Escaping to Bermuda - June 2018 Trip Report!

[tatibus0913]

Positive comments on Vacation Hero Cards can mean more to the crew, than a cash tip. These comments can lead to promotions for them.

 

Ladies, thank you so much for sharing your comments, pictures and dailies. We love Bermuda, having cruised there many times from Boston. We plan to do it again next June on the Gem.

 

That's good to know! We were happy to fill them out, we just never had them given to us in the restaurants. We also filled out a couple at the end of cruise too, the service we received was the best we've ever had on a cruise.

 

Bermuda is amazing and I can see us going back in the future!

[tatibus0913]

great report, thank you very much

 

Thanks for reading!

[EmeraldCoastCruisers]

We enjoyed both sailings but I liked leaving from NYC more because you were in Bermuda Wednesday-Friday. The Boston sailing arrives Sunday afternoon, and there's not a lot going on in Bermuda on Sundays. We also loved the Escape! The Boston cruises have had the Dawn, which we liked but it doesn't have as much to do on sea days. I believe next summer, the Gem will be sailing from Boston but I don't know much about that ship. Of course, Boston was a lot more convenient of a port for us! Either cruise will be amazing!

 

 

 

Thank you! Appreciate all your assistance in your review and answering many of all of our questions!

 

 

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[PelicanBill]

Looking at booking a Bermuda cruise and would be interested in hearing the difference in a Boston sailing vs NY! Happy Honeymoon!!! ❤️

 

 

The biggest difference is the ships.... Read up on the differences and look at deck plans. Bigger ships sail from NY than Boston. Some prefer the smaller, some prefer the bigger!

[PelicanBill]

Jessica thanks for the detailed review. It was like going on the cruise we didn't get to have - we were on Breakaway to Bermuda in 2016 but got redirected by Hurricanes to Florida and Nassau. You even did three things I was planning to do!

 

As a New Yorker, I am sorry to hear you were refused taxis several times when you got off the ship in New York. The distance is plenty long for a typical NYC taxi ride. Same as going to Penn Station which I am sure many people would be doing. They are holding out for $50 fares because they know many are going home. Rude and illegal actually. Shame on them.

[tatibus0913]

Jessica thanks for the detailed review. It was like going on the cruise we didn't get to have - we were on Breakaway to Bermuda in 2016 but got redirected by Hurricanes to Florida and Nassau. You even did three things I was planning to do!

 

As a New Yorker, I am sorry to hear you were refused taxis several times when you got off the ship in New York. The distance is plenty long for a typical NYC taxi ride. Same as going to Penn Station which I am sure many people would be doing. They are holding out for $50 fares because they know many are going home. Rude and illegal actually. Shame on them.

 

That's too bad about your Bermuda cruise! Hopefully you'll be able to cruise there one day!

 

No apologies necessary about the taxis! It was a little frustrating, but we're comfortable using the Lyft/Uber apps so it worked out okay. We did see one woman arguing with the a driver because he was refusing to take her to her hotel in Times Square. I understand that this is their livelihood and they want the higher fares, but it created a lot more confusion and chaos than was necessary.

[suzequ]

Jessica - Thank you so much for the great thoughts and photos! You've made me so excited to be doing this cruise in 3 months. Thanks again, Suzequ

[tatibus0913]

Jessica - Thank you so much for the great thoughts and photos! You've made me so excited to be doing this cruise in 3 months. Thanks again, Suzequ

 

You're welcome! I have fun doing these types of trip reports! Have an amazing cruise! :D

[shadowmeboy]

Great review. Glad I was finally able to read through it after completing my review.

[JennieCoconut]

Hey Jessica. Great review!

 

My husband and I are doing a re-do honeymoon since our cruise last year didn't end on a great note (broken propeller and had to fly home). We live just North of Boston and I'm curious about the train/bus. We have always flown to NYC since I hate being in the car for that long. Can you tell me a little bit about the pricing and experience you had on both? Thanks!

[tatibus0913]

Great review. Glad I was finally able to read through it after completing my review.

 

Thanks! :D

[tatibus0913]

Hey Jessica. Great review!

 

My husband and I are doing a re-do honeymoon since our cruise last year didn't end on a great note (broken propeller and had to fly home). We live just North of Boston and I'm curious about the train/bus. We have always flown to NYC since I hate being in the car for that long. Can you tell me a little bit about the pricing and experience you had on both? Thanks!

 

That’s unfortunate about your first cruise, but it's great that you're doing a redo! Both were pretty easy. Amtrak originates out of South Station, and has stops at Back Bay and Route 128, which I believe is Westwood. There’s the regional train, which was a little more than 4 hours and the Acela high speed train which is about three and a half hours. We did the saver fares on the regional train, which were $50 a person. I believe you have to book at least two weeks in advance for the saver fares, and they're non-refundable. The high speed trains are much more expensive. Also, there is no luggage storage on the train so we had to lift our bags up into the overhead shelves. Finally, there wasn't any assigned seating so we weren't able to sit together right away. Not an issue for us, but it may be a concern for others. The benefit to the train is of course is no traffic!

 

There's a few different bus companies that do the Boston - NYC route. We picked Go Buses because it ended at Alewife Station, which was extremely convenient for us. Other bus stations typically use South Station. We paid $28 per person for the bus home. They store your luggage underneath the bus, which was nice. We did hit some traffic leaving the city which made the trip a little longer. It took about 5 hours and 15 minutes to get to Alewife.

 

We would've preferred to do the train home as well but the only saver fares that were available were either at 10am or 5:00pm. The other train times were $175+ a person, which was why we decided to take at 12:00pm bus home instead. We never even thought to fly haha.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Edited July 10, 2018 by tatibus0913

[cruiser123!]

Sunday, June 17th: Boarding the Escap

We arrived at the terminal by about 9:45am, and a porter took our luggage right away. We breezed through security and walked all the way to the back of the terminal, where they were checking in our deck. Check-in took all of five minutes, and were sitting with our boarding card at 10:00am.

 

Wait...I’m confused. You don’t actually get on? They had you waitIng? Just booked the Escape and starting planning now. Never heard of this part

[oncruisecontrol]

We began with the chef’s selection of cheese, which was three of the four cheeses offered.

 

 

Wagyu beef skewers

 

 

Scallops

 

Thanks for posting picture of food from Pincho's Tapas. It looks really good. We sailed on Escape last year but never tried Pincho's. Can you give me an idea of the prices? Is it similar to Food Republic's prices? We ate at Food Republic everyday last year. I'm really enjoying your review.

[JamieLogical]

Wait...I’m confused. You don’t actually get on? They had you waitIng? Just booked the Escape and starting planning now. Never heard of this part

 

Boarding doesn't usually start until around 11:00 at the earliest? So those who arrive at the pier earlier get through security and then are issued a boarding group number. Once boarding begins, they call one group at a time to board.

[tatibus0913]

Boarding doesn't usually start until around 11:00 at the earliest? So those who arrive at the pier earlier get through security and then are issued a boarding group number. Once boarding begins, they call one group at a time to board.

 

Right! We were there at 9:45am and checked-in by 10:00am. We could see people still disembarking off the Escape. One of the NCL staff said they'll probably starting boarding around 12:00pm, but they made the announcement that we could board early starting at 11:00am. If you arrive after they start boarding, you may not have to wait that long but the terminal may be busier.

[tatibus0913]

Thanks for posting picture of food from Pincho's Tapas. It looks really good. We sailed on Escape last year but never tried Pincho's. Can you give me an idea of the prices? Is it similar to Food Republic's prices? We ate at Food Republic everyday last year. I'm really enjoying your review.

 

The menu is in post 195 if you want to look at prices for exact items, but everything was between $3 and $9. I believe we spent $35-40 and we shared everything we ordered. The food was great, especially the Wagyu beef skewers!

[cnvh]

Regarding the rude taxi drivers refusing rides in NYC, I've also had that experience-- hailed a cab, they'd roll down their window, I'd tell them our destination, and they'd just speed off. Had this happen multiple times! My boyfriend (who lived in NYC for years) thinks that's hysterical; he said to NEVER tell them where you're going until you're IN the cab. If they pull up, just get in. They can't kick you out once you're in the car, lol!

 

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[tatibus0913]

Regarding the rude taxi drivers refusing rides in NYC, I've also had that experience-- hailed a cab, they'd roll down their window, I'd tell them our destination, and they'd just speed off. Had this happen multiple times! My boyfriend (who lived in NYC for years) thinks that's hysterical; he said to NEVER tell them where you're going until you're IN the cab. If they pull up, just get in. They can't kick you out once you're in the car, lol!

 

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lol! We'll have to remember that for next time, although we'll probably just stick with using Lyft and Uber.

[cruiser123!]

Right! We were there at 9:45am and checked-in by 10:00am. We could see people still disembarking off the Escape. One of the NCL staff said they'll probably starting boarding around 12:00pm, but they made the announcement that we could board early starting at 11:00am. If you arrive after they start boarding, you may not have to wait that long but the terminal may be busier.

 

Thank you both!!

[Mid43]

I believe it is illegal for the taxi drivers to refuse a ride. You could report them to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission by taking note of the 4 digit number on top of the cab or on their door.

[tempus137]

When we got off the Bliss in May, the taxi line across the street from the terminal covered the block twice. We just walked south on 12th Ave to 50th Street & hailed a cab there. He turned onto 50th where he popped his trunk so we could put the suitcases in, we got in & told him Penn Station. No problems, except he started to move before I was completely in the cab.

[tatibus0913]

I believe it is illegal for the taxi drivers to refuse a ride. You could report them to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission by taking note of the 4 digit number on top of the cab or on their door.

 

Thanks for the info!

[tatibus0913]

When we got off the Bliss in May, the taxi line across the street from the terminal covered the block twice. We just walked south on 12th Ave to 50th Street & hailed a cab there. He turned onto 50th where he popped his trunk so we could put the suitcases in, we got in & told him Penn Station. No problems, except he started to move before I was completely in the cab.

 

There weren't that many taxis when we disembarked, but there was still a good amount. It was about 10:45am by the time we were on the street, so that may have had something to do with it. We ended up walking down W 47th and met the Lyft driver at the corner of W 47th and 11th Ave, in front of a Toyota dealership. It was actually really easy, and we should've just walked the block over and not deal with the the taxis at all. The taxi thing frustrating but it was only a few minutes of our wonderful trip! :)

[Ship along]

Great review. We are also going on the Escape to Bermuda in August. I was wondering what kind of camera you were using to take such great pictures.