cruiseej

I think you answered your own question with that statement. I think almost everyone who has done the Quest in Antarctica feels they had an excellent experience. But you do get more of the experience if you go on a smaller expedition ship. It's purely a matter of numbers: the expedition ships with around 200 passengers can get you off the ship twice a day for landings and/or zodiac cruises, where on the Quest with double the number of passengers, you'll generally get off once a day. You see the same exceptional scenery along the Antarctic peninsula from the ship on a smaller or larger ship, and some people find doing one landing a day is enough for them. And you do get the luxury benefits of a larger ship (more restaurants, more/bigger entertainment staff). But if you want to get "the full Antarctic experience," in my opinion being able to go ashore more often is what delivers the maximum experience. Just before Covid, we had wanted to book the new Venture to go to Antarctica, but it was delayed, and we ended up booking a similar trip on Silversea. (Older ship, but saved about $20,000 versus the Venture!) If you have the time, and the $$$, you cannot beat taking an extended trip which visits the Falklands and South Georgia Island. When we first became interested in going to Antarctica, it was through fellow passengers on a few Seabourn cruises, and they all said the same thing: "you go to South Georgia!" So now that I've been there, I'm paying it forward, and telling anyone weighing their options that if you can possibly do it, you must go to South Georgia! 😉 And our first day in the Falklands was a huge and pleasant surprise. the trio of theFalklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica is spectacular, and we're extremely happy we chose that itinerary, and although we love the Quest, that we went on a smaller ship. P.S. I thought I was the number one Eagles fan!

@shark b8 We'll be boarding Sojourn in late May in Barcelona (with a group of 5 other couples, several new to Seabourn) — which I think is the first cruise after the end of your world cruise. (Didn't realize that when we got our group to book this cruise.) I'm a little concerned that a the crew 'A' team from the world cruise will all head home in Barcelona when your cruise ends, and we'll have the 'B' team with a lot of new/inexperienced staff. Hopefully it won't be too much of a step down. Whenever you have a chance, could you find out who will be cruise director starting on the May 27 cruise, and if a lot of senior staff (e.g Hotel Director, F&B manager, head chef) will all be changing on that cruise? Thanks.

But none of those people are responsible for where most luggage goes astray when it does. You can't tip the baggage handlers on the tarmac or in the sorting facility in the bowels of the airport. Nor the automated sorting scanners, computers and conveyor belts which can route your luggage halfway around the world, or to arrivals rather than to your connecting flight. 😉

That's odd; I have always received an acknowledgement from Seabourn when they applied our credit. Yes, taking a copy of your statement is a good back-up plan, but the ship's staff can't add that credit; they can only send it to central HQ for such a credit, I believe.

Seabourn has stoped printing their version of Chronicles (the Herald) on and off on various ships since the restart of cruising. Some people are fine with it, especially since Seabourn has an app as well as the TV; some people don't like not getting it; some people say they don't want to "be a slave to their phone"; a few people say they don't have a smart phone. In most cases, it seems that on cruises where the daily issue was not being printed by default, it could be requested. I think something along these lines is where Silversea should go: make receiving a printed Chronicles an option for passengers. After a few months, they would have ample metrics on how many people asked for it versus those who didn't, and that could help guide future plans. I'm pretty technically adept, so I can deal with getting information via a website or app; however, I like having these paper versions to document our voyages. The one Seabourn cruise we were on in 2021 where we didn't get their daily version, I realized too late that I don't have a detailed record of that cruise as I do with all our other cruises. For me, if they want to get out of the print business, then I'd like downloadable PDF files which can be a record of of cruise.

@CabinBoy2020 I suggest you still pursue getting your plan okayed by Silversea — and getting it in writing. What was allowed in the past, prior to Covid, may or may not be allowed now due to Covid or other security protocols which didn't exist in the past. Hopefully it's not a problem, but you need Silversea's blessing to execute your plans without any worries.

Not criticizing in any way, but asking a real question: why tip these two people, when the many waiters and bartenders who smile and remember your name and preferences, are also hard-working and contributing to your enjoyment of your cruise? What about the laundry staff? The deck hands who get you securely on and off tenders and zodiacs? The excursion team who work hard to deal with inevitable changes and complications with off-ship excursions? The customer service and back-office staff who handle accounting and printing Chronicles and other printed materials? And so on. In the US, restaurant waiters and bartenders are typically paid a very minimum wage because they are expected to pull in enough tips to get them up to good overall compensation. If you told me that a SS worker in the ship's laundry gets paid more than a butler, because the butler is expected to supplement their salary with tips, then I would absolutely understand tipping them — but I don't believe that's the case.

Hope they don't try to do Orlando to Ft Lauderdale and back to Orlando in an electric vehicle; ain't going to make it without stopping for a recharge. 🙂 Seriously, though, if they are flying in the day before the cruise — information @330_cruiser didn't provide — then I agree with staying overnight in Orlando, then flying Southwest in the morning. Although going back to the airport can be a hassle, it will cost hundreds less than a car service. If cost isn't an issue, then a car service will be most comfortable and by far the easiest way to go directly from their Orlando hotel directly to the cruise terminal.

I tried getting a price using Blacklane.com, but it didn't even accept the airport to cruise terminal routing. I then tried using Uber's trip estimator, and was surprised it wasn't as outrageous cost as I expected: Of rouse, prices vary all the time with Uber, and my concern is that even if you book well in advance, the price you get quoted is just an algorithm; if they don't have a driver who wants to accept a 7 hour trip on that day, I'd be concerned about the possibility of getting a notice that no drivers are available. So you might do better with a car service/limousine company, even though the cost will be higher. If you Google "car service orlando to ft lauderdale" you'd get lots of links of such companies you can explore for a quote. I tried one, and it came up with $567 for an executive sedan or $667 for a larger SUV; another came up $677 for a sedan. Several require inputting a name and contact information, so you might want to email those — but there are a bunch of companies offering Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale transportation. There are also several bus companies offering transportation from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale, and the cost would be under $100 for 2 people. But it would entail getting to the bus in Orlando and getting a taxi/Uber from the Ft Lauderdale airport to the cruise port. It's do-able, but probably not the optimal way to start a luxury cruise after an overnight flight! 😉 As others have mentioned, the new train line would be a perfect solution, but they haven't announced when they will begin service, and you can't bet on the train being running by the time of their cruise. Southwest has inexpensive flights when booked far in advance (currently $114 per person), BUT… the flight times don't seem likely to work if they are flying in and embarking on the cruise on the same day. Southwest's flights are at 9:25 am (almost certainly too early) and 5:25 pm (likely too late). United also has two flights, also likely too late (earliest at 3:40-5:00 pm). Unless they are flying in a day before the cruise?? The only other airline option is Spirit (a cheap discount airline I wouldn't recommend, and their flight times don't work anyway). I don't suppose there's any way to change their flight from Ireland to arrive in Fort Lauderdale or Miami, is there? Even with a connection somewhere, it might be easier on your parents than negotiating travel from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale.

I'll just echo @Fletcher regarding the Lofoten islands. We did the same thing, renting a car and driving down the archipelago. I didn't know how our timing would play out, so I wasn't sure how far we'd go before turning back to return to the ship on time. We stoped at the Viking museum in Bøstad, and poked down to the coast at Unstad, and made it to Reine as our turn-around point. (I was tempted to drive further south, but decided not to cut it too close returning the car and getting back onboard!) We also were blessed with excellent weather, and it made for a great day. (Of course, the weather is always unknown, and I don't know if we would have loved it as much had it been cloudy or rainy.) Like @Fletcher, we look back on this fondly as one of our best shore excursions ever. I did. Svolvaer is a small town (population under 5,000, I think), so there's no large rental car operation with dozens of cars waiting. I rented from Hertz, and the location listed was adjacent to the dock, but it took a little prowling around to figure out which building to go into to pick up our car. You might be able to do it on the spot, but if you want to be assured of having a car available, I'd recommend booking in advance. I think this is what we did, but I didn't see the tour description on the Seabourn website. Is this on the day listed for Honningsvåg? Seabourn was pioneering the Ventures concept on our cruise back in 2015, and they offered a zodiac departure from the ship to see an island with a huge bird colony — I think this was Storstappen, but it may have been another island, and I'm not at home to check our notes — ending on the shore near the base of Nordkapp. After we left the ship on our zodiacs, the ship left us (!!) to sail around the point to dock in Honningsvåg. We then did a somewhat strenuous, but not technically challenging, hike to the top (e.g. we didn't climb the face of Nordkapp!). It was scenic and enjoyable. At the visitor center at the top, we met others from our ship who came up by bus; everyone took a bus back down to the ship. If they offer this excursion, and if you're up for a hike with a 1,000 foot elevation gain, I'd recommend it.

To me, that would be an upgrade! Riding a banana boat to be bumped around and possibly thrown in the water has limited appeal to me, but a zodiac cruise to see the islands from the water close in to shore would float my boat! 🙂

Huh? This thread is for questions people would like to see asked of the Carnival CEO. I'm certain he won't answer anything about whether there are negotiations to sell Seabourn, but the other questions seem like reasonable ones to ask.

I'll express the contrarian point of view: is it more important for them to bend over backwards satisfying a few customers who have paid for the most expensive suites, while making the hundreds of other passengers on board feel like they are in coach class? Or to aim to serve all customers equally and satisfy all or most of them? As someone who will likely never pay for a Signature Suite, I'm glad I still have a chance to get reservations at the TK Grill and that they aren't mostly taken by people paying for the highest suites, or that I have an equal chance to get an excursion I want, etc. From a business point of view, creating 400 happy passengers is probably more important for future revenue than catering especially to a dozen passengers who have paid for the top suites. Now, could they do something like throw in free laundry for the top suites, as a line like Silversea does? Sure. That wouldn't disadvantage all the other customers. Butlers? I don't think they need them. A Seabourn suite Host and suite Attendant can do most of the things you'd use a Butler for on a line like Silversea, from welcoming you with champagne to assisting with laundry to replenishing your bar setup to drawing you a bath to assisting with other special requests. What else do you think they can or should do to make you feel more "valued" and special in a Signature Suite? If using Molton Brown soap instead of shower gel wouldn't make one iota of difference to me, but if they ran out of caviar, that would be a different matter! 😉 But if the shower gel is the "final straw" for you, then you've clearly made your evaluation that Seabourn is just not the right cruise line for you going forward. Wishing you happy travels...

To @SLSD congratulations on booking a trip. 🙂 I know it's been a long time coming! And you'll love the Norwegian fjords; it was our first Seabourn cruise, and absolutely hooked us. Can anyone explain to me how an annual travel insurance policy is cheaper than insurance for a specific trip, like one would get from companies like Allianz, CSA/Generali or TravelGuard? I've read this before, and it just doesn't make sense to me, so I must be missing something important. Does it cover less? Thanks.

First, that's the Word Cruise, so it gets special treatment. Second, Shopping with the Chef provides a few local items, but doesn't plug any major holes in provisions which have run out. (When they run out of limes, they can acquire some locally; when they run out of cognac, it has to wait until their next resupply container in whatever upcoming port it's waiting in. They were out of Cointreau, my after-dinner drink of choice, on Caribbean cruises for a few weeks last year, and they didn't purchase more from the local liquor store.)

I see you're in one of the suites in the very front of the ship. If you sift through this board a bit, you'll find that these noise issues are often discussed regarding the suites at the front of all the ships. The suite is quite large and looks incredible, but many people choose not to book it because of the noise from the sea and during anchoring/docking. I've never stayed in one of the Signature Suites, but from anything I've read, I don't think I would ever book one for these reasons. You simply don't encounter these problems in suites further away from the bow. I don't know if you work with a travel agent or book directly, but this is the type of information a good travel agent (a luxury cruise specialist) should provide you so you can avoid an unfortunately disappointing experience like the one you've had. You were expecting some premium services to accompany your suite which are not part of how Seabourn operates, as you've found. There are no butlers, for instance, and restaurant reservations are open to all aboard equally; free laundry is a perk which comes with days sailed, not level of suite. Information comparing the suites, from lowest to highest, is readily available on Seabourn's website (here), so it's unfortunate you had not looked at this prior to your trip in order to not have expectations which set you up to be disappointed. As for the service lapses, yes, that's absolutely a problem. It seems problems with being understaffed, or having too many new staff, has ebbed and flowed on different ships and across all cruise lines since the post-Covid restart of cruising. While there have been, and can be, things which are off on any cruise, there have been more reports of such problems over the past year than normal. And I've read similar reports on the CC board for the other luxury cruise lines as well, so this is not just a Seabourn problem. I think everyone who is a fan of cruising hopes that as staffing reaches 100% capacity, as new ships don't siphon off experienced crew, and as new staff becomes more experienced, there will be fewer lapses and service levels will return to what passengers were used to experiencing before the shutdown. If service doesn't return to expected levels, and/or if corporate cost-saving drives the level of service down, then passengers will vote with their wallets and patronize the several new cruise lines aiming to serve the luxury market.

Sure. Have you read the descriptions on the Silversea website? The Superior Veranda suites have the "horizon balcony", which means there is a large floor to ceiling window, the top half of which lowers down so that you're "outside". These suites are have more interior space, because there's no external balcony. Your room is your balcony, or so says the marketing. On the other hand, the Classic Veranda suites carve out some space for a traditional outdoor balcony. We had a horizon balcony on a Crystal river cruise, and it does indeed give you more interior space. But we didn't like not having a separate outdoor balcony. When you open the big window, the outside comes in — so if it's hot, humid, cold, or windy, the outside comes inside your suite. We prefer being able to go outside without warming or cooling our whole suite. Also, for a trip like the Galapagos, the true balcony gives you a place outside where you can put wet clothes to dry. Silversea obviously thinks the horizon suites are better, as they have them on the higher deck and are priced higher. We got replies from about a dozen people on the SS FB forum when we asked about this choice , and most said they'd choose the true balcony. And that's what we've done for our Galapagos cruise in 2024.

Well, that would make it a verrrry expensive shore excursion! 🤣 @wesport We were on a Regent cruise some years ago and did an excursion from Tortola which brought us over to White Bay on Jost van Dyke. We still talk very fondly of the time we spent on the beach that day, having jerk chicken and cold beer at the One Love Bar & Grill (just a little down the beach from the more famous Soggy Dollar Bar), and feeling we were on the quintessential Caribbean beach. We were looking forward to going back on a Seabourn cruise last year, but they changed the itinerary and we lost Jost van Dyke. But if you don't enjoy sitting on a beach for a few hours, then you can skip going here and enjoy your day onboard.

From your description, British Airways changed your flight, not SS Air, so why would you figure SS Air screwed up? Yes, the new flight times are unworkable, so SS Air should work to change your booking. It hasn't been ticked yet, so changes should be possible. Now, is SS Air comes back and tells your TA that the flights are fine and they won't make any changes, then you can properly blame SS Air! 😉 Meanwhile, have you researched what flights you could book on your own, if you take the SS air credit? It may be more expensive, but if you can find flights that work, and SS Air won't put you on them because they don't have availability under their contracts, you might prefer to spend more but get flights you're more confident about. And whichever way you go, you have to remain aware that with 6 months to go before your cruise, their airline schedules might change again. (Once they publish their final schedules for August, probably about 3 months in advance, then it will be unlikely for there to be further changes.)

@saminina Just curious why you're assuming a brand new cruise line will be better than SB and SS? Is it because you haven't been satisfied with SB and SS on your recent cruises, and figure anyone could do better? Or because they're new and small, do you think they will be going the extra mile to deliver a superior experience? Or because you think MSC will do things better? I will be interested to see reports when they start coming in.

Not always, at least not in the current air travel environment. We booked a cruise for next June, and SS has no business class air offering until later this year. I suspect they got burned when air prices soared post-Covid, and they don't want to be in the air price futures market currently.

Depending on the cruise location, there may be extra-cost excursions you'd be interested in, so OBC can be helpful for that. And for laundry.

I think the last night of any cruise is different. People need to pack and get their bags out, so many people tend to eat earlier, or eat and bypass evening activities in order to change and get their luggage out. And because it's an early morning for most, many people tend to just make it an early night.

Let me apologize if my comments sounded like a was disparaging anyone who doesn't take an expedition cruise to Antarctica. If there's any way you can get to Antarctica, to experience this unique and wonderful part of our planet, you should do it! It takes considerable time, it takes a lot of flying, it requires careful packing and preparation, it costs a lot of money, and it's a travel experience only some of us are so, so fortunate to be able to do — so however one can get there is worthwhile. I was only trying to share the added benefits of traveling on a ship which can get you ashore in Antarctica; of traveling on a smaller ship which can do more landings in Antarctica; and of traveling to the trifecta of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula — all of which requires the time, funds, and physical capabilities for such travel. Again, my apologies if my enthusiasm for visiting this region led me to express it in a way which came off negatively towards anyone.

I'm in the process of coordinating planning for a group of 6 couples doing a cruise in the western Mediterranean in late spring, so I understand exactly where you're at in the planning process! 🙂 One of the things we like about doing a cruise-based group vacation is that it's very easy for people to do different things of interest to them without adversely affecting anyone else who wants to do something different. If it makes sense in some port to hire a private guide for all 8 of you, great! If in another port 4 people want to do one thing and each of the other couples wants to do something else, also great. Then you come back to the ship and share your experiences over cocktails or dinner, and no one has been forced to repeat things they've done, or miss something they wanted to see.