Hello from King's Wharf, Bermuda.

Jim and Pat on Bermuda Cruise

Monday evening; March 31, 2008 (third post of this trip)

We are located here.

As you can see from the satellite view, we are at the east end of the island.

First, let me make a few general observations related to this trip:

1. The weather has been a bit brisk (with the humidity, that translates to cold) on most of the trip. This includes our first day here in Bermuda. While not really cold, it is quite windy and certainly not shorts weather

2. NY is expensive. As we noted, we paid over $200 per night for our hotel, and at the Sheraton where Stampin' Up! put folks up, the cost was over $300 per night. Meals were about twice what you would expect in Denver.

3. Taxi rides are almost always a white knuckle experience! Unlike meals, taxi rides seem to be reasonably priced (less than $20 to go several miles in Manhattan).

4. Side walks and streets are in generally poor condition, with lots of uneven surfaces. Most of the sidewalks have steel plates next to the building that cover basement storage access. These plates often have raised edges that make walking a challenge.

5. Traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, is generally very heavy. It is hard to walk on sidewalks because of all of the obstructions and people. In spite of crowded sidewalks, people seem to get around very well.

Getting on the ship was mostly painless. We took a taxi from the hotel, and were able to handle the luggage pretty well. We got to the dock early, so we were able to get to the sign-in area without having to wait in line. However, the person checking us in did not have a clue. She got our records so messed up that we had to be shuttled off to the supervisor area to have them get things squared away. We just discovered that my picture appears Pat's ship record and vice versa. It will be a real challenge to get on and off the ship. Tomorrow we will try to use each others card and see if that works.

Our room is on the stern (back) of the boat. Our balcony looks out the back (see photo below). This is kind of neat. The balcony is longer than normal, and we can see on both sides of the ship.

View from our balcony

We sailed from Pier 90. The route takes you down the Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty (see Photo).

Sunday was our day at sea. Stampin' Up! had a general meeting, but the rest of the time, we were on our own. I went to the Spa and Pat did some Stampin stuff. Today we went to the Spa early and then walked around King's Wharf for a couple of hours. We decided not to do any formal paid excursions, and that helped us justify the cost of the Spa for the week. The Spa has a very large hydrotherapy pool, several steam rooms, a sauna, and luxurious heated ceramic lounges. It is very relaxing and we feel pampered.

I hope to do a dive later this week (we are here for four days). The ship does not offer a diving excursion, so I will have to book one on my own. We got some information today and it lists only one dive shop, in spite of the fact that this is supposed to be a great diving area (lots of ship wrecks from several centuries ago).

We are the first ship into Bermuda for the season. It appears that the island may not be fully geared up for tourists yet. On the positive side, we are the only ship in this port, so it is not crowded.

That is all for this post.