Abandon Ship?

[Lady Lucy]

Hi,

This may be a stupid question, but here goes...We love Bermuda and had a great time on a cruise there, but we'd love to have more than the usual 3 days there. With airfares so expensive, I was wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to take a cruise there, stay the 3 days, and then not get back on the ship and fly home a week later-or the other way around, fly to Bermuda and board the ship there for the trip home?

Thanks!

[njhorseman]

You should be able do the first option...board the ship in the US and disembark in Bermuda... provided you notify the cruise line in advance and they obtain the necessary permission from Bermudian customs/immigration officials. You will have to pay for the entire cruise however.

 

It's unlikely you would be able to first board the ship in Bermuda as the cruise lines do not use it as an embarkation port...but you can ask...all they can do is say "no". Again, even if permitted you would still have to pay the full cruise fare.

[edjny]

Seems to me to be a whole lot cheaper to fly both to and from Bermuda and stay a week or so. If one is going to pay the higher fare for a cruise, use all of it.

[Charles4515]

Hi,

This may be a stupid question, but here goes...We love Bermuda and had a great time on a cruise there, but we'd love to have more than the usual 3 days there. With airfares so expensive, I was wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to take a cruise there, stay the 3 days, and then not get back on the ship and fly home a week later-or the other way around, fly to Bermuda and board the ship there for the trip home?

Thanks!

 

You can fly roundtrip these days for $350. That seems reasonable to me. The big expense is not flights. It is hotels. Taking a cruise one way they are not going to charge you one way. They are going to charge you the whole cruise even if you don't return on the ship.

[iheartbda]

NJH summed it up quite well.

 

A couple of things to consider. IF you were permitted to take a cruise each way and pay for both, you could probably fly and stay for what that would cost. It's also possible that if you were permitted to get off the ship, stay in Bermuda, and fly home it would also cost about the same.

 

There's not much night life in Bermuda so you wouldn't have the entertainment that is available on the ship. You would be pretty much limited to watching TV or sitting around looking at each other at night.

 

Friends of ours used to cruise to Bermuda but started flying and staying. They said with careful planning, the cost was comparable to what they paid to cruise. They watch for reasonable airfare and stay in a light housekeeping cottage. There are a number of those across the island and the price per night is way cheaper than a hotel.

 

They have breakfast and lunch with locally purchased food as well as food they take. The owner of the place they stay recommended bringing various food items, even meat. They eat dinners out. I have seen on another forum people talking about the amount of food they take and how to do it because groceries are very expensive in Bermuda. Seems like a lot of work to me. The much maligned ship buffets would start to look real good.:D

 

Your plan at first glance looks like a great idea but when you look into the reality of it, it's really not so great.;):)

[Keith1010]

Hi,

This may be a stupid question, but here goes...We love Bermuda and had a great time on a cruise there, but we'd love to have more than the usual 3 days there. With airfares so expensive, I was wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to take a cruise there, stay the 3 days, and then not get back on the ship and fly home a week later-or the other way around, fly to Bermuda and board the ship there for the trip home?

Thanks!

 

You have to check with the cruise line to see if they will allow this.

 

Keith

[DeltaOne]

We love Bermuda and had a great time on a cruise there, but we'd love to have more than the usual 3 days there. With airfares so expensive, I was wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to take a cruise there, stay the 3 days, and then not get back on the ship and fly home a week later-or the other way around, fly to Bermuda and board the ship there for the trip home?

Thanks!

 

After three cruises to Bermuda we wanted more time there too. I don't remember our airfare cost from Baltimore to Bermuda but remember it seemed reasonable.

 

But the next obstacle is the high cost of hotel rooms. Then we found a web site that lists private property that locals rent to tourists. It's here: http://www.bermudarentals.com (No affiliation, just a happy customer.)

 

We rented a small condo for $120 per night. The $120 was all inclusive, no added taxes or fees. And it was for two people. The condo included a kitchen and the owner allowed us to use their swimming pool. A grocery store was a five minute walk away. We shopped at the grocery store and had coffee and danish for breakfast. We'd eat either lunch or dinner out. The other meal we'd make something easy at the condo.

 

We rented a scooter and explored the entire island during our seven day stay. One day we started at the Dockyard and traveled along the South Road stopping for a bit at each of the southern shore beaches. It was a great day!

 

In the end our trip was 10 to 15% more than a typical cruise, but we had seven full days on Bermuda instead of 2.5 or 3 days. Probably the best vacation we've ever had.

[Lady Lucy]

Thank you everyone for your kind help. You've certainly given us things to think about!

[marco]

Check with the lines sailing to Bermuda. I know years back, when Home Lines sailed to Bermuda you could sail to, stay, and sail back on the next sailing. But.....The price was the same as if you were taking a 7 day cruise so if you left NY on Saturday, arrived Bermuda Monday morning you HAD to disembark then. Then, you could not reboard until the following Thursday at noon, just prior to the return sailing. So....you were paying the same as for a 7 day cruise, but you were on the ship Saturday afternoon until Monday morning and then a week later just Thursday afternoon until the Saturday morning arrival in NYC. Bermuda is pricy, so if you wanted to spend a little more time there, it probably would be cheaper to just do a B2B and plan for some things on the first sailing and others on the 2nd.

[njhorseman]

The Home Lines ceased operations about 25 years ago. No cruise line today is going to allow you to effectively book a cabin for two different weeks and pay for only one, which is the scenario you're describing. The business model of the mass market cruise lines depends on your on board spending to make their operations profitable. That's quite different from how the cruise lines operated 25 years ago, when you actually paid more in constant dollars for cruise fare than you do today. They're not going to allow a cabin to be empty for the cruise back to the US one week and then the cruise to Bermuda the following week and only charge you for one week. Those sea days are where the the profits are going to be made in the bars, casino and shops, particularly since the casino and shops are closed while in port in Bermuda.