As we had mentioned, before dinner last evening we went to the Galaxy Lounge where we attended a tribute to Patsy Cline performance created by Broadway's Carter Calvert. We arrived around 4:30 PM for the 5:00 PM performance not to secure a seat towards the front as we actually took seats towards the back of the theatre, but because we got ready earlier than usual. We were surprised at the number of people who already were seated when we arrived and by the time the show began it was standing room only as not only were all the seats taken but some people were standing in the back of the room.
Afterwards, we sat at the Crystal Cove and listened to Richard Pucci play the piano.
Following this performance we had dinner back at the Crystal Dining Room.
Head Waiter Augusto made us a Caesar Salad and for our entree Pasta and Lobster. Both of these items was absolutely delicious.
Once again, we slept very well as we continued to cruise to our first port of call of this voyage in Bermuda.
Bermuda brings back very fond memories for us for several reasons. Our first visit to Bermuda was for our Honeymoon and we had an absolutely wonderful time there. We stayed at a resort which is no longer in operation which was the Sonesta Beach Hotel across the way from the Southampton Princess. We rented mopeds and road around the island for pretty much the entire week other than spending the final day at the hotel. We returned to Bermuda twice in the 1990's with our children on seven day cruises R/T out of New York City. On one of the visits we showed our children the resort where we stayed for our Honeymoon. Keith returned to Bermuda in the late 1990's for business. The group Keith was with had some free time the first day they arrived and Keith led them around the Island as they followed him on Mopeds.
Well, no mopeds for us anymore. We are older and wiser now.
We always had a fondness for Bermuda as we found it to be a very classy Island and of course it brings back wonderful memories for us.
We took the first ferry tender from Serenity over to Hamilton as we needed to be on that one to meet up with our private tour.
A view of Serenity from the Ferry Tender.
Serenity was not allowed to use our own tenders so tender service was provided by a local ferry service. The ride took approximately 40 minutes. Tenders ran every two hours from Ship to Hamilton and also every two hours returning from Hamilton to Serenity.
There were three other ships in port for most of the day. This included Holland America Veendam which we had sailed one time the 1990's and left Bermuda in the afternoon along with Celebrity Summit which we also sailed a few years ago and the NCL Breakaway. The Veendam is small enough to dock in downtown Hamilton.
The Holland America Veendam.
We then had a private van with a tour guide/drive that we arranged with Crystal Cruises. With four hours to tour our plan was to visit the historic town of St. George.
The town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The town of St. George is the oldest continuously inhabited town of English origin in the New World. The town includes fortifications that were first constructed in 1612 and include a near complete collection of British fortifications and artillery.
Our tour guide was exceptional. His name is Kimmie Mello. He has been given tours for 30+ years and also is a taxi driver and to top that off he is a Minister and later in the day showed us the area where he lives and showed us his church.
He noted along the way that Bermuda has 245 churches and 31 forts. We saw some of them on our tour. He also noted that it is common that when you see someone you know when you are driving to honk your vehicles horn as a way to say hello.
We visited the Aquarium.
St Peter Church
Fort St. Catherine
We enjoyed our visit to St. George. It is a very quaint town.
Well, not the best photo Keith has ever taken but understandable given the circumstances.
We then drove over to another island and visited the Church that Kimmie is a Minister for. His mother used to be the Minister.
Near the church is one of two lighthouses on the Island. The taller one is near the former Sonesta Beach Hotel which we visited on our Honeymoon.
We stopped at the Botanical Gardens which is on 36 acres.
We also drove around Tuckers Point which is home to the Rich and the Famous.
We learned quite a lot about the history of Bermuda during our tour. Our tour guide also covered a wide range of topics including construction of the homes, agriculture, natural resources, imports and exports, the overall economy, and so many other aspects of Bermuda. We also discussed the economy which like many areas of the world was hit very hard in 2008 and is only starting to come back now and continues to be on a roller coaster.
While we waited to board the Ferry Tender for the return trip back to Serenity we spoke with shipboard photographer Mihai.
We arrived back to Serenity in the afternoon after a nice visit to St. George.
We will be dining at the Crystal Dining Room this evening and will post about that tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......
“If we all
did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
– Thomas A. Edison
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