My uber-Last-Minute Solo Bermuda Cruise! - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I set my alarm for 7 am because I intended to be at the excursion desk by 8—when it opened—to book a VERY last minute excursion. By ‘last minute’ I mean ‘it left at 8:15!’ However, I hit snooze too many times, so I ended up rushing to the excursion desk…only to find out that the one I’d picked was not running that day. There was another very similar sounding snorkel cruise that I could have joined, but something told me to let it go. So I did.
All of the above is very, very unlike me. You see, I’m usually a ‘go go go!’ type person—and I also always plan things in advance. So it was strange to sit on the deck enjoying my breakfast, knowing that I had no actual plans for the day. And by ‘strange’ I mean ‘relaxing! I finally snapped a photo of my typical breakfast—though I was mostly intending to snap a photo of my beautiful view…
That’s my three hashbrowns, three pieces of bacon, one chocolate croissant breakfast of champions. I convinced myself that as long as I could still SEE THE PLATE, it couldn’t be too bad for me. Right…
The view was very lovely…here’s one with my real camera…
…and as I sat there I was actually able to watch people leave on the snorkel cruise I chose not to take. I cannot tell you how glad I am that I didn’t take that excursion. The boat they left on was SO INSANELY FULL that I honestly don’t know how it did not sink. And so, happy with my decision, I mopped up the rest of my bernaise sauce and wandered off the ship—at the late, late hour of 9:30!
My plan was simple—I’d see about booking a non-NCL snorkel cruise. If that didn’t work, I’d go to the snorkel park. Heck, it was right there! And so I meandered up to the little shed that acts as a tour booth and asked the lady three important questions: 1. Do you have a snorkel cruise leaving any time soon? Yes, yes she did—leaving in less than 20 minutes in fact! 2. Are there toilet facilities on board? (this is very important!) Yes, yes there are. And finally 3. Do you take Visa? Yes, yes she does!
After chatting with the nice ticket lady about public education and healthcare in Bermuda (have I mentioned how much I love the people in Bermuda?) I boarded this boat…
..which you can clearly see was almost empty. I cannot stress how glad I am that I didn’t book the excursion! Here’s how glad I was…
This random tour was FANTASTIC—and almost private! I counted fifteen people total on the tour—and it was a REALLY BIG BOAT! Also, I love love loved the men that were in charge. They were laid back, funny…ok, and a little cute!
After maneuvering through this tiny little opening…
We first were treated to a witty narrative of the land we were passing. Apparently this is the ‘ghetto’ in Bermuda…
…though it looks like cheerful ocean front property to me! Next, we enjoyed the cruise out to the ship wreck that we visited—the Vixen. On the way we passed more beautiful Bermudian coastline with the typical pretty houses…
…and these cute little huts that jut out over the water (that I’ve since learned are part of a resort)…
We then stopped directly over the shipwreck and were able to go down to the ‘first floor’ of the boat and check it out using the glass bottom viewing areas. Now, I’ve never had any desire to do a glass bottom boat tour, but it was pretty neat. I don’t ever need to do it again—I’d rather be IN the water. But neat it was—and anyway, I was about to be IN the water for a good long time!
After the ship wreck part we were given bread and told to feed the fish. I’ve never seen so many fish in one place before, and this includes the fish hatchery by my house!
While I didn’t take photos of the shipwreck OR of the fish, here’s one of me as we moved out to the snorkel site. Don’t I look just awful? Oh well—I’m about to go snorkeling! I don’t care!
And trust me—the photos of me are just going to get worse and worse!
We were given a brief lesson on how to wear the snorkel and mask (I learned that I had it on wrong at Tobacco Bay, which is likely why my goggles kept filling up with water!) and then they actually moved a part of the wall on the TOP part of the boat and said we were welcome to JUMP off. None of us took them up on that offer—though I did go back later and contemplate it!
Off the back of the boat I went, and after I got over how freaking scary it is to be all by yourself in water too deep to stand in with strange fish swimming all around—I had an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING TIME. Seriously, this may rank in the top 10 list of ‘best things I’ve ever done’. I realize it is ‘only’ snorkeling, but I’d previously only snorkeled one time—in Tobacco bay two days before—and this was WAY cooler. We were out in this crazy-clear water among these giant coral formations—you can kind of see them in this photo—they are the dark parts…
…Of course, lots and lots of fish hung out here--and I found a particularly cool looking one that I bonded with for a good long time (it was kind of awkward like a puffer fish, but had a LONG sort of snout with big puffy lips. I have no idea what it was!) And as I swam (amazingly quickly with the aid of fins) and the waves splashed up against my goggles I thought ‘holy crap, I’m snorkeling in Bermuda’. Perhaps this only came as a surprise to me because I’d booked the cruise so last minute—two weeks prior to that exact moment I didn’t even know I’d be GOING to Bermuda. So it was all just kind of surreal. And beautiful. And relaxing. And, eventually, exhausting! We were given what I’d say was at least 90 minutes of snorkel time, though I came back to the boat after maybe an hour and ten minutes. I was beat! But so happy.
See…
…I was so happy that I allowed myself to be photographed wearing a bathing suit (shudder!) I’m laughing because the man taking the photo (one of the crew) told me that if I had a problem with being photographed in a bathing suit, I was welcome to take it off! Ha! Here’s a less awful one, self-taken with my iPhone (from the neck UP!)
It was an amazing day. And, to top it all off, after the snorkeling we were welcome to enjoy as many rum swizzes as we wanted. Now, I truly believe that there was no actual alcohol in them—but that was ok. Because the citrus cut right through all of the sea water I’d accidentally swallowed, so they were much appreciated!
We returned to the dockyard by around 1:00. The ship was not sailing until 5. So did I go directly back to the ship? Of course not!
Up next—my last few hours in Bermuda (they involve rum!), sailing away, and dinner in the specialty Italian restaurant!
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That is my favorite color blue - that gorgeous tropical water! Can you call it tropical, though? Given that it's the same latitude (longitude?) as DC? You look great in your pictures!! So relaxed!
That is my favorite color blue - that gorgeous tropical water! Can you call it tropical, though? Given that it's the same latitude (longitude?) as DC? You look great in your pictures!! So relaxed!
according to my guide book, it is sub tropical--on the same lattitude as the line between north and south carolina. and they have palm trees in south carolina (well, at least on the license plates and flag--i've never actually BEEN to south carolina!)
everyone on the boat was amused by how well my suit matched the blue of the water. it was entirely unintentional--i purchased that suit to float down the delaware on an inner tube--so clearly it wasn't going to match the water there!
It was fate! How very perfect that you are enjoying your last day by sleeping late, enjoying a leisurely breakfast, and joining a last minute - half private - snorkeling tour. With rum!!! Very nice, indeed.
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Tanya
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It was fate! How very perfect that you are enjoying your last day by sleeping late, enjoying a leisurely breakfast, and joining a last minute - half private - snorkeling tour. With rum!!! Very nice, indeed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I was about to say that it was fate that it worked out that way - what a great thing not taking the excursion turned out to be!
yes--i'm VERY glad i made that last second decision. i was standing RIGHT THERE at the excursion desk.
though i'd like to think it was due to my insanely awesome traveler's' intuition.
Yeah…it’s been taking me WAY too long to finish this trip report—so sorry! That being said, I shall continue. For those of you who’ve forgotten by now, it is day three in port, my last day in Bermuda. I spent the morning and early afternoon on a snorkel cruise.
After leaving the snorkel cruise boat I thought that I probably should go back to the ship—after all, I looked positively awful. But we only had a few more hours in port, and I hadn’t gone shopping yet! And so, bad hair or not, I headed off towards the shops in port.
Here are some of the cuter ones…
…one of those places sold pottery and the other was a drug store. The pottery was INSANELY expensive. I picked up a bowl to check the price and, seeing that it was more than the entire cost of my trip, I put it back down very carefully and backed slowly out of the shop!
I then decided to peruse the Clocktower Mall, as I’d still not located the cologne my husband had requested. He bought a bottle when he was in Bermuda years and years ago and wanted me to bring him a replacement bottle. I never found it—not in the Clocktower Mall, not anywhere. It was called Bay Rhum—if anyone has ever heard of it, let me know.
Anyway…the clocktower mall is not that impressive. If you like to look at overpriced touristy crap, then this would be the place to do it. Well, actually, there was one really cool shop that sold all kinds of Indian-looking wall hangings and rugs and lanterns…but again, the prices were insane. So I browsed and then retreated back into the sunshine. After all, who wants to be in here…
Yes, the Clocktower Mall is definitely prettier from the outside. And anyway, it doesn’t cost anything to look!
After one last desperate attempt to locate aforementioned cologne in the drug store (no luck) I wandered into the Glassworks to watch some glass being blown.
Of course, the Bermuda Rum Cake factory is in the same building, and so it is impossible to escape the smell. Oh the smell…I can’t even describe it. You’re allowed to try a sample, and so I did. They have samples of almost every variety, but I tried only the original. I now regret this, as I know that other people were sampling all of them—but I didn’t want to be rude. After one bite I very seriously considered bringing a rum cake back for my husband, but wondered how it would fare in my suitcase—likely not well.
I then very seriously contemplated purchasing a blown glass pig with wings from the glass works gift shop. Hmmm—maybe there was some rum in those rum swizzles after all! More proof of my possible inebriation…I took photos like this one…
Umm…yeah. And this one, which required putting my whole upper body into a bush…
Yep. There probably was rum in those swizzles on the snorkel cruise. I swear I only had two. I think.
As I exited the glass works I intended to turn left to hit the arts and crafts market yet again, but was distracted by this in the other direction..
…that would be a yacht lift. It was driving down the street. Have you ever seen a yacht lift driving down the street? Well I hadn’t—and it was yet another reason I was glad that I’d decided to skip the scooter rental!
I finally made it to the arts and crafts market and did manage to make my one and only Bermuda purchase—a silver necklace with the official bird of Bermuda—the longtail—encircled by a thin rope. Fortunately, after having returned home, I still really like this necklace and actually do wear it all the time. Oh—and I was able to purchase it from the woman who made it for only $20. Though I also got a chain that was another $20, but still—a very, very good deal, if I do say so myself. And I do.
The arts and crafts market shares a hallway area with the Frog and Onion Pub. As I snapped this photo, I couldn’t help but notice that there was music coming from the inside of the pub…
…so of course I went in. I think at this point I was tired of giving my money to NCL (sorry NCL, I love you, but I’d charged enough drinks to my room at this point!) and I regretted not getting a ‘real’ swizzle at any point on my stay in Bermuda. So I quickly remedied that problem!
Because, as with the giant towel animal, I didn’t think that photo quite expressed the size of the drink itself, I snapped this one with my iPhone…for perspective purpose. It also illustrates the bad hair situation I was talking about earlier!
Let the record show that, as it was after 2:00 at this point—actually, I believe it was nearing 3—I intended to have only ONE drink. But then I started talking to this guy that was also on the ship, and he kept ordering me drinks. When the gentleman got up to use the restroom I called the bartender over and asked to please stop serving me drinks--even if they guy I was talking to insisted. The bartender laughed and printed out my check. After a quick stop at the Frog and Onion gift shop to purchase a shirt for my husband, I swaggered back to the ship. I was on by 4:00 for a 5:00 sail away—the man I met in the bar was still drinking, but I saw him later in the cruise so I know that he got back on board in time. I wonder how many drunk people get left behind on cruises? I’m thinking many.
You will note that the last thing I had to eat was breakfast that morning—three small hash browns, three strips of bacon, and a mini-croissant. At 8:00 that morning. Yeah. That was a lot of rum on an empty stomach after a day in the sun!
I sadly boarded the ship, knowing that I’d not be back on Bermuda soil again (or, rather, until my next Bermuda cruise!) My main goal at this point was food—I needed something in my stomach or bad things were going to happen. Of course, you’re thinking ‘no problem—you’re on a cruise!’ Well, imagine my surprise when I turned the corner into the buffet…and found it closed!
They were setting up for the chocolate buffet scheduled for later that night. Aaack! I stumbled backwards onto the pool deck, happy to find that that little food station near the pool was still open. I grabbed a piece of cheesy bread and ate it where I stood. Whew! Much better!
Up next…sailing away from Bermuda and dinner at La Cucina, followed by one heck of a night of entertainment. And then the final day of the cruise. Boo!
Wow, now that's a nice looking drink. And I enjoyed your photos-after-rum-swizzle. The truck-train thing is very unique.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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