CanAmBrit

No jackets were provided on this Quest cruise last year.

I agree with jjs217. There was much more to do in Santarem. We enjoyed a tricolo ride and Boi Bumba show there. Alter do Chao was a waste of time for us, little sightseeing, shopping or scenery. Hope you get to call at Devil’s Island. The prison ruins are interesting, the scenery is beautiful and animal life (especially the monkeys) is great!

MJfromCA, where and when to sign up for bridge tours is usually announced in the Herald. 

There was a bridge tour and galley lunch earlier this week on the Quest. Kurt, the HD, says that there will be more galley tours for those who wish it.

To reply to lincslady’s question, it is possible to find tours into the desert.

We did a Seabourn tour into the Atacama desert yersterday from Antofagasta. Banquadamo is about 75 minutes from the city through the desert. There were two buses making the trip. Unfortunately, we were in the bus with a wonky microphone and a guide who spoke little English! Apart from “See a train on the left” and “A copper mine on the right” we did not learn much about the area. The other bus did not have the same problems. Passengers report that their guide was excellent. 
After a walk around the rather misnamed  ‘train museum’ (it appeared to me more of a dead train cemetery) we were bussed another 30 minutes to Chacabuco where the English speaking guide combined both groups for an interesting walk through the long abandoned town. 
An hour and a half silent bus trip retraced the way back to Antofagasta. 
Most Seabourn tours offer water for those who would like it and often some other types of refreshments. On this 5 hour tour, however, where it was extremely hot, with a blazing sun and no shade, there was nothing available anywhere! Later we were told that maybe we could have bought some in Banquadamo but the guide was not sure. Fortunately, we had taken our own water but many passengers had not. 
We did report our disappointment to the Destinations desk this morning and I am sure that they will do their best to correct these deficiencies.

‘

We were ashore the previous evening in the colonial centre of Lima having dinner at the beautiful Casa Aliaga ( the oldest still inhabited home in Lima). It was a Seabourn excursion and as we walked about 6 blocks from the bus there was no sign of upheaval or demonstrations in the old streets or close by any of the public buildings. There was a heavy police presence and we felt quite safe with, what appeared to be, many happy families enjoying the evening. Unlike the groups on excursions earlier in the afternoon where road blocks and demonstrators were the order of the day in the centre of Lima.

We are still here with the port of Callao in lockdown and do not appear to be going anywhere soon. No sign of ‘heavy swells’ and awaiting the Captain’s noon update soon.
Just attended an interesting lecture on what makes a failed state…. Peru?

We are on the 79 day Quest Grand Cruise and we were also tested yesterday. Before dinner last night the Captain announced the good news that we could throw away the masks. We all did so with great relief, however, I suppose we are only good until our first port of call on Wednesday. One wit at dinner last night suggested that 389 of the 390 passengers tested negative and the one positive passenger was thrown overboard before the captain made his announcement!

Jan, the CD, alerted us to the Sojourn as she passed us on the port side when leaving Miami, so we were the ones waving and shouting as you  sailed by on Friday, shark b8.

We had a very unsettling experience after cruising on the Sojourn in August that has only recently been resolved.

The day after returning home my husband found an unexplained $161:00 Visa charge to our ship board account. After calling Guest Relations to find out about it, he was told that it would take at least 2 to 3 weeks to get the details. One month later we were told that it was for 6 large Molton Brown bottles of toiletries, 5 bottles of body wash each a different fragrance and 1bottle of moisturizer. 

We had noted the 4 (not 6) large refillable bottles, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 body wash and 1 moisturizer of Molton Brown toiletries in our suite bathroom, along with a note that said we may purchase said toiletries from the store in Seabourn Square but if we wished to take home the ones in the suite the cost would be added to our bill.

 Well, we did not want to purchase any of the products nor did we remove any of said items from the suite but we had been charged for them. (Why anyone would want to transport 6 large bottles of anything in a suitcase by air across the Atlantic is beyond me!)

I wrote a polite letter to Guest relations disputing this charge and asking for a quick reversal of the Visa charge.

It took another 3 weeks for an apology to be issued. We were told that it had been an accounting error. My husband attributes it to the suite attendants because there was no tip but I think someone on Seabourn is selling Molton Brown products on eBay!

The whole episode has left a very sour taste in my mouth and many of my good feelings for Seabourn have been damaged. How can we, or anyone else, prevent this from happening again? Any suggestions are appreciated. Should we be leaving tips even though it clearly says “Tips are not required nor expected”?

By the way, we finally got the money back last week.

We took this excursion from the Soujourn in August. The blurb is, in essence, all true but the tour is no where near as grand as it sounds. The carriage ride into the woods is about 100 yards in a wagon pulled by 2 horses from the bus to the farmhouse. It  held our party of about 25.
The woods are a fairly small patch of trees but the truffle hunting itself was fun. All of us trailed after one non English speaking farmer and his dog. Our guide was there to translate and answer our questions and then we returned to the farmhouse, truffles in hand, for lunch. We did not observe anyone making the lunch as it was served in a separate facility holding two long tables. The food was simple but good and the wine flowed freely.

The farmhouse and the outbuildings were very well kept, lovely plants, olive and fig trees as well as flowers made it very attractive. 

The gift shop was well stocked with truffle flavoured delicacies and lots of wines and fancy liqueurs which we samples freely! There was no “hard sell” The jars of  truffle flavoured chicken pate that I took back to Canada as gifts  were well received and enjoyed by the recipients.

All in all it was a pleasant experience, but probably not worth the money that Seabourn charged. I believe that this same excursion can be purchased privately much cheaper but I have no details.

Hope this helps!

Last August we did receive the full 5 days FCC for the days we were quarantined despite NOT have Seabourn Sheild coverage. Your TA is wrong.

We spent 5 days in quarantine on the Sojourn in August and were credited with 5 days each of future cruise credit commensurate with the amount we had paid for the cruise. This was communicated to us via a letter and a certificate of recovery on our first day of freedom!

Nigerian shrimp at E&O plus Foie Gras anywhere!

Thank you for some great laughs, Fletcher. My husband has travelled with a tiny stapler since cruise ships started this dreadful practice of having passengers print their own luggage labels!

We hope to meet up with you on the Quest after Dover next year. Let us hope the Quest’s service difficulties are way in the past by that time.

I do hope the Quest’s issues are resolved fairly soon because we are onboard for 79 days in January.

We are also booked on the Quest’s Lisbon to Montreal trip next July and looking forward to meeting neighbours from Toronto unless the January cruise is a bust and we cancel!!

After leaving a Soujourn cruise we had unknown charges show up on our account. We called immediately to find out what the charges were for.  Two weeks later we are still waiting for a reply to emails or for phones to be answered. The latest number we were given was for HAL accounting where the phone message is always “Call back later to speak to an operative”.

Any advise out there!

Just off the Sojourn where English bacon and at least 3 different sausage options were available every day.

We are with you, RetiredandTravel!!

The Captain of the Sojourn is Hamish Elliott, Seabourn’s longest serving captain.

We are disembarking  tomorrow after two very different weeks, both health wise and weather wise! Our first week was marred by Covid and the necessary 5 day quarantine. The medical staff were excellent, room service and guest services went above and beyond to keep us happy. 
The weather deteriorated somewhat the second week but it did not stop us making up for lost time.

It is our first time on the Sojourn after 46 days on the Quest and 28 days on the Ovation. I found the ship to be in need of minor repairs, especially in the bathroom. Neither my husband or I could turn on the shower. It was so stiff! Water could not be retained in either sink or the bathtub. They had to be adjusted and the safe had to be replaced as it could not be programmed. Ryan in guest services quickly found solutions to these problems, much to our delight.

For the most part the crew have been very accommodating and service has been good, as have most of the meals. Only 310 guests this week so the staff to guest ratio has been excellent.

Our main complaint has been breakfast both in the Colonnade and The Patio. The service has been constantly chaotic! One morning my husband received 3 orders of his meal, despite ordering only once. Our server said that the kitchen was in disarray with new staff etc. The wait for orders at the Patio has been long and again no one seemed to know what they were doing, 2 orders of juice, when one was ordered and no tea. Apparently the tea machine was broken. (I thought one only needed boiling water!).
Evening meals in the MDR, TK Grill and Colonnade have been much more organized and efficient with no complaints from us.

Our next cruise on the Quest cannot come soon enough. We are still enjoying the Seabourn life despite Covid and a few minor inconveniences. So roll on January!

Enjoy your cruise, Paula.

We have been experiencing some bad weather, high winds especially. We could not get into Bandol the other day so went into Marseille instead and today we are just puttering around off the Spanish coast. Wind has died down now and I am soaking up the warm sun by the small pool at the back of deck. 5. We were expected to anchor off Port Vendres today but wind was very bad during the night so captain decided sea was too rough for tendering  this morning, hence the puttering around.

Should be back to normal high temps tomorrow in Palma.

Questions for those on the Quest: Are the jackets provided on board or do you have to order in advance? What about boots? Are the zodiac tours an extra cost or are they included in the original fare? Could not find the answer to these questions from the future cruise consultant this morning so hoping you can help.

Have enjoyed the commentary about this voyage so much that yesterday we went to Seabourn Square on the Sojourn to book Barcelona to Montreal in 2023 only to find that it is now Lisbon to Montreal. Apparently, the Quest has been reserved for a private booking the week beforehand so the Barcelona to Lisbon  portion has been cancelled. Oh well….

Day 5 of isolation on the Sojourn and I am trolling all the topics on CC (maybe I am just bored!). We expect to be joining you on the Quest for the Grand Voyage in January, Markham, and I promise not to bring my close friend Covid 19 with me.

We tested negative in Toronto on Friday afternoon, left on Saturday afternoon for  Barcelona. The flight was delayed two hours. We spent most of that time in the business class lounge which was not too crowded but then had to fight our way to the gate through many sleeping people on the ground and then stand shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of others waiting to board. We felt fine when we landed on Sunday morning and still OK when we boarded but during Sunday night we developed runny noses and a fever. We called medical on Monday morning and tested positive. Unlike our last Seabourn cruises in  September and March there was no testing on the dock before boarding. So, not sure where we caught this but suspect the airport.

The good news is that we are feeling great today.

The dreaded Covid virus has foiled our plans, Julie and Keith. We boarded the Sojourn on Sunday and promptly tested positive for Covid yesterday.  So we will be in isolation until at least Sunday.

Hopefully, we will eventually be able to meet in January on the 79 day Quest sailing to South America and Antarctica.

Dee and Bob