Cruise passengers drop in on Bermuda
US cruise visitors who’d booked a ten-day Caribbean tour had to settle for a day-and-a-half in Bermuda after Hurricane Sandy upended plans for the Norwegian Gem.Rather than cancelling outright, the ship opted to moor at Dockyard on Sunday, setting sail back for New York yesterday.Last week’s hurricane, and the carnage left in its wake, prevented the Gem from collecting its New York passengers for three days.They told The Royal Gazette that while Bermuda wasn’t the holiday they’d expected, they were glad simply to get a break from devastated East Coast neighbourhoods left with no electricity or water.“We have no power at home, so we were happy to get on a boat just to take a hot shower,” said New Jersey visitor Laura Peters.Holidaying with husband Ken and daughter Katie from the hard-hit Bergen County, Mrs Peters added that their hopes of returning to normality had been dashed.“We’re just now hearing reports that our area won’t be back up and running for another seven to ten days,” she said.“There are places back home that are like a war zone. Staten Island is almost completely gone.”Like others, the Peters family had booked to leave New York on October 29 the same day that the category one storm made landfall.“By then, New York was under water,” Mrs Peters said.Norwegian Cruise Lines kept passengers updated, and finally opted for an abbreviated cruise to Bermuda and back, with refunds and bonuses.Passengers who sought diversions in Hamilton on Sunday, however, returned disappointed.“I kind of hoped more places would be open on a Sunday,” said Pennsylvania visitor Bill Yanchick. “I took the ferry to buy cigars, but the place was closed.”A group from Connecticut admitted disappointment at missing out on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for a comparatively chilly time here.“It’s like a ghost town over there,” one said of his visit to Hamilton.But Dockyard businesses from Snorkel Park to the Clock Tower Mall reaped a windfall from the cruise that almost wasn’t.“I got an e-mail from the Chamber of Commerce on Friday saying that the ship was coming, so I definitely took advantage of it,” Bermuda Jam Factory owner Grant Kennedy said from his stall.Manhattanites Jerry and Cheryl, whose Kips Bay neighbourhood adjoins the East River, took the trip on the Gem “just to get out of town”.“We live on the 14th floor with no electricity, no water,” Jerry told The Royal Gazette.Like others, their trips were booked for one week ago when the “super storm” slammed into the US Eastern seaboard.“We decided to stick it out a few more days, got on this ship, and just got out of town,” Jerry said. “Bermuda gave permission for the ship to come here, so it was our only option.”Added Cheryl: “Everyone now is in a pretty good mood, but some of these people are going back home to devastation in New Jersey.”Others, who had come to town for October 29, were stranded in the city’s notoriously high-priced hotels.“I feel bad for the people who had to cancel their flights,” said ship waitress Livia, who reported a “headache” from days of rough seas but said she’d gone through far worse storms at sea.“A lot of people are upset about what happened in New York,” she said.“But for us who work on the ship, it’s a good stop. It’s a little expensive, but it’s very pretty. And I like the Wi-Fi here in Dockyard.”Schools across the beleaguered city of New York reopened yesterday, many of them without water. Mass transportation, the subway in particular, remains limited after the extensive flooding.The Norwegian Gem set sail yesterday at 4pm, and was expected back in the US tomorrow.
For lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and queer passengers on the Norwegian Gem, the ship’s unexpected detour to Bermuda caused some trepidation.However, a party of 250 visitors who go by the catch-all acronym LBGTQ enjoyed “fantastic hospitality” on the Island during the ship’s quick stop.For local drag queen Mark Anderson, the short-notice visit was an opportunity to show the hospitality of a destination not known for catering to non-straight tourists.“When I got the call, I had less than 24 hours to prepare,” Mr Anderson recalled. “I had to work like Wonder Woman to get everything together.”The call came from friend and New York promoter James Saunders, who needed quick arrangements made for the LBGTQ contingent on board the ship.Local minibus operators were duly recruited for a Sunday tour of beaches, landmarks, and restaurants.St George’s’ restaurant Tavern by the Sea had been expecting a quiet Sunday — as did Front Street’s Cosmopolitan nightclub, where guests partied until the small hours of Monday morning.Said Mr Anderson: “Those places were packed, and the turnout from locals was wonderful. This group had no itinerary of what to do here, and at the 11th hour we got something put together for them.”The former New York performer found a host of celebrities on board the Gem, including comedian Tammy Peay, DJ Fred Pierce and Calvin Clark, owner of “the hottest gay club in Brooklyn”, he said.“The bottom line was I wanted to show there was a great time to be had in a Country that isn’t known for gay clubs,” said Mr Anderson, who feels the LBGTQ community offers an untapped market of big spenders.In the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s devastating impact on the US East Coast, he said, the Island stands to take a hit.“Right now, people there are trying to rebuild, but there’s still a very significant community of gay and other people who are travelling. I’ve always felt that if the Government of Bermuda were to paint me in the right light, I could be one of our attractions, not just for the LBGTQ community, but for a broader community as well, to come and enjoy our fabulous shows here.”
