Really, Seabourn. Cruise into Seoul the one day the DMZ is closed?!!

really, Seabourn???? the one day DMZ tours are not offered is the day the ship gets into Seoul! Monday, April 10, 2017

This is the April 5-23,2017 Asia cruise.

That's like sailing into London and Big Ben is closed, visiting Paris and The Louvre is closed. Who's the brain who did this itinerary?

Paul Goodwin is Chief Revenue Officer. If you care enough, write him and tell him the displeasure. They change itineraries all the time! How can they bring their guests to a place where the most important destination is closed.

his email is pgoodwin@seabourn.com

I suggest you write.they alter itineraries all the time.

Maybe a sailor can tell me but it is 178 nautical miles from Busan to Seoul. Top speed for a cruise ship is 26mph. They leave Busan at 6PM and they can be in Seoul by 2:30 pm..or leisurely sail and get in at 8am on a Sunday!

They change ports all the time, often mid cruise!

Sadly, Big Ben is always closed unless you are a British citizen and you get your MP to arrange a tour.

However, I agree it doesn't make sense to arrange to dock on the g'day a key attraction is closed.

The DMZ is only a strip of land between South Korea and North Korea; even if were "open" you would not be allowed to either cross it or be in it---unless you desire to emigrate to North Korea, which the guards would not allow anyway.

Seoul is an ancient city rich in history with a vibrant modern life. The very least of its attractions is the DMZ, which is not even nearby.

This totally empty piece of land between the two counties isn't Seoul's most important attraction (far from it) and there -literally- is nothing to see. You can not expect cruise lines to check the opening hours of everything and anything when they set a schedule.

Disagree with the last two posts. Seoul is fantastic but so is the jsa and dmz. Went this time last year on a tour which took a full day. Fascinating.

Use koridoor tours. Us army. Did it Jul 15. Book v early.

You have one day in port near Seoul. Do you know how long a DMZ area visit takes? It's a few hours.

For my time and money a tour of Seoul's museums, palaces, temples and folk village recreations is more interesting and, without question, culturally and historically enriching.

Happy and healthy sailing!

Maybe a sailor can tell me but it is 178 nautical miles from Busan to Seoul. Top speed for a cruise ship is 26mph.

You will not be cruising anywhere at 23 knots I can assure you.

Typically Seabourn will cruise at between 14 and 16 knots. To run at the ships theoretical top speed requires a massive increase in fuel burn. Sea state will also have a significant impact on achievable comfortable and safe cruise speed.

From memory I think Enocre will have a top speed of 18 knots when she arrives, reflective of the real world needs.

Henry :)

Thank you Galeforce9. I appreciate the tour info you shared. Not sure why others feel compelled to tell me their preferences and they should rest assured that we have been told by others who HAVE actually visited how fascinating it is. We would have plenty of time given we are in port 15 hours. SB has two DMZ excursions listed for this very cruise so SB mist believe there is time, although I wonder why it's listed since it also says no tours on Mondays.

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Sadly, Big Ben is always closed unless you are a British citizen and you get your MP to arrange a tour.

However, I agree it doesn't make sense to arrange to dock on the g'day a key attraction is closed.

Thanks.I may have shown my naivete' by using Big Ben as an example as I don't know the conditions for visiting but you get my point. Fact is, they advertise it as an excursion....but it's not accessible.

The DMZ is only a strip of land between South Korea and North Korea; even if were "open" you would not be allowed to either cross it or be in it---unless you desire to emigrate to North Korea, which the guards would not allow anyway.

 

Seoul is an ancient city rich in history with a vibrant modern life. The very least of its attractions is the DMZ, which is not even nearby.

Thanks for your reply. I KNOW you can't cross it. The tour is very detailed and you access sites that are part of a very troubled history.I hear it's an amazing tour and worth the 8 hrs. It's a shame they advertise it on the itinerary site.

You will not be cruising anywhere at 23 knots I can assure you.

 

Typically Seabourn will cruise at between 14 and 16 knots. To run at the ships theoretical top speed requires a massive increase in fuel burn. Sea state will also have a significant impact on achievable comfortable and safe cruise speed.

 

From memory I think Enocre will have a top speed of 18 knots when she arrives, reflective of the real world needs.

 

Henry :)

Thanks Henry.As I noted, I'm not a sailor. but even at 16 knots, they can leave port at 6pm and be in Seoul at 6 am the next morning.

And you could be there on a day when tours are being given and they cancel your tour w/o any notice whatsoever. Happened to me when I was stationed there several years ago.

Cruising speed for the sisters is 19 knots, per Seabourn's website; maximum of 25.5 knots per Wikipedia. I completely agree with Able Seaman H's comment about speed and fuel consumption.

Rather than complain on this forum and try to cajole others to complain to Seabourn about YOUR perceived injustice, why don't you simply call Seabourn yourself and talk to someone about this? Then you can come back and inform us of what they told you. Maybe there was a good reason for the itinerary as published?

Many visitor attractions in all parts of the world are closed on Mondays, as they are open during the weekend and the rest of the week, and staff need to have a break.

It IS annoying, and it has happened more than once that while on a cruise, a highlight attraction for us has been closed on the day we docked (for example the Picasso Museum in Antibes).

Unless it happens to be a sea day, the ship has to dock somewhere on a Monday, and if it's not Seoul and a closed DMZ then it will be somewhere else with someother closed venue.It is one of those things where you just have to take the luck of the draw, like stormy seas, rainy days, running out of berries or an annoying CD.

I feel your pain and frustration but you will just have to accept that you and the DMZ were not meant to be ( this time at least - there is always next time).

I wonder why it's listed since it also says no tours on Mondays.

The excursions on the main site are listed per-port and represent all the excursions which may be offered, they aren't filtered per-cruise. So that excursion is one which is offered in general however it has a note that it's not offered on Mondays or public holidays which regrettably means it won't run for that cruise. That despite the fact the link has the voyage number in it so technically they could do a better job.

If it shows on the post-booking-excursion-picker, which is only supposed to show only available excursions on a cruise you're actually booked on, that would be rather daft.

I agree that's unfortunate scheduling, were I going to Seoul that's a tour I'd probably do as well.

Update on our dilemma. SB has been most responsive and very concerned, acknowledging that the DMZ is one of the most popular excursions due to its rich and storied history. SB will be working with our TA to see what, if anything, can be done. Having reached out to SB on the day before the long (US) holiday weekend, we are grateful for the quick response we received early this morning from corporate.

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Update on our dilemma. SB has been most responsive and very concerned, acknowledging that the DMZ is one of the most popular excursions due to its rich and storied history. SB will be working with our TA to see what, if anything, can be done. Having reached out to SB on the day before the long (US) holiday weekend, we are grateful for the quick response we received early this morning from corporate.

 

 

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Excellent news Hobar. Please keep us updated.

Seoul is an ancient city rich in history with a vibrant modern life. The very least of its attractions is the DMZ, which is not even nearby.

:confused::confused::confused:

It's like 30 miles away...

It is not far at all. Anyway, looks like we will have to do DMZ some other time. The New York Times did 36 Hours in Seoul this past Sunday. The article said the DMZ is NOT to be missed. Oh well.

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