MITSUGIRLYS DAWN TO BERMUDA NOVEL (or review as some may call it)

[mitsugirly]

Ok, I'm back after a restless night of sleep and tossing and turning all night...BUT at least I didn't cough quite as much and it's not sounding like a "hacking" cough at the moment. Up at 6:45am and the only thing to do at the moment...continue with my review. hehe

 

So we are finally all here at H20. The moment we have been waiting for and what we thought would probably be one of the best days in Bermuda.

 

Then we are told this....

 

"Ok, now that you are all here, I have to let you know that we lost a few of our jet skis this morning. We normally have 5 of them and we are down to only 2."

 

Wait...how do you "lose a few jet skis?"

 

He told us that one had an issue that morning while out on the water and another person had ramped a huge wake while out and messed up the motor? or something that broke. They have ordered the parts and would be in later today, but could not assure us that it would be fixed in time. We leave Bermuda tolday, so "later today" was not in our vocabulary. He never did tell us what happened to the 3rd one...unless that was the one for the guide?

 

So, our only options were to get 2 of the 3 jet skis we had ordered....but we had 6 people. He told us that the jet skis they had held 2-3 people. We had the option of one family riding with 3 people, another with 2 people and the tour guide could take 1 of the little ones....or the tour guide could take both little ones and us just have 2 people each.

 

Well, I knew this was Sakari's first time on a jet ski and she might get a little freaked out and not know what to do. So I opted to let her ride with the tour guide, which ended up getting switched right before we went out to her just riding in the middle of us.

 

We debated back and forth what to do. Kendra was unhappy about the entire situation and even suggested that we go over to Sommerset for the "deal" they were going to give us instead. I really didn't want to go anywhere else since it was already past the time we were to start the tour and now all this.

 

Then they told us they would give us the early bird special for the trouble since it was their fault for not having enough equipment. That meant that we were going to be renting them for $115 instead of the $135. Saving a total of $40 so whatever. We were just ready to get started.

 

Now Kendra and Billy own their own jet skis, they own their own boat. We go to the lake with them a few times a year for boating, but they have tubes that they pull us in. Sakari has done that many times and loved it, but she had never actually rode on a jet ski. The hubby has drove a jet ski before, but not what I would call an "experienced driver" by any means, but did know what to do.

 

I did mention this to the tour guide and told him not to go super fast due to not knowing how this was all going to go down with us. He agreed and just said to never form a straight line and stagger each other and never get close and keep our distances...and keeping our distance would end up being the story of the day....just saying. Then he gave us the "hand signals" we had to know, started us up and away we went.

 

 

 

 

We were keeping our distance, which meant we were last in line. Last in line is sometimes never a good thing.

 

 

 

We headed out to the open ocean and it got quite bumpy out there. Being last in line meant we would also be not only fighting the waves, but fighting the other 2 jet skis wake....not good according to Sakari. She started screaming and freaking out! She was totally scared. This is the child who has never been scared of anything in the past...not swimming with sharks, not jumping off 2 story buildings into the water, not zip lining by herself, not holding a tarantula...the list goes on. But this freaked her out. Sigh...I would have never thought.

 

Our tour guide Stephan was out of site and we could barely see Kendra and the family at this point, but did remember what direction they were headed and where we seen their tiny dots last and kept going.

 

When we finally caught up and told them that Sakari was totally freaking out and screaming and we would have to go slower, plus hitting the wakes of everyone and the water being wavy, the tour guide said he would take us into the Bay instead of the open water and let her adjust to the water there. So off we went, once again watching them becoming a dot in the water. But, we were ok with this and just going at our own pace. :p

 

 

[Smellytoes]

I don't blame Sakari for freaking out on the jet ski. The last time I jet skied in Bermuda we hit a wave, went flying up in the air and came slamming down on the jet ski. I got a compression fracture in my coccyx. Yes, I broke my butt on a jet ski. (was laid up for a year)

[mitsugirly]

The day would continue with them (tour guide and Kendras fam) pretty much pushing the limit of the jet skis (which they said goes around 50mph) and us falling behind to assure Sakari that things were ok and just taking our time until the dots in the water became people again.

 

Stephan would stop every so often to give us a little history. This would be our first history lesson of the tour.

 

The homes that you see with the detached little building with pointed little roofs on them were built as a cooler for your meats and refrigerator items back in the day. They are called a buttery. They built them with the tall roofs, because heat rises and in would make the bottom of them cool where they could store perishable items at. I remember seeing some of these along the water when we were on the ferry from Hamilton to the dockyard and the hubby was convinced it was a secret passage from the house (which usually sat up on the hill), down to the water to get on their boat. LOL Kendra was convinced it was just a changing room for the pool since we had one at our house by the pool back when they were growing up. LOL

 

 

He also gave us a history lesson behind the white roofs. Drinking water has always been a concern for Bermuda and scarce. These roofs were built to collect the running water for use. They are made of a white cement and compound, which sanitizes the rainwater that then runs off into a holding tank. Another benefit of the white roof is that is that it keeps the homes cooler and reduces the cost of air. (Sorry for the blurry picture...we found it a little hard to remain still with the engine running and I completely forgot to put my camera in sport mode...duh).

 

Next up would be the smallest draw bridge in the world, the Somerset Bridge.

 

This bridge is the smallest working drawbridge in the world and connects Somerset Island with the mainland of Sandy's parish. It was originally built in 1620 and rebuilt again in the mid 20th century. It is cranked open by hand and has an 18" gap. When a sail boat wants to pass under the bridge, the draw bridge would be opened and a pedestrian would hold on to the sail to help guide it through the bridge. How cool is that?

 

Now I did read somewhere that the bridge had to be opened every so often to retain it's name as the smallest "drawbridge" in the world. I ask Stephan about it and he had not heard of that so I'm not sure.

 

Also the concrete you see sticking up out of the water I believe he said use to be the structures along the water for the train? The bridge is gone but these remain.

 

 

 

We did keep seeing turtles pop their heads up but they are so quick that I couldn't get my camera turned on fast enough to focus and get a picture.

 

We headed off toward the bridge.

 

 

 

 

The slowest we would go the entire day...and Sakari was finally happy. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The next history lesson pertained to the Bermuda Long Tails...the Bermuda bird. They were very elegant and beautiful. The males have the long tails and the females the short tails. Stephan told us they were no longer allowed to carve into the rocks because that is where the longtails nest. Even though they have "official" dates like we do as to when summer is officially here, the locals go by the longtail birds. When they return, THAT is when summer is officially here to them. The only time that I was able to get any pictures of them was our first day at Horseshoe Bay. So sorry, no additional pictures of the beautiful birds.

 

But here we have another turtle popping his head up out of the water....DUDE! (nemo) Or do we?? Where did it go??? I tell ya it was just there.

 

 

 

The one thing that I have always wanted to see out in the water (especially snorkeling) was a turtle. I have never seen one yet. I even went to Paradise Cove in Freeport (where they are known to be spotted all the time daily) just to see one and still couldn't find any. Sigh.

 

So we were just going to sit here and wait for more to pop their heads out of the water. Here's another

 

 

Dangit I'm just too late. But I do see the small water bubble and ring it left as it hurried back down in the water. I just couldn't win.

 

Stephan did give us a little history on the turtles...and this is MY version that I thought I heard. The sea turtles born here will hatch, grow and then head off into the sea. They are known to end up in places like (from what I remember) Grand Cayman, some place in the Virgin Islands and another place I completely forgot...maybe Jamaica? Then when it was time to lay eggs again, they make the swim back to Bermuda to lay their eggs where they originally hatched from and start the process all over with. Somehow the hubby heard the complete opposite story. They hatch in the Caribbean, swim to Bermuda and then back to the Caribbean to repeat the process. ??? No idea. But you get the idea.

 

I then ask Stephan if we were going to get to see the Vixen...yep, on our way right now.

 

The Vixen was built in 1865 as a gun boat and is just off the shore of Daniels Head. However, she was just too slow to take into open water and they decided to purposely sink her as a way to keep other attack ships out of the area. However, when they did this, they blew her to pieces and it broke apart...not as expected. The bow sits just above the water and this is a spot that a lot of people like to snorkel at along with a lot of glass-bottom boat tours coming here.

 

 

 

I had read prior to going that the fish in this area knew when people come and they come out in herds. At soon as we stopped...they all started swimming toward us.

 

 

 

 

 

It was kind of amazing to see them all head in our direction at the same time. Before long there were so many of them and Sakari was thrilled at the site.

 

[mitsugirly]

Now I know that people always gripe about not feeding the fish, but I can tell you that every single time we have ever went somewhere, the guides will bring stuff to feed the fish and even on the beach they will give you stuff to feed them. I don't understand how locals that should know better will continue to do this. Everyone will tell you how the fish become accustomed to this, how it messes up the reef system and so on. But yet it is still done and will continue to be done for many years to come by locals, tour guides and people visiting. I don't see it ever stopping and I'm not arguing about it, confessing to it or denying it and that's all I'm saying.

 

Stephan brought "Kettle Chips"...this would be the first I have ever seen this. The fish sure did like them...and so did Sakari. Just saying... He would give her some to feed the fish, and she was caught eating them herself. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I seriously don't think I have seen that many fish at the same time in 1 place. They must all live in the shipwreck. LOL

 

Then we were off again, this time trying out the open waters again and hoping for the best.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We cruised around the outside of the land around the little islands. I had researched ahead of time knowing that there were a few small islands with sand around the same area that H20 was located. I wanted to visit them when we got our boat and ask Stephan about them. I had seen pictures online saying "Private Property" and such. Stephan informed me that ALL beaches and islands are considered public, so we wouldn't have a problem stopping at any of them. Hey, as long as I wasn't going to be shot or taken into custody, then I was good to go...and would have Stephans number on speed dial just in case.

 

Sakari finally had a smile on her face and started to enjoy the jet skis.

 

 

Although I have to admit, I had to gripe a little at daddy telling him, what I thought was the obvious, to stay OUT of Kendra and Stephans wake and it would be a much smoother ride. We did hit one of their wakes and few up in the air a bit and the landing was less than pleasant on my insides...especially after my coughing fit I had that morning. After that is when I gave him the "lesson" on staying to the side of the wake. I always knew from previous experience that the slower you go the bumpier it is. So, when you went faster, it glided across the water and makes for a smoother ride. We just had to get past this screaming fit Sakari had and it would go a whole lot better...and it did.

 

 

 

I was getting a little more comfortable with the ride itself and was able to actually let go for moments to capture some pictures as we were riding by. LOL

 

 

 

There was one time we were heading back toward the bay and I yelled STOP!!! Turtle spotting. But like always dude quickly dipped below the surface but at least we were able to see quite a few more turtles and of course the only turtles we had ever seen before...was here in Bermuda. Sakari squealed with excitement each time.

 

 

 

We pulled back up to the area where H2O was located and he gave us a tour from 10:30 until around 11:45ish. So we managed to get our full 1 hour 15 minutes of tour time (even though he had offered to go longer if we wanted or whatever it took to compensate us for our troubles of not having 3 jet skis) but I swear the tour seemed like it was a 1/2 day tour. It felt like it went on forever and it was so much fun that if I had to put money on it, I would have said we were out there for at least 2 1/2 hours or longer. It was that good.

 

Idling at the dock waiting for our instructions to come in and park...it was time to take a selfie with Kendra and the fam in the background.

 

 

 

Once again, a turtle pops up and back down again before I could get it. But hey, at least there were other things in the picture that I could just claim like that's what I was actually taking the picture of.

 

 

I really was upset after returning home that I did not manage to get more pictures of our time jet skiing. I really did think I had more pictures than this but I think I must have been so caught up in the moment and having fun that I must have just forgotten to take more pictures. I will know NEXT time to remember to take more of this eventful day.

 

 

[Laszlo]

Glad to here the jet skis worked out for you. If I had known you were headed to H2O I would have recommend renting one of their boats or kayaks. The boats are great, my wife and I rented one for 7 hours and went everywhere. We then spent about 3 hours on the beach here......see link. The snorkeling was fantastic. Maybe next June when you go back on the BA;)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3119548,-64.8628781,63m/data=!3m1!1e3

Edited June 23, 2015 by Laszlo

[mitsugirly]

I don't blame Sakari for freaking out on the jet ski. The last time I jet skied in Bermuda we hit a wave, went flying up in the air and came slamming down on the jet ski. I got a compression fracture in my coccyx. Yes, I broke my butt on a jet ski. (was laid up for a year)

 

 

Oh ouch. My mom broke her tailbone when she was in her 30's and had problems with it the rest of her life. That's scary.

 

 

Glad to here the jet skis worked out for you. If I had known you were headed to H2O I would have recommend renting one of their boats or kayaks. The boats are great, my wife and I rented one for 7 hours and went everywhere. We then spent about 3 hours on the beach here......see link. The snorkeling was fantastic. Maybe next June when you go back on the BA;)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3119548,-64.8628781,63m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

 

 

:D More to come my friend. More to come. :p

[SuiteTraveler]

Kim wonderful information about Bermuda! I've never seen a buttery before. Love the tiny drawbridge. Did you ask Sakari what scared her about the jet ski? Was it the movement or the noise?

 

 

BTW, if you want to swim with lots of turtles, go to Barbados and swim with them outside of Claudette Colbert's beach house, Bellerive, - arrive by boat or rent the estate for $500 per night in summer, $700 winter - there are hundreds of turtles that show up there. There is also a path to the beach between houses if you approach from the road in front of the house. You can swim with them with a mask and snorkel but no flippers - the flippers scare the turtles off.

[mitsugirly]

Kim wonderful information about Bermuda! I've never seen a buttery before. Love the tiny drawbridge. Did you ask Sakari what scared her about the jet ski? Was it the movement or the noise?

 

 

BTW, if you want to swim with lots of turtles, go to Barbados and swim with them outside of Claudette Colbert's beach house, Bellerive, - arrive by boat or rent the estate for $500 per night in summer, $700 winter - there are hundreds of turtles that show up there. There is also a path to the beach between houses if you approach from the road in front of the house. You can swim with them with a mask and snorkel but no flippers - the flippers scare the turtles off.

 

We seen these buttery's up and down the land from the ocean. I guess you wouldn't notice it from the land. They all seemed to be down by the water (although since this was a means for them to store their perishables, I suppose that the houses not located on the water would still have them, but probably in the back of the house). They were pretty neat looking. I just wish I would have gotten more pictures. Stupid battery issues made it hard to take a lot of pics too. :(

 

She was afraid of going too fast. That's when she would scream. Once we slowed down she was better. She yelled a few times to slow down, so I know that's what her problem was. She later liked the jet skis. I think she just had to get use to them...and get daddy out of the wake that was causing a bumpy ride. :p

 

I would love to go to Barbados. But $500 a night, or even $700? :eek: Not in this lifetime. Not for me. LOL

 

I wonder if the problem with us seeing turtles in the past is because of the flippers? I have never thought of that. :confused:

[diamondella]

We're leaving for Bermuda on the Dawn on FRIDAY!!! This review is so timely. I adopted your 'envelope system', a great idea that I'd never thought of.

 

But I do have two questions:

 

In addition to the envelopes of cash that you bring with you for your planned activities, do you bring any "emergency cash" in case the whole plan goes awry? If so, how much?

 

Second: do the slot machines on board take coins or do you swipe your card? If they do take cash, do you bring your own coins on board or convert paper currency into coin at the casino?

 

Thanks in advance

[biker@sea]

I always seem to miss the turtles Too . :(

 

Coming back from Sapphire beach in the shared taxi van . Another couple asked if we saw all the turtles towards the left side of the beach area ?

 

Me : No I spent all day snorkeling with all the cool fish towards the right side .

 

Never saw a wild sea turtle up close yet .

 

.

Edited June 23, 2015 by biker@sea

[mitsugirly]

We're leaving for Bermuda on the Dawn on FRIDAY!!! This review is so timely. I adopted your 'envelope system', a great idea that I'd never thought of.

 

But I do have two questions:

 

In addition to the envelopes of cash that you bring with you for your planned activities, do you bring any "emergency cash" in case the whole plan goes awry? If so, how much?

 

Second: do the slot machines on board take coins or do you swipe your card? If they do take cash, do you bring your own coins on board or convert paper currency into coin at the casino?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Actually I never really bring emergency cash. I guess it's a good thing we have never had an emergency. What ever cash we have on us estimated for that day, if plans didn't go as we had hoped, we would have to find something to do within the same price range. Also, if Kendra and Billy are with us on the cruise, he always has plenty of extra cash in case it's needed. Then I just knock it off his ship charges when we get back. :D

 

The slot machines take dollars. Then once you play and cash out, it prints off a receipt, which you can either put it in another machine or cash it out at the cashiers desk. No need for coins. I don't even think they accept coins these days. Not like the old days when you use to put coins in and when you won, the quarters would come out at the bottom. I remember hitting the "jackpot" on my first cruise ever....they gave you buckets to put the coins in and carry them around. When I hit, it filled 3 buckets up and then the cashier had to come over and give me the rest in hundreds. Try carrying all that back to the room. My arms were hurting. :p

 

I do have to say that I like the way Carnival does their slot machines. So much easier. You can just insert your room card and use the money off it. (Which also includes any OBC you might have). So depositing the money on your key card what you want to play in the machines, insert your key card and it all keeps track of it for you (same key card as the room, but it keeps track of them separate). So much easier than carrying cash around with you. :)

[mitsugirly]

I always seem to miss the turtles Too . :(

 

Coming back from Sapphire beach in the shared taxi van . Another couple asked if we saw all the turtles towards the left side of the beach area ?

 

Me : No I spent all day snorkeling with all the cool fish towards the right side .

 

Never saw a wild sea turtle up close yet .

 

.

 

I lived that story!!! I spent my entire day to the right snorkeling only to find out there were sea turtles over in the grassy area to the left. :( I always miss out. LOL

[peg013]

We're leaving for Bermuda on the Dawn on FRIDAY!!! This review is so timely. I adopted your 'envelope system', a great idea that I'd never thought of.

 

But I do have two questions:

 

In addition to the envelopes of cash that you bring with you for your planned activities, do you bring any "emergency cash" in case the whole plan goes awry? If so, how much?

 

Second: do the slot machines on board take coins or do you swipe your card? If they do take cash, do you bring your own coins on board or convert paper currency into coin at the casino?

 

Thanks in advance

 

I know you are reading this review but I just want to remind you that you should always say "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" when getting on the busses or ferry. Then ask them to let you know where you need to get off. Also be sure you have swimsuit cover ups that look like regular clothing. I can't imagine how with all Kim's research, she missed those very important facts. Believe me, after 5 trips to Bermuda (Dawn x2, Star x1, Splendor x1(diverted from St John, NB) and Breakaway x1) - it will make all the difference in the help you get from the locals. Be sure to mention it on your roll call so others will know. It is usually brought up often on the Bermuda board but it never hurts to pass along that information. Our next trip to Bermuda will be on the Dawn in Oct 2016. We plan to rent a snorkel sailboat on Sunday to get around the Sunday transportation problems. We have used both Jessie James snorkel (pontoon boat) and "Sail Bermuda" (sailboat) http://www.sailbermuda.com in the past. We highly recommend either.

[Taylor95]

So we get in the taxi and the driver turns around to head out and he ask where we were going. When I told him H20, he had no idea who they were or where it was located. I even gave him the address and he still didn't know. He pulled back around and ask the taxi "director" who gave him the directions. (I thought that was weird because I would later ask H20 how long they were in business and they said over 20 years.

 

 

We had Somerset reserved for one of our days in Bermuda and planned to take a taxi - had the same thing happen - driver said he didn't know where Somerset was. The taxi driver tried to tell us to take the bus ...we didn't want to take the bus...Somerset was paying for our taxi and we didn't have bus passes that day. Another driver must have seen my confused look and asked the situation which in turn ended up being an argument between the two drivers. The second driver said the first driver knew where it was but was just trying to get out of it because it wasn't a long distance, therefore not much fare. The second driver ended up taking us and complained the whole way there of some of the taxi drivers "playing stupid". He was comical and it was an interesting ride - we made sure to tip him well.

 

Now I know that people always gripe about not feeding the fish, but I can tell you that every single time we have ever went somewhere, the guides will bring stuff to feed the fish and even on the beach they will give you stuff to feed them. I don't understand how locals that should know better will continue to do this. Everyone will tell you how the fish become accustomed to this, how it messes up the reef system and so on. But yet it is still done and will continue to be done for many years to come by locals, tour guides and people visiting. I don't see it ever stopping and I'm not arguing about it, confessing to it or denying it and that's all I'm saying.

 

Stephan brought "Kettle Chips"...this would be the first I have ever seen this. The fish sure did like them...and so did Sakari. Just saying... He would give her some to feed the fish, and she was caught eating

 

I seriously don't think I have seen that many fish at the same time in 1 place. They must all live in the shipwreck. LOL

 

Then we were off again, this time trying out the open waters again and hoping for the best.

 

 

 

Wasn't this awesome!?!? We got off the jet skis and fed the fish bread. I love snorkeling, but it kind of freaked me out having so many fish swarm me. Lol

 

Love all of your reviews! I have been reading some of your older ones looking for excursion ideas for a western Caribbean itinerary. Thanks for all of the hard work!

[rngoofy]

Amazing review, can't wait for the rest, thank you.

[SuiteTraveler]

We seen these buttery's up and down the land from the ocean. I guess you wouldn't notice it from the land. They all seemed to be down by the water (although since this was a means for them to store their perishables, I suppose that the houses not located on the water would still have them, but probably in the back of the house). They were pretty neat looking. I just wish I would have gotten more pictures. Stupid battery issues made it hard to take a lot of pics too. :(

 

She was afraid of going too fast. That's when she would scream. Once we slowed down she was better. She yelled a few times to slow down, so I know that's what her problem was. She later liked the jet skis. I think she just had to get use to them...and get daddy out of the wake that was causing a bumpy ride. :p

 

I would love to go to Barbados. But $500 a night, or even $700? :eek: Not in this lifetime. Not for me. LOL

 

I wonder if the problem with us seeing turtles in the past is because of the flippers? I have never thought of that. :confused:

 

Claudette Colbert's house has 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths (one bedroom in a small house outside the main house that was built for Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow's honeymoon. Anyway, the way you rent these villas is you get together with other couples - a total of 4 couples for this villa, then it is $125 per couple per night - which makes it waaay more affordable. The Hilton there is $199 per night and doesn't have all the amenities of this villa. The villa comes with a maid and gardener. There's a swimming pool and fully equipped kitchen. It's actually a pretty inexpensive place to stay in Barbados IF 4 couples split the cost. There are other villas that are even cheaper if you share the cost with others.

 

Anyway, plenty of cruise ships go to Barbados. You can always snorkel with the turtles on an excursion. In Barbados they don't allow flippers, but the other places I've seen lots of sea turtles was in Cozumel and Maui and you can wear flippers there. Not sure why they have different rules in different places. I do know you are not supposed to touch them as they will bite and have been known to take off fingers. They can't retract into their shells when startled, so they bite in self defense.

 

They even have baby turtle hatchings Cozumel where you help them to the sea but you need to be staying in Cozumel as this is in the evening:

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.net/baby-sea-turtle-hatching-cozumel.html

[kba1988]

All caught up!! And thanks to this fabulous review....we are going ahead with this same Jet Ski tour for our September cruise!! YAAAYYYY!!! :D:D

[mitsugirly]

I know you are reading this review but I just want to remind you that you should always say "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" when getting on the busses or ferry. Then ask them to let you know where you need to get off. Also be sure you have swimsuit cover ups that look like regular clothing. I can't imagine how with all Kim's research, she missed those very important facts.

 

Believe me, after 5 trips to Bermuda (Dawn x2, Star x1, Splendor x1(diverted from St John, NB) and Breakaway x1) - it will make all the difference in the help you get from the locals. Be sure to mention it on your roll call so others will know. It is usually brought up often on the Bermuda board but it never hurts to pass along that information. Our next trip to Bermuda will be on the Dawn in Oct 2016. We plan to rent a snorkel sailboat on Sunday to get around the Sunday transportation problems. We have used both Jessie James snorkel (pontoon boat) and "Sail Bermuda" (sailboat) www.sailbermuda.com in the past. We highly recommend either.

 

I read the part that said to say "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" however, when you are not use to saying these things in real life (I'm not one that is ever up in the morning in the first place, but in the afternoon you will hear me say "hello" to everyone I pass or "hi, how are you?" it's just too hard to adjust what you are use to and I don't remember. It's just like every time I go somewhere and ask "Where's your pop section" and only when they look at me weird I have to remember "Soda". I get on the ship and say "I want to buy the pop package"...once again, weird looks.

 

However, I can guarantee that when we got off the ship and to the bus stop, we ALL had cover ups on that looked like dresses and/or shorts and a tee shirt. So this was NOT the problem of the first "bus directors" attitude toward us OR the first bus driver that took us to Horseshoe instead of Warwick. Yes, it was the problem of our last bus driver in St George going to Hamilton, but we didn't realize we had to have them on. We were wet and sandy and just felt nasty. Totally our fault.

 

I will try to remember this on our next trip, which is a year away, which is highly unlikely that I will remember such a thing even if I'm reminded seconds before our ship pulls away from the dock...no more than I'll remember to say ....what's that word again??? Oh soda, yea that's it. :p

 

 

We had Somerset reserved for one of our days in Bermuda and planned to take a taxi - had the same thing happen - driver said he didn't know where Somerset was. The taxi driver tried to tell us to take the bus ...we didn't want to take the bus...Somerset was paying for our taxi and we didn't have bus passes that day. Another driver must have seen my confused look and asked the situation which in turn ended up being an argument between the two drivers. The second driver said the first driver knew where it was but was just trying to get out of it because it wasn't a long distance, therefore not much fare. The second driver ended up taking us and complained the whole way there of some of the taxi drivers "playing stupid". He was comical and it was an interesting ride - we made sure to tip him well.

 

That's funny that they play stupid like that. Somerset is like a main place there isn't it? I would think EVERYONE no matter where you live knows Somerset...worlds smallest bridge there...duh. LOL :p

 

 

 

 

Wasn't this awesome!?!? We got off the jet skis and fed the fish bread. I love snorkeling, but it kind of freaked me out having so many fish swarm me. Lol

 

We did not get off the jet skis. I was in fear of not being able to get back on them once I got off. LOL But we did get off somewhere else and they swarmed us. :D

 

Love all of your reviews! I have been reading some of your older ones looking for excursion ideas for a western Caribbean itinerary. Thanks for all of the hard work!

 

Thanks so much for the comments. I hope you will find something helpful in the western itinerary reviews. I will try to answer any questions you might have along the way if you need it. :)

[mitsugirly]

Amazing review, can't wait for the rest, thank you.

 

Thank you so much and glad you are enjoying it. :)

 

Claudette Colbert's house has 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths (one bedroom in a small house outside the main house that was built for Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow's honeymoon. Anyway, the way you rent these villas is you get together with other couples - a total of 4 couples for this villa, then it is $125 per couple per night - which makes it waaay more affordable. The Hilton there is $199 per night and doesn't have all the amenities of this villa. The villa comes with a maid and gardener. There's a swimming pool and fully equipped kitchen. It's actually a pretty inexpensive place to stay in Barbados IF 4 couples split the cost. There are other villas that are even cheaper if you share the cost with others.

 

Anyway, plenty of cruise ships go to Barbados. You can always snorkel with the turtles on an excursion. In Barbados they don't allow flippers, but the other places I've seen lots of sea turtles was in Cozumel and Maui and you can wear flippers there. Not sure why they have different rules in different places. I do know you are not supposed to touch them as they will bite and have been known to take off fingers. They can't retract into their shells when startled, so they bite in self defense.

 

They even have baby turtle hatchings Cozumel where you help them to the sea but you need to be staying in Cozumel as this is in the evening:

http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.net/baby-sea-turtle-hatching-cozumel.html

 

Oh ok. That makes more sense. Although it still wouldn't fit us. The only other couple we would ever be able to get to go with us and foot part of the bill would be Kendra and family. As for my youngest son and his gf, they only cruise with our group (me and Kendra) when they can take advantage of the "sail free" for 3rd and up promo because otherwise, they would not be able to cruise and my oldest son...we have yet to talk him into anything that doesn't keep his feet firmly planted on the ground back home. Kendra's bf's sister and daughter that went with us...same thing as my youngest son. She only paid the taxes/port fees for her trip.

 

I guess I'll have to visit by cruise ship some day. :D

 

I always wondered if the sea turtles bite. Yikes, I'll know to stay away the best I can.

[mitsugirly]

All caught up!! And thanks to this fabulous review....we are going ahead with this same Jet Ski tour for our September cruise!! YAAAYYYY!!! :D:D

 

 

I hope you have a blast like we did. It's a lot of fun for sure! :)

[njmomof2]

I do want to mention this before I forget....

 

Kendra's son has a different last name that hers.

Kendra's bf's sister is the mother of Shayla, who has a different last name.

So...when you have a child with a different last name than the parents, they WILL request a birth certificate when you go back to the ship in security. They let them slide this time around, but requested that they bring it with them each time after that.

 

They also request your ID along with your ship card.

 

I just wanted to mention this before I forgot in case others need to know this information. :)

 

 

 

I don't know if you addressed this between this post and mine, but is this something unique to Bermuda or NCL? I've travelled with my sons several times since my divorce (I took my maiden name back) and we have never been asked for their BC when reboarding the ship in any Caribbean port. I wouldn't even have the BC with me, as the boys both have passports (and older son now has his DL).

 

Kim, can you comment on this a bit more? I think this is important information for single parents.

[SuiteTraveler]

 

I always wondered if the sea turtles bite. Yikes, I'll know to stay away the best I can.

 

Yes, sea turtles actually have something like a beak that can exert 30 pounds of pressure and can really hurt you. But they are usually pretty comfortable with snorkelers nearby and may even swim close to have a look at you which is really cool because you can then get a real good close up look at them. They can be startled by loud noises, so it is important not to shout around them. The main thing is to not try to touch them and also not interfere with them surfacing for breath, just stay back, stay quiet and observe them. I've also seen them on the beach laying eggs. Of course, you don't want to approach them at that time as they can become incredibly defensive and possibly damage their own nest in the process, so it is best to photograph laying turtles with a long range lens from at least 25 feet away. BTW, did you know the eggs in a sea turtle nest are all one sex which is determined by the temperature of the nest?

[mr&mrscruiselover]

I know you have mentioned this before but since "old timers" has set in I can't remember. What do you use to put all your cruise planning info in. I like to idea of putting it all on a spread sheet. What do you use for putting money in for the days expenses? Do you have pictures of your system? I am really getting into the planning mode. Something new for the gal who previously just "flew by the seat of her pants!"