Seabourn Spirit

[balfour]

Has anyone been on the Seabourn Spirit sailing from Rome to Israel to Egypt, Jordan, Oman and finally to Dubai? I don't see a Roll Call for the S.S. This is my first posting on cruise critic and am "finding my way".:)

[seabournfan]

Yes -- we are on the Rome to Dubai Spirit cruise for the month of November. We have been on Legend several times and were on the Spirit from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires last Jan/Feb. We love the smaller ships (although truth be known, we have not tried Odyssey, etc., so can't comment; friends we've made on the Legend have liked those also).

 

We would enjoy meeting you on this cruise. It is always fun to know someone as we leave the port ... and it looks like we will be leaving Civitavecchia together.

 

My husband has spent time on business in the Middle East, but I have never been there, so am looking forward to this so much.

 

We'd be interested in meeting you and others on this cruise. It will be a long one, but we think a great one.

 

Laurie and Dick Meyer

Libertyville, Illinois (north Chicago suburb) and Santa Fe, NM (part-time)

[balfour]

Hi Laurie and Dick,

We're excited to meet another couple going on the same cruise! We've never been on a small ship ...... did the Valparaiso - Buenos Aires route several years ago on the Celebrity line. Are you booking any of the excursions or waiting until aboard? In some of the ports we'll be doing "our own thing" but in others are considering a ship excursion or private, shared experience. The only one we have already reserved is the overnight to the Valley of the Kings. Dick's work in the middle east will undoubtedly help your decision-making. Friends are advising us as what to see in Israel and Jordan. I think it will be a wonderful 24 day experience (if we don't run into any pirates!).

 

John and Gail Patterson, Toronto, Canada

[seabournfan]

John and Gail --

 

Thanks for responding. We have been on the Seabourn small ships (Spirit and Legend) half a dozen times and love them. We always come away with new friends. We've done a few transatlantic cruises, which we loved, but since retiring, we have been trying the longer cruises. I think you will enjoy the small ship experience; we have several friends who have tried the new and larger Seabourn ships (still small by most standards) and prefer the "small sisters," despite having a little more space, balconies and nicer public areas on the new ships. We will try one of the new ships at some point, I'm sure, but have NO complaints with the small ones. The personal service is amazing.

 

We have booked the overnight Luxor excursion as well as ones for Jerusalem and Petra, since we were told they're the ones that fill up fastest. And, for the first time, we gave this trip to a travel agent we use occasionally, since they were arranging a few days in Dubai for us at the end. They are part of the Virtuoso travel agent consortium, and they have a complimentary tour/lunch in Malta that we'll take. As of now, we're going to wait to book others until we're on the ship. We don't always take the ship's tours. Sometimes we just go into the port and wander, thought we usually have an idea of what we want to see. It all depends.

 

You might want to check the Roll Call thread I started on this board last week. A couple from New York responded to that one and as time goes on, hopefully more will join.

 

Look forward to meeting you. Toronto is one of our favorite cities -- we have very close friends in Barrie and visit them often.

 

Laurie and Dick