Live from Quest, Barcelona to Montreal, July 22 to August 29

[kjbacon]

With negative Covid tests in hand, we are ready to board our first Seabourn ship tomorrow. We had a great flight to beautiful but very warm Barcelona and are enjoying El Palace tonight before embarkation tomorrow. The hotel has several food venues including the rooftop garden, beautiful with very good food.

The burrata was as good as I’ve had and the vinaigrette was perfect.

 

We are frequent Regent cruisers and we also love Oceania. We were drawn to this itinerary and hope to have a third favorite soon. We love good food and wine, experiencing new cultures, and exploring new places. Please feel free to join in!

[CanAmBrit]

We are considering this same cruise for 2023. Please keep us informed of your thoughts and experiences.

Enjoy!

 

[sunshineocean13]

Thank you for posting! I'll be following along, and look forward to your experiences onboard Quest. We'll be joining you on August 5 in Dover. We're in our temporary bubble right now, hoping for a negative test on August 2. 

[alidor]

We, too, will join you in Dover to Montreal.  Also a bit concerned about Covid…

[rkacruiser]

I appreciate your efforts in posting concerning your cruise.  Thank you.  I will be following along.  

[gabelle]

6 hours ago, kjbacon said:

With negative Covid tests in hand, we are ready to board our first Seabourn ship tomorrow. We had a great flight to beautiful but very warm Barcelona and are enjoying El Palace tonight before embarkation tomorrow. The hotel has several food venues including the rooftop garden, beautiful with very good food.

The burrata was as good as I’ve had and the vinaigrette was perfect.

 

We are frequent Regent cruisers and we also love Oceania. We were drawn to this itinerary and hope to have a third favorite soon. We love good food and wine, experiencing new cultures, and exploring new places. Please feel free to join in!

We are also frequent Regent and Oceania cruisers who are embarking on the Quest in October for our first Seabourn cruise.  Will follow your posts with great interest.

[kjbacon]

Barcelona is beautiful and El Palace was fabulous with great food and wine. If you love anchovies and serious crusty bread, this is the place to be.

 

We are a little early to the port so we are enjoying a cappuccino at an outdoor cafe, not too shabby.

 

Let me start with a huge nod to Seabourn for their app, very impressive. Having all that information at my fingertips is fabulous and it’s awesome to be able to compare all of tonight’s menus on one page!

 

[cadburysmom]

Wonderful posts!...love the photos...so happy you started this thread and will be following as well.

Looking forward to more...😊

 

 

[tv24]

Tres bon voyage!

[kjbacon]

We are off to a great start. Embarkation was flawless and we were on board, in our suite, faster than any other on any line. Our suite is lovely and lunch in the Collonade was very good. For info purposes, crew is required to wear masks and many or most are complying. Guests are encouraged to wear masks and a quick guess is that 25-35% are. Sail away party was fun and we loved the band, Trilogy.

The staff has been very friendly and very willing to help with anything you need. On the downside, we have made two simple requests that have not been fixed for several hours now. Perhaps they are short staffed? Will find out over the next few days. Snacks in the observation lounge are very nice.

[fdnycruiser]

Enjoy your cruise, and smooth sailing 

[SLSD]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!  I look forward to hearing how the dinner serving times work out for you.  I see you have availed yourself of the appetizer in the Observation Lounge--always a fun place to be.  Hopefully, the two items that needed to be fixed have been done by now.  

[kjbacon]

5 hours ago, SLSD said:

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!  I look forward to hearing how the dinner serving times work out for you.  I see you have availed yourself of the appetizer in the Observation Lounge--always a fun place to be.  Hopefully, the two items that needed to be fixed have been done by now.  

We have had a tremendous help from the time change so the meal times have been just fine thus far! Hopefully, we can stay on this roll.

[kjbacon]

We decided on the Collonade for dinner last night and enjoyed it very much. We love to dine al fresco and the scenery did not disappoint.

We both feel the food is very good. We had Caesar salad and jumbo poached shrimp for appetizers.

Main courses were Prime Rib for him and Seafood Cakes for me. I thought the plating on the Seafood Cakes was especially nice.

The head sommelier is trying his best to find wines for us with some success. Yes, we admit that we are wine snobs and feel the list of included reds is weak. He found a decent California Cab for the hubs and a Spanish Rioja that I liked. Dessert was cheesecake that was supposed to be served with vanilla ice cream but we subbed a salted caramel and it was delicious.

 

Today, paella for lunch in Valencia!

[Fletcher]

@kjbacon Glad you are enjoying the Quest, my favourite ship.  In Valencia I would be interested to know if Seabourn provides any sort of transportation to the city centre for those not going on tours.  It seems such a big and spread out place.  Hope the paella is genuine with crusty bits on the bottom . . .

Edited July 23, 2022 by Fletcher

[galeforce9]

1 minute ago, Fletcher said:

@kjbacon Glad you are enjoying the Quest, my favouriter ship.  In Valencia I would be interested to know if Seabourn provides any sort of transportation to the city centre for those not going on tours.  It seems such a big and spread out place.  Hope the paella is genuine with crusty bits on the bottom . . .

The couple of times we’ve been (latterly in late 2018) they did.  They drop you near the big dried up river bed (admittedly that is very long - we usually go for a walk down it to admire the architecture) near to an old town gate, from where it’s a short walk to the centre. 

[kjbacon]

6 hours ago, Fletcher said:

@kjbacon Glad you are enjoying the Quest, my favourite ship.  In Valencia I would be interested to know if Seabourn provides any sort of transportation to the city centre for those not going on tours.  It seems such a big and spread out place.  Hope the paella is genuine with crusty bits on the bottom . . .

Yes and no …. Yes, they are bus transports and no, the paella was only okay with no crusty bits 😞

[ejincali]

10 hours ago, kjbacon said:

We decided on the Collonade for dinner last night and enjoyed it very much. We love to dine al fresco and the scenery did not disappoint.

We both feel the food is very good. We had Caesar salad and jumbo poached shrimp for appetizers.

Main courses were Prime Rib for him and Seafood Cakes for me. I thought the plating on the Seafood Cakes was especially nice.

The head sommelier is trying his best to find wines for us with some success. Yes, we admit that we are wine snobs and feel the list of included reds is weak. He found a decent California Cab for the hubs and a Spanish Rioja that I liked. Dessert was cheesecake that was supposed to be served with vanilla ice cream but we subbed a salted caramel and it was delicious.

 

Today, paella for lunch in Valencia!

We will be on Seabourn for the first time next March.  We don't like buffets, and that's what I thought the Colonnade was.  However, what you are posting looks like it was plated and served to you.

[alidor]

It's been about 3 years since we were last on Seabourn but will be on this cruise but getting on at Dover and getting off in Montreal.   The Colonnade is a buffet at breakfast and lunch but a served at dinner time.

[Covepointcruiser]

Colonnade can be a buffet at breakfast or you can choose to sit down and use the menu.   We prefer table service.

[SLSD]

20 minutes ago, ejincali said:

We will be on Seabourn for the first time next March.  We don't like buffets, and that's what I thought the Colonnade was.  However, what you are posting looks like it was plated and served to you.

The Colonnade has a short menu at lunch from which you can order if you don't want to go through a buffet line.  We don't do buffets either--and enjoy ordering a small piece of grilled salmon for lunch along with some vegetables.  We haven't sailed since the pandemic, but am guessing these menu options at lunch are still available.  

[tjcox9]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

The Colonnade has a short menu at lunch from which you can order if you don't want to go through a buffet line.  We don't do buffets either--and enjoy ordering a small piece of grilled salmon for lunch along with some vegetables.  We haven't sailed since the pandemic, but am guessing these menu options at lunch are still available.  

And, unless it has changed, there is also a special at breakfast and lunch that is served as well as the menu items. 

[Isklaar]

21 minutes ago, tjcox9 said:

And, unless it has changed, there is also a special at breakfast and lunch that is served as well as the menu items. 

 

This is a good point, especially as the person serving your table frequently doesn't mention the special.

So, unless it's changed, advice to new SB cruisers is take  a look at the specials board which is placed adjacent to the galley as you enter the Colonnade. This applies to O class ships, I can't remember if it's in the same location on Encore/Ovation.

[marazul]

1 hour ago, Isklaar said:

 

This is a good point, especially as the person serving your table frequently doesn't mention the special.

So, unless it's changed, advice to new SB cruisers is take  a look at the specials board which is placed adjacent to the galley as you enter the Colonnade. This applies to O class ships, I can't remember if it's in the same location on Encore/Ovation.

It is the same on all ships.  The waiters come first and take your beverage order.  Most people then get up and go get the buffet.  If you are still at the table when the waiter comes back they will ask you for your order.  There is also a small menu on each table with the plated specials at both breakfast and lunch.

[rkacruiser]

15 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Main courses were Prime Rib for him and Seafood Cakes for me. I thought the plating on the Seafood Cakes was especially nice.

 

Thanks for the photos.  All of the food looks delicious with nice plating for everything.  The Caesar Salad, with its cheese slivers, really appeals to me.