What's a good cruise/cruiseline to go on for a February cruise to Bermuda for a family with 4 kids ages 5-12?

Question

We are looking to be gone for +/- 7 days.

Answer 1

Try this site: http://www.crucon.com/bermuda.htm

These are the 3 major cruiselines that sail to and from Bermuda...Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian.

Answer 2

I have been to Bermuda by cruise ship twice, once on Norwegian and then on Royal Caribbean.  There are several cruise lines that do cruises to Bermuda and from ports all up and down the East coast from Boston to Charleston, SC.  My favorite cruise line and the one that I recommend is Royal Caribbean.  That's because RC has the most activities on their ships.  These are the cruise lines that do Bermuda cruises.

Norwegian cruises:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruisesearch/c...

Royal Caribbean cruises:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...

Carnival Cruises:

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/find_...

All of these cruise lines have programs for kids and I know that Royal Caribbean has a special area on its ships for kids called Adventure Ocean, plus a place for teens to hang out called Fuel (all of these are supervised areas).  But what set Royal Caribbean apart is its ships generally have more on-board activities than the other cruise lines.  I also recommend that you take your cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship, Explorer of the Seas, which goes to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty, NY (near NY City, use the Newark airport).  That is one of RC's Voyager Class ships (I have been on two of them) and it has on it the rock climbing wall, a mini-golf course, an ice skating rink, an in-line roller skating track, a ful sized basketball/tennis court, plus the over sized chess and checker sets to play on the deck, along with shuffle board, and a game room.  Take a look at the ship's features:  

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...

A 5, 6, or 7 day cruise to Bermuda is plenty enough time to enjoy it.  You may want to read below what I have written about what's to do in Bermuda to help decide how many days to go for.  Note also from the links that the price varies according to the date that you select. So if you are looking to save money go when the price is the lowest; its the same cruise.  Also, The prices shown are for each person based on double occupancy so while the cruise lines do not give a discount for kids, the prices for your kids will be less if they are staying in your cabin; generally about 50% less.

ABOUT BERMUDA:

In my two visit it seemed to me that the majority of the people visiting the island were those on the two or three cruise ships which docked there during my stay. There are a few hotels in the town of Hamilton and about a dozen other properties/beach hotels, but they are nice. There are NO slums and ghettos in Bermuda like you may see on other islands like the Caribbean. It's a very safe island to travel around, even on the buses. All of the houses are well maintained and painted in pastel colors. All of the public beaches are great. Be sure to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach. When you cruise there its less expensive than flying and staying in a hotel because, you stay and eat on the ship. We ate on ship and that was good because meals (and everything else) are expensive since everything has to be imported. In fact Bermuda is an expensive place for about everything.

There is not a lot to do in Bermuda other than water sports and golf. There are two main towns Hamilton, the largest (where most cruise ships dock for at least a day) and St George (also a port stop) which is like a small town.

St George is like a small new England town with a small town square and a few shops. But it has bus service that will take you anywhere on the island, and since the island is pretty small (about 22 miles long) it only takes a few minutes to go other places. You can visit one of the many forts on the island like Fort St Catherine , its walking distance from St George also. If you want to the beach from St George you have several options within walking distance of St George and if you want to snorkel, the Tobacco Bay Beach near the town of St George is great, and its walking distance (about 3/4 mile from town).

The third place ships may dock while there is The Kings Dockyard.. The Dockyard is on the far end of the 22 mile long island and has a small mall with shops and a museum. It also has a new attraction called Snorkel Park Beach. The Crystal Cave and Fantasy Caves are worth visiting as a tour, or on your own. I also visited one of the lighthouses.

In the town of Hamilton we took a walking tour from our ship which took us to the Cathedral of the Most Holy, a maritime museum and a nice garden/park a few blocks from the port. There is shopping in Hamilton and restaurants, but not much else.

The best way to get around in Bermuda is to buy a transportation pass (sold in stores and the bus station) which will let you take the buses, and the ferry, all over the island. We bought our bus pass at a store in St George, near where the ship docked. There is a big bus depot just a couple blocks from where ships dock in the town of Hamilton. You can take the buses to the beach, they are not very far away and easy to get to from the bus stop. You want to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach, both open to the public.