SLSD

You will be comfortable not dressed formally in the other dining venues on formal nights. You can dine in the Colonnade, Earth and Ocean, Sushi or dine in your suite with room service. You can enjoy entertainment that night as well. On a 14 days cruise recently, we only dined in The Restaurant on formal night one time. On the other formal night, we dined at Earth and Ocean.

Yes, we always enjoyed the array of special soaps in the past. Those are no longer offered. The shampoo and conditioner placed in our suite was small tubes--as before. There were four of the shower gel large bottles. Only my husband used shower gel--and only a small amount of one large bottle over two weeks. The other three remained sealed and unopened on the shelf.

Here is the Patagonia carry on Mr. SLSD purchased for this trip as his usual carry on did not meet SAS requirements (but he had used it for other international trips). I think it is a good one, even though it does not have wheels, but of course wheels add inches, which was a no no according to SAS. https://www.patagonia.com/product/black-hole-mlc-convertible-suitcase-45-liters/49307.html?dwvar_49307_color=BLK I am hoping Mr. SLSD will let me pack in this carry on for an upcoming domestic trip so that I can see if it works well for me.

We have not been light packers in the past--but felt forced to be this time. I'll check out the other website.

I have four MZ Wallace bags now. One of them I purchased to be a personal item which did not fit allowed measurement for SAS. I can't believe how perfect they are for many applications. My original plan had been to use another MZ Wallace bag that would easily fit under an airline seat and stuff my small MZ Wallace bag (empty) into it to use as a handbag while on board. I recognized that Seabourn tote bags might not be issued. And indeed they were not. I've kept one Seabourn tote bag, but donated the others. I think I will be packing it on our next cruise. We did feel like we packed a bit light for this cruise. My husband was fine, but I shorted myself on clothing for dinner in the evening. I could have used a few more items if there had been room. Which MZ Wallace bags do you. have? I'm always open to owning more--and I NOT a handbag or tote person. These are just so useful.

We were on Ovation this month. The only bar soap in our bathroom was a small round one probably meant as hand soap. There were several large Molton Brown bottles of shower gel. I did bring my own bar soap as I am sometimes allergic to soaps. I don't recall the brand name of the small round bar of soap. We did not ask for another bar--but I am assuming you could do that and something else would be available.

By the way, this is what I used as my "personal item". I really like it because my laptop fits into it. It also has an inside zipper compartment, several pockets, and a detachable zippered pouch. On excursions, I could put my quilted vest and/or down sweater into it. I highly recommend this bag for women. It is also sturdy and lightweight. https://www.mzwallace.com/products/dawn-rec-medium-sutton-deluxe

My third topic is carry on luggage for international travel. On this particular trip, Mr. SLSD and I traveled much much lighter than for previous cruises. We knew our flight connections were not ideal (a two hour late night connection at JFK) and we feared our luggage, if checked, would not make it to Copenhagen with us. SO---we decided to ship one suitcase (packed with things belonging to both of us) through Luggage Forward and then take a carry on and "personal item" each, as allowed. When we were finally given our airline assignment, we were dismayed that one airline was SAS which has the most most strict (and small) size requirement for carry on luggage. Being the rule followers that we are, we proceeded to meet these requirements. I had to ditch my original idea for a personal item, because, even though it would fit under the seat in front of me, it exceeded the measurements allowed by SAS. I went on to Plan two. Mr. SLSD took his computer bag as his personal item. For our other carry on, I took a TUMI tote which met the size AND weight (17 lbs or under) requirements for SAS. Mr. SLSD purchased a new carry on ( as his usual one exceeded measurements allowed by SAS). When we actually boarded our SAS flight, we were shocked. People were carrying on HUGE items! We had taken such care with our measurements that we KNEW the items we were seeing carried on exceeded the requirements. There were metal measurement boxes at the gate for SAS saying that your carry on had to fit inside of it. But, of course, there was no enforcement. We felt like we had been very disadvantaged because we are rule followers. On our return flights, we were flying Air Canada which had slightly more generous carry on rules. Even so, people were carrying HUGE items on which clearly exceeded the measurement requirements. At one point in Toronto, there was an announcement made asking people to voluntarily check their bags as there would not be room for all carryons on a full flight. Hell's Bells! Air Canada COULD have just enforced their size requirements and that would have taken care of the the issue. That was not done. Mr. SLSD had decided to check his carry on for the return flight and mine fit under the seat in front of me ALONG WITH my personal item. So much for being rule followers.

Can we talk about bus etiquette? On one of our very lengthy excursions, Mr. SLSD and I were seated behind a very elderly man who had a lot of difficulty walking, much less exiting a bus (which sometimes have very steep steps). We were seated in the fourth seat back from the driver, while the elderly man was seated right in front of us. His wife did not sit beside him, but rather across the aisle. On our excursion, there were several stops--and even though we were only four seats back from the driver, we were always the very last off the bus due to the difficulty the elderly man had in exiting the bus. There was another woman (not quite as elderly ) sitting right behind the bus driver. She always told everyone to go ahead as she was going to exit last because she wanted to "take her time." At one of our stops, I asked the wife of the very elderly man if I could "pop off" the bus ahead of him. I did just that, but she was very unhappy with me. I felt badly about that as I do respect elderly people and think they have a right to enjoy travel. I'm 71 years old myself and recognize that someday I will be somewhat feeble. I am not sure I will be taking busy trips at that point. My question is this--did I not adhere to proper bus etiquette? Should I have been content to be the very last person off the bus every single time? There was a back door to the bus, but being so far to the front, I would be last exiting even if I used that door and was last at every other stop.

As everyone knows, there have recently been dogs on Seabourn cruises. Most recently, there was a small dog on our Ovation cruise up the coast of Norway. At the outset of this discussion, I want to make it plain that I am a dog lover. Not only do we have a dog ( a miniature long haired dachshund), but in our extended family, we have a certified service dog (who stays with our great-nephew to alert for epileptic seizures). The service dog in our family is highly and specifically trained and required a real commitment (both in dollars and continuing expectation of behavior from his now family). They know what to expect from a service dog, keep up with his training and do not deviate from it. In other words, they will not allow the public to pet him, he is not off leash in public and not treated as a regular pet. The dog on the recent Ovation itinerary was a small dog. I am not sure of the breed. I first encountered him at tea as his owners had him at the table next to ours at the Observation Lounge. Prior to his arrival, his owner(s) had saved their table for almost an hour (perhaps longer) by throwing a jacket over one of the chairs. The jacket was there when we arrived to our table and no one claimed the table for 45 minutes. All that time, there were people arriving and looking for a table. When the dog arrived, I observed him being fed under the table. Already we recognized that the owners were not rule followers as they felt entitled enough to save a table for themselves, not considering that no one would have use of that table for almost an hour just because they had claimed it with a jacket. In subsequent days, I observed that the dog was accompanying its owner on various excursions, riding on buses, going up skylifts, going into dining venues, etc. This did not go without notice by others. Quite a few people were discussing the dog. I only observed one person saying that the dog was cute. Everyone else had noticed that the owners were not rule followers and seemed to feel entitled. In fact, one passenger told me (and others) and she had asked the owners about the dog. She specifically asked what kind of service dog the dog was. The answer was "it's complicated". This passenger was shown the dog's service dog certificate by the owner and reported that the certificate looked like something that could be printed from the internet. Another passenger told me that she had heard ship's staff telling the dog owner that the dog could not be let off leash in Norway. Even though they were told this by Seabourn staff, they did indeed let the dog off leash in Tromso on the mountain we reached by the sky lift. I observed this myself. On a later excursion in Lom, Norway, I personally observed the dog off leash in a grassy area which had a specific sign stating (through words and illustration) that dogs were not to be off leash in that area. None of this seemed to matter to the dog's owner. As an aside, I will comment that one would expect the owner of a highly trained service dog to be aware of the importance of following rules concerning dogs. I overheard quite a bit of complaint about the dog. At one point, there were people saying that they were not going to board a bus until they knew which bus the dog would be on. No one was happy--and the general consensus among passengers was that this was not a true service dog and that the owners did not follow instructions or rules pertaining to dogs. One evening, when we were on deck nine around the pool, the dog was on ten (right above) and barking. A highly trained service dog would not be likely to bark. Another afternoon, the owner was on a chaise around the pool with the dog on top of her stomach, sleeping. Not what is expected from a service dog. Another evening, I saw the owner talking to the maitre d' at the TK Grill, exhorting them that they wanted to dine there on a particular day/time. The maitre d' was no doubt in a bit of an awkward spot having fielded complaints about the dog in the grill previously and the owner being a very squeaky (and annoying) wheel. I'm sure there is more to this story. From what I have read, Seabourn does allow certified service dogs onboard. It is a shame that this particular dog (if indeed it was a certified and true service dog) departed from usual service dog behavior.

I was rereading here and now realize you are talking about the ferry tour at Stavanger. This is a ship's tour and it was a lot of fun. We had an excellent guide and the stop for waffles was enjoyed by everyone.

I have found the lighting in the bathroom and also at the makeup desk to be wanting. In other words, while putting on my eyebrow pencil, I could not actually SEE my eyebrows.

Is that the zodiac excursion to view Puffins? I read on a facebook group today that an August Storstapphen zodiac tour has been cancelled due to "operational reasons". I ask if this is the puffin excursions as friends on our cruise told us that they were told their zodiac could not approach the island due to rules by Norway. They were disappointed.

They do still provide jackets. You should probably call SB to confirm that they will have one for you. I assume they will--but you could confirm that with a call.

It was a submersible that was lost as well. I've been reading up on the difference in a submarine and submersible. A submarine doesn't need to be launched by another ship whereas a submersible does. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/submarine-submersible-difference-meaning-titan-titanic-b1089500.html

Mary, I enjoyed our dinners with you and Herb so much and I look forward to your curated report on your blog. It was such a fun voyage and we are still recovering from it! I'm making my first foray to the grocery store shortly wondering why others are not preparing our meals. By the way, Mary recognized me onboard at tea time because she saw me typing a post on my laptop and recognized the Cruise Critic page Psahoy recognized us as he overheard my Mr. SLSD saying he was from Dallas and hehad seen my posts about our excursions here. We had been on several excursions with him.

Seabourn is doing whatever it can to fill its ships. On the itinerary following ours we heard that there were going to be slightly over 300 passengers. This is on Ovation which can hold 600 plus a few passengers. This is why they were offering special status to Crystal cruisers. Offering perks cost SB little but gained them some frequent cruisers who might choose SB for a number of cruises. I don't begrudge the Crystal cruisers having a few perks. There were several people who wanted to extend and stay on Ovation for the Iceland itinerary as there was room and the price was right. Unfortunately, most could not extend because their Seabourn air package could not be changed without great expense.

We are very reluctant to book a back to back to back in the Mediterranean --even though we like the itineraries. We did a back to back (10 day and 7 day) in the Baltic. The last seven days was a very different crowd and it made a significant difference. Everyone, at the time, who had been on the first leg of the trip commented. I do think SB could sell longer cruises there if they were not broken up.

I will write it.

Uninspired is how I would describe the food in The Restaurant on Ovation on our recent cruise. It tasted fine, but was not exciting at all.

Yes, the best food experience we had as well. That smoked chicken spread is addictive! Every night I told myself that I would skip the bread and spread--but didn't. There were so many dishes I really enjoyed. My only wish is that the menu did not repeat so quickly.

It was gross as described to me. Not at all funny or amusing. Probably done to shock and for the thrill.

It was way worse than that. And another passenger told me that she witnessed some inappropriate behavior. That's all I will say here.

It was a man from Europe. At least Americans cannot be blamed this time for terrible clothing choices. I think he intended to shock and horrify and it should not have been allowed.

Jeans were the least of our clothing issues on the Norwegian itinerary we just finished. I wish I had not seen the large fellow in the male equivalent of a bikini bottom. Neither the front or back view was appropriate for viewing. In fact, it bordered on exhibitionism of the most unpleasant kind. Mr. SLSD said it was one of the worst things he has seen in his whole life--"appalling" he says. In fact, it was so bad, I am surprised that Seabourn did not take some kind of action.