Lagniappe: Canines on Seabourn, Carry ons on international flights, bus etiquette, etc.

[SLSD]

7 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

We were on Quest last month. She was quite lovely. We looked prior to booking and she was in dry dock in 2021. We did not feel like there were areas of wear and tear visible. 

Very good to know this.  Thank you.  

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

Very good to know this.  Thank you.  

Just some guests showing a little wear and tear. 😀

[Vineyard View]

2 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Just some guests showing a little wear and tear. 😀

There was that! 

[Mahogany]

19 hours ago, labonnevie said:

SLSD,

The Regent Explorer spends a lot of time in Japan, both spring and fall. 
We took it for a 14 day Tokyo to Tokyo with a 3 day precruise in Tokyo this April. Can highly recommend both the ship and the itinerary (port intensive, only two sea days). 

A voyage I thoroughly enjoyed was a repositioning cruise after (or before) the Alaska season which includes the Aleutians, then cross the Pacific to Kamchatka Peninsula and then to and around Japan. I went on Silversea Muse.

[SLSD]

16 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Pretty sure all the itineraries that are going to be next Spring are out there. I’ve scrubbed them pretty thoroughly between a few lines. It’s down to looking port by port at those we haven’t been to, and those we have been to on each. Seabourn and another line are the final two.  It’s the itinerary vs the preferred line (SB) at this point. 
That or a land trip. Which isn’t our first choice. 

I would love to hear what you are considering. 

[SLSD]

3 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

A voyage I thoroughly enjoyed was a repositioning cruise after (or before) the Alaska season which includes the Aleutians, then cross the Pacific to Kamchatka Peninsula and then to and around Japan. I went on Silversea Muse.

We did this same itinerary on Seabourn in 2019 and enjoyed it.  Ours started in Kobe, Japan (we spent several days pre cruise in Kyoto) and then there were several ports in Japan before the Kamchatka Peninsula.  I think starting in Alaska in much easier for the time changes.  

[Vineyard View]

11 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I would love to hear what you are considering. 

Seabourn 14 days Treasures of the Adriatic on 4/21

Oceania 14 days Barcelona-Rome on 5/18

 

I am shocked to find that the Oceania new pricing format that rolled out on Saturday reduced the price on this itinerary with more included. It appears their new package is all over the board in pricing with almost all being higher, some significantly than the previous pricing. 
 

I know what I am getting with SB, but have not sailed O. The price difference now when all is added in is rather significant. I did not expect that. And yes, I know it’s a bigger ship. And I know it won’t have the same luxury. But we are really attracted to the itinerary. 

[SLSD]

45 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Seabourn 14 days Treasures of the Adriatic on 4/21

Oceania 14 days Barcelona-Rome on 5/18

 

I am shocked to find that the Oceania new pricing format that rolled out on Saturday reduced the price on this itinerary with more included. It appears their new package is all over the board in pricing with almost all being higher, some significantly than the previous pricing. 
 

I know what I am getting with SB, but have not sailed O. The price difference now when all is added in is rather significant. I did not expect that. And yes, I know it’s a bigger ship. And I know it won’t have the same luxury. But we are really attracted to the itinerary. 

Very interesting about Oceania.  We are not going to be able to cruise next April/May which is prime cruising time due to an already planned domestic trip. Probably not good planning on our part--but we are looking forward to that trip as well.  

 

We have not cruised with Oceania either.  Today, while grocery shopping, I ran intoa dear elderly woman who lived in the retirement community where my mother lived and I reminded her of hearing about all of her fun Oceania cruises.  She told me that she stopped cruising at age 82 because flying to the embarkation cities became too difficult. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by SLSD

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for sharing that SLSD. Mar-May is our timeframe to travel now. We used to go both shoulder seasons, but with all the wildfires here we no longer travel in the Fall. I have heard good reports about O for the most part. I have to also know they aren’t SB…..I just don’t know how far off the mark they are in concierge level vs V3.

Even if I add in their gratuities and expensive upgrade to the now included beverage package (to be more in line with SB inclusive, the price difference on this cruise is over $4,200 for 14 days. 
 

But they do not have caviar and Champagne! And the ship is 1200 pax. 
 

[SLSD]

A former neighbor is cruising with a group of 12 family and friends right now in Iceland.  They are on a Royal Caribbean ship, but hired a private tour out of the capital city on their own small bus.  She posted photos of that day and it is incredible.  We have other friends on Ovation in Iceland right now.  This friend is a crack photographer--and nothing he has posted can compare with what our friends on Royal Caribbean have seen on their private tour.  Perhaps it would take a group of 12 to make such a tour more economical---but the difference in phenomenal.  I'll be asking when they return for information.  

[Vineyard View]

We always try to book private tours when we do not DIY in a port. In the past, pre-c, it wasn’t all that difficult to find a tour company/guide. If the price for just the two of us was more than we wanted to spend (at times it was less for just us than ship - ie Istanbul, various ports in Turkey,Ephesus, etc). At times we gathered a few other couples in our roll call (ie St Petersburg 8 people total) and it worked out great. Every time we have done this, except Cairo (long story), it’s has been a far superior experience over ship excursions. The current problem though seems to be finding independent tour guides post C. Hopefully that changes over the next year or so. 

[highplanesdrifters]

26 minutes ago, SLSD said:

A former neighbor is cruising with a group of 12 family and friends right now in Iceland.  They are on a Royal Caribbean ship, but hired a private tour out of the capital city on their own small bus.  She posted photos of that day and it is incredible.  We have other friends on Ovation in Iceland right now.  This friend is a crack photographer--and nothing he has posted can compare with what our friends on Royal Caribbean have seen on their private tour.  Perhaps it would take a group of 12 to make such a tour more economical---but the difference in phenomenal.  I'll be asking when they return for information.  

Interested to hear more. Reykjavik is so small I wonder what they saw on a private tour.

[SLSD]

17 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

We always try to book private tours when we do not DIY in a port. In the past, pre-c, it wasn’t all that difficult to find a tour company/guide. If the price for just the two of us was more than we wanted to spend (at times it was less for just us than ship - ie Istanbul, various ports in Turkey,Ephesus, etc). At times we gathered a few other couples in our roll call (ie St Petersburg 8 people total) and it worked out great. Every time we have done this, except Cairo (long story), it’s has been a far superior experience over ship excursions. The current problem though seems to be finding independent tour guides post C. Hopefully that changes over the next year or so. 

We've done private guides as well--in Italy, Greece, Turkey.  We haven't done it lately on a cruise as we have not been traveling with friends and have been reluctant to join with people we do not know. We have done it in embarkation/disembarkation cities.   The photos I saw from Iceland were extraordinary--and I've seen a lot of photos from Iceland.  I will find out for sure who the company/guide were and report back.  It WAS a large group and a very long excursion.  

[SLSD]

4 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Interested to hear more. Reykjavik is so small I wonder what they saw on a private tour.

I went back to look. My friend says:  "Day 4 on the ship we arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland where we had a 12 hr tour including Gullfoss, Skogafoss, & Seljalandsfoss waterfalls, Thingvellir National Park, Geysir geothermal area, Reynisfjara black beach, & village Vik, stopped for lunch at Smidjan Brugghus"

Edited July 4, 2023 by SLSD

[whogo]

6 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Interested to hear more. Reykjavik is so small I wonder what they saw on a private tour.

This Holland America cruiser recently reported about his tour from Reykjavik: https://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com/2023/06/reykjavik-iceland-part-1-of-2.html

[SLSD]

12 minutes ago, whogo said:

This Holland America cruiser recently reported about his tour from Reykjavik: https://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com/2023/06/reykjavik-iceland-part-1-of-2.html

These are the kinds of photos I've been seeing from our friends on Ovation--and some a bit more interesting--but nothing like the friends on the private tour.  They will return soon and I will ask.  

[galeforce9]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

A former neighbor is cruising with a group of 12 family and friends right now in Iceland.  They are on a Royal Caribbean ship, but hired a private tour out of the capital city on their own small bus.  She posted photos of that day and it is incredible.  We have other friends on Ovation in Iceland right now.  This friend is a crack photographer--and nothing he has posted can compare with what our friends on Royal Caribbean have seen on their private tour.  Perhaps it would take a group of 12 to make such a tour more economical---but the difference in phenomenal.  I'll be asking when they return for information.  

Sounds very interesting!

[highplanesdrifters]

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

I went back to look. My friend says:  "Day 4 on the ship we arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland where we had a 12 hr tour including Gullfoss, Skogafoss, & Seljalandsfoss waterfalls, Thingvellir National Park, Geysir geothermal area, Reynisfjara black beach, & village Vik, stopped for lunch at Smidjan Brugghus"

Gotcha.  I was thinking they did 12 hours in Reykjavik. 🤣

[Mahogany]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:11 PM, Vineyard View said:

Seabourn 14 days Treasures of the Adriatic on 4/21

Oceania 14 days Barcelona-Rome on 5/18

 

I am shocked to find that the Oceania new pricing format that rolled out on Saturday reduced the price on this itinerary with more included. It appears their new package is all over the board in pricing with almost all being higher, some significantly than the previous pricing. 
 

I know what I am getting with SB, but have not sailed O. The price difference now when all is added in is rather significant. I did not expect that. And yes, I know it’s a bigger ship. And I know it won’t have the same luxury. But we are really attracted to the itinerary. 

Best thing about Oceania is their specialty restaurants.

[PSahoy]

Itinerary is how I took Oceania previously and doing so again next March. Before they instituted new pricing structure it was a bargain for me as both solo and non drinker. The main difference to me between them and SB is cabin size: O smaller by almost 100sq ft. Otherwise pretty comparable; or at least as much to get the itinerary I want. Between the two I’d stick with SB and especially now that O   no longer has a la carte pricing.

[cruiseej]

8 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Reykjavik is so small I wonder what they saw on a private tour.

 

The city itself is small, or course, but the surrounding countryside offers a wealth of things to see (as confirmed by the follow-up post). We spent three days in Iceland prior to a cruise Greenland a few years ago, and just nibbled at the southwestern corner of the country. This August, we're returning to Iceland for a circumnavigation cruise (on Regent, non-expedition, as it's for my dad's 95th birthday!), but I don't expect to see all Iceland has to offer. Some day, we hope to return to do the circumnavigation drive, which will show use much more than the cruise which pops in and out at a few spots. But this is like all cruising: you get a small taste of the ports you visit, but land-based touring will always make more available to experience. 

[2SailingNomads]

Which Regent are you on?  We join on Sunday for 21 days.

[Vineyard View]

3 hours ago, PSahoy said:

Itinerary is how I took Oceania previously and doing so again next March. Before they instituted new pricing structure it was a bargain for me as both solo and non drinker. The main difference to me between them and SB is cabin size: O smaller by almost 100sq ft. Otherwise pretty comparable; or at least as much to get the itinerary I want. Between the two I’d stick with SB and especially now that O   no longer has a la carte pricing.

But would you do that if the new Oceania pricing was $4k less for the same timeframe (almost $5k less if you didn’t upgrade to prestige drink package which makes no sense) of 14 days? 

I know O food is considered excellent, but our recent SB food experience was as well. SB =smaller ship/smaller ports. 

 

[PSahoy]

I would probably go O in that instance but with their new pricing structure theirs and SB will probably not be that different and I’d pay somewhat more for SB’s larger cabin and overall ambience, itinerary being the same.

[cruiseej]

5 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Which Regent are you on?  We join on Sunday for 21 days.

 

Splendor, for just an 8-day trip in late August. (Traveling with my 95 and 93 year-old parents, we needed something fairly short and, hopefully, simple.) We started our cruising life when they took us on a Radisson cruise (the Paul Gauguin, back when the pre-Regent Radisson ran it), and did a number of Radisson/Regent cruises with them before we moved on to Seabourn and a few Silversea expeditions. So this Regent trip will be our first in a decade and will complete the circle, back to our original cruise line. I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to Seabourn, which has been our favorite in recent years.

 

Sorry we'll miss you!