reposado

Its months away if its cancelled get your money back and move on. Presumably they want to operate it as much as they can as a sub is an expensive investment and they want return on its investment. They probably have their own good reasons why but I dont understand this entitlement as to why they need to give a full reason and explain "whats going on and why" to anyone who asks?

We are booked on the Jan 5 24 Caribbean cruise and noticed they "downgraded" one of the ports from Road Town/Tortola to San Juan/Puerto Rico. I only saw it when I searched the cruise on their website after reading this thread. There were no notifications from Explora at all of the itinerary change. 

We are well travelled and been to some of the best beaches like Bora Bora/Maldives so overall its not a huge deal but would be nice if they at least e-mailed booked guest of the change as people may already be planning their excursions and could cause inconvenience.  

They are both excellent products. I have a strong preference for new, shiny and modern settings. Explora II is brand new ship vs one over 20 years old it's a no brainer for me. 

However if you dont mind the older layout Im not sure if a premium of $1500 would be worth it. 

Your excursions will be included and decided at the time. Mostly on zodiacs. It'll be difficult to arrange local tours as port time will vary. 

What about Iceland/Greenland in this summer on the Venture. Im guessing a jacket would be provided since there will be plenty of zodiac?

You can board anytime you want as long as its during the embarkation window. No one is going to turn you away showing up at a time different from your assigned time. 

On 9/24/2023 at 8:46 AM, highplanesdrifters said:

Here is a link to our trip last summer..  The Greenland part is near the end.

 

 

Wow great trip review.

Thanks. 

1 minute ago, rallydave said:

We all should be treated equally and not have not have bribers first class and the rest of us treated like steerage. Passengers.

You've been treated like steerage passengers on Seabourn because you didnt tip?

31 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I don't think anyone is trying to say whether one has a right to tip or not;  it was the question of what many think of as a 'bribe' that has cased some slightly heated discussion.

Is there not enough caviar or Champaign for everyone? Aren't we all mostly receiving excellent service regardless of tipping status?

Amenities and services on a ship is not a zero sum game what differences does it make to us what others do with their money? 

18 hours ago, LMB01 said:

Wow, are my feelings hurt (just kidding, not at all).  Put whatever label you want on it, won’t change our behavior.

 

To the OP, no one can give you a definitive answer on tipping room service or suite attendants - they can only tell you what they do or anyone they have personally engaged with on the subject.  We don’t get room service often and truthfully it has been mixed for us, we have occasionally tipped.

 

My husband asked me, “why are you still engaging with those people?”  I said:

1.  Because it is fun

2.  I like to poke the bear

And more importantly, I have learned so much today:

We have a poster that seems to know what all other passengers like and dislike

Also, we have a poster that doesn’t go to Vegas but seems to know the tipping culture (btw, in a bar/restaurant we frequent daily, it is not uncommon to see regulars come in and pass out $100 bills to each bartender and then order.  As we are well known there, we wait and pass out additional tips when we leave.)

 

In all seriousness, I am mainly trying to point out that every passenger is not the same on Seabourn.  

To the OP, go, enjoy your cruise.  Tip as you see appropriate or not but most of all, have a good time!

Im going to stick my neck out and generally agree with you. 

Although I believe tipping culture is out of control in the US knowing many folks who work in the service industry including CruiseShip workers they appreciate all tips whether its after, before or during service. The vast majority of international ship employees are very poor by our standards (we literally take $10k/per person cruises) and $5-10 will make their day. Having said that since tip is included in the fare excellent service should be provided to all passengers regardless. 

LMB01 isnt giving away your money she is giving away her own so if she wants to make it rain its her business and she is doing someone very nice for these employees who work extremely hard. 

33 minutes ago, jondfk said:

it’s not the photo per se it’s the inevitable flash, second attempt, third attempt to frame the perfect shot that I find bothersome.

I see its a good thing I dont use flash then but I am guilty of sometimes making a few attempts to get a right. 😀

On 8/5/2023 at 10:13 AM, jondfk said:

I don't post food porn (I find it rude and distracting when the next table is taking photos of their food) or menus (since these are simple to see on Source).

 

Hmm I never knew me taking pictures of my own plate at my own table would bother someone else at another table... 

Im guessing on the expedition ship many excursions will be on zodiac thus already included. 

Flyingscotsailors Yes I am on that 11 day cruise and thanks for the specific answer!

Hello I am booked on the Venture going Greenland august 2024. I looked on the excursions page and the only ones available to book are the ones in Reykjavik(departing port).

Is it because its too early for the excursions to show up on the website or is it because there are no excursions to be booked as the zodiacs are already included?

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You mentioned service in the MDR was slow. Are you referring the Club Orange dining area or did you actually eat in the MDR area? I’m guessing you meant the CO area as you were in a Neptune Suite, which I would have thought would have offered faster service with more menu items than in the MDR.

We tried all the specialties and had dining room twice(no club orange as we wanted to sit with the rest of our party who had no access). 

Just finished my first HA cruise to Alaska (8/19/23 sailing) and would like to do a quick review vs other cruise lines I've sailed. I understand celebrity cost a bit more and Oceania significantly more than HA so please do take that into account. I've been on several celebrity and Oceania cruises from upgraded suites to regulars balconies; on HA I was in the corner aft Neptune suite 8th deck. 

- Staterooms: The Neptune suite offered beautiful views with a large deck, I travelled with a large group and visited their regular balcony rooms and it seemed about average as far as cruise ship goes. Koningsdam is a ship in good maintenance, clean, and overall decent shape; overall comparable to celebrity/oceania. 

- Entertainment: Celebrity had the best shows followed by HA and lastly Oceania.

- Embarkation: We arrived at 1:30pm which is late for Vancouver port and the "famously slow" customs line took about 30min. Not too bad. By then the suite priority lines had no impact as there were no lines in the HA check in section.

- Family: Surprisingly tons of younger kids playing/splashing around in the main "indoor" pool/jacuzzi which made the space unpleasant for adults. Less so the case in Celebrity and definitely not the case in Oceania. 

My main complains with HA is the crowds(which also caused the service to suffer) and dining:

- Crowds: Hard to find a public space as the ship was packed(it was a full sailing); it would have been a terrible cruise if we didn't have our balcony to enjoy as the public spaces were either hard to come by or chaotic due to crowds. Several times it was hard to find a table in the lido buffet. Overall the service was mediocre at best especially compared to the excellent service on Oceania. Service at the main dining room was very slow and poor(took about 10 min of waiting for any acknowledgement, waiter forgot drink orders, etc). Room stewards were great. 

- Dining: The food was a step below Celebrity and way below Oceania. Food can be subjective but objectively the ingredients were vastly superior in Oceania(USDA prime meat, unlimited lobsters at the buffets, croissants with an actual crispy shell, etc). Even ordering the caviar and tomahawk at the pinnacle or the fruits de mer(seafood was unfresh) in Rudis we'd prefer the regular daily buffet at Oceania in terms of food quality and taste. Celebrities Murano restaurant can match Oceania but sadly nothing in HA can. 

I must add however the dive in burger and fries when freshly made is great and IMO better than in-and-out. 

Great info. Thank you!

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

Hot and Cold actually:

 

Cold

Smoked Salmon, cream cheese, pumpernickel

Parma Proscuitto, olive, bread stick, papaya

 

Hot:

Shrimps Tempura, sweet chili sauce

Vegetarian Mini Samosa, raita

 

Cold

Bel Pease cheese, mango, pistachio

Poached Shrimp, American Cocktail sauce

 

Hot

Veal Polpettini, chunky marinara

Vegetarian Spring Rolls, ponzu

 

Cold

Roasted beet root, arugula, baguette

Graved Salmon, red onion, spa bread

 

Hot

Grilled Shrimps Provencal

Vegetarian Pot sticker, sesame soy

Is this on some menu somewhere in the Neptune suite?

21 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

And I have never not found a seat in the Lido at breakfast.  We always eat breakfast in the Lido.

Ray

I would not object to us no longer agreeing that Lido never not have seats.

Thanks for all the info!

bummer. 

A few years ago on a celebrity cruise one of the highlights was cruising into the Tracy Arm Inlet and seeing a glacier. 

In my upcoming itinerary in august it looks like Tracy Arm Inlet is only "30 min" prior to arriving to Juneau.

Does the ship actually visit the Inlet or is it simply to drop off passengers who has booked the already sold out excursion?

If so that's disappointing... 

Great review!

Doesn't the ship stop by Tracy arm fjord before Juneau? 

11 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

We had that once on our balcony; it wasn't pretty but didn't interfere with balcony space as it was at the end. I might have felt differently had it been in the middle, but other than adjusting some shots to be sure we didn't capture it in pictures, it didn't bother us. We would have been sad to miss out on that Neptune wrap suite for the week.

Ic. We ended up booking the warp suite on deck 8 which may have its own issues (larger overhang... but may come in handy in raining Alaska). Anyways it's all first world problems right?

Enjoy the extra large balcony on deck 4!