It’s been 543 days since I was last on a plane. For me, that’s about 540.5 days too many. And while I live in a very beautiful province, the novelty of exploring my own backyard has long since worn off. When this opportunity popped up, there was no way I was turning it down.
If you haven’t traveled during this pandemic, there’s definitely more moving pieces than there was before. We had a bunch of pre-travel bits and bobs we had to handle, including a PCR test, Bermuda travel authorization, and vaccination verification. PCR testing is not readily available here, so sorting that alone took some time (and money).
Air Canada cancelled our first flight (what is travel if not an adventure?), but at least they did it the day before so we had time to figure out plan B. With no workable option from here that would let us make our connection to Bermuda, there was some very fast packing and a drive to Moncton and we flew from there the next morning instead. A lovely lady at Air Canada even gave us increased legroom seats for free on that flight.
Flying is the same – you’re still squashed in tightly and people lug too much onto the plane with them. Masks are required in airports and on planes – you could remove your mask if you were actively eating or drinking (on the plane, you could only remove for food/beverage service once the staff had served your entire row). Both of our flights were full. Planes seemed clean and we were given a little packet with a mask and a couple of wipes on every Air Canada flight if we wanted it.
Fast forward a movie and a half after a quick connection in Toronto (it’s still under construction). Landing in Bermuda and seeing all that beautiful turquoise water out the window on the approach was good for the soul.
Bermuda is taking covid precautions very seriously. We had to have a test to receive authorization to enter and then we had to test again on arrival. Arrivals seem to be staggered at their airport, thankfully – but it took more than two hours to go through customs, get our luggage, and get their required PCR test on site (because we are vaccinated, we were able to quarantine on the ship (not confined to our cabin) until our results arrived – around 5:30 the next morning). It was very well organized and all of the staff were incredibly friendly. From there, another 20 minutes to so to get to Hamilton to meet up with our home for the week – Viking Orion.
The process to board the ship was very quick and easy as most of the process was done online in advance. We had to pick up our keys and contact tracers and off we went to a quick safety demonstration and then to our room. Our steward greeted us and let us know all the covid-related procedures on board (information was also left in our room), we confirmed we understood the safety briefing, we spit into a tube for yet another covid test, and we could finally take our masks off after about 12 hours.
Viking is also taking covid precautions seriously. We had a PCR test (of the spit variety) daily, had to fill in a health questionnaire, and needed to check our temperatures daily (facial recognition scanning). Sanitizer, masks, and wipes were left in our room for us. Our sailing wasn’t even at 50% capacity, throughout the ship certain seats and tables were marked off to keep distance between people, sanitizer stations were everywhere, and masks were required in all public areas.
So, moving on… it was time to find some eats – no eats in Moncton and a tight connection in Toronto didn’t leave time for meals. The Pool Grill for the win! After a long travel day, we didn’t actually get into too much more. Showers, unpacking, chilling, dinner, exploring the ship a bit, and we called it a day. We did tend to spend some time in our cabin throughout the day for mask breaks (and to enjoy the balcony).
Our mornings always start early, as we both like walking/running and watching the sun come up. Sunrises and sunsets at sea are some of my very favourite things, so I was thankful to get back to them. Most mornings, no one else was up with us and we had the track/deck to ourselves.
This sailing wasn’t a typical sailing since we were either in docked somewhere in Bermuda or at sea the whole time. This was something Viking and the Bermuda gov’t worked out that allowed for a safe return to cruise and some low risk tourism for Bermuda. Our first full day in Bermuda, we were still in Hamilton and we were off on a tour in the morning. Our tour had only 4 people and we all wore masks in the vehicle and outside when we couldn’t distance. Our tour guide Gloria showed us a lot more than planned, and even kept us out an hour later than scheduled to show us some more. Beaches, coves, forts, golf course, and more – it was nice to get back to touring around. We walked around Hamilton a bit once we returned. Back on board, we had some eats, tried out the planetarium (watched a 3D movie narrated by Patrick Stewart about sending humans to Mars), ate some more, and relaxed.
We were supposed to depart for our ‘sea day’ that evening, but some guests were a day late getting to the ship and we couldn’t leave until we had the all clear on their Covid testing from the Bermuda gov’t. We left the next morning instead.
Our sea day, as we sailed around randomly in the Atlantic, was spent relaxing and watching the ocean. There’s a lot of lovely spots to just chill on this ship. Viking Ocean doesn’t usually have many sea days in their itineraries (often none, as they are very destination-driven), so there wasn’t a full schedule of games and activities. There are several talks during the day on various things relating to the destination. In the evenings, there’s some live music (violin, piano, guitar), movies in the theatre, and some musical productions. You can also access the spa at no additional cost to use the pool, sauna, snow room, etc. (treatments are additional). There’s a small gym on board as well.
We definitely did not starve on the Orion. Besides the main dining room, the grill near the pool, the buffet, and a deli – there’s also an Italian restaurant and a chef’s table. All of the bars also serve coffee, and one of the bars also has some pastries available. There’s no additional charge for any restaurants and room service is included as well. Beer and wine are included with lunch and dinner.
The next morning had us arriving at the Royal Naval Dockyard for an overnight stay. With very few ships calling on Bermuda, this area is not as bustling as it usually is and several shops were not open. We walked around for a few hours and had some lunch and tasty beverages at the Frog and Onion. We loved this pub the last time we were in Bermuda and were very happy to go back. To enter restaurants in Bermuda, we had to have our QR code scanned, which was provided with our negative test results from the Bermuda gov’t. Bought a few souvenirs and had a pretty chill rest of our day. Day two at the Dockyard, we took a shuttle to Horseshoe Bay to spend a few hours at the beach. The difference between the number of people there this time (maybe 30, including locals) vs. last time (the entire beach was completely packed) was nuts. Shuttles that would normally run full were running with a couple of people. After some much needed beach time, it was back to the ship to clean up and bit and then we wandered back to the Frog and Onion. A Crystal ship docked at the other berth at the Dockyard as we were getting ready to head back out to sea.
Another sea day consisted of more relaxing and some Viking training for me. I was there for work, so I did a training session and tour of the various types of cabins. There’s no better way to learn about a product than to experience it. I also went to a presentation on the Bermuda Triangle – sadly it was a bit dull and the presenter was very ‘get off my lawn’.
Back to Hamilton again for our last full day in Bermuda. We spent the morning out on a very fancy catamaran with about 18 people – a vessel that easily had room for many, many more than that. I spent some time talking with the staff while people were snorkeling, and while I am very much aware of how badly the tourism sector is hurting, it definitely sucks to hear about it from others too. Many hotels have closed with no timeline to reopen them, shops are closed, restaurants have closed, and very few ships (and tourists in general) are coming to the island.
And then, sadly, it was time to go home. Viking has a PCR lab on board, so our test results that we needed to return to Canada were provided to us by them. We had to be out of our cabin by 8am, but we could freely move around the rest of the ship until our shuttle (timed based on our flight departure) was ready.
Bermuda has a shiny new airport. It’s lovely and bright, but the international section has no coffee shop or restaurants and we had three hours to kill there. There is a bar (with a few random food bits in a fridge), a gift shop, and a generic airport shop.
Flight was uneventful. When we arrived in Toronto, only passengers with connections were allowed off the plane immediately. I’m not sure how long the others had to stay on, but customs was back-logged. With connections, we pass through a different area (different than before Covid with different self-serve machines), and it took longer to walk to that area than to get through it. We had a long connection, so we had some eats (lots of places in the airport aren’t open), found some coffee and tea, and just hung out in the airport dungeon for the NB flights until it was time to go home. Grabbed a taxi and we were home sweet home (though my car was in Moncton and we went to get it the next day).
I did not feel unsafe for even one second of this adventure. We wore our masks, washed our hands, and followed the rules. Yes, there’s a lot of rules. Yes, wearing masks for hours and hours and hours sucks. Yes, there’s a lot of extra paperwork and steps. And yes, all things are subject to change at any time. But it matters to me that tourism recovers and I’m going to be part of the solution. Travel. Is. Essential. Ange out.
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