cruiseej

I guess my question is why you'd want to deal with a wheeled carry-on bag on a zodiac? This isn't like an airline flight from a large airport, where you need to keep some important items with you lest it not make it onto your flight.

Post-Covid, yes, it's normal. Don't worry about it at all. And if you show up a little early for your embarkation, you will likely be allowed to board early, but if there are other passengers who checked in before you, they will get to board first.

If you find them on a cruise, they will always be the frozen ones. King Crab season is in October-Janaury, when there are no cruise ships in Alaskan waters. (Golden King Crab can sometimes be caught from the middle of February to the early June.) Some major Red King Crab fisheries were closed this past winter due to stock being below the threshold set by the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game, so king crab is more scarce and more expensive than ever.

Hmmm, we've had wines from New Zealand, white and red, since boarding Sojourn on Saturday. Oyster Bay, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, has been a pretty steady presence on Seabourn ships for some time, and there's certainly some on Sojourn right now. (I'm not saying that's a great wine; just that there are other alternative to South African wines and the list shown above.) Tonight with diner I drank Nine Hats Cabernet, a US (Washington) wine.

We boarded Sojourn Saturday, and our "cruise director" Jan informed us that Seabourn has changed the titles from "Cruise Director" to "Entertainment Director", and "Assistant Cruise Director" is now "Entertainment Manager", effective this week. I assume this is fleet-wide, or perhaps as these staff members rotate on for a new contract.

And this evening's replacement bottles are Aqua Panna, for the first time this cruise. I suppose if you have a favorite, and they have it on board, your cabin attendant can get it for you. And if you don't care which brand you get, you may get several, as we have. 😀

The refrigerator door holds the water bottles quite nicely. I always keep two chilled in the refrigerator. I agree. It's interesting how many people say they don't like the taste; we find it perfectly fine. Haven't experienced that, but I'm not doubting some of them do. I agree they are not great for that. I fill my Hydro Flask bottle with sport cap with water and ice from the refrigerator, to have bedside overnight. @SLSD Aboard the Sojourn now, we also got bottled water in our room. They're large (750 ml) glass bottles, so not really suitable for carrying ashore. One brand was Mountain Falls and I forget the other brand (they were sparkling and we only drink natural, so I had the room attendant take them away). On our prior cruise, I think we just had the Nordic bottles, but as others have said, bottles are available on request. The only issue you're therefore likely to have is if you dislike the Nordic water and there's not an alternative for shore excursions; for that, perhaps you should bring a small plastic/nalgene bottle you can fill from bottled water on the ship if you are concerned about this.

Probably along with everyone else on this cruise! 😀

@shark b8 Thanks for all your posts, pictures and videos taking us along on your adventure, and for your great sense of humor that shone in so many of your posts. I don't follow every travelogue on this site, but yours has been "must-read" entertainment. 😀 I hope you have smooth travels home through your many hours of airports and flying ahead! We'll try to take good care of Sojourn when we board a few hours after you depart.

The water system Seabourn uses is Nordaq. You'll probably find a wide variety of opinions here. We have found it to be perfectly fine — no brackish or off taste — while others have stated they don't like it. The plastic Nordaq water bottles have not leaked in our experiences with them. The original bottles — the ones they put in your suite — were heavy for short excursions, but they now have half-sized bottles which are lighter. I bring my own metal Hydro Flask water bottle when I travel, because I like to drink my water cold. A Hydro Flash (or other comparable double-wall metal bottle) keeps ice water icy all day. I fill my bottle from the provided bottle and water in our suite, and I'm a happy camper. But some would find a metal bottle like mine is heavy to carry of shore excursions. (I usually have a camera bag that I put the bottle in so I'm carrying the weight on my shoulder/neck.)

There is no new terminal. You check in at the longstanding Marittima Cruise Terminal in Venice, just as when the ships docked there. The only change is that after depositing your luggage and checking in, you hop on a shuttle bus which takes you across the causeway to the mainland and into the industrial docks where you board your ship.

One end of the Kangerlussuaq runway is sinking into the permafrost which is melting as a result of global warming. They may be limiting weight and/or use of the full length of the runway this summer due to that.

Will try! I honestly don't know how you find the time to do all the posting you do. (I usually don't even sift through all my photos until we're home.) We're doing this cruise with five other couples, so I'm figuring I won't have much downtime, but I'll see what I can manage. 😉 I'm sorry you're departing as we board; it would be a pleasure to meet you and cruise with you some day!

There are no formal nights of expedition cruises. It's not unique to your trip and charter flights. Just check about the luggage allowance. I have seen people post a letter from Seabourn stating the limit is 50 pounds of checked luggage (can be one bag or two) per person, not 50 pounds per bag with two bags per person.

I figured that was just to get you through the last week of your cruise! 😀 Hopefully we'll get more when we board in Barcelona on Saturday.

If the room attendants haven't finished preparing the room, there's potential for them to think a bag was left behind by the previous occupants, and to move it to a secure area.

I hope she's there to engage with passengers to find out why they choose Seabourn, what they think Seabourn does especially well, and where they think Seabourn has slipped. A new CEO on a true listening/learning tour is a hopeful sign for the future -- assuming the things Seabourn needs are within her control and financial limits.

We rented a car from Hertz in Seward, and returned it in Anchorage. It was crazy expensive, but they were the only game in town; the franchise also didn't honor Hertz coupons and discount codes. But it was worthwhile to be able to explore on our own.

The check-in process should not be a pain! You check in at the Marittima Cruise Terminal in Venice, as has been the process for many, many years. Your luggage is tagged and collected there; your boarding documents are checked there. The only change is that instead of then walking onto the ship, you walk onto a bus. The bus drive across the causeway to the industrial docks on the mainland and pulls up at the ship; you then walk off the bus and onto the ship. If disembarking in Venice, it's the same in reverse. If you are just stopping in Venice for a port date, then you'll still use the busses from and to the mainland, and any excursions will depart from the Marittima Cruise Terminal, or you can head into Venice on your own. The only downside is the extra shuttle bus coming and going.

Well, it's understandable that you might have missed this being busy in the first days after you boarded. Oh, wait… 🤣

Welcome to cruising on Seabourn! If you're looking for tips, it would help if you specify any particular areas you're interested in. Better yet, spend a little time going through this forum, where you will find a ton of questions previously asked and answered, and then come back to post questions or areas where you're looking for more information.

Burano is good for a few hours, perhaps half a day if you have lunch there, but probably not all day in my opinion. In Murano, on different trips we've been to different glass factories, and they are all different — so unless you're not excited by Murano glass or have had your fill, re-visiting Murano could fill a few hours. (On our last trip, we were not looking to buy anything, but became attached to one glassblower's work; we debated whether to spend the money for a piece we liked, and then it turned out that the artist, a master glass sculptor, was stopping by — so we met him and had him create a custom piece for us. Great experience, and we haven't regretted the purchase!)

That would be a HARD NO for me! 😂

Hopefully you mean figuratively and not literally, or you're likely to have problems completing your travels. Customs officers in many countries have no pity, humor or understanding. (A friend was once not allowed to fly home from Germany because his passport was truly full.) Hopefully you can find some empty spaces on some pages to get you through.

I wouldn't worry about them not having enough staff in May. I actually wouldn't worry about it up to the last cruise. We were on the last cruise of a Regent ship before it left for a new buyer, and it was a fabulous cruise. (Helping clean out the food lockers with unlimited grilled lobster tails on the deck for lunch is one of our great cruise memories!) Seabourn values its customers; they won't allow their standards to slip and risk future business from customers sailing up until the end.