frantic36

I'm not sure if it has changed in 6 years since I retired but where I live in Western Australia we have a lot of mining and employers would send their employees to us to get random drug screening before returning to the mines and we only used the "cheap" screening. I suspect it was a cost decision for the employers.

I'm a retired nurse and used to work in a medical practice. When doing drug testing for work sites I had learnt to ask the question have you had anything to eat with poppyseed on because the poppyseed can show up as an opiod. I hope your friend was able to get retested.

I found it interesting that Regent who we are soon to try, is considered less dressy than Seabourn but has a policy of no jeans after 6pm in the dining rooms. I can only wonder if it is considered not so dressy because of the less likelihood of Formal Optional nights.

We had a few like that onboard also wondered whether they understood zodiacs. Claudio had to tell one passenger she would no longer be allowed go on the zodiac after she kept yelling at the zodiac driver to stop because the water was splashing on her white sneakers. The lady was allowed back after a few days when she promised to behave and from all accounts she did. I tried to avoid being in the same zodiac again. Your A team was on our cruise and they were great. Captain Vasvi was not only pleasing on the eye but a great Captain. Good to know he is back on as on our sailing his contract was only till September so we made sure we gave him high praise in our end of cruise survey.

I have sailed with Seabourn a number of years and usually 2 or 3 cruises a year. In all that time I have only received a complimentary upgrade once and that was on a sailing that wasn't full and I had a special birthday. Other upgrades were always paid for when they made an offer closer to the sailing. From friends I know who have well over 1,000 days sailing it is the same a paid upgrade. What you saw was not usual and so I am not sure why all the angst?

Thanks for this tip. We have Chartreuse booked for our first night on Explorer in a few weeks so we will attempt to do the same. We might opt to get a revenue wine, are they the same wine list in different venues or if we have a favourite but it is in a different wine list can they send it to the restaurant we are dining in?

😲😒That is terrible, entitled behaviour.

I agree as these are a favourite as well.

🤣Good to know I might find like minded deviants onboard Regent. My husband and I always go to the back of the bus.

Thanks for the reassurance from you and others. What you do is exactly what I do on Seabourn. My husband and I are currently on Seabourn Odyssey doing her final sailing and the crew have been wonderful. I have done one comment report mentioning various staff on the Source App and you have reminded me to do another before the cruise ends in four days. We are doing the Japan section now having had 2 days in Kushiro and enjoyed going out for lunch and dinner there. We are looking forward to our Regent experience in Japan in a few weeks. Julie

On our Seabourn cruises I give generously to the crew welfare fund and to our stewardesses if they have gone above expectations. I also don't get our stewardesses to do our room every day and give them time off. My question is since we won't tip bar/dining staff etc what is the likely reaction? Will they hover nearby waiting? This is making me nervous for our upcoming Regent cruise.

Having done one Virtuoso tour previously I am not surprised there were others on your tour. Their private tour is differentiated as being "private" from the ship tour and only including Virtuoso guests. It is why my husband and I now opt for the OBC and organise our own tours.

Currently on Odyssey just having left Alaska. It is a bright blue HH with orange trim with no inner lining and has a hood. Though I have seen some people with a black HH jacket so not sure about the lining in that. I have found it better than the lined jacket I received in 2017. I am from a hot climate but have found this jacket with one layer of a warm shirt, a beanie and leather gloves quite sufficient in temps in the low 50sF. The sizing runs a bit small so I had to size I from a S to M to comfortably fit a warm shirt under.

I do hope this is an attempt at humour?

Okay I'm confused. We get revenue wines frequently but we don't add a gratuity to it and if I had a premium whiskey I wouldn't do it then either. Is it a cultural thing as we go by the published concept that no tipping required? We also don't sign any bits of paper we just tell the sommelier what we want and they are put aside and it shows up on our account when we actually consume the bottle.

I am not sure what Silversea do but with Seabourn it is print them off at home. To me it is more about the onboard experience than what the luggage tags are like. I enjoy Seabourn and am looking forward to trying Regent as friend's I trust recommend them. Admittedly I have never done Oceania or Viking but reading their boards they don't appeal and a fancy luggage tag won't change that.

In Australia and New Zealand they will remind you at every port to not bring anything off and they will check. A commercial granola bar is okay but you still need to declare it. That sandwich you describe will be taken off you and if you don't declare it beforehand you will likely get a hefty fine.

I understand your complaint but I have never heard of any cruise line that gives a discount if you book direct rather than a TA. Do you or anyone else be able to name some?

Away on a holiday at the moment so will do a overview in a few days 😊

While I agree with much of what you say I do have some queries. With regards to Barbara Muckerman I have always wondered why she left Silversea so abruptly this year? Was she pushed or did she jump? As to your comment on junking things I do question that not having helicopters especially in places like the Kimberley is not good economic sense. I sailed on True North in the Kimberleys last year and the helicopter was heavily utilised and as far as I know the same can be said for Scenic's helicopters. So they seemed to be good revenue raisers. I would not classify most of the passengers on True North as seriously rich but comfortably off just like most of the passengers on Seabourn.

Enjoy your next cruise line.

Feel free to do so 😁. I live on the West coast not the East but I have visited various places on the East and middle. On the Australia & New Zealand ports of call and the general discussion board the people are very helpful.

We will have to agree to disagree. Even land based restaurants would be overwhelmed if multiple individuals at a table ordered extra appetisers and entrees per person as that's a lot of food. I can't fathom ordering more than one appetiser, entree and a side dish.

It sounds like the poor servers would have been overwhelmed with just your table of 8. Multiple appetisers and entrees for individuals, were you all wanting to try as many things on the menu as possible?

I understand your frustration but as non-Americans I have found both LAX and MIA difficult and long. In fact one time in LHR in England our business class line took almost 3 hours. I will be interested how our first time through in Haneda will go.