markandjie

I don't have first person experience but given no one else is engaging figured I would. We're also divers but I would advise against planning on a well run dive program on Seabourn. I'm sure they do dive on occasion, but it's not going to be anything like what you'd get on a dive liveaboard. I'd set your expectations such that you're taking a luxury cruise and if you get a few dives in that's a bonus. Last year we took our dive gear on an eastern med cruise on Encore and arranged our own dives on various Greek islands. Was frustrating as we weren't always docked on time and thus a few times almost missed our dives. And on Santorini we didn't arrive early enough to join a group dive so had to arrange a private dive which was both expensive and not great. My takeaway was to not try to mix Seabourn and diving in the future.

Our EL is Nicki D'Souza. I think she's doing a good job in the communications and (from what I can see) management aspects of the role, it's just the choice of routes and resulting impacts on landings that's frustrating. And to your point, perhaps that's a directive from home office marketing vs something that's in her control. Very hard to say. What's definitely true is that staffing the expedition team on multiple ships is straining Seabourn and there are brand new team members that are not up to the standard, at least not yet. If I think back to the Quest so many folks on that expedition team went on to big roles. I believe Robin West was actually our EL (at the least he was on the trip), plus we had Lucci, Brent, Greg Horn, Juan Carlos, Iggy Rojas (now at Silversea), Chris Srigley (now at A&K) etc etc. There are definitely bright spots. For example, we got to spend a lot of time with Daniel Fox this trip and he made an extra effort to engage with us and our two boys, one of whom is really into photography, which Daniel noticed and nurtured. Really made a big difference and they're still raving about a zodiac ride we had with him. All in all still an amazing experience.

We had an intense stop at Deception Island today. We arrived around noon and had to wait for a Nat Geo ship to clear our desired spot, Whalers Bay. As we waited and then got the first group onshore the winds picked up considerably. This limited the distance we could walk but did make for some very epic Antarctica-like weather conditions. Credit to the expedition team, they persevered through the elements and got everyone ashore who wanted to go (though they had to cancel kayaking and some of the sub dives). This was just our third landing for the trip, so I think there might have been a mutiny had they cancelled some of the color groups. WhatsApp Video 2023-11-25 at 3.38.39 PM.mp4 The whaling station itself had interesting structures, though we weren't allowed close to any of them except an old warehouse. They did serve as an excellent backdrop for photos, though: There was a fur seal on the beach, but by the time we got there he'd moved a bit further away and wasn't facing us, so I'll have to wait for Daniel Fox's photos to get a good one. We did see a few penguins, including a very cute couple who got PG-level affectionate right there on the beach. We're now headed back north towards the Drake, where we're expecting 4 meter swells. I've got some broader thoughts on the trip that I'll put in words in the coming days. A lot of it I think is around expectations for an expedition ship vs Quest & Sojourn...I expect much more expedition-oriented focus and activities on these trips, and the fact is as best I can tell we're getting a less impressive expedition experience now than we did in Antarctica on the Quest or Alaska on the Sojourn. Unclear whether the root cause is my elevated expectations, issues with expedition team staffing given competition in the industry, luck of the draw on weather and itinerary, something else, or perhaps all of the above.

And this morning Seabourn dialed up a close encounter with three fin whales as we're en route to Deception Island.

Tonight we finally had one of those moments that makes the whole trip feel worthwhile. (I suppose I should follow brand guidelines and call this a Seabourn Moment! 😉 ) Bridge officers spotted a pod of orcas in the distance and made an announcement. We generally steered in their direction and all of a sudden the 10+ orcas gathered up a bit and then changed direction and basically swam directly beneath the bow. I shot a quick video on my camera and used iMovie to export a low res version that will upload (the original 1 min video is 230mb). Doesn't really do the moment justice, but here it is: Orcas - low res.mp4

OMG, starlink is amazing. When we were down at 66 degrees south and most of the TV channels wouldn't work I did an Ookla speed test. So yeah, you'll be able to check email. Or whatever else you'd like to do.

There's also a steam room and dry sauna, both complementary. The dry sauna is particularly nice as it features large windows that allow you to enjoy the Antarctic scenery while bringing back up your core body temp after your zodiac cruise...I'm normally a 10 minutes max guy but the other day I don't think I broke a sweat until after the 10 minute mark. Partial view...outside image NOT photoshopped...though it is Greenland and not Antarctica

Thank you! I'm glad to hear there is wildlife to see at Deception Island! I'm very jealous you have Lucci! We were with him on the Quest in 2015 and then just missed him in Greenland in July (he got off when we got on) and of course now. One of my favorite memories of him is captured below, when he helped our son spot the new chicks at Neko Harbor. Meanwhile on the Venture I think we just had our 23rd announcement about the Port Lockroy gift shop and the passport stamps we can get for the low price of 10 quid. 🙄

It is so disappointing to hear that they could've chosen to take us to the penguin colony today but instead are prioritizing a Port Lockroy zodiac cruise and the gift shop nonsense. Believe it or not, I didn't come to Antarctica for the shopping. And our stop tomorrow at Deception Island is apparently not near a penguin colony either. AND, we don't even arrive until noon, so another morning wasted. This is two expedition trips in a row where I have to question the decision making and prioritization of the expedition team. We previously booked the Kimberly in June on Pursuit and we're now thinking of cancelling it.

Ran into an expedition team member earlier and learned that we were trying to do an ice landing around Detaille Island, which is why we tried for so far south. Still seems like questionable decision making but would've been a very cool experience if it had worked. They are well aware of the desire for more time ashore and are figuring out options for tomorrow.

My fears of going so far south were well founded. Not only did it limit us to one off-ship activity yesterday, difficulty in getting back north through the sea ice has resulted in cancelling our landing this morning. We are still on track for our afternoon activity but it is not a landing. Today is our 4th day in Antarctica and only 2 landings. Disappointing. The Pursuit did not go so far south and appears to have had no issue making their first stop of the day.

The ice was too thick for us to get below the Antarctic circle, but we got very close! What's a third of a degree of latitude among friends??? Instead, we went to an area called the Fish Islands and got a nice zodiac cruise to an Adelie penguin colony. Fun to see the penguins collecting rocks to build their nests: We then did the polar plunge, getting fantastic participation with almost a third of guests joining in! Was great energy and vibe waiting for the plunge and I had fun doing it again with the boys. Tonight after dinner we were treated to a light snowfall and the tiny snowman one of the bartenders made and was proudly showing off. Apparently he'd never seen snow until two weeks ago and this is just his second snowman! I think he did a great job!

Agree with this and will also say that by and large everything has been up to standard and it's been great. Just isolated issues here and there. One thing we talked about with an officer at a hosted dinner tonight is that they are trying to return to Ushuaia the evening before the end of the cruise to give staff a little extra time ashore. The turnaround on these trips is so tight and there are fewer chances for crew to get off the ship given capacity constraints onshore. All these back to backs are tough on crew morale. Also learned that recruiting staff continues to be a problem, and that from what the officers have heard from former colleagues in the industry it's universal. Also heard Eclipse is having a very hard time filling ships from a passenger perspective. There's gonna be a shakeout in the industry for sure. This is our second trip on Venture and both times it's been at a similar capacity. It hasn't bothered us much at all. We've always been seated in the dining room right away, though rarely at a window table. A few times the colonnade has been busting at the seams but it's usually brief. I can see how half the pax count would definitely feel more spacious, but then again you would also miss the vibe you get when 77 people opt in for the polar plunge!

Shortly before meeting up with the Pursuit yesterday we did have a whale sighting. Two humpbacks dove just off the bow of the ship and later surfaced far to the stern. I was fortunate to be on the way to the Bow Lounge with my camera when they announced the spotting and so was in prime position to grab a photo: After the close encounter with the Pursuit yesterday we cruised into Paradise Bay and did a zodiac cruise. Once again we were treated to amazing scenery: One of our guides spotted a dark spot on a far off iceberg and so we went deep into the Bay to check it out, and what did we find but our first spotting of a crabeater seal (a misnomer, as they don't eat crabs). It was chilling next to a skua and was clearly bored by our presence, evidenced by the repeated yawns... 😉 Now we're headed far to the south, originally to attempt to get below the Antarctic Circle, but we had to change plans due to sea ice conditions. Apparently as an alternative we're now headed to an adelie penguin colony where we'll do a zodiac cruise but not a landing. Regardless, we're pretty far removed from any other cruise ship. Not sure if this use of time and fuel is worth it...I guess we'll see.

No reason to worry. Last night there were guys in track pants and T-shirts.

They've got some photos up on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz9ke1XSvYz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

That was fun!

We're getting lucky with incredible weather and visibility. Here's this morning's landing area: And the views to the mouth of the harbor. When we were here in 2015 it was all socked in with low cloud cover and you couldn't see these peaks.

The benefits of being in the EARLY group...the penguins were just coming back from breakfast and there were very few people ashore yet!

Good morning from Neko Harbor! After leaving here we're supposed to meet up with the Pursuit for a little sister ship photo shoot. PXL_20231122_095636589.TS.mp4

It is heated, though it's a small pool. It's been far less popular than the four hot tubs...

Quick update today as I'm spent after a wonderful day of activity and a frustrating evening dining experience. We landed today at Mikkelsen Harbor, the home of a gentoo penguin colony. We were blessed with insanely good weather. Per the expedition team this is not only the first true sunny day of this season for the Venture, it's also the clearest they've seen it at Mikkelsen in many years. Indeed, if we were skiing in Colorado we would've called this a bluebird day. The landing was well run and went smoothly, and the penguins were entertaining as usual. They're still waiting for snow to melt to build proper nests, and so mating season has apparently been delayed a bit. We also saw a Weddell seal hanging out near the landing zone, and it helpfully sat up a few times to gaze at us and we got some great shots. In the afternoon while most guests enjoyed a zodiac ride we kayaked in the same general area. It was a beautiful and serene experience, with more ground covered and a bit more exercise than we had in Greenland. This was much better, as we'd found kayaking in Greenland to be disappointing. We arrived at dinner a little later than normal, and I think the dining room filled early as we have an early morning tomorrow at Neko Harbor (Orange color group at 6:30a...and we're in Orange 😪 ). We were seated in a section we had not sat in before and scarcely got any attention from the waitstaff. Eventually the Assistant Maitre'D supported us, but even then the service was slow and uneven. It was very disappointing after an otherwise amazing day.

Also have done both and agree Ephesus is stronger. Plus the Seabourn concert experience is not to be missed. One of the highlights of everything I've done with Seabourn.

I feel very comfortable in slacks and a sport coat. My wife is not wearing gowns or anything super formal, but she does wear evening attire. Again, this is much nicer than the average, but to each their own. Last night we both wore jeans (hopefully @SLSD would approve our designers 😜), and felt right in line with the crowd. When we took the Quest years ago on the holiday Antarctica cruise there were still formal nights. These days I think you could show up in a tux or an ugly Christmas sweater and people would appreciate either one.

Tonight's sunset saw last night's and raised it a tabletop iceberg. Epic.