Veendam from NYC to Bermuda in July 2011

[2twomikr]

Hello cyber cruisers, anyone going to bermuda or have comments about HAL Bermuda experiences ? Is the Tender loading in St. George reasonable or should we be prepared for ' cattle car rush ' ? Any decent public beaches in the St. George's Parish which are not on tourist radar ?

[CtheW0rld]

there's at least 2 active threads here on the 1st hal page about veendam/bermuda (now there's 3). if you run a search you'll find quite a lot more.

[LoveMyBoxer]

Little secret for St. G beach is achilles bay, right past tabacco, it's right next to Ft. St. Catherine's beach, which is also a great beach.

[catl331]

Hello cyber cruisers, anyone going to bermuda ...
There's active roll calls for the first four cruises in Jul:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=321

[lenquixote66]

The Bermuda Senate petitioned HAL to not tender its passengers to St.George .The belief is that a lot of passengers do not tender and St.George is not experiencing the same type of tourist revenue as Hamilton .

[catl331]

h-m-m-m The tender ferry is packed and hold 750 people almost half the passengers each time it leaves the ship. Maybe they don't all spend money but I thought I read that the stores and restaurants in St. George welcomed these passengers. There are not many stores etc. there though. We certainly are getting off on our day there. Maybe people are afraid that they won't be able to get back on the ferry as it takes so long to fill and return.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The Bermuda Senate petitioned HAL to not tender its passengers to St.George .The belief is that a lot of passengers do not tender and St.George is not experiencing the same type of tourist revenue as Hamilton .

This seems odd. From my experience, and what I've read on CC, the tenders go ashore full. I'd like to know the basis of the statement that St Georges is not making as much money as Hamilton. Is this tourist spending? Specifically HAL? Veendam only spends one day in St Georges, and three in Hamilton. So that's going to skew the numbers. Plus, St Georges has several nice high-end boutique shops, which are good for looking but maybe not for buying. They have fewer of the souvenir shops where a lot of the American money gets spent. (Don't flame me for using a stereotype. I've seen which stores are busiest.)

If Bermuda does want to stop the tendering to St Georges, I think it might be due to the fact that they've been using the ferry Bermudiana to do an extra run from King's Wharf to St Georges, to alleviate some of the complaints about transportation from the West End. They can't do that on the day that HAL is using the ferry.

[SailBadtheSinner]

2twomikr asked: .....Any decent public beaches in the St. George's Parish which are not on tourist radar?....

Clearwater Beach on St Davids Island. Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CN8UK1lNLA


SBtS