Ubiquiti

BACKGROUND:
Halfway through our Capetown to Singapore cruise in 2020-Feb/Mar, Covid-19 hit and all port calls were cancelled and we re-routed to West Australia. After 17 sea days, we disembarked in Fremantle.

 

Let's start with the un-varnished facts.

 

FACT 1:
Email from SB to me long after we disembarked, in response to an email I sent asking for clarification on exactly what FCC we had.

Names (except ours) deleted for privacy reasons.

 

[QUOTE]
June 22, 2020

Mr. Robert Clark

RE: Guest Care #1-1026077973
Booking: CQWJVQ

Dear Mr. Clark,

 

Thank you for your e-mail. We have the following Future Cruise Credits on file for you and Mrs. Clark. The credit amounts listed below are per person:

 

Amount        Book By        Sail By
$5,374.75     04March21      N/A
$342.66       03Apr21        N/A
$2,795.76     31Dec20        1Dec21

This comes to $8,513.17 total per person. While the credits must be added to a booking by the “Book By” date, note that two of these do not have a specific date by which your sailing needs to depart.
Thank you again for contacting us, and we look forward to welcoming you back on board very soon.
 
Best regards,

[Name deleted]
Special Advisor
Office of the President
[END QUOTE]

 

FACT 2:
Email from our TA after we had booked and paid our deposit on a cruise meeting the above conditions.
Names (except ours) deleted for privacy reasons.

[QUOTE]
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2020 16:04:46 -0600

 

Karen / Rob, 

 

I spoke with Seabourn on multiple occasions because the FCC in the amount of $5374.75 per person still had not been applied to your December 20, 2021 cruise on the Seabourn Quest. Each time I spoke with them they said there was an error in building the FCC's but they were going to be reissued.  However, our account rep just sent me the following information. 

 

"I had our FCC team do a thorough review and it looks like The Clarks did have more compensation then [name deleted]. 

However, this was caught and fixed in a recent audit. See below from my Supervisor Jen. Clarks extra FCC was canceled on October 5th. This was the breakdown that was given by our GR department for the Clarks. The highlighted FCC was wrong and has since been canceled. 

 

Amount         Book By     Sail By
$5,374.75     04March21    N/A
$342.66       03Apr21      N/A
$2,795.76     31Dec20      31Dec21

 

Here is a breakdown of the FCCs both Clarks and [Name deleted] truly have.

* CQWJVQ - Clark 
o $2,795.76 per person FCC - Compensation for Itinerary Change
o $342.66 per person FCC - Change Fee Reimbursement FCC

 

These FCCS for Clark have been applied to booking CCVQMK

* [Booking number deleted] - [Name deleted]
o $2399.88pp per person FCC - Compensation for Itinerary Change 

 

The FCCs are applied to guests Club account and are ready to use."

 

I am sorry to have to pass on such disappointing news, but it appears that they will not be honoring their original offer.  I realize that you booked the Seabourn Quest on December 20, 2021 (Booking # CCVQMK), with the intent of using the FCC promised in the email.   Please let me know if you have any
additional questions.  
 
[TA Name deleted]
[END QUOTE]

So fellow travellers, be warned. 

• Even if a FCC has been advised in writing from the "Office of the President", they apparently feel no obligation to honor that.
• Moreover, SB have no qualms in cancelling FCCs (in our case on Oct, 5) and feel no obligation to notify you, the customer. As I write this, SB has never contacted us about the FCC cancellation.

 

We have cancelled the Dec, 2021 cruise, and have figuratively torn up our SB Platinum loyalty cards. We will absolutely never sail them again. This was the last straw for us.

 

Tread your own path.

 

Cruise: Sojourn, Capetown->Singapore (re-routed to Fremantle)
Cancelled (re-routed and cut short) by: SB
Amount claimed: USD555 per passenger
I have read somewhere there is a limit on these claims of approx (don't quote me on this) USD1700 pp

 

23-Feb: We submitted our claim (Air and misc)

 

Today: Recieved two offers. 100% refund (check/cheque), or 125% FCC, of the claimed amount.

Just read this topic (having recently got off the Sojourn) and agree with the funny tasting water complaints.
 

Seriously: When a luxury cruise line now has guests bringing their own water and soap on board, the powers that be have lost the plot.

My 2c

 

We have just finished our "Capetown to Singapore" part of the Sojourn World Cruise.

 

BACKGROUND
As a bit of background, my wife and I used to be died-in-the-wool Seabourn fans and have Diamond (250+ days) status. We loved the experience. That all fell apart on a cruise in 2016 when they were introducing Thomas Keller (but before they had the separate TK Grill). The quality and variety of food dropped so bad that we started doing a lot of Silversea and Regent. We did not regret changing cruise line.

But rather than be dogmatic, we decided destinations were the most important criterion, and we booked the above cruise on Seabourn - as the great majority of the destinations were new to us. And who knows - maybe the food quality was indeed as good as the brochure says. It is fair to say that we got onboard with an attitude "This is Seabourn's last chance".

 

Well? They blew it, and our next cruises are now booked on Silversea and Regent (presumably delayed now). We are departing with a few $1,000 Future Cruise Credit (FCC) that we will not be using.

 

My review and comments follow. The elephant in the room was the Corona virus effect with cancelled ports and final destination changes. It is important to note that we had formed the "They Blew It" opinion BEFORE the massive port disruptions, and our decision was based on food quality; MDR & TK. Seabourn's handling of the port disruptions only reinforced our "Never Again" decision.

 

FOOD
The MDR certainly serves great quality 3-star restaurant food and wine. But we booked and expected 6-star, as it used to be. The dishes were unimaginative. The prawns and scallops were tasteless (too watery). The beef was not as tender or tasty as it should been. 

The Thomas Keller Grill was disappointing. Service was average. Food was better than the MDR - but presentation was disappointing. Have a look at the photo of the (delicious) cakes: This presentation is worthy of a cafeteria; not a 6-star restaurant. Maybe that is how Thomas Keller was served cake in his childhood, but I don't care.

 

WINE
The wine was average at best, unless you sprang for 'Revenue' wines. Long gone are the days when they happily served Sancerre, Chateau Neuf du Pape, ...

 

PORT DISRUPTIONS.
Through no fault of Seabourn, what we got was a lot different from what we paid for.
Cancelled Ports: Mombasa, Maldives, Colombo, Hambantota, Chennai, Sabang, Phuket, Langkawi, Penang, KL, Singapore
Added Ports: Fremantle (Perth)

 

The cruise was basically cancelled, and we were re-routed to Fremantle (Perth)/Australia and disembarked 4 days before the scheduled end of the original cruise. [Note: Glad they did get us off early as around this time, borders started to shut rapidly.]

 

COMPENSATION OFFERED
1) USD500 pp (Refundable, onboard credit) for Mombasa which was cancelled for safety/security reasons. [I am OK with this as it is fair.]
2) If we stayed on until Perth: 25% of our 'fare paid' for the port disruptions. This as a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) that must be booked within 12 months. We chose this option.
3) If we disembarked in Seychelles: 100% FCC of the unsailed days, but must be sailed within 12 months.

Later - when the cruise was cut short by 4 days, we were offered 4 days compensation, on a pro-rata basis of the cruise fare paid, as

• 100% as refund , or
• 125% as FCC

BOUQUETS

There were many things we did like on this cruise.

 

THE GUESTS: Many interesting, charming, interesting people with whom to have dinner.

 

THE LECTURERS: Seabourn often gets great lecturers. [I have problem calling a 1-way interaction a 'Conversation']. This cruise was no exception. The stand out was Richard Stone ('Royal Portrait Painter') who had both fascinating content to pass on, but a wonderful method of delivery.

 

THE COLONNADE FOOD: Excellent variety each day. All well done and tasty. Themed meals such as: French, American, Indonesian, Italian, ...

 

WAIT-STAFF: Most were great. Some (including MDR) are clearly are in the wrong job and way beyond their level of competence. This was a surprise as in the past Seabourn has stood out with its consistently good service.

BRICKBATS

 

THE PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES: Under the pretense of being environmentally responsible, SB has banished single-use water bottles. OK, I get it. But the replacements are an epic fail for a number of reasons.
1) For reasons I don't understand, 90% of them have had the 'O-ring' seal in the cap removed. No problem if you keep them vertical. But no fun when you return from an excursion to find the bottom of your bag wet. [After a few days we worked out the problem and commandeered some with O-rings.]
2) They are stored in the cabinet above the room fridge. So water always 'warm'. [Yes - I know you can store them elsewhere. We did.]
3) The water used to fill them is generated onboard. Not necessarily a problem ... but for a few days the taste was terrible! It later improved, Wonder what we were drinking? BTW - same water served at dining venues. We started asking for Evian for a few days, simply as the onboard water tasted bad.

 

THE MDR: Both food and service notably below par. See comments above. This straw broke the camel's back for me.

 

COFFEE IN THE SQUARE: Why is the line so long at times? Why don't they add a self-serve, automatic machine as an OPTION for those not wanting to wait?

 

THOMAS KELLER GRILL: Hits and Misses. They should all be hits. Glad this is free, as some plates I would not pay for. Presentation also poor overall. The decor is more laminex train carriage than high end restaurant. One time we were not asked if we wanted wine until the starters arrived!!!!!

 

PORT DISRUPTION HANDLING: I have no complaint at all with the fact that Seabourn had to re-route us as we were sailing during the great cruise industry shutdown of 2020. The 2nd leg of the cruise transformed to one with 16 days at sea with ZERO ports of call (except the embarkation and disembarkation ports). Again - no complaint there.

 

We booked a 2-leg part of the World Cruise: Capetown-Seychelles, and Seychelles-Singapore. I have no complaints about the 1st leg ports/routing. But - and this is a big but - during the 2nd leg we were not given full information and if we had received that information, we would have flown home from the Seychelles, avoiding 16 days at sea.

 

Let me explain:

• 22-Feb: We are advised of some itinerary changes with final destination changed from Singapore to Fremantle. Male/Maldives not cancelled on this new itinerary. If we disembarked in Seychelles, offered 100% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) of the un-sailed days on any sailing before 22-Feb-2021. As we wanted to see The Maldives and Sri Lanka, we made the decision to stay onboard.
• 26-Feb: Male/Maldives announced publicly that they had closed the port to cruise ships.
• 27-Feb: Male/Maldives closure known to Seabourn/Seattle. Seabourn started negotiations with The Maldives to get exemption to dock in the port. This was ultimately unsuccessful. Passengers not told of this (yet).
• 1-March: While in the Seychelles, we went on a full day tour. Came back to the ship about 2 hrs before departure, and found a letter in the room announcing the Maldives port cancellation. At this point, simply impossible to pack, disembark, book hotel & air, etc.

 

If Seabourn had told us on, or about, 27-Feb that "the current situation is that we can not dock in The Maldves, but we are trying to change that", then we would have absolutely disembarked and taken the 100% FCC.

In a crisis, information is critical. We were kept in the dark way too much.

 

When the (overworked) Seabourn Square staff fielded the many questions from the guests, they did an outstanding job, but their hands were tied and all they could say is we will pass your concerns onto Seattle. They also said that you will not get a reply until AFTER YOU DISEMBARK. Excuse me!? As I write this (1 week after disembarking) have yet to receive even an acknowledgement that they have received the complaint email we send while onboard ; let alone an answer.

 

CREDIT CALCULATIONS
We booked Capetown->Singapore (2 segments, back-to-back) and here is the exact text we were given in a letter on 22-February giving us the option of getting off in The Seychelles and claiming a credit:
"In recognition of these significant changes to your voyage, you will receive a Future Cruise Credit of 25% of the cruise fare paid for the 12-day portion of your cruise that has been revised".

Importantly, Seabourn did not do the 25% calculation for us and different guests had different understandings of what this meant. Different interpretations included:

1.  A 3-day credit (25% of 12-days)?
2.  25% of the full Capetown-Singapore fare paid?
3.  25% of the Seychelles-Singapore fare?

When I forced them to give me a dollar figure, it turns out the correct interpretation was (2) above, even though 12 days represents 31% of the 39 cruise-nights. Why is this important? Because guests were making Get-Off/Stay-On decisions based on this letter. Again - poor (and confusing) communication.

 

BTW - as I write this, if my wife or I login to our seabourn.com acct, there is no FCC shown at all. Again, poor communication.

 

SUMMARY
Sorry Seabourn. You blew it. We will wave at you from our future suites on SilverSea/Regent as you go past.

 

On the separate subject: Yes. I am a country level distributor.

Could not see an existing thread on this.

 

Anyone else affected by the Feb-2017 engine failure on the Shadow?

 

We were. Here is what I know.

 

• We were booked to join the Shadow on 11-Feb in Shenzhen. This is a charter voyage not sold through Silversea.
  
• The Shadow could not leave Bangkok on the previous cruise (Singapore to Shenzhen, also a charter) due to engine problems
  
• We were advised the Shadow would arrive late into Shenzhen (14-Feb). Meantime, we would be accommodated in the Shenzhen Hilton, and offered free excursions 'in China'.
  
• The Hilton accommodation was excellent. The 'tours' were just to a shopping mall in town. In all fairness ... Shenzhen does not seem to be a great place to tour in or around. There is not much to see - despite its size.
  
• The plans then changed. The ship was NOT coming to Shenzhen. (It made it as far north as Saigon, then turned around and headed back to Singapore.) We asked if we could fly to Saigon and join the ship. Answer: No.
  
• Instead we were told we would get a full cruise fare refund, and be accommodated in the best hotels in HK and Singapore for the duration of our 'cruise' (10->23 Feb). Also we could spend time in other cities. [We chose HK->Hanoi->Singapore. Other couples chose other options including flying home early for free]. The deal included free air (HK->HAN->SIN), airport transfers, Bed/Breakfast in Suites at 5-star downtown hotels.
  

So while we would have preferred to be on the Shadow, I must say that the charter company has bent over backward and spend a lot of money giving us a free alternative holiday in truly magnificent hotels. (As I write this ... have not left HK ... but we have confirmed reservations). The HK hotel we have been in for 4 nights is "The Upper House", which is effectively the super premium JW Marriot, and it is outstanding.

More on PressReader:

 

Here is how it works on-board:

• Seabourn appears to have a PressReader subscription
  
• PressReader has a truly vast catalog of newspapers and magazines in their catalog. (5424 publications as I write this)
  
• Publications from that catalog are downloaded over the satellite link to a server (computer) on-board
  
• Guests are given free access over WiFi to that on-board server
  

But:

• To conserve expensive satellite bandwidth, only SOME of the vast PressReader catalog is normally downloaded
  
• The others are available ON REQUEST. That is: you have to contact Guest Services and request they download that publication sometime later that day/night.
  

But - how do you know what else is available?

1. Go to Seabourn Square, look at the last page of any of the printed newspapers, and see a pretty complete list of available newspapers, or
   
2. Go to http://www.pressreader.com/catalog and see their full catalog of both newspapers and magazines.
   

Example - Australian Newspapers

• Seabourn routinely downloads only 1 Australian Newspaper
  
• PressReader has 167 Australian newspapers available
  

See attached

Internet Access.pdf

See the attached PDF file for the instructions on how to download newspapers for free to your iOS (Apple) or Android device while on board.

 

The Trap For Young Players (Well ... it got me anyway) is that the instructions (1,2,3,4) do not work until you follow the highlighted (by me) instructions to "Download the Press Reader App" first. The issue here is that you need to pay to be online to get the App.

 

So ... download the app BEFORE you get onboard ... then your online newspapers (and other publications) are free. I have Android devices - so just went to the Play Store, and searched for Pressreader, and installed the app. I am sure it would be similar for the iOS (Apple) devices.

 

;)

PressReader.pdf

Q: did any http traffic? Mail? Try to ssh into a system?

A: Nothing else apart from the ICMP(tracert/ping) packets got through (HTTP, SSH, and other traffic on non-standard ports I use to access my 'home' system) - hence my deeper investigations. That tells me it was a networking problem; not a connectivity problem. And by Networking - I include and strongly suspect it was the managed WiFi firewall system used to manage guest passwords/access.

 

Q:I'm curious what they could do other than perhaps make a phone call?

A:With past networking issues , I have found there has always been at least one staff assigned to IT issues on board. If that person's skills are limited to rebooting the on board system, and calling the land-based experts, that is all that is needed.

If you are on Seabourn and see the dreaded screen in the thumbnail below - don't assume the problem has anything to do with the satellite link - despite what they would have you believe.

 

We just had (another) one of those on Sojourn, so I decided to investigate using the PC in my room and using my satellite and internet networking knowledge.

 

PCs have a built-in tool called Trace Route - which probes the network and asks each computer between you and the destination to respond. It is usually very illuminating. Trace Route said about the path between my PC and Google.

 

C:\>tracert google.com

 

Tracing route to google.com [173.194.32.128]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

 

1 91 ms 87 ms 49 ms 192.168.45.1

2 72 ms 85 ms 27 ms 10.26.0.1

3 89 ms 89 ms 80 ms 151.124.182.125

4 917 ms 846 ms 898 ms 151.124.224.217

5 807 ms 1280 ms 864 ms 151.124.224.221

6 898 ms 1191 ms 826 ms GigabitEthernet2-0.GW4.MIA4.ALTER.NET [152.179.26.81]

7 976 ms 1226 ms 956 ms 0.so-1-1-3.XL4.MIA4.ALTER.NET [152.63.82.154]

8 1014 ms 829 ms 1001 ms 0.ae8.GW2.MIA19.ALTER.NET [140.222.231.225]

9 855 ms 961 ms 826 ms google-gw.customer.alter.net [152.179.236.242]

10 920 ms 1159 ms 1067 ms 209.85.253.74

11 892 ms 858 ms 1051 ms 74.125.37.192

12 933 ms 831 ms 951 ms 74.125.37.173

13 971 ms 887 ms 1133 ms 216.239.42.222

14 1167 ms 1008 ms 1073 ms 216.239.48.238

15 855 ms 950 ms 916 ms 216.239.58.121

16 1005 ms 955 ms 973 ms 74.125.37.92

17 1138 ms 1349 ms 1098 ms 209.85.247.72

18 1216 ms 1221 ms 1069 ms 72.14.236.249

19 1229 ms 1037 ms 1278 ms 72.14.236.242

20 980 ms 1309 ms 1009 ms 173.194.32.128

 

Trace complete.

What the above says is that while the Sojourn was advising the system was down,

 

 

• The path from my PC started with 3 'hops' on board. You can tell that as the response time was less than the typical 700ms required to go over a satellite link, and back.
  
• Hop 4 and onwards involved little messages going from my PC, over the satellite link, and back ... each progressively further until hop 20 got to Google and back in around 1000 milliseconds (= 1 second)
  

So far so good.

 

 

So I tried something else, like BT (the old British Telecom) in the UK.

C:\>tracert bt.co.uk

 

 

Tracing route to bt.co.uk [193.113.9.162]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

 

1 112 ms 42 ms 5 ms 192.168.45.1

2 91 ms 22 ms 84 ms 10.26.0.1

3 23 ms 114 ms 97 ms 151.124.182.125

4 854 ms 984 ms 966 ms 151.124.224.225

5 1027 ms 993 ms 837 ms 151.124.224.229

6 952 ms 804 ms 856 ms GigabitEthernet2-0.GW4.MIA4.ALTER.NET [152.179.26.81]

7 857 ms 1114 ms 1068 ms 0.so-1-1-3.XL3.MIA4.ALTER.NET [152.63.82.142]

8 894 ms 932 ms 919 ms 0.ae3.BR1.MIA19.ALTER.NET [140.222.225.111]

9 1126 ms 943 ms 873 ms 204.255.168.14

10 862 ms 857 ms 965 ms ae-3.r20.miamfl02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.110]

11 961 ms 792 ms 969 ms ae-4.r23.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.86]

12 1090 ms 1038 ms 1125 ms ae-2.r25.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.163]

13 869 ms 956 ms 1010 ms ae-1.r03.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.147]

14 1067 ms 932 ms 929 ms ae-3.r03.londen05.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.26]

15 945 ms 960 ms 1054 ms ae-5.r02.londen05.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.229]

16 978 ms 915 ms 907 ms 82.112.115.186

17 924 ms 1149 ms 1011 ms 213.137.183.101

18 936 ms 1002 ms * 62.6.201.144

19 * 999 ms 1149 ms 193.113.9.162

While the Sojourn was advising the system was down,

 

• In 19 hops, we managed to get from my PC on the Sojourn to the UK, and back.
  

 

• The path included:
  
  • Miami, FL
    
  • Ashburn, VA
    
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
    
  • London, England
    

   

At this point, it is very safe to conclude the Satellite link from the ship is definitely NOT down.

 

So when you see the dreaded SATELLITE INTERNET SYSTEM DOWN message as below, run your own Trace Route (using the tracert command at the CMD prompt) and see if it really is or not.

 

If the system does not come back after a while (presumably until some human somewhere re-boots a computer or other device) ... contact the ship's staff and show them your Trace Route and politely explain that the satellite link is not down - something else is.

 

;)

These days we tend to travel with a range of devices all needing charging - and often via a simple USB cable - such as Kindles, Phones, Tablets, ...

 

While I love the Seabourn ships - they are a bit dated when it comes to including USB charging sockets in the rooms (as many good hotels/river cruise ships now do).

 

The solution is simple! There are at least 4 unused USB ports on the mini-PC behind the in-room TVs.

 

The tray below my TV is now my charging station.

 

See images attached.

 

;)

Correction...in the above I meant to say:

 

So right now, everything I reported has been un-blocked.

Update:

 

1) My VoIP port was unblocked after about 24 hrs. So right now, everything I reported has been blocked.

 

2) I also hired my son in law - so I could keep up with my heavy cruise schedule :)

 

3) Coral: No I don't run Ubiquiti Networks (Wish I did!) but am associated with them.

 

Readers: It seems that these ports are unblocked:

 

• *:25 (any address, port 25 = email)
  
• *:80 (any address, port 80 = http = web pages)
  
• *:443 (any address, port 443 = https = secure web pages)
  

 

But if you need to connect to some other port at (e.g.) your office or home, you need to give the cruise reception the following for each destination:

 

• <name>:<port>
  

 

• e.g. mailserver.mycompany.com:1234
  

Internet access is free, and fast enough. But there is a big problem with accessing anything else than BASIC email and WEBSITES. There seems to be a firewall between the ship and the world that is set as follows:

 

• ALLOW: Web pages & Basic email
  
• DISALLOW: All else
  

For example, this is what I could NOT do:

 

• Send email via Secure SMTP. Specifically ... my outgoing email is set to use the (common) port 587 for secure email. It is blocked.
  
• Login to my work server via Microsoft's RDP protocol. That outgoing port is blocked.
  
• Login to my security camera server. That port is blocked.
  
• Make VoIP (phone) calls via my VoIP service provider. Also blocked.
  

 

All these tasks are essential for me to keep in touch, and manage my business.

 

I reported this to the reception, and it seems I am not the first to mention it, and I overheard others with similar problems. The front desk was very helpful, and asked me for a list of the servers/ports I needed to contact and the next day all but one (VoIP) was unblocked.

 

I travel extensively and used the Internet from many hotels, airport lounges, cruise ships, .... Never seen this problem. Uniworld really needs to get rid of this silly policy of blocking almost everything by default, and allowing through only some things. It can not work in the long term. (By all means - I have no problems if they block bandwidth hogs like Youtube, but not my secure email).

 

I happen to be very well versed in Internet technology, so was able to diagnose these issues. But most people will simply see things 'not working' and get angry.