Pride Review to BERMUDA...9/18-9/25 lots of pics & details!!!

[GRTKJ]

Thanks for the wonderful review. Going back to Bermuda in May. Even though we have been there a few times, I'm learning new things. Thanks again

 

You're welcome!! Glad to hear you are going back, its such a wonderful place, and as several on our ship said that had been there previously its changed a lot over the years! Enjoy! :)

[GRTKJ]

Katie, I was on your sailing and saw your door sign when visiting friends that were also staying on deck 7. I was at the Meet and Greet on Monday:) but missed the sailaway get together with you guys. Bob

 

Hey Bob! Yes, I do remember you were suppose to be there!!! We missed you! It was funny, one guy walked up at the sailaway meeting and I said are you Bob, he said yes, I said ok nice to meet you, and I asked him something about the things you had posted on our roll call and he finally said I am not Bob, he said I am just kidding, from there on he said his name was Bob. I wish you would have showed up to put him in his place and tell him you are the real Bob! :) Did you enjoy the cruise or what?? Wasn't it wonderful!! :cool:

[momof3cruisers]

I went to Bermuda with my dad as a teenager so I am really enjoying your pictures. Thanks!

[GRTKJ]

I went to Bermuda with my dad as a teenager so I am really enjoying your pictures. Thanks!

 

Glad you are enjoying it! I am sure its changed a lot since you were there years ago! We met several couples on the cruise that hadn't been in 10 years, they said a lot of the buildings were different, still beautiful beaches and nice people just a couple buildings different. :)

[momof3cruisers]

Glad you are enjoying it! I am sure its changed a lot since you were there years ago! We met several couples on the cruise that hadn't been in 10 years, they said a lot of the buildings were different, still beautiful beaches and nice people just a couple buildings different. :)

 

Yes. 16 was very many years ago! lOL. I saw a review recently on Travel Channel for the Elbow Beach Resort where we stayed. Looked even more gorgeous!

[janice2348]

I know it will be cooler at that time-we will have to see what's available at the time we book. Looking at the caribbean first. But Bermuda sounds great too!

[janice2348]

Hi Janice! I couldn't recommend the Pride enough, especially going to Bermuda!! Here is OUR PERSONAL comparison of the Bahamas vs Bermuda. Again a disclaimer to all that read this, its our opinion only!!!!!

 

Bahamas Beach Hagglers---They are everywhere trying to sell you something! It wouldn't be so bad if they only bothered you once every 2 hours but the 3x we have been to the Bahamas, you are bothered atleast 2x per hour. We get SOOO annoyed at this. Even at the Atlantis resort, one of the nicest places in the Bahamas, they still bother you up and down the beach trying to sell things. I understand they are just trying to make a $ but please, we are on vacation and would prefer to not be bothered!

Bermuda Beach Hagglers--- NO SUCH THING!!! No one bothers you AT ALL and you can easily enjoy LOTS of peave and quiet!

Bermuda Crime---There is basically none!! I think I read the crime rate for there is less than 1% per year. The entire island is full of nice, welcoming people.

Bahamas Crime---It is high, very high, good the bahamas crime rate and even they say its high. Last I recall the problems with crime with travelers was theft and pickpocketing, thats awful. I know it can happen anywhere but would you want to worry with this while on vacation? Not us!

Bermuda April Weather---Their "off" season is Dec-March. So typically in April its average temp is 70 degrees. We just left there and the avg temp for us for Sept was 84, which was right on, and add humidity so it feels even warmer. Here is the source I found for weather for Bermuda: http://bermuda-guide.info/weather/ To me April would be a great time to go because it was quite warm while we were there! It was still very nice but it was warm!!

Bahamas April Weather---Most of their weather is similar year round. They say a good average is 75 degrees year round. Here is source for that info: http://www.bahamas.com/vacation-planning/bahamas-weather

 

 

So my honest opionin is Bermuda anyday over the Bahamas!!! The beaches in Bermuda are also rated higher than in the Bahamas, but I think that has to do with the crime rate being so high there. Anyway, either place is nice and tropical but my 2 cents is Bermuda anyday! To us, Bermuda is a must see! Good luck with your decisions! :)

 

Thanks for the info! I am leaning toward the Bahamas but it depends on what's available when we book in January. After reading your review it seems Bermuda is a lot less hectic and not as much to dwell on as far as where to go and what to do, which might be a good thing. I am thinking the weather would be ok for the beach....but again it depends. I love your review!!!:)

[dolfinmusic]

Great review and pics!! I will be on the Pride one week from today and can't wait!

[ragtiki2004]

Katie, I am the real Bob! Did you watch the men's hairy chest contest? I came in second place! My friends were pushing for me to enter at the last minute. I really enjoyed this cruise so much. Reading your review and seeing your pictures brings back many good memories. Did you meet Burt, Mickey, Michelle and Jim? They are my sailing buddies. So much fun we had together. Bob:)

[GRTKJ]

Great review and pics!! I will be on the Pride one week from today and can't wait!

 

Thank you!!! Hope you have a wonderful cruise! This week will go by soooo fast! :) Happy sailing!

[GRTKJ]

Katie, I am the real Bob! Did you watch the men's hairy chest contest? I came in second place! My friends were pushing for me to enter at the last minute. I really enjoyed this cruise so much. Reading your review and seeing your pictures brings back many good memories. Did you meet Burt, Mickey, Michelle and Jim? They are my sailing buddies. So much fun we had together. Bob:)

 

Yes! I know you are the real one!! :) I didn't watch it in person, but I did watch it on the channel that shows re-plays of the day, it looked like a fun time!! Sounds like you almost got it, maybe next time!

We very much enjoyed it too, so glad to hear others did as well! I don't remember Burt & Mickey but I think Michelle and Jim came to the 1st day m&g but there were a lot of people there so I could be mistaken. That's neat you'll have a buddy's that travel together, I think that is how Bernie, Gina, and some others do too, they were always together everytime i saw one of them there they all were!! :)

[GRTKJ]

Back to my review..........so here is a picture we took when we first got off the ship in Bermuda, we thought this one turned out good. Then I will get back to Horseshoe Bay with more pics!

 

Then here are several more pics I took at Horseshoe Bay Beach:

 

 

 

You can really notice the pink sand in these two pics:

 

[GRTKJ]

There were some kids sitting hear where we were and they made this sand castle:

When I was talking about the chairs earlier and the comfy pillow that is attached to the chair, here is a picture I forgot Joe took of me:

Here are some pics we took with our underwater camera in the water:

 

 

[GRTKJ]

And more Horseshoe Bay pics, hopefully you'll aren't getting tired of all the pics, it was so beautiful I just want everyone to see and enjoy!!:

 

 

 

Here is a picture to show the MASS of people on HSB at around 3:00pm. This was taken in the water to show the shoreline:

 

I love these two!:

 

[Eimmat]

Oh wow...HSB...can't wait. Gorgeous photos! Keep it coming, Katie!:)

[GRTKJ]

OK, so enough pics of making myself and everyone else sick we are not there!!! LOL :D

There were a lot of people at HSB, and the later in the day it got the more there were. GET THERE AS EARLY AS YOU CAN STAND to beat the crowds!!

We had to have our chairs back by 6:00pm. That was no problem, as we had eaten breakfast at 7-8am, so it was getting close to 4:30pm, and we were getting hungry!! We did bring some snacks - pb crackers and some water and a couple other snacks, but no real meals. We wanted to wait and eat dinner in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. So about 5:00pm we decided to call it a day at HSB, we were a bit red so we decided it was time to get out of the sun!

So before we hit the cab, we wanted to get out of bathing suits and into normal clothes. So we each took turns and took showers in the changing area they have at HSB. It was quite nice to take a shower and get all the sand off, however the shower area was kindof gross but it was late in the day, so I am sure lots had been in there. The water was cold, but we didn't care we just wanted the sand off us!! So after a quick shower and air dry on the hair, we are off to Hamilton for some food finally!!!

So we didn't believe in the bus system, so we decided to get a cab to Hamilton. It was $17 to get there from HSB, not bad at all, and we gave a tip so it was a little more but not bad considering the wait time we would have had if we waited on a bus. ALSO, no walking up the hill everyone talks about as several cabs were waiting right outside the beach area!

Here is a picture I took at one of the main intersections on the way to Hamilton. It's a good thing they don't let visitors rent cars is all I can say!! LOL:

And, here we are at Hamilton! This is the capital of Bermuda, this is on Front Street:

We saw this guy with the Bermuda shorts, so I had to get my picture with him, it was unbelievable how funny these guys looked, but hey its normal to them:

[GRTKJ]

So, onto dinner....finally!!! We we're starving but soaking in all that Bermuda had to offer!!

I had researched (imagine that, no way huh! LOL :rolleyes:) several different places in Hamilton to eat, and we collectively decided on "The Pickled Onion". It is considered an International Cuisine. The building where it is located was originally built as a warehouse for liquor. The restraunt overlooks Hamilton Harbour. It was a neat little place, and the food was great! Here is a picture of the entrance:

Basically you go up 2 sets of stairs to get to the restraunt. It is located upstairs, but is decorated very nicely. Here we are at our table:

Here is our waiter, gotta luv the Bermuda shorts!:

Isn't this such a true statement?? Love it!:

 

[GRTKJ]

We thoroughly enjoyed dinner! Here are some food porn. We ordered an appetizer, think it was like called wild nachos or something different but the nachos were a different kick on normal chips, they were fried in some special sauce and mix, they were very good!:

For our main course, I ordered spicy shrimp pizza, it was yummy!!!! The pizza crust was totally different than what we are use to, it was literally only 1/16" thick it was soooo thin but so good!! We both ordered different items and shared. Here is a picture of the shrimp pizza:

Joe ordered some special fettucine, I don't remember the exact name of it but it was the recommened item for the restraunt. There was a big star by it and a note that this is the recommended item so we thought what the heck, lets try it. Here it is:

 

Both meals were very good and tasty. We both enjoyed some of each others meals, but my favorite of the two was the shrimp pizza! :)

As soon as we finished dinner, here was a picture across the road where lots of scooters are parked:

 

We walked down the street, to see if any stores were open. We couldn't find anything for several blocks, we kept walking anyway to walk some of the food off!!! We finally came to a tourist type store called "Onion Jacks" or something like that, it was open later than 5:00 which was normal time for most the stores to close. We bought a couple souveniers in the store and then started heading toward the ferry. Here is another picture of the Pickled Onion from the other side of the street:

[GRTKJ]

The ferry stop was just right down the road from Front Street where we spent the afternoon. Maybe 3 or 4 blocks. Here is a picture of whats called the "Birdcage". This is used for policemen to direct traffic. Its considered one of the most photographed sites in Bermuda......I'm not honestly sure why, I would think the beaches would be, but anyway we took a picture too! :p Here it is:

 

We were getting pretty tired by this time, it was about 7:00pm. So we decided to head onto the ferry to go to the ship and get some rest as tomorrow was going to be a big day too! We knew the last pickup from Hamilton to Dockyard on the ferry was 7:30pm, so we got our tokens (for 1 ride its $4 p/person). Here is the tokens you use:

 

We took a couple more pics walking toward the ferry looking back at Front Street:

 

 

There was a small ship docked at Hamilton. Aparantly the Carnival ship and the Norwegan Gem are too large of ship to dock at Hamilton, they only let the smaller ships dock there. So, here is a picture of the ship:

[GRTKJ]

Here is the area where the ferry picks you up in Hamilton:

You can tell how tired I am from this picture!! We had a long day thats for sure but we got a lot done and saw a lot of neat things!!! This was on the ferry to Kings Wharf:

 

While on the ferry, we saw a lighthouse in the distance. There was a police lady sitting across from us and I asked her which lighthouse, well low and behold, it was the one we climbed the 185 steps to the top TODAY!!! We had NO IDEA the light still worked in the lighthouse, so we thought that was soo cool! Here it is:

The ferry ride from Hamilton to Dockyard was maybe 15 minutes, it was a nice calm relaxing ride. It was neat we hit the ferry right at sunset, so free sunset cruise!!! :) Here are some pictures I snapped as we went along:

 

[GRTKJ]

As we started getting closer to our ship, more pics!!:

 

 

And we are off the ferry! By this time it was about 8:15 pm and we were ready to rest!! So we headed straight for the boat! Here is another shot of the boat at night:

And of course our Funtimes for Thursday, Sept 22nd - the 2nd day in Bermuda! (Of course since we had our own plans we hardly even looked at these for Wed & Thurs):

 

 

[Pooh72]

Great review!! I definitely have to add Bermuda to my next cruise destination.:p

[GRTKJ]

Great review!! I definitely have to add Bermuda to my next cruise destination.:p

 

Thank you!! I would absolutely agree, its a must see! :cool:

[ragtiki2004]

I was there the day they had that relay event going on. Great pics, keep it up. That was the second time I finished runner up in that contest too! Bob

[cruises42]

We were getting pretty tired by this time, it was about 7:00pm. So we decided to head onto the ferry to go to the ship and get some rest as tomorrow was going to be a big day too! We knew the last pickup from Hamilton to Dockyard on the ferry was 7:30pm, so we got our tokens (for 1 ride its $4 p/person). Here is the tokens you use:

 

 

 

 

Love the review!

Where do you get the tokens for the ferry?