My Next Cruise: Anthem of the Seas to Bermuda

I've got that jittery feeling of excitement... why? Because another cruise is on the horizon.Granted, my definition of "on the horizon" happens to mean just under 3 months away, but knowing that a cruise is fully planned, paid for, and ready to experience...well, that's grounds for excitement either way.This is going to be something of a special cruise for me for a number of reasons, but before I get into that, let me share a little backstory with you:The last time I was in Bermuda, I was on a cruise with my mother and grandmother. We were on Celebrity's Horizon, which was spending part of the trip docked out at King's Wharf, and the other part docked in downtown Hamilton, Bermuda's capital city. Mom and I thought it would be great fun to rent scooters, wave goodbye to the ship as it left one end of the island, and then drive the hour-or-so trip to meet the ship when it pulled in to Hamilton later that day.So, we rented the scooters, and waved to Grandma who stood on the deck of the ship waving back. Just as the ship began to shove away from the dock, we heard a clap of thunder. It was Mother Nature's way of saying "Here, have some fun with this!"I remember looking at Mom with the same "Uh Oh" look that she was giving back to me, and we knew we had an interesting trip ahead of us. We decided to make a run for it, since we really had no other choice. We couldn't get on the ship, it was kind of...in motion.We headed out of the Royal Naval Dockyard area, and started making our way to Hamilton. Since the island has a fairly sedate speed limit, the journey takes about an hour or so. Did it take us an hour? No... it took about three.It started raining a few minutes later, and we were making fairly good progress. I was grateful Mom knew where she was going, because I hadn't a clue. I could barely remember to stay in the left lane after making turns, let alone find my way!We were getting soaked to the bone, but it was a hot day in (I believe it was) August, so the rain felt refreshing. It was funny, until I saw Mom pull over into a bus stop. I pulled in behind her to ask what was wrong. Her bike had shut off, and she couldn't get it started.This was in the era before cell phones and GPS, so we were quite literally, on our own. Here we were, soaked and stranded on the side of the road in an unfamiliar country, without any means to find help. I offered to scoot on ahead to a gas station or find a public phone, but then changed my mind because I didn't want to leave Mom alone at the side of the road.Thankfully, the bus stop was a fairly large structure, which we could pull our bikes into, so Mom's bike actually spent a good 15 minutes out of the rain. That may explain why it randomly decided to start up again after our repeated unsuccessful attempts to get it going. After this wonderful surprise, we knew we just had to make it back to Hamilton ASAP to prevent any future surprises.I can't remember how much longer the drive was, but I know we certainly exceeded the speed limit a few times. We finally made it back to Hamilton, where the ship had been there for quite some time. We gave back our bikes, and walked up the gangway on to the ship. By this time, the storm had passed, and the sun was out once again.I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the crew at the gangway; one asked if we'd fallen into the ocean, another asked what had happened, if we were okay, and if we needed the ship's doctor to come to our cabin. Mom, being a physician, politely declined and just said we needed a hot shower and dry clothes.We got back to our cabin where Grandma was waiting for us, and a bit worried. Once we told her of our harrowing tale, we couldn't stop laughing.  What are the odds of a brief momentary rain shower coming to Bermuda at that time, on that day, right when the ship left, and lasted until just after the ship docked, while we were on our way there!That's one of my fondest memories of being on vacation with Mom, and the biggest reason this cruise will be special for me, is that I'm going to recreate that fateful drive from the Royal Naval Dockyard to Hamilton. I've rented a scooter, and will drive in to Hamilton from the Dockyard (I've already studied the route on the map), this time (hopefully) without Mother Nature giving me a shower along the way. I'm then going to head back toward the Dockyard and stop off at Horseshoe Bay, my favorite beach on Bermuda. Here, I intend to relax, take pictures, and most importantly, take a swim in those beautiful blue waters.I'll be posting more as the time gets closer. I've got some great activities planned for the day before and after Bermuda, enjoying all that the Anthem of the Seas has to offer. Be sure to stay tuned here, and on my YouTube channel, for those and other bits of content as we get closer, and count down the days!