jpcamb

A little bump, besides the caves and pink beach is there anything else people would recommend in Bermuda? I'm taking a cruise with my parents and my family for their 50th and will be there the first week in July for about 3 days, we really only have one full day in Hamilton as we arrive around 4pm day one and leave around 3pm on the last day.... My Dad has somewhat limited mobility, how strenuous is the crystal cave and is there an easier less crowded cave system we might be able to go to?

pyro383

Rent a boat less than $250 for 1/2 day and go check out some shipwrecks and snorkel.

When I went snorkeling I brought cheerios from the ship in a baggie and crushed them up and used it as fish food. I was the envy of all around me.

parrotheads4

That is genius !

Trevor

Holy amnesia of a thread bump! I’ve been to Bermuda?

jpcamb

So it was a memorable trip?

TomOpus

Maybe there never was a trip. Maybe we were punk'd.

Josh-da-man

It's a magical place.

Oh, wait... that's Tahiti.

jpcamb

So I went and spent about 3 days there on my cruise from Boston. We did the Crystal Caves, Horseshoe bay, Hamilton and St George by ferry. I would recommend if you are at all savy with public transport to get a bus pass for a day or two rather than getting taxis. We skipped the excursion on the boat and did the caves on our own, the bus pass was 17/pp and the caves were about 20 pp which is much cheaper than the 99 bucks the cruise line wanted for the tour. We took the same ferry as the cruise ship which was free as it was part of norwegian so we really could have bought a couple of bus tokens for less than the pass (about 9 bucks for 2 tokens or a round trip.) The caves were cool but I'm glad we only did the one tour as there was a second set (fantasy caves) that was another 20 bucks. All the shopping was pretty similar but with the wife and my kids wanting to look at the shops I was along for the ride.

There is basically one main road thru the island so its pretty easy to get on or off a bus and the beaches were decently marked so you can tell where to get off. People were very friendly and helpful as well, which made it easier to figure things out as we did not activate our cellphones for the island. we did do a van ride with my parents who can't really manage busses and such as they are older, and man, they drive like crazy people on this island. the scooters pass and get passed by busses and trucks and I was pleasantly surprised not to see anyone die in front of me. I drive in Boston all the time and you couldn't pay me to get on a scooter there.

eXcentris

Thanks for that. Planning on a first cruise in December so good place to start.

One question: We're 3 adults, any cabins with 3 beds or will we need two rooms?

General Zod

The best you are going to get is a a queen size bed that they can split into two beds (I'd call to make sure your cabin has a bed that can do this.. sometimes it's just a queen bed that can't be split) and a sofa couch. So yeah.. you can do 3 beds that way on a lot of the more common cruise lines. As you get higher up in the quality scale of cruise lines the queen beds become to nicer pillow top or extra comfort beds and they don't split so you lose that 3rd bed option on most of those.

eXcentris

Ok thanks. I don't mind getting my own cabin even if the rates are based on double occupancy because I already do that when we go to an all included resort (my sis-in-law shares a room with my nephew/niece). If it's too cramped, none of us will be comfortable anyway.

Lots of info on cruisecritic, I'll keep reading.

jpcamb

be really careful booking your cabin. I stupidly assumed we would have a couch that turned into a bed. Instead we had a trundle bed and something between a murphy bed and bunk bed that dropped down. Our configuration was a little different with the trundle bed off to the left and the two mattress jammed together. The bed under the bunk was like a coffin... For us it would have added about another 2k to get separate cabins and we were already at almost 5K.

I would highly recommend looking at cruise critic and seeing if you can figure out what your sleeping config would be. It was awkward trying to change with my teens in the room and the bathroom was tiny.

General Zod

Yeah I would really recommend doing this if comfort is very important to you.. OR you can upgrade to a suite. The suites are a bit bigger and can usually accommodate 3 more easily. Plus they come with some extra perks. Something to think about.

MLBFan24

I also vouch for Cruise Critic message boards. Helpful people over there.

I also recommend using Vacations to Go as your cruise travel agent. One might think that using a travel agent these days is pointless, but Vacations to Go can usually get the same competitive rate. The travel agent may also offer additional on-board credit that the cruise line might not match. They are most helpful when setting up large groups. For example, my family had a reunion that consisted of 30 people. It was easier to have a travel agent work out the dining room table layout and cabin preferences.

I’ve been on 12 cruises and it’s definitely my greatest passion in life. I’m always down for some cruise talk!

alexkevin

Are you going to Bermuda Triangle? :O

eXcentris

Well it looks like we'll postpone this cruise and go to Costa Rica instead. Cost for 2 is roughly similar to an all included, but for me in single occupancy, it's 1k+ more ($3600/7days ), and that's without the "extras". For example, 10 days in Costa Rica is roughly $2300 for me.

The other issue is we can only do this during the Xmas holidays because my nephew is in college. Prices are high and we can't shop for deals.

So, my sis-in-law and I will do a cruise some other time, when we're not stuck to specific dates, can look for deals, and don't have to worry about a 3rd person.

General Zod

Enjoy! Shirts run small there. If you're a large get an extra large. You've been warned

Snapped this photo when I was there last year. It's a great place!



Cruises can be expensive especially when trying to shoe horn in a 3rd person. Good luck on your future cruise plans. I recommend Oceania or Regent.

eXcentris

I went to Costa Rica 3 years ago, a week with family, and a week on my own. I had a great time.

For "like Costa Rica 25 years ago" try Nicaragua. We rented a house there 2 years ago and had a blast. There's not much tourist infrastructure though, so it's more for the adventurous. We found pristine beaches with almost no people and the best thing about them? No boats, jet skis, parasailing, people bugging you to do stuff and NO NOISE. We even ended up on a beach where they shot a season of Survivor. Need a 4x4 though.

davidh777

Check your review on cruisecritic.