BERMUDA CRUISE
June 5th-12th, 2004
SATURDAY
Setting Sail.
A huge stretch limo picked us up as scheduled and drove us into the
city in luxury and comfort. We expected to encounter delays going through
Queens because of a lot of sports events taking place that afternoon.
The Mets were playing at Shea and the Yankees had a game up in the
Bronx. Worst of all was the third leg of the racing Triple Crown; The
Belmont Stakes at Belmont Race Track, starring Smarty Jones. But, except
for a couple of stalled cars on the Expressway, we zipped right into
the city and were at the Hudson River Cruise Ship Terminal by 12:30PM.
We had to fill out some paperwork in the terminal and go through Customs,
but it was a lot easier than doing the same thing at an airport.
We got on the ship and found our cabin with no problem since it was
almost in the same location on this ship as it was on the last Celebrity
cruise that we took earlier this year. We washed up and headed for
the buffet lunch, which was ok but nothing to write home about.
Barbara and the Zenith. This was taken at the dock in Hamilton, Bermuda. |
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Barbara
and I did a quick tour of the Zenith and found it to be about
the same as our last ship, the Century, but older and smaller.
The ship was clean and looked good, though.
We had been assigned the late seating in the dining room. We had always
preferred the early seating because this left the evening for the show
and some dancing in one of the clubs aboard ship. Most people preferred
the late seating so we didn’t think that it would be a problem
to change it. Wrong. On this cruise, more people wanted to eat early
so it became a problem. However, the Maitre d’ managed to get
us at a table for 6 at the early dinner. The dining room on this ship
is lovely, but tiny compared to the two level dining room of our last
ship and the three level room of our first Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
giant. However, all Celebrity ships are known for their fine food,
and this ship will probably fit that pattern.
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The
ship sailed at 5 PM, a half hour late for some unknown reason.
We stayed out on one of the upper decks to watch as we slipped
down the Hudson River. It was a lovely experience, even if the
skies were threatening to unleash the forecasted rains. But it
held off and we watched as we passed lower Manhattan and the
Battery and had a great view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island. We went down to our cabin to get ready for dinner, just
before we passed under the Verazzano Bridge.
After dinner I had to meet with the Assistant Cruise Director to discuss
my lectures. There would only be two on this trip, unlike the three
that I gave on the last cruise, so this will be a piece of cake. And,
lo and behold, this is the same Asst. Cruise Director that we had on
our last cruise, on the other ship.
After that, we went to the evening show, which was ok. Then I had to
met the Cruise Director in the ship’s Library where he had a
tv cameraman tape a brief interview with me which would be played over
the ships closed circuit tv in each cabin. There was also a pretty
good blurb about me, touting my lectures in the ship’s newspaper.
So, I have gotten plenty of publicity. Much more than I had gotten
on the Century. So, I am curious to see how many people I will attract
when my lecture starts in about 4 hours.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that we will never again
take a cruise that begins in New York. The North Atlantic proved to
be too much for poor Barbara. While I would describe the sea to be
quite calm, there were lumps in the ocean and Barbara felt every one.
She managed to do pretty well, throughout the evening, even so far
as to enjoy an evening of drinks and dancing in the Rainbow Lounge.
But, she found it hard to fall asleep. I will admit, that due to the
fact that our cabin was almost all the way up in the front of the ship,
and close to the water, we did experience loud crashing noises and
a lot of motion, every time the bow of the ship crashed through a swell.
SUNDAY.
A Day at Sea.
Barbara wore her sea bands from the time we set sail, but by this morning,
she was really suffering. It was all that I could do to get her
to dress and get out on deck and away from the stuffy confines
of our cabin. We did manage to get up to the pool deck but couldn’t
find a comfortable place out of the wind. Plus, her watching
the tidal wave action of the water in the pool sloshing over
the sides, didn’t help. We went inside to the buffet restaurant
where I hoped that maybe getting something in her stomach might
help. I convinced her to take a couple of bites of melon. Then
a sip of coffee and some saltine crackers but she really felt
nauseous. Poor soul, She lost it on the way back to the cabin.
But, she felt a little better after that, and has been dozing
in the bed for the past hour and I think that this will be a
good thing.
I had to give a lecture in the afternoon. On the last ship, I had a
small theater which was perfect to accommodate the 10 to 18 people
who attended. This time there was only the large theater but I had
about 30 people at this first lecture which went well. The night before,
as I said earlier, I had been taped and played on the ship’s
closed circuit tv to promote my lecture. People stopped me on deck
and said, “Oh, you’re the guy on tv.” Ahhhh, fame.
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By Sunday night, Barbara was feeling better and was able to dress for the formal dinner, that night. It was excellent and after that we went to the show in the ship’s theater, which was also excellent. Then we went to one of the lounges and had a drink with some friends and did some dancing. We were still going through some lumpy ocean so I had a built in excuse for some of my dance mis-steps. |
MONDAY
Still at sea but getting close. Then Hamilton, Bermuda.
Monday was better and Barbara felt better. We approached Bermuda at
about 1:30 PM and it seemed to take us forever to reach the harbor
in Hamilton. We found out that this was because we had to pick
our course around a very circuitous course through the many reefs
that surround this island. It was a very slow trip through the
bays but it offered us a magnificent view of the Bermudian landscape
and real estate. We docked at about 3:30 PM and Barb and I left
the ship and walked around the city, near the docks. Hamilton
is the capitol and the largest city in Bermuda. The ship ties
up right in the city. Later, we hired a cab to take us on a tour
of that end of the island and we got a quick overview of the
lovely beaches, and we saw some beautiful homes. We came back
to the ship in time for dinner, a show and more dancing.
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Entering Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda. |
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A very happy Barbara enjoys the feel of solid ground after a bumpy ride through the North Atlantic' |
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Barbara enjoys the
serenity and the warmth of the lovely island of Bermuda.
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And, so do I.
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Horseshoe Beach is reputed to be the nicest beach in Bermuda. We viewed it from the road above, during our cab ride around Hamilton. We wanted to go there for a swim, one day. But, it didn't work out. Oh well, it saved us something to look forward to on our next Bermuda vacation. |
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We enjoy the view from the high ground at the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse. |
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And, this is the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse. It's one of only two lighthouses that were made from cast iron. |
TUESDAY
Still docked in Hamilton
The
next morning we took a glass bottom boat trip to some coral reefs
offshore and enjoyed the beautiful coral formations and lots and
lots of reef fish and sea turtles. Nice.
In the afternoon, we took a ferry over to an old British Navy Dockyard
which is now filled with craft shops, museums, glass blowing factories.
Everything is very, very expensive all over Bermuda and this place
was no exception. We thought that we would get some souvenirs at the
Dockyard but no way, José. We stopped at a place near the ship
and found some better prices.
On
our way out to the coral reefs to look at the fish and coral.
the glass bottom boat took us on a tour of Hamilton Harbor,
Our guide pointed out the beautiful and very expensive homes
that line the shores.
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We all dangle our feet in the bottom of the boat to get a close look at the fish. |
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Yup. Those are
fish.
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And they swim
in their multitudes, right under the boat.
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Back to the dock,
after the tour. That's the glass bottom boat behind Barbara.
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In the afternoon,
we took a ferry across the bay to an historic area known as
the Royal Navy Dockyard. Britain maintained a repair facility
here but it is now being used as a museum and a place to show
local crafts.
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This building
was the victualling yard where the ships stocked up on the
provisions they would need for their voyages.
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Barbara looks
over some of the craft work on display. Prices in Bermuda are
very high and this place was no exception.
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Most of the old
buildings and walls at the Dockyard are constructed from the
limestone that is plentiful on the island.
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Beautiful flowers
grow in profusion.
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There is a glass
works at the Dockyard and demonstrations on glass blowing.
A woman heats up a glob of glass in a furnace.
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And when it is
molten, she blows it into the desired shape.
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The results are
sold (dearly, of course) in the sales shop.
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That took care
of the afternoon at the Old Royal Naval Dockyard.
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Back to the ship for dinner, show, drinks and dancing. People are stopping us around the ship and commenting on our wonderful dancing. I can understand that for Barb, who is a wonderful dancer. Maybe those weekly dance lessons are paying off. Anyway, we are having fun.
Wednesday
St. George
This morning, the ship sailed the few miles around the island to the Town of St. George. St. George used to be the capitol of Bermuda until it was moved to the City of Hamilton. St. George is old and quaint and picturesque. The trip took our ship a couple of hours to pick through the reefs and enter St. George's Harbor through a tiny opening that was barely wider than the ship. Only the smaller cruise ships are allowed to enter this harbor. The big ones stay berthed in Hamilton or at the old Royal Dockyard.
We had breakfast aboard the ship and then walked into town. We looked around the small town on foot, for awhile and then hired a cab for a short tour of the surrounding areas.
| Our morning walk through the narrow streets of St. George. |  |
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My turn for a photo. |
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Brick sidewalks are quaint. |
| Then we took a cab ride and our driver pointed out the highpoints, including this unfinished church. It seems that the congregation raised the funds to build a cathedral here, when St. George was still the capitol. But, when the capitol was moved to Hamilton, after the building was started, they didn't feel that it was worth the expense and work was abandoned. |  |
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We had been told to make sure that we were back in the Town Square by noon for "The Dunking of the Wench." In Colonial times, it was the custom to punish minor offenders by strapping them in a seat called the "Dunking Stool" which was installed at the end of a long, pivoting pole.
This young lady was accused of being a gossip and a nag. |
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The penalty for which was to be dunked, several times, in the canal. |
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She was lifted out of the water, each time all the while protesting her innocence. Which only led to another dunk. |
We went back to our ship for dinner, after which we opted to walk back into the town for an evening stroll. Look at this photo. Can you imagine a warm, soft evening in Bermuda. The smell of flowers mixed with the scent of salt water, carried on a warm breeze, while birds sang in the trees. |
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Shop lights came on as night fell. |
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