Woodrowst

I have traveled extensively to the UK. It would be hard to imagine not spending any time in London on my first trip to England, Edinburgh on my first trip to Scotland, Dublin on my first trip to Ireland, or Belfast on my first trip to Northern Ireland. They are all amazing. The good news is that each of these cities have wonderful day trips to smaller towns or rural areas so you can get the best of both worlds. Next month my wife and I have an expedition cruise coming up that spends its time going around the lesser traveled outer Scottish islands. But I would not do that as my first UK cruise.

If you have booked air through Seabourn and have a night flight Seabourn will take you out to a nice restaurant for dinner and return you to EZE at about 5:00pm.

My suggestion would be turn a problem into an opportunity by booking a car/tour guide for the day. Load the luggage in the car, enjoy a tour of Rome, have a nice authentic lunch in the city, and get dropped off for embarkation in the afternoon.

We were in a similar situation this past summer. United had moved our flight up to 11:45am. Everything went like clockwork and we made it with time to spare. I am sure you realize that not everything always goes like clockwork. The biggest problems are if the ship gets delayed in docking which can and does happen and the check in line at the airport - especially if your daughter is in economy. We were in business class and the line was much shorter. We let Oceania know about the early flight time and they let us disembark in the first group. We left the ship at about 8:15am and our bags were available. We had booked transfers with Oceania and the bus left about 8:40am. If you can be one of the first off the ship a taxi or private company will probably save you time. Yes, it is about a 30 minute ride to the Barcelona airport. We got there about 9:15am. It took us about 30 minutes to check in but again we were in business class. I don’t know what the wait time would have been if we were in the main cabin. Barcelona has a fast pass security lane and there was virtually no waiting. I don’t know what the wait would have been through regular security. I believe that anyone can buy a pass through the fast pass lane and your daughter should probably do that. We got to the gate at about 10:30am. Hope this helps. David

Consider doing what many experienced cruisers do - have a nice leisurely lunch on shore (perhaps authentic Cuban in Little Cuba near the ship) and then a nice leisurely boarding between 1:00pm and 2:00pm. It sure beats waiting in a cruise terminal and then trying to get lunch at the same time everyone else is. Just a thought. David

We were on the Venture in January. We had seven days on the south side of the Drake passage. Below is the number of landings/zodiac rides for each day: Day 1: One zodiac ride. It should be noted that under ordinary circumstances we might have been off the ship twice that day. But the ship spent time going further south than usual because we had the rare opportunity to see Emperor penguins. Day 2: One landing and one zodiac ride. Day 3: One landing. Day 4: Two landings. Day 5: Two zodiac rides. Day 6: One zodiac ride and the polar plunge. Day 7: Two landings. Don’t judge by the number of landings vs zodiacs. Some places were better seen by zodiac - especially those that had plentiful icebergs with lots of creatures on them. Traveling on a zodiac among and between icebergs is an amazing visual and emotional experience.

For examples see: https://www.fodors.com/cruises/lines?active_tab=lines&styles=premium Premium Cruise Lines (icruise.com) https://www.farandwide.com/s/best-and-worst-cruise-line-rank-040222c2ca714bf8

You are doing it again. You are saying that you can’t understand why anyone would have different reasons than you do for booking a cruise. I apologize for repeating myself, but again, how sad 😔

So what you are saying is that you can’t understand why anyone would have different tastes in food (or maybe anything else) than you do. How sad for you😔

That would be true if Oceania were a luxury line. But it isn’t. Oceania ads to the contrary, objective cruise reviewing sites list Oceania squarely in the premium category (i.e between mainstream and luxury). If you sail on luxury lines such as Seabourn, Silversea, and Crystal you will experience the difference.

I listen to a comedy radio station when I want to unwind and heard a joke that could be applied to the cruisecritic boards: A group of cruisecritic posters were having lunch at a restaurant. At the end of the meal the waiter asked them, “Was anything ok?” I suspect this was funnier when it was told then it is in writing.

Perhaps we are on the same Endeavor cruise: Edinburgh to Portsmouth departing April 20? SS is using two hotels for the pre-cruise night: the Sheraton and W. It is curious that when you log into your account the SS website only shows pictures of the hotels and does not name them. But I did get an email from my TA about 10 days ago telling me that my wife and I had a room at the Sheraton. You can ask your TA or call Silversea to find out whether you are booked at the Sheraton or the W. There is a cruisecritic roll call for our cruise, so feel free to check it out. David

I would encourage you to book in advance. I was on the Venture this summer and did not feel that I had enough information before boarding to make an informed decision about paying for a kayak trip. They gave us a full lecture about the kayak adventure onboard and it became clear that this was a unique experience. The problem was by that time almost all of the slots were taken. I was lucky to grab one of the few remaining times. I wish they had made a YouTube video that could be seen in advance similar to what was presented on the ship. It was a great activity and I felt it was worth every penny.

Why do you feel the need to set up an us vs. them situation? It can be both. We experienced that this summer on the Nautica. Our assigned cabin was unbearably hot and Oceania was nice enough to move us to another cabin. The second one had working air conditioning and the temperatures were just fine. Same ship same sailing. If I had been forced to stay in the first cabin I would have rightfully complained that the cabin was unbearable. If I had started out in the second cabin I would have said that I had no complaints. Why can’t both be right?

We were in a similar situation in Buenos Aires coming back from the Venture in Antarctica. Seabourn has chartered a plane from Ushuaia that landed in B.A. at 1:00pm. Seabourn took those of us who had late night flights and had booked air through Seabourn out to dinner at a very nice restaurant. They got us back to the airport at 5:00pm. Of course I do not know if my situation applies to your Montreal disembarkation but it does show that in at least some situations Seabourn makes provisions for late departures for those who booked at through the cruise line. To know for sure you may want to ask your TA to check with Seabourn.

I guess my original statement still stands. Things changed and you had to decide between the polar plunge and a hosted dinner. That happens on expedition cruises. I signed up for kayaking on the Venture and then they announced that morning that there would be a special champagne celebration on the zodiacs at the same time. So I had to choose between the kayaking and the zodiac (I chose the kayak). It was no big deal. It would have been unrealistic and privileged of me to expect the ship to change the time of either activity so that I could do both. So my point stands: Expedition cruising requires the willingness to be flexible.

That is the nature of expedition cruising regardless of the cruise line. If having everything on a specific schedule is important to you (and it is to many people), then expedition cruising may not be for you.

It is a quieter experience and that quietude is valued by those on board. So if you value non-stop entertainment then an Oceania R class ship is not for you. Here is my handy-dandy (absurdly reductionist) test: Can you thoroughly enjoy sitting within 15 feet of and listening to a string quartet? If the answer is no, that may also indicate that an Oceania R ship is not for you. But if the answer is yes, why not give it a try? That is really the only way you are going to find out and it may expand your travel horizons.

If I needed four cabins I would not book a cruise waitlisted. I would pick a cruise where I had secured specific cabins. Booking four cabins waitlist means you have to play the odds and so have to ask yourself: Do you feel lucky? I would not want that kind of anxiety and I would not want to have to deal with being told close to boarding that one or more of the cabins were not available. Sure, you or your TA can call and get an idea of where you are on the list. But it is no guarantee since others with preferential status may sign up after you do (i.e. it is not necessarily first come, first served). In summary: Why create this level of anxiety and uncertainty? Since there are so many cruise lines and cruises out there, why not find one you like that has four cabins available at your price point?

As with others I could never find this on the website when I took a cruise on the Venture last month. My steward asked us what libations we wanted stocked during his first contact. I asked for Jameson and felt a little guilty when he provided a 750 liter bottle. I just wanted a few drinks and there was no way I was going to drink anywhere near that much in 12 days. I probably should have just ordered from one of the bars when I wanted a drink.

With the understanding that my three week tour did not go everywhere, I would agree that the South Island is more picturesque and I would spend most of my time there. From my experience, the major reason I would go to the North Island is to visit Rotorua. The Māori culture is more prevalent on the North island and Rotorua gives you a chance to have an immersive experience with this fascinating indigenous people. Rotorua also has huge bubbling mud pits to see (and smell ☺️). I would say Rotorua was a highlight of our NZ trip but I would also say that about every other place we visited. What an incredible country. PS: As an older person, I appreciated that NZ has free public bathrooms everywhere. There is never a problem finding one. They are well maintained, and some even sing to you!

I certainly respect your decision. Let me say just one more thing and then I will be quiet. In terms of stops and geographic distance in a land tour of NZ: New Zealand was the one and only place I did not mind driving between stops. The scenery is so magnificent that I could spend two hours just staring outside the window. I have never said that about any other place I have visited.

I hope you don’t mind if I provide a contrarian view. My wife and I love to cruise and have taken dozens of them. But if you really want to see New Zealand I would recommend doing what we did - take a land tour. New Zealand has an incredibly diverse topography and you will only get a small sliver of it with destinations near the sea. You really need to go to the interior (preferably on both the North and South Island) to do justice to this breathtaking country. My wife and I took a tour from Aukland in the north to Dunedin in the south. We still were able to get out in the sounds as we took a ferry from the north to the south and took a small boat cruise on Milford sound. Milford sound is not to be missed and the local tour boats get you in much deeper than a cruise ship can. Now back to our regularly scheduled program☺️

This type of statement is what is confusing me. The South Shetland Islands are close to the Antarctica peninsula and provide the same scenic cruising experience. So exactly why is this change a problem?

I have been to both the Antarctic peninsula and the nearby Shetland Islands and I don’t get it. I am sure the penguins can tell the difference, but for the layperson both are indistinguishable from each other. Same penguins, seals, whales, icebergs and beautiful vistas. They are both wonderful places to do scenic cruising. Plus, the change allows more time in the Falklands which is also fantastic. So exactly what is the big deal about substituting cruising the Shetland Island for cruising the Antarctic peninsula? Is it for bragging rights to say that you have been above the Antarctic circle? That might not have happened anyway - not all of the Antarctic peninsula lies within the circle.