Bermuda Attitude & 2nd thoughts

[Steveo978]

We (Mrs. Steveo and I) are thinking about taking the Norwegian Dawn out of our home port of Boston to Bermuda this year. A co-worker has just returned from this trip and reminded me of a vibe we picked up on our previous visit back in 1992. A colleague just returned from the Dawn and I happened to mention the pretty pink busses are idle due to a Bus Driver Strike. His reply jogged my memory; "The bus driver's were jerks anyway." He related an exchange he had where he asked the driver if this was the bus to somewhere or other. The driver barked "What's it say on the front of the bus"? Real nice, and real helpful.

 

Rewind back to '92 and the Bermuda Jazz Festival. Seated for dinner it took an hour to get drinks, 2 1/2 hours to get served dinner. I remember thinking about reverse discrimination (we are a white couple). I also remember at the time thinking "why would I ever want to go back?" The mention of the bus driver's piss poor attitude reminded me of the crazy ridiculous prices and crappy service. The Jazz festival was great, the trip was overall fun but memorys of poor treatment with under currents of hostility have bubbled to the surface.

 

This colleague who just returned from Bermuda is young, maybe 25? Back in '92 I/we were younger too. As a relatively broke youngster, I can understand poor service if youngsters have a reputation for lousy tipping or rude behavior. I was thinking it might be fun to return to Bermuda, now that we are more established and can better afford such a trip. However, if this is a patern other cruisers have encountered maybe it would be better to spend my sparse vacation dollars elsewhere. I've visited many islands throughout the Caribbean and have felt more welcome and more appreciated at almost every single one.

 

I'm very interested to hear from other Bermuda travelers to see if we were treated like crap because we are white, were young or something else. I'm all ears.

[Princess Nancy]

Wow! I am shocked. We just returned from a lovely 3 days in Bermuda.

 

19 of us in all, white, ages 67 to 2!

 

The general consensus was that the people in Bermuda were so friendly, nice and helpful!

 

Actually we had NO issues at all while in Bermuda!

[Charles4515]

 

I'm very interested to hear from other Bermuda travelers to see if we were treated like crap because we are white, were young or something else. I'm all ears.

 

Been to Bermuda a bunch of time including last summer and have not been treated like crap with one exception. Never had any issues with the bus drivers and found the people in general very friendly. I am white but not young.

 

The only exception is that an older white gentleman who does the customs before getting back on the ship when he is manning the station always picks me out for a bag search. Every year, when I board if he is there, without exception I have to have my beach bag searched. I am pretty sure he does not like my last name because it is long and foreign sounding because he always takes a long look at my drivers license. If he is there my upcoming trip and continues I intend to get his name and write a letter of complaint to the Bermuda government.

[3rdGenCunarder]

We have used the Bermuda busses a lot and not found a rude driver. (we're white) One guy was a bit of a wild driver, but others have been nice. If you say "I want to get off at such-and-such" they usually remember to call it out for you. Once, back when it was exact change, I was fumbling for coins and didn't want to hold things up. I said "I have the change, it's OK, you can start." The driver said "I can wait. Nobody's going to fall down on my bus."

 

I have never felt unwelcome in Bermuda. Just last May, we were on our way back to Hamilton from Verdmont. It was a hot afternoon and we were waiting for a bus. A schoolgirl (black) of about 15-16 stopped on walk home to ask us if we were OK, did we need help with the bus schedule or directions. Now, how many kids that age in the US (regardless of anyone's color) would stop to make sure strangers are OK?

[njhorseman]

Sorry, but I've been to many Caribbean islands, and overall the people of Bermuda, regardless of race, are much friendlier...usually by leaps and bounds, over the Bahamas or the Caribbean.

 

You can run into a grouch anywhere, and frankly about the only time it's happened to me in more than 20 years of regular visits to Bermuda has been an encounter or two with a bus driver...but not all bus drivers by any means. There's a long history of management/labor strife between the bus drivers union and the government...the most recent example occurring this week with a brief strike over the firing of a driver. Unfortunately that contentious labor history appears to have caused some of the drivers to have a short fuse.

 

I still love Bermuda, and I'm considering making my second visit of 2011 in October...the occasionally grouchy driver isn't going to spoil my trip.

[Host Caroline]

First cruise to Bermuda in 1991, second in late 90s, third this year and never ever have met anyone who was rude, disparaging etc. I will take Bermuda over anywhere in the Caribbean anyday.. People (at least those we came in contact with ) at dock, shops etc. went out of their way to be welcoming.

[FuninWB]

We have taken two trips to Bermuda , and we have found Bermudians nothing but helpful. As an earlier poster said, teens as well as adults will ask if they can help you find your way around. All tour guides and bus drivers have been most friendly and polite. We are going back again in October. Bermuda is a wonderful place. The prices for food tend to be high, but we try to go back to the ship for meals.

[cruisinnewbie26]

I was in bermuda earlier this month (just before the most recent strike) and found the people to be very friendly. I had gone to horseshoe bay beach in the morning and then hamilton in the afternoon. There were two bus stops across the street from each other at horseshoe bay beach and they were very clearly marked as to which one was going to the dock and which one to hamilton. There were also two workers there to answer questions and let those waiting know how much longer until their bus arrived. I give major kudos to those guys as they were very patient. I witnessed numerous people ask which bus was which (remember they were very clearly marked) they always answered courteously with no attitude.

There's always that one employee with an attitude. If we all judged every country/state/company by the attitude of a couple of people no one would be able to get along.....oh...wait..... j/k but really don't let a bad apple spoil the bunch.

 

P.s. I am white 26 (but people tell me I look around 18 or 19) and was going to hamilton by myself. The rest of my family returned to the dock. Workers were very kind to me. People I saw asking questions were mostly white (1 black family) of varying ages.

[CrusinCyndi]

We (Mrs. Steveo and I) are thinking about taking the Norwegian Dawn out of our home port of Boston to Bermuda this year. A co-worker has just returned from this trip and reminded me of a vibe we picked up on our previous visit back in 1992. A colleague just returned from the Dawn and I happened to mention the pretty pink busses are idle due to a Bus Driver Strike. His reply jogged my memory; "The bus driver's were jerks anyway." He related an exchange he had where he asked the driver if this was the bus to somewhere or other. The driver barked "What's it say on the front of the bus"? Real nice, and real helpful.

 

Rewind back to '92 and the Bermuda Jazz Festival. Seated for dinner it took an hour to get drinks, 2 1/2 hours to get served dinner. I remember thinking about reverse discrimination (we are a white couple). I also remember at the time thinking "why would I ever want to go back?" The mention of the bus driver's piss poor attitude reminded me of the crazy ridiculous prices and crappy service. The Jazz festival was great, the trip was overall fun but memorys of poor treatment with under currents of hostility have bubbled to the surface.

 

This colleague who just returned from Bermuda is young, maybe 25? Back in '92 I/we were younger too. As a relatively broke youngster, I can understand poor service if youngsters have a reputation for lousy tipping or rude behavior. I was thinking it might be fun to return to Bermuda, now that we are more established and can better afford such a trip. However, if this is a patern other cruisers have encountered maybe it would be better to spend my sparse vacation dollars elsewhere. I've visited many islands throughout the Caribbean and have felt more welcome and more appreciated at almost every single one.

 

I'm very interested to hear from other Bermuda travelers to see if we were treated like crap because we are white, were young or something else. I'm all ears.

 

Your race has nothing to do with it...perhaps it is/was your/his attitude or age at the time.

[Host Kewlguy]

We've visited Bermuda 10 times since 2004 and use the buses exclusively. The bus drivers have always been friendly and helpful. Bermuda is our favorite island.

[bermuda triangle]

I've been to Bermuda many many times and never have I encountered a Bermudian who was rude. This includes bus drivers, taxi drivers, bartenders, hotel staff, waiters, waitresses, shopkeepers, and people enjoying a day at the beach, or a long weekend camping after the cricket match holiday!

I have heard from shopkeepers about rude tourists, who come in and start opening boxes looking for "other" items without asking for assistance, leaving the store looking like a hurricane hit it.

I have seen rude tourists who are curt and foulmouthed. I haven't seen any Bermudians act that way.

Sometimes the old saying.. treat others how you wish to be treated goes really far! Bermudians appreciate a good morning, good afternoon, good evening prior to being bombarded with questions. I don't think being white has anything to do with they way your co-worker was treated.

Laura

[Steveo978]

I am so happy to hear that most have had good experiences. It must have been dumb luck that we happened to bump into someone having a bad day. I work with the public and have had bad days too. I'm glad to hear that my experience was the exception not the rule.

 

Heart felt thanks to all who responded. I appreciate it very much.

 

Warm regards for a Bermuda-ful day.

[andyandsue]

Just got home yesterday... We are white, aged 44, 12 and 9. We found most to be friendly, especially the cab drivers- had some great conversations with them. Granted we had only a few interactions with bus drivers since they went on strike, but for the most part all of our interactions were good. In Hamilton at Harbor Night talking with locals was great. There was one female customs official at the dockyard who seemed to enjoy her position of "power" compared to the others, but that was the exception. I am a generally happy person who smiles a lot and likes to engage in conversation. If you have a Bermuda attitude they will have one back. Say hello to everyone, "good morning" etc goes a long way in Bermuda. As we spoke, one cab driver asked if I was a local or a tourist...

[bdaguy]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience on a Bermuda bus. From your description of the incident it is obvious you were not on my bus because there is no way I would treat anyone like that, even if I was a bus driver! Granny raised me to be respectful of everyone (even the little green people who our neighbor swore down were conducting medical experiments on him while he slept on his tummy) until they themselves no longer deserve respect and she told me to ignore them when they get to that point. If my granny drove all the buses all the time, this wouldn't be an issue so in the meantime we have to accept the fact that regular people with regular people-type issues will be driving our buses and we also have to be cognizant of the fact that they weren't raised by my granny and therefore are significantly less than perfect. I ain't perfect, but Granny hasn't given up on me yet.