Back to Reality

This is a picture taken by my husband at Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda.
We had a great time! I didn’t know what to expect on our vacation because it is the first time we are traveling with a baby.
Fortunately, Vince was very good. He wasn’t fussy unless hungry and sleepy. Well… he usually just sleeps without being fussy when we are outside. But when we are in our cabin/room, he’s fussy when he’s sleepy.

August 12: Departure from Cape Liberty Port, NJ
We left Cape Liberty Port, NJ at 4pm. We passed by downtown New York and the Brooklyn Bridge. I felt like a tourist! We took pictures… I mean, Joe took a lot of pictures… and that goes for the whole cruise. People were starting to notice Vince. They would say that he is very cute and very good because he wasn’t crying, just looking around. At 6pm, we went to the restaurant for dinner. Normally, you share a table with other guests, but since we had Vince, they placed us on a table that fits 4 so we didn’t share the table with anybody else. I highly doubt that someone would cruise alone :P
They placed a high chair beside me for Vince. I tried putting him there, but he is still slipping since he still can’t sit on his own. And he started feeling sleepy so I had to take him to sleep in my arms. After dinner, we went straight to our cabin to rest.

By the way, we were upgraded for free from a Regular oceanview (porthole) room to the Concierge class oceanview (picture frame window) room. Celebrity Cruise line was supposed to provide the Milk formula for Vince. But it is required that we inform them that Vince needs the formula 40 days prior to the sailing. Since we booked 2 weeks before the sailing, we had to bring our own milk. Because of this, we needed a refrigerator to store the milk. So I called the Special Services department and told them about my dilemma. I requested for a refrigerator. The lady said that it’s all taken cared of. So I thought they will just put a refrigerator in our room. A week before we left, I checked our reservations again… and LO and BEHOLD we were upgraded! YEY!!!
BENEFITS:
VIP invitations to ship events
priority embarkation, debarkation
express luggage delivery
Luxury bedding
welcome champagne
fresh fruit delivered daily
evening hors d'oeuvres
a menu of pillow options.
Plush Frette bathrobes
oversized towels
Hansgrohe massaging shower head

August 13: Day at Sea
We went to the breakfast buffet, walked around, went to the cabin, slept, had lunch buffet, went back to the cabin, slept, had dinner, went back to the cabin and slept… heheheh.. (Buhay baboy).

August 14: Hamilton, Bermuda
We docked at Hamilton at 9am. We took the bus to go to the Horseshoe Bay Beach. It had pink sand, clean beach, clear waters… ahhhhhh…. It was sooo nice.
We laid our beach mat, propped the tent for Vince and laid down under the sun. The only thing that’s missing (in my personal opinion) are the trees that provide shade if you don’t want to get a tan. Vince slept most of the time. People kept on coming over to us to look at Vince. He had a fan club! Hahahahah. They keep on saying that he is so adorable (and of course, we humbly say … thank you). We left around 1pm because it was getting too hot, and we needed to eat lunch. So we went back to the boat, dropped our stuff in our room, and then went to the lunch buffet. That night we had a formal dinner. I had a cocktail dress, Joe had a coat and Tie… and Vince had a jacket and tie. HE WAS SO CUTE!!! The other guests from the other tables, including the children were looking at Vince. I felt so conscious! The food was great!

August 15: Hamilton, Bermuda
The cruise ship stayed in Hamilton. We had breakfast buffet (by the way, there is a Pancake Nazi…he is a grumpy pancake maker but the pancakes he makes are soooo good… the best one I’ve had so far). Then we strolled around town and bought some “pasalubongs”, we ate lunch (an expensive one.. ugh) and tried the local food. I didn’t like it… Joe liked his food though. Then we went back to the ship because it was really hot. At night after dinner, we went and had coffee under the stars… which became our nightly ritual

August 16: St. George, Bermuda
The ship left the Hamilton dock around 6am and arrived at St. George around 830am. Most people would say that it is actually faster to take the bus from Hamilton to St. George than the ship because of the narrow passageway to get in to St. George. Joe actually woke up around 730am to get his breakfast then take a picture of the narrow passageway. Vince and I just stayed in the room and ordered breakfast room service. I missed the Pancake Nazi’s pancake… I made sure that we didn’t miss it everyday until we got back to New York.. hehehehe

St. George is not as populated as Hamilton. We decided to go to Shelly Bay Beach since according to the reviews, this beach is for children because of its shallow waters. We took a cab so it is easier. When we got there, Joe wasn’t so happy. All we saw were children. There were probably around 75 children there from 4 different schools. They actually conduct some of their classes outside. It was cool. The water is shallow enough, there were trees for shade, and there is a playground. It’s really perfect for children… but of course… It is not as nice as Horseshoe Bay…. So Joe wasn’t so happy. Oh well.. hehehehe I liked it because of the shade… and the nice breeze....
By noon, we went back to the ship, dropped off some of the beach stuff then went back out to do some shopping. We took some pictures of the town center. The roads were made of bricks… it’s nice. We didn’t go to the restaurant this time because we wanted to try the Sushi bar. It was ok… not bad but not good either. At night after dinner, we went and had coffee under the stars.

August 17: St. George, Bermuda
We also stayed in St. George overnight. This day, we went to a different beach. We went to St. Catherine which is 20minutes by foot or less than 5 minutes by cab. We opted to take a cab since we had Vince. St. Catherine is right across a hotel and a golf course. It was really nice. The beach is not as nice as Horseshoe bay, but better than Shelly bay. So Joe was happy. I liked it better than Horseshoe and Shelly Bay though…. Because it had more breeze and they had better facilities (snack bar, changing rooms, etc) I guess it was less hot and humid that day. We had to go back around 1pm because the ship sails back to New York at 3pm. We didn’t want to leave… but oh well.

We got back to the ship, had lunch, and then went to the roof deck to watch the ship sail away. It was nice… but we were sad because our vacation is almost over.
That night was another formal dinner night. So we dressed up again. Before dinner, we went to have our picture taken with a nice background. Too bad Vince was sleeping when we had it. After dinner, we went back to our room, changed, and went out to have coffee under the stars.

August 18: Day at Sea
Since this is a day at sea, we didn’t do much. We strolled around the ship in the morning after breakfast then we went back to our cabin. Joe went out to take more pictures while I started packing while Vince was sleeping. After dinner, we went back to our room, packed more stuff and left our luggage outside our room to be taken to the port so that we don’t have to lug them.

August 19: Arrival at Cape Liberty, NJ
We woke up around 5am (except for Vince). We took a shower, prepared and packed our stuff. I woke up Vince around 7am, changed him, then we went for our last breakfast buffet… Pancake…
By 7:30, we went back to our room, collected our stuff, went to get my greencard and have our customs form stamped, and then we waited in one of the lounges to be called for debarkation. By the time we were called, it was already 930am. My in-laws arrived around 11am (I think) and went to my cousin in-law for a visit since they live in New Jersey. We got home around 1030pm. It was a looong day. It’s a good thing that we still had Sunday to rest before going to work.

Now… I’m back to work… ugh! I miss Bermuda!!!!