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

[greatlakesgirl]

With waterspots or without, your pics are outstanding!

[mitsugirly]

I really can not believe the amount of fish at this location. It just amazes me. I know I have read many reviews talking about coming here to feed the fish alone and I just never imagined the AMOUNT of fish there are. More than I have ever seen any other place.

 

 

We cut the engine and kinda floated there admiring the fish and me taking pictures. We were all caught up in the moment that we hadn't realized that we had floated toward the ships bow and the snorkelers were trying to get out of our path. Oh my! I'm so embarrassed and now we are risking running into the Vixen! Just our luck. Kendra assumed the position of putting her legs out again. I couldn't help since I was all the way in the back at the moment. I guess it's a good thing that Kendra is used to this and they have owned several boats and go boating every weekend. This must happen a lot with them. LOL It's like natural instinct to stick your legs out to her.

 

Once again, Billy had problems starting the engine and getting it to go forward. He's like "hold on" and gunned the motor and away it went, right before we ever made contact with the Vixen...or should I say before Kendra had to make contact with it. Whew!

We apologized over and over to the snorkelers who had decided to swim back to their boat. I guess they had had enough of us at that point. I really did feel so bad. Geesh. I hope they're not reading this and learn my true identity.

 

 

 

A small little video of the fish coming to us...from far away:

 

 

 

We decided to head out after our little scare of getting too close to the Vixen and the hubby decided he wanted to drive the boat. I seen this as a good thing since I knew he would go a little slower for me to take pictures.

 

I know it's a little too dark and maybe hard to see, but would you look at that face. LOL

 

 

 

Of course he had to salute as well

 

 

 

 

 

[SuiteTraveler]

When I worked at Quincy's many years ago we beat really cold Rich's coffee creamer to make the whipped topping for our desserts...

 

Do you think that's what NCL is using?

[mitsugirly]

Along the way back toward H2O, I know there was a time I got to yell STOP!!! with the hubs driving the boat. I did spot another turtle but can not find the picture that I tried to get of the turtle. I'm really not sure what happened to it because the rest of the pictures all looked as if I was just taking pictures of the land around us. Hmmm But, he did stop quicker than Billy does...but then again, he was driving a lot slower too.

 

 

 

We passed the glass bottom boat and I'm pretty sure that's what this boat was. I remember seeing it docked somewhere (maybe at the dockyard on the day we took the ferry to St George) and it said glassbottom boat on is somewhere. I honestly took the picture because I really liked the pretty mural that was painted along the side of it, but with it being such a bright day and the blue water reflecting onto it and it being blue to begin with, it turned out a little darker than what I had hoped. Oh well.

 

 

 

 

 

We pulled back into H2O I think around 3:30pm-ish.

 

 

 

It was agreed by all that we had the most awesome day ever and this would definitely be something we will do again. I think we were out in the boat for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. The guys at H2O were awesome and treated us so well with the situation of having the jet skis break down and they were more than compensating. Like I have always said, I make the most of any situation I possibly can, even with these little bumps in the road, it was an awesome day!!!

 

We were to rent the boat for either 3 hours total and get a free hour making it 4 hours. We told them before we headed out that there's no way that we would be able to be out that long with our ship pulling out at 5:30 that day. I knew that I wanted to be done by 3:30 so that we would have time to catch a cab back to the dockyard and at least do some shopping and looking around before having to be back on the ship by 5pm.

 

They told us that we could have the boat for 2 hours and the 3rd hour would be free. For 2 hours at $80 for the first hour and $30 for the 2nd hour, that would have been $110 for the day PLUS gas, which I believe their website said $11 a gallon. Now the boat comes with 2 tanks on it. The first time that we couldn't get the boat to start, we thought that it might be possible that we used up all of the gas in the first tank (although later we figured that wasn't it). So we unhooked it and used the 2nd tank. So I really have no idea out of the 2 tanks how much gas we used total...but our final price they charged us was only $100 for the boat. $100!!! They wrote on the paper $80 for the boat and $20 for gas and that's it. Tell me these people aren't awesome and accommodating.

 

So that was a total of only $330 for the rental of jet skis and a boat for a day full of fun from 10am until 3:30pm. You can't beat that!!! Plus, we split that between me and Kendra...so now you are only talking about $165 for the day.

 

I swore that I would return to Bermuda and when I do, I would be using H2O again. Bloopers in the day are not always a bad day and when a company can still have those issues and make it a good day, you know they are a great company!!! I highly recommend them and I highly recommend Stefan. (Sorry I just realized that I think I have been spelling his name wrong and I just seen where he wrote his name on my receipt) He was just awesome during the entire experience.

 

We ask him to call us a cab and he did. The cab showed up within 10 minutes and he was dressed like a true Bermudian. He was extremely nice and we ask him if he would drop us off at the Clocktower instead of the dock because we wanted to do some shopping. Now I'm not sure when this guy actually started his trip meter, but he drove us a shorter distance than the taxi that started all the way down at the pier and this guys fare said $15.85 when we got out. LOL Oh well, it didn't matter we were going to give him the same amount anyhow and we all pitched in for the ride and tip.

 

I ask for a picture with him and he told Sakari to "jump in here with me". Now after talking about the cover ups and how it's disrespectful...I really feel bad now looking at this picture because Sakari only had her tee shirt on, she didn't put her shorts back on and she had no shoes on. Eeekkkk. But this guy was a true gentleman and so very nice. I believe that Stefan called him "Jones".

 

[Laszlo]

$20 for gas is not bad at all. Don't forget at the dock its $11.00 a gallon

 

Those "Cottages" were 9 Beaches http://www.9beaches.com

 

They were destroyed 6-7 years ago and have been very slowly undergoing rehab. They were to be open last year, then this year, now its looks like 2017:eek:

[soaringfalcon]

 

 

Some cute little cottages on the water. I bet those would be fun to stay at for a week. "Hey honey, I'm going to play in the front yard for a bit"...drop, kerplunk, and snorkel.

 

 

 

 

I actually know the story behind those. They were designed to be an ecological resort so they didn't make a footprint on the land - just pull up the stilts and go. Well, there is no air conditioning and the roofs are metal which was extremely loud in the rain so they went belly up. Now they sit. They did get a bit of hurricane damage last year.

[SuiteTraveler]

Here's what's really interesting to me about that Portuguese Man of War - they are eaten by Loggerhead Sea Turtles and Leatherback Sea Turtles and there have been 2 nests in recent history - 1999 and 2005 of Loggerheads on Bermuda. Leatherbacks are seen off the coast regularly - although they tend to spend all their time in deep water - they are over 1000 pounds even 2000 pounds (yes, thousand!) - it's a big turtle! Usually female Sea Turtles will use the earth's magnetic field to locate the exact beach where they were born and lay their eggs there. But shifts in the magnetic field can cause the turtles to go to other locations. On the other hand, the necessary food must be present and the Portuguese Man of War proves that it is. Yet the locals expressed surprise about the presence of the Man of War. So, what I'm thinking is the presence of the Man of War and also the turtle laying eggs on Bermuda may indicate a shift in the earth's magnetic field. So it is possible a change is occurring there.

 

Also did you know that the Portuguese Man of War is not one creature, but in fact a colony of organisms living together? Really weird life form.

 

Here are those overwater bungalows you passed:

http://www.9beaches.com

There used to be 17 of these overwater bungalows when it opened in 2005. Looks like some maybe got wiped out? I'm a little scared about what the $55 million makeover means for them in terms of the cost to stay there. It was already $345 a night.

[soaringfalcon]

I think the checking of last names is unique to Bermuda - I know when we went through - they took min and DH's driver license and all 3 of our key cards to ensure we all had the same last name. I saw quite a few people sent off to the side because of this but I don't know what they did because I wanted to get back on the ship ;)

 

I loved, loved, loved your review of the jet skis and boat. Definitely something we will do when we head back.

 

Thank you again for such a great review.

[mitsugirly]

Just a few more pictures to share that I just discovered under the WRONG FOLDER in my not-so-fool-proof sorting system I have on my computer. I discovered these pictures when uploading them to my "social media" site...yes, believe it or not, you guys get to see the pictures before I post them for friends and family to see. LOL I had some of them in the wrong folder and I just knew when I was doing my review that there were some missing...especially around the dockyard and the ships.

 

So...here you go...my out-of-place pictures from our wonderful boating time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One happy family

 

 

She's smiling at us knowing that she brought us here for this very special day.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Oh wait, you have to get one of us with the ship in the background!!!

 

 

 

See you soon Dawn

 

 

 

More beautiful pastel flower colored homes

 

 

 

Ok, that's it. hehe

[mitsugirly]

This explains sea turtle sex determination a bit better than I can:

 

"TSD stands for Temperature-dependent Sex Determination. This is the condition where the sex of the offspring is influenced by the prevailing temperatures during embryonic development. In sea turtles, warmer temperatures produce more or all females, cool temperatures produce more or all males, and the pivotal temperature is the constant incubation temperature that produces equal numbers of males and females. TSD also occurs in other reptiles (crocodilians, some freshwater and land turtles, some lizards), some types of fish, some types of invertebrates, etc."

http://www.seaturtle.org/glossary/index.shtml?term=Temperature-dependent+sex+determination

Pivotal temperature is usually around 82F but the range can vary among species of sea turtles.

 

It's just really cool!

 

OK, so the thing about collecting sea glass is tracing the provenance of the glass. Obviously the brown is beer bottles, but there are some more unusual colors such as cornflower blue (early milk of magnesia bottles or possibly Vick's Vapo Rub), pink (depression era plates and glassware) and red (usually comes from old Schlitz bottles, tableware and car tail lights). And of course you grade the sea glass:

http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/grade-sea-glass.html

 

Once you find a really great piece of Jewelry grade A sea glass , then it makes sense to make it into a piece jewelry or some other decorative item.

 

Ohhhh, thanks for the link. I'm going to go back and read it. Sounds interesting and definitely going to read up on the sea glass as well. hehe :D

 

 

Saw one of the in Labadee last cruise for the first time but did not dive down and pick up. Should have so wife could see it better but was a little deep where I saw it. Enjoying the review. Wish I had the time and patience to write one miyself. Still trying to put photo book together from 2009 cruise but trying to do it myself and not use shutterfly.

 

The Ump

John

 

Aww ya gotta hold it just once. It's weird and neat and they will kinda form to your hand. LOL I would love to read a review from you Ump! :)

[mitsugirly]

When I worked at Quincy's many years ago we beat really cold Rich's coffee creamer to make the whipped topping for our desserts...

 

Do you think that's what NCL is using?

 

 

I don't. Someone on here once gave the recipe, or at least I think it was the recipe...but others chimed in with theirs too. I'll have to see if I can find that link. I think I flap my jaws too much on this site so it could take me forever to try to find it. It might have even been mentioned in one of my reviews. I just can't remember. :(

[mitsugirly]

$20 for gas is not bad at all. Don't forget at the dock its $11.00 a gallon

 

Those "Cottages" were 9 Beaches http://www.9beaches.com

 

They were destroyed 6-7 years ago and have been very slowly undergoing rehab. They were to be open last year, then this year, now its looks like 2017:eek:

 

Oh neat. I wish I could see the insides. They look kinda cool. I'll have to ask my friend to find something on it (google). :)

 

I actually know the story behind those. They were designed to be an ecological resort so they didn't make a footprint on the land - just pull up the stilts and go. Well, there is no air conditioning and the roofs are metal which was extremely loud in the rain so they went belly up. Now they sit. They did get a bit of hurricane damage last year.

 

Well that's really cool. But what do you mean by "just pull up the stilts and go"? Go where? The houses move? Do they float? I would imagine that the metal roofs would make it too hot to stay in there if that's the case with no a/c. Yikes.

[SuiteTraveler]

 

I ask for a picture with him and he told Sakari to "jump in here with me". Now after talking about the cover ups and how it's disrespectful...I really feel bad now looking at this picture because Sakari only had her tee shirt on, she didn't put her shorts back on and she had no shoes on. Eeekkkk. But this guy was a true gentleman and so very nice. I believe that Stefan called him "Jones".

 

 

Even with the culture of Bermuda, I'm sure they give little kids a pass on this issue. Plus he probably deals with tourists all the time and knows you all didn't mean to be disrespectful.

[SuiteTraveler]

Oh neat. I wish I could see the insides. They look kinda cool. I'll have to ask my friend to find something on it (google). :)

 

 

There are photos of the insides of these rooms here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g562685-d563054-Reviews-9_Beaches_Resort-Sandys_Parish_Bermuda.html

 

Incidentally for an eco-retreat, these are not very nice. We stayed in a similar type of lodging - villas on stilts (except up a mountain in a rainforest in Australia) and it was really luxurious by comparison - O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat. Have a look at this for the sake of comparison:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1021444-d258150-Reviews-O_Reilly_s_Rainforest_Retreat_Mountain_Villas_and_Lost_World_Spa-Canungra_Scenic_Rim_Q.html

All the villas at O'Reilly's came with a huge living room, separate bedrooms each with an ensuite, a fully equipped modern kitchen and dining room plus a large shaded outdoor porch with a hot tub and grill. That's what they should have done at 9 Beaches.

 

And both resorts were built and opened in a similar timeframe.

Edited June 24, 2015 by SuiteTraveler

[mitsugirly]

Here's what's really interesting to me about that Portuguese Man of War - they are eaten by Loggerhead Sea Turtles and Leatherback Sea Turtles and there have been 2 nests in recent history - 1999 and 2005 of Loggerheads on Bermuda. Leatherbacks are seen off the coast regularly - although they tend to spend all their time in deep water - they are over 1000 pounds even 2000 pounds (yes, thousand!) - it's a big turtle! Usually female Sea Turtles will use the earth's magnetic field to locate the exact beach where they were born and lay their eggs there. But shifts in the magnetic field can cause the turtles to go to other locations. On the other hand, the necessary food must be present and the Portuguese Man of War proves that it is. Yet the locals expressed surprise about the presence of the Man of War. So, what I'm thinking is the presence of the Man of War and also the turtle laying eggs on Bermuda may indicate a shift in the earth's magnetic field. So it is possible a change is occurring there.

 

Also did you know that the Portuguese Man of War is not one creature, but in fact a colony of organisms living together? Really weird life form.

 

Here are those overwater bungalows you passed:

http://www.9beaches.com

There used to be 17 of these overwater bungalows when it opened in 2005. Looks like some maybe got wiped out? I'm a little scared about what the $55 million makeover means for them in terms of the cost to stay there. It was already $345 a night.

 

I did hear or read about the shifting of the magnetic field and that sometimes throws off the sea turtles. It's super interesting. I feel like I'm getting a lesson on the history channel here and I love it. (I usually get my lessons from Sakari who watches Animal Planet and always has something new to tell me...just the other day she was watching stingrays and said she now knows what that "stinger thingy is called...it's a barb" and then last night she cracked me up when she came to me and said "You remember the barb on the stingrays? Well I have one on my toe now" She had a hangnail that I needed to remove and she said it was real pointy and was scratching her leg. LOL ...kids). :p

 

Actually I did know about the man-of-war being several organisms in one and that's why they are not considered a jelly fish. I read up on them years ago in 2010 when we came across our first jelly fish in St Thomas and I wanted to read up on them. This would be our first encounter with the man-of-war though. Yikes.

 

I can only imagine the make over cost and what they will rent for. I guess I will have to keep coming to Bermuda via cruise ship. LOL

 

I think the checking of last names is unique to Bermuda - I know when we went through - they took min and DH's driver license and all 3 of our key cards to ensure we all had the same last name. I saw quite a few people sent off to the side because of this but I don't know what they did because I wanted to get back on the ship ;)

 

I loved, loved, loved your review of the jet skis and boat. Definitely something we will do when we head back.

 

Thank you again for such a great review.

 

At least next time we will know (well, Kendra will know) to bring the b/c along. She really should just break down and buy passports. She's goes with us all the time now. LOL

 

Glad you loved the review of the jet skis and boat. It's definitely a DO NOT MISS while there. I am going to also research doing this on the other parts of the island and see what they have to offer as well. This could get interesting. :D

[mitsugirly]

Great TR with lots of details and pics! I'm glad to hear that the hop on/hop off bus worked out as that is what we plan on doing for our first day. We are also planning on a Boston whaler for our second day, but we are going through Somerset. I did walk to that Seaglass beach 4 years ago, back when it was okay to remove glass.

 

Yep the HOHO bus worked great. I really wish I would have known that our "trip" to Hamilton was going to be a bust. I would have just stayed in St George longer using this service and went to some of the other beaches. I will know better next time.

 

I hope you have a great time with the Boston Whaler. Such fun to be out on the ocean by yourself doing your own itinerary. :)

 

I feel like I'm in Bermuda and your pictures might be all I get this year.:(

 

Interesting that this sign appears to be no longer at the glass beach. It was quite large and not easily missed. Hello, ladies with the big bags, they are just the ones who spoil it for those who just want a piece or two as a memento.:mad:

 

This was taken in 2012, the first year it was up.

[ATTACH]353370[/ATTACH]

 

Really? The sign is no longer up? How do you know? I haven't read any reports prior to us leaving that it had been removed. Just wondering.

 

Yea the bag ladies are the ones that spoil it for everyone. But then again, who knows if they were locals and probably using it for jewelry to resale. I know they have to get the stuff from someplace. But still sad. :(

[ala1017]

Actually just a break for dinner so that I could take more meds. LOL

 

 

 

So...do you like, totally talk like that? Inquiring minds want to know. :D

 

I honestly never thought so... BUT I asked my husband last night and he literally just started laughing. So apparently I do sound a little "Valley Girl" He said I don't say those words (Like, totally, ect.) but it's the inflection of my voice. Now I'm all weirded out about how I sound! My hubby said "It's cute" so I'll go with that! No wonder people always assume I'm much younger than I am...all these years I thought it was the looks...nah...I just sound like a ditzy teen! Wonderful!:cool:

[mitsugirly]

I've been waiting for this part of your review! We are also renting a boat from H20 in August and I so want to hear about your experience. The pictures you have posted so far are amazing and I hope we end up with a beautiful day like you did. Thanks a bunch for posting such an amazing review!!!! Can't wait for more:D

 

I hope you enjoyed the rest of the pictures. It was a wonderful day out and I hope Bermuda treats you with such wonderful weather as well. :)

 

Excellent, glad you did the boat rental. We have done it twice in the past at H2O. I like their boats better than Somerset. They are a little larger and wider. You need to watch the tied when you anchor and be sure you tilt the engine up, especially if you beach the boat.

 

Could you put a google maps link for that little island, I swear I won't tell anyone where it is. Doesn't look like the same area we stopped

 

That was one of the reasons that we also went with H2O...because they had the larger 17' motorboat versus Somerset that only had the 15' Whaler. That way we didn't have to pay for 2 boats and could all ride together. I think we got a better experience this way.

 

I swear it's the same island that was posted earlier. It was the middle island on the map. I will have to go back and look at the post again to get the name. After seeing the rest of the pictures, did it begin to look the same to you? With the steps and all?

 

I did go back and look at the link, and yes, that is where we went. That middle island called Middle Kings Point. :)

[udamom]

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

 

 

this is so me too!! I have been to Paradise Cove in Freeport twice and most of the rest of my party saw turtles..not me!

I am excited seeing you talk about turtles popping up in the water. Hoping you get to see one snorkeling!

Am in email discussion about renting from H2O for my August trip so was excited to see that you rented from them. Sad they did not have the amount of Jet Skis promised but glad they gave you a discount to make up for it. Off to keep reading to see how the whaler rental was-- and if you see a turtle!

[Laszlo]

I love Whalers, owned two, its always better to go bigger. I like the rigs H2O has two rent, twin hulls offer a little smoother ride

[mitsugirly]

I know you will probably be getting to this but I am wondering how long you ended up actually using the boat, Aquatic is 150. for 4 hrs and 30. for each additional hr. H20 is 80. for first hour and 30. for each additional, I am thinking we might only stay out on the water for 2 hours so we would be better off at H20.

 

 

Well, if you only stay out on the water for about 2 hours, then it would be cheaper to go with H2O. But I can't really calculate our hours because we got a deal for renting both the jet skis and the motor boat and then we had the few complications and they just gave us a deal all together for the trouble. So we only ended up paying $165 each family for time on the jet skis and waterboat from 10:00 until 3:30pm. :D

[mitsugirly]

I honestly never thought so... BUT I asked my husband last night and he literally just started laughing. So apparently I do sound a little "Valley Girl" He said I don't say those words (Like, totally, ect.) but it's the inflection of my voice. Now I'm all weirded out about how I sound! My hubby said "It's cute" so I'll go with that! No wonder people always assume I'm much younger than I am...all these years I thought it was the looks...nah...I just sound like a ditzy teen! Wonderful!:cool:

 

I am like totally laughing now...like totally. I know of people that sound just like what you described (without saying the like totally for sure words) and now I get it. Do you watch the bachelor ever? On Chris Soules season (which was the one before now) he ended up picking a nurse named Whitney and she has this voice. :)

 

this is so me too!! I have been to Paradise Cove in Freeport twice and most of the rest of my party saw turtles..not me!

I am excited seeing you talk about turtles popping up in the water. Hoping you get to see one snorkeling!

Am in email discussion about renting from H2O for my August trip so was excited to see that you rented from them. Sad they did not have the amount of Jet Skis promised but glad they gave you a discount to make up for it. Off to keep reading to see how the whaler rental was-- and if you see a turtle!

 

We went to Paradise in Freeport JUST to try to see the turtles that everyone always claimed to see there. WE SAW NUTTIN! I was so disappointed. :(

 

H2O did good by us, even with the few problems. I would highly recommend them for making the day great despite the problems. They were highly professional and treated us great! Yes we continued to see many turtles that day, but we didn't end up snorkeling anywhere other that the private island we went to. But I was happy to at least be able to say that we seen turtles all day. I would venture to say we seen at least 15 that day and then the 2 the day before in St George. :D

 

Checking seeing sea turtles off my list now.

Edited June 24, 2015 by mitsugirly

[soaringfalcon]

Oh neat. I wish I could see the insides. They look kinda cool. I'll have to ask my friend to find something on it (google). :)

 

 

 

Well that's really cool. But what do you mean by "just pull up the stilts and go"? Go where? The houses move? Do they float? I would imagine that the metal roofs would make it too hot to stay in there if that's the case with no a/c. Yikes.

 

Meaning that if they ever tore them down, there would be no "footprint left behind" supposedly. The captain of our glass bottom boat said they were NOT reopening. He said they just went bankrupt. I guess we'll see...

[mitsugirly]

I love Whalers, owned two, its always better to go bigger. I like the rigs H2O has two rent, twin hulls offer a little smoother ride

 

I had never heard of a "whaler"...sounds like whale, I love whales, I have yet to see a whale on a cruise or otherwise, must be a whale. YEP, I want to go on this whale adventure. LOL Oh was I wrong once I started researching it and asking around. :D Oops.

 

Of course I originally ask H2O about renting a whaler they said they had a 17' motorboat. I had no idea what the difference was so I inquired. They just said it was a "name brand". Hmp ok, 17' "motorboat" it is then. :p