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The Bermuda Islands. Just hearing the name brings to mind scary stories about vanished ships and mysterious phenomena... In reality, though, it’s not nearly as mysterious or frightening as the stories suggest. Bermuda is a British overseas territory — a group of small, beautiful islands in the Atlantic Ocean. And that’s exactly where we headed on a large cruise ship
The Bermuda Islands are quite small. In terms of size, they are almost 10 times smaller than Toronto. The population is less than 62,000 people. Just for comparison, more than 9 million people live in Toronto and the surrounding area. Here’s what a map of Bermuda looks like
Bermuda is not part of the Caribbean. In fact, it’s even closer to Canada than to the Caribbean. Temperatures range from around +18°C in winter to +28°C in summer.
Many tourists choose to visit Bermuda on a cruise, and that’s exactly what we did. We drove from Toronto to New York, where we boarded our cruise ship and set off on our journey...
This is what New York looks like from the ship
The ship definitely deserves a special place in my description of our trip. Our ship was the Norwegian Breakaway. In just a few words, I’d describe it as huge, modern, and awesome :) It was only four years old at the time, with 16 decks and a capacity of about 4,000 people — approximately 2,500 passengers and 1,500 crew members.
The ship had absolutely everything you could possibly need to have a fantastic time. For those who enjoy an active lifestyle, there was a basketball court, mini-golf, and a rock-climbing wall
There were kids’ pools and water slides, as well as adult pools filled with plenty of fun-loving young people and, well, not-so-young people too :) All of this was outdoors.
But inside the ship, there was a whole world waiting to be explored. I’ll start with the restaurants.
The buffet was open practically around the clock. The food selection was pretty good, although I did find myself missing more fish. In addition to the buffet, there were around 20 restaurants, six of which were included in the price of the cruise. And, of course, there were plenty of bars
We usually had breakfast at the buffet. Here’s what our breakfast typically looked like
Not everyone had lunch, but some of us liked to grab a quick bite of wings and nachos. For dinner, we usually went to different restaurants. We didn’t take any photos there, but everything was beautiful and delicious.
The kids also ate their fill of ice cream. There was simply no way they could walk past the ice cream machine without stopping. And there was another temptation they couldn’t resist — crepes!
We’re not particularly big foodies, so I’ll stop talking about food and move on to the gym. With that much food around, there’s no way to do without it!
By the way, there were a huge number of very overweight people on the cruise. I think a cruise might be more convenient for them than an all-inclusive resort, since you can even take the elevator to the buffet :)
But seriously, if you’re in the mood to do something, there’s always plenty to keep you busy on the ship. There were constantly different workshops and activities going on, such as a class on how to make towel animals
Our steward not only cleaned the cabin twice a day, but also delighted us with little surprises like these
You could listen to live music, watch a movie on a huge screen, play cards in the game room, or curl up with a book in the library. You could also play billiards or party at the late-night disco
ou could try your luck at the casino or simply strike a pose
You could take part in a painting auction and all sorts of other games and raffles, try the Escape Game, enjoy a Comedy Club performance, and watch numerous other shows. You could visit an ice bar or do some shopping in the various stores. There was also a teen club and a great kids’ club on board.
The evening shows deserve special mention. There was a huge theater where we had the pleasure of watching the wonderful Broadway musical Rock of Ages
There was also a performance by the famous dance show Burn the Floor. Both performances were absolutely spectacular!!! It’s a shame we weren’t allowed to take photos and capture even a little bit of the emotions and excitement. But we did get a chance to take a samba master class and then have our photo taken with one of the Burn the Floor couples. YES!!!!
We also went to a concert by Carla Stickler, an American actress and singer best known for her role in the Broadway musical Wicked. By the way, it’s a fantastic musical. I saw it a few years ago, but I’d happily go again
It’s simply impossible to cover everything that was happening on the ship, and it’s time I finally showed you what Bermuda is actually like...
We spent almost three days on the islands, and we had a different plan for each day
Day 1 was dedicated to the beach. The most convenient ways for tourists to get around the island are by bus or ferry. We took a ferry from the port to Bermuda’s capital, Hamilton. From there, we caught a bus to one of the longest and most beautiful beaches — Horseshoe Bay.
They say Bermuda has pink sand. It’s not exactly pink, of course, but it does have a lovely rosy tint, thanks to the tiny pink shells and coral fragments mixed into the sand.
The ocean water was crystal clear and an incredible shade of turquoise. Large rocky formations lined the shore, and the little coves were filled with colourful fish.
The middle of the beach was quite crowded, but if you walked a little farther along the shoreline, you could find your own peaceful, deserted little beach paradise
After spending some time swimming and soaking up the sun, we headed out for a walk.
By the way, Bermuda is an incredibly clean island. We didn’t see any litter on the roads or streets. Walking around without a shirt is not allowed, and in front of restaurants we came across signs listing various rules several times.
For example, you’re not allowed to enter a restaurant wearing clothing through which your underwear can be seen))) And eating or drinking on buses is not allowed
We walked along the shoreline and then headed up to the lighthouse to admire the island from above. Along the way, we took a closer look at the houses. They all have distinctive stepped white roofs.
The reason is that Bermuda has no natural freshwater sources. When it rains, water runs down the roofs and is collected in special tanks that every house has
And here we are, admiring Bermuda from high up at the top of the lighthouse
Day 2
We headed to the town of St. George’s to explore the town and visit the caves. On our way to the caves, we came across this absolutely beautiful tree.
The Crystal Caves aren’t very large, but there’s something cozy and charming about them
Then we took a little stroll around the town and visited one of its tourist attractions — an unfinished church
We returned to the ship, and the tired kids no longer wanted to go exploring, so we decided to head back to the capital, Hamilton, and explore it properly.
As I mentioned before, Bermuda is a small island, and its towns are quite tiny as well. There aren’t really that many roads either — basically, there’s just one main road :) The locals get around by car or scooter.
We walked all around the city centre, taking in the City Hall and the church
We stopped by a local supermarket. Prices were quite high. Bermuda doesn’t really produce anything of its own, so pretty much everything has to be imported. We had a hard time finding somewhere to get a decent cup of coffee and came to the conclusion that living in Bermuda must be pretty boring...
We also browsed the souvenir shops and did a little shopping. We didn’t come across any high-rise buildings. These condominiums were the tallest buildings in the capital
By evening, we took the ferry back to the port
Day 3
That day, we were already setting sail back to New York, so we decided to spend the day close to the port
In the port, another cruise ship from Celebrity Cruises was docked next to ours. There they are — two beauties!
The weather was beautiful throughout our entire stay. We simply went for a walk.
By the way, one thing that surprised us in Bermuda was the wild chickens. They just wander freely around the streets — kind of like our Canadian geese :)
Two more days on the ship, and we arrive back in New York.
With love,
Chef-Janette & Co. :)
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