Hello! New member wondering abt cruising to Bermuda

Greetings! I'm so happy to find this resource - I've never cruised before, but my husband took a Disney cruise with his family in the past.

Our anniversary is coming up in April 2015, and we're thinking of pointing our compasses toward Bermuda. We actually love planning self-guided vacations together, but would like to leave the planning up to someone else for this trip. Would love any advice re: cruise lines, ships, etc. Thanks so much!

Greetings! I'm so happy to find this resource - I've never cruised before, but my husband took a Disney cruise with his family in the past.

Our anniversary is coming up in April 2015, and we're thinking of pointing our compasses toward Bermuda. We actually love planning self-guided vacations together, but would like to leave the planning up to someone else for this trip. Would love any advice re: cruise lines, ships, etc. Thanks so much!

I would suggest, since you say "would like to leave the planning up to someone else for this trip", that you find a Travel Agent that is well versed in cruises.

I would suggest, since you say "would like to leave the planning up to someone else for this trip", that you find a Travel Agent that is well versed in cruises.

Best advice you will ever get!!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

A travel agent will help you select the perfect cruise for you

Best advice you will ever get!!

Why, thank you :o!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

A Bermuda cruise is great.

As others have said you would be best to speak with a TA.

There are only a few cruise lines that sail Bermuda on a regular basis. I believe the two are NCL and Celebrity.

Again have a TA help you with this.

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

April is a little early in the season for ships to sail to Bermuda.

HAL's Veendam will be doing some 2015 Bermuda cruise.

franks402,

Royal Caribbean also sails to Bermuda. We went there on our first cruise and can't wait to get back. You picked a great destination for your first cruise. Check out the Bermuda forum here :

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=196

Having a travel agent do the planning for you is a great idea, this will just give you more information.

Enjoy you cruise

Craig

I would suggest, since you say "would like to leave the planning up to someone else for this trip", that you find a Travel Agent that is well versed in cruises.

I've never used a travel agent; how much of our vacation savings will get siphoned off by doing that? I was thinking that coming to this site would allow me to choose the best cruise line, then the cruise director lets us know what activitites are available and we just roll with it...

Thanks for the quick responses! :)

I think first you need to narrow down when you want to go, where you want to depart from and then that will point you to which cruise lines are available.

Research which lines by going to the line specific board here and reading each lines website- view pictures of the ships, read the FAQ page etc.

By that time you will have an idea of which line or ship.

Come back to the lines board here and you can start to investigate cabins- inside all the way up to suite. Also do you want formal nights or more casual... How many days in port etc

I'm partial to NCL. I've done Dawn and Breakaway to Bermuda just last month. Love it so much we're going back again next Sept.

Most travel agents work on commissions from the cruise line you book with. Some travel agents charge fees for some purchases. You just need to find one that works on commissions only.

You will be reading the daily schedule provided on the ship for your activities, although you will most likely want to book some excursions in advance. I wouldn't wait to hear from the Cruise Director every day on what your activities will be.

I would again suggest finding a travel agent, and doing lots of reading here on Cruise Critic.

Thank you both! Good ideas!

Hi welcome to Cruise Critic...

i took a cruise to Bermuda about 15-20 years ago in April and it was rather chilly - especially on the cruise over. Bermuda is just off the coast of NC, so April can be cool.

having said that we had a great time - we rented scooters and drove all over the island.

Bermuda just had severe damage from two hurricanes in a little over a week.

I wonder how much of that damage will be completely repaired by next April.

That is also something to keep in mind.

Hi welcome to Cruise Critic...

 

i took a cruise to Bermuda about 15-20 years ago in April and it was rather chilly - especially on the cruise over. Bermuda is just off the coast of NC, so April can be cool.

 

having said that we had a great time - we rented scooters and drove all over the island.

"Just off the coast"? Just under 1000 miles!

Bermuda might be a tad too cold in April, but we took our first cruise there and would agree - it is a beautiful island to visit. In terms of ships, you have a choice of departure locations - NCL and HAL will be sailing from Boston, NCL, RCI, and Celebrity will be sailing from NYC or NJ, and RCI also sails from Baltimore. Most are 7 night cruises, although RCI also offers 5 night and 6 night options from NJ and Baltimore respectively. We took a 6 night from Baltimore, and our only regret was that we did not book a 7 night :).

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Bermuda just had severe damage from two hurricanes in a little over a week.

I wonder how much of that damage will be completely repaired by next April.

That is also something to keep in mind.

One tropical storm and one hurricane...and the damage was not severe. You're wrong in saying "severe damage". I don't know how you got that idea.

Thanks in large part to Bermuda's construction code there was next to no structural damage of the type that would require demolition of a building. The vast majority of damage appears to be to roofing. Hotels are open and accepting guests, schools, businesses and government offices are open, the airport is open, a cruise ship (Celebrity Infinity) docked today, buses and ferries are running, taxis and mini buses are lined up at Dockyard for Infinity passengers who need their services, etc. Other than repairs to damaged roofing the major issue right now is restoring power to about 10% of the electric utility's customers.

By next year's cruise season you will be hard-pressed to know two storms hit Bermuda in one week.

Please don't scare people away with falsehoods.

I've never used a travel agent; how much of our vacation savings will get siphoned off by doing that? I was thinking that coming to this site would allow me to choose the best cruise line, then the cruise director lets us know what activitites are available and we just roll with it...

Thanks for the quick responses! :)

You're not charged by a travel agent, unless you decide to either change or cancel your cruise---some agencies will charge for any changes in your booking and some don't. But, if you find a high volume agency, you might get some pretty good perks that you won't get by booking directly with the cruise line. We get paid gratuities, on board credit and a bottle of wine.

As for choosing the "best" cruise line, it's really impossible to define best. What's best for one, might be the worst for another. Of the four lines that I'm aware of that cruise to Bermuda, my pick would be Celebrity. But you will find others who will tell you NCL is the best, but for me, I wouldn't cruise that line again even if it were free. Royal Caribbean would be my second choice.

One tropical storm and one hurricane...and the damage was not severe. You're wrong in saying "severe damage". I don't know how you got that idea. ... ...

 

Please don't scare people away with falsehoods.

I got that idea from the photos shown on news footage.

I resent your accusing me of 'falsehoods'

I got that idea from the photos shown on news footage.

I resent your accusing me of 'falsehoods'

Unfortunately, with news programs, "If it bleeds it leads" The media would focus on the small amount of damage to make it "newsworthy"

I got that idea from the photos shown on news footage.

I resent your accusing me of 'falsehoods'

Rather than relying on 30 second film clips on television news shows you could try actually researching the subject before making a statement.

It's completely unfair to the Bermudian people, for whom tourism is a major part of the economy, to discourage travel there for absolutely no reason.

And whether you like it or not, if something isn't true it's false, and saying that Bermuda suffered severe damage is false.

Bermuda just had severe damage from two hurricanes in a little over a week.

I wonder how much of that damage will be completely repaired by next April.

That is also something to keep in mind.

Next April? Not the slightest chance it has to be something to keep in mind.

I sailed just a few weeks after Fabian when they had real damage.Part of the Causeway was washed out, some lives were lost, there was no opening to the shallow area to the right at Horseshoe Bay but was broken through during Fabian, roads washed out, Sonesta Beach Hotel ravaged, etc. That hurricane did leave severe damage in its wake.

Fabian hit Sept. 6 and I was there probably the second week in Oct. The only evidence of any damage was a few blue roof tarps here and there. Bermuda know how to come back after storms/hurricanes to get things up and running.:)

Franks402, there are lots of options for you but I do agree that April might be a tad cool and if you like water activities, the water will no have warmed up yet. Bermudians generally do not go in the water until May 24.:D

I also agree to start reading the Bermuda board and Russianmom gave good advice for trying to narrow down your choices.

I've never used a travel agent; how much of our vacation savings will get siphoned off by doing that? I was thinking that coming to this site would allow me to choose the best cruise line, then the cruise director lets us know what activitites are available and we just roll with it...

Thanks for the quick responses! :)

There's no charge for using a TA. They get commission for booking you from the cruise line. Sometimes the TA can give you a discount or on board credit (OBC) that can be used for excursions or to pay for photos or other purchases on the ship. The amount of OBC we get depends on the cost of the cruise (as it's coming out of the TA's commission). A TA can also help you pick a cabin that is in a location that suits your needs or keeps you from choosing a cabin right under the disco or the kitchen, etc. We use a TA that only does cruises. He's been on the ships, knows the lay-out and can give you some great advice and tips. Find one that specializes in cruises and ask questions about whether they have been on the ships, been to your destination, etc. We were booking multiple cabins with 3 people in each cabin. He called a few minutes later and asked us if we would be interested in putting our teens in an interior cabin across from us..because he had done the figures and found that it would save us money, AND the teens would have their own cabin and bathroom. Sometimes they are invaluable. Saves us loads of time and has saved us money every time.

Rather than relying on 30 second film clips on television news shows you could try actually researching the subject before making a statement.

 

It's completely unfair to the Bermudian people, for whom tourism is a major part of the economy, to discourage travel there for absolutely no reason.

 

And whether you like it or not, if something isn't true it's false, and saying that Bermuda suffered severe damage is false.

Well, to me torn up roads are severe damage. That is a truth. And it was certainly more than 30seconds. It was five minutes of interviews with Bermudians near the damages.

I didn't discourage travel there for no reason. I was thinking about those roads where tourists travel by bus or scooter. But evidently those roads will be fixed in no time

Well, to me torn up roads are severe damage. That is a truth. And it was certainly more than 30seconds. It was five minutes of interviews with Bermudians near the damages.

 

I didn't discourage travel there for no reason. I was thinking about those roads where tourists travel by bus or scooter. But evidently those roads will be fixed in no time

Torn up roads? Don't know who came up with that piece of fiction, but it is fiction, not fact. Many roads were temporarily blocked by fallen trees and utility poles/wires, but all the main roads were cleared and open to traffic in short order. Every bus line in Bermuda is running. They wouldn't be running if there were torn up roads.

You can read real sources of Bermuda news for the facts rather than watching US television stations:

http://www.royalgazette.com

http://www.bernews.com