Vision of the Seas sailing from Bermuda starting June 2021

[Snowbird_in_training]

The cruise lines are a for profit business.  They're just trying to stay in business.  If the CDC won't allow them to operate and someone else will, of course they're going to do it.

 

For those of you who live within driving distance to the ports, you will eventually be able to go back to that type of cruising, I'm sure.  But, in the meantime, for those of us used to flying into a departure city to board a ship, we might be looking at this as simply a new departure port.  Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, Nassau, Bermuda.   I never get excited about where we're flying into to board a ship.  

 

If these cruises actually sail successfully, it will be a good barometer for the CDC to use to possibly change their mind.  

 

[nchusker]

On 3/23/2021 at 5:20 PM, BSocial said:

the Blog article indicates Bermuda home port is only a summer season, from June through August.  

 

I read the article. Just wondering and hoping that our cruise will happen.

 

[dswallow]

6 minutes ago, nchusker said:

I read the article. Just wondering and hoping that our cruise will happen.

 

 

I was on one of the last cruises to go out pre-pandemic, on Anthem of the Seas, and since we left port a couple days late the itinerary was changed to Bermuda. It was actually a very nice couple days there and the weather was great, which may not be completely common at that time of year, but it was a pleasant time for us, at least.

[Charles4515]

6 hours ago, billslowsky said:

 

Yes, Royal's press release confirmed that they are docking at the royal dockyard.

 

You won't find too many buses capable of transporting even 40 passengers and their luggage in Bermuda.  

 

I don't know their plan but they could run ferries from the airport to the Dockyard. They ran ferries from the airport for the America's Cup a few years ago. 

[billslowsky]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

 

I don't know their plan but they could run ferries from the airport to the Dockyard. They ran ferries from the airport for the America's Cup a few years ago. 

 

Hardly the same thing considering the sponsorship money flowing in from America's Cup.

[Charles4515]

17 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

 

Hardly the same thing considering the sponsorship money flowing in from America's Cup.

 

Getting arriving air passengers from the airport on the east end to the Dockyard for cruises on the west end is the same thing. Money flowing in is also involved. 

 

Also possibly not a coincidence that the America's Cup dock at the airport was recently reinstalled.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/general/news/article/20210223/americas-cup-dock-at-airport-reinstalled/

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Charles4515

[Radiioman46]

Another issue is how to handle unloading all the waste. 

[RFerrington]

3 hours ago, dswallow said:

 

I was on one of the last cruises to go out pre-pandemic, on Anthem of the Seas, and since we left port a couple days late the itinerary was changed to Bermuda. It was actually a very nice couple days there and the weather was great, which may not be completely common at that time of year, but it was a pleasant time for us, at least.

We were on that Anthem cruise, too.  We ended up enjoying it way more than we thought we would.  It was nice having a much less crowded ship.  We ended up making money on the deal, too.  Not sure how, but we did.

[MJSailors]

    Although Bermuda has been our choice for vacation for many years since our honeymoon in 1983, a cruise from there to basically nowhere is not appealing.

   There are several factors influencing our opinion.

    Flights from JFK (our home airport) have been expensive and the scheduling has not been ideal- early morning or evening departures coupled with lack of direct flights has been our experience with either Jet Blue or AA.

      It has been our experience that if we need to fly into a port location, we arrive the day before a cruise to insure that we do not miss the ship due to travel delays. If we did that with Bermuda as a port, we would need to stay overnight at a hotel. Rates during the high season (Summer months) are for a lack of a better word,high. 

      A few months ago, I looked into Covid19 guidelines for visitors to Bermuda.This was pre-vaccine and the regulations regarding testing were stringent. Of course, I am not certain what the guidelines are now,but, I assume that people flying in to Bermuda will be subject to proof of being Covid free because the government needs to protect island residents from contracting the disease. Perhaps the goverment and the cruise line will have an agreement as to verifying that passengers have vaccinations and/or negative Covid tests without causing these vacationers to go through a clearing process twice.

      As to arranging bus transport from the airport to the pier, the busses would have to be the municipal busses as there are no private coach type busses in Bermuda. The municipal busses are designed to carry passengers, not luggage.

Perhaps RCCL could engage local trucks to transport the luggage to the pier. 

There is ferry service as posters have mentioned,but I am not certain of how many are in the fleet and ,again, how luggage would be transported. 

      Taxi fares can be over $100 from the airport to the Royal Dockyards. There are private transport companies available, but the fares can run high as well. I am not certain if Uber or similar are in business in Bermuda,perhaps offering more reasonable rates.

       From our experience visiting Bermuda over the past thirty years plus, it does not seem that Bermuda has the infrastructure to support cruises leaving their port. Obviously, RCCL has had discussions with Bermuda about having a cruise ship ported in their country and how the passengers going on the cruises will be comfortably and safely accommodated. Whatever has been planned,a cruise from Bermuda is not appealing to us  at this time considering all the points that I have posted.

     It is a shame because we would like to revisit Bermuda. Hopefully, one day we will be able to return.

 

[Charles4515]

37 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

 

      As to arranging bus transport from the airport to the pier, the busses would have to be the municipal busses as there are no private coach type busses in Bermuda. The municipal busses are designed to carry passengers, not luggage.

Perhaps RCCL could engage local trucks to transport the luggage to the pier. 

There is ferry service as posters have mentioned,but I am not certain of how many are in the fleet and ,again, how luggage would be transported. 

      Taxi fares can be over $100 from the airport to the Royal Dockyards. There are private transport companies available, but the fares can run high as well. I am not certain if Uber or similar are in business in Bermuda,perhaps offering more reasonable rates.

       From our experience visiting Bermuda over the past thirty years plus, it does not seem that Bermuda has the infrastructure to support cruises leaving their port.

 

There are some private coach type  buses but not very many. Certainly not enough. They have a fleet of five ferries that hold about 300/350 passengers each. Plus one large ferry that I don't know if it is currently in service, that held 500. Some ferries also carry mopeds in addition to passengers so I think they could carry luggage. Taxi rate for 1-4 would be about $70 for the taxi, not per person. For 5-7 about $90. There is no Uber but there is a ton of private shared ride minibuses. Airport to Dockyard would be $15 per person. I think Bermuda has the infrastructure to homeport a smaller ship or two. 

[Sunshine3601]

Sailings out of barbados and bahamas leave at 9 and 10 pm so no need to fly in day earlier unless you want to.  

Looks like bermuda sailings dont leave port to the next morning and using the ship as a floating hotel the first night??   I haven't seen the official itinerary yet.

 

Air2sea is coordinating flights which should be cheaper than most other websites or airlines.  Maybe they will have some charter flights from major hubs.

 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sailings out of barbados and bahamas leave at 9 and 10 pm so no need to fly in day earlier unless you want to.  

Looks like bermuda sailings dont leave port to the next morning and using the ship as a floating hotel the first night??   I haven't seen the official itinerary yet.

 

Air2sea is coordinating flights which should be cheaper than most other websites or airlines.  Maybe they will have some charter flights from major hubs.

 

 The press release does not have an official itinerary but it mentions an overnight.  

[dswallow]

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 The press release does not have an official itinerary but it mentions an overnight.  

 

Based on the original info about the upcoming sailings on Royal Caribbean's web site, I thought the implication was the ship returns to Bermuda sometime on the last full day of the cruise (Friday) and the overnight in Bermuda is Friday night, allowing that you could leave the cruise after 6 nights instead of 7 nights, if you chose.

 

[Jimbo]

12 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

Based on the original info about the upcoming sailings on Royal Caribbean's web site, I thought the implication was the ship returns to Bermuda sometime on the last full day of the cruise (Friday) and the overnight in Bermuda is Friday night, allowing that you could leave the cruise after 6 nights instead of 7 nights, if you chose.

 

Probably for those on Vision, you might be right having the option of leaving on day 6 will look like a winner to many onboard.  lol

[Charles4515]

The ship is going to sail at 50% of the 2400 capacity. They expect passengers to overnight the day before. I think Bermuda's infrastructure can handle it.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20210326/homeporting-cruise-ship-to-make-12-trips-from-bermuda/

Edited March 26, 2021 by Charles4515

[Sunshine3601]

39 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

The ship is going to sail at 50% of the 2400 capacity. They expect passengers to overnight the day before. I think Bermuda's infrastructure can handle it.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20210326/homeporting-cruise-ship-to-make-12-trips-from-bermuda/

Yes, Bermuda can definitely handle.   

Someone that needs to stay overnight could easily stay in hamilton and take ferry to the navy dockyard.  

[broberts]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

The ship is going to sail at 50% of the 2400 capacity. They expect passengers to overnight the day before. I think Bermuda's infrastructure can handle it.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20210326/homeporting-cruise-ship-to-make-12-trips-from-bermuda/

 

I wonder if the ship will sail with a full staff complement or if it will be scaled back.

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

The ship is going to sail at 50% of the 2400 capacity. They expect passengers to overnight the day before. I think Bermuda's infrastructure can handle it.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20210326/homeporting-cruise-ship-to-make-12-trips-from-bermuda/

A comment posted to this news article: "There is a technical refueling stop in Grand Bahamas one afternoon so I would guess fuel and most supplies will come from there."

[F27TW]

This is almost as ridiculous as homeporting a ship at Martha's Vineyard.   

 

There are just not that many flights/airplane seats into BDA to fill up a ship .. unless they plan on running charter flights in to feed it.   Those cabins are surely not gonna be filled by Bermuda locals.

 

There is no check in terminal in Bermuda at all .. where are all these people boarding going to be processed both for check in, holding for boarding, disembarkation/customs, etc.

 

AND (for the squeamish), the entire cruise is within the Bermuda Triangle!  😳  LOL

 

I don't see this going well. 

[Charles4515]

48 minutes ago, F27TW said:

This is almost as ridiculous as homeporting a ship at Martha's Vineyard.   

 

There are just not that many flights/airplane seats into BDA to fill up a ship .. unless they plan on running charter flights in to feed it.   Those cabins are surely not gonna be filled by Bermuda locals.

 

There is no check in terminal in Bermuda at all .. where are all these people boarding going to be processed both for check in, holding for boarding, disembarkation/customs, etc.

 

AND (for the squeamish), the entire cruise is within the Bermuda Triangle!  😳  LOL

 

I don't see this going well. 

Royal will use their air program. There are terminal buildings at both berths at the Dockyard. Since it is going to be 1500 at the most I think they can do it. Personally I won’t be booking. I see no point in cruising to Coco Cay. Also the sea days in the Bermuda Triangle don’t appeal to me. That region of the Atlantic is known for rough seas and storms. 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Charles4515

[billslowsky]

3 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Royal will use their air program. There are terminal buildings at both berths at the Dockyard. Since it is going to be 1500 at the most I think they can do it. Personally I won’t be booking. I see no point in cruising to Coco Cay. Also the sea days in the Bermuda Triangle don’t appeal to me. That region of the Atlantic is known for rough seas and storms. 

 

Royal will use "their air program"?  They don't own planes.  All they could do is throw some money at an airline to incent them to run a couple of more jets to Bermuda and that won't come cheap.  And the logistics of getting people home.

 

That Royal Gazette article says they think there are already enough minibuses and taxis to accommodate getting everyone from the airport to the dock and back.  Laughable.  But they're counting on people adding days to the beginning and end of their trip to alleviate the strain.

 

People want to cruise again in the worst way, and that's exactly what they're going to get.  

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, billslowsky said:

They don't own planes. 

They kinda do by way of Wamos Air.

[Etta1213]

13 hours ago, F27TW said:

This is almost as ridiculous as homeporting a ship at Martha's Vineyard.   

 

There are just not that many flights/airplane seats into BDA to fill up a ship .. unless they plan on running charter flights in to feed it.   Those cabins are surely not gonna be filled by Bermuda locals.

 

There is no check in terminal in Bermuda at all .. where are all these people boarding going to be processed both for check in, holding for boarding, disembarkation/customs, etc.

 

AND (for the squeamish), the entire cruise is within the Bermuda Triangle!  😳  LOL

 

I don't see this going well. 

I would expect that there will be Bermudians choosing to cruise. Just having a cruise ship homeporting there will generate lots of interest. If i were a betting person, I'd bet that all needs will be worked out.

[dswallow]

36 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

I would expect that there will be Bermudians choosing to cruise. Just having a cruise ship homeporting there will generate lots of interest. If i were a betting person, I'd bet that all needs will be worked out.

 

As of 2019 there was an estimated 64,000 residents of Bermuda. Not the biggest population from which to draw cruise clients. 🙂

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

They kinda do by way of Wamos Air.

If not Wamos of which they are partial owners I am sure there are plenty of planes available for charter. By chartering they could keep the airfare costs reasonable. 

Edited March 27, 2021 by Charles4515