Bermuda Escape Cruises - insights, information, and more just on Bermuda

[bluesea777]

On 8/16/2021 at 12:23 PM, bluesea777 said:

Orion docked this morning and she docked PORT side this time. she has to face north because of the winds coming from the north. There is a tropical depression brewing up 140 miles SE of Bermuda at the moment and is moving westward along the south of Bermuda. A little blow but strong surf at the moment.

 

Will keep you posted as to what Orion will do over the next several days.

 

 

I still have iPhone XS Max so this is as far I can zoom in. My next iPhone upgrade will be next year to 13 and I'll be very happy!

 

 

 

Update: Orion ended up staying at Dockyard an extra night (2 overnights) and went out to sea early this morning. She circumnavigated 1/2 of the island counter-clockwise and then made an U turn to return to Hamilton clockwise - to avoid the very high surf from TS Henri. 

 

North Shore is pretty calm but South Shore is very rough.

 

Orion will be docking in Hamilton tomorrow morning.

 

 

 

[CruiserDoc]

My wife and I are traveling to Bermuda next Friday for the Orion's Aug 27th cruise. I've just read Bermuda's official government arrival information, and have a question. Upon arrival in Bermuda, a COVID test is provided by the government at the airport. We have Viking's arrival transfer, and will be transported to the ship to await the results. Does anyone know what happens IF the airport test result comes back positive?

[bluesea777]

23 minutes ago, CruiserDoc said:

My wife and I are traveling to Bermuda next Friday for the Orion's Aug 27th cruise. I've just read Bermuda's official government arrival information, and have a question. Upon arrival in Bermuda, a COVID test is provided by the government at the airport. We have Viking's arrival transfer, and will be transported to the ship to await the results. Does anyone know what happens IF the airport test result comes back positive?

Off the ship and into a Bermuda hotel, at your expense for 14 days quarantine or until you test negative and are able to travel back to the USA. You will be monitored by Bermuda Government. 
 

A few hotels have been selected as quarantine hotels and they all should have balcony rooms. I think you get to choose one from their list. One as far as I know is Grotto Bay, and another might be Southampton Princess. 
 

Keep masking up and distancing yourselves and take care while traveling to Bermuda- the airports and planes (domestic) have unvaccinated people. 
 

If you do this, you should be fine. Only one positive case so far on the Bermuda Escape cruises and it was during the very first one - June 15. 
 

Edited August 19, 2021 by bluesea777

[WanderingBrit]

Something to look forward to for those cruising Bermuda 🙂

[CruiserDoc]

We received the email telling us to go to MyVikingJourney to complete our Health Surveys for next Thursdays Orion cruise. The tabs to Start the Survey are grayed out, and we can't do the survey.  Any ideas? I called into Viking and they couldn't figure it out either. The agent finally told me that i could just fill them out on the ship...is that right?

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, CruiserDoc said:

We received the email telling us to go to MyVikingJourney to complete our Health Surveys for next Thursdays Orion cruise. The tabs to Start the Survey are grayed out, and we can't do the survey.  Any ideas? I called into Viking and they couldn't figure it out either. The agent finally told me that i could just fill them out on the ship...is that right?

 

It's next Friday's not Thursday's.

 

I saw that you cancelled the 31 Aug Iceland cruise, so perhaps your were in the MyVikingJourney for this cruise rather than the Bermuda one when you attempted the Health Survey.

 

Make sure you are in the correct booking for the Bermuda cruise.

 

 

[CruiserDoc]

2 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

It's next Friday's not Thursday's.

 

I saw that you cancelled the 31 Aug Iceland cruise, so perhaps your were in the MyVikingJourney for this cruise rather than the Bermuda one when you attempted the Health Survey.

 

Make sure you are in the correct booking for the Bermuda cruise.

 

 

Yes Fri the 27th is departure day for cruise. Our departure day from Denver is Thursday. We are overnighting in Boston and have early flight Friday to Bermuda on day of embarkation.

 

I just received an email that said we may be denied boarding or have delayed boarding if we don't complete the survey. I just checked and both survey buttons are still grayed out and unresponsive.

I am definitely in my Bermuda, not my canceled Iceland booking.

 

Has anyone had experience with not having the Viking Health Survey filled out ahead of time and doing it at boarding, which is what the Viking agent said I could do?

[JM0115]

3 hours ago, CruiserDoc said:

Yes Fri the 27th is departure day for cruise. Our departure day from Denver is Thursday. We are overnighting in Boston and have early flight Friday to Bermuda on day of embarkation.

 

I just received an email that said we may be denied boarding or have delayed boarding if we don't complete the survey. I just checked and both survey buttons are still grayed out and unresponsive.

I am definitely in my Bermuda, not my canceled Iceland booking.

 

Has anyone had experience with not having the Viking Health Survey filled out ahead of time and doing it at boarding, which is what the Viking agent said I could do?

Have you tried doing it on different devices? Phone, computer, different browsers? We are also on this cruise and had no issues. Hope you can work it out!

[CruiserDoc]

2 hours ago, JM0115 said:

Have you tried doing it on different devices? Phone, computer, different browsers? We are also on this cruise and had no issues. Hope you can work it out!

Yes, I've tried all devices...still grayed out. However, I talked with a great agent at Viking this morning and she sent me a copy of a message from mgmt that was sent to them regarding this very subject. The message says for the agent to tell the guests that they can fill the form out at embarcation, so that's what we'll do. She said there are notes in our record from the agent yesterday and her today regarding the situation. So, now that I have something in writing, I feel better. If anyone has a copy of the form or can remember the questions that are asked, I would be most grateful to see them.

[JM0115]

6 minutes ago, CruiserDoc said:

Yes, I've tried all devices...still grayed out. However, I talked with a great agent at Viking this morning and she sent me a copy of a message from mgmt that was sent to them regarding this very subject. The message says for the agent to tell the guests that they can fill the form out at embarcation, so that's what we'll do. She said there are notes in our record from the agent yesterday and her today regarding the situation. So, now that I have something in writing, I feel better. If anyone has a copy of the form or can remember the questions that are asked, I would be most grateful to see them.

I cannot get into it since I already took it but it basically asks if I remember correctly if you have any symptoms, been in contact with anyone that has Covid, are vaccinated, etc

 

[lipnick]

On 8/17/2021 at 2:06 PM, CruiserDoc said:

Greetings!

 

We have just booked the Bermuda cruise embarking on 8/27th (late-comers to the party!!!), after canceling the 8/31st Iceland trip.

 

My question may have been answered earlier in this thread, so please excuse me if it's a repeat...I've only browsed the last few pages so far.

 

We've booked our own air on JetBlue....has anyone done their own transfers between the airport & the ship? If so, cost?  We're arriving around noon on embarkation day and departing at 12:25pm on debarkation day. Are those time frames legit?

 

Thanks!!

sounds like you are flying from Boston to Bermuda .  We did the June 29'th cruise and did are own air. Drove from Albant NY to Boston the day before and stayed at Marriott Courtyard near Logan Airport. Free parking for the week we were away and shuttle to and from airport.  Once we arrived in Bermuda only took about 30 minutes to complete everything.  Hoped on taxi and took about 30 minutes until we boarded ship. Same upon leaving taxis right by ship and quick drive to airport. Cost about 30 to 35 dollars each way.

[bluesea777]

On 8/17/2021 at 5:12 PM, Jazmyn49 said:

Hey Andy!  Box Boat makes perfect sense.  But what do you call a car carrier?

 

On 8/17/2021 at 7:12 PM, Heidi13 said:

My last command, Ro/Pax, or that dang big ferry😁What we actually called them probably shouldn't be mentioned, considering where most of the cars originate.

 

Earlier today Viking Orion was dwarfed by this colossal vehicle carrier ....

 

 

It's Sanderling Ace. Bermuda receives vehicle carriers about every a couple of months.

 

 

[lucytravel]

Anyone have any suggestions on the excursions.  I booked the pink sands and scenic south shore bus ride.  But I`m second guessing 3 hrs on a bus though. Also can you get to the beach for a few hours. Leaving 9/3. Hope all goes well.

[CCWineLover]

17 minutes ago, lucytravel said:

Anyone have any suggestions on the excursions.  I booked the pink sands and scenic south shore bus ride.  But I`m second guessing 3 hrs on a bus though. Also can you get to the beach for a few hours. Leaving 9/3. Hope all goes well.

We did the snorkel catamaran cruise from Docklands.  Super!!

Also the boat tour of the hideaways and famous people's homes out of Hamilton.  Tops!

[JM0115]

Someone posted on social media that we are not allowed to go off on our own in Bermuda.  Can someone confirm this please? I thought it was allowed at least up until now?

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, JM0115 said:

Someone posted on social media that we are not allowed to go off on our own in Bermuda.  Can someone confirm this please? I thought it was allowed at least up until now?

Huh? Misinformation likely. Please provide source so I can check it out. 
 

[broker1217]

We are on board now--172 passengers according to several crew members. They are expecting ~400 for 8/27. There are quite a few travel agents on this sailing so skewing a little younger with more solo passengers. We were on the Charlotte AA flight that arrived in Hamilton around 2:30 PM and it was at least 50% Viking passengers. The Hamilton airport is brand new and extremely well organized. 

We did not leave Hamilton until Sunday morning to accommodate guests arriving around 5:30 PM Saturday.

We are allowed to free-range at each port. You need to show your contact tracing device to get back on board any time you leave the ship.

Our first time to Bermuda so very interesting! Make sure you look up some maps of the reefs and channels surrounding Bermuda which will help you understand how the ship routes out of Hamilton.

 

 

 

[SRHall64]

23 hours ago, lucytravel said:

Anyone have any suggestions on the excursions.  I booked the pink sands and scenic south shore bus ride.  But I`m second guessing 3 hrs on a bus though. Also can you get to the beach for a few hours. Leaving 9/3. Hope all goes well.

We did that tour during the August 27 cruise.  They used vans that held about 13 people but we only had 10 in ours.  There were enough stops along the way that we didn't feel confined to the van for excessive amounts of time.

[bluesea777]

2 hours ago, SRHall64 said:

We did that tour during the August 27 cruise.  They used vans that held about 13 people but we only had 10 in ours.  There were enough stops along the way that we didn't feel confined to the van for excessive amounts of time.

 

Good to know ... I think you meant July 27, not Aug.

 

 

[broker1217]

 

wrong board

Edited August 26, 2021 by broker1217
wrong board

[WanderingBrit]

On 8/24/2021 at 3:19 PM, lucytravel said:

Anyone have any suggestions on the excursions.  I booked the pink sands and scenic south shore bus ride.  But I`m second guessing 3 hrs on a bus though. Also can you get to the beach for a few hours. Leaving 9/3. Hope all goes well.

We really enjoyed the Segway tour at Royal Navy Dockyard. We did the Catamaran excursion twice, once from each port, not realizing that it would be the same thing each time. Snorkeling was fun.

We also did a van trip to St George's that included quite a tour of the North of the Island, with just 3 people in a mini-van. Enjoyed that too.

[SRHall64]

19 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Good to know ... I think you meant July 27, not Aug.

 

 

Yes, It was July 27.  Our driver/guide made several stops for photos and 4 where we exited the van and had at least 15 minutes to explore where we were.

[akronmaid]

 

Someone posted a picture on this forum of a restaurant on Bermuda overlooking the ocean. Can anyone help me find it? I definitely want to go there!

[Azulann]

29 minutes ago, akronmaid said:

 

Someone posted a picture on this forum of a restaurant on Bermuda overlooking the ocean. Can anyone help me find it? I definitely want to go there!

It was Mark and Steve  who was on  July 13 sailing. Here is their review with name and picture of the  resort for lunch.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=681699

[oakridger]

4 hours ago, akronmaid said:

 

Someone posted a picture on this forum of a restaurant on Bermuda overlooking the ocean. Can anyone help me find it? I definitely want to go there!

 

Pompano Beach Club Bermuda