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

[travel4b]

10 hours ago, kjbacon said:

We are accustomed to an all inclusive experience on regent. Now, shorex is extra. Drinkable wine is extra. Spa serene area is extra. Laundry is extra. No butler here.

In fairness, to my knowledge Seabourn has never included shore excursions, spa treatments, access to the Retreat or laundry, or had butlers so I hope that isn't a surprise to you.  I realize that Regent and Silversea include some (maybe all?) of these, but my experience is that both of those lines also cost more on average than Seabourn.  Personally, I'm fine with the trade off.  As for wines, "drinkable wine is extra" seems a bit dramatic.  

[lincslady]

No, Seabourn has never included  shorex, spa, laundry or butlers - you may be thinking of Regent which includes most of these.

 

A look at the advertising for cruises to see what is included is always a good idea.

[kjbacon]

Last night was our first experience in TK Grill and we really enjoyed it. It’s a beautiful room and the service is excellent.

 

The complimentary crudités and rolls were both excellent.

 

Our meal was good to very good with the best dish easily being the Caesar salad, prepared table side. It was so well presented and it was also delicious.

I had the New England clam chowder that was presented as deconstructed, which was nice, but it fell short on texture and flavor. Definitely way short on clams.

Our main dishes were the ribeye steak and the lobster thermidor, both good but neither great.

Sides were whipped potatoes and creamed spinach and both were fantastic.

 

Desserts were Lemon tart and seven layer chocolate cake and by far, the chocolate cake was the better dessert.

I didn’t take a picture of the chocolate cookies that you get when you leave but they were fabulous.

 

We are in Lisbon today but will post an update shortly.

[kjbacon]

We have both tested positive for Covid so now I will address my earlier remarks about the handling of Covid on board.

 

Very few passengers are wearing masks. Crew, while required to wear masks, is mixed on mask wearing. Our first excursion on Saturday was a small group tour, transported on a small bus and held in a tight restaurant. No masks. One of our fellow passengers on the excursion was visibly quite sick with the typical symptoms of coughing, sneezing, and nasal congestion. She was unmasked the entire time. After coughing and blowing her nose like crazy, she did not disinfect her hands before passing plates around the dining table. I was a very unhappy camper. It was hard for me to understand how someone that sick could be so inconsiderate of others. Toward the end of the meal, she began talking about her husband, who was in isolation with Covid. When I asked her why she wasn’t in isolation, she stated that she had tested negative and was moved to a separate cabin from him, free to go as she pleased. This morning, I learned that was only partially true in that she was required to wear a mask if she left her cabin. She was so very much in the wrong on all counts but SB should not be allowing someone who has been in that close of contact with a positive Covid patient to be out and about with a zero isolation period. 

[Fletcher]

@kjbacon So sorry to hear you have tested positive and quite alarmed by your account of the excursion.

 

Now, we currently have two Cruise Critic bloggers - you on the Quest and @frantic36 on the Sojourn. Both have tested positive for Covid.  I am not a statistician . . . but what does this mean, how can this be? Is this coincidence or is there something fundamentally wrong?

Edited July 26, 2022 by Fletcher

[Isklaar]

@kjbacon, sorry to read your update. I join Fletcher in alarm about that excursion.Wishing you both a speedy recovery.

[lincslady]

So sorry - hope you are feeling OK and will test negative soon.

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, Fletcher said:

@kjbacon So sorry to hear you have tested positive and quite alarmed by your account of the excursion.

 

Now, we currently have two Cruise Critic bloggers - you on the Quest and @frantic36 on the Sojourn. Both have tested positive for Covid.  I am not a statistician . . . but what does this mean, how can this be? Is this coincidence or is there something fundamentally wrong?

Ok,they both caught it on the CC Boards using the same browser 😁

[nancygp]

Sorry to hear you and your husband tested positive.  I hope your symptoms are mild and you’ll be out and about soon.  How totally irresponsible of your fellow passenger.

 

Nancy

[SLSD]

First, I am so sorry to hear that you have tested positive.  I really wanted you to have a fabulous cruise and while you still can (after testing negative again), this is certainly a setback.  Like others, I am truly alarmed at your report.  The irresponsibility of the obviously sick woman is shocking.  Some people just don't care about others.  I know we see that all the time, but one would hope that our well educated erudite Seabourn passengers would be a cut above----obviously they are not.  

 

I want to say that I  have really admired all the determined cruisers since ships started sailing again during this pandemic.  Mr. SLSD and I have been too cautious to sail, so we have just been observing from the sidelines--living vicariously through the rest of you.  We haven't even traveled yet--planning our first significant domestic trip for early October---driving and renting a private casita in Santa Fe, NM.  

 

I hope your quarantine experience is relatively pleasant and you are well taken care of, have the mildest of symptoms, and are back enjoying the cruise sooner than you think.  

[SLSD]

4 hours ago, Fletcher said:

@kjbacon So sorry to hear you have tested positive and quite alarmed by your account of the excursion.

 

Now, we currently have two Cruise Critic bloggers - you on the Quest and @frantic36 on the Sojourn. Both have tested positive for Covid.  I am not a statistician . . . but what does this mean, how can this be? Is this coincidence or is there something fundamentally wrong?

What we do know is that the latest variants of the Covid virus are extremely transmissible---even more transmissible than the Omicron variant.  I think that is what we are seeing.  

[margbem]

When we were on the Quest in late May/early June there was Covid on board. I witnessed two ladies picking up food from their plates in Colonnade, putting it in their mouths and then licking fingers before handling serving spoons and tongs. I was relating this story to a fellow passenger who responded that he had seen a woman blowing her nose into her napkin. 🤢. Totally unacceptable, Covid not withstanding.

[Mr Luxury]

35 minutes ago, margbem said:

When we were on the Quest in late May/early June there was Covid on board. I witnessed two ladies picking up food from their plates in Colonnade, putting it in their mouths and then licking fingers before handling serving spoons and tongs. I was relating this story to a fellow passenger who responded that he had seen a woman blowing her nose into her napkin. 🤢. Totally unacceptable, Covid not withstanding.

I had a buffet on a ship closed down once as I had witnessed someone pick up sushi with the provided chop sticks and then pick up some wasabi and lick the chop sticks before putting them back on the serving dish.

I never go to a buffet on a ship these days as you just can't trust people no matter how much money they spend on a cruise.

 

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, margbem said:

When we were on the Quest in late May/early June there was Covid on board. I witnessed two ladies picking up food from their plates in Colonnade, putting it in their mouths and then licking fingers before handling serving spoons and tongs. I was relating this story to a fellow passenger who responded that he had seen a woman blowing her nose into her napkin. 🤢. Totally unacceptable, Covid not withstanding.

This is the reason we never do buffets----anywhere, anytime.  The very idea of it just totally grosses me out.  

 

Also, doe anyone know if when you order from your table at breakfast in the Colonnade if your waiter just grabs your selections from the buffet?  Or, are there other items (not on the buffet) that you can order.  If the former, I could not do that either!  Obviously, I have not had breakfast in the Colonnade---since we don't do buffets.  

Edited July 26, 2022 by SLSD

[kjbacon]

We are doing our best to make the best out of this. Thank you all for the well wishes. We are sick but not very sick and thankful

for that. We have lots of good movies to watch and plenty of room service. 
 

My best ports for this trip are Iceland and Greenland but my husband is all about Bordeaux. Best case scenario is that we will miss day one of Bordeaux and I’m not sure what the odds are that we will both test negative on day two of Bordeaux, our first scheduled retest. I’m so upset for him but at least I know that we did the right thing by calling the infirmary this morning.

 

Quarantine leaves you in your cabin and they put a small table in front of your door for room service trays. They are out of small tables so the Covid numbers can’t be good.

 

Frankly, I am furious at the SB Covid policy that does not insist upon the spouse to be isolated with her husband, negative test or not. It’s hard to believe and it’s no wonder they are out of those small tables.

 

As for the buffet or not to buffet, there’s little choice if you’d like to eat breakfast or lunch. The restaurant has yet to be open before dinner hour. Oceania serves you in their buffet and regent won’t let you in or out without sanitizing your hands. No one says a word to passengers here on SB as they pass right by the hand sanitizers.

 

The crew is shaking hands with each other and with passengers. I could keep going with examples but suffice it to say, this is why I gave a shoutout early on about the handling of Covid.

[cruiseej]

@kjbacon So sorry to hear you have Covid. I'm hoping you have only the mildest of symptoms and a quick recovery, and can stay positive so this dampens but does not ruin your vacation.

 

6 hours ago, Fletcher said:

I am not a statistician . . . but what does this mean, how can this be? Is this coincidence or is there something fundamentally wrong?

 

Of course there's something fundamentally wrong. 😉 There's a highly-transmissible disease which is still with us, more infectious than ever, and at moderately high levels. Meanwhile, most people are tired of dealing with it, don't want to have restrictions imposed on them, and want to "just get on with their lives". Unfortunately, those two things mean the virus continues to spread and be prevalent. Unless the virus mutates into something even more benign, or we get a shock/wake-up call and take the necessary steps to drastically curtail infections, this is the world we are living in, and will remain living in for the foreseeable future. You're free to travel in many parts of the world, but doing so comes with not insignificant risks. 

[marazul]

10 minutes ago, SLSD said:

This is the reason we never do buffets----anywhere, anytime.  The very idea of it just totally grosses me out.  

 

Also, doe anyone know if when you order from your table at breakfast in the Colonnade if your waiter just grabs your selections from the buffet?  Or, are there other items (not on the buffet) that you can order.  If the former, I could not do that either!  Obviously, I have not had breakfast in the Colonnade---since we don't do buffets.  

There are items you can order both at breakfast and lunch in the Colonnade.  There are small menus at each table with the a la carte items.  The waiters serve your plates in the kitchen, not the buffet line.  

[cruiseej]

3 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

They are out of small tables so the Covid numbers can’t be good.

Yikes!

[Hlitner]

14 minutes ago, SLSD said:

This is the reason we never do buffets----anywhere, anytime.  The very idea of it just totally grosses me out.  

 

Also, doe anyone know if when you order from your table at breakfast in the Colonnade if your waiter just grabs your selections from the buffet?  Or, are there other items (not on the buffet) that you can order.  If the former, I could not do that either!  Obviously, I have not had breakfast in the Colonnade---since we don't do buffets.  

There are plenty of items made to order (in the galley) that are not on the buffet.  Things like omelets, most other egg dishes, pancakes, waffles, crepes, etc.  I always order fresh squeezed OJ which is no longer on the buffet.

 

Hank

[SLSD]

19 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

 

 

As for the buffet or not to buffet, there’s little choice if you’d like to eat breakfast or lunch. The restaurant has yet to be open before dinner hour. Oceania serves you in their buffet and regent won’t let you in or out without sanitizing your hands. No one says a word to passengers here on SB as they pass right by the hand sanitizers.

 

I have never eaten from a buffet on a Seabourn cruise with a one time exception.  It CAN be done and for weeks at a time!  We order from the menu at lunch in the Colonnade.  It's a short menu, but that is what we do.  We also order from a menu at the pool grill.  I don't do any salad or pizza buffets.  Of course we prefer to have lunch in the MDR and breakfast too-and they are open on trans ocean cruises--like the one we took from Kobe to Vancouver.  Often, we are ashore during lunch and have lunch off the ship.  On days with early excursions, we have breakfast in our suite with room service.  

 

While we miss out on a lot the ship has to offer food wise this way, I just cannot do a buffet.  Now, having said that, we DID do (at my husband's behest) the big Chef's open kitchen buffet on our last cruise.  I will never do it again as I was totally grossed out by eating from a buffet--and ate very very little.  We don't cruise for the food. We cruise to enjoy the itinerary first and then the ship as a whole.  

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by SLSD

[hoosier74]

I'm so sorry to hear that you are ill.  Last fall in Greece, the spouse had to isolate with the infected party, but I fail to see how anyone could be so irresponsible....especially because it is my understanding that you can have covid and be contaigious for about 48 hours before you test positive.  Of course, doesn't apply to all cases.  

 

I have a question which is very US based but is there Paxlovid available on board to treat the cases?  We are vaxed and double boosted but got covid in April/May and had almost no symptoms.  I have no idea how widespread the distribution of the antiviral is, but it worked great for us.  Our MD usually gives us an RX for an antibiotic but I don't think we could get a 'just in case' antiviral.  

 

Just a mention, also in Greece, we were ALWAYS reminded to use the hand sanitizer when entering the Colonnade.  

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, marazul said:

There are items you can order both at breakfast and lunch in the Colonnade.  There are small menus at each table with the a la carte items.  The waiters serve your plates in the kitchen, not the buffet line.  

I knew that was true for lunch as we did that often, but good to know it is the same at breakfast.  

[travel4b]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

We are doing our best to make the best out of this. Thank you all for the well wishes. We are sick but not very sick and thankful

for that. We have lots of good movies to watch and plenty of room service. 
 

My best ports for this trip are Iceland and Greenland but my husband is all about Bordeaux. Best case scenario is that we will miss day one of Bordeaux and I’m not sure what the odds are that we will both test negative on day two of Bordeaux, our first scheduled retest. I’m so upset for him but at least I know that we did the right thing by calling the infirmary this morning.

 

Quarantine leaves you in your cabin and they put a small table in front of your door for room service trays. They are out of small tables so the Covid numbers can’t be good.

 

Frankly, I am furious at the SB Covid policy that does not insist upon the spouse to be isolated with her husband, negative test or not. It’s hard to believe and it’s no wonder they are out of those small tables.

 

As for the buffet or not to buffet, there’s little choice if you’d like to eat breakfast or lunch. The restaurant has yet to be open before dinner hour. Oceania serves you in their buffet and regent won’t let you in or out without sanitizing your hands. No one says a word to passengers here on SB as they pass right by the hand sanitizers.

 

The crew is shaking hands with each other and with passengers. I could keep going with examples but suffice it to say, this is why I gave a shoutout early on about the handling of Covid.

Sadly, I have to agree with your observation regarding the hand sanitizers.  I felt like we were the only ones using them; in our twenty days on the Sojourn in June I rarely saw other passengers using them and never saw any crew member ask anyone.  It's really such a simple thing and takes all of ten seconds.  It probably won't  help any with Covid transmission but my partner had norovirus on our Antarctica cruise and it was no fun.  

[Tallante]

2 hours ago, kjbacon said:

We are doing our best to make the best out of this. Thank you all for the well wishes. We are sick but not very sick and thankful

for that. We have lots of good movies to watch and plenty of room service. 
 

My best ports for this trip are Iceland and Greenland but my husband is all about Bordeaux. Best case scenario is that we will miss day one of Bordeaux and I’m not sure what the odds are that we will both test negative on day two of Bordeaux, our first scheduled retest. I’m so upset for him but at least I know that we did the right thing by calling the infirmary this morning.

 

Quarantine leaves you in your cabin and they put a small table in front of your door for room service trays. They are out of small tables so the Covid numbers can’t be good.

 

Frankly, I am furious at the SB Covid policy that does not insist upon the spouse to be isolated with her husband, negative test or not. It’s hard to believe and it’s no wonder they are out of those small tables.

 

As for the buffet or not to buffet, there’s little choice if you’d like to eat breakfast or lunch. The restaurant has yet to be open before dinner hour. Oceania serves you in their buffet and regent won’t let you in or out without sanitizing your hands. No one says a word to passengers here on SB as they pass right by the hand sanitizers.

 

The crew is shaking hands with each other and with passengers. I could keep going with examples but suffice it to say, this is why I gave a shoutout early on about the handling of Covid.

The small tables are the foot stalls from the loungers on the terrace.  We were moved to deck 5 on the Sojourn and had 3 stools. Always full up.  No complaints though we were well looked after and Room Service were amazing.

[Tallante]

Just now, Tallante said:

The small tables are the foot stalls from the loungers on the terrace.  We were moved to deck 5 on the Sojourn and had 3 stools. Always full up.  No complaints though we were well looked after and Room Service were amazing.

Whoops that should read Encore!,