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-   -   Best Cruiseline from NY to Bermuda? (https://www.fodors.com/community/cruises/best-cruiseline-from-ny-to-bermuda-294601/)

slicari Mar 5th, 2003 10:10 AM

Best Cruiseline from NY to Bermuda?
 
Hello, I'm hoping to get recommendations and suggestions on which is the best cruiseline/ship from NY to Bermuda. I would appreciate your help! It's just me and my husband traveling together for a week's vacation in July. Thank you! <BR>-s

ParrotMom Mar 5th, 2003 10:46 AM

We are going to Bermuda by cruise ship for the 10th time. This cruise will be from NYC on the NCL Sea, an older and recently refurbished ship. The reason is that the Sea is going to all three docks, St. George (charming village), Hamilton (great for shopping) and the Dockyard. I'm not too sure what other lines are doing it besides the Nordic Empress which a BOP (Bermuda obsessed person) I've met just loves.

Patty Mar 5th, 2003 12:53 PM

The best cruise line/ship from NY to Bermuda without price consideration is the Radisson Seven Seas Navigator.

PeterS Mar 5th, 2003 03:55 PM

You can try the Norwegian Dawn, everything I have read about the ship is positive. It has been in service for 4 months. The rates are reasonable at either ecruise.com or cruisequick.com.

ParrotMom Mar 5th, 2003 04:43 PM

The NCL Dawn will be doing the Caribbean for most of the summer..

hotel Mar 5th, 2003 07:23 PM

We took Celebrity's Zenieth out of NYC to Berumuda 3 years ago and loved it!

traveller333 Mar 6th, 2003 07:41 AM

My brother has done both NCL and Radisson to Bermuda. He says once you cruise on Radisson, you won't want to cruise on any other line. Apparently Radisson has some excellent pricing right now as well and when you consider the complimentary wine, bar set up in the cabin, no tipping etc. the pricing is probably not much more than some of the mass market cruiselines. There is a recent thread on this board recommending a travel agent who works almost exclusively with Raddisson and can get the best prices/perks(I want to say something like brownandkeenetravel.com but I'm not sure)

PeterS Mar 7th, 2003 03:59 PM

Starting May 18th the Norwegian Dawn will be make a Bermuda, Florida, and New York loop every 7 days. Passengers can embark at either NY or Port Canaveral.

ParrotMom Mar 7th, 2003 04:49 PM

with all due respect please check data again. The NCL Dawn is doing a 13 and a 14 day cruise both are repositioning cruises and in my opinion I wouldn't cruise the Atlantic those times. One is on October from NYC to Miami and the other is in May from Miami to NYC. The NCL Sea will be leavng from NYC the first part of the season then moving to Philadelphia.. The NCL Majesty will return to Bermuda for the I belive 12th time this year.. The NCL Sea, Dream and Majesty will also be doing Canada and N.E. tours in the fall. Several friends have cruised on the Dream and just love it. Not everybody can afford a Radisson and frankly after my experience on the RCI Brilliance of the Seas..I'll stick to NCL from this area thanks

petlover Mar 8th, 2003 06:59 AM

Not sure of the current itineraries but I'd certainly recommend Radisson. After no tips, paying for liquor etc....it probably won't cost much more for a 6 star experience. Go to rssc.com and feel free to email me if you need a recommendation for the best Radisson TA.

Frank Mar 8th, 2003 08:20 AM

NCL Dawn is doing New York, Bahamas, Flordia loop year round out of New York begining this May. ParrotMom has the correct info.

PeterS Mar 8th, 2003 08:47 AM

Parrotmom you have the original plans for the Dawn. NCL has annouced that it has changed. The ship wiill be based in NY permanently after the repositioning in May( I am on that cruise). The Bermuda, Florida, and NY loop is the new plan. The October repositioning has been cancelled.<BR>

Frank Mar 8th, 2003 08:53 AM

PeterS: It BAHAMAS not Bermuda, I should know, I've book the cruise.

slicari Mar 8th, 2003 12:14 PM

Thank you everyone for your info! Much appreciated! Just to clarify, I looked into the NCL Dawn on their website and from what they say, it's going to the Bahamas. The NCL Sea is going to Bermuda. After researching a little more, the NCL Sea to Bermuda seems to have very reasonable deals. Plus its stopping in 3 different ports in Bermuda, which sounds great. I also looked into the Radisson, which looks breathtaking but the cost between the two are SO different. And Celebrity is right in the middle. Maybe I should wait a month or two to see if rates go down??? What do you think? Still debating....thanks again to all of you! You all gave great info! (Just what I was hoping for!)<BR>--S

ParrotMom Mar 8th, 2003 12:27 PM

Originally offered the Dawn itinerary in January at an excellent price, but I really didn't want to do Florida and Bahamas.. Parrot Mom wants what Parrot Mom wants (as Parrot Pop knows) and Bermuda and the three ports is it.. Franky, the Sea will be a tad small for me with cramped cabins... but since we have done the Majesty nine times I'll suffer this tenth time. Slicari you might want to look into the Nordic Empress....a friend always gives it thumbs up.. But the caveat to these cruises is to do them before school vacation starts and after the kids are back in school right after Labor Day and since you can't and want to go in July try the N.E. One of the travel books has said if you only have one day to spend in Bermuda it should be in St. George...and I agree..so maybe you might consider the Majesty from Boston..we love it.

slicari Mar 8th, 2003 03:58 PM

ParrotMom.....thanks for hanging in there with me!! I appreciate all of your feedback and have been checking out your recommendations. I noticed you mentioned the rooms are small on the NCL Sea...it sounds like they might be on the unbearable side? I get a little claustro...but if there's a window I'm fine.. <BR><BR>I was thinking...it might help to know that I'm sort of new to the whole cruise vacation. My husband and I took a cruise with Regal last year from NY to Canada...beautiful stops (Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Portland and Canada), although I felt the cruise was not what I expected. We drove up to the dock in NY, and I saw all of these mega ships, got all excited, then saw ours....it was defintely on the smaller side, and older. I'm not a complainer, but I thought it was going to be a little bit more of an adventure onboard. I don't mind the size but I felt I saw it all in one day, got bored and the pool was so small. I dreaded getting back on the ship from our ports of call. Also, I don't know if it was because of the weather or not, but I never in my life felt motion sickness. (It rained and the waves were higher than usual..August) I didn't literally get sick to my stomach, but it took at least a week to get my sea legs back! (Dizziness and rocking) So anyway, maybe you all could guide me....thanks!<BR>---S<BR><BR>

ParrotMom Mar 8th, 2003 05:57 PM

By accident more than 15 years ago we ended up on our first cruise..NCL Sea... From a NCL rep she reminded me that the cabins are really small in comparision to the big new ships and they have portholes. I get terribly seasick and an M.D. who is also a yachtsman told me about Sturgeron which is available in Bermuda..I live and die with that..and ginger tablets. You never know what the seas will be whether it's the middle of summer or fall. We've done the Canadian itinerary and loved it. Depending on how big and what the price and cabin choices are I'd check between if you want to go from NYC between the Nordic and the Sea.. We went several years ago on the Premier SeaBreeze from Boston to Canada and I swear it looked like a tug boat, but Ihave never been on a cruise ship where the crew had a bigger heart. Besides..once you get to Bermuda your usually there almost four days before you head back...and Bermuda is absolutely worth it. Frankly, the mega ships of 2500 turn me off and I hate to spend my day and nights walking and walking from one end of the ship to another.In this case mediium sized is fine..I guess the cabin size it dependent on whether you book an Oceanview or Superior Ocean view (looks like a window there) and it does have two pools and two hot tubs, not to mention basketball/volley ball court and gold driving net. I'm just just happy if they have an art auction and hot tubs.. For more info write me [email protected]

PeterS Mar 10th, 2003 01:14 PM

Parrotmom my deepest apologies. It seems I mixed up the ships or maybe the islands. There has just been so many changes coming down from NCL since they first set the 2003 schedules.<BR>I almost booked on the 10/26 Dawn cruise that got cancelled.

ParrotMom Mar 10th, 2003 06:06 PM

Thank you Peter.. As I said the Dawn looks magnificent and my criteria for taking a cruise ship is it's going to where I want to go..also had their very latest catalogs in front of me..lol Too bad the Fanning Islands are so far away...I'd of gone there in a heart beat..With all the raves about the Dream...I'll check out that itinerary one day but I don't think they are doing South America..they've transferred one of the Orient ships to do that. do you know that my most favorite port about 15 years ago and still to this day is the San Blas Islands..incredible experience..

Patty Mar 12th, 2003 11:30 AM

slicari,<BR>Among the mainstream lines offering NY to Bermuda cruises, Celebrity would definitely be my first choice. I've sailed on the NCL Sea, Nordic Empress, and Celebrity Zenith (sister ship to the Horizon). The Sea has tiny cabins in all except a few of the highest categories and really feels like an older ship. I'm also not too fond of the Nordic Empress or RCCL in general. It sounds like you were disappointed with your Regal cruise last year so I would suggest spending a little more and trying Celebrity. If you're flexible, you might want to wait and see if prices come down to book (they seem quite high right now).


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