Bermuda

Land at last. That is what a few passengers are saying – most of us would have been fine with another sea day.

We docked at 8:30, and we went ashore at about 9:30. The last time we were in Bermuda I ended up in the hospital, so I made an extra effort to be more careful this time. Mind you I had a lovely ocean view room in the hospital, which was much better than the view from our hotel room.

We are docked at Heritage Warf at the Royal Naval Dockyard. As we had been to Bermuda before we decided to spend our visit exploring this area rather than heading off on an island tour. The P&O Oriana is docked behind us. They left Southampton 4 days before us apparently, and made a stop in the Azores.

We took the free shuttle train to the Clocktower Shopping Mall. There is an ATM there, but as the shops we went in to take Visa we did not need to get any money. I ended up buying some souvenirs – there was the usual collection of cheap and nasty stuff (well not so cheap), but a couple of shops had some great finds and I was very happy with my purchases.

Next we wandered around taking photos, and looking at the shops. There is a well-stocked pharmacy there, but their prices are high. We did not find a liquor store. As the America’s Cup 2017 will be in Bermuda there was a lot of excitement about this, and the inevitable logo store selling jackets, caps and shirts.

There is also a craft market. I was expecting it to be like the straw market in the Bahamas, but it was much more upscale, with some lovely work produced by local artists. All in all I thought the quality of goods in the shops was excellent, and even though we did little more than explore the Dock Yard areas, we had a good time ashore.

We went out on deck to watch the sail away. Shortly after the all on board time of 3:30 there was the inevitable announcement asking a couple to come to or phone the pursers desk. Then the whistle blew, and the announcement was made again with more urgency. We were watching the gangway, but no one appeared, and it was taken in. A few minutes later we saw a bus hurtling down the pier hooting furiously, and after the bus came to a screeching halt, a couple jumped out and headed for where the gangway used to be. Luckily we were still tied up, so they put the gangway down and they ran on board, and off we sailed. Clearly when Captain Philpott says all on board at a certain time, he means that time, not 10 minutes later.

It was still windy, but the sun was peeking through and we had a lovely sail away. We sounded our whistle (horn? I get confused), and Oriana whistled back – not the QE2, but it was lovely to hear. Then when we said goodbye to our little tugboat she hooted at us, and we hooted at her. I can never get enough of ships’ whistles.

We returned to the cabin, and I was pleased that we could watch the island go by from our window. An extra treat was when I looked up from my book the pilot boat was right outside our window, bobbing away madly. Alas, we could not see the pilot actually get into his boat from our window, but could see the little boat roar off into the distance.

Now we are on our way to Port Canaveral, but the first thing on the agenda tonight is the World Cruise Officers’ party. It seems to be strange to have a party on a non-formal night, but a party is a party so I’m only too happy to have been invited.

Although there were a lot of people at the party, it wasn’t over crowded and we got to talk with interesting staff members, all of whom seem to be very excited about the trip up the Amazon. There were savory snacks, but we kept on missing the waiters as they went by. There was also a beautiful cake with a copy of our itinerary on it. The galley staff are so talented, I love looking at (and eating) their creations.

At dinner we all talked about our great day in Bermuda, each of us exploring different places. After a day of walking we were quite tired, and decided to miss the show and retire to our cabin after dinner.