Trip Report: September 25, 2019 5 Night to Bermuda on the Disney Magic – Day 3

You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.

You can see all of the daily navigators for this cruise by clicking here.

Day 3:  Bermuda

I woke up this morning at 8:30 from the major noise and vibrations that occur on deck 2 aft when the ship’s thrusters are operating – so, whenever it is pulling into or out of a port.  You can read more details about it here in my stateroom review, but suffice to say that it is LOUD.  All Ashore was 10:00 AM, but the docking process started at 8:30 and the noise/vibrations were still going strong at 9:15 when my husband and I went up to Cabanas for coffee and pastries. We brought the food back to the rooms and surprisingly enough, the girls were sleeping through all of it.  

We all ate and got ready for the day.  We had booked the Restless Native port adventure through DCL, but our meeting time was not until 1:00. So, I went to deck 4 to check out Bermuda and take some pictures.

The ocean was just as pretty as the Caribbean:

This is the building that all cruise passengers have to pass through:

Next I decided to go check out the view from deck 10.  On the way, I noticed that they were doing some work with some of the life boats:

At the bottom of this picture, you can clearly see the area where taxis & mini-buses pick up and drop off cruise passengers:

There was one other ship in port with us:

When we walked by the atrium, there was no one in it so I got some good photos:

We went to Cabanas right when it opened at 11:45 to get some lunch as it was not included in our port adventure. My favorite things for lunch in Cabanas are the shrimp, pasta dishes, and salads.  Tip: behind the salad bars are 3-4 prepared salads that vary daily and are delicious!  They are easy to miss.  Below, the couscous salad was one of them.

I just noticed that you can see my hand sanitizer in the photo above.  This type is one of only 3 or 4 that actually kills norovirus.  We use it after visiting the buffet and touching all the utensils.  I order mine on Amazon, I’ll put the link here. It is a liquid spray instead of a gel, so it doesn’t leave a residue on your hands or dry them out.

After lunch we went back to the rooms to gather our bags and get ready for our port adventure, the Restless Native Catamaran through DCL.  First, a little background about how I chose this excursion.  We like to do boat charters in tropical ports, and we have done some amazing private charters in the past (you san see my excursion reviews here).  I researched some private charter options, but nothing jumped out at me.  The prices were also a bit higher than the Caribbean (FYI Bermuda is a very expensive island – more on that later).  During my research I came across the Restless Native Catamaran.  While it is available for private charters, it was not available the day we would be there because it is used for a DCL port adventure.  I read a lot of glowing reviews about it and decided to take my chances and book it.

At 1:00, we went to our meeting place for our port adventure, the Walt Disney Theater.  They had a table set up outside the theater where everyone checks in and gets their stickers.  We were in the yellow Mickey group.

Once inside the theater, we were directed to sit in a certain row based on our stickers.

Now it was time for one of my least favorite things about DCL port adventures – the waiting.  I have been on some in the past where there was tons of waiting in several different locations.  This is one of the reasons I am hesitant to book DCL port adventures.  Another is that they are almost always way more expensive than booking the exact same thing on your own (which is not always an option, but it is sometimes).  Luckily, today there was almost no waiting.  Our whole group must have arrived on time because at 1:02, we were directed to walk out of the theater and down to deck 1 to disembark.  There were towel carts at the exit, so we each grabbed 2 as we walked past. We walked off the ship and followed the yellow Mickey paddle. 

We walked right past the area where you get a taxi or mini-bus to take you into town:

We also passed this Bermuda sign:

Today we were in port with the Serenade of the Seas:

We approached a harbor and saw some jet skis:

Even though 2 hurricanes had passed very close to Bermuda within the last 2 weeks, the only sign of damage I saw were a few lamp posts missing their tops and this canopy:

After a very short walk, we reached our catamaran:

The boat is pink because part of the proceeds go towards breast cancer research.  Being a breast cancer survivor, I really appreciated this. Turning back towards the Magic, you can see the distance we had walked:

We boarded the boat, stashed our bags and towels down below, and settled in.

We set sail pretty quickly and one of the guides began sharing information about Bermuda.  The most memorable thing he told us was how expensive it is to live there, because everything has to be shipped in.  They do not have any agriculture on the island.  He said that the average house price is 1.7 million (he lived with his parents, understandably), a gallon of gas is $10 and a loaf of bread is $8.  I think he also said a case of beer is $60.  He said that tourism only accounts for 5% of their economy, which surprised me.  Banking and financial services account for 85%. They have a very high standard of living. If we ever make it back, I would love to do an island tour.

We had a great view of the Magic:

At one point they hoisted the sail:

It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70’s.  There was a little wind and the water was a tiny bit choppy, but the ride was still enjoyable.

After a short sail, we arrived in a cove where we would drop anchor. We could still see the Magic!  Look closely:

The crew gave us instructions for snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding and told us all of the safety rules. Everyone started to get in the water.  These are the stairs for the water access:

The water was COLD! It makes sense since we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but oh my goodness!  Then again, I am a southern girl and I think water colder than 78 is freezing.  Those from northern climates might have thought this was normal.

The cove was just beautiful. It was shallow enough to stand in most places.

These 3 were the only ones in our family brave enough to get submerged and snorkel.  I got in up to my waist, and the other child actually stayed on the boat the whole time!

They swam over to the rocks to snorkel as instructed, but didn’t see much of anything – a few fish and a few pieces of coral.  We have snorkeled in some amazing spots, so this was rather unimpressive. After the snorkelers came back, we grabbed a paddleboard. I prefer to be lazy and hitch a ride – our oldest was happy to paddle.

Here’s the wimp watching from the boat:

After a while I noticed these 2 hugging the shore.  There was a pretty strong wind and she was having a hard time paddling against it.  This was only her second time to paddleboard so she was not great at steering.

I was pretty close by, so they yelled at me and asked me to come get them and pull them closer to the boat before they drifted away.

Mom to the rescue!

Once she was close to the boat again, she kept going.

I love this shot of the Magic peeking through!

This one decided to get back on the boat.  She had cut the bottom of her foot on some coral while snorkeling, so one of the crew members got a first aid kit and bandaged her up.

The crew had baked chocolate chips cookies and were passing them out to the guests.  There was also a cash bar onboard, but rum swizzles (the national drink of Bermuda, or so we were told) were complimentary after snorkeling.

Eventually our oldest was the only one of our family still in the water, and she was paddle boarding away.  She was having some difficulty steering and almost took out a few people.  Her sister was happy to get this on video from the boat.  She almost ran into a man floating on a noodle, me, and a snorkeler, and then ate it when she crossed over the boat’s anchor line.  Watch until the end for the wipe out!

Eventually the crew rounded everyone up because it was time to head back to shore.  The sail back was a bit more chilly as some clouds had rolled in.  When the sun was out it was okay, but once the sun went behind the clouds we were shivering a bit.

I don’t think this one had ever met a boat that didn’t put her to sleep:

And this one is ALWAYS reading!

Before we knew it we were back in the harbor and began walking towards the Magic.

We tried for a picture at the Bermuda sign, but the sun was at a bad angle.

We returned to the ship at about 5:00.  The gangway was forward, and our rooms were aft so we went to deck 3 to walk the length of the ship. I got another picture of the Halloween decor:

We ordered some room service, put on a movie, and started taking turns showering.  It is so nice having 2 showers! 

Only 2 of us were ready in time to make the evening show at 6:15, which was “Twice Charmed”.  My husband and middle daughter went while the rest of us stayed in the room.  It had been 5 years since we had seen the show, and they really enjoyed it.

Eventually, our youngest asked if she and I could go sit in the portholes on deck 3 in After Hours.  She loves hanging out there and doing cartwheels in the hallway when no one is around. While I was sitting, this guy appeared:

I love how well DCL maintains their ships! At some point, we went back to the room and on the way took this picture.  The first day, we had seen Danny, our room host from our very first cruise 6 1/2 years ago.  He had the section of rooms right next to ours so we passed him in the hall many times a day (for 10 days!).  The thing I remember most about Danny is how happy and positive he is – he is literally ALWAYS smiling, asking about our day, and making us laugh.  He’s one of those people that puts a smile on your face no matter what your mood, and just radiates happiness.  We were so glad to see him again, and we recreated this picture from our first cruise in 2013:

I hope we see Danny again!

At 8:15 we went to dinner in Rapunzel’s Royal Table.  There was not a show tonight, and I’m pretty sure that this night all 3 dining rooms had the same menu.

The Argentinian Empanadas (excellent):

These were SO good, especially if you like cumin, which I do.

The Vietnamese Spring Roll (good):

The Indian Prawn Curry (excellent):

The Swiss Pork Tenderloin Medallions (good):

I think some of us must have skipped dessert tonight because I only have 2 pictures.  This was the Canadian Ice Cream Sundae (great):

And the Sacher Torte (good):

After dinner I went to decks 4 and 10 because I wanted to see Bermuda at night.  I don’t think we have ever been in port at night before.  We have definitely never stayed overnight in a port before.

Part of me wanted to disembark and explore the port area at night, but part of me was too tired.  The tired part won. I also got this great shot near the shops:

Deck 9 was deserted:

At 11:00, some of us went to Family Superstar Karaoke in the D Lounge.  I’m surprised we made it that late. Then it was off to bed.  Our plans for the next day were to visit Horseshoe Bay Beach on our own.  Will we make it?  Stay tuned!

Up Next:  Day 4 – Bermuda