galeforce9

20 minutes ago, snoozecruise said:

Hi Everyone

We have just booked our first Seabourn cruise departing February 2024.

Is this referral system still relevant ? If so I would be very grateful if anyone could help out. Please email ferrysue@hotmail.com. 
ManyThanks

Just emailed you thanks 

56 minutes ago, markandjie said:

On Venture it is $20 per day, and you have to purchase for the remaining duration of your trip. So it started at $240 or so and I could now purchase it for the remaining days for $120.

Thank you. Is that per person and for one device please?

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!

9 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Thankyou @SLSD that is reassuring. I have so enjoyed following along with you and @jondfk. So excited for us to follow in your footsteps in 2 weeks time 😁.

Just watching Elton John at Glastonbury ( on the telly of course, too old for festivals now 😂😂)

He was superb wasn’t he!

3 hours ago, LMB01 said:

I laughed out loud!

 

We are packing for our 2 weeks in Norway - 2 carryons and 4 large checked bags that will each have to be weighed so as not to exceed the 70lb weight limit!

 

I don’t travel light!

My kind of packer 😁

@SLSDI hope you book and travel on another seabourn cruise soon as I’m going to miss having your reports to look forward to. 

37 minutes ago, Mauzac said:

Without wishing to big myself up 😂 I wrote a polite and heartfelt email to US SB expressing my disappointment, especially bearing in mind we have only ever sailed SB, so complete loyalty (and also 4 recommendations to friends, family and a neighbour who have taken numerous cruises because of us saying how wonderful SB is, plenty of repeat business there!  My best friend was Cunard all the way, now about to book her fourth SB cruise!)

 

Bottom line, I just wanted some sort of acknowledgement of our disappointment.  And the email was very nice from them.  

Glad you were listened to and your loyalty recognised.  You did well to get such a speedy response too!

2 hours ago, Mauzac said:

As promised, I am updating!

 

We are both delighted to have been given some OBC along with an informative email about pricing structures and reassurances that we are valued as a customer, which was the main point for us (but the OBC is very nice too, thank you!)

 

Signed Mr & Mrs Very Satisfied from UK 😂

May I ask what brought about the change of heart as they had already refused the request through the travel agent please?  Did the TA ask again, more specifically for Obc, or did you appeal direct through the club/president etc 

45 minutes ago, lincslady said:

You are having some gorgeous weather.  I did think the pulpit rock would be very obvious to see, but clearly not so, from below anyway.  Suffering a bit from vertigo these days, I would be terrified to go anywhere near the edge anyway.  Everything looks so lovely in the sunshine,  I have seen Norway both ways, and blue sky is certainly preferable.

 

A very good idea to keep the other subject separate, IMO.

Or with lots of snow ❄️

1 hour ago, Mauzac said:

Hoping for some wise words on this Board 🙂🙂

 

I'll try and be brief.  We are UK based, very close to being a Diamond member, have two cruises upcoming and the one in question we booked last December, it is a 2 week cruise due to embark in 43 days, V2.  We have paid our final bill.

 

We received a promotional email from our (well known UK based) TA.  Our upcoming cruise has a special offer on.  Upgrade V2 to V4 (not worried about that, we like the suite we have chosen)

 

However, the price difference is enormous.    If we were to book today we would be paying £3,562 ($4,530) less than what we did pay (for a 14 day cruise).  It would possibly be even more than that once the TA savings are factored in.  I contacted the TA who in turn contacted SB.  Whilst I do not expect any credit as far as refunds, I was expecting some OBC to soften the blow especially as we have a lot of SB excursions booked and paid for.and costing ££££.  The TA has come back to me, SB will not offer anything.  Zilch.  They say it is a special offer for customers booking now and there is nothing at all they can offer us.  

 

We are so disappointed about this, as we are loyal to SB, and we've recommended 4 family and friends to SB who have taken numerous cruises.  In the past we have actually had some price adjustments if this has happened before paying our final bill.  We have written to Guest Relations in US but our TA informs us it can be up to 28 days for any reply or even acknowledgement.

 

Has anyone had this sort of experience?  Any advice gratefully received.  

 

Signed Mr & Mrs Disappointed from UK 😂

That is really disappointing to hear.  I am just shy of diamond too and in the UK. I also have had very limited or no success in recent years in appealing to seabourn via my respected ta in the face of large price drops (but not as large as this).  It led, in 2018, to me cancelling a cruise and losing my deposit (clearly you are past this stage) and losing included flights, to save over £2000 each as they would offer nothing.  I rebooked the same cabin. 

20 minutes ago, sfvoyage said:

At the famous Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, most fresh catch are quickly frozen and then distributed around Japan and the world, to be served at top restaurants.  Foreign tourists can observe the frozen tuna auction site early mornings (not sure if that's still true due to covid).

Think they relocated tsukiji to a new site, fairly nearby, a few years ago 

5 hours ago, lexus man said:

We’re just approaching the end of our long-awaited return to cruising. The ship is near enough capacity; I’m told only one free suite. It’s been a very hot weather Med cruise and deck 9 has been heaving with people on the two sea days. First time I’ve met Captain Sybe de Boer; he seems a very affable chap. Cruise director has been Clark on his first CD contract; he has been shadowed by John Barron. Obviously new as he let his first trivia question descend into fierce debate about the accuracy of the answer. 

      We have three nights left on board and have noticed a sudden surge of attentiveness from the wait staff. It’s a shame it’s taken over a week for glasses to be filled without effort. It’s been a strange mix of guests, with many Australian pharmacists on board, clocking up continuing professional development hours in Seminars. 

       We had a great Chef*s shopping tour in Syracuse with chef Lindsay. He made certain we had tastes of everything he was looking at. But it was strange that when I asked about a special order of Nigerian shrimps, he said there were none on board, and lo and behold the next night they were the main course at Earth and Ocean. Full credit to Patio Maitre’d Jonas for recognising that I was thrilled with the dinner and he brought over another round of the crustacea without my asking.

      In a nod to previous questions, i’m delighted that we can now order room service champagne by the bottle. As little as 4 years ago I was told that I could have as many glasses as I wanted, but a full bottle left in the suite would be charged to my account.

    Have to go now as I’ve just been given a pina colada and it would be rude not to drink it.

Thanks for your review.   Have you definitely been able to get the bottles of champagne - it was me who queried this on another recent post. Very often the glasses would be poorly filled, a bit warm and not very sparkly by the time they arrived 

Put my deposit down several weeks ago 🙄

4 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

The skylift is great

Here are some pics 

14 hours ago, nancygp said:

Susan,

 

Glad you made it to gerainger.  Love your photos.   On our first 2 Norway cruises on crystal, we docked in gerainger and loved each visit.  Last year on SB, we stopped in loen/Olden and so enjoyed our visit…the sail in and out was magical.  If we go go back, would love to do the sky lift.

 

Nancy

 

 

The skylift is great

5 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Yesterday, our guide for the transfer to the North Cape told us that it is only two days a month that there is weather like we had yesterday.  Someone told us that for the two days previous, the trip to the North Cape had to be cancelled because it was too windy for the buses to traverse the road.  There was concern that the buses could be blown over.  I tried to capture some of the views while we were on the bus, but none of the photos I took capture those venues.    I hope you are fortunate to have the good weather we had.  Today, we are at sea with blue skies.  

We’re headed there in March.  I believe they cut a passage through the snow and the coaches traverse in convoy, weather permitting of course. 

14 minutes ago, worcestergal said:

We will be on Sojourn from Monte Carlo to Barcelona starting on October 4. I am trying to plan out what we are going to do on this very port-heavy cruise. We will be doing a couple of the Seabourn excursions, but I normally like to plan our own experiences. And, I’m looking for some others to join us. 
 

In La Ciotat, on October 12, I want to arrange a 3-hour kayak trip in the Calanques National Park. Nothing like this is offered by Seabourn. However, the outfitter has a minimum requirement of 4 people (and we are only 2). Unfortunately, the roll call for this cruise is not active, so I figured I would ask here. If you’re going to be on this cruise and are interested, please let me know. 
 

Thanks,

Barb

Have you tried the roll call

29 minutes ago, Hobar said:

Just looked and see a fabulous 90 day starting November 2024 through Africa.  Can’t do 90 days but I might look at part of it for places I haven’t been. 

We’re on Cape Town to Gran Canaria.  10 new countries to add to my current 78! 

I’ve done this on a couple of occasions before - Aurora winter cruise with overnight in Tromso - but can’t recall the answer.  Does anyone know roughly please what’s the latest time the shuttle bus runs back to the ship from the city please.  Looking to book a meal in the city.  Thanks 

On 6/14/2023 at 3:27 PM, pyffii said:

We were on the first cruise to Monte Carlo and have continued on to Barcelona where we disembark on Friday….I endorse everything cruiseej has mentioned and can say the wine improved dramatically after we secured Tryells Margret River Cabernet Sauvignon after 3 days and for the rest of the cruise enjoyed D’Arenberg The Stump Jump….as a former wine retailer I could easily put together a wine list with a price point of under $20AUD that would be 100% better than anything Seabourn has as complimentary….But the real highlight of Seabourn on this cruise has been the staff who are absolutely brilliant from the suite attendants to the servers to the senior staff….all have a wonderful sense of humour that spills over onto the whole ship….needless to say we’re booked on Sojourn next July and booked a future trip whilst onboard for 2025…..sad to be leaving after 20 wonderful days.

Did you book for the Cape Town segment in 2025 by any chance?  If so, see you on board? 

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

Right now, we are in the Observation Bar having another leisurely tea--our second of this cruise.  I've included a photo of the sweet and savory offerings.  It looks like a lot--but somehow we managed.  At the same time, we're listening to acoustic guitar with singing,  This is just the perfect thing to be doing after a very busy day. 

 

Tonight is BBQ ribs night in the Colonnade.  We were tempted, but the menus at two other venues are calling our name.  We are going to try to brave the weather and go to Earth and Ocean as they are serving one of favorite menu items--slow roasted lamb shanks.  The Restaurant is serving rib eye steak, so that is also tempting.  It's not that we don't love ribs--we love them--but can have been any day of the week at home.  So--it will either be lamb or steak tonight.  

 

The second photo is my entree from last night in The Restaurant--grilled shrimp with spinach and risotto.  It made for a wonderful meal.  

Looks delicious 

16 hours ago, SLSD said:

  Our waiter was Cristian.  Cristian is living in Peru when he is not on a Seabourn ship.  At the end of our meal, he asked if we would ask for one of his tables in The Restaurant if we were dining there tonight.  We asked for his table--he escorted me to the table and proceeded to give us great service throughout the meal.  I forgot to photograph our meal, but did get a photo of Mr. SLSD's dessert which I will post in a bit.  

 

SLSD. Really enjoying your reports so far. Please continue. I believe we may have encountered Cristian on a previous trip.  We had a fabulous waiter from Peru in November 

2015 on our Suez Canal cruise on Sojourn.    We sat in his area every night.  He would tell us pretty much what were the best items on the menu in his opinion. We are foodies and usually good at making our own decisions but his suggestions were great.  Service was excellent too.  We even met him in Petra when the staff has their own trip.  Of course, I can’t fully remember his name and I could be mistaken!  

45 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Okay, all ready to board tomorrow.  We’ve been assigned 1pm which is no great disaster, following  others experience on this board we planned to disregard this slightly aiming instead towards noonish.

 

Today however Seabourn have sent me 4, no kidding, 4 reminders that I must not under arrive early and that I will surely be turned away should I be so bold as to try.  A question then, is this (and by “this”) I mean 4 such reminders normal normal for SB? Are we “special” as first timers?  Maybe they want to get all of their repeaters aboard first?  Or perhaps they are warning off of general port congestion as MSC Euripa with her 6000pax is also turning over tomorrow?

 

Sure, we can hang around the hotel for an extra hour, but…..  Really just wondering how seriously to take the repeated reminders.  Would really rather not be forced to stand around outside the terminal for an hour.

 

1pm is actually quite early? 

8 hours ago, frantic36 said:

 

We have stopped ordering liquor for the room as we found we rarely used any and also didn't like the waste as we knew crew weren't allowed it. If we wanted a bottle of wine or champagne for our room we could order on the day and it was delivered fairly quickly.

Hi.   Is it possible to get an actual bottle of the house champagne in the suite during the cruise now? I recall in earlier days, apart from the welcome aboard bottle, it was always delivered by the glass?

10 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Just in case anyone is interested, we booked our North Cape trip with a company called northcapesightseeing@gmail.com

 

They emailed me the details this morning but they are also running a Tromsø tour - we are planning to walk to the Cathedral and cable car  but this seems to go further afield 😁

 

We will be running our Tromsø Tour for Seabourn Ovation guests on  at 10:00 a.m.Price :Nok 1799.- per person.

The tour will be ran in a mini bus with an English speaking guide.

 

Our itinerary got some shape now and we will be visiting both places in town and further away from the centre. All together approx. 5h of a scenic drive with plenty of stops at viewpoints in nature.

 

We drive towards deep fjords, steep mountains and sandy beaches. We have a coffee/tea and a little snack stop during the first part of the tour. Our second coffee/chocolate cake stop is at the husky cafe where we also have a chance to meet lovely huskies (including small puppies) and get to know what the dogs do when there is no snow:)

 

At the end of the tour we visit the Cathedral and/or the harbour in the centre of town.

 

So in short: a cosy tour in a small group, an English speaking guide, many photo opportunities, scenic views and a variety of places to see and experience. 

Have they got a website too?