T&C Fulham

Thanks rl,

It may help if I mention that we have spent a few days in Boston and we decided that if we had to move from London that might be our first choice.

We have not been to Montreal so if we took that cruise we'd probably aim to have a day or so there before boarding - and return to the UK the day we arrived in Boston.

Any views on the weather the first week in September?

Tony

As I have written recently we took our first ever cruise and it was a great success. We did the Exotic Caribbean two weeker.

I have my sights on the Montreal to Boston ten day cruise but my wife is not excited. Montreal and Quebec ruled out being 'big cities'. The other ports being relatively unknown names.

Can anyone come up with some ideas that would make my wife more excited?

(She's a lovely lady - but like the best of wives, not easily persuaded my her husband!!)

Thanks in advance.

Tony

• Exotic Caribbean in Depth. Our on shore activities.
  

It is worth noting that this was our first ever cruise so our choice or rejection of Seabourn suggestions was made with no previous experience.

I’ll also mention, not that it is all that relevant in the Caribbean, that we are not interested in museums, monuments or ruins. Our interest is ‘living history’ which is our term for seeing people living in the way they have been doing for ages/centuries. I’ll list the ports in the order that the Barbados cruise visits them.

Bequia is a small town consisting of little more than a few houses, bars and restaurants along the bay front. It is colourful. It is quiet and peaceful. There is a smart shop selling lovely hand painted blouses, tops and dresses that are excellent value and it is must for the ladies. Some Seabourners took towels so there must be places to swim. I seem to remember we returned to the boat for lunch.

Roseau is not dissimilar but quite a lot larger. There are more streets and there is ‘traffic’ unlike Bequia where the movement of any vehicle is almost an incident! It is colourful and fun.

Deshaies has a nice gentle and friendly feeling. Again lots of colour. We had a beer on the front in a little restaurant. In the afternoon we took the Seabourn excursion to the botanic garden. Whether it is worth it depends on how many other botanical gardens you have seen – we’d rate it five out of ten.

St Johns. Our first encounter with the other world of mega-liners. The sort of place where seasoned Seabourners remain on board sometimes. Inevitably the town was geared up for and dominated by the masses from the large boats. However, if you turn right after leaving the key there is an area called Redcliffe Key that contains some smartish shops and restaurants. Our boat stayed on the jetty until ten in the evening so you could have have taken dinner there if you’d wanted. TripAdvisor has a couple of positive sounding suggestions and I think a few passengers used them.

Anguilla. The advice is to go to Shore Bay by shared taxi. Six of us hired one for 30 USD each way (tell the driver what time to return). The beach is most civilised and not a long taxi ride from the jetty. As long as you look as you are going to spend money on beers the loungers and parasols are free. We also had a jolly good lunch there. A couple of fellow Seabourners were going back to Anguilla to spend about four nights – they’d done their research and were looking for somewhere quiet to ‘chill out’.

Prickly Pear Island. This was the first of our two “Caviar on the Surf” days. A splendid title but one that understates the range of activities. To our concern we woke up to rain but the crew were confident the weather would improve and they shipped all the necessary gear to the beach. For those new to this experience it worth mentioning that Seabourn book an area on a totally empty beach that has behind it a permanent infrastructure in which to run a BBQ for all the passengers. You have beach lounges and parasols. There are dining tables under various types of shade. There is a bar and a severy for the food. There are toilets and showers for the bathers. All very civilised.

The caviar appears at around noon – and the fun is that you have to wade into the waves to collect it. Masses of ‘bar people’ are around offering tropical drinks, champagne, beer, you name it! The BBQ is of the usual magnificent Seabourn standard and after that, weather permitting, there are an assortment of ways of working off the surplus energy in and on the water – kayaks, towed bananas and probably water skiing if the weather permits. A highlight of the voyage.

Philipsburg. Here we were advised to take a taxi to Marigot. As Philipsburg is a large liner port there is the inevitable ‘taxi allocation’ point. A taxi for two to Marigot is shown as 20 USD. Snag is that even if you say that is what you want and are prepared to pay for they still try to consolidate you into a mini-bus for a dozen – with the consequent wait whilst they find ten other punters. We paired up with another couple and ‘persuaded’ the driver to set off with just the four of us.

Marigot is quite French and pretty but I am not sure it is worth the drive as there is not much there and we hit a horrendous traffic jam on the return journey. Fellow passengers who had stayed in Philipsburg told us how good the shops were – so probably we took the wrong decision.

Jost van Dyke. Here the recommendation is to get a taxi to the beach housing the famous Soggy Dollar. The beach is fine but the Soggy Dollar has been overcome by its fame. We walked down the beach about a quarter of a mile to the One I Love bar and grill. It is probably what the SD was like twenty years ago. Full of character and atmosphere. We had the most wonderful Tuna Nicoise for lunch – but take a fly swat with you as they seem to swarm round any food.

Gustavia. Here I did my first snorkel as a Seabourn excursion. My wife was via.also booked in but felt so queasy from the trip ashore that she abandoned the idea. Seabourn kindly waived her charge. There was not a great deal to see but anyone who snorkels knows that is the risk you take as so much is linked to the weather. We did not test them out but the shops looked very classy with all the big spender names. It was at Gustavia that we, and the whole of that part of the Caribbean, were hit by a serious and unexpected storm. Seabourn had quite a challenge in tendering the last few batches of passengers back to the boats. Everyone got back safely but it became a bit of a talking point for the next couple of days.

Basseterre. My notes mark the town down as ‘tacky’. I can’t visualise it in my memory and I seem to have few photographs – so it must have been. However, the excursion on the old sugar plantation railway is tremendous fun. Seabourn book the whole train so you are with your chums and no ‘large boat punters’ to get in the way. There are Seabourn style endless free drinks, a little choir and a splendid guide/commentator. You are on the train for around two hours and it travels about 80% of the way round the island. Fascinating and great fun!

Terre-de-Haut. Another small, pretty, colourful, laid back bayside town. We were there on Christmas Day which may explain why it was so quiet – but I can’t imagine it ever being busy. Scooter rental seemed big business so that is probably a good way of spending the time and exploring the island. The best swimming beach was supposed to be less than half an hour’s walk away – but we chose to stay put and keep the local barmen happy. A lovely unpretentious spot.

Castries. Here we had our first experience of snuba – Google it if sounds new to you. Great fun and well worth doing if you have yet to try it. Getting there was a bit a bore as this was one of the islands hit by the storm I mentioned. Under normal conditions the snuba area will be around twenty minutes from the port. The town itself we gave a miss as there were three large vessels in port and we were getting the message of what that meant.

Mayreau. Our second Caviar in the Surf day. I have explained the format above when I talked about Prickly Pear Island. On this occasion the weather started fine so the setting up of all the beach activities was much easier for the crew. However, deteriorating weather was forecasted so they did not attempt to do the afternoon ‘sporting’ activities. You win some and you lose some – in the Caribbean.

That’s it then. Nothing more to say. But do ask any questions and I’ll see what my wife remembers that I have forgotten.

I have a portfolio of photographs on the internet but I have yet to ascertain the protocol about making the URL public. I can’t imagine that any fellow passengers will be upset by being seen letting their hair down – but as a new Seabourner I need re-assurance before I reveal the pictures to the world at large.

Tony

Very classy Henry,

We were on the Spirit the week after you.

I have posted a 'first Seabourn' message alongside yours. I have attempted not to duplicate yours but it was a bit hard as you and we had the similar positive experiences.

I am a serious photographer and am, like you, in the process of culling and cutting to make the 2,000 shots tolerable to others. I'll post the link when I feel reasonably happy. If you PM me I'll give you a preview. I'll need to see if my PM address is visible when I have posted this message.

EDIT. It seems that my email address is not visible. I have sent you a befriend message as starters.

Tony

I had already prepared my outline notes for a message I was going to call ‘Our first Seabourn Cruise’. Able Seaman H beat me to it by a whisker. His is a far better piece of writing than I could manage. It also echoes so many of our first impressions that much of what I intended to write now becomes a boring duplication and has now been deleted.

I felt it more useful for present and future Seabourn cruisers to (a) elaborate on some of his opinions and (b) end up with our minimal criticisms that seasoned Seabourn folk can challenge or endorse.

We were on the Spirit out of Barbados on the 14th December doing the cruise they call Exotic Caribbean in Depth and I’ll post a summary of the places we visited on a separate thread as a guidance for people doing the same route.

By way of introduction I’d add that this was the first ever cruise that my wife and I had ever taken. We are into our seventies and have travelled probably more extensively than many people – but never on a cruise. We both have hotel/catering trade backgrounds.

Wearing our catering trade hats, whereas I agree with ASH that no one thing sets Seabourn ahead of the pack, we do feel that it is the quality of the staff training that gives them the edge. In all the hotels I have visited I have never seen such a high percentage of polite, caring and friendly staff. There was not one surly or unenthusiastic person visible. How Seabourn achieve it, when so many top land based establishments fail, is a management strategy to be marvelled at.

Briefly on one of many matters of detail. A month before sailing we are sent labels for our cases to ensure they are in our cabins by the time we embark. In all my travelling I have never seen cases put on beds covered with protective sheets. I have never seen beds designed to hide the empty cases. I have never known the cases to be put where it is easy to re-pack them prior to departure. All simple actions to make life trouble free – but which hotel chain offers the same service?

Our first surprise was how large our cabin was. We were in an A1 which, on the Spirit is one grade better than the cheapest. Our non-cruising friends use ‘being cooped up’ as one excuse not to venture on a boat. Nobody could suggest an A1 cabin is claustrophobic.

Yes, we found it impossible to get the cabin warm enough initially. However, a phone call produced an engineer in under five minutes and the problem was solved. Most hotels would expect you to wait until the next day!

ASH says he found no problems with the food. Neither did we. If there was a problem it was being tempted to over-eat because it was so good. We had dinner for about half the time in the MDR, ringing the changes with Restaurant 2 and outside the Sky bar when it was warm enough to have it open.

We did not pal up with any other couples for dinner. Sometimes we dined in the MDR on our own. When we got an invitation to a hosted table we accepted it. The great plus of the hosted tables is that you get a chance to meet other people – but without the worry of being committed to dine with them again. You could if you wanted, of course.

On the topic of meeting and chatting to people I have the theory that the ‘free drinks’ formula is a great catalyst. Yes, you could abuse it. On the first week of our cruise there was one loud American lady who seemed determined to get her money’s worth. By the end of the week she was becoming irritating – but she was the only one out of two hundred passengers.

I think that the advantage of the free drink policy is that it breaks the tradition of ‘buying a round’. Once someone has ‘bought you a round’ it is quite difficult to move on to chat to other people until you have ‘bought one back’. Then someone new joins the group so you have to buy them a drink and they want to reciprocate before you leave. None of this happens on the Seabourn boats and consequently people circulate much more freely from one group to another.

Like ASH we found the entertainment simple and professional. We met one man who felt he had been short changed as there wasn’t a magician on the boat! Much as I love magic it did not spoil my holiday. We had a good four piece band who could turn their hands to anything. There was a singing duo, a singer with pianist, a guitar player, another male singer and the lady cruise director also sang.

As a newby cruiser I have no idea how many cruise directors also double up as entertainers. It worked well on the Seabourn Spirit and I can’t think anyone does the CD job much better than Suzanne Gayle. On the last night of the cruise Suzanne does a brief musical farewell presentation featuring most of the crew – and it was so emotional it brought tears to our eyes (memories of farewells to loved ones on railway stations - Brief Encounter style). I’d be interested to hear from seasoned Seabourners how they feel the CD’s compare.

Worth a mention is the efficiency of the tender service. The two tenders ran a non-stop shuttle service all day and we never had to wait more than ten minutes on any occasion. They also had to cope with some challenging seas – and one most dramatic storm – but their professionalism gave us all reassurance that we were in good hands.

ASH mentioned a swop of WiFi for liquor not consumed by his daughter. Fair point, but as others have said, for most people there are facilities that they never use. What I’d say about the WiFi is that, having read on this forum people grumbling about the cost, I felt that 20USD for a couple of hours was a reasonable price to enable me to stay on top of my emails. I also found that my cellphone worked in most ports. I can see there being a problem if someone wants to spend hours ‘surfing the web’ but surely that is a reality of life when you are at sea.

Final highlight. The two ‘Caviar in the Surf’ days. The logistics of those are fantastic. On the first of our two it did not stop raining until around noon and still our BBQ lunch was served to perfection.

As you can see I am extremely positive about the Seabourn experience. We paid our onboard deposit to get a discount on our next trip and high on our ‘to do’ list is deciding when and where it will be.

Can I end with two minor grumbles and see what the regular Seabourn cruisers say in agreement or disagreement?

Firstly, and I say this as someone who used to play in dance bands for dinner dances, there was a tendency to play music too loud at times. The music in the Club after dinner was deafening. Conversation was almost impossible. We like to chat to people but you couldn’t. We also like to dance – and we like our dancing to include a few foxtrots, quicksteps, waltzes and latin numbers. It was odd how quickly the floor filled when they played that sort of music and how quickly it emptied when they reverted to tune after tune of disco music.

Our first ‘sail away’ was abandoned due to the weather. The one on our middle Saturday took place on deck. Again the band blasted away with their disco numbers and you could hardly hear yourself think.

For the first three days the Sky bar played a single CD of a screeching female. It was horrid and we told the Hotel Manager. From then on we had a glorious mix of Caribbean and Christmas. He told us he also hated loud music.

Is loud music a Seabourn blank spot?

Our other concern was this obsession with over-cooling rooms. I have already explained how we needed to get the aircom adjusted in our cabin. The Observation Lounge was really cold. We only used a couple of times – but always had to put on another layer for the adventure. Likewise the Show Lounge was always unnecessarily cold.

Maybe this was something that only happens on Caribbean cruises – and on those you can always escape outdoors. However, we are planning to take our next Seabourn cruise as the one from Montreal to Boston. On that we’ll be passing through some pretty cool weather. Seabourn regulars, please reassure us that they do heat those rooms for those sorts of cruises.

That’s it then. A couple of questions at the end and a whole bundle of comments at the start. I hope this will stimulate some more conversation because I am keen to learn more about this window of opportunity that we have sadly discovered far too late in life.

Tony

Thanks chilla.

Sadly my version of Android has not the same level of success in getting back to the proper site.

However, I have heard from the people running the conversion system and they say:-

Dear Tony Gamble

Thank you for your recent feedback about not being able to access seabourn.com on an Android device. We are aware of this issue and working to resolve it.

Thanks,

Jen

Jennifer Levy

Team Lead, Project Management

Usablenet

Thanks Nigella,

Still not working on my machine so it must be an Android problem.

I'll have another go at Useablenet if I can find an email address.

Bye,

Tony

Thanks Simon.

I worried when I saw 60+ people had read this message and not one had responded.

It seems that Seabourn are routing their web site through a system called Usablenet. I guess it vets the incoming link and spots if it is a tablet/phone - and then supplies a simplified web page. I have a web site and have been offered that service from a UK company - but declined it.

It has spotted one of my machines is a Nexus and there is a 'report' page for telling them there might be a fault. Snag is that reporting system is also faulty. I have keyed in http://www.seabourn.com and it says I have not entered a URL. Doh!

Too much NYE tipple at mission control at Usablenet?

Most web sites have a webmaster email address but not so Seabourn so I can't even tell them.

I am sure I have looked at the Seabourn site before Christmas on a tablet. Maybe this is a new system with teething problems.

Tony

I cam see it on my PC but not on either of my two Android tablets.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Tony

As you are now talking about coffee I'll add that the breakfast filter coffee was far better than the equivalent of most American hotels on the Spirit.

And if you wanted a "heart starter" the double espresso was formidable.

Tony

Agreed. The 'right' way to make tea is to pour boiling water from the kettle into a pot.

Just as the right way to serve hot food is on a hot plate - but try telling that to half of Europe and they think you are simple! Having said that Seabourn do hot plates in both restaurants.

A point I could have made is that we always travel with a few tea bags from home and we used those for our second cup as the jug of hot water always contained enough liquid - but the two bags of Brit Tea supplied don't manage a second use.

Tony

We are back from our first ever cruise this weekend.

We were on the Spirit and we had early moring 'English Breakfast' tea in our cabin every morning. Ring 555 and it arrives within minutes.

Tony

Sorry - I did not realise the system did not accept *******s

http://www.seabourn.com/find-luxury-cruise-vacation/FindCruises.action?cfVer=2&destCode=C&durationCode=2&dateCode=12_2013&shipCodeSearch=SS&portCode=BGI

This is the cruise.

Tony

EDIT - And it will not even let me say what the system that creates a small URL from a large one is called !!

We are two Brits booked here:-

http://*******.com/qzohmnz

Can I assume that each port of call uses Euros with the exception of Barbados which uses dollars?

My plan is to take cash and also my two currency cards that I pre-load with euros and dollars.

Any observations folk?

Tony

Thank you Friends.

Good news.

Tony

Thanks Galeforce,

Will email after lunch.

T.

A 'search' did not come up with much info of use and it is not mentioned in the brochure from Seabourn.

Is the Spirit too small to have a serene section?

All advice eagerly appreciated.

Tony of T&C

Another London (UK) couple doing our first trip on the 14th Dec.

I have not paid any attention to the referral thread so it might all be a bit late now. I'll respond by private email if anyone thinks there is time to participate.

Tony of T & C (living, not surprisingly, in Fulham)

As it is about three weeks away from our sailing date I have taken the liberty of flushing this up to see what new ideas may have emerged over the last few months - please.

T&C

Thanks Jim,

T&C

It is ages since we did some good snorkelling.

Does anyone have a recommendation that is on our trip?

T&C

Wow!

So many ideas.

Thank You.

T&C

Fantastic ideas.

So much appreciated and so much experience being shared.

This is what travel is all about. Hidden gems.

T&C

Thanks Rox..

Just the thing I was hoping to hear.

T&C

We are booked on this Spirit Cruise and will do our reading on the various ports of call.

http://www.seabourn.com/find-luxury-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?voyageCode=2369A

We will do our homework as it is part of the fun of taking a holiday.

Do any of you experienced cruisers have any recommendations of excursions we might easily overlook that exceeded your expectations?

T&C