conchyjoe

So I have a similar question but it is in regard to disembarking Seabourn in Venice. Will we be bussed to the Marittima terminal as well to collect our luggage? We are staying in Venice for a few days on disembarkation, anybody know if private water taxis can pick up from Marittima Terminal to take us to our hotel which is some distance away. Thanks.

While not a Seabourn excursion, we did a tango show a few years ago on our 3 day post cruise stay in Buenos Aires. It was underwhelming to say the least with mediocre food. They normally start around 7.30pm and continue until 10.30, so too late to make what may seem like a late flight. One other alternative is to get a private guide to fill the time. We had a wonderful guide booked through toursbylocals.com but kept our hotel room to relax for a few hours and ordered room service before we had to leave for the airport at 8.30pm.

In St. Martin look at Le Petit Hotel in Grand Case. If you don’t already know, Grand Case is the epicurean capital of St. Martin and well worth at least a 3-7 day visit in its own right. On our last visit we did a rental apartment in Grand Case right on the waterfront which was lovely. We had a rental car to explore the island and then back to Grand Case for dinner out each night. Food was extraordinarily good.

Fine with me, I would prefer the boat with the female entertainers, some caviar and lots of wine!

PH and suites above that get caviar for their ships biscuits in the lifeboats and some wine too. 😀

While not unobtrusive, maybe push notifications to devices might even be a better option. I don’t carry my phone around 24 hours a day but it is a handy way of getting information out. I agree with you that the biggest problem we had on that Quest voyage was communication and I think many of the problems were due to the fact that the crew were not being advised in a timely manner either. Then we also have the problem of the crew Covid infections which, quite deliberately, were never acknowledged by senior staff, nor the existence of a crew Covid outbreak communicated to passengers.

We did a repositioning cruise from Caribbean to South America which had six sea days in a row (well we did have four hours at Devils Island which was brutally hot). We love sea days between ports but not sure we would opt for six days in a row again.

If it is any consolation, we did this cruise in 2019 and was very much looking forward to visiting Sri Lanka. In reality however, the overnight stay in Colombo turned out to be pretty much a waste of time. The shore excursions were very poor and of any port that was included on the trip (Mumbai to Singapore via Myanmar), Colombo was at the bottom of our favorite list at the end of the cruise. Just another pin on the map was it’s only benefit to us.

Just to clarify some of my previous posts which I have now re-read with the benefit of shore internet as we are now back home. I can now also pass-on some crew comments on various subjects. As far as the catering was concerned in the first half of the cruise, it was generally excellent. Once the “Technical Difficulties” started (this is what the crew interacting with passengers were instructed to explain why some restaurants were simply closed due to the crew Covid outbreak). Mid-level supervisors in all the restaurants are very much aware that many of the new crew they are being sent have little or no shipboard experience. In times past, Seabourn operated the “Seabourn Academy” where new hires spent three weeks in training. This is no longer happening either because it is too expensive for the company or the ships are so short of crew that management cannot afford the delay getting them onboard ships. The shortage of workers has been perplexing to me. I have a favorite little place in Palm Beach that serves hot dogs and just before our cruise they had a sign in the window that simply said “Closed due to lack of Staff” so this is not just a problem for cruise companies.

Well all I can say is that we are Platinum level on Seabourn and the same on Silversea. we choose our cruises based on itinerary between the two lines. We are booked on the Quest next year and will give them another chance to redeem themselves.

Had dinner tonight in the Colonnade - Canadian Market Menu. Frankly it was appalling. If just based on the food quality tonight, I would cancel all my future bookings. Cold and waaay too much salt in all the dishes. Unfortunately this voyage has been so badly affected by so many factors. Some new poorly trained and inexperienced crew, a Covid outbreak among the chefs, lack of communication from ships staff and a Hurricane that just compounded all the inherent problems. That said, there have been some of the crew that have shone as always. Not their fault that the other factors probably diminished their substantial efforts to make everything Seabourn perfect.

If you are thinking of heading to Antarctica then there are a couple of stores in Montreal that would be worth visiting. “Canada Goose” and “Canada Wolf”. They are both very close to each other on St. Cat and easy to find on Google Maps.

I heard from a past cruise posting that some of the infected crew members were being put on Deck 4. That might explain why you have seen a rapid increase in the number of stools shortly after sailing. Theoretically all of the paying pax should have tested negative before boarding and probably wouldn’t test positive until at least day four if they contracted Covid on their flights or at some later point before becoming symptomatic.

I didn’t hear of one but we don’t normally participate and definitely would not these days given the circumstances.

Deck 8 seemingly now not immune. Another stool arrived outside a Suite this morning. so that’s a total of around 10 pax and about 22 crew out of action due to Covid) Very pleasant but cool afternoon sailing down the St. Lawrence admiring the Fall colors. We should pass Quebec City just before sunset which will allow some great photos of the city. Then it should be a smooth sail up the river overnight to arrive in Montreal at 0900. A one day respite before they chuck us all off at 0900 on Tuesday. It’s generally been a very enjoyable cruise on Quest although this one has been much shorter than we would normally do. Just wanted to get our feet wet after an almost 3 year absence. We will be back next year on the same ship for a longer Adriatic trip.

There are four stools outside suites on decks below Deck 8. There are none on 8,9 or 10. The crew have been more affected by the outbreak since they all share cabins. Galley staff have been hit hard, at least 12-14 out of action at the moment which is why the Patio Grill is operating a limited menu (no pizza and a few other regular items). Earth & Ocean has been closed for 3 nights and is likely to remain closed for the remainder of this cruise as the Chef and Sous-Chef have been redeployed to other locations (or are sick). The shipboard management suggestion was to close the TK Grill but this request was apparently denied by Head Office. All this said, given a hurricane and Covid, most areas (including the laundry) have been working pretty smoothly. We are not newbies and have sailed on Seabourn many times before.

I also have to agree, communication has been abysmal and the staff at Seabourn Square and Destination Services have been very poor. My DW doesn’t like riding the tenders so a couple of days ago I asked if we would be alongside in Havre St. Pierre and after reluctantly looking it up on her computer, the young lady confirmed that we would indeed be alongside. When we arrived this morning we went to anchor and tender service began. We are aware of several cases of Covid onboard. Sure wish more folks would wear masks in public spaces.

That is not the right spelling of his last name. Something like that. Fortunately being in a premium suite we had a nice 30min chat and he seems to know his stuff.

The Captain is Jeroen Schuchmann and the HD is Roland Rheum (sp). The latter has been with SB for many years and previously with SS.

They have Oyster Bay - maybe for a few more days at the rate we are drinking it!!

We are on the same Quest cruise and have to say that everything has been pretty good so far and very much in line with our many previous cruises. Food so far has been good/excellent. The wine choices are somewhat limited but we managed to find a couple that were certainly to our tastes. Crew for the most part have been fine and our cabin attendants have been great. New very experienced Chef, Hotel Manager and Captain joined in Montreal. I doubt that we will see a repeat of some problems experienced on the trans Atlantic leg. Pax mix is somewhat older than on our previous Seabourn or Silversea cruises. So far, so good. Would prefer the hum and gentle movement of the ship as we cruise along but that is not to be at this moment. I pray for the people in Cape Breton tonight, they are going to have a rough time.

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Canadian weather service just woke up. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada Info & updates The next information statement will be issued by 9:00 a.m. ADT Wednesday. Hurricane Fiona expected to impact Atlantic Canada land areas Saturday and southern offshore areas Friday. This storm is shaping up to be a potentially severe event for Atlantic Canada. Numerous weather models are quite consistent in their prediction of what we call a deep hybrid low pressure system, possessing both tropical and intense winter storm-type properties (but with very heavy rainfall). Currently the range of uncertainty with regard to the centre of the low when it approaches late Friday or Saturday is approximately a 600 to 700 kilometre wide zone ("cone of uncertainty") centered near eastern Cape Breton with a broad coverage of hurricane-force winds including over land. This is the most likely scenario as we see it now, regardless of meteorological classification of 'Hurricane', or 'Post-Tropical Storm' Fiona at that time. Since we expect the storm to become very large, the impacts will be multi-provincial. Specifics in terms of winds, rainfall, waves and storm surge will be described in increasing detail here beginning Wednesday. Again, this storm certainly has the potential to be quite severe - we suggest to check forecast updates at least daily for important information regarding the trend in our analysis of what to expect. Forecaster: Fogarty.