Bermuda and Early American settlements cruise on MS Regatta

    

 In April 2014 we cruised with Oceania and Tom's bright orange shoes were the "talk of the ship" and even attracted the admiration of two British subjects along Penno's Wharf in historic St. George, Bermuda.   Steve wasn't dressed as memorably, but he nevertheless did attract everyone's attention....

           But let's start at the beginning of this cruise -- we departed from beautiful downtown Miami across the street from our condominium and the Sail-Away was really spectacular.

     The country club atmosphere on Oceania's MS Regatta was just what we were looking for as we eased into this relaxing 12-day escape to Bermuda, and followed by seaport visits along the eastern seaboard of the United States.  Our first scheduled stop at Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas, was canceled due to large swells the next morning making it too rough for the planned tender operation and so the Captain elected to instead leave immediately for Bermuda and nobody was complaining about an extra sea day !!

     We met some lovely folks at dinner early in the cruise and we enjoyed getting to know Bill and Ann from Guelph, in southwestern Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto and not too far from Detroit.

     As we approached Bermuda, we looked forward to visiting this wonderful British Overseas Territory.  Many people confuse this island as being part of the Caribbean but it lies 1,100 miles northeast of Miami and it's nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  It lies at the northern-most point of the famed Bermuda Triangle and this fact might explain some of the excitement that lay ahead for the crew of the Regatta on this cruise ?

      Because this ship is smaller than the mammoth cruise ships being built nowadays, the Regatta was allowed to dock right along Front Street in downtown Hamilton, which is Bermuda's capital city and financial center.
     We were scheduled here for two days, but circumstances led to our being berthed at this port city for all three days of our visit to Bermuda.  Tom was delighted to see the many shopping opportunities just across the street from our ship and so he quickly ordered Steve to stop the traffic so we could explore the shops at will.  With his bright U of M clothing, Steve did stop traffic !!

     Here are just some of the great sites we visited in Bermuda.  Because of forecast strong winds, the scheduled overnight sail to St. George was canceled and we stayed in Hamilton a 3rd night.  The tour we had planned to take in St. George the next morning was changed to leave from Hamilton and this meant the mini-van actually drove across the entire length of Bermuda allowing us to see even more of this island paradise.

     We stopped at King's Wharf where the larger cruise ships dock and we saw Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships.  They are easily an hour or more from downtown Hamilton and transfer is either by bus or ferry across the bay.  We were happy that our smaller ship was able to dock in downtown.
     Then we headed towards St. George and we toured the Deliverance, one of two 17th century ships that were built by the settlers in Bermuda from the wreckage of the English ship, the Sea Venture, that wrecked on its way to bring food and supplies to the new Virginia Colony in North America.

     Because American colonists in the community of Jamestown were nearly starving trying to get established in their new land, the supplies delivered by this extremely small ship are credited by many as saving the colony.  This would become of even greater interest to us in a few days when we visited Colonial Williamsburg, another Virginia colony near Jamestown, that has since been restored for all future generations to visit and enjoy.
    But first we sailed away from Bermuda into very strong winds and our ship headed into the roughest seas (Tom and Steve have yet experienced) on the way to Norfolk, Virginia.  The Captain detoured south to minimize the impact of the winds at our bow, which were reportedly sustained at more than 50 mph, but it was still very rough going for passengers and crew for almost 20 hours. 
    At dinner that night, a table near ours toppled over with the 2 diners holding on to the table and they too landed on the floor, along with their meal, the glassware and tableware...quite a mess.  And we heard the ship's galley really took a beating, but the crew was superb in handling everything !!
     Tom and Steve bravely wore white that evening but like everyone else, retired early haha.

     Happily we awoke to calm seas again and enjoyed sailing into Norfolk, home of the nation's largest Naval Base.  Four (4) aircraft carriers were lined up side by side as we sailed behind them towards downtown Norfolk.  

     The decommissioned USS Wisconsin was docked next to our ship at the cruise terminal.  And we visited an outdoor festival honoring the countries that belong to NATO.
 

 

   Our tour to Williamsburg left the next morning and we enjoyed a picture-perfect spring day with sunny skies and flowers at full bloom in the landscaped gardens.

     Our next port was Charleston, South Carolina and we enjoyed a tour of Fort Sumter where the first shots were fired that started the Civil War, followed by a drive through the historic city and including the campus of The Citadel.

    Our last port of call was Cape Canaveral and we toured the JFK Space Center, which included our riding the space shuttle simulator (no photos allowed) which was really amazing.  And the exhibits by NASA are truly worth seeing !!

     We returned to Miami and were home in under 5 minutes....just a taxi ride to our condo.  Next up is a week's cruise on the largest (or 2nd largest) cruise ship, the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas.  We are joining friends in experiencing this gigantic cruise ship along with nearly 6,000 passengers and over 2,000 crew. 
     People say it's "all about the ship" and so check back soon for our report in our next Post !!