Isklaar

Just now, SLSD said:

This will be our first trip to Norway and we are very excited about it.  This itinerary (which has changed some since we booked the cruise) is the one I've been thinking of for the last three years.  The weather was perfect today with the temperature at about 70 degrees F.  We left Tivoli at about 8:45pm and it was still perfect  weather for walking.  

I hope that you love Norway, I'm so looking forward to reading all about your cruise.

Lovely photos SLSD.  That looks like perfect sightseeing weather.  

I hope that you have a fabulous cruise. Have you visited Norway previously?

3 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Many thanks Markham.

Any sign of the Howdee Doody knock on my door whilst I'm getting shaved and dressed for dinner party?

Sounds good so far.

Entertainment is a particular newbie on Venture.

Is the great JB still on and singing?

I'll take as much of the details as you can throw at us. 

Good work Markham.

 

 

Re Howdy Doody party - you beat me to it! 

Have a great cruise Markham, I look forward to hearing more about your experience on Venture when you have time to post.

49 minutes ago, billdip said:

The deck plans of the Sojourn show a Retreat area. Regardless, I use the balcony example as a way to show my perspective on the value of the Retreat. On the Ovation, we spent full days in the Retreat. Our balcony use could be measured in minutes.

Seabourn using the word Retreat on both O and E class ships is silly. On the O class ships the area is not at all the same as the Retreat on Emcore and Ovation, 

4 hours ago, rols said:

wow. That's sad. I've become a cycling since covid started and I remember this thread VERY well and had planned, the next time we cruise, to take one of my bikes with me and cycle around the ports in much the same way. That's is SO SAD that Seabourn now ban them. I wonder if it is possible to get an exemption .. this was on my bucket list. 

Also it's odd that this was just posted. I haven't been to the boards much in the last couple of years, ever since that fateful post about "a new disease which has been seen in China". Today I got my credit card statement to find that our last two on board cruise deposits had been refunded and indeed it was 4 years. So I jumped back on the boards to look for posts about getting extensions (there are none). So no 5% and no bikes .. I may put off my return to cruising for a little while longer. 

Good to see you again rols, you were one of the missing regulars I had mentioned in my post upthread.

I remember it too, hard to believe it was almost seven years ago though! 

I must mention I noticed several  posters who were regulars back then had posted on the 'Punctured' thread. I haven't seen them at CC for a long while.  

46 minutes ago, cruisinsince75 said:

Probably so, if the deposit was 15% or less of the full fare.  I have never had a problem transferring a booking to a different date with Seabourn, but I'm not from the UK.  Check with your TA.

I am in the UK and our deposit here is generally non refundable regardless of how much was paid. In this case as I said earlier, I would try to transfer if it were feasible, but SB can refuse that and refuse any refund of deposit. 

I believe at this stage the deposit will be lost. Could you claim on your insurance - depends on the reason for cancellation of course. Something to consider if it's feasible for you is to ask if you could transfer to a different cruise instead. They may agree to it. Or may not.

8 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Thank you. Now I just need to find adapters that support multiple USB C. Appreciate the responses here

If you can do a board search someone posted a multiple USB C that they were using onboard quite recently. I thought I had the thread bookmarked but I don't. If you can't find the post,  comment here again and I'll check for it on a different device.

Also useful to know is that there are fewer US outlets in the suite than EU. 

8 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I totally agree and one of the reasons I asked. I ordered a universal adapter that was recommended and it does not appear to have an option for our hotel in Italy. It has options for two or three prongs, however the two prongs appear to be for US outlets. So I think I need to look further. It got me thinking about what the outlets on Quest will be. We haven’t sailed since C and adapters appear to be much more compact than the bulky ones we have from the past. 

On Quest the outlets are EU, US and USB. 

2 hours ago, labonnevie said:

We just returned from a two week cruise around Japan. 
At every port, and we went ashore eight times, whether on a tour or independently, you had to pass a face to face inspection with Japanese immigration officers. The actual passport (not photo, not passport card, not paper copy) had to be presented. This was a Japanese requirement not the ship’s. 
So sometimes you have to do what the country you are visiting requires if you want to see anything other than shoreline and docks. 
Now, wrt concerns about crime, that’s a whole different discussion. You could drop $1000 on the ground in Japan and five people would rush to give it back to you, bowing all the while. 
 

Good point about Japan as it's been a requirement there for at least the twenty years since my first visit to carry the actual passport at all times, not a copy. I've never visited Japan by ship but in hotels sometimes the front desk staff will remind you to have it with you when you leave the hotel. I have never had any concerns about carrying it during my visits to Japan.

In SA however I have always carried a copy since  a visit in the mid 1990s when my office booked me into a hotel in Johannesburg CBD. The area had entered a decline recently and front desk staff told me to avoid leaving the hotel alone.

So now we're told that a copy is not acceptable and the passport itself must be carried. Good news for the criminals. I'm not sure what measures tourists and other visitors can take given this new information. 

57 minutes ago, florisdekort said:

It’s really interesting to read what everyone did in 2014 🙄 and what everyone who is not on Sojourn claims they would have done, BUT if the ship has a big table set up at the gangway handing out passports telling you that you can’t go to shore without it, I for one am not surprised that these passengers (and us) were carrying theirs. 

But that was entirely my point as to why I mentioned a cruise in 2014.

I couldn't recall the  insistence for passports taken ashore back then. In this post you've clarified the difference between then and now. If there had been a big table at the gangway manned by passport dispensers I would have remembered it. So I wonder when the change was made.

JMO but it's a concern given that the UK and US official advice is in conflict with Seabourn procedures. 

Just now, Mr Luxury said:

I'll never forget it.

Don't even mention Maputo 

😂

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

If I was one of the unfortunate guests that were robbed I would think that I might want some questions answered by Seabourn as to why passports were required ashore clearly against the advice of my Government.

Exactly. I tend to be rather compliant when given official rules but in this case, because I've visited SA previously, based on experience I would not have taken my passport ashore. 

I really do feel for those guests affected by this horrible incident.

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

I also did Sojourn Cape Town 2014.

We didn't take our passports ashore.

48 hours looking at coal? 

58 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Perhaps the Purser could be shown the instructions and recommendations from the UK Foreign Office website for British travellers.

After yesterday's incident the Purser might not be so hot on the idea of passport carrying ashore.

Head office might have another plan for the Purser to implement. 🙄

U.S State Department also advises citizens to carry a copy of their passport and to keep the original in a 'secure location'.  

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/south-africa-travel-advisory.html

We were on Sojourn holiday cruise Cape Town to Cape Town back in 2014. I can't recall if we were advised to take our passports ashore but having experience of SA previously I would not have taken  mine off the ship. 

Dover port has been operating normally during the late afternoon today but there were problems this morning. Tomorrow and Saturday will be busier than today for the Easter break, so will have an opportunity to see how well the new measures they have in place are actually working.

On 4/4/2023 at 8:02 PM, Isklaar said:

We had the previous guy to the previous guy onboard for several days on Quest several years ago. I can't remember his name. Anyway Mr L's summary describes well what I observed!

Rick Meadows

We had the previous guy to the previous guy onboard for several days on Quest several years ago. I can't remember his name. Anyway Mr L's summary describes well what I observed!

2 hours ago, caviargal said:

I decided to avoid London altogether this trip and booked a lovely manor home in the country instead.

 

Thanks!

Good plan. Dover isn't a nice town, although the castle is very impressive. 

I'm convinced that the breadsticks recipe changed sometime around 2013. I found them rather addictive when we first sailed Seabourn. Then suddenly one cruise they just weren't so good and have never been since.

3 hours ago, shark b8 said:

Presented without comment.

 

 

 

😱

37 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Reine, Lofoton, Norway. Considered the most scenic part. But it's all pretty spectacular to me.

Indeed. Had many childhood vacations in the Lofoten islands.

Pleased to read the Norway love. Kind of makes up for the beets and kale hate 😂

2 hours ago, adoctor said:

Sorry to hear of your experience Markham but not surprised. The three cruises that I have taken post resumption have been similar with cost savings evident across the ships and standards dropping.(Unheated pool, buses filled to capacity, food recycling, stock reductions etc etc)

After the last trip on Odyssey December 22 I let rip in the post cruise questionnaire as you plan to do. Don't hold your breath however the only response I received from Seabourn was a deafening silence. I can only conclude they don' t give a damn what their regular and up to now loyal customers think.

 

 We had a poor experience on Odyssey several years years ago. I let rip on the post-cruise questionnaire. The lack of response from Seabourn infuriated me to the extent that I wrote them an actual letter. They responded to the letter kindly explaining that they don't actually reply to the questionnaires! Clearly they still don't.