This was my 2nd cruise to Bermuda and my 5th trip to the island. Security did seem a bit tighter than last year. We carried our passports everywhere off the ship. I guess I have lucked out both times because we had generally smooth sailing to and from the island. In 2001 we went on the 22nd of July and when we returned many friends of ours took the sail for the following week. The seas were very rough the week of the 28th. This year the week of the 15th was apparently horrendous for many cruisers on the Majesty but our cruise was very good overall in terms of comfort. We left about two hours late out of Boston however due to a food delivery truck that had an accident on the way to the vessel and had contained apparently much of the food we were to be served during the week. The room steward this year was also not as fussy with our room as the one from the year before.

Anyway aboard the ship my two sons 13 and 16 had a pretty good time and made several friends who they are still keeping in contact with. The food this year was a bit disappointing in my opinion especially the 10th deck's buffet. I did appreciate the fact that several waiters and the maitre d’ “Noel” remembered me from the year before. They seemed to be genuine in their greetings and had lots of patience with the children at dinner time.

Bermuda was as always fun and sunny. We played golf at St. Georges, a par 3 executive layout for about 60 bucks including a cart which you definitely need unless you're a billy goat. We took the WILDCAT tour- a very fast motorized catamaran that travels at over 40 knots for two hours around the entire island. That was a blast and our narrator, a guy who coincidentally grew up in Roxbury's projects near me was very informative and funny. The tour was about $55 a person and in my opinion was well worth it.

We also succumbed to the temptation of renting scooters despite warnings from the cruise ship, the bus drivers, and the bartenders. For a double-seater, it was about $62 for one day including the mandatory insurance. Besides adjusting to driving on the WRONG side of the road (my blissful American ignorance showing here) you also need to be careful that the driver who signs the contract does not allow the passenger to drive the scooter- no insurance in the event of an accident.

We drove to Dockyard and stopped along the way to Horseshoe beach to bath and sun. We ate lunch there and continued to Dockyard. You can take a ferry back and bring the scooters on board back to Hamilton if you are too tired to return to St Georges by scooter. Otherwise the trip by scooter to St Georges is about 90 minutes with no stops from Dockyard. From Hamilton to St Georges it is only about 35 minutes by scooter.

One thing we were told is that there are NO private beaches in Bermuda. If you are boating around the island , you can pull right up to any beach and stake out a spot for free. On land however you'd have to cut across “private property” to get to the public beaches. In most instances we never have seemed to have a problem doing so including Elbow beach.

Taxi rides were also very expensive and if you're lucky you wait around outside the ship at St. Georges and try to share a ride into Hamilton- otherwise it comes to about $50 round trip.

Back aboard the ship, the casino was roaring every night while at sea and the one arm bandit slot machine bells are still ringing in my ears. Not many winners from what I could tell. I dropped about $150 at the blackjack tables and was amazed at how the dealer took 8 or 9 hands in a row from experienced players at the tables on the last night. Unlike the first night when I felt like a fish being chummed winning 5 hands in a row. During the blackjack contest I came in first during the qualifying rounds winning a mythical $38,000 in 7 hands with $2000 of fake chips. Funny how my luck changed suddenly when it didn't mean anything. Seemed very strange to me especially on the last night when I put 50 straight dollars into a slot machine and did not make even a dollar back. The NCL cleaned up in there. My advice is to play on the first night if you have to and then stay away on the return trip where the odds (or machines) seem to be stacked against you more so than ever.

The booze was about right for cost- I like Corona and it was $3.50 a bottle not including the service charge. I avoided buying the fancy drinks in those carved out pineapples- it seemed they short changed you on the alcohol content and charged 7 bucks for one of them and it wasn't more that a tall glass in reality.

The gym wasn't bad, I ran 3 miles every day to work off food and believe it or not all the exercise machines were in good working order.

Finally the entertainment- last year's comedian was a howl for me. I really hadn't laughed that much since watching Don Rickles years ago- if you like that kind of humor. This year's comic sort of grew on me (Jeff) and at least he was clean and creative. Tony D was an excellent entertainer also and legitimately hits all of the notes in his Frank Sinatra tribute.

One final note- I made sure I took a receipt from the waiter every time I signed for a drink- I then reconciled the charges with my final bill and did not find one discrepancy. I also tried tipping the Russian piano player with a five dollar bill and it was refused. “Keep cruisin.”