HalFan

While many will say that Glacier Bay is a “must see,” I think the Hubbard Glacier is a close second. We visited Glacier Bay many years ago on one of our HAL cruises and it is impressive. However, after our last cruise on HAL in 2019, we decided the ships were too big for us. After 18 cruises on HAL, we are no longer Halfans (see our cruise critic nickname). Last summer we booked an Alaska cruise on the Silver Muse and loved it so much that we booked a three week cruise on the Silver Dawn in the Caribbean which we took last month. I was afraid that I might be disappointed by not going to Glacier Bay on the Alaska cruise, but Hubbard Glacier is quite a sight. The ship sails up a smaller bay and circles around in front of the glacier for an hour or so – similar to what they do in Glacier Bay but for a shorter time frame. Given that you enjoy luxury cruising, I would recommend taking the Silver Nova especially after you mentioned that HAL would cost more. Although it’s been several years since we were on HAL, the food, service and amenities were never at a level with Silversea. We were in a Neptune Suite once, and while there is a concierge in the Neptune Lounge, they never provided the level of service that you receive from your butler on Silversea. If you do take a cruise to or from Seward, I would recommend staying there an extra day and taking the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. The one we took was about 6 hours and we saw glaciers, whales, puffins and lots of other amazing scenery and wildlife.

According to the Marine Traffic website, the Silver Dawn has been moored in Lisbon for several days. I thought it odd that it was there before the previous cruise was scheduled to end. According to Cruise Timetables, it should have left yesterday (November 4) for a Lisbon to Barcelona cruise. Does anyone know if there is a problem with the Dawn or maybe it's a problem with the Marine Traffic website? We're curious since we're booked to be on the Dawn in January.

Thanks for the offer of your private guide. If we go, and that's still a big "IF" right now, we would probably just walk around on our own. We've been to Venice several times before, although the last time was 20 years ago.

Thanks so much! Very helpful.

Another Venice/Mirittima/Fusina question. We were scheduled to be on this cruise and continue on the next one as well, but we cancelled because of my husband's back issues. We are now considering rescheduling for almost the same itinerary next year. We are wondering if anyone can share what arrangements Seabourn made to go into Venice for continuing passengers. Also wondering how long the bus took from Marittima to the dock in Fusina so we could judge how much time we might have to tour Venice (on our own).

Thanks for your suggestions! We had originally thought about going straight to Santorini to get over our jet lag, but then were concerned that the air routing might be too complicated (and too lengthy) from the west coast. It looks like a day trip might still work, and we could stay there for sunset if we took that last flight back to Athens. There are two flights between 9 and 10 PM which would allow us to view the sunset but maybe not enough time for a leisurely Greek dinner. Wine and snacks might be in order.

We are booked on the Encore from October 22 to November 12, 2023 for the Treasures of the Adriatic and Aegean Allure. This is our first cruise on Seabourn, but the third time we have booked a similar itinerary after cancelling two previous bookings. One of the ports that we really had wanted to visit is Santorini, but unfortunately, it is not included on this itinerary. Since the cruise begins in Pireaus, we researched whether we could go to Santorini for the day while we get over our jet lag in Athens. There are many flights both ways each day, so it is possible. The cost of the round trip flight is about $180, which turns out to be similar in cost to a ship excursion. My question to Seabourn cruisers is whether it’s really worth it. The photos look beautiful, but many of the comments recently have been about the excessive crowds, the wait times for tendering and/or the cable car. If we flew over for the day, we would avoid the tendering and cable car issues, but not the crowds. For those of you that have been to Santorini, would you say the day trip from Athens is “vaux le voyage” as they say in Michelin Guides? Given all the other wonderful ports we will be visiting, is Santorini that unique and/or a place that we should not miss? Thanks in advance for your advice.