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Review & Background
This was the 13th cruise for my wife Irene and myself. I am 60 yrs old and as usual my wife won't let me tell you how old she is. We celebrate our 40 anniversary in Oct of 2001. We left on Sunday Aug 13, 2000 from Boston.. Being a surperstitious person about the number 13 I left with mixed emotions. This was our second cruise to Bermuda, both from Boston on the Norwegian Majesty. Our first cruise to Bermuda was in August of 97 and the ship was then called the Royal Majesty. The ship obviously changed hands and the ship was stretched by adding a middle portion.
Due to hurricane Alberto, we left Boston with rough seas. The Captain had to slow the ship down so that we arrived in Bermuda at about 1:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 a.m. For those of you that book tours with the ship, the Helmet dive tours were full by the time the first seating for dinner had completed their meal. They had several tours scheduled. I did not count them but I would say there were about 6 helmet dive tours. This was a tour that we did the first time we went to Bermuda. The nice thing about this tour is if you wear glasses like we do, you are able to wear your glasses with the helmet. The next popular tour is the kayaking tour. This was the next to fill up. Due to the late arrival on the first day we did not get to go kayaking as we had planned. This was a disappointment to my wife. We took a cab tour of the island(they are right off the ship and not hard to find), a carriage tour of the island, sail boat snorkeling tour and went deep sea fishing with my brother-in-law. The Royal Majesty is docked at St. George's for the duration of the Bermuda stay. It does not move mid week as some cruise lines do. For those that are young and in shape there is a nice beach near by that is within walking distance called St. Catherine's. Being old and gray we took a cab(OOPS my wife just said, "who says I'm gray??"). There is also a bus that goes there from the ship and back for $2. It goes by about every 15 minutes. If you go snorkeling by the rocks on the left at the beach and go around to the Achilles beach it is very nice snorkeling. Actually we saw more fish there than we did on any snorkeling tour we took during the two times in Bermuda. The weather was nice except for a brief shower every day.
When you arrive in Bermuda the pastel colored houses with the white roofs is quite a site. Most homes have a reservoir beneath their homes. When it rains the the water is collected on the roof tops down tho the reservoir. The roofs have a white limestone paint that purifies the the rain water for them. Some homes have wells but most of the drinking water is obtained in this fashion.
What started off as a weekend shopping getaway for my wife and her two sisters ended up as being a cruise to Bermuda with the three couples. My wife and I enjoyed this cruise. There were minor glitches(for example I got to try the medical facility on the ship as the waiter dropped a full ice cream sundae with glass on my forehead the last night,I figured if that's all that happened on the 13th cruise that would not be bad.) I would not consider the service throughout the ship as excellent but it certainly was above average. I don't think the food was excellent but I was more than satisfied. If I can walk away full, then I have no complaints. This was the last week that the ship was doing the normal service. The following week they were starting the Freestyle Cruising. One thing my wife did not like was that around the pool there were tables with straight chairs. If you wanted a lounge chair, you had to go one deck up. Since I have two shades, burn and blister, this was not a problem for me. I am usually on one of the side decks in the shade. The entertainment was excellent. But what I consider excellent, someone else may think is lousy. We were not a big fan of the cruise director. On Sunday the theater presentation was a singer Joni Butler who sang Barbara Streisand type numbers. Monday the presentation was "The Jean Ann Ryan Company" with a Broadway type show. Tuesday was Jeff Moche with a humorous type show. Wednesday was Joni Butler again with Broadway favorites accompanied by Tom Fitt on the piano. Thursday was Murray Coleman a super banjo player. Friday was the Jean Ann Ryan Company in Gotta Dance. Saturday they brought back Jeff Moche, Joni Butler, Morey Coleman and a finale with many of the crew members. There was also a comedian Frankie Pace that was excellent.
There were a lot of children and teenagers on board. If this is a problem for you then this would not be a good time of the year for you to go to Bermuda. There was a room for internet access. You could be charged by the amount of time you used it or you could spend something like $28 dollars for the week. Many teenagers must of had access for the week because you could never get near the room during the day time.
Having been to Bermuda twice on a cruise staying at St. George's, I think if I were to go again I would take a cruise out of New York that spends a few days at Hamilton and a few days at St. George's. I would not want to take one that spends time at the dock yard. I think that is too far away from everything.
All the pictures in the Bermuda section were taken with an Olympus digital D400 zoom camera with the exception of the picture boarding the ship and the picture of Irene & I. Those two pictures pictures we bought from the photography department of the Norwegian Majesty. I enjoy the digital camera for many reasons. One is that it fits very nicely in your pocket and you don't have to lug around a lot of equipment.
We have been on multiple cruises and have enjoyed each and everyone of them.