Beach day Bermuda

I am sailing into Bermuda for an overnight on the Grandeur (Aug 12/13), which is the best day to do the beach excursion, Sat. afternoon or Sun. morning?

I'd go for the Saturday afternoon

I'd do Saturday as well. No worries about getting back to the ship if you are having a good time.

Saturday. If you don't get enough beach time then you can go to Snorkel Beach on Sunday morning, walking distance from the ship.

You also might find more information searching the ports of call area of CC.

I am sailing into Bermuda for an overnight on the Grandeur (Aug 12/13), which is the best day to do the beach excursion, Sat. afternoon or Sun. morning?

How many are in the group you are traveling with?

To get to Horseshoe Bay Beach, I would take the mini-bus which will give you door to door service. The fare, each way, is $7.00 p/p. Another option would be a taxi.

Oh yeah, I would do it on Saturday.

SBtS

There are lots of options. We are going to be in Bermuda in October and we have visited on an overnight 2 other times.

I would go exploring on the first day, no worries about getting back to the ship. Explore Hamilton and St Georges via ferry (bus takes a long time). Have lunch at a local tavern, do some shopping, and see the sites. Just make sure you keep track of the ferry schedule.

Day 2 would be a dedicated beach day. There are lots of buses that pass by Horseshoe beach in both directions. Dedicated beach buses, and local buses. If you are really in a pinch take a taxi, but first choice would be a bus.

Get a 2-day bus and ferry pass for only $31.50 at the pier, or the lines will probably be shorter at the visitor's center. If you take the ferries the pass will save you a lot of money.

https://www.gov.bm/bus-fares

There are lots of options. We are going to be in Bermuda in October and we have visited on an overnight 2 other times.

 

I would go exploring on the first day, no worries about getting back to the ship. Explore Hamilton and St Georges via ferry (bus takes a long time). Have lunch at a local tavern, do some shopping, and see the sites. Just make sure you keep track of the ferry schedule.

 

Day 2 would be a dedicated beach day. There are lots of buses that pass by Horseshoe beach in both directions. Dedicated beach buses, and local buses. If you are really in a pinch take a taxi, but first choice would be a bus.

 

Get a 2-day bus and ferry pass for only $31.50 at the pier, or the lines will probably be shorter at the visitor's center. If you take the ferries the pass will save you a lot of money.

 

https://www.gov.bm/bus-fares

Does the 2 day pass include the mini bus that goes to Horseshoe?

Does the 2 day pass include the mini bus that goes to Horseshoe?

It did the last time we were there. 05-Sep-2015 - Liberty - 5 Night Bermuda Sadly the Bermuda run bus was discontinued last year. Did not realize this in my last post. But the Bermuda buses will still stop there. They just aren't as frequent. You can still get value from the two day pass, and even if you don't there is a lot less hassle than using tokens. We have always at least broke even.

https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_000325.htm

The mini bus is really a dedicated privately run beach bus. It goes to other beaches, including Horseshoe beach.

Enjoy your cruise.

Does the 2 day pass include the mini bus that goes to Horseshoe?

No, the minibus is not included. The minibuses are privately operated. I advise against doing the public buses to Horseshoe. There used to be Special public buses that went to Horseshoe only, but they were discontinued. As a result of that and a shortage of buses on the #7 route the buses are crowded and sometimes people have to wait for the next bus. Private minibuses or taxies are the best option.The minibuses charge $7 per person.

I'm on the same cruise :-) I think we will do a beach both days! Hope we arrive on time. It is late to get started to the beach!

No, the minibus is not included. The minibuses are privately operated. I advise against doing the public buses to Horseshoe. There used to be Special public buses that went to Horseshoe only, but they were discontinued. As a result of that and a shortage of buses on the #7 route the buses are crowded and sometimes people have to wait for the next bus. Private minibuses or taxies are the best option.The minibuses charge $7 per person.

Thank you!

I'm on the same cruise :-) I think we will do a beach both days! Hope we arrive on time. It is late to get started to the beach!

See you on the beach

Thank you all for your responses, as usual very informative.

There are lots of options. We are going to be in Bermuda in October and we have visited on an overnight 2 other times.

 

I would go exploring on the first day, no worries about getting back to the ship. Explore Hamilton and St Georges via ferry (bus takes a long time). Have lunch at a local tavern, do some shopping, and see the sites. Just make sure you keep track of the ferry schedule.

 

Day 2 would be a dedicated beach day. There are lots of buses that pass by Horseshoe beach in both directions. Dedicated beach buses, and local buses. If you are really in a pinch take a taxi, but first choice would be a bus.

 

Get a 2-day bus and ferry pass for only $31.50 at the pier, or the lines will probably be shorter at the visitor's center. If you take the ferries the pass will save you a lot of money.

The OP will be in Bermuda on August 12&13 which is a weekend. The ferry to St George does not run on weekends. I would not visit SG unless traveling by taxi from Hamilton. Of course, you ferry to Hamilton first. The weekend ferries run on a reduced schedule of once per hour.

The 2 day Transportation Pass only makes financial sense if you plan to board a public bus or ferry 8 times or more during your stay. The TP is of no use if you use the mini-bus to Horseshoe Bay.

SBtS

The OP will be in Bermuda on August 12&13 which is a weekend. The ferry to St George does not run on weekends. I would not visit SG unless traveling by taxi from Hamilton. Of course, you ferry to Hamilton first. The weekend ferries run on a reduced schedule of once per hour.

 

The 2 day Transportation Pass only makes financial sense if you plan to board a public bus or ferry 8 times or more during your stay. The TP is of no use if you use the mini-bus to Horseshoe Bay.

 

SBtS

That's unfortunate they stopped all ferry service to St Georges on the weekends. Kinda limits your options. You can still purchase individual tokens for other trips. Anyway, it appears that lots of changes have occurred since 2015. Even if you don't 'get your money's worth" on a TP it's still cheaper than a taxi, and the ferry is far faster to get to Hamilton from the Dockyard.

I would still do the trip to visit the island on Saturday. If you get lost, a slow bus, or taxi, there is no pressure to get back to the ship on time. Sunday there will still be plenty of transportation to Horseshoe beach and more importantly to get back to the ship on time.

Enjoy your cruise.

That's unfortunate they stopped all ferry service to St Georges on the weekends. Kinda limits your options.

Don't know their logic for not running some ferry service to St. George's on weekends. Seems like they should run them at least on Saturday.

They have just elected a new government so there could be changes.

I took a cruise on the GOTS last summer with the itinerary the OP will have. The port times for Bermuda are not the best. We were not able to get off the ship until around 2:45 on the first day.

DH and I have been to Bermuda twice before for 2 overnights each time so we were not stressed about going anywhere special the first afternoon. It was a good thing because there just wasn't much time. We rode the tram to the entrance of Snorkel Park [not a great beach but it was close] . We were late enough entering that they did not charge us the $5 pp fee. It closes at 5 PM. We stayed until then and headed back to the ship.

We took a minibus to Horseshoe Bay beach the next morning and then back to the ship in early afternoon. We left ourselves plenty of time. A taxi on Sunday will have a surcharge. I think it is 25%. [or was]

There are lots of changes to transportation in Bermuda from a couple of years ago. Locals were upset their buses were full of tourists that bought low-cost multi day passes making it harder for them to get around. Taxi and mini bus drivers wanted a piece of the tourist pie. So, the government stopped the special buses to Horseshoe Bay and encouraged tourists to take private transportation via scheduling. Everyone is happy except the tourists. :rolleyes:

We loved those multiday passes in the past.

I was on your itinerary last week or so.

Saturday is a better day for the beach BUT, just to warn you, there is NO shade anywhere on that beach. If you rent an umbrella and or lounger, they'll give you a discount, only because they will reclaim the umbrellas and lounge chairs at 5:00. You arrive at 2:00, but in reality, you'll get out of the ship sometime closer to 2:45. You MIGHT get more bang for your buck if you wake up early and go Sunday morning, but you run the risk of missing the boat.

Oh, and its stupidly expensive in Bermuda. The 7 dollar/person minibus was probably the best deal of anything I saw.

I was on your itinerary last week or so.

 

Saturday is a better day for the beach BUT, just to warn you, there is NO shade anywhere on that beach. If you rent an umbrella and or lounger, they'll give you a discount, only because they will reclaim the umbrellas and lounge chairs at 5:00. You arrive at 2:00, but in reality, you'll get out of the ship sometime closer to 2:45. You MIGHT get more bang for your buck if you wake up early and go Sunday morning, but you run the risk of missing the boat.

 

Oh, and its stupidly expensive in Bermuda. The 7 dollar/person minibus was probably the best deal of anything I saw.

Yes--that is why we did Horseshoe Bay on the second day. There is just not enough time to enjoy the beach on the first day. It is ~25-30 minutes from the port. We left the beach around 1-ish and there were lots of mini-vans waiting to take cruisers back to the ship.

No, the minibus is not included. The minibuses are privately operated. I advise against doing the public buses to Horseshoe. There used to be Special public buses that went to Horseshoe only, but they were discontinued. As a result of that and a shortage of buses on the #7 route the buses are crowded and sometimes people have to wait for the next bus. Private minibuses or taxies are the best option.The minibuses charge $7 per person.

This is my fear - I've done this before where I waited, and waited, for the public bus.

Therefore - I'm looking at the RCI excursion to/from horseshoe... I know, I can hear you all now - No!, not the excursion - but my peace of mind in guaranteeing that I get back to the ship is worth the extra money. :)

This is my fear - I've done this before where I waited, and waited, for the public bus.

 

Therefore - I'm looking at the RCI excursion to/from horseshoe... I know, I can hear you all now - No!, not the excursion - but my peace of mind in guaranteeing that I get back to the ship is worth the extra money. :)

The private Minibus shuttles to and from Horseshoe are plentiful. I went to Horseshoe the last two years on the last day and getting back was no problem. You don't need the RCI excursion for peace of mind.

We are on the same cruise as the OP and had the same question about Saturday vs. Sunday! Thanks for all the info!

We were in Bermuda on Saturday/Sunday a couple of weeks ago. It's really hot in the afternoon. We decided to do an excursion on Saturday afternoon and do Horsehoe Bay Beach on Sunday morning. We took the minibus both ways. Very easy. We returned to the ship in the early afternoon, along with quite a few people. The line must have had one hundred people in front of us... and we were on a minibus in about 10-15 minutes of waiting.

There's no way I would do the RCI Shore Excursion just to go to Horseshoe Bay. Too expensive for what you get. The minibus folks know what they are doing.

We went on a beautiful Saturday last year. Good job as it was miserable rainy weather on the Sunday

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