Bermuda this summer

The old Beach Boys song "Kokomo" brings to mind many great tropical ports, including perrenial East Coast favorites Bermuda and Bahama. For a resort vacation, Hawaii is a more obvious choice for West Coast residents, but a cruise makes Bermuda a solid choice, and California is one of the largest markets for Bermuda cruises.

For about the same flight time as LAX to Honolulu, Los Angelinos can fly to New York and other Eastern Seaboard embarkation ports for a Bermuda cruise. Flying in a few days early gives travelers an opportunity to visit the Big Apple, Boston and historically significant sites before boarding their cruises. For families with college-bound children, a campus visiting trip to the East Coast can be combined with a fantastic tropical cruise.

Unlike most cruise destinations, it's not unusual for a Bermuda cruise to make one port of call and stay there for two to four days. Royal Caribbean alternates two ships between five-night Bermuda cruises and nine-night Caribbean or Canada/New England cruises. Grandeur of the Seas from Norfolk, VA, and the super-sized Explorer of the Seas from Cape Liberty, NJ, both spend two nights in King's Wharf on the five nighters.

The big player in Bermuda this year, however, is Norwegian, with three ships devoting the summer to seven-night cruises to the pink sand island surrounded by turquoise water. Each of these cruises has its own advantage. The largest and newest ship among the NCL entries, Norwegian Dawn, cruises roundtrip from New York City, which generally will come with the lowest independently-booked air fares. She spends three nights in King's Wharf. If you want more time at sea cruising, this is a very good choice. Norwegian Majesty is probably worst ship cruising to Bermuda this year, but some people will like her smaller size. She spends four nights in St. George's, Bermuda, albeit with two rather abreviated days. Majesty cruises roundtrip from Baltimore during the summer. About mid-way between these two ships in size and quality, Norwegian Dream cruises roundtrip from Boston and spends the most time in Bermuda among Norwegian ships, with four nights in St. George's.

On one of Caribbean Princess' alternating nine-night Eastern Caribbean cruises from New York, she spends one night in Bermuda, making her the exception to the rule of multi-day stays. A few other ships including Costa and Carnival make stops in Bermuda in the spring and fall.

King's Wharf looks the most like a traditional cruise port, and you can get around the island from any of the three primary ports (Hamilton doesn't seem to be on the table this summer), but I personally like St. George's as a port better, beginning with being greeted to St. George's by the historical town crier ringing his bell.

There are some excellent snorkeling beaches within easy walking distance of the pier, and unlike some snorkel beaches which sometimes have less attractive beaches in other parts of the world, Tobacco Bay, Church Bay and Jobson's Cove rank among the most beautiful beaches anywhere.

There's a link on my blog to "Bermuda's Top 10 Beaches" under "Short Escapes from Reality." This two minute video does a decent job showing what you can expect to see at the beaches Take my word that the undersea life is just as beautiful as the beaches themselves.

By the way, Bermuda is also a golfer's paradise. Bermuda is a terrific place for a golf vacation, which is great ammunition for a wife trying to lure her husband onto a cruise.