Our entire Tzeng family, six adults and two children (ages 4 and 2), held a reunion trip by cruising from Boston to Bermuda in May of 2013 to celebrate Vincent's 70 milestone birthday.

We chose a Boston-to-Bermuda cruise because we thought Angelina and Gabby would have more fun on a ship deck sailing to a warm climate, and also by departing from Boston, it saved six of us from having to fly to a port city. Since Norwegian Dawn was the only cruise ship sailing from Boston to Bermuda, it became our default ship option.

Little did we know that NCL Dawn's cruises from Boston to Bermuda were very popular with New Englanders and Canadians. We booked our cabins the first week of January for the May 3rd departure. To our surprise, all the balconies and mini-suites were gone by then, so we booked three mid-ship ocean-view cabins. It was not until March when we occasionally saw a mini-suite became available (due to cancellation) that Austin/Elena and kids upgraded to a mini-suite on deck 11. We booked through vacationstogo dot com because we were happy with our transaction with them last year.

Our itinerary was:

DAY 	DATE 	PORT 			ARRIVE 	  	DEPART
Fri 	May 3 	Boston, MA 				4:00pm
Sat 	May 4 	At Sea 		
Sun 	May 5 	King's Wharf, Bermuda 	11:00am 	
Mon 	May 6 	King's Wharf, Bermuda 		
Tue 	May 7 	King's Wharf, Bermuda 			5:30pm
Wed 	May 8 	At Sea 		
Thu 	May 9 	At Sea 		
Fri 	May 10 	Boston, MA 		8:00am 

Guide Books and Online Resources:

• MOON's Bermuda guidebook, or FODOR's Bermuda guidebook
• History of Bermuda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda
• Wikitravel of Bermuda: http://wikitravel.org/en/Bermuda
• Cruise Critic ports-of-call forum for Bermuda: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=196

MONEY ON BERMUDA
The Bermuda dollar (BMD) is on par with the US dollar, and the two currencies are used interchangeably. We also understand that BMD is useless once you leave the island, so we brought US currency in $20, $10, $5, and $1 with us. When we gave merchants USD they would give us USD back in change. Therefore for the 3 days in Bermuda we have not come into contact with Bermudian money at all.

Day 1 - Embarkation, Boston Photo (5/3/2013 Friday):

Philip and Ayumi flew to Boston yesterday. On the embarkation day we took a taxi to the Black Falcon cruise terminal in Boston. As we stepped onboard the ship, we saw many pink, yellow, white and blue balloons adorning the railing to welcome passengers. It gave us an inkling that this would be a family cruise with many kids on board.

Before the cruise we had discussed about getting connected while on the trip. In the end we decided that everyone would turn off their smart phone's CELLULAR DATA and just purchase the necessary internet connection time from the ship. We did not sign up for the international text message plan from our phone carrier (assuming you already have a text message plan, then it is 50 TXT messages for $10, and only what you text out while out-of-country count toward this total. A very good deal in hindsight.) We thought it would be easy for us to keep connected with each other while on the cruise, but it proved to be more challenging than we had thought.

We boarded the ship around noon, then met up with Austin/Elena and kids at the Garden Cafe on deck 12 for lunch. Everyone was so excited to be embarking on a leisure vacation together. After we checked into our respective cabins, everyone was very happy with their accommodations. At 3pm there was a BBQ sail-away party on the pool deck. Plenty of food to eat, along with a 3-person band playing merry music to accompany the festive atmosphere.

We all had dinner at the Venetian dining room. A surf and Turf entree was on the menu, so Mei-Ching ordered that. Who said Norwegian Cruise Line did not serve lobster? Unfortunately, it was the only time during the cruise where lobster tail was offered.

Day 2 - Sea Day Photo (5/4/2013 Saturday):

Vincent and Mei-Ching woke up early and went to the Venetian dining room for breakfast because Vincent wanted a customized omelet. The Venetian dining room was not busy; a big contrast to last night's dinner scene. We did not ask for a table by the window. We quipped to the hostess, "Better not to look at the sea", because of the rough waves, gray sky, and the ship was moving at a very fast speed.

This was the only day out of the 7-day cruise that many passengers felt sea-sick. The captain announced that after 4pm everything would calm down.

Angelina and Gabby came down to deck 5 to visit Philip/Ayumi's cabin. They were intrigued by the fold-down bunk bed and had a great time climbing up and jumping down.

Day 3 - Bermuda - Horseshoe Bay (5/5/2013 Sunday):

NCL Dawn docked at Bermuda's Kings Wharf in the former Royal Dockyard about 9am Bermudian Time (one hour ahead of Boston). Shops in Hamilton and St. George were closed because it was a Sunday. Public buses and ferries also ran on a reduced schedule, so spent today at the Horseshoe Bay beach.

During cruise season, Bermuda's transportation department runs continuous special buses between Dockyard and Horseshoe Bay, so getting there was very easy. Bus fare was one token, $4.00, purchased from the ticket booth at the wharf. A token is good for a 14-zone bus ride, or for a ferry ride. Philip/Ayumi/Vincent/Mei-Ching headed to the special bus for the beach, while Austin/Elena had to stay on the ship because Angelina could not wait to start playing at the kids pool.

Horseshoe Bay was famous for it horse-shoe shaped pink sand beach. We rented a sun umbrella and several beach chairs to make us comfortable. The air temperature was in the 70F's, very pleasant, but the water temperature was a bit too cold for swimming. About two hours later, as we were wondering if Austin/Elena and the kids would make it to the Horseshoe Bay at all, then we turned our heads, and there they were, catching up with us. See what I meant if we had signed up for an international text message plan? We could have texted each other to find out the other's plans.

NCL Dawn docked at King's Wharf today only till 2pm, then it had to move slightly away into a tendering position, so that a Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas could take over the berth at the dock. We do not understand the math going into deciding whether to dock or to tender. We guess docking would cost more for the cruise company, but tendering all day long with small boats running from ship to shore cost money too, not to mention the inconvenience caused to its passengers.

Dinner was buffet at the Garden Cafe. Angelina and Gabby met other kids and their parents. Several folks came from Braintree Massachusetts. Some kids were older, so they must have taken off school to do this vacation.

After dinner we all went to the theater to see a bit of the performance that was on.

Day 4 - Bermuda - Hamilton, Aquarium, or St. George (5/6/2013 Monday):

We did not have to worry about getting back to the ship at a certain time since the buses/ferries were running at full schedule, so we used this day to explore the farther points. Mei-Ching/Vincent and Philip/Ayumi wanted to see St. George (the old capital) and Hamilton (the new capital). Elena/Austin/the kids were interested in seeing Hamilton and the Aquarium and Zoo in Flatts Village. So we knew we would have to split up in different directions at some point.

The adults purchased a $15 one-day transportation pass for unlimited ferry and bus rides. (A two-day pass was $25.) We took a 30-min ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton. Hamilton is the modern and bustling center of government and commerce. We walked from Hamilton's ferry dock to bus station, then got on bus #10 heading to St. George. The same bus would stop at Flatts Village so Austin/Elena and kids could get off to visit the Aquarium and Zoo. As soon as Angelina learned that there was a red press-button on the bus to alert the driver that you want to get off at the next stop, she eagerly awaited for her stop to come up so that she could press the button to sound the bell.

Philip and Ayumi had a late start so they took a later ferry to Hamiltion. Mei-Ching and Vincent wound up spending most of the day in St. George; Philip/Ayumi spent their day in Hamilton, while Austin/Elena and kids spent the bulk of their time in the Aquarium and zoo where they were surprised that kids were able to get very close to the animals. They saw a 900-year-old turtle at the zoo.

St. George was quaint, lovely and very small. There was a two-man band drumming out beautiful songs such as Yellow Bird and Caribbean-themed music in the Town Hall Square. It was such a relaxing spot that we wound up lingering the whole afternoon there and then took the 5:30pm ferry from St. George directly back to the  Dockyard. At about 2pm Philip texted us to inquire where we were and if we were in the same vicinity to meet for lunch, but we were too far apart. (After we came home and received phone bills, we learned that international text message was $0.50/each without pre-purchasing an international plan. However, receiving or replying to a text message did not incur an international charge, they were treated as if in the US.)

Both Angelina and Gabby enjoyed playing at the kids pool with others. Angelina went to kids' zone (for age 3 and up) and made friends, so she was eager to go back there after dinner.

Day 5 - In Bermuda till 5:30pm (5/7/2013 Tuesday):

All aboard was 5:00pm today. Although we only had a glimpse of Hamilton yesterday, we did not feel like trekking it out there today. Instead stayed around Dockyard area and played with Angelina and Gabby in the park. Austin/Elena also needed some time to shop for gifts. We then all went to Dockyard Glassworks / Bermuda Rum Cake Company to watch a glass-blowing demonstration and sampled the famous rum cake (again). A good time was had by all.

Philip and Ayumi went on a 2.5 hour glass-bottom sight-seeing cruise boat that departed from Dockyard to the Bermuda triangle area. Philip said it was fun, but the air temperature was very cold. Ayumi lost her voice the next day.

This was Vincent's birthday, so we reserved a table at a special restaurant called Bamboo for a celebration dinner. We ordered many appetizers and main courses from the Asian menu, and ordered nigiri, sushi and sake from the sushi bar. (The items from the sushi bar were a la carte, while everything from the Asian menu were included in the $15/pp surcharge.) Several beautiful waitresses worked very hard, at the end of the meal they brought out a cake and sang happy birthday to Vincent. What about the food? The chef was from the Philippines, so we had to give him a pass.

Before dinner, we had family portraits taken by one of the ship's photographer.

Day 6 - Sea day (5/8/2013 Wednesday):

The ship sailed slowly back toward Boston. It rained heavily during the day, so the BBQ lunch party on the pool deck was cancelled.

We attended a towel-folding demo in the atrium lounge. It was amazing to see what animals they could make out of folding towels.

We used this opportunity to post Angelina and Gabby's pool-side photos in today's photo link. The girls enjoyed splashing at the kids pool with many other kids.

Day 7 - Sea day (5/9/2013 Thursday):

Today was sunny and blue sky, so a BBQ party was held at the pool deck. The ship sailed slowly and the water was so calm that one could hardly tell that the ship was moving at all. Kids swam at the kids pool.

We watched the kitchen staff preparing paella on a giant paella pan on the pool deck. When it was ready, the paella tasted very good, saffron rice with chicken, shrimp, squid, and clams. We captured the preparation of paella on today's photo link.

Dinner was at Aqua dining room. We skipped desert because we all wanted to go to the theater to catch the second performance of a "Bollywood" show. With exotic custumes, music and storyline, the production was entertaining.

In the evening, we could see the ship was already close to cape cod, so home was not farther.

Day 8 - Disembarkation 8am in Boston (5/10/2013 Friday):

We did not have an airplane to catch, Philip/Ayumi's flight was the next day, so we were not in any rush and had time to enjoy a leisure breakfast before disembarking. However, Ayumi had a busy morning, because all passengers with non-US passport had to gather at 7am to go through immigration procedure on the ship.

Mei-Ching/Vincent and Philip/Ayumi took a taxi back to Reading. Later in the morning we drove Philip/Ayumi to Patriots Place (home of the New England football team) to fulfill one of their wishes for their time in Massachusetts and then drove them to Austin's house to spend the night. Austin invited a couple old friends over for the evening, and we heard that Austin played drum and Philip played guitar together for entertainment. It was like back in the old days.

We enjoyed the precious time having all eight of us on vacation together. We look forward to the next occasion to gather for a family reunion trip.