How much time needed?

[Ken'swife]

I am considering a cruise to Bermuda. We would port in Bermuda at 1PM, stay overnight and leave the next day at 3PM. 
I want to see the caves and a few other sights.  I would love opinions...do we have enough time to see the highlights of Bermuda in this time?  Or should I book a different cruise? 
I've looked on-line and seems like Bermuda has some awesome sights.  I don't want to miss any!  Help! LOL

 

[CruisinCrow]

Are you on Grandeur of the Seas?  We just got off a Grandeur cruise that arrived at 1 and left at 2:30 the following day.  Is that enough time?  No way!!  But that just means we have to go back again.   Just be aware that even though you arrive at 1, you won't be able to get off the ship immediately.  We were told to expect to disembark around 2 but we were able to get off at 1:30.

 

This is what we did:

Day 1 - we took the 2:15 ferry to Hamilton, walked to the Queen Elizabeth Park to see the moon gate, then took a cab to Crystal Caves.  We got there in time for the 3:30 tour.  After the caves, we had rum swizzles at the Swizzle Inn, then took a bus back to Hamilton where we had dinner in a pub.  We caught the 7:30 ferry from Hamilton back to the Dockyards.

 

Day 2 - we hired a private taxi driver for a 4 hour tour.  Our driver, Quinton, took us to Fort Scaur, the smallest drawbridge, Gibb's Hill Lighthouse (we climbed it), Warwick Long Bay and Hamilton to see the Cathedral (we climbed that too).  We got back to the Dockyards at 12:30 and had a little over an hour to have drinks at the Frog and Onion and shop at the glassworks shop.

 

I feel like we saw a lot in the limited time that we had.  However, we never made it to St George at all.  And it would have been nice to see more of the beautiful beaches.  You definitely won't be able to see all the sights but you can get a good overview.

[Langoustine]

Unless you are going to be there for three days, you will see only a small part of what Bermuda has to offer.

[Ken'swife]

Certainly does look like there is a lot to do there.  I guess I need to prioritize. 
CruisinCrow, thanks for suggestion for the two days. 

[CruisinCrow]

15 hours ago, Ken'swife said:

Certainly does look like there is a lot to do there.  I guess I need to prioritize. 
CruisinCrow, thanks for suggestion for the two days. 

 

We've already got our list made up of things to do/see on our next trip. 

[Ken'swife]

CruisinCrow, I'm pretty sure we are going to copy you for day one and possibly day 2 (waiting to hear back about that one). 
Looks like I will also be making a list for the next visit. HA HA
Thanks for the suggestions! 

[CruisinCrow]

15 hours ago, Ken'swife said:

CruisinCrow, I'm pretty sure we are going to copy you for day one and possibly day 2 (waiting to hear back about that one). 
Looks like I will also be making a list for the next visit. HA HA
Thanks for the suggestions! 

 

We were on our cruise with my sister who was in Bermuda for 4 days last year.  We still managed to hit a few things that she hadn't seen her first trip.  There's no way to see everything in one trip so just pick what you want to see most.  With such a short time in port on Grandeur, you have to plan pretty carefully.  Have a great time!

Edited June 7, 2019 by CruisinCrow

[princeton123211]

Worth noting that there are plenty of other options that will give you 2-3 days on the island if its important to stay longer-- but none of them are the 5 day trip that Grandeur does. 

[Ken'swife]

9 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Worth noting that there are plenty of other options that will give you 2-3 days on the island if its important to stay longer-- but none of them are the 5 day trip that Grandeur does. 

Sorry, I didn't clarify that...we are actually doing a 7 day out of Charleston on Carnival Sunshine.  We were just fitting in a quick get away before an 11 day cruise later this year.  We will drive to port, no hotels, no airfare and we don't have to use any extra vacation days for travel.  The week we could get away was limited because of the availability of our trusted house/dog sitter.  I'm not thrilled about the limited time we will have in Bermuda so I guess I'll just have to plan another trip there so I can see and do more.  🙂

[scpirate]

11 hours ago, Ken'swife said:

Sorry, I didn't clarify that...we are actually doing a 7 day out of Charleston on Carnival Sunshine.  We were just fitting in a quick get away before an 11 day cruise later this year.  We will drive to port, no hotels, no airfare and we don't have to use any extra vacation days for travel.  The week we could get away was limited because of the availability of our trusted house/dog sitter.  I'm not thrilled about the limited time we will have in Bermuda so I guess I'll just have to plan another trip there so I can see and do more.  🙂

I thought about the 5 day from Charleston since we live 2 hours away.but one whole day in Bermuda and the rest sea days doesn't sound good.i guess docking for a couple days cuts into the casino and bar revenue.unfortunately Cuba got cancelled and part of my refund will be in the form of a carnival gift card.i really don't care for the carnival experience.w e have done most all the Caribbean ports at least twice.maybe itineraries will change in 2020.

[Ken'swife]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 9:36 AM, scpirate said:

I thought about the 5 day from Charleston since we live 2 hours away.but one whole day in Bermuda and the rest sea days doesn't sound good.i guess docking for a couple days cuts into the casino and bar revenue.unfortunately Cuba got cancelled and part of my refund will be in the form of a carnival gift card.i really don't care for the carnival experience.w e have done most all the Caribbean ports at least twice.maybe itineraries will change in 2020.

We dock at 1pm and leave at 3pm the next day.  We've decided to take the ferry over to St. George's on day 1 and go to the Crystal Cave if we can get there before they close...if not we'll just explore St. George's on our on...day 2 we will have a five hour tour around the entire island.  I have a feeling I am going to want to go back.  I read that the casino and bars are open from 9pm until 5am. I am really looking forward to spending time in Bermuda. 

[pacruise804]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:18 PM, princeton123211 said:

Worth noting that there are plenty of other options that will give you 2-3 days on the island if its important to stay longer-- but none of them are the 5 day trip that Grandeur does. 

 

We just got back last week  from Anthem of the Seas 5 day with 2 days at Bermuda (9am Monday - 4pm Tuesday).