pdx13

As everyone has said, layers! I'm leaving mid April for a TA to Copenhagen, then doing a Baltic cruise for May 1-12th. Living in NE Wisconsin, I have clothes, no need to shop for warm stuff! I will bring my "cuddle duds", lightweight thermals in case it is damp and rainy. I will not bring a heavy jacket, my Fall jacket has a zip out flannel liner, which should be fine. I refuse to bring anything heavy, winter wear is bulky, layers are better.

 

I travel with a rain poncho, not big on umbrellas, gloves, hat, ear muffs, no sweatshirts, heavy, take up space. I have many zipper, knit hoodies with a tee or turtle neck, I can pack 2 or 3 of those compared to one sweatshirt. Traveling for 25 days, I have this down to a science and it all has to fit in one 26" suitcase! :)

We will be gone for a month and I can pack all of my stuff into a carry on and personal item allowed by international airlines. Lightweight layers really don't take up all that much space.

We leave at the end of April, western Europe and Baltic. I expect to feel right at home; some sun, some clouds, some rain, or any combination. And mostly cool temps. Layers is the key.

I'm sure this has been asked previously, but I couldn't find it by using the search too, so please pardon. What is the tipping standard for an independent organized tour in SPB? We are doing three days in a small group with guide and driver.

I am looking for June tickets...website shows completely blank for the whole month. Most of the May dates say No Tickets Available. When do they release tickets? Day by Day, week by week, month by month?

Keep your eye on the website. A few days after I posted re: my frustration, the date opened up along with a bunch of others in May. Seems to be very hit and miss.

We will be in Amsterdam May 9 and 10. Does anyone in the area know if that might be within the window for viewing tulips this year?

How many smaller cruise is your cruise sold as (i.e. when new passengers embark/disembark).

 

For example, if you are on a 21 day Mediterranean, it may be possible to buy it as three 7 day cruises (legs) - so you'd be able to dine once each leg.

 

If you are on a cruise of less than 14 days, you won't have multiple legs to worry about.

Thanks, ours is 21 days, with I think one additional stop for embarkation/disembarkation, but it begins a week prior to us boarding. I figured we were on for two legs, but it wasn't advertised as a b2b like some lines.

I don't think there was ever a doubt that this would be the case. It isn't fair that some guests hog the restaurant. If there is spare capacity I'm sure it will be possible to dine more than once as is currently the case with R2 but it is essential that all guests who want to experience the venue can do so.

 

I presume "per voyage" means per leg of your journey.

 

Given the make up of guests and on board operations I don't anticipate a mad rush to pre book online. The whole joy of SB is that flexibility afforded when on board but Seattle need to dot the i's and cross the t's.

 

$350 per day plus would be easily affordable to some guests and who knows, possibly it becomes a loyalty perk with the high price tag adding to the perceived value.

 

As Mr L says, let's see what you get for your money when it opens.

 

Henry :)

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I know how many legs we are cruising? I hope to visit the TK more than once as I am a huge fan. Hoping that we will be able to visit more than once without having to make reservations prior to departure.

Are spa access passes still available for flat rate?

more follow up and possible thread hijacking, apologies...

 

regarding the fares - if I search the web and click on a link that says BEST CRUISE PRICES EVER or WE CANT BE BEAT or so on - and if I do this dozens of times, which I have - i have yet to see a fare that is less than the very same fare offered on Seabourn's website, or within, say, 5%. Hardly earth shaking, in any case. (this is not the fantasy brochure fare, but the realistic what-you'll-probably-pay fare)

 

sooo am I to conclude from all of you that, if I deal directly with a (perhaps local) TA, I will easily beat these rates by a decent margin?

Our experience has been that a good TA, and I emphasize good, can not only consistently better the cruise line fare, but they often can offer other amenities, such as OBC. Plus, as was the case for us on our upcoming cruise, our TA was able to negotiate with the cruise line with much more leverage than we would have had when the price dropped several times. There are some very good TA's used by folks on CC and methods for getting recommendations despite the rules governing recommendations directly in posts. I would not recommend grabbing someone randomly off the internet when dealing with luxury cruise lines.

Of course it is supply and demand. What I find pitiful is the desire to sail full regardless. Case in point is current segment on Odyssey. You look around and scratch your head wondering what some of the newly boarded are doing here.

At lunch the following day, a fellow from San Francisco is bragging about paying $250/day. Well worth what he thought was a high air fare to catch the ship in Fiji.

I was raised to believe that it is crass to boast about how much money one makes, what one paid for something, or to ask those questions of others, but even on Seabourn there will be some examples of such behavior I suppose. Just as there are examples of passengers who belittle and abuse staff. Impossible to completely escape these folks. Given the current state of politics in the US I am beginning to think there are many more of these folks than I ever imagined.

Our TA recently noticed the additional price drop and was able to negotiate some on-board credit with Seabourn. Not the same as saving literally thousands of dollars had we waited until today to book the same cruise. The advantage we have is knowing the exact location of our veranda suite…..important because we like mid-ship. Also, we would have missed the business class seats we were able to obtain with miles, many months ago. So…. all things are relative.

Interesting what Seabourn offers. First time around we got a significant price reduction, next time a large OBC, this time the offer was upgrade X2 or future cruise credit. Again, all reasonable, but I would have preferred to have been offered the opportunity to take advantage of the lower price each step of the way. I wouldn't have taken the future credit if I did not plan to cruise Seabourn again, so they have by no means run me off, just frustrated by the process. We also booked early so we could secure premium flights with miles and thinking that the cruise might sell out. I am not much for waiting until the last minute and perhaps that is the price you pay.

So have your TA ask for something from Seabourn - every time there's a price drop that would realistically affect you.

We have done that, with reasonably good results. It just seems to be a cumbersome way to do business. We have not experienced this on cruises with other lines although I am sure it happens. I can understand the desire to fill the ship, but if they are going to drop the price, particularly prior to final payment I would think Seabourn would automatically adjust fares for passengers already booked. Not sure it should be incumbent upon the passenger or TA to spot the price change and then negotiate some accommodation. We would never have seen the first couple of price changes had it not been for CC. Since then I hve been watching the price more closely.

I noticed today that the price for our cruise had dropped AGAIN, although this time after final payment. This is the third or fourth price decrease on this cruise. My TA says this is not typical for Seabourn, that she is seeing many cancellations across the board due to weak currencies compared to US $, poor market performance, and unease about political unrest, terrorism. It has been extremely frustrating although we have been treated reasonably well thanks to the efforts of our TA. Just hope that this truly is an aberration and not characteristic of Seabourn.

Guess I will ask the stewardess as soon as we board and see if we can get a quick turnaround. Pressing is what I was looking for, so it is good to hear the shirts and pants will come back ironed.

The $50 bag special is for laundry only- no dry cleaning or pressing. They do fold and hang garments as appropriate. On our most recent 14 day cruise the special was not offered until about a week out. That was our experience on the Sojourn, perhaps it is different on other ships and different sailings.

Well, perhaps my plan will be foiled then and I will be spending some time with the iron.

If you give it to the Stewardess when you first get to your Suite there is a chance you will get it back late next day since they won't have the full complement of passengers in the morning of the day you board.

great tip; I will give it a try.

It's usually two days from the morning you put it out on the $50 deal. So if you board on a Monday afternoon, I would norjally go down Tuesday morning and come back during the day on Thursday... but you might get lucky and get it on Wednesday. They do offer expedited service hit not on the $50 deal.

thanks

sorry for the duplicate

I recall previous threads re: a flat $50 fee for cleaning and pressing a full laundry bag. Since we are doing a bit of traveling prior to the cruise and I am going to have a bunch of wrinkled clothing, I am contemplating throwing everything into the bag on day one and then getting it all back pressed and ready to go. Will save me a ton of time over the ironing board. Am wondering what the turnaround time typically is for the laundry service with this deal.

Is is something that is advertised or must it be requested?

Thanks for your help.

Our experiences have been that Seabourn has provided free shuttles from the dock to some central place in town. They run about every 30 minutes, except for a lunch break. They will hand out a printed schedule. Very convenient and easy.

Thank you. This is what I was hoping for. Crystal routinely provides free shuttles that run regularly to and from city centers when the terminal is remote and I was guessing that Seabourn would do the same, but uncertain with fewer passengers, if they would do the same.

we are on the odyssey now - i think that the ship is in great condition. the internet is working just fine (uh..remember - we are in the middle of the pacific ocean bouncing O's and 1's off of satellites from space.).

 

the food has been the best i've had on seabourn so far including the thomas keller dishes. it never ceases to amaze me how they are able to serve so many people in 4 different restaurants with the variety and quality and level of service that they consistently offer.

 

and the crew is great - we even have a new batch of enthusiastic young people who have just come out of onboard training and are earning their sea legs. fantastic young people!

 

the only downside seems to be the usual set of passengers who are rude to the staff and seem to complain about everything. but fortunnately that's not my problem ;)

 

fare winds and calm seas!

Good to hear some positive news, but it always bothers me when I hear about passengers who abuse staff. I suppose anyone who has cruised much has witnessed it. Always so disturbing to see people who work so hard being berated or treated rudely by those who imagine themselves "entitled."

We are taking our first Seabourn cruise, Northern Europe soon and I was curious as to whether Seabourn customarily provides transport from port terminals to town if not within walking distance?

Just trying to make plans for some off ship tours for this fabulous itinerary. Wondering if others have made plans?

We will be on that cruise. Doing most everything DIY except SPB where we are doing an organized tour.

I guess I just did not expect the demand to be so great in late spring. I wonder if a tour might be a better option. Hate to waste precious port time waiting in line.

Either I am doing something wrong or their website is a mess. I cannot look further ahead than April, showing no tickets available through April??