Earthtones

I just got off Encore in Athens this morning. I think we actually pulled into port around 4:30 am. If you want to disembark at 7, you'll just need to ask guest services for that time assignment so that your bags will be ready for you in the port at the right time.

Our cruise, which ended today, included Dubrovnik as well as Vodice and Zadar. Dubrovnik, though beautiful and interesting, was already extremely crowded in late April. I imagine it's mobbed in the peak summer months. We enjoy the smaller towns and the opportunity to do nothing more than wander around and spend some time getting coffee and/or wine at an outdoor cafe while people watching.

We were just there last week. As previous poster has noted, it's a small town without much going on. We did an excursion to Trogir which was interesting, but I wish we would have done a small boat around the Koronati Islands. Others on our cruise went to Krka Park and liked it.

Days 1-4

We were one of the lucky 60 guests who were able to dine at Solis on the Encore last night. The food and service were excellent. I especially loved the breads and spreads that are set out soon after you sit down--a croissant-like sharing-sized round roll and three kinds of bread sticks/lavash crackers served with pepper, zucchini/boursin cheese, and sweet carrot spreads. (The green was my fave!) Also especially impressive was the tzatziki served with thin zucchini and eggplant slices, and we've had lots of yummy tzatziki on land throughout this Mediterranean sailing to compare it to.

If you don't wear a jacket on formal night, the Restaurant will provide one for you to either wear or drape on the back of your chair!

Currently on the Encore and can download the day's menus from the Source

Yes, me too, so maybe I'm using the wrong terms. FlightEase automatically populates the earliest flight time the cruise line will allow for the flight time home following disembarkation. For our upcoming Encore cruise ending in Athens, we could choose flights departing 11 am or later. Originally booked on a flight departing at 11:10 but when Delta moved the departure up to 10:50 a few months ago, FlightEase moved us to a United flight at 11:45. (Actually they initially moved us to an American flight that wasn't a good choice for us, so we let them know we preferred the United flight.) Anyway, at least for our cruise, Seabourn is operating under the assumption that passengers can make an 11:45 international flight home--and I'm sure they'll assign us an early transfer to the airport that morning.

Cutoff time for our cruise disembarkation was definitely earlier than noon. We were originally booked on a flight that was scheduled to depart at 11:10, but when the airline changed it to something like 10:50, Seabourn/Flight Ease moved us to a different flight (departing at 11:45).

FYI, Seabourn doesn't consider 11:45 too early for an international departure following disembarkation in Piraeus. We are booked through Flight Ease on an 11:45 flight back to the US on May 5, so Seabourn will be responsible for getting us to the airport on time and they wouldn't take a chance if they considered it too risky. I think Flight Ease automatically populated 11 am as the earliest flight time.

We were on the southbound portion last summer and had been advised to take all of the zodiac trips we could, so we signed up for both that were available: Misty Fjords (Rudyerd Bay) and Alert Bay. Misty Fjords was a fantastic experience. Exploring the area in a small group with a naturalist is so much more than sightseeing! Our Alert Bay zodiac was cancelled because of foggy conditions, but a friend who had reservations for later in the day (1 pm I think) was able to go out and there were whales swimming all around them--looked amazing!

When I contacted the tour guide to alert her that we might actually be tendering to the old port, she told me the port info said we were to dock in Gruz, but that it does sometimes change and she would meet us wherever it was. So I don't need to worry but will hope we tender to the old port for the proximity and picturesque view.

I asked this question on Facebook too and got plenty of confirmation that yes, Seabourn typically anchors outside the old city walls and tenders into the old port but sometimes weather conditions or some other issue will send the ship to dock at the Gruz port.

The itinerary for my upcoming Adriatic cruise shows Dubrovnik as requiring a tender. I think this means we'll tender into the old (in-town) port. Does that sound right to those who've cruised Seabourn to Dubrovnik recently? There is one other ship in port that day, so definitely not too many to fit in the Gruz port from what I've read.

There should be an option to modify your flights. Click that (don't worry--you won't lose your current reservation until you say so, further into the process, so you can always back out) and search for your dates and destinations. If you find something better than what you've already booked, you will see an option to change your flight. You might not see your same flights, or you might see them at a different fare. You also might see flight options that weren't available when you reserved initially.

Interesting. I wonder if that's because it would probably be cheaper to book two verandah suites (with one single supplement) than to book three people in a penthouse or above. I've heard you pay 50% of the fare for the third person in a cabin. Anyway, probably a question only Seabourn can answer

All suite types have cabins that can accommodate a third passenger. (You can see which cabins are designated for three on each ship's deck plans.) Probably more comfortable in a larger suite!

One word of caution is that different airlines have different arrangements with Flight Ease. Some (eg, Delta, United, Alaska) allow you to choose your seat when you reserve and you'll even see it reflected when you visit the airline's website and look at the seat map for your flight. But others (eg, Air Canada, British Air) may not allow you to choose a seat in advance and the Flight Ease site does not spell that out, simply making it appear that you can't choose from the Flight Ease site. If you're unable to select seats for the flights you like, be sure to call Seabourn to find out if the fare rules even allow for preselected seats (yes, even for premium tickets).

Yes, book now but don't prepay. If fares go down between now and whenever your cruise payment is due you can change your reservations with no penalty, and if fares go up they probably won't affect your reservation. I think the warning about the possibility of a price increase is a CYA. I had the same question as you prior to our first Seabourn cruise last summer so called Flight Ease to try to better understand. The agent I spoke with told me she had never actually seen a fare go up for passengers with existing reservations.

We were in Wrangel on Seabourn the first week of September last year, which is past the official bear season so our excursion was called Ancient Forest of AnAn. The bears didn't know it was off season, there was no one else on the viewing platform except the dozen people on our tour, and our guides were extremely helpful--such an AMAZING day, and the highlight of our two weeks in Alaska! Based on similarities in the excursion description on the Seabourn website, it looks like Wild Bears of AnAn is the same excursion in season (through August).

Haha. When I called Seabourn for clarification, they could see the same two original reservations I can see, including on April 22. Not going to worry about it! Oddly, among the three emails in three days we received from Seabourn regarding our Solis reservations, none was worded anything like the note you posted.

Didn't Seabourn make you a second reservation for the second week of your cruise? We are on that same cruise and among the flurry of semi-contradictory emails we received last week was one telling us our reservation for 4/22 had been shifted to 4/29 (and we already also had a reservation during the second week of the cruise). Of course, no changes are showing on our itinerary; original reservations remain. I'm hoping there will be some kind of "soft opening" that first week, allowing passengers to dine at Solis without reservations. Given that conversion of the space was originally scheduled to take only a couple weeks and now they'll have more than a month with no passengers on board, plus the first week of our cruise, I would think they would be ready to try things out by April 21!

Yes! It's fine every night and in every venue, except formal night in the Restaurant. As to defining what's "elegant," no one is going to police that other than other passengers. Some will always be aghast--no matter how dark, well-fitting, or expensive the duds. Just ignore them! (My personal test for my husband is whether the jeans in question would go with a sport jacket, regardless of whether he's actually wearing a jacket. If so, they're fine.)

Yes--very good point that at Glacier Bay, not only don't you not get off, but the port comes to you in the form of the Park Service. If you collect NPS stamps or would like to shop, there is a whole mobile Glacier Bay National Park gift shop set up in the Observation Bar. Also, I didn't see the park rangers and all their stuff come on board, but did enjoy watching them disembark--jumping across from the Odyssey onto the NPS boat while both vessels were moving. This has to be one of the coolest park ranger positions I could imagine!

I was on the Odyssey for a southbound Alaska cruise last summer and saved my Heralds, so checked on daytime activities on port days. I've attached one that looks pretty standard for port-day activities. Also, note that in Alaska some "ports" are not for getting off at--e.g., Glacier Bay and Rudyerd Bay. (Actually, at Rudyerd you can transfer from the ship to zodiac for an excursion on the water, but there's no port.) So I would think your father's mobility challenges should not affect his ability to enjoy those locations.