Jump to content

Able Seaman H

Members
  • Posts

    1,496
  • Joined

About Me

  • Location
    Near London & South Coast Solent area
  • Interests
    Commercially endorsed Yachtmaster, enjoy travel particularly to Asia.
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Seabourn
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Asia

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

Able Seaman H's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. The problem with Bangkok is it’s a reasonable distance from your port and the traffic can be horrific. I wouldn’t venture there independently and that’s saying something from someone who picked up a hire car from Suvarnabhumi airport and drove down to Krabi the other day. You dare not risk the ship leaving without you. Bangkok is a great city, getting up at the crack of dawn and sitting on a bus for hours just to scratch the surface of tick it off a list isn’t worth it. Linking BKK to Singapore at the start or end of that cruise (depending which way round you’re doing it) would make more sense in my humble opinion. I always look for low hanging fruit when planning what to do with a port day.
  2. Thanks for the kind words. I’ve just come back from travelling in Thailand for a few weeks. Chiangmai up north, then back down to Bangkok and we drove down from BKK to Krabi via Sam Roi Yot (lovely area). Krabi was as wonderful as ever its a very long day to drive from Laem Chabang to Bangkok to merely scratch the surface of a city that needs several days of your attention. Similarly Pattaya only really comes alive at night. The temple of truth however is a cheap taxi ride from the ship and I spent the best part of a day there. I had a simple bit of lunch there. There is a beach at Pattaya but you’re far better off enjoying Koh Kood. A brilliant day. Vietnam was a private taxi rented on arrival from the port and excellent. Ho Chi Min city for us was an overnight, I presume the same here. Wonderful city without the panic of having to rush back to the ship.
  3. A video I made on that route a few years ago. The large marble “Moment of Enlightenment” Buddha now takes pride of place as you drive into our property in the UK. Definitely not carry on when boarding the plane !!
  4. There is absolutely no correlation between the submersible vessels Seabourn use and the one which suffered failure whilst exploring the Titanic. Using your logic you would stop flying after every space rocket failure. The Seabourn submersibles are well proven commercial items used at a depth where humans could dive and survive. The Ocean Gate submersible was exploring the outer space of our oceans. It’s telling just how long it took to get an unmanned ROV on scene capable of operating at that depth. I think you’re confusing elephants with tortoises.
  5. For the 8 hours of a charter it can be his boat if he wants it to be…. You pay your money you get me until it runs out 😉
  6. I know to choose my battles and on this occasion I bow to your superior guests. If I get a major celeb on board before the weekend I’ll let you know. I really liked Ephesus. Had a private quire during the day and obviously returned at night with the ship.: H
  7. 😂 You’re a very bad influence……. Father Christmas has never got over you raiding his sack and whilst I can’t condone your actions we still use the travel adapters. H
  8. A good item to sell. I’d rather that than some unknown brand. I remember buying a lovely antique military tantalus from Fortnum & Masons many years ago. It sits in our dining room. Might bring it onto the new motor yacht when she arrives ! Do they gave any nice SB logo wear in the shop or will you just steal the towels & bath robe again ? H. 🙂
  9. Tell Wendy to brief Sharon on the morning coffee run….. The worrying thing is I can just imagine being on board with you guys. Nip back to the cabin for a quick snooze on the balcony before preparing yourself in readiness for amusing your adoring fans with tales from your seafaring archive. I’ve had to pop the A/C up a notch on the boat today….. H.
  10. That’s not what I wanted to hear John. I was hoping you’d say the job’s gone to pot, the cruise is nothing without us and you were desperately trying to get flights home 🙂 You and I would make the most of all the many opportunities on board. Have a wonderful time but lay off that rich food in TK. Limit yourselves to a modest salad in the Colonnade….. H.
  11. On a somewhat deeper level this is probably more a question about how you live life. You see two sides on here. A terrible cruise, standards slipping, penny pinching versus had a great time, so and so went above & beyond, really enjoyed the new….. I always work with what I’ve got and try not to waste energy swimming against the current. Instead I turn round and let it take me in the direction of flow. Our travels in Thailand are a perfect example, we plan to go green but blue turns up so rather than rant & rave we see what blue has to offer. Maybe we’ll get to try green tomorrow. A lot of people seem to rock up on Seabourn with very fixed expectations. Things have to be done in a very specific way be it food, drinks or other aspects of their vacation. Given the international clientele and staff there’s a high chance you’re laying yourself up for a fall. Throw in the fact you’re thousands of miles away from home in the middle of the ocean with the nearest shop more than a quick taxi ride away you do have to work with what you’ve got. Take a morning coffee in the cabin before facing the world. We could order one but if we pre-order it takes away the spontaneity and the choice is limited to whatever the room service kitchen can rustle up. Instead I pop down to the square, grab exactly what we want then return to wake up properly. I’ve cut out all the possibility of being upset and annoyed. On every single Seabourn cruise there have been stand out crew members and venues which we utilise in our menu of pleasure. Maybe it’s a particular bar that really runs well that cruise so we switch things around from our normal routine. On some cruises the club has been a bit dry and lacking, on others its been top drawer, so we adapt to our surroundings. Food venues are the same, sometimes mood on the day or the style of cooking dictates we swap around a bit. We’ve had a couple of abject failures over the years - I can still taste the salty scallops, but we’ve had far more absolute treats. It helps that I really like the speciality offerings. I don’t drink these days but when I did we always managed to find a cheeky bottle of something from the house pour to ease us into the evening. If wine is your sole purpose for living then you will undoubtedly have to buy in but you must really struggle when travelling the world. It helps that I don’t start my cruise from the perspective of it being hugely expensive and so needing to be a once in a lifetime memory. It would be easy to spend your Seabourn fare renting a suite on a mainstream cruise line where the bulk of the ship is geared to $150 day cattle herding. I appreciate the space, the little extras, not being asked for my sea pass billing card on every corner and staff who, for the most part really do want to ensure your time aboard is enjoyable. Those staff can’t change the world stage, the shortages, the pinch points, the health implications and so on but they can also work with what they’ve got. Let them use the ingredients at their disposal rather than asking for suff they don’t have and being disappointed. I’ve said it before on here several times if you can’t enjoy your time onboard a Seabourn ship you’ve probably given up on life. When things have gone wrong I’ve always managed to speak directly to the hotel director who ensures action is taken, follows up to make sure all is well and we get treated like royalty from then on, sometimes embarrassingly so. Again it helps that I make a point of thanking and complimenting when things go well or someone adds to your day. Let them know they’re appreciated with equal energy and effort to when you complain. It’s been a while since we’ve been on board. Good friends of ours are finally celebrating a belated honeymoon on board at the moment and I look forward to our return. Godspeed everyone, not just on Seabourn but in life…. Henry 😎
  12. Our charter boat is based in Portsmouth and as we stared a charter the other morning I was surprised to hear quest on the radio to QHM, the harbour control asking permission to do some hull touch ups using environmentally friendly paint. At the end of the day I was giving the boat a quick wash down in readiness for the next day when who should give a few blasts on her horn but Quest. A pleasant surprise and it made me sad not to be on board again….. Bon voyage and Godspeed to all. Henry
×
×
  • Create New...