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Bermuda's Cruise Ship Calls in 2012

Many visits from March to December to the Island's three ports, see full listing below

By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online

To refer to this file use "bermuda-online/cruises.htm" as your Subject

Cruise ship at King's Wharf, Dockyard

Introduction to Bermuda

The 2011 high-season period (April through October) is now over except for three visits by non-contract cruise ships in December, 2011. The 2011 season begins in April. Cruise ships arrive in and depart from Bermuda on a seasonal, not year-round, basis. Most visits are scheduled from spring through summer and the early fall. Bermuda is not the Caribbean but 1200 miles north of it, so has a cooler climate in the winter months than the Caribbean. 

2012 Schedule of cruise ship calls

Cruise ship off Bermuda

The Marine and Ports division of the Bermuda Government controls every aspect of the cruise ship calls and publishes, usually by every January, a yearly schedule of all cruise ship calls.  For 2012 calls see  

http://www.marineandports.bm/Img/downloads/BMOC/Cruiseship%20Schedule%202012.pdf 

Bermuda is certainly a lovely place to go on a cruise. Just be aware of certain things that apply only in Bermuda, as shown below. They include that narcotics - even small amounts - are forbidden in Bermuda. See Illegal imports. In 2011 many cruise passengers who ignored this were caught by Bermuda authorities (with the full knowledge and consent of US authorities) while in international and Bermuda waters. They were arrested, charged, went to court in Bermuda, were fined hugely, or imprisoned.

Contract cruise ships and cruise lines

This means they are subsidized by the Bermuda Government to come to Bermuda weekly in the season. They include Norwegian Cruise Line (Norwegian), Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. They offer regular Bermuda sailings in 2012. Norwegian has announced that its new Norwegian Breakaway will debut in spring 2013 with a series of Bermuda cruises. Mega cruise ships will be coming to Bermuda until at least 2018 under a  10-year deal between Government and Norwegian Cruise Line. The agreement began in 2009 and was announced in November 2007.  It means two state-of-the-art Panamax vessels, usually travelling from New York and Boston, will each make at least 22 extended calls here per season.

The great majority of cruise ships arrive in Bermuda directly from the USA. US ports of departure include Cape Liberty Cruise Port at Bayonne, New Jersey - see http://www.cruiseliberty.com/dirpark.htm. New York's Cruise Ports are in Manhattan and Brooklyn - see http://www.nycruise.com/terminal.html. Baltimore's Cruise Port is at http://www.baltimorecruiseguide.com/cruise-terminal.html. Charleston, South Carolina, Cruise Port is at http://www.port-of-charleston.com/cruises/passengers/getting_to_charleston.asp. Norfolk, Virginia, Cruise Port is at http://www.cruisesfrom.com/norfolk/. 

Cruise ship at Dockyard

2012 Bermuda cruise ship news to date

In 2011 Bermuda made over $79 million from cruise ship visits and cruise ship visitors - about 385,200 - accounted for 60% of all Bermuda's visitors. That year, Bermuda attracted new cruise lines including Silversea Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Oceania Cruises and Germany's Aida Cruises. There were also two visits by luxury liner Queen Elizabeth of the Cunard Line. 

The 2012 cruise ship schedule, above, shows Bermuda’s regular visits down ten percent for the coming year, with the occasionally-visiting ships showing the sharpest drop overall. However, a Ministry of Transport spokeswoman said 2012 is expected to record the second highest number of cruise ship visitors in Bermuda history. Bermuda expects a total of 162 ships' visits, bringing more than 360,000 visitors, between March 1, 2012 and the season’s December 1 conclusion.

Carnival Pride will be sailing its summer 2012 season in the Eastern Caribbean instead of Bermuda. 

Princess Cruises has also withdrawn a ship from Bermuda. After spending three years sailing to the destination, the 3,080-passenger Caribbean Princess is being redeployed to Europe in 2012. However, it is hoped the new ship Royal Princess to be launched in 2013 will later visit Bermuda.

Among the Island’s regular, contracted ships, Holland America Line’s Veendam will call 19 times, five visits less than the 24 in 2011. St. George’s, with the fewest number of 2011 calls by far among Bermuda's three ports, will take a further hit as the Veendam (too big to go into the Old Town so has been at Murray's Anchorage  off the East End when possible, with cruise passengers tendered into the town), will instead dock in Hamilton from April 24 until August 28. The ship is scheduled to include Murray’s Anchorage for one 2011 trip. The popular ship has cancelled all its Bermuda visits for 2013. 

St George’s will be visited by the Regatta in June and both the Quest for Adventure and Silver Whisper in October. They will tie up at Penno's Wharf.

Cruise visitors exploring Bermuda

Of Bermuda’s regular cruise callers, Norwegian Gem has been replaced with the equivalent-sized Norwegian Star. There will be 22 arrivals in 2012 of the Norwegian Dawn.

Royal Caribbean International meanwhile has increased its calls. Explorer of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas are scheduled to make a total of 14 extra stops.

Princess Cruise Lines’ Caribbean Princess will no longer be calling regularly. It will make one October 29 stop only, at Dockyard’s Heritage Wharf.

The occasional callers show the sharpest drop, nearly halving from 40 to 22 mainly due to Carnival Cruise Lines having cut back significantly on visits to Bermuda. In 2012, Carnival Pride will make just a single early call, on April 25, to Dockyard. The Bermuda government says: "The decision of Carnival to cut back on visits to Bermuda is not based on the Bermuda product, but the lack of prime berths available for their deployment requests. “Due to contractual obligations with RCCL, Celebrity and NCL, prime berths are not usually available for occasional callers wishing to arrive in Bermuda on Mondays through Friday, May through Labour Day. These are the times when cruise lines introduce higher ticket prices because it aligns with school breaks in the US, Canada and Europe. RCCL, Celebrity and NCL all occupy these prime berths on a weekly basis, making it difficult to accommodate all of the requests the Ministry receives from other cruise lines."  

Because of the booking difficulties, the Bermuda Government has assumed Carnival decided it would be more profitable to sail to other destinations rather than visiting Bermuda at less profitable dates and times. Carnival also owns Cunard, Holland America and P&O. 

Bermuda Cruise ship ports - introduction

Bermuda may be very small - only 21 square miles (56 square kilometers) in total land area - but it has not one but three cruise ship ports. At this time, none of them are free WIFI enabled - have a WIFI Hotspot - for visitors and shoppers. This is unlike in established ports elsewhere such as in Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, USVI, USA, Canada, elsewhere where this facility is well marked. There, cruise ship terminals and/or their nearby shopping centers now routinely offer free WIFI to all who bring their own WIFI-enabled laptops. They carry a sign similar to the one on the right. It is hoped WIFI will be extended to all Bermuda's cruise ship and other visitors in the foreseeable future so they can send their emails and digital photos home directly from these Bermuda ports.

Bermuda's three cruise ship ports are shown from left to right on the map below: 

Bermuda Cruise ship ports - City of Hamilton

Almost in the geographic center of Bermuda, the most convenient place from which to explore the whole island. No free WIFI Hotspots. The city is central (15 miles from the Town of St. George) and has 2 cruise ship berths, the # 1 Passenger Terminal; and # 5 & 6 Passenger Terminal. Both can take ships of up to 750 feet in length - small and medium-size cruise ships. Bermuda's highest-rated port by a huge margin, also the most central, easiest to get to and from, with biggest choice of shopping and facilities. Two Rock Passage has been the entrance to Hamilton Harbour since 1896. A huge advantage here is that passengers can walk off ships docked here and be right in the city. A port city for hundreds of years and Bermuda's single main attraction and main shopping area by a very wide margin.  From here there are frequent by-day buses and ferry service going east to the Town of St. George (about 1 hour) and west to the Royal Naval Dockyard (about 1 hour).

From here there are many options. The adventurous cruise ship visitor who seeks other diversions will find a nice variety of places to go, alone or with a spouse or friend or group.  

By land from here. For those whose cruise ship docks here. See Bermuda Beaches. By bus or taxi or moped/scooter. John Smith's Bay in Smith's Parish is a lovely public beach about 30 minutes by the # 1 bus every half hour during the day. Other public beaches are ( the public section of) Elbow Beach in Paget Parish, on the # 7 bus route; Warwick Long Bay (another personal favorite) in Warwick Parish, on the # 7 bus route; Horseshoe Bay in Southampton Parish, on the # 7 bus route; Church Bay, also in Southampton Parish, also # 7 bus route. Or, if you prefer a more leisurely pastime, head into Devonshire or Paget, on either side of the city, and walk along a relevant part of the Railway Trail.

By sea from here.

• Go fishing, on a licensed commercial fishing boat operating a whole day or half-day service. Some fishing boats, by prior arrangement with you and your cruise line, will meet you either where your cruise ship docks or elsewhere convenient to you.
• Go by ferry to Dockyard and/or Town of St. George, a gorgeous way - and the least expensive of all trips by boat - to see the western and eastern parishes.
• Marine sightseeing tours. There are a number of options, all leaving from Albouy's Point near the Ferry Terminal.
• Rent a Boston whaler. Ask for a map and directions. A special recommendation, if you or a member of your family or group or a friend can handle such a boat is go to Paradise Lake - not served by ferry - passing a number of islands, for gorgeous swimming, a picnic and sightseeing of a type most cruise ship visitors won't experience.

Bermuda Cruise ship ports - King's Wharf/Heritage Wharf

No free WIFI Hotspots. At the former Royal Naval Dockyard, at former islands now joined to the mainland in Somerset, Sandy's Parish. This is the westernmost and most remote (note that Bermuda is not rural but now largely urban) part of Bermuda, an interesting part of the island if you have plenty of time and opportunity to explore but somewhat limiting if you do not. This is where most cruise ships dock at the express wish of the Bermuda Government. This is the only port in Bermuda where large vessels can berth. There are frequent but often full buses going west to and east from here and ferries to and from the City of Hamilton, Bermuda's capital and major port of commerce. Public-transport ferries are more enjoyable and can be quicker too, than the public transport buses. Shopping is limited, with only the Clocktower Mall locally - within walking distance of the cruise ships docked here - offering realistic options. From this port, the nearest village is sleepy Somerset, going east. Buses go there but ferries do not. 

The new pier here was originally supposed to cost $35 million but in the end it was delivered at a $65 million cost to Bermuda taxpayers, 70% over budget.

From here there are many options. The adventurous cruise ship visitor who seeks other diversions will find a nice variety of places to go, alone or with a spouse or friend or group.  

By land from here. See Bermuda Beaches. A really nice beach - the best in this Parish - is Somerset Long Bay, but it is a fair walk from where the nearest public bus stop at Mangrove Bay. Or, if you prefer a more leisurely pastime, walk along a relevant part of the Railway Trail. Or indulge in one of the many Watersports options within reach.

By sea from here.

• Go by ferry to City of Hamilton and/or Town of St. George, a gorgeous way - and the least expensive of all trips by boat - to see the central and eastern parishes.
• Go fishing, on a licensed commercial fishing boat operating a whole day or half-day service. Some fishing boats, by prior arrangement with you and your cruise line, will meet you where your cruise ship docks.
• Ferries don't stop at Ely's Harbour. Rent a Boston whaler. Ask for a map and directions. Then go, keeping to the 5 knot limit in the harbour. Take a day or half day exploration of Ely's Harbour and then a relaxing swim after the harbour to the small beaches of the Daniel's Head Village hotel. To stay legal, go on any beach up to but not beyond the high water mark.  Go at high tide to give you the best chance of evading reefs and shoals.

Cruise ship moored at Dockyard

Bermuda Cruise ship ports - Town of St. George

No free WIFI Hotspots. At the East End, or most eastern part of Bermuda (15 miles from the City of Hamilton). (Appears to be north on the map). If small enough, the cruise ship will enter via the narrow Town Cut channel, 220 feet wide - when wind conditions permit. In St. George's Harbor between Gates Fort and Higgs Island. It has been deepened and widened since 1846. But often, if the wind will present a hazard to the ship or passengers or crew, the captain of the small to mid-size cruise ship may elect to avoid St. George's and go to Hamilton instead. The town has berths at Penno's Wharf and Ordnance Island.  Both can take ships of up to 750 feet in length. The town itself is within easy walking distance of the cruise ship berth for most passengers. There are frequent buses and less frequent ferries going to and from Hamilton. There are also periodic seasonal daily ferry services all the way west to the Royal Naval Dockyard. The tender Bermudian, a large ferry capable of carrying up to 700 passengers, services ships such as the Holland America cruise ship Veendam, a 1,400 passenger ship which due to to the ship's size is unable to dock in the town. Instead, such ships anchor in Murray's Anchorage, an area off of Fort St. Catherine, weather permitting. The tender may take approximately 1 hour each way to ferry the passengers to Penno's Wharf and the tender may have to make more than one trip each way if there are too many passengers for one trip each way.

From here there are many options. The adventurous cruise ship visitor who seeks other diversions will find a nice variety of places to go, alone or with a spouse or friend or group.  

Go fishing, on a licensed commercial fishing boat operating a whole day or half-day service. Some fishing boats, by prior arrangement with you and your cruise line, will meet you where your cruise ship docks. Or go by sea, rent a boat - a Boston whaler or personal watercraft - for a day or half day. 

By land from here. By bus or minibus or taxi or moped/scooter. See Getting Around for Visitors. Arrange with the cruise ship to supply you with a packed lunch and towels. Wear your swimsuit under your clothes. Bring a camera and sun tan lotion. Go by mini-bus to not-far-away places such as:

• See Bermuda Beaches. 
• public beach Tobacco Bay
• private beach Achilles Bay half a mile away. 
• public Fort St. Catherine Beach.

By sea from here:

• Ferries don't go to Paget Island. Residents and visitors can, but always check in advance from where you rent a Boston whaler. Be sure to ask for a map and directions. Then go, keeping to the 5 knot limit in the harbor until you get to the Paget Island beach. Take photographs with no problem but be sure not to litter the beach in any way. Find a little-known-to-tourists island beach, such as those on Paget Island, 10 minutes away by water from the Old Town. It is owned by the Bermuda Government but is accessible by water (only) up to the high tide mark. (Only when you trespass beyond the high water mark will you see the sign telling you not to access without permission). The author recommends it as a lovely romantic getaway, but pick a day when the water is calm. 
• Ferries don't go Castle Harbour. Residents and visitors can, but always check in advance from where you rent a Boston whaler. If Be sure to ask for a map and directions. Then go, keeping to the 5 knot limit in the harbor. Go west from the Town of St. George's via Ferry Reach and under Swing Bridge and then east again under Longbird Bridge into Castle Harbour, for sightseeing or beaching. For best results, go when the tide is low. In Castle Harbour, stop first on the sea side of the small beach exposed at low tide at Cable End, then moor off Castle Island.
• For more extensive touring, ferries go from here, depending on their timetable, to the City of Hamilton and Dockyard. 

Cruises generally

Cruises to Bermuda from the USA include only Bermuda, not any other island. But a major compensation is that cruise visitors often have much more time in Bermuda - days, not just hours - to experience much more of Bermuda than they would have in visiting a variety of Caribbean ports.

Cruise ships to the Island now once gain include the smaller, premium ships which can dock in City of Hamilton and Town of St. George. Bermuda needs to attract smaller ships to Bermuda because only they can dock in Town of St. George and City of Hamilton. 

Cruises are the easiest way to see that part of the world you most want to see and often offer more value for the dollar than any other international vacation option. Where else can you unpack once and - except in Bermuda - wake up every morning in a different but equally fascinating destination? And where else can you spend a reasonable amount per person, per day, and receive comfortable, well-maintained accommodations with twice-daily maid service, 3+ meals, a full slate of shipboard activities and nightly entertainment?

Cruise lines provide outstanding value because of the efficiency with which they deliver their service. For example, the typical cruise ship has teams of room stewards, chefs and waiters working 7 days a week to clean 1,000 cabins per day and prepare and serve three or four meals a day to 2,000 passengers. When the ship sails from the port of departure, the Hotel Director knows exactly how many meals will be served for the entire cruise and the ship has been provisioned accordingly. Every cabin, table and employee is fully utilized, every day. That's much more efficient and less wasteful than the system land-based hotels and restaurants must employ to serve a much smaller group of customers who vary in number daily.

Cruise ships have gotten larger and cruise lines have grown into billion-dollar enterprises, feeding and transporting millions of passengers every year. On most cruise lines, a significant percentage of the crews' compensation comes from gratuities. Venues such as casinos, spas, boutiques, photography studios and excursion desks are completely dependent on onboard purchases, which are directly related to the number of people onboard.

Larger cruise ships will usually offer world-class theatrical shows of singers and dancers, in two shows timed to be after 1st and 2nd restaurant sittings.

Cruising has many more advantages than disadvantages but the latter are described below:

• Internet Service is often bad. See below for much more information. People who need to use their laptops or notebooks, etc. on board need to know all this in advance.
• Book your cruise ship to coincide with your dinner-time preferences or needs. Some better, mid-size or small cruise ships have just one dinner-time sitting, which is ideal for many. Bigger ships may have two sittings, which can create a problem. If you don't ordinarily eat your dinner at 8:30 pm but at 6:30 pm or thereabouts either from your own preference or because of a medical condition then insist on a 1st sitting. If you won't be assured this in advance of your cruise then don't book, go with another cruise line that will tell you in advance. Don't be fobbed off with the information you've been wait-listed for the 1st sitting. It will not happen. One reason why it won't happen but unpublished by the cruise line is repeat passengers get priority and many want to eat at the earlier sitting so as to have time to relax after they eat before they go to the show in the ship's theatre. 
• If you don't smoke and can't stand the smell of third-party cigarette smoke, make it clear when you book you want to be well away from and not have to pass through any smoking areas.  
• "Extras" can easily cost much more than the cost of tickets. Extras such as per person, not per cabin rates; all beverages, whether water or wines or beers or cocktails or liqueurs, plus a 15% gratuity each time you order; exclusive onboard specialty restaurants, with a 15% or minimum of $90 per person gratuity; spas and treatments; bingo; use of gyms and fitness centers; photographs taken by cruise staff; casino; art auctions; golf lessons; tuxedo rentals; flower delivery; shore excursions.
• Shopping ashore. Bermuda has no tax-free facilities for cruise ship or airline passengers, unlike some ports in the Caribbean over 900 miles to the south.
• Illegal drugs. Cruise passengers who don't use or sell or transport or otherwise profit from illegal drugs - narcotics - won't be affected and need not be concerned by this. But passengers who do are warned that by special arrangement between their applicable law enforcement and Bermuda authorities, their personnel routinely travel as special working passengers on board the vessels and are free to search suspected passengers and their cabins whether in or beyond territorial waters. Bermuda has a very strict zero-tolerance policy towards all illegal drugs and other dangerous imports. Court appearances in Bermuda, heavy fines and/or imprisonment of miscreants and subsequent international travel restrictions and more are common.
• When your vessel is docked in Bermuda, are your cruise ship's retail shops, entertainment and casinos open while in port? No. Ever since cruising to Bermuda began, gambling has not been allowed in cruise ships while in Bermuda waters. It was hoped by cruise passengers this would change from 2009 with an amendment to the long-term prohibition but in 2011 to date this has not happened. Also, Bermuda Government policy is to require the shutting down of on-board entertainment for cruise passengers unless the entertainment is provided on board by Bermudians.

Cruise ships sailing from US ports to Bermuda are required by US laws have between 15 and 25 cabins and staterooms for the registered disabled/physically handicapped, more roomy than for the non-disabled. But they don't always check to see that people really are disabled - wheelchair confined, blind, deaf or ambulatory with a stick - and are registered as such with their state or provincial government agencies. So they allow persons who are not disabled to occupy staterooms intended solely for the disabled and their caregivers or carers. Disabled persons, if denied a cabin specifically for the disabled, under American or British or European laws (the latter two for ships leaving from the UK or Europe) have specific legal remedies if such cabins are instead given by cruise ship operators to persons not officially registered as disabled and don't have appropriate ID documentation to prove it.

For Bermuda's only complete A-Z of facilities and services for the disabled, see the extensive notes in the Bermuda Physically Handicapped Association web file, written by a local disabled journalist. Its physical address is Base Gate, 1 South Side, St. David's Island, DD 03. Telephone Willard Fox at (441) 293 5035.

Cunard, Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises ships all now re-flagged in Bermuda

Queen Mary 2 in her new Bermuda-registered livery

P&O cruise ship Arcadia (see below), also registered in Hamilton, Bermuda. 

Instead of Southampton (England) on the ships' hulls Cunard vessels now show "Hamilton," Bermuda. Earlier, there had been speculation this would occur in either Malta (Valetta), from where many of the Cunard ships' crews come, also a major ships' registry like Bermuda, Bahamas, etc. or Bermuda. Being registered, or flagged, in the U.K. means that Cunard lost out on the lucrative business of weddings at sea. UK law, which governed until the change in registry of the three Cunard ships, states that couples can only wed when the ship is in port and the service is conducted by a minister or other notary -– a less romantic proposition than exchanging vows in mid-ocean. But on ships registered in Bermuda or Malta, which include the fleets of Cunard's sister lines, Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises - all already Bermuda-flagged - couples can marry at a service officiated by the captain, in port or at sea. Weddings at sea are now big business. Cunard options included simply keeping the ships registered in Southampton; creating one ‘wedding ship' with Bermudian (never "Bermudan") or Maltese registry; or changing the registration of all three of the line's ships. Cunard elected for the latter. This development has brought Bermuda hundreds of thousands extra in annual fees, to a registry that already takes in about $3 million a year. However, in the UK there was huge disapproval in Southampton following the announcement in the UK. Cunard had been UK-registered for the last 171 years, but has said it will continue to use Southampton as its home port.

There was another reason for Cunard flagging its ships outside the UK, involving a change in European law. The enactment of Britain's Equality Act 2010 requires that staff from countries in the European Union must be paid wages equal to those of British citizens when working on British-registered ships. While many other lines use more crew from countries outside of Europe to save on operating costs, Cunard had been using mostly Europeans or Maltese in the dining rooms and bars. Now, Europeans and Maltese are likely to be replaced by others.

• Cunard. All were Bermuda-registered in October, November and December 2011.(Queen Elizabeth October 24, Queen Victoria October 27 and Queen Mary 2 on December 1). Cunard has been UK-registered for the last 171 years, but has said it will continue to use Southampton as its home port.

• P&O Cruises. Ships became Bermuda-registered in years shown. Arcadia (2005); Artemis (1984); Aurora (2000); Azura (2010); Oceana (2002); Oriana (1995); Ventura (2008)  

• Princess Cruises. Ships became Bermuda-registered in years shown. Caribbean Princess (2004); Coral Princess (2002); Crown Princess (2006); Dawn Princess (1997); Diamond Princess (2004); Emerald Princess (2007); Golden Princess (2001); Grand Princess (1998); Island Princess (2003); Ocean Princess (1999); Pacific Princess (1999); Royal Princess (2001); Ruby Princess (2008); Sapphire Princess (2004); Sea Princess (1998); Star Princess (2002); Sun Princess (1995).

All visitors should have health and travel insurance

Always prudently take out travel insurance, spare money and have adequate hospital and medical health insurance to cope with possible unexpected problems in a foreign country, such as Bermuda. In emergencies, contact the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital - note its rate of charges for visitors - in Paget Parish. If you are hospitalized in Bermuda, you or your insurance, if valid in Bermuda, will always be responsible. Unlike Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, Bermuda has no National Health Service and no free clinics or free medical or surgical or prescription for visitors. Bermuda now no longer gives free hospital and surgical benefits to visitors from USA who claim they have no health insurance.  Sorry, but if you ignore warnings not to hire a scooter or moped unless you are thoroughly used to driving them on the left hand side of the road and don't have healthcare/major medical insurance, you won't get much sympathy, your consulate will be told and you will have to pay. The Overseas Family Help Committee of the Hospital Auxiliary organization in Bermuda, chaired by John Gilbert, is at telephone (441) 236-2488.The Committee has only two rooms available to house your family at the Nurses Residence of the hospital, from US$ 35 per person per day per room. Affordable local accommodation in Bermuda for spouses or friends or families who come to visit you in hospital, is difficult or impossible to find, especially in the cruise ship or tourist high season from April to November.

Arriving passengers

 The Revenue Amendment Act 2007 obliges ships and aircraft to provide the Collector of Customs with electronic lists of passengers and crew prior to arrival in Bermuda when required. Government anticipates that this will assist local security officers in pin-pointing high-risk individuals and cargo items. The information to be listed will include sex, date of birth, passport number and country of issue. The bill also obliges ships and aircraft to provide electronic data in advance on cargo including the marks, numbers and contents of every item of goods on board.   

Two cruise ships moored in Bermuda

Allowed in Bermuda Customs inspection

Visitors may bring in, duty free for personal use only while they are here, their clothes and articles like cameras, golf bags, 50 cigars or 200 cigarettes or 0.454 kilos (1 pound weight) tobacco; 1 liter of liquor or wine and a $30 gift allowance. Returning residents are allowed an allowance of US$ 100, no longer per person but per household (until 1989 it was US$400 a person, reduced in 1990/91 to US$250 a person and subsequently reduced yet again to the present US$100 per person) before they pay duty on items they bring but visitors are not entitled to such an allowance. Items brought in by visitors and residents that are not within their duty free category incur a stand import duty rate of 35% of purchase cost. Produce receipts from a retail store satisfactory to the Customs Department of actual purchase price of the items or be prepared for the Customs Department to assess items for your payment of duty at much higher Bermuda prices. This is applied vigorously. To avoid being arrested and having goods confiscated, do not try to import goods into Bermuda without paying the duty.

Most Consumer and electronic goods can be imported if determined to be free of narcotics, but be prepared to pay a heavy import duty on them if they exceed your per-trip duty-free allowance of $100 per household if you are a Bermudian or approved resident. If with nothing illegal and with no items to declare, you may be waved through.

If you are bringing any foodstuffs with you, be sure to check yourself with Bermuda Customs to know what is legal and dutiable. Only Bermuda Customs can be the definitive source of information. Write in advance to Bermuda Customs at Hamilton Hall, 40 Front Street, Hamilton HM 11, P. O. Box HM 2084, Hamilton HM HX, Bermuda.

Owners of arriving animals, plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables must have proper documentation approved earlier by the Bermuda Government's Department of the Environment. Only prepared fresh, frozen or cooked fish or shellfish can be brought in providing the packaging is free of algae or seaweed. 

Illegal imports

Cruise ship passengers are strongly recommended to read, learn, inwardly digest and pay strict heed to the webfile above. It applies to those who arrive by air or cruise ship or yacht. The full list of  the hundreds of banned narcotics are in the Bermuda Government's Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 and Misuse of Drugs (Controlled Drugs) Order 2001 enacted on August 1, 2001. It is not an excuse if you fail to make yourself familiar with the contents of the full list. Penalties are very severe for those who ignore this warning. Locals, tourists and visitors are not given any breaks. It is wrong and misleading for cruise ship passengers caught with drugs and fined very heavily to claim they are not given any warning. The claims they invariably offer that they do not have the money to pay the fines are routinely ignored. They are remanded in custody or are put on bail with their transportation tickets impounded until they do. Also, there are many other repercussions.

Bermuda beaches

If beaches are your idea of heaven, or combining them with sightseeing, be sure to take a picnic lunch, drinks, camera, swimsuit and towels. For tourists arriving by cruise ship from March through May and September through February, please note only you and possibly a few hardy local souls will want to use the beaches. Most Bermudians won't use them then, they consider the water too cold until late May and after Labour Day.

Bermuda shopping

Visitors to Bermuda will notice a complete absence of all major American, British UK and Canadian chain stores or High Street style shops. There are no Walmart or Costco or similar stores. Bermuda stores must by law be at least 60% owned by Bermudians (not a local requirement in most other cruise ship and offshore or onshore business jurisdictions). Once, but no longer, especially before the 1990s when two Bermuda stores, now both extinct, H. A. & E. Smith and Trimingham Bros, side-by-side, were the principal ingredients of an international shopping mecca. But the Bermuda Government administering the world's wealthiest nation according to the World Bank will not change its principal way of creating revenue, namely charging a customs duty rate on all imports (98% of all goods) far higher than import duties in USA, UK or Canada. This is why goods brought in Bermuda are not duty-free to residents or visitors and especially now with significant new import duty rates announced from October 2011 and with more likely to come in 2012 - see http://www.bermuda-online.org/Bermudadutyfree.htm - are only rarely always priced competitively when compared to the USA.

A good indication of the average size of local stores and their purchasing power in favor of consumers is in the number of retail stores in Bermuda - 375 in total. They employ about 4,800 people, an average of about 13 persons per outlet.

But some nice products from Bermuda and around the world can certainly be obtained locally. Prices in the City of Hamilton, Town of St. George and Dockyard are the same for outlets with branches in all three local ports. 

Duty Free Liquor

No off-the-shelf duty-free liquor is available, such as in the Caribbean.

Getting around

This website deals in detail with all the forms of public transport available to visitors and what they can and cannot carry.

Golf Courses in Bermuda

Note how each course is shown with nearest Bermuda port for cruise ship passengers, how best to get there, how close public transportation will go of you do not have your own clubs; and whether public or private. Always check yourself with the course what the rates are as they can vary significantly by time of day and time of year.

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Cruise visitors who are blind and have their own guide dog are advised to get their caregivers or family members who are not blind to apply as long as possible in advance, as all animals including guide dogs must be approved. The same applies to blind newcomers with their own guide dogs who are not working including those who may be dependents of those on Work Permits. Bermuda does NOT have a quarantine period. You can personally import and export animals, usually from the USA but also from Canada and the UK, with sufficient notice (which can be as high as 6 months). A proviso is that they must be licensed and micro chipped and are free from any problems. For all personal importers of pets, there is a strict import and export procedure for their documentation and certification. In all cases, including for cruise ship visitors, a formal application must be made in advance to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. See ApplicationForPermitToImportSmallAnimals.pdf.

International cellular calling from Bermuda

Re prepaid international cellular calling, it is recommended cruise passengers get their service in the USA or Canada or UK or Europe or beyond to confirm Bermuda calls can be received and sent when they visit here. Some cell phone services may not be represented in Bermuda.

Internet access on cruise ships generally, including Bermuda

Cruise ship Veendam off St. George's

See http://www.cruise.co.uk/images/Cruise//cruise_gallery/1/Wifi%20Jan%202011_0.pdf for a 2011 guide on which cruise lines offer WIFI and at what prices. 

All cruise ships, big and small, irrespective of where they sail, now use pinpoint satellite navigation. (Inmarsat satellites provide voice, data and broadband services to most cruise ships and aircraft in conjunction with LightSquared, a Virginia-based corporation which wants to build a coast-to-coast WIFI network and has won regulatory approval to do so. Inmarsat plc global HQ is at 99 City Road, London EC1Y 1AX. There are also main offices in Dubai, Singapore, Miami, Washington DC and one in Bermuda). The captain, his senior staff, their hotel managers and more, depend on reliable internet satellite navigation to plan their duties, issue daily ship's reports in several additions depending on where the bulk of their passengers come from - USA, UK, Canada, Australia, etc.  Their passengers, who pay dearly for their cruises, should have the same service.

In an article published in the UK's Daily Telegraph of Saturday, March 19, 2011 Thomas Mazloum, senior vice president of operations of Crystal Cruises was quoted as stating that to provide passengers with an internet service on board, cruise ships rely on a single feed from a satellite, and the signal can vary according to where the ship is in relation to the satellite. He also said that performance may also be affected by the number of people on the ship accessing the web and the type of sites they are viewing - for example, image-heavy ones or those playing video or music which take longer to load. As none of these factors are under the control it is impossible for the cruise company to guarantee passengers a consistent service. But providing on-board internet access for passengers is a top priority at Crystal Cruises and their people are constantly assessing the situation and applying new technologies. For example, they have improved connections and downloads by installing web accelerator software, which compresses data in transit between ship and satellite, optimizing communication and transmission time. Because of this, executives and business people prefer to cruise with Crystal Cruises.

But the fact remains that Internet Access on most cruise ships are hugely expensive, slow, poor, restrictive and unreliable. There is usually no pre-warning of the periodic unreliability of internet access for the reasons given by Mr. Masloum, which ought to mean that costs are reasonable when service is not good. But some cruise lines offer as some of their optional services classes and courses in internet and website methodology which are outrageously high-priced for internet access ranging from slow and frustrating to completely useless. This author believes emphatically that cruise ships are the worst and most expensive places to get familiar with this technology. Ever noticed how, when travel writers write about their cruises - presumably often paid for by the cruise lines to get publicity - they never refer honestly and candidly about this aspect of their cruise? Or invite comments on their articles and give their email addresses? Or state that because of the poor quality and huge expense of Internet access on board many cruise ships, many who habitually or occasionally cruise on these ships and bring their own laptops or notebooks don't depend at all on them for this service. Instead, they prepare their notes and comments in advance, wait until they reach a port or a port's shopping centre with free WIFI access, such as is now common in Lisbon, Cadiz and some Canary Islands. This author has personally seen how most crew with laptops and frustrated passengers wait for the ship to dock then immediately make a beeline for the nearest Free WIFI shopping plaza to log on to the websites they use and send and receive their emails, attachments, any ftp files, etc. Passengers are not told about this by pursers or other ship staff, they have to find this out for themselves. 

Prospective cruise ship passengers who are internet savvy should make a point of checking this out thoroughly well in advance. It can be hugely important that their cruise ships have good, fast wireless Internet as a standard or an optional extra throughout the ship, not just in public rooms, giving passengers the ability to send and receive entirely at their convenience not only emails but ftp files and attachments including digital photographs. It's now been accepted in all of the United Kingdom and Europe that unrestricted free WIFI on inter-city trains is not a luxury optional extra but a good-business essential. Many cruise passengers assume wrongly that when they go on an expensive holiday or vacation they will have at least the same, if not better, abilities and Internet facilities on their ships as they do ashore in their homes and places of employment, and at the same price. But this is rarely the case. Some cruise lines don't have ship-wide wireless Internet access but limit their service to Internet rooms for passengers to send and receive text emails only, no attachments such as photographs, with no ftp facilities as are now common in most good hotels worldwide for those who have or want to send ftp files. Viking River Cruises now state they offer free WIFI to all their passengers on all their European river sailings. In theory, this "first" - throughout their ships, in every cabin, not just in public areas, gives them a huge marketing advantage.  Problem is, as this author - and many others discovered to their acute dismay in November 2010, it is so slow, so poor, it's completely unusable, hugely frustrating.  

If you are on any ocean or river cruise ship in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Bermuda, Mediterranean, Pacific or elsewhere and need to get your email from say the USA or Canada or UK or wherever you live, you may not be able to do so at all, or may have to wait. If, like any prudent user on Internet banking you need to go online everyday just to check your balances against the possibility of any banking fraud or attempt of identity theft, or check your investment portfolio, you can't, not unless you take the time and trouble of searching out any local non-ship cafe or restaurant in a local port that might offer free WIFI with a meal, or an internet cafe where it will cost you. Passengers who travel to wonderful places want to be able to email photos back home to their families, friends and colleagues, at no cost. If they cannot, it's a significant opportunity wasted for both passengers and the cruise line in terms of publicity and more clientele. 

Note also that all cruise lines cruising between New York and other American ports and all from the UK to Bermuda may block Skype.

Bermuda does not yet offer free unrestricted WIFI access to its cruise ship passengers. This author has recommended to the Government of Bermuda which operates the pier at Dockyard where all cruise ships going there will dock, and to the city and town authorities in Hamilton and St. George's, that they all have free WIFI sites, as part of the services for which they charge all passengers in passenger taxes, to give passengers a break from those super-expensive but invariably dead-slow systems aboard ship. Any WIFI sites found accidentally by passengers will not be free to all, are usually reserved for specific homes or businesses, may be strictly limited in operating times and can't be relied on to serve their non-customers. 

Some passengers who may in the past have been able to get free WIFI in 2010 or earlier on their ships when approaching places such as the Bermuda Maritime Museum and other Bermuda-based employers will find they can no longer do so in 2011. All local WIFI systems have undergone significant security protection changes to limit them to their managements, employees and guests who pay for admission - to protect against unauthorized piracy. They no longer offer free WIFI from an insecure site.

Road Traffic density

See Getting around for Visitors. Also Transport Options for Residents.

Marriages/Weddings at sea

Celebrity Cruises, see http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard/tabLanding.do?pagename=onboard_special_occasions&tab=onboard_weddings_tab. 

Cunard Weddings, see http://www.cunard.co.uk/Already-Booked/Cunard_Weddings/ 

NCL Cruises, see http://www2.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/wedding-and-romance 

P&O Weddings, see http://www.pocruises.com/wedding/termsandconditions.asp. 

Princess Cruises, see http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/celebrations/wedding/index.jsp 

Royal Caribbean Cruises, see http://bookings.royalcaribbean.co.uk/findacruise/experience/html.do?exCode=622&wuc=GBR 

Marriages on board a cruise ship are conducted by either the captain or staff captain. Bermuda-registered ships such as Cunard, P&O and Princess Cruises mean that wedding certificates will be issued by the appropriate Bermuda Government agency.