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!
Kimberly Brownlee
Wow! Your post definitely makes me want to travel! I’ve always been a but leery of NCL, but your post gives me a different perspective – perhaps it’s one I could check out! I love that you travelled with such a large family group – that is awesome!! What great memories you made! Thank you for sharing, J!
journeywithjblog
It was my first time cruising with Norwegian, and it was great! Traveling with a large group was so much fun!
Beth
What a fun trip! We have been considering Norwegian for our next cruise but are nervous because we have only ever cruised with Disney, glad to see how quality your experience was! We will definitely look into Norwegian more.
journeywithjblog
This was my first time cruising with Norwegian and it was a blast! The only other cruise line I had cruised with before was Carnival.
Andria
The Crystal Caves look amazing and the water of Horseshoe Bay Beach is incredible! Looks like an amazing time.
journeywithjblog
Visiting the Crystal Caves was such an awesome experience. I love the story behind their discovery too. Horseshoe Bay Beach may have been my favorite part of Bermuda!
Leah
A great post! Your photos show how much fun you had. I was looking at a cruise (of course, abandoned all of that during this madness, haha) but NCL was what I had been looking at and I loved your review of the Escape. Sounds like you guys have such fun adventures!
journeywithjblog
Thank you! I would definitely recommend NCL when it’s safe. The Escape was a great ship. So much to do!
Emily
Bermuda does look amazing. I’ve heard so much about the pink sand that it surprises me you didn’t see more. I think a cruise is the perfect way to visit.
journeywithjblog
Yeah, I was a little disappointed in the lack of pink sand, but the beach was beautiful otherwise.
Suzanne
Bermuda is on my bucket list. I have traveled all over Europe, but island life is something I need to get too! This was such an inspiring post. My favorite part was the cove with so much to do. The snorkeling with rainbow fish and sea turtles sounds AMAZING!
journeywithjblog
I would love to visit Europe (never been)! Hanging in the cove was a lot of fun and the sea turtles were so cute!
Cindy
We have been to Boston with Norwegian 5 times out of Boston and love it! The best part is no airline ticket needed!
journeywithjblog
That’s awesome! This cruise left from NYC, so I didn’t need to fly either.
Hunter Chapman
This is great! and I am sure it was beautiful!
journeywithjblog
It was SO beautiful!
Barbara
I love cruising! Norwegian sounds great!
journeywithjblog
I’ve only been on two cruises, but I would love to go on more!
Macie
I love this! I absolutely love cruising! I have cruised with Norwegian before, but never on the Norwegian Escape. It looks very nice! Great post!
journeywithjblog
Thank you! Cruising is so much fun! The Norwegian Escape was a great ship. So much to do!!
Charlene
I want to go! looks so fun!
journeywithjblog
It was so much fun!
Cathy Creech
We have really been itching to go on another cruise! This looks like a perfect ship & destination! I’m going to look into it right now! Beautiful photos! Thanks for the idea!
journeywithjblog
Of course! This was such a fun trip!
Jordan Erb
Great post! I traveled to Bermuda a few years back on the Norwegian Pearl- it was a great time! This made me miss it! I love Horseshoe Bay and the pink sand (it was pretty pink when we went, but granted this was 8 years ago….) Crystal Caves was awesome too! Your pictures are amazing! 🙂
journeywithjblog
Thank you so much! I loved Horseshoe Bay Beach as well. The water was so beautiful! And the Crystal Caves are just amazing in person.
Holly Beemer
Beautiful! I think all of us are dreaming of travel these days. Thank you for sharing.
journeywithjblog
Yes! Sooner or later we’ll be able to travel again. For now, we’ll just have to reminisce on previous trips.
LJ
WOWWWWWW! We have yet to go on a cruise, and your blog sure sold us! What a memorable way to celebrate your father’s birthday with family! Love it! There are so many cruises to choose from, and you got us on Norwegian. 😉
journeywithjblog
Cruises are so much fun! Definitely a unique way to vacation and see different parts of the world! And yes, there ARE so many to choose from!
Ashley
Oh my gosh, this post makes me miss cruising so much!! We’ve only cruised with Carnival, and to the Bahamas…but I think the cruising bug hit me because we’re crossing our fingers that our cruise in November does not get cancelled. Your photos are so beautiful!! We’ve been looking into NCL but it just isn’t in our budget at the moment..maybe one day! Love this post! I miss traveling…especially to places as beautiful as your photos!
journeywithjblog
Wow, your words are so kind. This was my second cruise, but first with NCL. I’d definitely love to go on more cruises because they’re so much fun!
Jarrod
Bermuda looks incredible! I didn’t realize it was slightly mountainous. Thanks for sharing!
journeywithjblog
Bermuda is beautiful! The pictures don’t do it justice.
Chantel
Thank you for the information, GREAT post. I had a cruise planned this year; however, it was cancelled. I would love to visit Bermuda and the crystal caves. Pictures are beautiful.
journeywithjblog
Oh, no! I’m so sorry it got canceled. Hopefully you can reschedule soon. Bermuda was beautiful!
Lisa Andrews
How fun that you got to go on this cruise with 21 friends and family members. What a cool experience. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies while sailing on the ocean sounds like a dream come true!
journeywithjblog
Traveling with such a big group was super fun! And yes! The cookies were delicious and the water was beautiful.
Jen
This post is great! I have been on this cruise as well but the boat did not have anything extravagant like you had, I think we took the Norwegian Dawn boat. Love the pictures! Great read!
journeywithjblog
Thank you! Wasn’t Bermuda beautiful?!