florisdekort

I don’t mind long bus rides. I do mind guides who feel obliged to yap non stop both ways from departure to arrival, or fellow guests, who when the guide is finally quiet after 90 minutes of non stop yapping, feel the need to ask a question.

Greenland is amazing. The Northwest passage is imo a gimmick for those who want to check a box. Endless days of nothingness, packed with drizzle and a billion mosquitoes. One day in Svalbard is better than 21 days in the Northwest passage. Again, just my opinion.

Go to the website, select the months you want to cruise, and then filter on one of the ships to see if there are still gaps in its schedule. Then filter on the second ship, and so on. There are only 5 ships (leaving out the Expedition ships), so it’ll only take you a few minutes. Or ask your travel agent.

Guest count. We’re on the full World Cruise as well.

We’re on Sojourn now, and as of yesterday, 6 January, The Restaurant will be open for breakfast and lunch daily, on both port days and sea days. Floris

Yesterday, at 4 pm Afternoon Tea in the Observation Bar, there were no napkins on the table. Clearly an error. Me to waiter: “Can I please have a napkin?” Lady at the table next to us, while standing up, loudly proclaiming to the poor waiter, for all to hear, “I’m sitting here wiping my dirty fingers on your table cloth because apparently it’s the new norm to have no napkins.” There’s quite a few people in the latter category on this ship, sadly.

I’d also suggest reading more than just Cruise Critic. Perhaps it’s in the name, “critic”, but the negativity on here is always quadruple that of the Facebook groups.

Wow. We must be on a different Sojourn right now. Except for a few issues upon embarkation that were quickly resolved after meeting Hotel Director Harry, we’re having an amazing time. Seabourn at its finest. Food has been as good as ever. E&O continues to be my favorite. PS. The CEO will be on board for the first week of the World Cruise.

On both Quest in October and Sojourn in December nobody at check-in looked at the assigned boarding times. Everyone could board at their leisure.

A jacket is only required at The Restaurant. On formal nights, if you’re without a jacket, you don’t have to be out on deck. You’re very welcome at TKG (we book it on all formal nights, specifically for this reason) and the Colonnade.

Apologies, my bad. I thought this was the only South Georgia itinerary this year.

I wouldn’t expect many updates… Seabourn’s letter to those on board confirmed issues with the stabilizers, which apparently make landings in South Georgia - with its notorious swell - unsafe, but apparently that’s less of a problem in the more sheltered landing locations of Antarctica and the Falklands. I find that hard to understand, but then again, I’m not a Captain / haven’t studied for this. There are no further sailings to South Georgia this season, so I would expect Venture to finish its Antarctica season as planned and get the issue addressed in a dry dock sometime later 2023. (There are no dry docks near Ushuaia.)

The app works fine for online check in, boarding passes and once onboard, but then again we’re of the generation that grew up with internet and apps. Given the queues at the Square each time after boarding of people with WiFi, iPhone and laptop issues, clearly it’s not as self-explanatory to others.

Starting December 28…

Dear Seabourn Guest, Based on feedback from our guests and evolving trends, Seabourn has updated the dress code policy on our ships to provide additional flexibility. The updated dress policy will begin in 2023 and will be applicable on all voyages departing on or after January 4, 2023. Evening Attire: After 6pm, the evening dress code is elegant casual. In all dining venues, the nightly dress standard for men is slacks with collared dress shirt or sweater and optional jacket. Slacks, skirt, blouse, pant suit or dresses are appropriate for ladies. Elegant jeans are now welcome in all dining venues. Formal Attire: On formal evenings, for those that wish to celebrate in style with us in The Restaurant, we invite men to wear a tuxedo, suit or slacks with jacket, and ladies to wear an evening gown or other formal apparel. For those who wish to dine in our other venues, we invite you to dress in your favorite elegant casual styles. The itinerary in your preliminary document booklet will inform you of the number of formal evenings to expect during your voyage. As a rule of thumb, formal evenings are scheduled as follows: There are no formal evenings on Seabourn Venture or Seabourn Pursuit. Please review our full dress code policy and our packing guide for our recommendations on what to bring and wear.

Totally agree. There’s a difference in terms of responsibility between a port strike or a broken down ship. Plus missing one port in Egypt doesn’t compare to missing 4 days of zodiac landings in South Georgia. This is more like booking an Antarctica cruise and being told the ship is going to Argentina instead.

PS. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Seabourn just announced that jeans are now allowed in all dining venues on Elegant Casual nights. Also, no more Formal nights on Expedition ships. Due to “guest feedback”. Floris

I don’t think anyone would disagree with safety first. This isn’t just a missed port however. This is 4 days of landings in a very remote, special part of the world, plus 2 days sailing there and 2 days back. It’s like booking an Antarctica cruise and being casually told, after sail-away, “oh, we’re not going to Antarctica” - whilst clearly this was known much earlier. Also, South Georgia cruises come at a huge $ premium. Let’s just hope Seabourn does the right thing for the impacted guests.

So according to “live from” posts on Facebook’s Seabourn Sailors, after leaving Ushuaia last evening on its 24 night Holiday cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica, the Captain casually announced the cancellation of South Georgia due to issues with the ship’s stabilizers. Apparently a mini-revolt broke out amongst passengers, and the ship is now back in Ushuaia because quite a few passengers demanded to be allowed to disembark. I’m not on board, but I do find it highly questionable that Seabourn didn’t announce this major change until shortly after sailing. Seabourn is offering $1000 OBC plus 15% of a future cruise - which seems somewhat low given that South Georgia sailings tend to be 50% more expensive than regular Antarctica sailings. And of course this now triggers the question - is a dry dock needed to fix this issue? There are no gaps in Venture’s schedule, so that would require (a) cancellation(s). Floris

They only open up a very small number of tables for online bookings. We never bother. Just go see the seating hostess after boarding and they’ll book you in. We’ve never had a problem.

Can you point to where someone said that this “ruined their cruise” please?

Most ports assign the docking berths to the largest ships.

A jacket is not a tuxedo. A jacket is a dinner jacket. Seabourn uses the term “tuxedo” for tuxedo. In the same sentence at that. And for years now, on all 15 Seabourn cruises we’ve been on, that’s precisely what Seabourn has required in The Restaurant on formal nights - a dinner jacket. I really don’t see the need to create confusion solely because you wish Seabourn was more formal.

The dress code is on Seabourn’s website. Anything that is in line with that is appropriate.