Majesty 9/6/08 - Days 5 and 6

[KatWag]

Day 5 – Third Day on Bermuda

Our original plan was to spend today touring St. David’s. Then I heard about the 25% off Movado watches at Crisson’s and Rishi’s “power hour” there. (DH celebrated his 50th birthday last February and really had wanted a Movado watch – we never saw one he liked and ended up not buying one on our Feb Mexican Riviera trip. I was hoping to do better this time.)

 

We ended up on the 10AM ferry heading for Hamilton. Found the perfect watch for DH and got a good deal on it with Rishi’s assistance. Toured around Hamilton for a bit and then enjoyed lunch at the Hog Penny. Finally got to try my “Dark and Stormy” here. It was good, but I wouldn’t be in a mad rush to get another one – I’m glad I tried it though. Decided to take the bus back since we’d already seen the sights from the Ferry. So we headed for the bus terminal. While we were waiting to leave, Rishi boarded the same bus so we had a nice time chatting with him on the way back. It was a shorter ride than I expected, actually. Seemed like we were going past the Swizzle Inn in no time at all. And talk about great views. Bermuda is such a gorgeous island. I got off at the ship stop to grab a quick shower and get ready for our Town Crier walk that night. DH stayed on for another stop or two to check at the rum cake shop to see if they’d gotten the delivery. No luck but they were still expecting it that evening and weren’t scheduled to close until 7PM. So we decided to try again later before our walk.

 

By the time DH got back to the ship the skies had opened up and it was pouring. Five minutes later it would stop and we’d get a rainbow. A few minutes later? Back to pouring again. The poor folks who were coming in with their mopeds were totally soaked. Several of the guys were literally wringing out their clothes on the way into the terminal building. (I’d say about 20 or 25 folks decided to brave the warnings and rent mopeds. That’s about the number we saw parked outside the ship, anyway. DH and I didn’t bother. We did it on our honeymoon and didn’t think anything of it. But we’re a good bit older now and don’t bounce back the way we used to.)

 

We opted for a late dinner and headed off the ship around 6 to check in at the rum cake shop. We were in luck – they had the Rum Swizzle flavor! Bought two of them and headed back to drop them off in the cabin before meeting our group for the town crier walk.

 

Just before our walk was supposed to start the skies opened up again. The guide, the former town crier and mayor, ended up getting soaked on his ride over to the pier. But by the time we started the rain had stopped and we got to see a rare double rainbow. The walk was very good, but I suspect it was a bit shorter than normal – it only lasted an hour. We went to the Bermuda perfumery, the graveyard at St Peter’s and then stopped in front of St. Peter’s for a bit. There was a big town meeting that night at the Visitor’s Center at Penno’s Wharf about the new Hyatt being built on the old Club Med site. As we were leaving the pier, our guide called out to some friends that he’d be there the moment his tour ended. Several of us wondered if our tour got cut short in an effort for him to make the meeting. It was good though, and we enjoyed it. I didn’t have time to shop at the perfumery since I didn’t want to hold anyone else up. But they told us they’d open at 8:30AM the next day so we’d have time before the ship sailed.

 

Back to the ship after wandering a bit around the lanes in St. George’s. It was so hot and humid most of our days on Bermuda that we didn’t spend as much time wandering around the town as we had originally expected. This was our last chance so we decided to make the most of it. Plus, I was starting to get a bit “down” at the idea of leaving the next day and didn’t want our evening to end.

 

Started out planning to have dinner in the Seven Seas but ended up switching to the Four Seasons - the Seven Seas was very loud that night – lots of larger groups. DH always teases me that I am a “bad table” magnet and I have to admit that sometimes he is right. I kept forgetting to tell them that I wanted to be either along the wall or along the windows and we would constantly get stuck at tables for two near the kitchen or right in the middle of traffic. And I’d make a mental note for next time and forget all over again. Anyone reading this – learn from my mistake. If you want a table for two, ask to be along the wall or by the window. This was the first night that we ate in the restaurant at a later hour – we deliberately tried to go early to avoid the lines and to make the earlier shows. So I don’t know if our experience was normal for the later time slot. But for some reason everything was very helter-skelter this night. We waited and waited for our appetizer, then again for our entrée, and then again for our dessert. Our poor waiter seemed flustered and overwhelmed. Totally different from what we experienced the other days when we ate earlier. Everything took so long that we missed the second show. For anyone going on soon, if you see Kenny Byrd, the ventriloquist, don’t miss him. We caught some of his act the following night and he was fabulous.

 

Since we’d missed the shows, we checked out some of the music in the lounges and finished up with a fancy coffee in our favorite spot, the coffee bar. Mary Grace, the server there, is just super. So friendly and bubbly. I don’t know how she manages it with the hours she works. She is there constantly. But always has a friendly smile and greeting.

 

Never made it to the liar’s club or to the chocoholic buffet. I’m so used to getting up at 5:30AM for work and being in bed by 10PM that I just can’t seem to stay awake late, even when I’m on vacation and really want to. :(

 

Day 6 – Leaving Bermuda

Off the ship and at the Perfumery by 8:30AM. Those scent libraries they offer for men and women look perfect for travelling so we each bought one. And both DH and I had been intrigued by a scent we’d tested during the town crier walk. I bought the “Pink” and he bought the “32” men’s fragrance. Then we slowly wandered our way through the rest of the town. All the shops opened early that day and we were able to hit each shop. Finally we headed back to the ship once I figured out that all I was doing was spending money in an effort to convince myself we weren’t leaving. Even though we were going to have a day and a half left of vacation I was really depressed to be leaving. I’ve always loved Bermuda. And somehow, once the ship leaves it feels like vacation is beginning to be over to me.

 

Back on the ship, we grabbed seats at the coffee bar and settled in with Café Mocha’s and our books. On the port side, this was a perfect spot to watch the sail away. The tug pulled us away from our mooring and we were off. We got a great view of the cut again – tourists waving at us from Gates Fort as we went through. (No town crier this time, unless I missed him). I thought we’d have a good view of the Island as we sailed away but we headed straight out to sea – didn’t sail around the Island on our way out like we had on the way in. Shipping channels, maybe? Or a need to get into International waters in order to open the casino and gift shops at 12:30 as promised? No idea.

 

The rest of the day was an R&R day for us both. Relaxed until our reservation in Le Bistro that night. Really excellent food – well worth the cover charge in my opinion. They seemed to be having problems filling the restaurant at earlier times and were offering a 50% off the cover charge for reservations made between 5:30 and 6PM. We didn’t take advantage of it; ours had been set for 6:15 the first day. But it is a good deal if you don’t mind eating a bit early.

 

Tonight’s show was combined between Kenny Byrd and Chantz Powell. Great show. Kenny had us laughing hysterically with his act. Definitely don’t miss him if he is on when you sail Majesty.

[maryln]

What a great, detailed review! Thanks so much! Just one question, so far. Where did you get the NCL restaurant booklet?

[maryln]

Did you notice any kids around 4 years old on the ship?

[KatWag]

Thanks, Maryln. I love reading reviews when I'm getting ready to go on a trip so I always try to give back a bit when I get home by writing one.

 

At the Destination Bermuda talk, Sherry said they would be delivered to the cabin that night. We did not get one so I went to the main desk and asked for one. They also had maps of Bermuda available and bus/ferry schedules. Not sure what the name of the desk was, but it was on the opposite side of the Crossroads area from the desk which had the nightly menus.

 

We hardly saw any kids at all, to be honest. The parents we met seemed very pleased with the kids program.