My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May to Bermuda.We are on the Norwegian Dawn and leave NYC on 05/11. Anyone out there that can give this first time cruiser advice or suggestions.
The best advice I can give is to not sweet the small stuff. Go expecting to have a great cruise, you'll have a great cruise.
The Dawn is one of NCL's best, so you made a great choice.
Tips: 1) Don't forget your papers. Have a passport, or driver's license and birth certificate handy when embarking. 2) Pack lightly. The Dawn has self service laundrymats, so you really don't need to pack for 7 days and nights of clothes. 3) You have to get reservations for the specialty restaurants, but not for the main restaurants. The food is served in small portions, so either order every course, or you can order two entrees if you wish. 4) You don't have to go ashore at every port. The ship is far less crowded on port days, you almost have the entire ship for yourself. 5) There will be chair hogs, line breakers, constant complainers, loud and drunk passengers aboard. Expect your fellow passengers will often be rude. Let them be, just walk away from them. 6) Expect the crew to try to sell you more things. They know they have a captive audience. Remember, you don't have to buy anything you don't want. 7) Last, and most important, have fun!
We've cruised to Bermuda several times, mostly on NCL, in fact. On your cruise, you'll be in King's Wharf on the western part of Bermuda. It's not a bad location, but not in the middle of everything, either. Yet, it's convenient by public bus or ferry to beaches, the city of Hamilton (shopping!), the town of St. George (history), and many other attractions.
So -- my first piece of advice is to buy a 3-day bus/ferry pass that will give you unlimited rides. Last time I was there, this was payable in cash. These should be set up in one of the Tourist offices when you get off the ship.
Second piece of advice if this is your first time to Bermuda -- NCL offers (or used to offer) a wonderful 5-hour tour of Bermuda. If this is available on your cruise, I highly recommend it to "get the lay of the land." I'd also suggest doing it as early as possible.
Other than that, let me know what interests you and I can make some additional recommendations.
If you don't mind, what is your age and do you have an aversion to riding/driving a scooter? My wife and I were there 2 years ago. We are in our mid 40's. We don't ride motorcycles at home but I rode when I was a kid. Lots of people HIGHLY reccomended that we not rent a scooter. We did and we had a blast. You can see so much more on your own in much better time than the bus can take you. One day we took the scooter on the ferry from Hamilton to Kings Warf and toured the whole way back to the ship on small back roads. If there were impatient people behind us we would always pull over at the bus stops to let them go by, and all was well. It took my wife a little bit to get use to riding on the back, but got that pretty quick. On our last day on the island anybody that didn't have a scooter didn't have enough time to get off the boat and to any beaches by bus. We had the most beautiful rocky beaches all to our selves. Have a wonderful time on one of the most beautiful islands.
Janet-We love the Dawn and will be doing Bermuda on her in October. She is one of the greats and one of the few ships wherein you will meet multiple numbers of repeat cruisers! She is one of our favorite ships!
Janet, Thanks for your question. The replies are a help to me also. I am going on the same cruise May 25th and it is my first cruise. I will keep checking back for additional info. Thanks again to all. Linda
Hi Janet,my husband and I are sailing with you our second cruise, first with NCL I know all the questions you have being your first cruise but don't worry just have a great time everything seems to fall into place once you sail we booked a Ocean veiw room on deck 5 in the middle of the ship,My husband gets sea sick and had a bad first night on our first cruise so we were told to get a room in the middle hope it works out!Well hope to hear from you if I can be of any help to you please ask away Vita
Vita- Take some Ginger Root Tablets with you on the cruise (Good Idea to start taking them a day ahead of time) and much on the green apples at the Buffet from time to time-they work wonders for sick stomachs!
Hi RICK,nice to meet you yes it is a unusal I only knew one other girl growing up with my name and of coarse my grandmother whom I was named after,never liked the name when I was young, people would always pronounce it wrong a simple four lettered name.Of coarse you must know it is Italian and means life in italian.Well nice speaking with you say Hi to Vita lol Happy Cruising Vita
Hi Rick, yes it is a unusual name only knew one other girl growing up with my name,Old fashion Italian name which I guess you know means LIFE,named after my Grandmother.Well nice to meet you say hello to your wife Vita LOL and happy cruising Vita
Hi,Rick sorry I posted the same message twice anyway have three questions for anyone who knows is there any website where you can purchese NCL's cruise discount book before your cruise? and is it worth it, and what is the weather like in Burmuda in May? Thanks Vita
Hi Vita. According to the Weather Channel, average temperatures in St. George, Bermuda in May are a low of 68F and high of 75F. May also has the least amount of rain, on average, according to the same source.
I don't know about the NCL discount book. What does it contain?
It'll still be a little cool for swimming but the beaches are great to just visit. When we lived in Md. we always took advantage of the trips to Bermuda & we miss it since we're now in Florida & can't get there without flying north. There used to be a ferry that took people from King's Wharf into Hamilton. Aside from Hawaii, Bermuda it our second favorite place to cruise to.
Hi thank you both for the weather info. I am not sure what this book has but I was told it has coupons for excursions and different items on shore at different stores saw that some cruise web sites were giving it for free in there package if you booked your cruise with them. Vita
I like eating some candied ginger, too. I was on a ship once that had a big bowl of candied ginger at the exit of the dining room, as a digestive. Everyone loved it.
On the morning when you are arriving at King's Wharf, get up good and early and enjoy the sight of Bermuda getting closer and closer. You are scheduled to dock at 8:00 am, so get a cup of coffee/tea...and get out on the open deck by 7:00 (or ask a crew member when would be a good time in case your arrival is running early/late). It's a peaceful and relaxing time....taking in the beautiful colors and sights. Not sure if you will be cruising along the coastline for any duration...we've always docked in Hamilton and the channel takes you along the shoreline for a while. Anyway....most passengers sleep in...and we've had the decks to ourselves. Very relaxing and enjoyable experience as an opening for your visit.
And yes.....rent the scooters/mopeds to get around and explore. The only way to really explore Bermuda, IMO.
Posts: 79 | Location: Long Island, New York | Registered: December 30, 2005
And yes.....rent the scooters/mopeds to get around and explore. The only way to really explore Bermuda, IMO.
I agree with using the scooters but they're not for most people who haven't ridden on the left side before. It probably aggravates the locals who are just trying to get to work having to be behind the tourists going 20 mph.
anyway have three questions for anyone who knows is there any website where you can purchese NCL's cruise discount book before your cruise? and is it worth it, and what is the weather like in Burmuda in May? Thanks Vita
