Attention to detail, part II - just off Venture (long post)

[dgannett]

Hello,

 

I wrote a review of our first Seabourn trip on Sojourn last fall and found that, while the trip was good, it could have been improved by simple attention to detail in several respects. My wife and I recently debarked the Venture on January 31st and I wanted to provide some observations of our second cruise with Seabourn.

 

In short, this was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Service was excellent, the ship is beautiful and well apportioned for the itinerary, food was good to excellent, and the scenery in Antarctica was absolutely wonderful. Given our experience, we would definitely consider a Seabourn Expedition cruise again and my wife is already talking about a possible trip with an itinerary including Western Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. Our observations follow:

 

First, the (few) things that could have been improved-

 

-Our shower was clogged upon arrival and my wife had to finish washing her hair in the tub. It took three requests to have this fixed and the problem was solved within the first day.

 

-Some of the Expedition staff lectures could have been improved. While some talks were engaging and interesting, some fell short of the mark. I recall a talk about the ozone layer with much too much inorganic chemistry included which detracted from the value of this important topic. I suspect that talks by more experienced naturalists (i.e., National Geographic) would have provided more detail.

 

-I had a suboptimal experience with the Expedition staff during our trip ashore at Neko Harbour (this was a Zodiac landing on the continent of Antarctica). I approached two of the Expedition staff (easy to identify as they are the only ones with red parkas) who were standing on a small rocky elevated area. After enjoying the scenery for a minute or so, they informed me that I was too close to a penguin nest. When I looked at my feet, indeed I was very close to an unoccupied nest. I told them that I wouldn't have stood in this area if they were not right next to me and they told me that they had to move there due to recent calving of a glacier resulting in large waves rushing over the beach. While this area is indeed prone to calving, we had been ashore for about 15 minutes at this time with no calving activity and this area was at least 50m above the beach area. I feel that if these two had been paying more attention instead of talking with each other, this would not have happened.

 

The rest of my comments are all positive-

 

-The cabins are beautiful and our room attendants (Roberto and Aris) were friendly, attentive, and my expectations of attention to detail were met with respect to replenishing the beverages and ice as well as maintaining our room in excellent detail. The showers are a little small, but with excellent water pressure and temperature and no issues once the drain was cleared.

 

-Our TA informed us of an opportunity to upgrade our cabin about 5 days before the trip. The offer was $699 each to upgrade from a Panorama Veranda (I guess they call that a Penthouse Veranda now) to an owner's suite in the bow of the ship. Or we could pay $2799 each to upgrade to the Wintergarden Suite. I agonized a bit over this decision given that I was excited to try the Panorama Veranda with floor to ceiling windows and a view from the tub, but ultimately took the owner's suite. I'm glad we took the upgrade as the cabin has about 60% more space and an excellent viewing location at the front of the ship.

 

-The food was excellent overall in the Restaurant and Colonnade. We had excellent service from Darwin and Diego which made our meals with them more enjoyable. We did not try the sushi, although those that did said that it was excellent. We had room service in our suite twice during the trip when the menus weren't exciting us and the service was prompt and attentive with warm food laid out on a white tablecloth for us.

 

-We never had any wait for seating at mealtime and were always able to get a table for two when desired.

 

-We were fortunate in that weather conditions were good and none of the Zodiac landings or tours were cancelled. We also were able to try kayaking which was a wonderful experience. I never had any concerns with respect to safety and we were able to see Humpback whales relatively close up (the guides had us make a "raft" with our kayaks -everyone together with boats touching each other). I recommend booking this well in advance (several months before the trip). I had not done this and was fortunate to snag one of the few remaining spots for the last day of the trip. 

 

-We had booked with Seabourn Air and found the included transfers very convenient. On the last day of the trip, this included an early dinner at a restaurant in the Holiday Inn a few kilometers from the airport. This was an excellent Argentinian meal with salad, steak, empanadas, desert, and alcoholic beverages if you wished. Although we were told that we could not check luggage until 3 hours before our flight, we had no problem doing this (American). The price for the flights was the same as if I had booked on my own.

 

-The ship has an "open bridge" policy and we were able to visit during specified hours several times during the trip (including when the ship was underway). This was fascinating and the Venture is truly outfitted with the latest in technology and safety features. I asked one of the Watch Officers about the issue with the stabilizers last season in Antarctica. He told me that, due to a manufacturing defect, they both "snapped off". My wife and I had been booked on the Venture in 2023 and delayed our trip one year (no extra cost) because of this issue.

 

-The crew are friendly and attentive. I did not sense anxiety or unease with the crew as I did with some of the crew on our Sojourn trip last year. This is remarkable given that there are few options for them to leave the ship during the voyages to Antarctica. I did learn that the crew are able to participate in the Polar Plunge and Zodiac tours and landings at certain times and locations.

 

-With respect to the Polar Plunge, an opportunity was provided to jump into the frigid Antarctic waters once during the trip. I did not do this, but my wife was one of about 1/3 of the passengers who participated. The crew films your jump for you with your phone and liquid courage (a shot or two of your choice of liquor before and after your jump) is provided along with upbeat music to get you into the mood. This also was very safe as you are attached to a line with several crew in the area to assist you if needed. 

 

-You are provided with an opportunity to load images from the trip taken by the ship's photographer to your phone or computer. Bring a USB stick to make this process easier.

 

Please let me know if you have any specific questions that I could help out with. Thanks for reading this long post describing a great trip with Seabourn.

 

--Dave

[highplanesdrifters]

Excellent report, thanks!  

[markandjie]

Great write up, thank you! Very envious that you didn't have any landings cancelled!

 

And we had Aris as one of our attendants in Greenland/Iceland, he is excellent!