Whogo Live from Odyssey, 14 Nights Alaska July 12, 2024

[lincslady]

I suspect whogo is a very tolerant person.  I have come across, on a Regent cruise, a largish family (though not over 40!) of South American origin, who, being well off financially, brought a nanny to look after the smaller children.  She was a young girl, who took little notice of what they did, and the grownups just carried on ignoring them all.  Very difficult for staff and infuriating for fellow passengers.

[whogo]

18 hours ago, lincslady said:

I suspect whogo is a very tolerant person.

Not at all. The kids have not bothered me, yet. Yes, they have limitless energy, run around barefoot, seem to have no adult supervision at times including at the pool. I saw a uniformed security man chastising the kids for running at the pool. I found it amusing that they were on the floor in the door to the Colonnade playing with their cars. I will change my opinion of the children as soon as I hear a scream, see their little fingers in a serving bowl, or we are diverted to medically evacuate one of them. I fully understand why their behavior is unacceptable to others.

[whogo]

Monday, July 22, 2024 Misty Fjords National Monument, AK (Cruising)

 

I was up in the Observation Bar for the sail in to Misty Fjord. Beautiful scenery, I still can't describe it, the beauty of steep mountains, tall trees, exposed rock, partly cloudy skies, etc. I wished I had my binoculars, but it turned out that the three things that I thought were bears weren't. I also did not see moose, otters, seals or mountain goats. Cruised past an area called the Punch Bowl with another arm of the fjord and could not criticize the captain for stopping before the fjord really narrowed at Owl Pass (named for a rock formation).

 

Took another Zodiac ride in pleasant weather, my wet weather gear was overkill, a light jacket would have sufficed, no wind, no rain, no splashing. Eleven passengers for our driver/guide Nick. It's fun to be down on the water. Limited wildlife sightings, a bald eagle, black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous gulls. The black guillemot I mentioned days ago is properly called a pigeon guillemot. A member of the auk family, it's as close to a puffin as I am likely to see this trip. We saw four harbor seals on a sandbar on the ride from the ship, twice as many on the return. They were in the seal yoga pose with their heads and tails raised. Google Maps shows a spot in the fjord for a pontoon plane, looks to me like there is enough water but way too much mountain.

 

Yesterday was full of irritations, today everything meshed beautifully, the vein in my forehead is no longer pulsing. It was an afternoon tea kind of day without having afternoon tea. Wahoo was delicious at lunch outside at Colonnade, I lazed much of the afternoon, our team won at trivia. Mrs. Whogo accompanied me for sushi in the Club, we put in an appearance at the caviar sail away, same entertainment as last week, vocalists doing their program Voce. I had caviar.

 

I won at dinner with my soft shell crab and duck a l'orange handily beating her rockfish, we were both pleased by attentive service in a peaceful atmosphere. We called it an early night.

 

running and playing

free range children having fun

don't let me hear screams

[lincslady]

That sounds like a lovely day in gorgeous surroundings.  My only Alaska trip was years ago, when we were still going on bigger ships (not today's behemoths), and there were no possibilities to do  the up close an personal activities you can nowadays on the small ships.  It was still a wonderful experience, excelled only years later in Antarctica.

 

I hope you won't have reason to get annoyed by the free range children; having seen toddlers  collide with a waiter carrying a loaded tray in a restaurant, my tolerance level - of their parents - was reduced. 

[whogo]

Tuesday, July 23, 2024 Prince Rupert, BC, Canada 8:00am 11:00pm

 

I was reminded that Prince Rupert is a tender port for us when I heard the anchor chain, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. It was a dull sound, last cruise on Quest it sounded like the anchor chain ran through our room. Lost an hour last night, I slept until 5:30 PST. Went to view the city from the Observation Bar and saw much of it blocked by the Carnival Miracle. They are docked, the lucky so and sos. (so and soes? so and so's? Nothing looks right, but I can not use my preferred word choice.)

 

I breakfasted outside Colonnade, most chairs there have one short leg, minor irritation, get a bit of surprise when you lean back and the chair keeps going. The new Japanese owners will replace the awning of many patches. “Love is Strange” by Mickey and Sylvia is one of the songs I recognized playing softly in the background.

 

I was thinking this morning how nice our cabin is. They have avoided my frequent hotel complaints. The sinks are in the bathroom where they belong. The bed is made properly, the bottom sheet covers the whole mattress and stays tucked in. The top sheet stays tucked in and comes up far enough. We can stash everything out of sight, no clothes hanging in the room, no need to work out of a suitcase. The couch is comfortable and light is adequate for reading.

 

I received an email from Cruise Critic. “Congrats on your first "Live from..." Thanks for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!” I have done at least six live blogs here, guess the trick to being recognized is to keep “Grouch” out of the title. I am going to print and frame the announcement. I will be insufferable. Anyone reading this onboard will recognize me by my puffed out chest and my strut. A Nobel Prize is not out of the question.

 

Mrs. Whogo and I split up for the day ashore. I walked my legs off on ship and off. Tendered ashore and Walmart did not have the watch charger that their website said they had. Did not pay $54 for the official Apple charger.

 

Headed back through town and clockwise along the shore on a trail on a former rail line. Returned the same way, watched a tender pull away as I approached it. Just my luck. Next tender departed twenty minutes later and left another Seabourn cruiser. Mrs. Whogo did a similar walk plus the Museum of Norther B.C. and the Fire and Police Museum. Good fortune smiled at me, I missed her bagpiper. Bagpipes, musical instruments or noise makers? Discuss.

 

This is definitely two seven day cruises with a lot of repeats. Caviar day entertainment was the sme, another invitation to a captain's welcome, 50's night in the Colonnade again, etc.

 

Accepted TylerRose's gracious offer of a cabin tour, magnificent cabin up a spiral staircase from the spa, a genuine suite. Awful nice, I would be happy to live there. Her husband lent me a watch charger. What a great couple, what a great day.

 

Ended the day with an excellent meal at Thomas Keller. My steak was cooked perfectly, service and atmosphere were top notch and I ate too much.

 

two times seven days

or one fourteen day sea cruise?

enjoyed it either way.

 

[purpleally]

On 7/23/2024 at 1:48 AM, whogo said:

Not at all. The kids have not bothered me, yet. Yes, they have limitless energy, run around barefoot, seem to have no adult supervision at times including at the pool. I saw a uniformed security man chastising the kids for running at the pool. I found it amusing that they were on the floor in the door to the Colonnade playing with their cars. I will change my opinion of the children as soon as I hear a scream, see their little fingers in a serving bowl, or we are diverted to medically evacuate one of them. I fully understand why their behavior is unacceptable to others.

Clearly, they are not on your floor or you would hear the screaming as they run up and down the hallway after 10 pm

[whogo]

Pocket Earth has been a great free app for tracking my hikes and for seeing where we are at see.
 

[whogo]

I take back my high praise for the Seabourn app. This is the second day in a row with no events shown.
 

[whogo]

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 Whale Channel

 

Steady rain and low clouds greeted me yet again as I reached the Observation Bar at 6:00 AM, mountain tops were concealed, still beautiful. We were sailing the narrow Grenville Channel, only a half mile wide at its narrowest, straight as an arrow as the result of a fault line, if Wikipedia is to be believed. The rain lessened, visibility improved. Whale ho! It's a white whale! No, of course not, it's a black humpback, I saw little more than its spout and dorsal fin. The weather continued to improve to partly cloudy skies, I watched for hours and sighted a few more whales.

 

The active kids have not annoyed me. Someone mentioned that they are better behaved than US children. I know others must feel differently and have had different experiences with them. I like that the kids are fit and not just sitting around playing video games. If they were bugging me, I'd be the first to complain and mention it here. The only cruisers that have annoyed me are those with no indoor voice, merci, why would anyone talk so loudly that the whole Observation Bar hears every word?

 

Every time I pick up a menu I see a list of wines with surcharge prices, kind of bugs me on what's billed as an all inclusive line. I am already subsidizing the drinkers, don't need to subsidize more expensive alcohol, keep it like it is.

 

We entered the wider waters of Whale Channel, circled around Gil Island, continued on to another narrow channel. Scenery was less spectacular than in the fjords, mountains were shorter, acclivities less precipitous. The Venture team was out on deck 10, we spotted a whale and calf as they came up for breaths, my vision was blocked as the calf breeched. I was unable to aim my phone properly, my whale photos show nothing but ocean, but I spotted some. Honest.

 

A British Columbia Ferry passed up, made a stop, passed us again. We sailed past a couple of tiny villages accessible only by sea, also a manned lighthouse, the last one in Canada, I think. I am trying and failing to picture what life would be like in such remote locations.

 

Won at noon trivia. Charlie, pianist from the Observation Bar, provided the music for name that tune, another team beat us by one point. Here Comes the Sun, My Girl, Sweet Caroline and Leaving on a Jet Plane were some of the songs. We missed both the title and performer of a Metallica song.

 

We dined for the first time at Earth and Ocean, outside seating around the pool. Now out in the open Pacific, we were rocking more, roughest ride of the trip. We both chose panko crusted shrimp appetizers with boneless beef short ribs for main courses. My bananas foster was better than her banh gan coconut crème caramel. I won. Probably should have dined at Earth and Ocean more often.

 

waves now and white caps

the Pacific's not placid

I'll be rocked to sleep

 

[highplanesdrifters]

On 7/24/2024 at 12:31 AM, whogo said:

A Nobel Prize is not out of the question.

 

At a minimum,  Pulitzer.  Seabourns Poet Laureate is a given.

[whogo]

Thursday, July 25 Alert Bay, BC, Canada 6:00am 4:00pm

 

I slept in until 5:00 this morning, cruise life is making me lazy. Mrs. Whogo shrieked awake with the noise of the anchor dropping, turned over and fell back to sleep.

 

I had a decadent breakfast of lamb chops and grilled mushrooms, delicious. I won't be having that at home, but may again tomorrow on debarkation day.

 

I heartily endorse https://www.gutenberg.org for free out of copyright ebooks. Their books are well proofread and not the unedited optical character scans some websites offer. Dickens, Twain and all the classics. Twelve of Agatha Christie's books are available.

 

I've started reading the free download “Due West; Or, Round the World in Ten Months” by Maturin M. Ballou. Written in 1884, don't know if I will finish it and I won't recommend the book with its offensive racist stereotypes. I was struck by this passage:

 

“Life on shipboard, as has been intimated, becomes a little trying after a week or ten days' experience. Tedium and monotony have a tendency to bring out the less amiable characteristics of passengers who are thus crowded together under peculiar circumstances. Even the most equable disposition is liable sometimes to exhibit weakness.”

 

Life at sea has not become trying. There is no one I need to avoid. I have been near no one long enough for their mannerisms, tics, or foibles to grate on me. The cruise has been free of political squabbles. I have heard little of the news beyond the headlines. Donald Trump escaped assassination and Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and no one is talking about it and I am not interested enough to read the details. Perhaps I should spend the rest of my life on cruise ships.

 

Being thanked by the crew is getting old. Thank you (for letting me bring you your drink). Thank you (for letting me bring you your dinner). Thank you (for letting me clear the table). Thank you (for dining here). Etc. Another week onboard and I will start thinking that I am doing the crew a favor by eating, drinking and sleeping here.

 

We have heard pleas for good ratings which do not fit in with my vision of an upscale cruise line.

 

I have spoken with Phil a few times, he is the environmental officer. We defeated his officers' team at trivia, I gloated, he had the excuse that their trivia savant, Matt, was unavailable. Phil mentioned some changes the new owners will make to Odyssey. The casino will take up most of what is currently Seabourn Square. Smoking areas will expand for both cigarettes and cigars and some indoor areas will allow smoking. The upcoming dry dock will take care of some pipes, then it is the final Seabourn sailing by Odyssey to Japan.

 

Lined up to tender from the ship just as the kayakers and zodiacers boarded, we had a long wait. The tender dock had a very steep ramp up to street level, maybe 45°, think the wheel chair customers would not have left the ship. Alert Bay was once a thriving fishing and canning town on little four mile long Cormorant Island. We walked to the main attractions. There is a gentle hill from U'mista Cultural Centre to the big house, but we took the long steep gravel track up to the Anglican Cemetery, just as steep as the dock ramp, but much longer. We adjusted our route to avoid a steep down and up and viewed the big house near the soccer field. We heard the world's tallest totem pole was here, what we saw held up with guy wires was an undecorated tall, tall pole.

 

From there it was all downhill, physically, thankfully. Back down at sea level, U'mista Cultural Centre was great. Museums had been a little repetitious with information about indigenous cultures. This was my introduction to potlatch and the masks associated with them. It would have been nice to see some dates associated with the artifacts.

 

Back aboard, we won at trivia, then faced the packing challenge, stuff everything in suitcases except what you need tomorrow, luggage collected at 11:00, delivered to the terminal tomorrow, hope you have a pair of pants to wear.

 

I won dinner again with prime rib in the dining room. Finished packing everything, think we are all set for debarkation.

 

Thanks for reading. Mrs. Whogo was right, I am not a poet, I did not write poems, they are not haikus. My efforts did not reach the level of doggerel. I read well enough to know that I can not write.

 

Frustrated author,

not even a Pulitzer.

Nobel? Forget it.

[markandjie]

Fantastic live thread, thank you for sharing your experience and doing so with wit and humor.

[skybluewaters]

11 hours ago, whogo said:

I read well enough to know that I can not write.

 

Actually, you write superbly, and this comment of yours is one example of that.

 

[wine-wine-wine]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:04 PM, whogo said:

I can not write.

You inspire me to write on our upcoming Sea Cloud Spirit voyage. Thank you!

[purpleally]

Cannot believe you did not experience these kids!
running barefoot thru dining room, up and down hall screaming, urinating in pool showers, running on pool deck

[seahill]

I guess while you were playing trivia you missed the young children urinate in the pool showers, I was also on the 14day and was surrounded on deck 6 by all the family members whose kids ran up and down the halls barefoot, yelling and screaming all hours of the night, play in the elevators

The 40 some members of this family took over the pool and hot tubs daily.  In 14 days I saw only one older adult tryin to exercise in the pool only to be surrounded by screaming yelling running unsupervised children. No other adult member of this cruise would dare use the pool or hot tubs.

Complaints to upper staff of the ships crew went to deaf ears. They did tell me the showers by the pool were sterilized after i first witnessed it and made a complaint but no one stopped it from happening time and time again, This while passengers were tryin to eat.

Yes as daily activities were announced for adults none were listed for children.

This might be because Seabourn is not a cruise for children.

Once Jan had the children under control by a pizza making class which  took one hour out of their activities for 14 days.

Yes Alaska and Canada are beautiful  and no I did not sit by the pool. I also did excursions and got off the ship on port days.

Please don't make it sound as if these unsupervised children were well behaved because that is far from the truth. 

 

 

[whogo]

Friday, July 26 Vancouver, BC, Canada 7:00am

 

I slept in until 5:00 lazy bugger that I have become. Feasted on lamb chops and mushrooms for breakfast again in Colonnade. Mrs. Whogo joined me for her poached eggs, she ate more sensibly than I did all cruise. The Colonnade is a buffet, but table service is available and works beautifully there, portions are sensible and the food is plated more attractively.

 

Future sailings? Unlikely on Seabourn, the value is not there for us, think we might have averaged $15 in drinks per day. I said the same thing after our Seabourn Quest Antarctica cruise and there we are. The luxury Seabourn experience was lovely, better food and service was a treat, it's nice not pulling out a cruise card every time you order something. A few things did not seem like the luxury experience. The dining room was closed for breakfast and lunch on port days. Unneeded announcements were a minor irritation, Epicurean on Deck with guests applauding every Odyssey department was like a summer camp activity and we already did that last week. That brings me to my mistake in booking a fourteen day cruise that was really two seven day cruises, there were many repeats from week one, including some Venture lectures. I have made a mental note to check more closely in the future.

 

I think that Holland America's true 28 day cruise would have been a better fit for us.

 

I have mixed feelings on the Venture program. Having knowledgeable naturalists on hand in Seabourn Square and the Observation Bar was a plus. We had a great experience with birds, pinnipeds and sea otters on our first zodiac tour, just an expensive boat ride on our second. Venture excursions would be better if you knew it would get you closer to a breeding colony or nesting site or natural wonder.

 

I should not have accepted Seabourn's parka. I already have Gore-tex rainwear and have been trying to reduce stuff to save my heirs some headaches. I have too much stuff. So now I have a bright blue and orange jacket that I will never wear to go with a bright orange coat from our Antarctica cruise that I will never wear and we brought home trivia winnings of unneeded umbrellas, backpacks, and a game set.

 

The problem is probably ours and ours alone. Everyone else wore shirts showing that they had been to Ketchikan and Glacier National Park or were members of the Palm Beach Golf Club or Newport Yacht Club. Maybe showing off that you'd sailed Seabourn would be okay in Palm Springs, but I'd feel out of place here in the Midwest where logo wear is for seed companies and bass fishing paraphernalia.

 

We had no galley lunch, did not miss it. The signature dining room set menu meals were okay once, four times was too many. Let me choose my own appetizers.

 

I saw the children onboard daily about ship and at meals, never heard any yelling, did not bother me that they were bare foot and running or that they were foreign or that they were not grown ups. A fellow cruiser mentioned that an adult in the group had quieted the children immediately by raising her index finger, would like to see an American parent do that. I did not hang out at the pool, just walked through, their behavior was similar to what I see at the country club or at a public pool, can see it is not health spa pool behavior, not that I have ever been to a health spa. I am surprised that Seabourn did not enforce some adult only hours after receiving complaints. I am not glossing over anything, if the kids had annoyed me, I would mention it. If I had heard complaints onboard, I would mention it. I have no doubt that others were annoyed.

 

We had our oral and written orders to vacate our cabin by 8:00, we stayed until 8:10. Ten minutes late, how embarrassing. We are criminals, our stewards hate us, nasty notes are on our Seabourn permanent record, we are flagged as problem passengers and will be watched more closely on future sailings.

 

I wondered if we would have saved time by wheeling our own bags off the ship. No, there are no shortcuts. We had no trouble finding our bags, might have walked the equivalent of two or three blocks to get out of Canada Place. We walked another two or three blocks to Waterfront Station, not complaining, just documenting, and rode the SkyTrain light rail line to Vancouver's airport, YVR, easy-peasy, tap in and out with your credit or debit card, US$4.60 each.

 

Safely home, bags are unpacked, the laundry is done. I had to fix my own breakfast and you can bet it wasn't lamb chops.

 

The cruise is over

memories are all that's left,

also logo stuff

 

 

[badtwin]

Just loved your posts. We had friends on this cruise and used your posts to follow them at first which is sort of creepy but then kept checking in to see how you were doing.  Great cruise attitude.  Hope we meet on a HAL cruise someday as we are too cheap to ever sail Seabourn.  

 

The logo wear comments were particularly insightful.  🤣

 

[whogo]

Back for a week, here's my end of cruise summary, take my comments with a grain of salt, remember that I am not the Seabourn type. I am as happy with liverwurst as I am with pate de foie gras, I am indifferent to caviar, don't drink wine, don't drink hard liquor, prefer a hoppy ale, fly coach, stay in Comfort Suites instead of the Four Seasons.

1. There were motion activated nightlights on each side of the bed and under the vanity in the hall in our cabin. I was surprised that I liked them and that the light did not annoy Mrs. Whogo.

2. My device did not charge from the bathroom outlet, assume the power goes out when the light goes out.

3. The vanity is useless for grooming, the light is too dim. This old guy did not even comb his hair there. Mrs. Whogo used it to charge her laptop.

4. Our room safe made a loud, unnecessary beep with every press of a button. It was big enough to hold laptops. I decided the laptops would not be stolen and used the safe for our passports, diamonds, emeralds and tiara.

5. At nightly turndown, our steward left almost every light on, bathroom, overhead, bar cabinet and bedside. He also left the TV on to the Herald page and closed the curtain. I opened the curtains, it was still light outside. Turned off the TV and most lights.

6. We spent no time on our balcony, but liked the big expanse of glass.

7. Our bottle of bubbly was removed on our last day. Montaudon? Didn't miss it, we don't drink it. Wine buckets were set out in the hall at debarkation, seemed to be standard operating procedure, do not know what that was about.

8. The four Signature Dinners with five set appetizers were three Signature Dinners too many. The little ball of sorbet in a wine glass with a splash of  prosecco was only fun once.

9. Note to self: Do not book a fourteen day cruise that is two seven day cruises.

10. The 758 mb video of our first seven days was mostly things I did not see, excursions I did not take. I won't watch it again.

11. The 889 mb video of our first seven days was mostly things I did not see, excursions I did not take. I won't watch it again.

12. We were lucky the trivia questions were geared to boomers. If they'd have asked about rap stars or songs from the last thirty years...

13. Getting thanked by staff for being served by them got old.

14. There was a small orchid in a vase at the vanity, did not do much for the décor [spell check added the accent to décor, I never would have thought of it. Spell check must know I'm on the Seabourn board, would not do that on the Carnival board.]. Mrs. Whogo thought the ship could have used more floral displays.

15. Our standard balcony cabin on deck five was great, despite my nitpicking. Black out curtains worked, I slept well, mattress and bedding were great, couch was comfortable, plenty of storage room, hot water was hot almost immediately.

16. The part metal veranda railing did not diminish our enjoyment. Would happily book deck five again.

17. Service was excellent. I did not bond with the staff as other cruisers report, did not make any life-long friends of any of them, did not quiz them on their nationality or family as others do, figured they had work to do, let them do it.

18. Colonnade was not the zoo it was on our Antarctica cruise, we had little problem finding a seat. Even if I ordered table service there, I augmented it with something from the buffet, maybe some smoked salmon or a salad.

19. Ordering a club soda and lime was easier than explaining that you did not want anything to drink.

20. I am still healthy after a week at home, Mrs. Whogo came down with a nasty cold, is Covid negative. I saw one quarantined cabin once (biohazard bag on stool set outside cabin). Might have been Covid, might have been norovirus, might have been anything.

21. Great cruise, not one of our favorites, can't fault Seabourn, it was the itinerary. Glad we saw a tiny bit of Alaska, scenery was great, guess I'd prefer to visit cities, I can not get fired up about native cultures, e.g. I preferred our Boston/Montreal/Boston cruise. Wish we'd seen more wildlife.

22. We are unlikely to cruise Seabourn again, as I said after our first Seabourn cruise. Holland America is a better fit for us and they have more longer cruises that are not sold as segments.

[lisa6191]

3 hours ago, whogo said:

Back for a week, here's my end of cruise summary, take my comments with a grain of salt, remember that I am not the Seabourn type. I am as happy with liverwurst as I am with pate de foie gras, I am indifferent to caviar, don't drink wine, don't drink hard liquor, prefer a hoppy ale, fly coach, stay in Comfort Suites instead of the Four Seasons.

1. There were motion activated nightlights on each side of the bed and under the vanity in the hall in our cabin. I was surprised that I liked them and that the light did not annoy Mrs. Whogo.

2. My device did not charge from the bathroom outlet, assume the power goes out when the light goes out.

3. The vanity is useless for grooming, the light is too dim. This old guy did not even comb his hair there. Mrs. Whogo used it to charge her laptop.

4. Our room safe made a loud, unnecessary beep with every press of a button. It was big enough to hold laptops. I decided the laptops would not be stolen and used the safe for our passports, diamonds, emeralds and tiara.

5. At nightly turndown, our steward left almost every light on, bathroom, overhead, bar cabinet and bedside. He also left the TV on to the Herald page and closed the curtain. I opened the curtains, it was still light outside. Turned off the TV and most lights.

6. We spent no time on our balcony, but liked the big expanse of glass.

7. Our bottle of bubbly was removed on our last day. Montaudon? Didn't miss it, we don't drink it. Wine buckets were set out in the hall at debarkation, seemed to be standard operating procedure, do not know what that was about.

8. The four Signature Dinners with five set appetizers were three Signature Dinners too many. The little ball of sorbet in a wine glass with a splash of  prosecco was only fun once.

9. Note to self: Do not book a fourteen day cruise that is two seven day cruises.

10. The 758 mb video of our first seven days was mostly things I did not see, excursions I did not take. I won't watch it again.

11. The 889 mb video of our first seven days was mostly things I did not see, excursions I did not take. I won't watch it again.

12. We were lucky the trivia questions were geared to boomers. If they'd have asked about rap stars or songs from the last thirty years...

13. Getting thanked by staff for being served by them got old.

14. There was a small orchid in a vase at the vanity, did not do much for the décor [spell check added the accent to décor, I never would have thought of it. Spell check must know I'm on the Seabourn board, would not do that on the Carnival board.]. Mrs. Whogo thought the ship could have used more floral displays.

15. Our standard balcony cabin on deck five was great, despite my nitpicking. Black out curtains worked, I slept well, mattress and bedding were great, couch was comfortable, plenty of storage room, hot water was hot almost immediately.

16. The part metal veranda railing did not diminish our enjoyment. Would happily book deck five again.

17. Service was excellent. I did not bond with the staff as other cruisers report, did not make any life-long friends of any of them, did not quiz them on their nationality or family as others do, figured they had work to do, let them do it.

18. Colonnade was not the zoo it was on our Antarctica cruise, we had little problem finding a seat. Even if I ordered table service there, I augmented it with something from the buffet, maybe some smoked salmon or a salad.

19. Ordering a club soda and lime was easier than explaining that you did not want anything to drink.

20. I am still healthy after a week at home, Mrs. Whogo came down with a nasty cold, is Covid negative. I saw one quarantined cabin once (biohazard bag on stool set outside cabin). Might have been Covid, might have been norovirus, might have been anything.

21. Great cruise, not one of our favorites, can't fault Seabourn, it was the itinerary. Glad we saw a tiny bit of Alaska, scenery was great, guess I'd prefer to visit cities, I can not get fired up about native cultures, e.g. I preferred our Boston/Montreal/Boston cruise. Wish we'd seen more wildlife.

22. We are unlikely to cruise Seabourn again, as I said after our first Seabourn cruise. Holland America is a better fit for us and they have more longer cruises that are not sold as segments.

We are very very similar, definitely not the usual Seabourn passengers, don’t drink much and rarely do “fancy” stuff. Often prefer a good burger place to a Michelin star restaurant. We loved our first Seabourn cruise (a Med cruise last fall) but felt a bit out of our league sometimes to be honest. I really enjoyed your reports and agree with much of your wrap up. A couple comments:

1. The light under the night table drove me nuts, so I stuffed a pillow under there so I couldn’t see it.

8. I sincerely hope we don’t have 4 Signature dinners on our upcoming 14-night (all one segment, it’s a TA).

19. Good tip, I will use it. 😊

22. Can you share a bit about why you think Holland America is a better fit for you? I’m not very familiar with that line. I think this may be our last Seabourn cruise unless prices moderate, the current prices are just too high for us. We were able to get a great price on this TA, which was lucky because the same cruise now is almost $3k more than we paid.

[whogo]

Lisa6191, the motion activated nightlights were on a timer and went out after after a half minute or so, the room was then pitch black. My current pet peeve is hotel rooms with translucent sliding bathroom doors that don't block out the nightlight that can not be switched off.

 

You don't have to accept the Signature Dinner, there is an always available Classic Dinner. We did not order from it. I think it varies a little, but there was always a steak, fish, or vegetarian main and normal salads and desserts.

 

DTtravelers reminded me of the club soda and lime trick to get waiters to leave you alone.

 

Price is a big factor in my preference for mainstream cruise line Holland America. They have unique longer itineraries that their competition doesn't. I am currently tempted by a 42 night Mediterranean cruise on a 1400 passenger ship round trip from Fort Lauderdale that is not available in shorter segments, I think. I was also tempted by their 51 day voyage from San Diego to Hawaii and French Polynesia.

 

Holland America is relatively sedate, has no bumper cars, roller coasters, water slides or climbing walls.Their main stage entertainment gets poor reviews, but notice that I did not attend any shows on Odyssey, they don't interest me. There is a charge for Holland America's steak restaurant, specialty coffees, alcoholic beverages and more. I'm happy with the included diner style coffee, Mrs. Whogo likes their tea. I recall a cruise where my only charges were for a beer about every other day. I have spent many an hour on their wrap around promenade decks, happily reading in a padded chaise longue, preferring that deck over my cabin balcony. I think their restaurant is open every day for breakfast, I regularly dined solo there on eggs Benedict or my standard eggs over easy with toast and bacon.

 

 

 

[lincslady]

To state the blindingly obvious, HAL is obviously a better fit for you than Seabourn, and cheaper.  It is a no brainer, win win situation, to use the awful cliches.

[lisa6191]

7 hours ago, lincslady said:

To state the blindingly obvious, HAL is obviously a better fit for you than Seabourn, and cheaper.  It is a no brainer, win win situation, to use the awful cliches.

Are you talking to me or to whogo? 
 

My only real concern with HAL (and lines like Oceania) is the increased number of passengers. We are very crowd-averse and honestly the only way I got my husband on a cruise in the first place was the low number of passengers on Seabourn. How much more crowded does it seem on these lines with 1000-2000 passengers? Also most of the ships I saw on the HAL site were around 2000 or even 2600 passengers, which ship is 1400? I found their site difficult to navigate (like Seabourn’s 🙄).

[lincslady]

To whogo;  sorry, I assumed that it was obvious, but can see that I was wrong.

[allyg]

Great blog—- thanks for sharing.