Boring ports in Greece and Spain - and elsewhere

[marazul]

For some reason, SB includes some really boring ports in otherwise interesting cruises.  In Greece, they recently improved their itineraries by replacing Spetses with Monemvasia.  This change tremendously enhanced the appeal of this itinerary.

 

Next summer the "Iberian and Moroccan Sunsets" from Barcelona to Lisbon has two really boring ports: Cartagena and Melilla. 

Cartagena is ok, but it is an uninteresting town with some Roman ruins and the slightly better Ceuta inland.  Melilla is a Spanish enclave in Africa with a fort and some art deco buildings.  It is also a site for massive illegal immigration from Africa into the EU.  It would have been so easy to replace at least one of those with a stop in one of the Balearic islands, or in Motril for Granada, or in Cadiz for Seville.   It's a real waste in a 7-day itinerary when two out of the five ports are not very interesting.   Who knows, maybe an enhancement will happen like in Greece.  

 

I am sure there are several other examples in other itineraries.  A few years ago, they replaced Syvota with Kefalonia in an Athens to Venice itinerary after many unfavorable comments.  I don't know if before-the-fact feedback helps to improve future itineraries, but if anyone else has "least favorite" ports, please, post them here.  At least, it can help others choose one cruise over another.

 

I will keep looking through the website for my next cruise. 

 

 

[Catlover54]

I do not know the reason for the replacements, perhaps cost?  But at this time, most people doing one-weekers out of Greece or to or just want to cruise --  anywhere -- and they likely have already been to the ports ans will spend a lot pf time on board instead of masking up for group excursions in the heat

[Hlitner]

6 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

I do not know the reason for the replacements, perhaps cost?  But at this time, most people doing one-weekers out of Greece or to or just want to cruise --  anywhere -- and they likely have already been to the ports ans will spend a lot pf time on board instead of masking up for group excursions in the heat

So you are aware, when we were on the Ovation (July-Aug) we had absolutely no restrictions at any of the ports.  We were free to go ashore and do our own thing everywhere (including Cyprus) and that is just what we did.  On the islands there was still a mask mandate when indoors at shops but this was not strictly enforced (most folks did mask when in stores/shops).   On the really hot days (and we had some where it was around 100) beaches were quite popular and had no restrictions or masking.

 

Hank

[marazul]

15 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 But at this time, most people doing one-weekers out of Greece or to or just want to cruise --  anywhere -- and they likely have already been to the ports ans will spend a lot pf time on board instead of masking up for group excursions in the heat

 

I agree with Hank's comments above.  But my point was not made for immediate decisions of post-pandemic urge to go traveling, like the Greek cruise I was on three weeks ago.  I had been to all of the ports before (except for Cyprus), but they were places that I enjoy visiting again.  If I choose to stay onboard one day, it is because I choose to do so, not because the port is so boring that it's not worth going ashore. 

 

My point is more about comments made on this board at various times that SB has some tired and less exciting itineraries than other lines.  I do want to keep on cruising with SB as I have for more than 15 years because I enjoy the ships, the service and the ambiance.  But I, and others, may discouraged from some boring itineraries like the ones I used as examples and we may be tempted to look elsewhere.   I am looking at next year or beyond and I think it would be useful to have more info on some itineraries that are less than interesting, such as one where two out of five ports could be replaced by much more appealing ones.

Edited October 2, 2021 by marazul

[mcondition]

I agree that some of the ports of call are not so interested but also SB's "strict" schedule to depart at afternoon, doesn't allow to night visits. For example we sailed afternoon from St Tropez and Monaco and this didn't allow us to visit casino, bars etc. The summer heat also makes noon visits to interesting areas painful. 

[mcondition]

BTW we have new interesting Greek regulations. Cruise ships sailing from Kusadasi and Galata ports are now accepted to call Greek ports so SB could make the schedule more exiting. The could drop the Cyprus call as where departure was at 2 PM anyway, Patmos, Spetses and add 2 or more Turkey ports. 

Athens is trying to expand in the cruise sector and this season's experiment with the new rules and making Piraeus departing port for many lines has gone pretty well so far.

[Neverlookback]

At this point not enough folks are getting vaccinated and although it should be incrementally better next summer, cruise lines are making decisions on how best to sail and have a reasonable chance to follow the itinerary.  While cruises have gone well so far since the restart, I would guess being choosy with itineraries won't be until 2023 at least.

[M&PGermany]

I have been complaining about Seabourn's schedules for quite some time.

Boring ports, too little time in the interesting ones, no overnights.

 

For interesting schedules I can recommend Azamara, Silversea and -of course- Hapag Lloyd.

 

[marazul]

Another boring itinerary.. This was just posted by Sunprince in the Canada Fall photography thread:

 

"I am surprised the Seabourn itineraries for these cruise are so boring (IMO).  It’s nice that there is a Prince Edward Island stop, but it is a total miss on Seabourn’s part to sail around NS and not stop in Cape Breton where you have the Cabot Trail, Fortress Louisburg and beautiful scenery (great for photographers)."

Edited October 5, 2021 by marazul

[cruiseej]

Adding to the boring itineraries: we very much want to do a cruise to St. Petersburg but find Seabourn only does the exact same 7-day cruises year after year: Copenhagen - Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Tallinn - Stockholm. There are other ports in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland which other cruise lines call on; looking just at Regent, I see cruises that also have stops in Kotka, Klaipeda, Gdansk, Leipaja, Visby, Riga, Bornholm, Keil. Why does Seabourn not offer a 10 to 12 day trip to St. Petersburg which includes a few of these other cities? The only longer trip Seabourn offers in this area is to pair a 7-day St. Petersburg trip with a Norway trip. (We've already done the Norway trip, and what I'm looking for is more in the Baltic.) I'd prefer to travel on Seabourn, but their limited and seemingly never-changing itineraries in this region make it hard for us to book such a trip.

 

Correction: I found one Seabourn cruise with more ports, and interesting ports, in the Baltic in 2023 -- but it's a 21-day trip. That's too long for us as long as one of us is still working; I'm wishing for something between 7 and 21 days. 

[SLSD]

6 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Adding to the boring itineraries: we very much want to do a cruise to St. Petersburg but find Seabourn only does the exact same 7-day cruises year after year: Copenhagen - Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Tallinn - Stockholm. There are other ports in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland which other cruise lines call on; looking just at Regent, I see cruises that also have stops in Kotka, Klaipeda, Gdansk, Leipaja, Visby, Riga, Bornholm, Keil. Why does Seabourn not offer a 10 to 12 day trip to St. Petersburg which includes a few of these other cities?

Several years ago, we DID take a SB cruise which went  to some of the ports you mention:  Klaipeda, a Polish port, Visby, Bornholm, and a day sailing through the Keil Canal.  We also did some very obscure ports which some guests did not like, but we enjoyed immensely. Hopefully SB will return to these ports as well as add some others.  I get the idea that they are just struggling right now to offer what they are offerings. 

 

[Fletcher]

Regent has a Baltic cruise which visits the mysterious Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.  

Edited October 7, 2021 by Fletcher

[M&PGermany]

I have accepted the fact that Seabourn is not very adventurous when it comes to cruise scheduling. They mostly and especially at the moment try to sell the all time favorites over and over again. It's what they generally do and you have to decide if that's your cup of tea.

 

As much as I have loved Seabourn in the past for their nice ships and their great crew I have come to realize that there are others out there that do it just as fine and maybe even better. I personally was very very impressed with Silversea (and their new SALT program on the Moon) and I really liked their schedule. One example: In Cyprus when we were just finished with lunch and getting ready to go off the ship to explore the place the Ovation was already leaving port at 2pm. 

 

Future will show if Seabourn will survive with what they've got to offer.

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

2 hours ago, M&PGermany said:

I have accepted the fact that Seabourn is not very adventurous when it comes to cruise scheduling. They mostly and especially at the moment try to sell the all time favorites over and over again. It's what they generally do and you have to decide if that's your cup of tea.

 

As much as I have loved Seabourn in the past for their nice ships and their great crew I have come to realize that there are others out there that do it just as fine and maybe even better. I personally was very very impressed with Silversea (and their new SALT program on the Moon) and I really liked their schedule. One example: In Cyprus when we were just finished with lunch and getting ready to go off the ship to explore the place the Ovation was already leaving port at 2pm. 

 

Future will show if Seabourn will survive with what they've got to offer.

 

 

 

M&P, if I were a German resident like you, I would totally skip SB and most other lines right now and just cruise Hapag Lloyd, with their excellent food and service product ( assuming it is the same as pre-Covid) , and wonderful itineraries.  But I am still not allowed, and there is no end in sight on the non-Germanic foreigner ban.

I sent HL an email recently asking if I would be eligible to travel with them again if I booked a cruise with a German friend, and flew to Germany to stay with her for a few weeks before the cruise,  ( on top of being triple vaxed and of course tested pre-cruise in an approved German lab).  That way any chance of my having brought Covid from America to a HL ship would be zero.  We would both fly out of Germany to the overseas port of embarkation for the HL ship, and then back again.

They ignored me.  

 

So other than  American luxury lines, including "boring" SB where I have a FCC I need to use, the remaining luxury option  is French Ponant, which also has interesting cruises and welcomes vaxed foreigners.  I booked a classical music cruise with them out of Casablanca, and am considering more that are on their schedule.

 

A SB option that is interesting is Antarctica 2022/2023 on the new Venture expedition ship.

Edited October 7, 2021 by Catlover54
Typo

[M&PGermany]

Hi Catlover,

 

first of all may I just say how stupid I find this current Hapag Lloyd rule. It is totally non-scientific.

I shall write them on social media and see what answer I will get. Normally they respond very fast but probably they have staff furloughed, too.

[Tallante]

I live in Cartagena and it’s certainly not boring!  It’s a beautiful city with so much history.  Have you been there before you condemned it?

[marazul]

1 hour ago, Tallante said:

I live in Cartagena and it’s certainly not boring!  It’s a beautiful city with so much history.  Have you been there before you condemned it?

Yes, during a driving trip. I have also been in the places I mentioned as alternatives. 

 

It is not a condemnation. It is a matter of scale.  It is a very nice city and so is Murcia, but there are more interesting choices for a cruise with only five ports, including Cartagena and Melilla.  IMO, Cartagena is a very good option if Melilla were to be replaced with another port. Or in a longer cruise where more smaller ports can be added.

Edited October 11, 2021 by marazul

[auldlassie]

Sorry Tallante, I don't want to upset you and this is not personal, but as a day visitor to Cartagena (twice) and to Murcia, I was not impressed with either. Lots of Seabourn stops are very dull nowadays and smack of cost-cutting as the more expensive ports in more exciting places are set aside by faceless accountants. While I like the feeling of cameraderie and fun on board the ships, the ports chosen are often, clearly, a too-long tried and tested formula, convenient for Seabourn no doubt, but at serious risk of losing my interest.

 

Again, I'll repeat, this is not intended to be personal. I would include many of the port stops offered in my home country of Scotland, in the incredibly boring and tedious bracket also. 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by auldlassie
explaining this is not a personal comment to another poster..

[tjcox9]

On 10/6/2021 at 10:42 PM, SLSD said:

Several years ago, we DID take a SB cruise which went  to some of the ports you mention:  Klaipeda, a Polish port, Visby, Bornholm, and a day sailing through the Keil Canal.  We also did some very obscure ports which some guests did not like, but we enjoyed immensely. Hopefully SB will return to these ports as well as add some others.  I get the idea that they are just struggling right now to offer what they are offerings. 

 

Love those obscure ports when we are fortunate enough to find one, never mind the cruise line......

[Tallante]

9 hours ago, auldlassie said:

Sorry Tallante, I don't want to upset you and this is not personal, but as a day visitor to Cartagena (twice) and to Murcia, I was not impressed with either. Lots of Seabourn stops are very dull nowadays and smack of cost-cutting as the more expensive ports in more exciting places are set aside by faceless accountants. While I like the feeling of cameraderie and fun on board the ships, the ports chosen are often, clearly, a too-long tried and tested formula, convenient for Seabourn no doubt, but at serious risk of losing my interest.

 

Again, I'll repeat, this is not intended to be personal. I would include many of the port stops offered in my home country of Scotland, in the incredibly boring and tedious bracket also. 

 

 

 in Cartagena you need more time  to explore than a day in Port. I’ve lived here for 18 years  and still come across new places hidden away.  I have looked at SB excursions and talked to Francisco about it as there are many places to go that are not on the tour Itinerary.  It seems most people who go on a trip get taken into Murcia, which in itself is a  lovely town to visit.  Tours by locals is a very good idea in Cartagena.