Lauren of all Trades: That Time I Went To Bermuda...

I just visited Bermuda for my first time as a port stop on a 4-day Carnival Horizon cruise from New York. It was a special sailing that unfortunately won't be offered any more in the future as the Horizon has permanently moved to Miami.

Since we'd already spent a fair amount on the cruise, I didn't want to add any cost to our trip by booking excursions. Instead I found out where the ship would be docking and used Google Maps to find some stuff to do...

The first thing I looked for was a craft brewery. Husband loves beer, so it's a great way to make sure he has a good port visit since the part I like about cruises is not doing any cooking and cleaning for a few days.

We once again lucked out with a brewery just minutes (on foot) from the dock! The Dockyard Brewing Co. serves their beer at the Frog and Onion Pub, so I picked that for where we would be getting lunch that day.

After that, I zoomed in to the nearby areas and just looked for what there was to do.

I found Bermuda Fun Golf, Snorkel Park Beach, and Calico Jack's Floating Bar. All within walking distance of the ship.

We first headed to the Fun Golf which is a miniature golf course that has each hole modeled after real golf course holes from famous courses like Pebble Beach.

There were fish in the water!

It's $15 to play but it's the nicest and most fun miniature golf course I've ever played on and is operated by this guy Shannon, who was great fun to chat with at the bar while we had some post-golfing drinks.

Oh and I got a hole in one! I was just excited that it helped my score, but we told Shannon and I got a certificate!

Hole-In-One on #3

After our lovely round of golf, we headed to Snorkel Park Beach to swim around a little. I was least excited for this stop, but I couldn't go to Bermuda and not go to the beach! The water was not crystal clear, but it was still beautiful, blue, and warm enough for me to go in.

About 1/3 of the beach area.

And the fish came right up to us! We bought snorkles so we didn't have to rent them and saw some really cool fish and coral.

I'd read that there are rocks in the water so I brought water shoes, but they're not necessary. With out watershoes, you just have to watch where you step.

After thoroughly enjoying the little beach that was free to get to, we headed to the Frog & Onion for lunch. The menu was a little pricey, but I doubt and more expensive than anywhere else in Bermuda, and it had a great selection of stuff to eat. I got the bruschetta and soft pretzles. Both were excellent but if I had to pick one, it would be the bruschetta.

Husband ordered a giant beer (50oz "Big Ben" size) which included a souvenir cup. There was also a 23oz version, but I guess he liked the novelty of a 50oz beer.

It was $35.

Our final stop was Calico Jack's Floating Bar. It is a bar that is on an actual boat, actually floating next to the dock, that is painted and decorated to look like a pirate ship.

Ashamed that this is the best & only photo I took of it.

And you can walk the plank!

This was actually a little scary when I did it. It's higher than I expected, and I hit the water a little hard. I recommend doing it, but I only did it once. I decided that I need to practice on a diving board again before I go back.

We stuck around for a drink then headed back to our ship as we were exhausted. I made husband get up at 7:30 so that we could fit everything in. I didn't love that we only had from 8:30am - 3:30pm in Bermuda, and no, we didn't go to bed early the night before. That would be crazy.

Overall I was completely happy with choosing all the activities we did with the exception of FORGETTING to go to the Bermuda Rum Cake Company store. Maybe I should have gone to bed earlier... But we had a fun-filled day with minimal extra spending and would definitely do all of it again!