highplanesdrifters

How can you pass up a "sake museum exclusive"?

1 hour ago, moabkayaker said:

We recently concluded the 25-day Stepping Stones of the Atlantic trip on the Venture starting in Ushuaia, and because (after the Falklands and South Georgia) this was new territory for them, we had no idea what excursions might be offered until just before a destination.  That said, they did a great job of providing several included options in each port (think Saint Helena or Tristan da Cunha) and we were not disappointed in any of them.  I think Seabourn does not want to "promise" excursions in places that they may have to cancel or substitute, since that just creates more headaches. We did have a layover day in Ushuaia between an Antarctic cruise and the next one, and booked a third party excursion that day, since Seabourn does not seem to offer excursions on change-over days.  Personally, I think one of the interesting things about the expedition travel is a bit of uncertainty combined with flexibility, and knowing that the best things that happen may be something substituted for the original. 

We're booked on Pursuit going across the Pacific west to east this August/September, and have seen many of the "possible excursions" listed, and are excited about these, as well as snorkeling and Zodiac, but know there are no guarantees.  

See you onboard.

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

 

Sorry, off-topic but I have a cruise planned on Nova…what were some of the exciting events?

Sorry, this was on the Cloud in South Africa.  Perhaps @FauxNom can chime in.

22 minutes ago, FauxNom said:

Welcome home! I'm sorry it hit you at all, but I guess home is the best place for it. Indeed, I and all my circle of friends were hit hard. It's not shocking, but so disappointing when you have to miss so many of the incredible events they produced for this cruise.

Yikes! What a bummer. So sorry for you and the pack.  There were so many exciting events on that leg. 

And yes much better to deal with it at home.  Hope all is well and life on the flip side is treating you well.

Thanks again for all the answers and great intel. So valuable.  Sorry about the sloppy execution by expedition staff.  Frustrating. Thanks for taking one for the team.

We are also in the snorkeling camp.  The tours you've mentioned are the exact ones we did on the Quest years ago. We had the same issues of ship not being allowed to operate their own Zodiacs in many areas.

Why are we paying expedition prices when we're getting traditional ocean cruise options and turning into  ATMs?  Organize and revolt! 😁

22 hours ago, JSR said:

@BBGrace273 I am glad this thread has given you some insight and some excitment about your upcoming trip. Several things I would recommend:

 

-Know that a transpacific will have lots of back to back sea days. You could encounter foul weather, rough seas or just the opposite. Have an indoor plan and an outdoor plan. There will be bridge lessons, cooking classes, lectures, trivia games, etc. Decide if any of these are for you or your dad and get involved at the beginning, you can always drop them but  bridge and trivia maybe hard to join at the last minute. Cooking class sign up is at the first open house, again easier to cancel though the waitlist works well as does just showing up on standby. 

 

-People on these and other social media like to hear themselves talk. (as you see I can go on and on). Take it all with a grain of salt. Despite things being presented as fact, they are just opinions and they are the opinions of a minority of people. The percentage of actual cruisers on any one given platform is minimal. Humans these days seem to be resistant to change, glorifying the past, blah blah. Also, peoples preferences are different, one person's perfect ship is someone else's least desirable ship. 

 

- IMHO Every experience in life is a product of what you bring to it. When we headed out on our journey we said, we have no idea if this will be too much and be a one and done or something we love and want to do again, or something in between but no matter what we would have fun and enjoy ourselves. We met people for whom the Nova was not to their liking for the future but they still embraced the present. We only met one couple that complained everyday and were making lists of short comings. My solution was not to engage with them beyond a polite salutation when I saw them.  Bring your positive attitude and ignore those that do not. 

 

- Have an amazing  time. We are looking at the same cruise you are doing for 2026 so I look forward to hearing about the trip. 

 

All the best Jean

 

 

 

Excellent! 

32 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Good afternoon Cooler inmates.

 

Not suggestion these are “funnies” just food’ish.  🙂

 

Today was our first oysters of the year.  Scrawny and small so a couple of dozen all shucked bloodlessly by me and supported by some lovely ficelle and Laurent Perrier Blanc de Blanc ie the absolutely original non sugar dosed but naturally sparkling champers.  

 

It was lovely to have a slow going lunch today with my extraordinary long-suffering partner in crime. These piccies are of eatings and empties.

 

Have a great day all Coolers. 🙂

 

 

Just sublime! 

20 hours ago, FauxNom said:

I hate to tell tales, but there was a massive outbreak of gastroenteritis on the Cloud in late March, Walvis Bay to Port Elizabeth. We were not told of a precise diagnosis, though it did take you out for 1-3 days, and usually responded to antibiotics. Rumor was that AGE is rampant in Cape Town, where many about-to-embark passengers had spent time before coming on board in Walvis Bay.

Hope you weren't one of the victims and your final leg was great. After a week in the bush we returned through CPT .  Gastro issues nailed us after we returned home.  Now it all makes sense. Thanks for that update. 

Hiroshima Castle looks lovely.  Thanks. 

Brando looks fabulous. Thanks for the pics.  Were you on the snorkeling side?

Sounds like a rough expedition start.  Hope they get their legs under them. Not sure I like the idea of paying for snorkeling on an expedition.....hmmmm.  There seems to be a lot of poor planning by the mother ship and inexperienced EL's.

Glad they opened the restaurant for lunch on a sea day and dinner was good.

Signature Suite question - can you control the hot tub temp or do you have to get Seabourn to do it? We finally scored a SS for an upcoming trip.

Thanks again for answers and reports.😃

Crikey!!!  What a ride.

Thanks for sharing @Reef Knot

I'm ready!

Thanks for the in depth review and especially the whale shark videos.

Thanks much for the added snorkel info @kej1

 We tried to Hilton last visit and it was nice, especially being next to the mall. But Lovie loves the Pu Pu platter at the IC, so it's back there next time.😃  Enjoy.

8 hours ago, commodoredave said:

Great news! I went up to the Pool Grill today to see if I could pre-order a freshly made hamburger for tomorrow lunch rather than the pathetic pre-processed, frozen and thin burger we received a few days ago (see below photo). To my complete surprise and delight, I was told that the Grill was no longer serving these burgers, and had returned to making their own fresh and plump burgers. They even took me behind the counter to show me the fresh burgers. Wow! What a fantastic mid-cruise course correction by SS.! Thank you!! Having one of these new burgers tomorrow and looking forward to it.

 

 

Well done!  Or should I say medium rare.😃  Thanks for helping right be done.

Fantastic new.  Glad things went smoothly.  Love that SFO PPT direct.

Sounds like The Brando is delivering.  Yay!  Thanks for being the Guinea Pig.  😃   Can't wait for more details and pictures.

Any expanded info on snorkeling would be much appreciated. 

7 hours ago, shark b8 said:

well, what with time zones and international travel - we woke up in Shanghai on Wednesday morning, quite a while ago it seems like, and now we're back home in Hawaii....Wednesday afternoon.  Thanks so much for coming along, we've got a few more trips in our back pocket so maybe we'll crank this up again in the not-too-distant future.  Aloha.

Thanks for taking us along! Great Live report. Look forward to the next adventure.

Got my popcorn ready.

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

Much more risk of cloudy skies. It would be spectacular in that location but I don't trust the weather! 

 

That eclipse reaches the Med too I believe. Maybe better luck there?

 

Egypt should have a much better chance of clear skies, and the duration of totality is supposed to be over 6 minutes (!) for the 2027 eclipse. Thus my desire to see that one.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

I'm feeling a cruise in Scorsby and King Oscar for 2026.

2027. OH, so many options. Perhaps Somalia or Yemen?  To bad it misses @Fletcher favorite Djibouti. Best CC line ever.  He went there so we didn't have to. 🤣

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

Much more risk of cloudy skies. It would be spectacular in that location but I don't trust the weather! 

 

That eclipse reaches the Med too I believe. Maybe better luck there?

 

Egypt should have a much better chance of clear skies, and the duration of totality is supposed to be over 6 minutes (!) for the 2027 eclipse. Thus my desire to see that one.

Whoa, 6 minutes!  That's an eternity.  I am so in on that one.

Must be my luck, but in my 3 trips to Greenland rarely saw a cloud....Iceland, that's another story.🤣

Good news, we can do both!  Let's see what the travel Gods serve us up.

14 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Anyone up to visit Egypt in 2027? It should be spectacular! 

Sounds great!  I'm in.

And how about Iceland/Greenland August 2026?

3 hours ago, Nops said:

There is a blog of the current Pursuit South Pacific Cruise on the Seabourn website. Many diving pictures in the Pitcairn Islands.

Good call Nops.  I forgot to look at Voyage Tracker.  Here's a link for others, can be a bugger to find.

https://www.seabourn.com/en/us/experience/voyagetracker/index.html

16 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

I cannot wait for this 'live from...'

 

Doing a long S Pacific cruise is absolutely on our bucket list.

South Pacific is my favorite part of the world. Trips there are decadent vacations.  Coffee, snorkel, drink, eat, repeat.  I did a live from SS Explorer last year Fiji - Broome.  Many similar ports. The OP has some stops in NE PNG, all new to me.  Look forward to hearing about them.

@kej1. T-1.  Have a blast!

8 hours ago, kej1 said:

also asked about Brando

Ah yes, the Brando! My addled brain forgot about that.😃

@kej1 Thanks much for you're reply, especially the diving.  I hope you'll do a live or follow up report.  You're hitting numerous ports we didn't. 

LOL, of course they'll sign you up for kayak, sub, etc.  They want the float on your money!

I hope I didn't discourage you too much from the fire dance on Rabul. Folks did say it was a great experience. As they say, we were sung sung from sing sings by then.  The thought of an hour each way on a small bus with no AC sealed the deal for us. 

I'm hoping that once Sebourn get a few more expeditions under their belts they will provide more info. We're all in the same boat when it comes to finding value and delivery of the product they promise. It's not fun rolling the dice with these pricey trips. 😁

Wishing you an awesome journey with fair winds and following seas!