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An Overview
It had been a number of years since we last cruised to Bermuda so we thought this short 5-day cruise would be perfect for a re-visit. In addition, we had never sailed on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. Liberty sails out of Cape Liberty in New Jersey an easy 2-1/2 hour drive from home. No air travel, hotels, and shuttles. The itinerary for this cruise included an overnight stay in Bermuda giving us two days to explore the island.
This was hurricane season and, as luck would have it, a storm was on it's way up the Atlantic which had all of us wondering what the impact might be. Fortunately, the storm moved fast and was up in New England as we sailed out of New York Harbor. Much to everyone's surprise, the weather was great with smooth seas.
Under The Bridge
While the port is in New Jersey, it does go out into New York Harbor. All shipping in New York Harbor heads out to sea by cruising under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. A favorite activity among cruisers is to go up onto an upper deck as the ship passes under the bridge. This time around we watched from the mini-golf course. While going under the bridge is exciting, it wasn't the same as passage on Oasis where exhaust stacks have to be lowered.
The Inside Promenade Cabin
Per usual, we initially booked an “Inside GTY”. GTY stands for “Guaranteed Type” meaning the cruise line will give you a lower price but they will decide which cabin you will be placed in. We’ve done this several times over the years and have been satisfied with where we’re placed on the ship.
In
recent years, the cruise lines have adopted a new approach
to the cabin upgrade process. The current approach involves
opening up any available higher level cabins to a bidding
process. I went ahead and placed a little above minimum bids
on several types of cabins. Results aren’t announced
until sometime during the week before embarkation. As
luck would have it, I won the bid on an “Inside Promenade”
cabin. We 've wondered about these cabins with a window
overlooking the promenade and were excited to finally try
one. We were
assigned cabin 7577.
Bermuda
The weather was great, much better than expected since we embarked from Cape Liberty on the heals of a hurricane. While conditions in Bermuda were sunny, they were, none the less, hot and muggy. We spent the first day in Hamilton trying to find a Portuguese Bakery. Never found it but we walked our butts off and were soaked in sweat. Made our way to the pool once we were back on the ship.
We decided to stay around The Dockyard on the second day. So, we headed to The Clock Tower Mall. The mall was nearby AND it was air conditioned. Besides, we were in Bermuda and wanted to get off the ship for a couple hours.
The weather was great, much better than expected since we embarked from Cape Liberty on the heals of a hurricane. While conditions in Bermuda were sunny, they were, none the less, hot and muggy. We spent the first day in Hamilton trying to find a Portuguese Bakery. Never found it but we walked our butts off and were soaked in sweat. Made our way to the pool once we were back on the ship.
We decided to stay around The Dockyard on the second day. So, we headed to The Clock Tower Mall. The mall was nearby AND it was air conditioned. Besides, we were in Bermuda and wanted to get off the ship for a couple hours.
There is quite a channel for the ship to navigate on the way to/from The Dockyard. We met some people who didn't know that ships navigating all ports must utilize the guidance of a Harbor Pilot. The pilot brings local knowledge about the channel. Anyway, they were so excited to learn about this and witness the pilot being dropped off. They contributed to the sendoff cheer.
