West End Horse and Buggy Excursion

I haven't posted much of my Royal Caribbean cruise to Bermuda so, here is a post on 1 of the excursions I did there. Enjoy.

You have technically 2 days to see what you can on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise to Bermuda. One drawback to the cruise is you arrive at 3 p.m. in Bermuda on the 3rd day of your cruise. The late arrival makes it hard to try to fit in some tours there on that first day there. Thankfully, Royal Caribbean does offer a very nice West End Horse and Buggy Tour.

The tour covers the West End part of the island. This part is where the British had a major military presence including the impressive Naval Dockyard where the ship ties up. During the tour, we got to see some former Army barracks, the old military cemetery and where they would leave a drawing of a ship's coat of arms when they made port in Bermuda (I'll have to post a picture I took of that). The tour also takes in some scenic bits with some pretty small beaches.

The drive/tour guide is a pro at these tours as he's been doing for most of his life. He gives an informative dialog as the tour goes along telling about particular shops in the Dockyard as well as some of the history of the places you get to see and what life is like in Bermuda (I found this interesting). Also, he makes it a point to stop at various places so folks can take photos. For those who are curious, the horses names are Sugar and Spice and, they were some very nice horses. They looked well cared for.

The tour lasted over an hour and started and finished in the Dockyard. I forget what it cost though I don't think it was terribly expensive. For those who are going to do the Segway tour, I wouldn't recommend you do this tour as you'll end up covering the same area. When I did the Segway tour, the guide was surprised when I told her a lot of the stuff I learned on this tour. I found most of the information the guide gave to be accurate with the one exception being the price of gas in Bermuda. He said it cost $30 a gallon but, it apparently costs around $9. Strangely, Bermudan gas stations don't show the price of gas like they do in the United States. I don't know why.

Overall, I found this a very nice excursion and a nice way to start one's first visit to Bermuda. I would strongly recommend it to those who are going to do a Royal Caribbean cruise there as it'll enable you to do something your first day there (barring taking in the Dockyard) and thus take advantage of the limited time you have there. Happy travels all!