Thread: Why are cruiselines pulling ships out of Bermuda?

Thought this was interesting....

Bermuda’s failure to make its two major ports accessible to mega-ships is the real reason cruise lines are beginning to give the island a wide berth, Hamilton Mayor Charles Gosling told the hospitality industry website “Travel Weekly” today [Dec. 6].

More HERE

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. I love Bermuda with all my heart and soul. I hope they're able to make it work.

Char, this has really been an issue for years. Only the smallest Celebrity ships can go to Bermuda. I am not sure any of the Solstice ships can fit. And didn't HAL have the problem with the Veendam now being too heavy to dock at the port any more?

If the pier at the Royal Naval Dockyard can handle the Explorer of the Seas at 137,000 gross tons, it won't have any problems handling any of the Solstice-class ships at 122,000 gross tons. But the pier at St. George is not large enough to handle any of the big ships.

Reading between the lines, it appears to me that Carnival is just irritated because it can't get any of the prime slots that other cruise lines have paid a premium to get and they're pouting about it.

While some of the points brought up in the article are true about the transportation and stores closing on Sunday, I think Carnival is just making up excuses. Yes, it would be nice if they added one or two high-speed ferries to go from the dockyard to St. George. And as for the stores closing on Sunday, I don't see that as a major problem because all you have to do is plan your trip accordingly - do your shopping on Saturday and go to the beach on Sunday. Plus, all the stores at the dockyard are open on Sunday anyway.

St. George is not that big and I believe making the pier accessible to larger ships would have a major impact on the quaintness of the town. It would be nice to make it just a little bigger so ships the size of the Veendam would not have any problems, but I would hate to see bigger ships come into that port.

And what does having the casinos open on the ships have to do with anything? The only reason why cruise lines want this is so that they can make more money. It would not have an impact on cruise prices and would not impact Bermuda at all, unless they get a kickback in the form of gambling taxes. This is just another gimmick to take more money from the passengers.

Pete

Pete is spot on, Kings Wharf is able to handle some fairly large ships. Last time I was there on a Sunday we took the water taxi to Hamilton and for the first time ever had a Great time just walking around and window shopping. No crowds and a great opportunity to just take in the area. The port charges for Bermuda have always seemed a bit steep which keeps the cost fo sailing there higher for the lines. By the way, I seem to recall going to Nassau on a Sunday will find a good number of shops closed as well.

Originally Posted by Daphne Starr

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. I love Bermuda with all my heart and soul. I hope they're able to make it work.

Daphne - thanks so much for posting - I've just been reading your recent cruise review about your Bermuda cruise onboard the Norwegian Dawn. Thanks so much for joining CruiseLineFans and posting such excellent reviews.

Welcome to the community. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Daphne Starr

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. I love Bermuda with all my heart and soul. I hope they're able to make it work.

Welcome to CLF!!