Does RCI have curfews?

[PeppErZ!]

I will be traveling to Bermuda on the Empress of the Seas on August 18th out of Philadelphia. I see that many of you have gone or will be going soon...so my question is...how early can you get off the boat in the morning and when does RCI ask that all passengers return to the ship for the evening when you are docked in Hamilton or St. George? I have not seen a thread on this topic.

 

This is my second cruise and I feel so much prepared for my trip...I wish I found Cruise Critic for my cruise last summer!

[TPKeller]

This is an excellent question, and one that I am also surprised to have not seen before!

 

I guess it's because overnight stays in port are so rare these days...

 

On my cruise, we arrived Monday around 1 PM. We were able to get off the ship in the normally expected time frame.

 

The announcement for reboarding was indeed strange! We were supposed to move from Hamilton to St. George's on Wednesday morning at 7 AM, so the announcement on Monday at 1:00 said "Please be back on the ship by Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM"!

 

And although I didn't ask anyone about it, I suppose technically you could have stayed off the ship during the move and just gotten yourself to St. George's, but I didn't plan to do that, so I didn't ask if it would cause anyone any undue headache. I could certainly see it happening once in a while though, someone might want to get an early start on a beach jog, or perhaps stay overnight with friends who live on the island.

 

The security lines were open 24 hours per day while we were docked on Front Street, and later, when we couldn't move to St. George's and had to tender from the Customs pier to the ferry terminal, they ran the tenders all night long, but after 10, they said they would only run one per hour. I think they ran them as they filled up after 10, but perhaps after they weren't filling up, they reduced it to one per hour. I didn't check to see for sure how that worked later in the night.

 

Theron

[Charles4515]

I will be traveling to Bermuda on the Empress of the Seas on August 18th out of Philadelphia. I see that many of you have gone or will be going soon...so my question is...how early can you get off the boat in the morning and when does RCI ask that all passengers return to the ship for the evening when you are docked in Hamilton or St. George? I have not seen a thread on this topic.

 

This is my second cruise and I feel so much prepared for my trip...I wish I found Cruise Critic for my cruise last summer!

 

I have not been on Empress but on the ships I have been on that stayed overnight in Bermuda there was no curfew.

[Charles4515]

This is an excellent question, and one that I am also surprised to have not seen before!

 

I guess it's because overnight stays in port are so rare these days...

 

On my cruise, we arrived Monday around 1 PM. We were able to get off the ship in the normally expected time frame.

 

The announcement for reboarding was indeed strange! We were supposed to move from Hamilton to St. George's on Wednesday morning at 7 AM, so the announcement on Monday at 1:00 said "Please be back on the ship by Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM"!

 

And although I didn't ask anyone about it, I suppose technically you could have stayed off the ship during the move and just gotten yourself to St. George's, but I didn't plan to do that, so I didn't ask if it would cause anyone any undue headache. I could certainly see it happening once in a while though, someone might want to get an early start on a beach jog, or perhaps stay overnight with friends who live on the island.

 

Theron

 

When I sailed on the old Pacific Princess years ago I did not reboard for the change of ports from Hamilton to the Dockyard. I went off in the morning to the beach and later went to the Dockyard and watched the Pacific Princess come in and dock there.

[TPKeller]

When I sailed on the old Pacific Princess years ago I did not reboard for the change of ports from Hamilton to the Dockyard. I went off in the morning to the beach and later went to the Dockyard and watched the Pacific Princess come in and dock there.

That makes sense, and when you think about it, it's a rather unique opporunity for a cruise! (I spent a week in St. Thomas once and on the busiest day of the week we went up to Paradise Point and watched all the cruise ships pull out as the sun set... something very few cruise passengers ever get to do!)

 

These days, with the automated tracking of who is on and off the ship, I would certainly check with the guest relations people before I did that. I could see them getting all worried about it. But then again... they won't wait for you if you are late from a non-ship sponsored excursion, and that is when they are leaving for good, and it happens all the time... So who knows. I would probably still ask, that's just me.

 

Theron

[bdaguy]

while the ship is docked in port, you have 24hr walk on/off access. if your ship is moving between St Georges and Hamilton, which is usually done very early in the AM, some people with scooters tend to ride their bike to the next port for obvious reasons. Most ships require you to be on board about an hour before they leave Bermuda

[ookpik]

Thankyou Theron for those gorgeous pics of Bermuda.They made me feel quite homesick!We left there in 1995,having spent 18 years living(And working) there.It was a delight to see some scenes which were very

meaningful to us..the large pink house on the left as you sail into Hamilton Harbour..the one with the twin butteries down on the water(They were his and her changing rooms) was a place that I house sat just after arriving in

1978!Looks like they are having an extension..it was already an enormous

place,it is in Point Shares,an exclusive area,and had some quite famous

neighbours..next door was Sir Dudley B...It was a beautiful island and now we

must go back to see it again,most of our friends from there are gone too

ex pat workers have only limited contracts!!

Thankyou again! Cheers!

[TPKeller]

Thankyou Theron for those gorgeous pics of Bermuda.They made me feel quite homesick!We left there in 1995,having spent 18 years living(And working) there.It was a delight to see some scenes which were very

meaningful to us..the large pink house on the left as you sail into Hamilton Harbour..the one with the twin butteries down on the water(They were his and her changing rooms) was a place that I house sat just after arriving in

1978!Looks like they are having an extension..it was already an enormous

place,it is in Point Shares,an exclusive area,and had some quite famous

neighbours..next door was Sir Dudley B...It was a beautiful island and now we

must go back to see it again,most of our friends from there are gone too

ex pat workers have only limited contracts!!

Thankyou again! Cheers!

:D You're very welcome! With this album I broke the cardinal rule for vacation photo albums... at 492, there are entirely way too many pictures included... but I am very glad that one picture was meaningful to you! I am choosing to think of it as a documentary, rather than a photo album! :)

 

When we left Hamilton 3 days later, the barge was not there. I got a closer shot of those little changing houses (I had no idea what they were!) but that one didn't make the cut...

 

Theron

[ddoll]

if your ship is moving between St Georges and Hamilton, which is usually done very early in the AM, some people with scooters tend to ride their bike to the next port for obvious reasons.

 

Actually, the moped shop owners have always moved ours to the next port for us. When we get up, they are there waiting for us.

[shamrox91]

:D You're very welcome! With this album I broke the cardinal rule for vacation photo albums... at 492, there are entirely way too many pictures included... but I am very glad that one picture was meaningful to you! I am choosing to think of it as a documentary, rather than a photo album! :)

 

When we left Hamilton 3 days later, the barge was not there. I got a closer shot of those little changing houses (I had no idea what they were!) but that one didn't make the cut...

 

Theron

 

As if I wasn't longing for this trip enough... i don't think I'll be able to make it through the next 3 months waiting to see Bermuda.