Pink Sand, Lost Tickets, and Rum Runners

Day 3, Bermuda

I got up early to pack everything up and get us entirely ready for the beach later in the day. We weren't scheduled to dock until around 2:00 PM, so after packing, the family headed to the Main Dining Room for breakfast, continuing our morning tradition. From there, we migrated right to the pool deck. I enjoyed a few drinks by the water while Priscilla made some fast friends. I noticed a mom nearby who had a Girl Scout patch on her bag, so I struck up a conversation. It turned out she was a leader too, and Priscilla ended up playing with her two daughters from a Maryland Girl Scout troop. Before we had to get ready to leave, I watched the ship's belly flop contest, which was hilarious.

When it was finally time to disembark, the process was surprisingly easy. We delayed our exit a bit, and though the line looked tremendously long at first, it moved really quickly. Once off the ship, we caught a shuttle to the famous Horseshoe Bay Beach. The shuttle itself was tiny but crammed with an impressive number of seats, and they really pack you in there. The driver operated a little crazily, but hey, I was just along for the ride, so no big deal!

We arrived at the beach, and since I had heard so much about Bermuda's legendary pink sand, I was eager to see it. To be fair, there were definite speckles of pink in the sand, but I don't know if I would necessarily describe the whole beach as pink. We chilled at the main beach area for a little bit until I remembered a tip from my parents: they had told us to venture off to the left towards the rock formations.

I am so glad we listened. As we kept walking, we found this hidden little pathway winding through the rocks that opened up into a breathtaking, secluded area. There was almost nobody in this section of the beach, and it was stunning. That is where I took my main photos of the day.

We stayed and played for a short while, but unfortunately, our beach time was cut a bit short. Brian and I had booked a pirate sunset sail that evening with Jen and Mike, which required some major logistics. Ryland and Bryce stayed back at the beach with Dylan, Emery, Michelle, and the cousins. Meanwhile, we had to pass the youngest two off to my parents back on the boat. That part was a bit tricky, and I was so nervous because of the tight time crunch, the forgotten tickets, and a total lack of cell service. A huge thank you to my parents for watching the youngest kids, and thank you to Dylan, Emery, Tom, and Michelle for holding down the fort at the beach and taking care of everyone so Brian and I could escape for a romantic couple's evening!

Of course, it wouldn't be a true vacation without a minor roadblock. I realized earlier in the day, while on the beach, that Brian was ticketless, so we had to make a plan. Our excursion tickets were physical, printed papers left sitting on the counter in the stateroom. I had grabbed mine without a second thought, but he had missed his.

When it was time to leave the beach, we took the shuttle back to the ship to pass the youngest two off to my parents. Brian was able to hand off the kids and hunt down the missing tickets. He had to hustle through security, run up to the stateroom, grab the tickets, and clear security all over again. Thank goodness he was fast, and we made it onto the pirate ship just in time.

Because of the delay, we were among the last to board, meaning we missed out on the prime seating up top. At first, I was disappointed, thinking we wouldn’t be able to see all the sights from our seats downstairs. However, it ended up working out completely in our favor. While the sun was still up, we were right next to the glass-bottom viewing area, giving us first dibs on watching the underwater sights. The crew shared some really interesting history, and we even got a great view of a sunken pirate shipwreck, which was pretty cool.

Then came the Rum Runners. With drinks in hand, we moved upstairs just as other passengers shifted around, scoring great seats for the second half of the trip. The ride back during sunset was beautiful—the water was gorgeous, the history was fun, and the views were incredible. More than anything, I loved getting to relax and catch up with friends I don't get to see nearly often enough. Thanks again, Jen and Mike, for hanging out with us!

The excursion wrapped up shortly after sunset, so we headed back on board the ship. We grabbed a few more drinks, hit the buffet for a late dinner just before it closed, and went straight to bed since we had a super early wake-up call waiting for us the next morning.