Help which Bermuda cruise??

[Sealegsfordays]

Hi everyone! My husband and I (age 36 and 38) are looking to take a cruise out of NY or Bayonne at the end of August or September for our 10 year anniversary. We will be without our kids. I am having trouble deciding between the 5 day on RRCL Anthem, the 7 day on NCL Escape or 7 day on celebrity summit. We like to hang out and night and enjoy meeting new people but are by no means crazy partiers. We enjoy to keep busy during the day but also want some quiet time in adult only areas. I also need to eat gluten free so a bonus if anyone has any information on this 😊. Thanks so much!

[Tatka]

I would definitely recommend 7 days. 5 is simply not enough.

As for the ships, Celebrity will offer better food, service , less kids, overall more refined atmosphere. Great thalasso adult pool.

NCL will have more lively late night atmosphere and probably overall more activities, but more crowding.

We are in mid 40s and sailed with both since early mid 30ies.

Prefer Celebrity.

[TheOldBear]

Depending on where you are located, you may want to also consider Holland America from Boston. They tend to use smaller ships, able to dock 'downtown' in Hamilton.

[LHT28]

I would choose the one with the most time in Bermuda

 

JMO

[spookwife]

a 7 day. bonus for the longest time in port. IIRC the celebrity ship docks there nearly 2 full days? gets there mid afternoon, all day the next day and leaves like at 11 am the third day?

 

or it did when we were there....

[marco]

My 1st choice would also be HAL out of Boston. It docks in Hamilton, not Kings Wharf and it stays in Bermuda a day more. But.......the sailings are infrequent and I don't think it will be going to Bermuda when you want to go. If that's the case, I would agree with "tatka" for the reasons (s)he's mentioned. We have sailed to Bermuda on both HAL's "Veendam" and X's "Summit".

[njhorseman]

The HAL Veendam is not an option as its last cruise to Bermuda is in mid-June and the OP wants to cruise in late August or September.

 

The two seven day cruises on Celebrity or NCL are preferable because they spend more time in Bermuda than the Royal Caribbean 5 day cruise. The NCL and Celebrity cruises spend the same amount of time in Bermuda, give or take a half hour or so, which means the choice comes down to the atmosphere and offerings on the ships. NCL Escape is newer and has a greater variety of restaurants, shows and activities, but will have a more crowded feel than Celebrity Summit. Summit will have slightly better main dining room food, but NCL makes up for that with the variety of specialty restaurants and also has a vastly bigger selection in the buffet. NCL will have more children, but at that time of year Celebrity will also have a substantial number of children on board.

[mjkacmom]

You will have a lot fewer kids in September, kids go back to school her right after Labor Day. We’ve sailed on 4 NCL ships and they are amazing with gluten free (Dd had celiac). She was treated like a queen, better food than at home. They have tons of gluten free foods (pizza, pasta, rolls, pancakes, waffles, muffins, cookies..), and they will make you whatever you want. She’d order dinner and breakfast the night before, for breakfast she’d just call the manager and he’d deliver her order wherever (usually buffet for us).

[MCC retired]

7 days for sure .

5 days limits your Bermuda experience.

 

 

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[Nic6318]

Hi everyone! My husband and I (age 36 and 38) are looking to take a cruise out of NY or Bayonne at the end of August or September for our 10 year anniversary. We will be without our kids. I am having trouble deciding between the 5 day on RRCL Anthem, the 7 day on NCL Escape or 7 day on celebrity summit. We like to hang out and night and enjoy meeting new people but are by no means crazy partiers. We enjoy to keep busy during the day but also want some quiet time in adult only areas. I also need to eat gluten free so a bonus if anyone has any information on this 😊. Thanks so much!

 

 

Hi

 

As others have said 7 days for Bermuda is "Much" better than 5. I would only consider the 5 day option if there were a time limit consideration.

 

Don't know if you are driving...if so parking is less expensive and the port is easier to get to (depending where you are coming from) in N.J. vs. N.Y.

 

I did a 7 day Summit sailing to Bermuda. There is definitely and older demographic on board. I believe it would give a quieter experience, but there were still many things to enjoy on the ship.

 

have a great cruise

[leaveitallbehind]

Have done 7-night RCI Grandeur (Baltimore), 5-Night RCI Explorer, 9-night RCI Liberty with a day stop there, and 7-night Celebrity Summit. I would definitely recommend a 7-night itinerary and of the choices you referenced would go with Summit 7-night. Most time in Bermuda.

[Tatka]

a 7 day. bonus for the longest time in port. IIRC the celebrity ship docks there nearly 2 full days? gets there mid afternoon, all day the next day and leaves like at 11 am the third day?

 

or it did when we were there....

She leaves at about 4 or 5 pm on third day.

Same as NCL ships

[Tatka]

Have done 7-night RCI Grandeur (Baltimore), 5-Night RCI Explorer, 9-night RCI Liberty with a day stop there, and 7-night Celebrity Summit. I would definitely recommend a 7-night itinerary and of the choices you referenced would go with Summit 7-night. Most time in Bermuda.

NCL out of Boston or NYC have the same schedule. From Boston it arrives a bit later (10 or 11 am) to Bermuda

[leaveitallbehind]

NCL out of Boston or NYC have the same schedule. From Boston it arrives a bit later (10 or 11 am) to Bermuda

 

Can't say that you are wrong as maybe things have changed but in July of 2016 we arrived before and left after NCL. But in reality the difference is an hour or two. But what I did like about Summit is we arrived ealy enough on day one and departed late enough on day three to get long days there on both.

 

Not the same on RCI out of Baltimore (which for some reason stopped their 7-nights to Bermuda after the 2015 season) in that we arrived rather late on the first day to only really have a little more than half a day there. But did leave pretty late on the third day.

 

It's pretty much a toss up I guess between any of them - just personal cruise line preference I guess as the tie breaker. :)

[Tatka]

I agree. I really like Grandeur, we are doing Christmas/NY cruise second year in a row, but their five day cruise to Bermuda is absolute waste... unless person is just happy to be on the ship.

 

You probably shared dock with NCL ship from Boston. It’s a bit longer sail than from New York. NCL from New York has pretty much same time as Summit.

 

And there is HAL Veendam (maybe Maasdam this year) from Boston, which spends 4 days/3 nights in Hamilton, rather than West End.

[leaveitallbehind]

I agree. I really like Grandeur, we are doing Christmas/NY cruise second year in a row, but their five day cruise to Bermuda is absolute waste... unless person is just happy to be on the ship.

 

You probably shared dock with NCL ship from Boston. It’s a bit longer sail than from New York. NCL from New York has pretty much same time as Summit.

 

And there is HAL Veendam (maybe Maasdam this year) from Boston, which spends 4 days/3 nights in Hamilton, rather than West End.

 

We like Grandeur as well. A bit older but very nice and a great crew last time we were on her. We've sailed on her three times - her maiden voyage in '96 and two 7-nights to Bermuda.

 

Also agree that the 5-night would not be the right choice for a Bermuda cruise. Did a 5-night getaway on Explorer from Bayonne one year as a last minute anniversary cruise and while it was nice for that purpose, it did not offer enough time in Bermuda for our liking.

 

It was Grandeur's change in Bermuda schedule after 2015 that led us to Summit in 2016. Been cruising with Celebrity ever since and although we would still cruise on RCI, Celebrity has been our choice for our last three and our next three planned.

 

Hamilton - as well as St. George - would be interesting piers in Bermuda.

[champagne123]

I have been on all three ships you have mentioned. Yes, I agree with everyone that you really need the 7 days. As far as the ship? Even though the Summit is an older and smaller ship...it also has amazing service, food and romantic atmosphere. If I had to choose which one to go on again, it would definitely be the Summit.