The best part about Norwegian Caribbean’s Breakaway cruise from New York to Bermuda is that after 2 delightful days at sea aboard a floating resort, it spends two full nights here, giving us almost three days to explore and really enjoy what I consider one of the best island destinations on the planet. And for two nights, the ship is really a full-service resort hotel, (and now, Bermuda even allows casino gaming while docked) – so you have all the nightlife – restaurants, lounges, shows, gaming – that sleepy, conservative, tranquil Bermuda otherwise does not afford.
Bermuda is pure perfection for me – a stunning landscape, coastal roads that give you spectacular views of the aquamarine water; beautiful architecture set off by the signature pastel colors, a rich history and culture that is discovered over the course of your exploration. Bermuda is its own place – we tourists come to enjoy – as opposed to so many islands whose own heritage has been obliterated, replaced and refabricated by a tourism infrastructure. In fact, as I learn in the museum within the fort of the Naval Dockyard, it is the opposite: cruiseships were specifically designed to carry American passengers to Bermuda, like the USS Bermudiana, and the relative ease of reaching the paradise of pink powder sand beach and perennial spring led to Bermuda’s long-time reign as the “honeymoon capital.”
And the pace! The entire country is smaller than Long Island, but the maximum speed is 30 mph, which seems to stretch it in size. Much of the population – and tourists – get around on those peppy scooters.
The best part of Bermuda? Three days is not enough. (On my list for when I return, which I hope is soon: exploring St. David’s Island, the Crystal Caves and the zoo.)
Royal Naval Dockyard
It is not even sunrise as we near Bermuda, and the sun rises just as we pull into the Heritage Wharf at the Royal Naval Dockyard –casting golden light. There is even a rainbow stretching out on the horizon, passed the citadel, which is Bermuda’s largest fort (now the National Museum of Bermuda).
I watch much of the process from my balcony, but then run up to the top deck to get a panoramic view.
I marvel at how deftly the captain turns around and parks this mega-ship – one-fifth of a mile (1,063 feet) long, nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall (1250 feet).
We are not the only ones – there is a veritable parade of cruise ships making their way into Bermuda’s several harbors. I watch the boats come in, like the clipper ships of their day.
A Cruise One travel agent onboard for their annual conference that I am also attending, who spent his high school years here, tells me in a matter of minutes what to do to best enjoy Bermuda: first thing is to get transportation ticket, which is sold at the arrivals building (3 day unlimited travel ticket for the bus and ferry is $35, unlimited travel one-day, $15, and two-day for $25, which makes sense for my three-day stay since single trip fares are about $4). Despite the fact that our ship accommodates more than 4,000 people, this process takes only a few minutes. Here, I also arm myself with visitor information (a map, schedule of buses and ferries are crucial).
The Royal Naval Dockyard has been developed into a full-service port and actually is its own historic district with a number of fabulous attractions of its own (Dolphin Quest, the fort and National Museum, plus a beach and park) which can be explored, plus wonderful shops and restaurants). But there is time to explore later on during our stay. That is what is so marvelous about this itinerary.
At the dock, which is really marvelous and becoming a major tourist attraction, you can rent scooters as well as pedal bikes (which is what I want to do, until I find out that it is 2 1/2 miles on the narrow, winding roads to get to the Rail-Trail, and the Rail-Trail is not the best for biking). Many tourists opt for the scooters.
From where the Breakaway is docked at Heritage Wharf it is a short walk to the ferry landing (there are also local buses and even special buses to take passengers to Bermuda’s famous beaches).
Even so, I miss the ferry that goes directly to St George, so I take the ferry into Hamilton, then find the bus terminal (a few blocks from ferry) – all part of the fun of exploring a destination. Locals tell me which bus to take, and still arrive at St. George by 11:30 am, in time to see this really amusing noontime ritual, which is a daily delight to tourists.
The bus ride has the added benefit of providing a delightful tour of Bermuda.
The bus reaches St George’s just in time for the noon-time dunking in King’s Square: a woman has been found guilty of gossiping. It is hokey, to be sure, but so much fun.
Deliverance
Across a spit of water, on a tiny island, there is a replica of Deliverance, a 40-ft. ship built by English castaways who spent 10 months stranded on Bermuda. The ship, carrying 150 men, women and children, was bound for the Jamestown, Virginia, colony aboard Sea Venture. After sailing for two months on the Atlantic, they were just a week from Virginia, when they were caught in a violent hurricane, thrown off course and separated from the other six ships, and shipwrecked.
Deliverance left Bermuda in1610 with 120 people crammed into this unbelievably small ship. Two people were left behind on Bermuda to establish England’s claim to the island.
“You can visit the ship for $1,” the crier tells us. “Gentleman on board long since died but talks all about it,”
In fact, it is one of the best dollars I’ve spent.
This turns out to be the story not only of the founding of Bermuda, but a critical factor in the way colonization of America unfolded.
The story is told by robotic sailors – all the more exciting because I had not been aware before (or perhaps it was forgotten long ago).
The castaways survived their 10 months on Bermuda, subsisting on wild hog, seabirds, turtle, fish, cactus fruit and berries.
Led by Virginia Governor-elect Sir Thomas Gates and Admiral Sir George Somers, the survivors built two ships, Deliverance and Patience.
Four skilled carpenters built Deliverance at Buildings Bay just outside St. George. They used sturdy Bermuda cedar and salvaged essentials like rigging, sails, nautical equipment and other supplies from the wreck of the Sea Venture..
Also aboard Deliverance were William Strachey, whose vivid account inspired Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” and John Rolfe, who later married Pocahontas.
More than 100 survivors crowded into Deliverance along with tons of supplies. Headroom in the passenger deck was just 4 feet high.
The ships sailed from Bermuda May 1610, arriving safely at James Fort.
They found the fort and colony at Jamestown on the point of collapse, and the supplies they brought actually saved Jamestown from starvation and, with it, “the future of English America.”
The story is told by Strachey (who appears as a life-size animatronic) and is very well done.
“Many didn’t want to leave Bermuda. It was a great endeavor and responsibility to go to Virginia.”
“How thrilled the people were in Virginia, who had given up the Sea Venture people for dead and were lost for almost a year.
And what a reversal of outlook it was.
People aboard Sea Venture “were happy to leave England because of the plague.” They were a diverse population: “35 were Marino, some were rich ladies and gentlemen from London; others were servants, craftsmen, peasants, laborers, minister Reverend Richard Buck, and a few children, and two were native Americans.”
Until the castaways came to Bermuda, “Bermuda was thought to be a wicked place, inhabited by evil spirits.” It was called “Isle of Devils.” But, as it turned out, Bermuda and Deliverance “were salvation.”
The story continues: “Deliverance couldn’t hold all 153 people, so they built a second, smaller ship, Patience, at Hamilton Point.
“Nine of the original survivors did not join the voyage: seven people including a boy named Bermuda had died. One was Henry Pane who was executed by Governor Gates. Another was a Powhatan native Namontack who disappeared and was presumed dead. His companion, another Powhatan named Machip went with the colonists to Jamestown.”
Two men – a pardoned murderer named Robert Wats and Christopher Carter chose to stay on Bermuda until the first official settlers arrived in 1612.
The two vessels made the sailing in two weeks, arriving at Jamestown on May 21, 1610
“Joy and relief erupted in Jamestown when Deliverance and Patience arrived. Friends and relatives, believed drowned aboard Sea Venture a year earlier suddenly reappeared as if by magic.”
Moreover, the man who was to be Virginia’s acting governor, Sir Thomas Gates had finally arrived.
The other six vessels that had been sailing with Sea Venture had reached Virginia in 1609. But the colonists suffered. Starvation, drought, disease, mutiny, crop failure, attacks by Powhatan natives left just 90 of 245 settlers in Jamestown alive.
It was called “starving time.”
Gates distributed pork loins, dried fish, and turtle meat from Bermuda. Another relief fleet led by Thomas West, Lord Delaware, arrived a few weeks later.
John Rolfe married Pocahontas, who changed her name to Rebecca and gave birth to Thomas.
William Strachey, 32 years old, was an aspiring London writer who set off for Jamestown after signing up to be a planter. He wrote a detailed report of the harrowing Sea Venture disaster, the pleasant condition in Bermuda, building Deliverance and the escape to Virginia.
Gates brought Strachey’s account back to London in 1610 and the real-life tale inspired Shakespeare to write The Tempest in 1610-11, and encouraged British settlement of Bermuda 1612.
Strachey left Virginia in 1611 to return to his wife Frances and two sons, William, 15, and Edward 7. He struggled to make a living – and wrote about adventure but failed to find a benefactor. He died June 1621. Four months later, his account of Sea Venture wreck was published in a collection of travelers tales.
Just a month after bringing the survivors to Jamestown, Patience returned to Bermuda for more food. Sir George Somers died in Bermuda shortly afterward and his nephew sailed his body back to England.
In 1612, the two colonists Carter and Wall who were left behind, met the first boatload of official English colonists aboard Plough, and St. George was founded.
Before Gates and the castaways left Bermuda, he had a monument erected where Somers Garden now stands, and recorded the events (most likely to cement England’s claim on the island).
Gates worked tirelessly for Virginia colony. He returned to England on the Hercules but came back to Jamestown in 1611 with fresh supplies and 300 more colonists including his daughters Mary, Elizabeth and Margaret.
Tobacco Bay
Serendipity takes over when you are free of an itinerary and can follow whim and wind. I meet a lady who mentions the “Unfinished Church,” so I go off to explore (deviating from my initial plan to go to St. Davids). I follow the road up a hill to the church, and meet people walking back from a beach, Tobacco Bay Park.
The Unfinished Church (1 Government Hill Road) has this dramatic look of a Victorian Gothic style. It was begun in 1874 and was intended to replace St. Peter’s, but never finished. “The death of the new church gave life to the old.”
After exploring the intriguing site, I walk 10 minutes further up Duke of Kent Street, over a hill to the north shore, and come upon this most charming beach below the high hill.
There is a snack bar and small shop and bathroom facilities.
Gorgeous limestone rock formations form a cove and provide a haven for parrot fish, sergeant majors, blue angels, four-eyed butterfly fish and wrasse. It is fantastic for snorkeling. You walk in waste-high water, crystal clear and aquamarine, and see the fish swimming around you. A lady feeds the fish dog biscuits (Cheerios also work exceptionally well). A fish grabs one right out of my hand. (You can take a minibus from King’s Square if you don’t want to walk).
The protected cove also makes it fabulous for swimming and families with young children.
In the distance, I can see the Breakaway and RCL Explorer here they are docked at King’s Wharf.
My day has taken a different direction from what I initially planned, but I am absolutely delighted.
Fort St. Catherine
After I leave the beach, I see a sign for Fort St. Catherine, so I continue on the road another 15 minutes or so (there is also a bus from King’s Square).
The fort – which is the one I saw from the ship as we came into King’s Wharf – is preserved as it was in 19th century, and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Town of St. George.
Fort St. Catherine, in service from 1614 to 1945, grew over time from a tiny tower to a mighty citadel. On display are weapons that span that time frame. The fort was renovated in 2009, with new interaactive exhibits added, including a Carronade Room which displays the daily life of the soldiers, as well as magazines with replicas of swords, pistols and muskets. The gun floor contains a collection of Victorian artillery. ($7 admission).
In all, it’s a delightful 25 minutes walk from town square in St. George.
Returning, to St. George, I take note of the signature white roofs on all the buildings – a tiered system of white paint with lime that captures rainwater which is the family’s source of water (there is no aquifer or fresh water lake in Bermuda). I think about that – and the original castaways – and how around the world, and especially in Africa, there is a crisis of potable drinking water, but few places have adapted Bermuda’s centuries-old solution.
It is fascinating to me how the architecture has evolved so houses are functional and eco-friendly. The houses are made from local limestone, which makes them strong and durable; walls are plastered and painted to make them waterproof. The roofs are limestone slate, coated with white lime-treated paint, making them watertight. A white roof reflects sunlight and keeps the interior cool. But the roof is designed to collect rainwater since the island has no freshwater lakes, rivers or streams. Purified by the lime wash, rainwater is directed along glides or gutters into storage tanks. Chimneys add strength and support and also provide ventilation and heat for cooking; wooden shutters protect from the elements and cool the house.
St. George: UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Town of St. George and its related fortifications was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. It is an outstanding example of one of the earliest English urban settlements in the New World, and the fortifications illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to 20th century.
It is enchanting to walk around and discover.
Back in St. George, I am just a few minutes too late to visit St. Peters, the oldest Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles. The grand wood doors are locked, but I can hear organ music from inside, adding to the atmosphere as I walk about the historic cemetery, which I learn contains graves of many slaves and free Blacks, including Pilot James Darrell, one of the first Black Bermudians to own property [you can visit his home, Hermit’s Court; a former slave, he was granted his freedom in recognition of piloting the HMS Resolution through the Narrows Channel in 1795]. There are also the graves of notables including Ann Bingham, known as the “Jackie Kennedy” of the American Revolution (her bust was featured on early US coins), as well as Governor George James Bruere and Governor Sir Richard Sharples (who was murdered in 1973). I see the tomb of Higgs, 1757-1851. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, granted the church the Royal title, “Their Majesties Chappell,” a term that was used during the reign of King William and Queen Mary.
Across from St. Peters, on Duke Street, I come upon Globe Hotel, built in 1699 as the second government house and then occupied as the home of Governor Samuel Day (who wound up in debtor’s prison). Like the story of Deliverance and how the ship saved Jamestown (and possibly English settlement in America), here is another connection with US history: the Globe Hotel served as Confederate Headquarters during the American Civil War.
The Globe is now operated as the Bermuda National Trust Museum at the Globe Hotel, with a self-guided exhibit “Rogues & Runners: Bermuda and the American Civil War,” and a video presentation telling the story of Bermuda.
This wasn’t the first time Bermudians backed American Revolution: supporters of the American Revolution sent ammunition to George Washington. It is called “The Gunpowder Plot.” Just beyond the Unfinished Church is Fort William, which was originally a government magazine. In 1775, several Bermudians who sympathized with the Revolutionaries stole 100 barrels of gunpowder “under the nose of Governor Bruere who lived next door. The barrels were rolled down the hill to Tobacco Bay and shipped to General Washington. Governor Bruere was incensed and formed a Committee to investigate the theft. Unknown to him, though, several members of the Committee, including his own daughter’s father-in law, Henry Tucker, were part of the conspiracy. Needless to say, no one was ever caught.”
Water Street is one of the most charming, with shops, galleries, museums and restaurants. It was once the coastline and between 1693-1721 is where the wharves and storehouses were.
Wandering around and I come upon the house of Sir Henry Tucker, built in 1752, which Tucker occupied from 1775-1807; a museum inside contains furnishings that belonged to the Tucker family.
Barber’s Alley, next to Tucker House, is where Joseph Hayne Rainey, a former slave who escaped to Bermuda, worked as a barber in the kitchen of Tucker House. He later returned to America after the Civil War and became a US Congressman.
King’s Square, where the dunking takes place, has remained the focal point of the town for centuries. The Square contains a replica stocks, pillory and whipping post. There is also Town Hall.
I’ve had such a fascinating time in St. George, I never get to St. David’s Island which was my original destination.
There are a slew of historical reenactments, ceremonies, walking tours available. For more information: Bermuda Department of Tourism site, GoToBermuda.com, 800-bermuda
The St. George’s Foundation, www.stgeorgesfoundation.org
The Bermuda National Trust, www.bnt.bm
I get on the 5:15 pm fast ferry that goes directly between St George to King’s Wharf. In fact, it goes really fast, really fun (they could charge admission!) and what sights! The trip provides a great view of the island, spinning past St Catherine’s Fort which I visited earlier. It takes only 40 minutes to get back to King’s Wharf.
The Breakaway is there – a floating hotel while we are here in Bermuda – but there is really quite a lot to explore at the Royal Naval Dockyard, which is also historic.
I will be able to really explore the Royal Naval Dockyard the next day.
For more information, contact Bermuda Department of Tourism, 800-bermuda, GoToBermuda.com
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