Clutj
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Clutj started following Ding Dong, the Germain Champagne is Gone! , Views on Endeavour in Antarctica Feb 2024 , Room service on Endeavour and 7 others
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We just did a 15 day cruise on the Endeavour from St. George, Antartica (flying from Punta Arenas over the Drake Passahe) to South Georgia to Falklands to Punta Arenas, and can recommend it without reservation. It obviously costs more, but including South Georgia was a huge plus, and the Falklands added a couple key things as well. The ship was amazing, the expedition teams were top notch, loading and unloading zodiacs (including along ice-clogged shores) was awe-inspiring, the expedition leader (Marika, sp?) was a true force of nature, the bays we visited were stunning, the settings and wildlife mind-blowing to experience. The clothing they provided, the room layout, size of shower, bedding, butler and room attendant, dining staff, food, a tour of the bridge … everything was 5 stars. If you just do the shorter 7 days with fly over the Drake both ways, be aware that bad weather could lose you some days. If you do the longer combined flyover just one way with a Chile port on one end, I’d recommend sailing from Chile with Antarctica and the flight back at the end, so if there are weather flight delays, your trip runs longer rather than shorter. We were delayed flying into Antarctica and lost a couple days there; SS can make up 1 day, but there is only so much flexibility. They did take us by the awesomely huge A23a iceberg half way to South Georgia, a very rare sail-by that few will ever experience. If you sail in and out of Chile, you risk bad seas but you are unlikely to lose any days. Just be aware that you are taking risk and have little basis to complain because you aren’t an expert in flying in bad weather!!!
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Can you get room service from La Dame or Il Terrazzo? Or is it just Restaurant and/or Grill? Or is it a smaller room service menu? Thanks.
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Just booked, but excursions sold out!
Clutj replied to talljules1's topic in Regent Seven Seas Cruises
For future reference, your travel agent can put a hold on a RSS room for 3 days or something. That gets you online access to check excursions. I spent a fair amount of time determining that 75% of my preferred excursions on an Australia to Singapore cruise were sold out, many without a waitlist but there were a couple of those, and one island stop only had 6 of the same excursion sold out, all apparently in a national park and no real ability to do anything else on the island. We were very disappointed in RSS that they didn’t plan better, and unwilling to risk waitlists or other things opening up. Also, RSS told our travel agent “almost all excursions have room.” Shame on them. (I know, I know, “buyer beware”, blah blah blah, but I still consider it an ethical failure and will criticize them for it). So we booked Antarctica with SS instead! -
We really liked these two cocktails on the Splendor in 2022 and hope they are still there! The Bonne Soirée is pictured. The big ice sphere in a martini glass is a good look, I think.
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We are taking an Antarctic cruise in January that starts with the flight over the Drake Passage to St George. SS says their baggage limits are strict: 55lb checked bag and 17lb carryon. They also say an SS parka, waterproof pants, and rubber boots will be waiting for us at the hotel before the flight. So my question is, do we have to leave some room (10lbs?) in the luggage for this new gear? I guess I could wear the parka on the plane, and the pants are possibly light and easy to squeeze into the luggage. But surely I don’t want to wear the boots on the plane? Any word on prior experience from Antarctic Bridge veterans would be appreciated. Thanks.
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We just got off Vista. There was never a mention of a survey, which I would have noticed because I recall frequent reminders on other cruises. There was a paper version of the early/mid cruise comment process. Was surprised at the lack of an end of cruise survey.
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How long did you have to wait to get a reply after a complaint?
Clutj replied to PplusA's topic in Oceania Cruises
I complained in the onboard midway cruise comment form about a sommelier service issue. I got a call the next day from the Beverage Manager on the ship the next day. -
I hate to say it because I really feel for the young performers trying to make it in a tough, tough field, but of the singers on our Vista cruise I’d give their voices 3 C grades and 1 B. I’ve only done 5 Oceania cruises but they’re was usually an A- and a couple Bs. This group just didn’t have strong voices. The female guest singer at 60 years old blew them out of the water.
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Yes, it’s listed at $18.
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A small PH perk is if both of you also have Prestige Bev package, then your butler will stock beers in your fridge. Maybe cabin steward in lower rooms will do that as well, but I don’t know. The room service from Polo and Toscana can be a big perk for those who like to dine in their room. We definitely prefer the bigger PH on the larger Oceania ships but found the size was okay (even the shower) on the R class, and I am a big 260 lb guy.
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For the very few who are interested, the Heidseck Monopole Blue Top has replaced the Germain as the house champagne on Vista as of the current Panama Canal Eastbound cruise Nov 2023. Some menus are still catching up, but below is the Horizons proof. While not up to Montaudon quality from several years ago, it is (to me) an improvement, less sweet… I have noticed a couple other ships getting this upgrade as well. My thanks to management! (PS, the cookies are still terrible to my taste…)
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Many thanks. I now see it listed under thenamenities for those suites. We are doing Mariner and there are only 4 total Master and Grand suites and it doesn’t seem to extend down to the 6 Mariner suites. So it’s an exclusive perk indeed that seems to mesh with the guaranteed specialty reservation for each night of the cruise.
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Room service from specialty restaurants with your butler?
Clutj replied to Clutj's topic in Oceania Cruises
Thanks! Indeed it is quite the perk. In addition, I’ve always appreciated the butlers who, if we were drinking BTG wine from the package, were able to exercise judgment and just bring us the bottle when they poured our main course wine. Sometimes even our appetizer wines. It’s ridiculous to ask them to come back in 10 minutes to bring and pour more wine, and they knew the cost of giving us “extra” wine was insignificant and greatly improved the in-room experience. We usually gave notice — or asked really — on the day before if specialty in-room was doable for the butler.