64 hours to Bermuda - 39 coming back?

[Laszlo]

June 19th Cruise to Bermuda on Gem. Maybe my math is wrong. Leave Sunday at 4pm and arrive Wednesday at 8am. Thats 64 hours, coming back leave Friday at 5pm and get in Sunday at 8am (39 hours). Why is it almost twice as long going over?

[flowerchild]

They just go slower going to Bermuda than back...you will notice the difference in speed on the way back, it will be a bit choppier.

[Laszlo]

Thanks, whats the idea behind it? They can't stay in port more than 3 days?

[garycarla]

You also have many hours tied up with time of day to arrive and depart. You really don't want the ship to arrive at 1am, right?

[iceman2a]

Thanks, whats the idea behind it? They can't stay in port more than 3 days?

 

They share the dock with the Dawn, they can not dock until the Dawn departs!

[Laszlo]

You also have many hours tied up with time of day to arrive and depart. You really don't want the ship to arrive at 1am, right?

 

As long as they don't wake me:D

[dwjoe]

Unlike a plane, the purpose of a cruise is not to get you from A to B in the shortest amount of time. So they set the ship's speed to schedule their arrival in port for a convenient time. This depends on several factors e.g. maximizing useful time for passengers, space availability at the dock, applicable regulations etc.

 

I remember on one cruise going back to Miami, the ship's speed was really really slow because we were already close to the port. That's how they stretched that leg of the cruise into a sea day.

[Don Haynes]

With NCL and Bermuda there are two NCL ships sharing the same pier, one ship from New York City and one from Boston. Both ships spend three days and two nights at Bermuda, the rest of the cruise is at sea... However one ship takes two sea days to get there and the other ship takes two sea days to come back. NCL schedules the departure from Boston on Friday evening, and is docked at Bermuda Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, whereas the ship from New York City departs on Sunday evening, and is docked at Bermuda on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...

 

Since NCL signed a ten year agreement with Bermuda for two ships during the season, this allowed Bermuda to build the new second pier at the Dockyards, which by the way, NCL usually uses...NCL also received an exclusive from Boston with this deal, something NCL values greatly... The Holland American ship in Boston does Canadian cruises, no Bermuda cruises...

[Laszlo]

Thanks for the info. Are the NCL ships the only ships docked at Kings Warf?

[swedish weave]

Doesn't the Gulf Stream run North up the East coast ? That would make it more economical to run slow going South against the current and run faster going North with the current. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Jerseyboy1]

The longer travel time also helps with the casino and onboard shops revenue doesn't it? More sea days...more money...:)

[Shelli]

Thanks for the info. Are the NCL ships the only ships docked at Kings Warf?

 

No-- lots of cruiselines use King's Wharf. Here's a file that shows what ships will be there on a particular day in a particular month. Scroll down to page 5 to see it by month.

[Don Haynes]

The longer travel time also helps with the casino and onboard shops revenue doesn't it? More sea days...more money...:)

 

Well, for both ships to spend another day at Bermuda, a week needs to be eight days long, not seven... And yes, Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines do use the other pier at the Dockyards, although maybe not for the entire season... But yes, they want to use the second pier on days NCL uses their pier... Simply put there is a least one sea day from any US departure port while cruise lines prefer to depart on weekends, not Thursday...

Whether a ship departs on Saturday or Sunday, and considering at least one sea day for the other lines, Saturday is the day there is no ships at Bermuda using a pier... As it is, one NCL ship leaves Boston on Friday evening to make the itineraries work...

And I am sure Bermuda workers would prefer to have Sunday off more than Saturday, but the cruise lines do prefer weekend departures from their home ports...

As for the ship's nightlife and the casino, yes, the cruise line earns more revenue spending another day at sea... No denial, but there is much more involved... Frankly, Bermuda's nightlife isn't as good as the nightlife on the ship anyway...

[Laszlo]

Thanks All

[craigers]

Up until a few years ago ships use to spend 3.3 days in Bermuda.Now that the ships are too big to dock in St.George and Hamilton,the docking space is limited.

[craigers]

Change that to 4.3 days in Bermuda.

[Don Haynes]

Up until a few years ago ships use to spend 3.3 days in Bermuda.Now that the ships are too big to dock in St.George and Hamilton,the docking space is limited.

 

Both St. George and Hamilton's two piers, four piers total, their harbors are too small for the larger ships cruise lines have today. While it was possible to combine them into one large pier, their harbors are too small. As it is Bermuda added a pier to the Dockyards with the NCL ten year agreement, leaving them with two piers large enough for the larger ships... Cruise lines now have to share those two piers...

[njhorseman]

Doesn't the Gulf Stream run North up the East coast ? That would make it more economical to run slow going South against the current and run faster going North with the current. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Yes, you are running against the Gulf Stream going south, but that has nothing to do with the why the itinerary has an extra day. If you look at the Dawn's itinerary from Boston to Bermuda, they have the extra day at sea on the northbound return to Boston even though they are running with the current going northbound. It's nothing more than an operational/scheduling decision by NCL to spend the extra day at sea southbound on the Gem from NY but northbound on the Dawn to Boston.