St. George Ferry temporarily suspended starting 8/8 until ferry dock work completed

[Charles4515]

Not much information and I don't understand why they don't use the cruise ship dock until the ferry dock work is completed. The ferries used to use that dock. The ship schedule does not show any cruise ships in St. George in August. Plus why not do the work off season when the Orange Route does not run?

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/transport/news/article/20220807/st-georges-ferry-suspended-2/

Edited August 7, 2022 by Charles4515

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Not much information and I don't understand why they don't use the cruise ship dock until the ferry dock work is completed. The ferries used to use that dock. The ship schedule does not show any cruise ships in St. George in August. Plus why not do the work off season when the Orange Route does not run?

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/transport/news/article/20220807/st-georges-ferry-suspended-2/

My memory might be playing tricks on me but I don't think a bow loading ferry such those currently used on the Orange route can use the cruise ship dock. NCL's ferry, Spirit of St. George loads from the side.

Presumably there must be a serious safety or operational issue for them to just shut down service in the height of the cruise season.

Looking at the schedule after the 8th the ferry isn't scheduled to operate again until the 15th. Perhaps the work can be completed in a week.

[Charles4515]

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

My memory might be playing tricks on me but I don't think a bow loading ferry such those currently used on the Orange route can use the cruise ship dock. NCL's ferry, Spirit of St. George loads from the side.

Presumably there must be a serious safety or operational issue for them to just shut down service in the height of the cruise season.

Looking at the schedule after the 8th the ferry isn't scheduled to operate again until the 15th. Perhaps the work can be completed in a week.

I didn’t think of that. That could be the explanation. 

[njhorseman]

12 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I didn’t think of that. That could be the explanation. 

I found this video from April 26, 2017 when ferry service to Hunter's Wharf commenced. It shows that they were using a ramp on the side of the ship and clearly there's no way to load from the bow, which is the what the ferry was designed to do.

https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20170421/st-georges-ferry-dock-near-completion/

 

I also found the government's Request for Quotations dated June 24, 2022 for the project to convert Hunter's Wharf to a bow loading dock. Given the magnitude of the job it doesn't appear to be something that could be done in a few days, nor does it appear to be an emergency. It boggles the mind that the government has decided to do this in the height of the cruise season.

https://www.gov.bm/procurement/hunters-wharf-bow-loading-facility

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

I found this video from April 26, 2017 when ferry service to Hunter's Wharf commenced. It shows that they were using a ramp on the side of the ship and clearly there's no way to load from the bow, which is the what the ferry was designed to do.

https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20170421/st-georges-ferry-dock-near-completion/

 

I also found the government's Request for Quotations dated June 24, 2022 for the project to convert Hunter's Wharf to a bow loading dock. Given the magnitude of the job it doesn't appear to be something that could be done in a few days, nor does it appear to be an emergency. It boggles the mind that the government has decided to do this in the height of the cruise season.

https://www.gov.bm/procurement/hunters-wharf-bow-loading-facility

I read the documents and agree it is not likely to be done in a few days. I could not find a timeline for the work in the documents. That seems odd. Don’t understand either why they did not wait until November when they usually suspend the Orange Line for the winter. I wonder how the NCL ferry will use the dock while work is done. Perhaps they will use Pennos Wharf. Or maybe the NCL ferry can use the spot where they store it in St. George’s. There used to be a ferry dock in that area. I recall getting off ferries on that side of the town square years ago. I also notice in the document they are going to be taking a gangway from Pennos to Hunter. 

[cruiseny4life]

I'm heading down to Bermuda in three weeks and am definitely wanting to use the NCL ferry to St. George's. Is that ferry being impacted by this? I can't seem to find any information yet. Today's the first day of the closure so hopefully we have some firsthand accounts shortly. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'm heading down to Bermuda in three weeks and am definitely wanting to use the NCL ferry to St. George's. Is that ferry being impacted by this? I can't seem to find any information yet. Today's the first day of the closure so hopefully we have some firsthand accounts shortly. 

I checked on MarineTraffic and the NCL ferry is running today. Going through the Cut now. 

 

Added.........It seems to be docked at Pennos Wharf. (the cruise ship dock in St. George's)

Edited August 8, 2022 by Charles4515

[cruiseny4life]

24 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

I checked on MarineTraffic and the NCL ferry is running today. Going through the Cut now. 

 

Added.........It seems to be docked at Pennos Wharf. (the cruise ship dock in St. George's)

You're amazing - thank you so much!! 

 

That'll definitely help us with our plans later this month. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by cruiseny4life

[mcmarya]

That's all well and good for NCL passengers but what about the other cruise lines.  Not having the orange ferry available will seriously impact our plans for September.

[Charles4515]

37 minutes ago, mcmarya said:

That's all well and good for NCL passengers but what about the other cruise lines.  Not having the orange ferry available will seriously impact our plans for September.

 

If it is still suspended in September my suggestion would be to take a ferry to Hamilton then either a bus or taxi to St. George.  

[jollyjones]

 

You were maybe expecting logical behaviour?

From Bermuda Gummint?

[mcmarya]

Sadly, the ferry to Hamilton and bus to St. Georges costs twice as much and takes more than twice as long, unfortunate with only one full day in Bermuda.

[cruiseny4life]

11 hours ago, mcmarya said:

That's all well and good for NCL passengers but what about the other cruise lines.  Not having the orange ferry available will seriously impact our plans for September.

I guess you'll have to ask Bermuda that one. 

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, mcmarya said:

Sadly, the ferry to Hamilton and bus to St. Georges costs twice as much and takes more than twice as long, unfortunate with only one full day in Bermuda.

Personally if the public ferry is not running I would not go to St. George from the Dockyard. There are other things that can be done than St.George.

[tap_out]

We will be in Bermuda the week of August 15th on the Carnival Magic. This is disappointing to hear. We had planned a trip to the caves and to explore Tom Moore's. Any idea how long the trip would take each way if we were to fairy to Hamilton and then take the bus. We did take the NCL fairy last time but I cant remember how long of a ride it was. Thanks 

[Charles4515]

45 minutes ago, tap_out said:

We will be in Bermuda the week of August 15th on the Carnival Magic. This is disappointing to hear. We had planned a trip to the caves and to explore Tom Moore's. Any idea how long the trip would take each way if we were to fairy to Hamilton and then take the bus. We did take the NCL fairy last time but I cant remember how long of a ride it was. Thanks 

 

It would take 20 -30  minutes on the ferry (depends which ferry boat)  to Hamilton and about a 30 -40 minute bus ride. It is about a ten minute walk from the ferry to the bus terminal. There are 4 different bus routes that you can take so probably won't have to wait long for a bus. 

 

For comparison if you were able to take a ferry to St. George that would be 45 minutes and a 20 minute bus ride to the caves. Not a whole lot of difference.......and there are more ferries daily to Hamilton than to St. George. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Charles4515

[tap_out]

16 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

It would take 20 -30  minutes on the ferry (depends which ferry boat)  to Hamilton and about a 30 -40 minute bus ride. It is about a ten minute walk from the ferry to the bus terminal. There are 4 different bus routes that you can take so probably won't have to wait long for a bus. 

 

For comparison if you were able to take a ferry to St. George that would be 45 minutes and a 20 minute bus ride to the caves. Not a whole lot of difference.......and there are more ferries daily to Hamilton than to St. George. 

 

Thanks! 

[Charles4515]

Article in today's Royal Gazette with more information. Work expected to be completed by end of the month. 

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/transport/news/article/20220811/ferry-suspension-distressing-say-st-georges-businesses/

Edited August 11, 2022 by Charles4515

[mcmarya]

Thank you!  Will keep our fingers crossed.

[1025cruise]

All I can say is there must be a reason they are doing the work now. Perhaps something unsafe was found that needs immediate remediation? Perhaps it's the only time the construction crew was available?

Just remember, public transportation issues happen anywhere. In Boston, the entire Orange Line is closing for a month, causing a huge amount of pain. This includes getting kids to school.

[Charles4515]

More info in today’s Royal Gazette. The work will be completed in five weeks.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/transport/news/article/20220817/st-georges-mps-split-with-government-over-ferry-cancellation/

Edited August 17, 2022 by Charles4515

[njhorseman]

3 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

More info in this Royal Gazette article. The work will take five more weeks.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/transport/news/article/20220817/st-georges-mps-split-with-government-over-ferry-cancellation/

Pathetic. Only a complete idiot would shut down the ferry service in the height of the cruise season.

[njhorseman]

Perhaps on days when there are no NCL ships in port the government could charter the NCL ferry, which is perfectly capable of docking at Penno's Wharf as it's designed to load from the side rather than the bow.. At least that would provide some service. The fare charged passengers would at least partially offset the cost of the charter.

Edited August 17, 2022 by njhorseman

[cruiseny4life]

Such public disunity (I chortled when I read that)...I do feel badly for St. George. We'll venture up there on the NCL Ferry and give them a few dollars when we're there in September. 

[mcmarya]

Bad news.

Edited August 18, 2022 by mcmarya