PACruiser5

On 11/22/2023 at 12:02 PM, morganowl said:

Thanks so much for sharing!  We are on Jan 18, Seabourn newbies.  Your info is priceless!  Concerned somewhat about what to pack for dining room?  I am not a fashionista.

 

Expeditions are a different animal from more main stream cruises. Attire more LL Bean than fancy. Black pants and a nice sweater will do fine.

BaBack to the South Georgia appeal. It is, as was said earlier, jaw droppingly beautiful, and teaming with wildlife not seen anywhere else. Photos do not do it justice. At our first stop we landed on a beach covered with penguins, fur, seals, elephant seals... much more crowded than these photos. Curious penguns and seals will come right up to you like the pup in the photo. It is overwhelming. I asked fellow passengers why they had selected this trip in the first place and at the end what was the highlight. South Georgia Island was both the reason people chose the trip and afterwards the near unanimous highlight. Antarctica is amazing, do not get me wrong, and I would have enjoyed the chance to see more of it than we did, but if given a choice (and of course those on the venture were not) not at the expense of S Georgia.

Agree it is a personal tolerance issue, with no absolute right answers. BUT, for any of you who have South Georgia on your itinerary, if they are not going to promise that I would cancel. In early December we completed the Falklands, S Georgia, Antarctica trip on Ponant. Almost everyone described South Georgia as the highlight of the trip and would not have missed it willingly. 

My 3 cents...

As to the food... I had read comments disparaging the food on Ponant so my expectations were a tad low. BUT, on our recent Great Austral Loop on Le Boreal we found the food definitely superior to that on Seabourn's brand new fancy Venture a few months back. And that on a sailing with Seabourn's President and top brass aboard. Service better  on Ponant too. The various cruise line forums are filled with complaints that the food/service/wine whatever is not what it use to be. I suspect its going to depend on individual ship personnel and provisioning. And FWIW, I am a food and wine person and I also found the included wines just fine. At least equal to those found on Seabourn and Silversea. They had some particularly good ones on gala nights.  

There is a taxi kiosk after you exit the departure area. They will take US dollars, cash only. 

Thank you so much! We will be following you on Le Boreal, flying to Buenos Aires tomorrow, so the info on logistics and such is much appreciated.

Lots of information here but back to the original question from Korimako, will you or anyone else like a particular cruise line? The only reasonable answer is "it depends":

Where you want to go being the most important one. Many cruisers are loyalists to a particular line, there are certainly benefits and perks to that, as well as gaining familiarity to ships, staff and amenities. And there are some general characteristics you will read about if you scroll through the various line specific boards, things that people really like or don't.

Others move around, often based on the itinerary. Some lines have a specialty in an area, Paul Gaugin (part of Ponant) for example in the south pacific. We chatted with a cruise director on Silversea, who had worked on several lines, who was very candid that Silversea did this or that really well, but if you want to go to x, Seabourn (or whoever) does that better. 

And as Fletcher points out, there are some places you can only go on the small expedition ships, and yes you will not have some of the things you find on bigger ships. 

We are going to Antarctica, the Faulklands and South Georgia island on Ponant next month. You can't do that on Oceania (which I agree has great food). I know that the ship will be smaller and the cabins tighter than what we found on a recent Seabourn Venture polar cruise. We picked Ponant originally  because they have a great reputation in the Antarctic region - they have had numerous ships in those waters for years. Other lines do as well for sure, but the French cuisine was a positive! We will go with an open mind and are looking forward to the penguins and spectacular scenery. Which is why you go there anyway. Will let you know how it goes.

On 9/17/2022 at 5:32 PM, ColdCruise said:

I guess that deduction was based on the crosshatching in the photo @cruiseej? I didn’t notice that on my phone screen. However I’ll ‘fess up that I used our official cruise photographer’s polar bear photos myself (now going back to verify I gave credit where due!) as they were SO MUCH better!! 

😜
 

@PACruiser5 otherwise has shared some excellent photos & has upped my eagerness for our next cruise in Greenland next summer 🐳 🦭& 🧊🧊🚼

It was an outstanding trip! hope you enjoy it!

On 9/17/2022 at 1:21 PM, cruiseej said:

@ColdCruise Don't go investing in new photo gear yet; the bear pic looks like it was from an image projected on a screen. 😉

That is absolutely correct! Too the picture from the TV feed of the bridge cam!

Thanks all for the information. From the Seabourn threat it sounds like the  Venture NW passage trip was also plagued by some of the same paperwork issues and weather cancellations. But it sounded from the Facebook and CC posts that service at least held up. 

We are on Boreal Nov 22nd for the Great Austral Loop and hopeful that Ponant will be back on their game by then. 

We were on the Aug 21 sailing from Reykjavik where we were joined by a big crew of folks from corporate in Seattle including President Josh Leibowitz. I didn't notice any smoking by the sky bar, but that does not mean it wasn't happening. Folks onboard gave Josh and the team plenty of "feedback", will be interesting to see if anything comes of it other than the smoking thing. They held a Q and A one evening- I asked what they had learned from their onboard experience that would cause them to make changes. Josh turned to one of the senior guys on the stage with him and said- we clearly need to improve communications and handed over the mike. That is indeed a weakness, will be interesting to see if anything happens. 

Check on the Seaborn Sailors group on Facebook, I have seen photos posted of the Panorama Suite. The poster was really pleased with it. 

We just got off the venture and had no problems with the self service laundry. never waited for a machine. Try first thing in the morning, or just getting back from an excursion, go eat breakfast or take a shower, stick in dryer etc. Was not inconvenient at all.

13 hours ago, Dusko said:

We had a similar experience on our May Alaska cruise. One day the Asst Cruise Director was there, next day not. Same with some passengers. Do they give you any credit for the days you're in quarantine?

I heard that they do. Can't verify though people reappearing from quarantine seemed to be content with how they were treated.

There are probably no right answers to this debate, but here is what I observed on our recent Seabourn Venture Aug 21-Sept 4 Iceland/Greenland expedition voyage.

We were all required to show proof of vaccination and a negative Covid test either 3 days in advance or taken at the pier prior to embarkation. We heard of one woman testing positive who wasn't allowed to board. Within a week we began to notice the absence of people who we had encountered regularly (with 250 on board, you begin to see the same folks getting coffee) and hear talk of folks being quarantined. Then we noticed the suites with a table in front of the door where room service trays were left and sometimes red marked bags marked medical waste. The venture has 132 suites, one day I counted 10 blocked with the "Covid tables of doom". The cruise director announced every day that yes there was Covid on board and guests were being well cared for and please report any symptoms to the medical team. But honestly, I think most people just kept going unless they felt really bad, and judging by the coughing, the true number of cases was probably higher. 

And this is in August when we all started the cruise vaccinated and covid free. What will the winter look like as those standards are relaxed? Maybe we are getting to the point where we treat it like the flu and if you get it oh well. But it is not going away....

Enjoy the trip! We got off as you got on and experienced the same thing when looking for the ship. We came in to Reykjavik a few days early and got lucky when a morning walk along the water revealed the Venture at the downtown dock- not the location shown on our boarding pass! 

We had a great time so sure you will too. The Seabourn team, especially the expedition team are fantastic!

We had Josh Leibowitz and a coterie of Seabourn brass on board who got many ear fulls of suggestions/complaints/why on earth did the ship designers do that??? About the ship itself and other things. Will be interesting to see what others notice. 

Have fun!!! Looking forward to seeing your trip.

Great food reporting! Agree on the assessments of the different venues. Will probably stick to MDR for rest of the trip. A great ship and a wonderful experience overall. But room for improvement!

We are coming out of the Greenland fjords heading back to Iceland. Weather has cleared and we had a fantastic morning zodiac touring and sea kayaking. Both fantastic. Trying to give Seabourn the benefit of the doubt on food. But thus far it’s good, not awesome. Right now I give them 3rd place behind Oceania  and Silversea. SB regulars said

you have  to try Market Square night in the Colanade, fantastic international buffet. Meh, ok, but not sure we didn’t have as good on Princess ages ago. Which with top brass on board does not give me hope that it’s a small, new ship thing. Restaurant has been good so far, but not totally impressed. the locations on the itinerary and the expedition stuff has been first rate. Will post more when I can.

Yes to Grundafjordur as the dock for Snaefellednes peninsula. Please excuse all spelling of location names. Even if I get it right autocorrect does weird stuff… 

people onboard quite friendly, far more so than our last silversea cruise, but could be small size of ship and the expedition experience is different. A lot of seasoned folks, some newbies onboard. 
A few service slips, but any we noticed have improved. The group of 9 that complained on FB, well that happens. But that does not seem the norm. 
Weather has been fantastic, Greenland fjords amazing. The expedition crew is great. A few adjustments based on conditions. Like a polar bear, but that ended up being a great time. They re do plans on the fly which is not easy! Added a landing today and a long hike for those interested which was spectacular. A few pics: 

We are on the 14 day Aug 21- Sept 4. So far so good! Weather has been great so far! Maybe the big brass have some pull! A few pictures from Snaefellsnes peninsula. 

This is an expedition cruise, we departed Reykjavik on August 21, quick note for ports where there is more than one docking option. Our boarding pass listed one, the ship was actually at the other one. We went for a walk that morning and happened to see it which saved us some time and aggravation. Pre cruise communication could be better…. We flew to Reykjavik a few days early to see some of the city and the area around it.  Did a small group Golden Circle tour, which was great despite winds that were hard to even stand
up in. Wish I had had the Parka we would get on the ship! For those packing for similar itineraries- it is frequently windy, sometimes along with rain and feels comfortable Oder than the actual temp. A few pics from the golden circle and Reykjavik. 

Thanks for all your excellent reporting! We are onboard now, boarded Aug 21 along with a contingent of Seabourn top brass including the big boss Josh Leibovitz. So far really enjoying the ship and the overall experience! 

For others onboard, please chime in! It’s the second full day onboard. Big corporate contingent from HQ including the big boss Josh Liebowitz himself. Glad to see they are experiencing the product firsthand. Josh and a few others from the leadership team were on our excursion to Vigur Island this morning. Dressed like everyone else trying to blend in. So far we are enjoying the ship, small things that could be improved but in the big picture it is fantastic. Will post more later but here is a photo from night one. 

Thank you so so much! Have all the gear for Antarctica, just needed some guidance on what to bring on this trip. And love the photos!!!!

Enjoy the rest of the trip!

Thank you so much for your updates, info and photos!!! We get on for the Aug 21 sailing  so your info is invaluable! This will be our first expedition cruise (not for lack of trying, last 2 attempts at Antarctica/S Georgia both cancelled, maybe this November...) and first time on Seabourn so really appreciate it. 

A couple of packing questions, we will be in Iceland and Greenland which you haven't gotten to yet but appreciate any tips - things you wish you had brought or left at home? Hiking boots yes or no? 

And formal nights - you said people fluff up a bit, love the phrase, but a bit more info please? Is a blazer for men sufficient? Can I fancy up black pants and avoid packing a dress and the accompanying frippery? 

Thank you again! Love the sense of humor and general joy of the experience. I will try and post info on our cruise for those on later trips.