luv2cruise51

We also did a private tour to Sintra in November of 2019 and made arrangements with Portugal Premium Tours.  Our wonderful guide was Carlos Godinho and it was just the 3 of us touring Sintra.

My husband and I are also moving slower these days and usually prefer private tours or with another couple or two.

We would definitely use them again in Lisbon and the surrounding areas. You can find many reviews of them on Trip Advisor.

www.premiumtours.pt/en 

Kathy & Glenn

Yes, Flamin_June, I have been seriously thinking of going on the hunt for a new TA. He's been ok for most of the 5 years but I think that's because I usually know exactly what I want in a cruise and have usually always already picked out a cruise when I contact him.  His paragraphs are usually one line long.

I have been told that this time of the year is very busy for the travel industry.  It's only been 3 days today since my last email to him asking about this.

Thank you both for your info. I do appreciate it.

Kathy

Thank you for your reply.

This is the printed info, I hope, for the V3 that discusses the 5% discount:

Thanks, again, for your help.

Kathy

Can someone please explain how and/or when the Seabourn Club 5% discount works?  We have a cruise booked for November 2024 that we booked on 2/18/23 which included the Suite Life Event and what I thought was the Club 5% discount.

We thought we would get the discount just for being a Club member with ID numbers, etc.  This will be our 4th Seabourn Cruise since 2010.  Our last cruise was just before Covid in November 2019 and we did not take advantage of any FCD at that time.

I have seen some reference to FCD with regard to the 5% discount.   We do not have one of those that I'm aware of. My TA has not responded since Wednesday when I sent him an email asking about this so I thought I'd try to post this questions here.

Thank you for any info.

Kathy

Thank you, Jackie. 

It looks like this change with Seabourn came through after we booked in 12/2021 and now. My TA didn't mention it until he had to issue a new invoice with new lower price.

Kathy

Just wondering if some rules have changed with Seabourn since we last cruised with Seabourn in Oct./Nov. 2019. We booked a cruise in late December 2021 for a short Pacific Coastal scheduled for 10/13/2023 with our regular travel agent. At that time our invoice from him stated that the "penalty date" was 7/05/23. I had already checked on Seabourn's site and it stated for this cruise that the final payment was due 7/15/23. My TA usually subtracts another 10 days for final payment from the due date.

With the Black Friday Sail prices, our cruise went down in price. Our new penalty date & payment due date is now 6/05/23. When I questioned him about it, he stated that Seabourn had changed its policy and that the cancellation date with Seabourn is now 30 days before final payment date. So Seabourn's final payment date is still 7/15/23, 30 days before that is 6/15/23, and then my TA's  10 extra days before cancellation date is 6/05/23 which is what it now states.

Just wanted to confirm that this sounds right since its news to me. We have cruised with Seabourn 3 other times starting in 2010 and have another couple joining us on this Seabourn cruise for the first time and want to explain it correctly to them.

Thank you for any info.

Kathy

We just used them for the first time for our trip to Lisbon and the TA from Lisbon to St Maarten on November 2nd.

So far, so good. FedEx  picked up our one standard bag (up to 50lbs.) on Wednesday, 10/16/19, and we could track it through either Luggage Forward's or Fedex's website.  Fedex was more detailed in their tracking.

It was scheduled to be in Lisbon at the port by 10/23/19, but we were so surprised to see that the bag arrived on 10/21/19 at 10:55 am.  I just wished we could have had a 2 to 4 day later pickup since it got there so fast in only about 5 days. 

We are arriving Lisbon pre-cruise on 10/29th for 4 nights, then board the Odyssey on Nov. 2nd where, hopefully, it will be waiting for us in our stateroom.

We also have them picking up the bag when our cruise ends on the 16th in St. Maarten. It has a scheduled delivery date at our home in California 11/21/19 to 11/25/19. You can pay more for sooner but we didn't.

It is pricey, especially RT, and I'm not sure we would do it again.  We could have had the bag shipped to our hotel in Lisbon while we were there, but we didn't even want to schlepp(?) it to the port with our scheduled transfer.

Kathy

I just wish the mass market cruise lines (RCI, Princess, Carnival, etc.) would quit building the huge monstrosities of 4,000 to 6,000 passengers that end up in these smallish ports.  DH and I quit those a few years ago and now try to look for 1,200 pax. or less which usually means more money, but we enjoy the cruise more.  

We just don't go as often as we want as we usually stick to Seabourn, Oceania & Crystal. Got to save up for those cruises, so we go less often.

18 hours ago, Thecat123 said:

Don't think there is an expiration date on the coupons from Seabourn but once you have given a referral coupon to a first time cruiser you have two years from the date of the referred guests sailing date

 

Okay, then I think we're good. I have had this last coupon since January of 2016 & thought that maybe I couldn't send it to the new guest. They are going on my cruise November 2nd, 2019 so they'll be using it before the 2 years are up.

Thanks again for the info.

Does anyone know if there is any expiration date to use the coupons by?  I received my 2 coupons in January of 2016 and have one left to give to a new Seabourn guest who is going on my cruise in November.

I have emailed Seabourn Club for an answer but thought I might try here, too.

There are no dates of issue or expiration on these coupons that I can see.

It looks like we will be boarding in group 5 out of 10, as we are now booked  as Delta Comfort+.  I can live with that.

Thanks to all who commented.  It really helped.  We are now booked on the Delta flights in their Comfort+ seats to get us in to SFO a little earlier.

ATL was a no brainer considering all the positive comments.  Thanks again.

No FC flying back. With AA, will probably pay to go up to their Main Cabin Extra, etc.  With Delta, the same, with their Comfort+ or something like that. We have both Citi/AA and AMEX/Delta Gold cards with some miles left on them but not sure if we can upgrade with them.

We will probably be booking with Seabourn's FlightEase with regular Economy and then try to upgrade after being ticketed.

We are flying on TAP Portugal in Business Class lie-flat on their new A330-neos, non-stop to Lisbon out of SFO, which we're looking forward to, but couldn't swing it getting out of Sint Maarten.

This Delta flight just popped up today but may keep on checking to see if anything else comes up. 

Thanks for the info.

Yes, rkacruiser, you confirmed what we were thinking about getting in earlier to SFO. With 2 hours in ATL, we should be just find getting to wherever we have to go for Delta. I have a AMEX Gold Delta card but don't think it gets me into any lounges, tho'.  For only 2 hours, we may forego that.

Thank you for your help, really appreciate it.

Our Seabourn TA from Lisbon (11/02/19) ends in Sint Maarten on 11/16/19.  We have a AA flight from SXM to SFO at 5:08pm with layover in MIA for 1hr 58min. This gets us into SFO at 12:33am; then need to get ride to hotel to sleep. This flight is with Seabourn's FlightEase but not ticketed yet.

We are trying to get into SFO earlier to get some rest at our hotel before we fly out from SFO to San Luis Obispo (SBP) next morning at 12:50pm.

Just found another flight today on Delta leaving SXM 3:45pm, arriving SFO 11:31pm, with a 2hr 13min. layover in ATL. We will only have carry-on luggage as we are using Luggage Forward for the rest.

We have never been through ATL or MIA, just Fort Lauderdale.  Have heard horror stories about ATL being so busy all the time; November 16th is a Saturday, too.

Would love the extra hour getting in as we have found out some of the hotels near SFO stop running their regular shuttles from/to SFO by midnight and/or 1:00am. Would then have to call, etc. 

Any thoughts on ATL v. MIA for similar layover times?

Forgot to mention, Delta flight arrives at 7:10pm in ATL; AA flight arrives in MIA at 7:37pm on Saturday, 11/16/19.

Kathy

5 hours ago, SLSD said:

luv2cruise51, Have you considered starting a roll call for your specific voyage?  

Yep, I have.  Was just kinda waiting to see if anyone else got out there first.  Usually, one was already started by 6 months out like the one we did in December 2016 TA.

Soooo, I'm sitting here considering it . . . .

Yes, you are right, SLSD, I remember how it was back in December of 2010 when we took our first cruise on Seabourn to the Caribbean. That roll call had many people on it and it was great to meet people then. 

With, what, 5 ships now -- I was hoping it might pick up.  Oh, well, we will still enjoy this cruise no matter what.

Thank you for responding.

Kathy

We are booked on the Lisbon to St Maarten transatlantic cruise leaving on November 2, 2019 also but cannot find any roll call set up for that specific cruise, just the 2 that begin after on 11/16/19.  

Just wondering if any of you have noticed this. I am aware of not many roll calls being started by Seabourn cruisers but this one is coming up in a little over 6 months.   This is our 3rd  Seabourn cruise and love Lisbon so going back.

Any info would be appreciated.

Kathy