Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Charleston, SC (04/23/26)

 

Last night, I had an interrupted sleep.  But I managed to have a few good hours before waking up at 8 am.  Even though I was up early for me, I didn't feel tired.  Instead, I felt like my allergies to pollen were winning a battle with me, as we were nearing land as I was coming to consciousness. 

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Charleston's historic district is beautiful, and should be experienced slowly.   The last time I was in this city, it was raining, and a bus tour made everything blend into one boring, gray mess.  Today, it would be bright, sunny, and not overly warm - a perfect day to visit this city.  Both RQS and I were looking forward to our self-arranged shore excursion.

We went up to the Galley (Virgin's substitute for buffets found on other cruise lines' ships) to have a quick breakfast.  And this breakfast was good.  Both of us had the "Grab and Go" Salmon, while I ordered Scrambled Eggs and Sausage.  We were sated, and ready to go to find our excursion.

Getting off the ship was easy.  But it was a 10 minute walk from the ship to where the carriage ride started.  While on the way, I noticed that I forgot my sunglasses.  So I bought a cheap pair in the Charleston Market on the way to the carriage ride.  

There are 5 routes which carriage rides are allowed to travel, and they are assigned at random to prevent too many carriages from disturbing motor vehicle traffic on a single route.  Today, we took the "Yellow" route, chosen at random at a station near the market.  Much of Charleston's history blended into something easily forgotten, but I remembered one thing of note: Like New Orleans, Charleston has laws which require buildings in its historic district to be maintained with historical accuracy.  If a building is to be painted, a commission must approve the paint - and have it reflect colors used in the building's past.  External structural elements must conform to reflect how a building looked in the past.  Too bad that more American cities didn't do this to preserve their historical districts.

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We got back on the ship around 12:30 pm and started looking for lunch.  The Pizza Place would be closed until 2 pm, so back to the Galley we went.  Of course, I ate too much, wanting a little bit of everything.  To make things more "interesting", they had the wrong menu available in our section of the Galley, and we ended up getting things we didn't plan on getting.  Although I missed my Duck Ramen, RQS got her Pastrami on Rye.

And then it was time to rest until dinner.  

Again, RQS made herself at home in the hammock, while I worked on my other blog.  By the time dinner time came, we were ready to feast, yet not eat too much.  So, it was down to to Pink Agave for another Mexican meal.  Was the food good?  Yes.  Yet, I miss the two Mexican joints down the hill from me, as more of their food is "stick to your ribs" cooking.

 

Bermuda Triangle Cruise 2026 - Embarkation Day (04/16/26)

 

Today would be the first time on a Virgin Voyages ship, and I knew there would be some issues.  The key one would be getting to the ship on time, given the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the middle of the week.  With a little advance planning, this would be a minor wrinkle for the day.  What worried me most would be the unknown differences between Virgin and other lines on which I have cruised.

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We got up at 9 am, and did our final preparations for the cruise.  Around 12:30 pm, I brought our luggage downstairs to make it easier when the Uber was to arrive at 12:45 pm.  As planned, the Uber arrived on time, but it took longer than expected for us to make it to the cruise terminal.  Unfortunately, my GI Tract was about to explode, the most important place I could reach was one where my GI Tract could be dealt with properly.

Reaching the cruise terminal, it was the usual chaos outside the building.  However, Virgin made it worse for many by preventing early arrivals at the terminal from checking in early - unlike most cruise lines making port here.  We were lucky enough to arrive close enough to our scheduled arrival time to be let in early.  Again, we encountered the usual long lines inside the building.  But this time, they ran slower than usual.  

Eventually, we made it onto the ship and began our vacation.  We first went to lunch and then to dinner.  The food was good as expected.  (More on this in my cruise blog.)  And then it was back to the room to rest.