les37b

No Asahi, Sapporo or Guinness. It was a dry crossing - even though it was very very wet!

Sounds like you had a worse run of it from the F&B side, but at least you got the Alaskan ports in and weather looked good. Rough seas, cold and wet, plus booked stops missed. (The weather wasn't that bad to dock - we just didn't have a berth because the one berth was taken by Viking (I think) and in the other, commercial ships take first dibs and we got trumped. If only they had made the request before Viking had. Something not right there and echoed with the fact SS STILL hasn't requested a lift time at Tower Bridge for the Wind in just over 2 weeks. Always used to be requested over a year out and schedule show up on the lift website. SS were made aware of it a week ago, yet still haven't done so. (At least not until 3pm yesterday when I spoke with the request team at Tower Bridge.) Quite shocking really.

100% agree. Miyako not only set up the stands, dancers etc and send off, but the shuttle busses that were laid on and funded "by the "mayor" of Miyako. The town itself wasn't too memorable, but the welcome and friendliness of the people (especially the kids) was second to none.... and the send off blew me away. Could still hear them 30 mins after we left! Very humbling. Long my SS continue to support this town. May 5th was out International date line pass - so gutted it wasn't the day before so we had 2 May the fourths! lol

Rather sadly (with the exception of 30 May to 1 June 2024), SS no longer appears to visit the crème de La crème port of Tower Bridge. From up to 8 visits per summer on the Wind or Cloud, down to zero. They still visit the UK, but using the probably cheaper alternatives! (Been counting no doubt) Annoyingly I missed the single voyage last year as we were in Japan. 2025 it seems we don’t need to worry about it! This year I shall video as usual from the Dartford Crossing as the Wind arrives and departs, which enjoying lunch on board in between.

Give a little wave from port side as you approach Dartford crossing on your way to Tower bridge (hopefully!) at 6am on the 30th.

Yup. August 2023 they used Harpa.

That refit wasn’t decided until about 6 months before scheduled, leaving booking cancelled and guests on CC finding out before officially being told. Something at the time I was more than annoyed about, but thankfully the booking was converted into a decent exchange. Maintenance schedules should be something they’d be aware of, but where you’d get the info from I’m not sure.

That smells of complete incompetence. If they don’t know how to manage the tables, they’re in the wrong job. When we were on the Muse 12 months ago, we know same tables were reserved for same guests, which was confirmed by the guests themselves.

Did the first leg last year. Adore Japan and cant wait to go back. We were unlucky with the weather with the crossing, with rain and very cold so not much fun and we missed all ports after departing Japan. Try to watch the departure in Myako. We could still hear them saying goodbye 30 minutes after leaving. Felt quite humbling. The time adjustments you'll get are a real pain - ship lag at its best!!

Fingers crossed it remains. I suspect you’ll be treated to the usual Japanese welcome and farewell as you arrive and depart. Something I was so impressed with.

Fevertree tonic is being replaced by club tonic….. Ghastly stuff!. Ok, I was still able to get it, but only if I specifically requested it. .

Often OBC is given by the booking agent out of their commission, though if it’s able to give so much, there certainly is room for price drops! lol OP, I’d think it unlikely you would be able to do what you request, especially if you are not using the same hotel that SS are using. On my last visit to Reykjavik, we paid for flybus with local bus hotel drop offs (which luckily drops us right outside our hotel. On the morning of boarding (we stayed quite near the opera house) we waited a few minutes at the taxi stand opposite the hotel and the 15 minute or so journey was about £20. However, it is possible to contact the ship and see what can be done. You might be in luck. Your agent should be able to tell you the Hotels they’ve used and see if you are close by. Edit…. Apologies, I’ve noticed you meant from the airport. Try speaking to the ship or your SS agent to see if possible. I suspect it may be possible to travel, but unlikely they would except your OBC…. But unless you ask and press the point, you’ll never know. Have to agree on the usefulness of the OBC. The shops content since Covid has definitely got more expensive. Ours was always used by my wife on Swarovski jewellery which is no longer available. So armed with about $800 and no prices on display, she chose a pair of earrings she liked… until informed the price was $22,000. Obviously one option is the non included excursions or spa.

Have a great cruise SS. Looking forward to your reporting. Out of curiosity, what was the Emirates problem? We just flew out to Bali on Emirates and back from Bangkok with Qatar and vowed we’d never use Qatar again because of our experience in Doha. On our third security check from leaving BKK which was excessive and very unpleasant, leaving all the contents of my carry in a tangled heap. (Probably took about 10mins to get it nicely arranged and able to all fit in the bag again!) I appreciate this wasn’t Qatar directly, but did ask the boarding staff who said this was usual! Hope you have a better weather for the crossing and luck with your Alaskan ports than we did. The time zone changes were pretty challenging to! Fingers crossed.

I was on your sailing. It was mostly enjoyable and without too many gripes, but a few were difficult to ignore. OTOT there wasn’t anything inspiring either. Main pluses obviously the ship and crew. I guess they are a given. Reduction in choices on menus was not good and items running out at bars was poor and something I keep seeing on the past 3 sailings since Covid. It might be a minor thing in the scheme of things, but for first impressions, the lack of that welcome onboard champagne isn’t a good look and makes it very clear there is penny pinching going on. A theme which I noticed a few times. I thought it was rather embarrassing waiting in St Barths for the tender, to reach for a refreshment from the tender stand to find it was for seadream… we had nothing. I suspect the cost cutting no water bottles was to blame, but you don’t need that to pour into your drink bottle or a paper cup so no excuse. Again in the past when asked, I’d always say “it’s the little things that make it special”. I can no longer say that. The reverse is now true for me. This sailing is with regrets my final SS sailing unless there is a big turnaround and I can’t see that happening. On the plus side, my last cruise we just got back from with Viking a couple of weeks ago, has me set to return to Singapore and Malaysia next January. Hotels and flights already booked and know this trip for 21 nights will end up being less expensive than the 12 nights were on Viking with trains planes and automobiles instead of a ship as my taxi service. And completely by chance (not planned or knowledge) find ourselves booked into an executive club run with twin towers view over the Chinese new year and firework display which I will record in full from the room. I will miss the free laundry though! lol

Don’t forget the waffles! 😀