September 29, 2005

Dear Sir,My wife, Karen and I have just returned home after a cruise to Bermuda on the NCL Majesty. We were disappointed to see what has happened to Bermuda. It is not the Bermuda we remember and loved.

We went to Bermuda 39 years ago for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Elbow Beach. In 1966 we flew from New York on BOAC round trip, had breakfast and dinner at the Elbow for $500. That was a lot of money for me back then. We had a lovely time.

We have been back to Bermuda other times. We stayed at The Elbow again, The Southampton Princess, and The Bermudiana. We also sailed to Bermuda on the Cunard Princess. If I counted right, that makes six times we have been to Bermuda. I’m sure that is not a record, but for us that is quite a few times to travel to the same location.

Our disappointment on this trip is a result of comparing our previous trips with this one.

Front Street in Hamilton is fast becoming a T-shirt factory. What ever happened to the quality shops like Smith’s where we purchased Waterford crystal, Wedgwood items, or bone china flowered pins or Trimingham’s where we shopped for hours looking for clothing and British items? Thank goodness The English Sports Shop is still there. Too many places have closed or moved out of Bermuda. The Perfumery and its Gardens are closed. The Royal Lyme colognes are no longer made in Bermuda. Even the symbol of Bermuda monetary stability, The Bank of Bermuda, is now owned by another bank outside the waters of Bermuda. Where will it end?

A.S. Cooper sells Calvin Klein, Polo, and Tommy Hillfiger — all clothes I can buy in the stores in Michigan. I didn’t come to Bermuda to purchase the same clothes I can buy in Michigan. I came to Bermuda with the intent to purchase a Harris Tweed sport coat at the English Sport Shop. I needed to replace the one I bought there in August, 1966. I’m sorry to say that I outgrew the first one. The shop didn’t have the coat because it “is not the season” for that coat. Too bad for the English Sport Shop. My season in Bermuda was last week. The English Sport Shop should stock a complete line of sport coats. Not all people get to Bermuda when their coat is “in season”.

My wife wanted to buy a “Bermuda Bag”. One shop, The Island Shop had the bags but other sales people in other shops didn’t know what my wife was talking about. Some thought it was a straw bag that had Bermuda spelled out with yarn. So much for Bermudian knowing what used to be made on their island. I did find three old Bermuda cedar handles in the antique shop in St. George. We planned to go to the shop on Friday but the ship was repositioned to Hamilton because of pending high winds. Again, no locally made bags are to be found. The bags are “foreign’ manufacture without Bermuda cedar handles.

I assume that the Bermuda Government has some control over ships that come into Bermuda ports. The ship we were on, the NCL Majesty, had a sales programme that does not lend itself to the Bermuda of the past. The NCL calls it a “freestyle” programme. The passengers were not required to dress for dinners. They carried “helmets” of beer around the ship. It was a party ship. I assume the passengers were not interested in purchases from shops like Smith’s and Trimingham’s . Perhaps they are interested in T-shirts and the like. This ship had a totally different atmosphere than the Cunard Princess. I wonder what other ships promote for their Bermuda cruise to get passengers?

We took a bus tour of Bermuda from St. George’s to

Dockyard. The driver was very good and loves Bermuda but even he agreed Bermuda has changed and not for the better. Bermuda used to be such a clean island. On this trip, I saw empty plastic bottles by the side of the road when we stopped near Horseshoe Bay to view the shore. There were other places that also showed neglect.

The cruise director strongly advised passengers not to use mopeds. He said they were dangerous. A sales person in a St. George’s shop also advised us not to use mopeds. She said that the younger drivers speed and that leads to accidents. That applied to Bermuda youth and those on the ships. It would seem logical to me that some type of governing device be placed on all rental mopeds. Limit the speed to 35 mph. Rented mopeds don’t need to go fast anyway. Enjoy the scenery of Bermuda. Anyone going 35 mph can travel from St. George’s to Dockyard in an hour - so what’s the hurry? When we rode mopeds the other five times we were in Bermuda, we remarked how courteous the drivers were. That applied to drivers of cars, trucks, and other mopeds.

On the bus tour, the driver said there a few hotels on Bermuda anymore. That might explain why our travel agent did not have a publication such as the Bermuda Where to Stay that was published by the Bermuda Department of Tourism in 1966 (I kept my copy from when I made honeymoon reservations). As it is, I don’t know where we can stay if we return to Bermuda. Ideas would be appreciated.

The changes we observed in Bermuda are not changes that would encourage us to return. We know people, things, and countries change. Change is inevitable, but we feel these changes in Bermuda are not for the better.

We feel attention need to focus on:

1. Increase hotel room package advertising.

2. Clean the island. Perhaps a cash refund for returned cans and bottles.

3. Limit rental moped speeds to 35 mph.

4. Reopen quality British/Scottish/Irish/Bermuda shops on Front Street and St. George’s. Even if it means the government run the shops.

5. The Bermuda Department of Tourism need to develop a brochure to sell hotel packages.

6. Exercise better control over ships that come to Bermuda.

7. Keep a Bermuda flavour to this island.

8. Ensure that education is of such quality and direction that youths want to stay on Bermuda.

9. Have government assist local Bermudians with incentives to purchase closed visitor sites such as the Perfumery and Gardens.

10. The government should forbid sales of Bermuda businesses to foreign companies unless Bermuda citizens profit with jobs and higher education.

ROBERT GALLAGHER

Oscoda , Michigan