ESCAPE TO BERMUDA

What better way to celebrate the “official” end of summer than a cruise to Bermuda?! That’s exactly what my family did, but the real celebration was my dad’s 60th birthday. With a group of 21 family members and friends exploring Bermuda and having a great time on the ship, it’s a birthday he’ll never forget.

NORWEGIAN ESCAPE

We cruised on the Norwegian Escape which held over 5,000 people and had 20 decks. There was a packed itinerary of activities each day and plenty of things for everyone to do. We lounged by the pool, slid down the water slides, climbed the ropes course, competed in the arcade, gambled in the casino, danced to live music, walked through the waterfall cave, sipped Champagne in the art gallery, sang along with The Choir of Man, and laughed at the comedians.

Aside from all the activities, the ship had great food and drinks. We ate most of our breakfast and lunch meals at the complimentary restaurant/bar O’Sheehan’s and the Garden Café Buffet. The buffet was right near the pool and had different tasty options every day. We spoiled ourselves at the speciality restaurants for dinner. Cagney’s Steakhouse had the best crab cakes I’ve ever had and Teppanyaki had the funniest sing along hibachi show.

All the staff on the ship were great. I already miss the “washy washy” hand sanitizer reminders and the “Good Morning” pastry welcomes. Nothing says cruise more than an upbeat staff who make your day (seriously, I loved it!).

BERMUDA

Our time in Bermuda was a blast. We swam in beautiful blue and turquoise waters, saw a hint of pink sand at Horseshoe Bay Beach, walked through the Harbor Nights street festival in Hamilton, sailed on a catamaran, snorkeled with sea turtles, got wrecked on a banana boat, explored a crystal cave, and drank a lot of Rum Swizzles.

HORSESHOE BAY BEACH

Horseshoe Bay Beach was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to. The water is a breathtaking shade of blue and is the perfect temperature to cool you off from the scorching Bermudian sun. It’s also SUPER salty, which surprised a lot of us. The massive rocks and cliffs along the beach made for a great adventure and photo-op. We didn’t dare to jump off the cliffs though, because of the rocks in the water.

Horseshoe Bay Beach is known for having pink sand, but the only visible specs were down by the water.

THE RESTLESS NATIVE

The Restless Native was the coolest hot pink catamaran. After sailing the calm water, the anchor was put down at Kings Point at the coast of Mangrove Bay. At the cove, we paddle boarded, kayaked, and snorkeled with rainbow fish and sea turtles (so cute!). While relaxing in the water, we were served freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and Bermuda’s infamous Rum Swizzles (pineapple and orange juice rum punch). The Rum Swizzle was my type of drink. By the end of the trip, my nickname was J-Swizzle.

CRYSTAL CAVES

Bermuda’s Crystal Caves are amazing natural attractions that are believed to be millions of years old. They were discovered in 1907 by two teenage boys playing cricket. The crystal formations (stalactites and stalagmites) are highly protected and there are major consequences for vandalism. It was really cool to walk through.

Bermuda is an incredible group of islands (138, actually) and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to explore its beauty with my family.

It was truly a “Bermudaful” trip. Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

PHOTOS