoy Bermuda with all that going on? Were you able to get to a beach??? We will look into a beach exursion through NCL though I was hoping to save some money by just taking public transportation. Any other info you can offer is appreciated!

[garrahyd]

I also read today that there is a 25% surcharge for taxi's on holidays...yet another plus on our surprise pulic holiday vacation in Bermuda!

[DeeT]

I also read today that there is a 25% surcharge for taxi's on holidays...yet another plus on our surprise pulic holiday vacation in Bermuda!

 

Sigh... I really wish I would have known about this before booking, would have for sure picked another week. But now that it's done, I guess we can only make the best of it. I haven't had the heart to tell my husband or mother in law yet; keep hoping someone will tell me they were there during this time and it's not so bad and we will still love Bermuda!

[DeeT]

Just saw this post on the NCL boards and made me feel a bit better!

 

Originally Posted by S.S.Oceanlover

we just found out the it is Emancipation day in Bermuda while we are there on the Star next month.

 

Anybody deal with this last year and have any tips?

 

It looks like most things are closed, ferry schedules altered and the beaches are packed.

 

Bill

Only Horseshoe bay is jam packed. There is a large festival, concert, drinking, celebration. They also have a large cricket game at the fairgrounds between st George parish and South Hampton parish! Huge celebrations! Very fun but very crowded. We have. We have been in Bermuda many times during this celebration and never had any problems. Some stores will be closed or have shortened hours.

__________________

[cbd317]

Sigh... I really wish I would have known about this before booking, would have for sure picked another week. But now that it's done, I guess we can only make the best of it. I haven't had the heart to tell my husband or mother in law yet; keep hoping someone will tell me they were there during this time and it's not so bad and we will still love Bermuda!

 

 

I'm also doing what you are DeeT

1) freaking out :eek:

2) kicking myself in the butt for not researching why trip was less expensive this particular week :mad: - which btw leads me to believe NCL is aware of the issue

3) worried about transportation and crowded beaches :(

4) hoping for the best! :)

[cbd317]

I found this link regarding the two day holiday and getting around

 

http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_000299.htm

 

I'm finding my happy place.....

[DeeT]

I'm also doing what you are DeeT

1) freaking out :eek:

2) kicking myself in the butt for not researching why trip was less expensive this particular week :mad: - which btw leads me to believe NCL is aware of the issue

3) worried about transportation and crowded beaches :(

4) hoping for the best! :)

 

 

Yup! that's what we need to do. Calm down and remember we are going on a cruise and we will have a great time no matter what (will try to have that as my mantra whenever I start to panic about all this!).:)

[Shanni423]

Dear Shanni423 and SanderMC. Thanks for posting. Did you still enjoy Bermuda with all that going on? Were you able to get to a beach??? We will look into a beach exursion through NCL though I was hoping to save some money by just taking public transportation. Any other info you can offer is appreciated!

 

We planned our 2 days there around the celebrations. We did an island tour and Hamilton and the non-holiday and a boat tour and Kings Wharf on the holiday. We had a great stay!

[SanderMC]

Dear Shanni423 and SanderMC. Thanks for posting. Did you still enjoy Bermuda with all that going on? Were you able to get to a beach??? We will look into a beach exursion through NCL though I was hoping to save some money by just taking public transportation. Any other info you can offer is appreciated!

 

 

I think Shanni423 had the right idea. If you want to do anything between Hamilton and St. George touristy wise then do it on the non holiday day. We were actually docked in Hamilton and from what I remember most if not all the shops were open, although a few did close early.

 

Last year we opted not to go to the beach so I can't really comment on that. However, based on the fact that you will be at the Dockyard, I would say you will have no problems whatsoever getting to the beach. What I don't know is what the buses will be like on the way back to the Dockyards. Everything we tried to do was between where we were docked (Hamilton) and St. George.

[sonsami]

Sigh... I really wish I would have known about this before booking, would have for sure picked another week. But now that it's done, I guess we can only make the best of it. I haven't had the heart to tell my husband or mother in law yet; keep hoping someone will tell me they were there during this time and it's not so bad and we will still love Bermuda!

 

We were on Celebrity Summit during these holidays last year. We were docked in Bermuda on Wednesday, Thursday, and left Friday midday.

 

The holidays themselves were on Thursday and Friday.

 

Wednesday we took a cab to Horseshoe. Beach was only crowded within the first 50 yards of the entrance. The festivities were going to start around 5 that evening so they were setting up some concession tents and building a stage but again, there was near the entrance within that first 50 yards and did not detract from a lovely and relaxing day at the beach for the 15 members of my family (ages 6 to 80). Did not go to Horseshoe again during the holidays although if I were 30ish and travelling with just my hubby rather than the whole extended family, I imagine the beach-fest celebration would have been a great party to go to.

 

Day 2, Thursday, 4 in our party had a golf reservation (planned by me) and took a cab to the course. They had no problems and a great day.

 

Another group in our party took a cab to Somerset Watersports where I had reserved kayaks for a few hours. Had a fun self-guided day kayaking. No cab issues.

 

That evening, left the ship after dinner and went to a pub in the dockyard area for a bit.

 

Day 3, Visited the rest of dockyard, shopped etc. Everything in the dockyard is open and not affected by the holiday.

 

We had a wonderful time and were not put out or off by the festival and cricket matches. I imagine it would be very interesting and exciting to attend a match but as I said, we were a large multi-generational group so we did not pursue although we enjoyed seeing the "team spirit" on the island with different homes and establishments flying the colors of their chosen teams.

 

I am sure you will have a wonderful vacation regardless. We did.

[DeeT]

Thank you Sonsami and everyone else for all the reassurance and suggestions. I think I'm almost at my happy place again.:)

[monkeyface]

Thanks to all. I still need to plan these three days, but I am beginning to feel that we can do it! :)

[nicebbern]

Will we find any quiet beaches in Bermuda during this time? I'm seriously freaking out over this. I'm not one, nor is my husband, for big roudy crowds of people on the beach. I saw one photo and it was scarey packed with people. I was really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful beach. Help! Can someone please calm me down.

 

I called the tourism bureau and asked for information. I don't like crowded beaches either. What they told me is that other beaches would not be as crowded as Horseshoe, but they don't have all the amenities. There will be at least 2 cruiseships in, so it would be crowded regardless. Go to www.bermudatourism.com and get the number to call them. They made me feel a bit better because I was also freaking out. I am not happy about this at all. I think I should have been informed by the travel agency, but I don't think they knew.

 

Everyone keeps saying that we should go to the cricket match, my DH is not interested. The agency tells me there are other festivals, but I can't find them anywhere. I am trying to get the info. I just found out yesterday. At least we know! imagine all those going that have no idea!

 

While Tobacco Bay and Horseshoe can get crowded, it should be easy to find another beach along the south shore that isn't crowded. I just read a review where the poster said they were "two of the seven" people on the beach.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34212700#post34212700

 

The buses will stop at all of the beaches along the south shore -- I'd look for a nice quiet beach there.

Will we find any quiet beaches in Bermuda during this time? I'm seriously freaking out over this. I'm not one, nor is my husband, for big roudy crowds of people on the beach. I saw one photo and it was scarey packed with people. I was really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful beach. Help! Can someone please calm me down.

 

I called the tourism bureau and asked for information. I don't like crowded beaches either. What they told me is that other beaches would not be as crowded as Horseshoe, but they don't have all the amenities. There will be at least 2 cruiseships in, so it would be crowded regardless. Go to www.bermudatourism.com and get the number to call them. They made me feel a bit better because I was also freaking out. I am not happy about this at all. I think I should have been informed by the travel agency, but I don't think they knew.

 

Everyone keeps saying that we should go to the cricket match, my DH is not interested. The agency tells me there are other festivals, but I can't find them anywhere. I am trying to get the info. I just found out yesterday. At least we know! imagine all those going that have no idea!

 

While Tobacco Bay and Horseshoe can get crowded, it should be easy to find another beach along the south shore that isn't crowded. I just read a review where the poster said they were "two of the seven" people on the beach.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34212700#post34212700

 

The buses will stop at all of the beaches along the south shore -- I'd look for a nice quiet beach there.

 

I am the poster of 2 out of 7 on a beach and it was awesome.

Clearwater Beach to Long Bay is the furthest point from Kings Wharf and has the least amount of people on its' beaches.

We were two out of seven people on the beach 2 years ago in June.

We took the ferry to St. George's, then a bus to St. David's. We walked to the lighthouse and then walked to the beaches. We enjoyed having the beach practically to ourselves. We intend to revisit this strip of beach again on our upcoming trip. On our last trip to Bermuda we were never able to get to the more touristy beaches, therefore on our upcoming trip we are planning to visit Horseshoe Bay, Jobson's Cove and possibly Warwick Long Bay on Wednesday so that we can remain closer to the ship to change our clothes. We intend on staying closer to the ship rather than going to the furthest point so that we can attend Harbor Nights later that evening in Hamilton.

 

Bring sunscreen & plenty of water with you because it can get hot!

Leave your worries behind & have fun!;)

 

Links for Harbor Nights & Activities:

http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_0000b2.htm

http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_00002a.htm

http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_000080.htm

[cbd317]

We took the ferry to St. George's, then a bus to St. David's.

 

Our plan was to go to St. George's and the beaches at the other end. Unfortunately, the ferries are not running to St. George's on Thurs or Fri due to the Holiday Schedule.

 

I would imagine that a taxi, plus the 50% Holiday surcharge, (yes that's right, 50% according the goverment website on Holidays, Sunday's are 25%) would be just too much to pay for our budget.

 

The bus going there should be okay but I'd be afraid we would not get back easily with eveyone trying to get to West End for the cricket match.

 

This just really stinks. But we have a tenantive plan in place at least for Wed and Friday. We are definitely checking our Harbour Nights on Wednesday night. It sounds like lots of fun for the family. :)