So here's a trip recap.
My mom misplaced her passport. She keeps it in a dresser drawer. Then a few days before leaving she takes it out and moved it for some reason. Then she forgot the new hiding spot. We tear the house apart looking for it. No love. I go online and see what the other options are. It's a government issued ID along with an original birth certificate. We find those items, so crisis averted.
I can't check my mom in online because it only takes the passport number to take you to the next screen. So we are partially checked in.
After my mother failed her first covid pcr test, I took her again the next day to be retested. After the TV show people came up with a false positive, I had a suspicion that's what happened. The follow up text from the test site said she was positive again. Then a few hours later I get a text that she was negative. So she had 2 tests but got 3 results. Of course it goes to my phone because she's cell phone adverse. At this point I have what I need. Now there is a big family discussion on the test results. I don't care because I have what I need. I avoid the conversation because it falls on me to get everything organized so we can leave.
Sunday we take a lyft to the pier. There is hardly anyone there. Normal cruise day it's a madhouse of hustle and bustle. Just 2 porter carts. We chose a 1pm check in time, which was done online. We have to do another test at the pier. I signed up online to something called eurofin for our test results. This was a prerequisite in an email from NCL. I did it in my name. I didn't realize that each traveler needed to do that. So my mom had to tell a person all her info. But the inputter was having issues and had to ask the same 50 questions 3 times. I crap you not. Input everything then wait. Have her say it's locked up and not responding. These are all part time NCL employees that only work on the days when the ships leave.
After that snafu we finally check in. Since we arrived to when we boarded the ship we burned 2 hours going between buildings, filling out forms, getting tested and waiting for test results.
Once on board I head straight to the bar.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We had nice weather the entire time. We had about 10 minutes of drizzle from a single dark cloud.
Now the good parts. The cruise had 1,600 passengers. Normal full capacity is over 3,900. Then since everyone sailing needed to be vaxxed, the cruise didn't have any children on board.
So no waits for anything. Most of the time we had the elevators to ourselves. There were plenty of deck chair by the pools and hot tubs. We never had to wait to be seated for any meals. Most of the food was pretty good. The appetizer portions were just right. The entree portions were quite generous. Many times I didn't finish my meal. At home, I'd take the left overs with me. But there isn't any way to reheat stuff so into the garbage it goes. By about day 5 you get to where food isn't as desirable as it was a few days before. I always was up for a drink or 3 though. Somehow that doesn't diminish, at least for me.
We toured about 2/3rds of the island. Bermuda is scenic. It shows a lot nicer when compared to a lot of the Caribbean islands. There didn't appear to be any run down areas. The salt water was in the 80s as were the air temps. We were the only ship in port. Plus with our limited capacity the town didn't feel over run with tourists. I'd like to go back and stay in a hotel and fish with a charter boat. Being a bunch of isolated islands, the reefs there are teeming with fish just waiting for me to catch them.
Drinks on board the ship were weak. I got doubles after the first few. With the specialty drinks, I got a floater of the main spirit to boost the flavor. Around an hour out of NYC, 1 of the guest fell and took a header. They had to be medivaced off. So we sat dead in the water while aid came out to us. You barely felt the ship sway until the next to last day on the way back. Our arrival was pushed back an hour and a half due to strong currents in the Hudson River. I never had that issue before. Getting off the ship wasn't a nightmare either since we were only at about 40% capacity.
We were only the 2nd ship to visit Bermuda since covid locked everything down. It's going to take the island a little time to get back to where they were pre covid. I'm guessing a lot of those islands where tourism is the number 1 employer are scrambling to figure out new ways to employ people that doesn't include being dependent on the cruise and tourist industry.
I feel that you get a lot of value for your money when you cruise. The newer class ships even have single passenger rooms that are half price when compared to a full sized room. Single travelers no longer have to pay for 2 people. They have raised the room cleaner tip to $18 per day. 11 years ago on my first time out it was $12 a day. Our balcony room with 2 specialty dining room meals and unlimited bar was about $1,000 per person for a 7 day cruise. Plus the $126 room tip. So around $160 a day per person for meals, drinks, room & entertainment. YMMV
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
