Photo of the Day

Royal Naval Dockyards, Bermuda

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise to Bermuda

Day 2: Royal Naval Dockyards

On day two we had a wonderful surprise trip hosted by my brother and his wife, which was a really nice sailing trip around parts of Bermuda that ended with us docked off the shore of a secluded beach for a bit of a swim and snorkeling experience. After coming back to the ship to change and have lunch, we sadly missed the ferry to St. George so instead we opted for a day of strolling around the Royal Naval Dockyard where our ship was docked.

Eventually we ended up splitting up all doing our own thing, so I decided to walk around a bit take photos and paid a visit to the Bermuda Maritime Museum. There is an entrance fee, but it's pretty minimal and you need cash, but once you're in, prepare to nerd out if you're a history geek as I am. There are some great exhibits on the multitude of shipwrecks that have happened around Bermuda, the island's role in the slave trade, as well as, quite a bit of basic island history in itself. However if you're not all too into the history, walking to the top of the former for where the museum is housed, the museum offers some great views as well. Unfortunately I went a little late in the day, and I missed my chance to check out a small part of Casemates Prison which is currently being restored by a group volunteers and will eventually fully be open for tours within the next couple of years.

But don't worry if you're not a fan of history, the Royal Naval Dockyards is a place to get your shop on as well between the Clocktower Mall, the glass blowing factory and the delicious Bermuda cake factory there's plenty of shopping to be had. There's also the Frog and Onion Pub which is right next to a small craft market that has an array of things to shop from with some pretty reasonable prices offered.

A taxi stand, if you're doing an excursion you'll be meeting your guide here. Also this is where the public transportation buses stop as well. You can catch a special bus that goes exclusively from here to Horseshoe Bay until 6pm.

Right in the center of the dock sits the Ticket and Transportation Pass building where you can pick up a bus pass and/or ferry tokens. We purchased a three day transportation pass for $35. You can also get one for simply 1 or 2 days as well.

One of two ferries that take you from the Royal Naval Dockyard to St. George (40mins) or to Hamilton (20mins).

 

 

An extra bonus of going to the Bermuda Maritime Museum is getting to see the dolphin experience which is directly behind the shipwrecks exhibit building.

Casemates prison block in the background.

Photo of the Day

Horseshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise to Bermuda

Day 1 Part 2: Horseshoe Bay Beach

Norwegian offers an excursion to Horseshoe Bay Beach for a bit of money and a short amount of time, but we decided to just use our bus pass and hop on the special Horseshoe Bay Beach bus that runs expressly from and to the Royal Naval Dockyard until 6pm. It took about fifteen to twenty minutes on the bus until we arrived at our stop, where you greeted by a friendly gentleman in his food cart, selling ice cream, water and so on, however you need not just stop there to buy any additional sundries, there is also a shop down below on the beach.

Now since we went later in the afternoon, there was practically no one there for a popular beach. The water was absolutely beautiful, warm and crystal clear. The sand which was nice and clean only occassionally had a tint of pink in it if you knew where to look. Also if you have wee ones who aren't very good swimmers, if you turn to your right when walking on the beach there is a small wading area surrounded by incredible rock formations, complete with schools of fry fish that swim by.