Bermuda Excursions

[BostonGal35]

buy a 2 day bus and ferry pass. you can easily see the entire island safely on your own at minimal to no cost. id recommend seeing:

 

Gibbs Hill Light House (i think its $2 to climb to the top).

Horseshoe Bay (or Warwick Long Bay)

Crystal Caves (with lunch at the Swizzle Inn across the street)

St. George

If you are there Wed night, check out the Harbor Nights Festival in Hamilton

Many of the forts are free and offer great views

Walk a section of the Bermuda Rail Trail

[latebloomer56]

We have been several times and have loved the Zoo & Crystal caves. You can do it cheaper on your own but we have used NCL. Also if you can go to St. George on the ferry or if the ferry next to NCL is running very nice area for walking around you can walk up to St. Catherine's and there is a beach just down the road from the fort.

Also a big hit with our grandson was the fort where you dock. For 11.00 each we walk to the Admiralty house and it is beautiful on our way up we sit and watch the dolphins. Just if you bring anything for a snack in with you remember to take all trash out with you as well, last time the bins were not around. A big hit with our grandson were the lizards (dead & alive) care of the dead ones it looks like they are sunning and if you touch them they are just skin & bones and will break.

So much to do here with spending very little.

[CruisingSince1982]

I've taken it before. Feel free to turn me into the authorities.

 

Why would you do that?

[sandpiper35]

Which excursion would you recommend? Probably can only afford to do 1. It would be for an 11 year old, myself and Hubby. Thanks:)

 

On a last day of our cruise, we did not have all day and afraid to get stuck on the far side of the island away from the ship, we hired a taxi to show us his local favorites near the docks, and just baby sit us until sail time. That was wonderfully private, personal, and not very expensive at all. The trip included beaches, bars, ad stores locals frequent. Very relaxed and interesting.

 

Cheers.

[fridaythe13th]

We have on board credits so want to book excursion through NcL. I assume we can use credits to book a cruise???

 

Do you mean book a cruise while on board? No you use your credit card for the deposit. You can use the OBC to pay for your daily service charge (unless you pre-paid that). You can also use it for specialty dining and drinks. Anything you charge to your cabin will be deducted from your OBC. If you don't use it all and it's refundable, they will reimburse you. Nonrefundable, it's gone, so spend it!

[Cruise mama3]

In my op i meant to say that I want to book excursions using obc - not book another cruise.

[BostonGal35]

yes, you can use OBC to pay for excursions.

[HokiePoq]

Hidden Gems would be an exxursion I would consider booking with the ship on the last day.

 

Hidden Gems is fantastic. Not sure what time the ship leaves but it is a long excursion. You can book that directly with the company. They are located right on the bridge which leads from the pier to the land at the Dockyard.

We booked the beach one with the cruise line for the last day to be sure of getting back in time.

[newmexicoNita]

Do you mean book a cruise while on board? No you use your credit card for the deposit. You can use the OBC to pay for your daily service charge (unless you pre-paid that). You can also use it for specialty dining and drinks. Anything you charge to your cabin will be deducted from your OBC. If you don't use it all and it's refundable, they will reimburse you. Nonrefundable, it's gone, so spend it!

It is not refunded if it is a non refundable OBC which many are. We do plan on using ours for a tour in Bermuda. We have a nice OBC, we have $50 excursion credit and get 1 15% excursion discount because we are platinum plus. Thus, we will book a tour via the ship. We do not always do it via the ship.

[josephmz]

I put together a tour with Winsome Tours (winsometransport.com) a couple of years ago. We did it the first day (Sunday).

 

We had 16 people from our meet & greet. The owner, Ralph Richardson, knows everything about Bermuda.

 

Their Signature Tour lasts 5 hours and covers the island. There is a presentation at the oldest church on the island, extended stop at Gibbs Hill Light and a walking tour of St. George. They also advertise a kid's tailored version. The price for 1-3 is $320.00. If you have 7 or more it is $60.00 per.

 

If you are looking for less expensive option, I would consider riding the bus.

Bus service is excellent and it's a good way to see everything. Plus, you can get off where you want and catch a later bus.

[Shynook11]

Yes....I agree with some of the above posters....Bermuda excursions are a waste. So much cheaper off the book off ship unless you have enough onboard ship credit to make it worth it...however I would think you could use that for drinks, dining or other paid activities. We chose a intro scuba excursion so far and it was $40 cheaper Pp off ship, same company. Planning to do a snorkel at shipwreck too, way cheaper off ship. Cruise lines sell there excursions with the fear that if you book of ship you could be left behind or scammed. The ship is docked, you are not going to get left behind. Every cruise we have taken, the outside tour companies always have been fabulous.

I was curious if anyone knows if the Crystal caves can be accessed by just getting there on our own and the same with the Blue Hole park?

[Charles4515]

I was curious if anyone knows if the Crystal caves can be accessed by just getting there on our own and the same with the Blue Hole park?

 

Both the Crystal Caves and Blue Hole Park can be accessed getting there on your own. It is easy. Anywhere in Bermuda for that matter. Either by public transportation or by taxi. To Horseshoe Bay by the $7 MiniBus. If you do a ship excursion to Horseshoe they put you on a Minibus.

 

Also every excursion that the cruise line has can be done independently. In Bermuda the cruise lines outsource to the same tour companies that can be booked independently. The only reason to book with the cruise line is to use up OBC. That is something I have done, not in Bermuda yet, but I do have a Bermuda cruise booked with $400 non refundable OBC. It won't be easy for me to use it up that much, the most I ever spent for drinks on a seven day cruise was $140. So I might use some of the OBC on a shore excursion. I would shoot for Hidden Gems if it were available as a cruise line excursion and I have a lot of OBC left.

[boopsahoy]

Which excursion would you recommend? Probably can only afford to do 1. It would be for an 11 year old, myself and Hubby. Thanks:)

Since you can do the beaches pretty much free-through the ship I would do the crystal caves. It was wonderful

[fridaythe13th]

Do you mean book a cruise while on board? No you use your credit card for the deposit. You can use the OBC to pay for your daily service charge (unless you pre-paid that). You can also use it for specialty dining and drinks. Anything you charge to your cabin will be deducted from your OBC. If you don't use it all and it's refundable, they will reimburse you. Nonrefundable, it's gone, so spend it!

 

It is not refunded if it is a non refundable OBC which many are. We do plan on using ours for a tour in Bermuda. We have a nice OBC, we have $50 excursion credit and get 1 15% excursion discount because we are platinum plus. Thus, we will book a tour via the ship. We do not always do it via the ship.

 

I did mention that.