Bronwyn

Hours are usually 12 noon to 6 pm. On our current Quest Antarctica cruise it has been mostly closed due to inclement weather. However on our Odyssey cruise across the Pacific last year it was openjust about every day and very popular. It’s a nice spot for sail away, early evening drinks or to sit at lunch time if the Patio grill area is busy. The smoking area doesn’t really impact much as the smoke tends to blow away. We are non smokers and we didn’t find any problems using the Sky bar. (Often😀)

Re the seals - in the evening briefing/recap last night, the seal expert member of the expedition team said they had all thought about possible ways for the seals being there and the most likely hypothesis was that there must be sloped areas in other parts we didn’t see which enabled them to slide down to the water and haul out again. She said judging by the speed some of the were moving across the ice, they weren’t emaciated or starving.

We came across the iceberg on our way to South Georgia. It has been a highlight in an otherwise mostly disappointing cruise weather-wise. The Antarctic part had few landings, high winds, rough seas and poor visibility. Now in South Georgia but no zodiacs today due high winds and not much scenic viewing due low clouds.

Artlee, it was quite unbelievable to be honest! We even saw whales just off our balcony between us and the iceberg.

We saw several seals on the top

Hopefully this is is better

 

Sorry don’t know why it is so overexposed; probably a file format thing. Will have a look at converting to another format so I can edit … but after lunch😀

It was an amazing sight! Difficult to capture the scale. Short video attached; impossible to see both ends.

As you have now gone for the Penthouse Spa suite, this info is not so relevant this time around, but might be useful to know anyway.

 

We sailed in a Penthouse Suite on Odyssey (915) for 6 weeks across the Pacific earlier in 2023. The curtains in the bedroom are semi-sheer, they provide privacy from someone in the lounge area looking in, but they do not block out all the light. Also, the glass doors which open from the bedroom onto the hallway have no curtains; they have an etched design, but that doesn't block out light.

 

We enjoyed the space and the layout overall (the separated toilet, the walk through wardrobe etc) but that curtain/block out issue was a bit of a pain. Having said that, we have booked again in 915 on the Quest this coming January.😀

Hello SueWheldon,

Just back from a NZ-Aus cruise on Odyssey. As mentioned above, the classes were usually around 7 or 8am - yoga, pilates  and then again around 5pm - stretching, yoga, pilates. Nothing very vigorous. You sign up at the spa reception desk.

I use the Les Mills on demand system and followed some programs I had downloaded on my iPad, using hand weights in the gym. The gym is reasonably well equipped, but not very spacious; there is some space at one end to do your own thing, away from the treadmills, steppers and bikes. You can also use the Motion Studio (which has a rack of hand weights) if nobody has a private session in there - just ask at the spa reception desk. I had that to myself and it was much better than the squeezy gym area.

One thing worth mentioning is that Navigator does not have a forward observation lounge. We cruised on her in Alaska a few years ago and found that to be a disappointment (I should have done more research). This may not be a big issue for you depending on your itinerary.

I have a referral coupon I'd like to offer to any Australian first-timers sailing before December 2016.

Drop me a line at

 

bronwyn (at) melvilles (dot) net (dot) au

Thanks Chairsin; will have a look at the Roll Call. We booked many months ago hence my comment about being at least in the same year as departure now. We did our first Seabourn cruise in the Baltic in 2014; they brought Robin West on board for a few days to talk about Antarctica and he did a great sales job on Sth Georgia which is why we also chose this date.

Many thanks for these uploads. My husband and I are booked on this cruise for 2016 and I'm eagerly reading any info I can get my hands on. At least we are now in the same calendar year as departure. :)

Hello - my husband and I disembarked a SeaDream cruise in Istanbul this past October. We booked a private transfer with Sea Song which was excellent. They are the ground handler for SD but I booked with them directly by email.

They were very prompt in their replies, very professional and right on time!

The cost was USD130 (prepaid by credit card) for a private transfer from the dock to IST Attaturk Airport.

Although it was only 2 of us, we travelled in an immaculate Mercedes minivan; the English speaking escort met us outside baggage claim with a name board and a very helpful driver who loaded our luggage.

Hope this helps.

Hi Rallydave

The 2016-17 Antarctic cruises were released around the middle of March this year. I've looked at the date of my email with our travel agent confirming our reservation on the 19th Dec 2016 sailing and that is 23rd March and I know I pretty much got on to her to book it as soon as I saw it was available on the website.

Can only assume a similar schedule is the case for next year..?

Hi, my husband and I did the Baltic/Norway cruise on Quest in July 2014. Our first Seabourn cruise, but definitely not our last, we have booked for Antarctica on the Quest next year.

Much like you, I found the hotel choices in CPH to be underwhelming. We stayed at the Nimb when we arrived and really loved it. Yes it is expensive but is has such charm and style. Very cosy and lovely atmosphere. Quite close to attractions - you can walk easily just about anywhere in the city - and as it was right opposite the Central railway station, we caught the train from the airport and found that very convenient.

We then flew off to Iceland and did a self-drive tour for 2 weeks (fabulous!) before joining the cruise in Stockholm. We disembarked in Copenhagen 3 weeks later and stayed at the d'Angleterre. Lovely lovely hotel. Beautiful style - classic yet modern Danish style. Very friendly staff, great breakfast, lovely bar. Terrific central location, the only downside being the works associated with the new metro lines/stations being built which are somewhat intrusive all around the city, and means the main square outside the hotel is dug up and hidden by hoardings. However, by the time you are there it may be finished? Nonetheless it's a great spot, right near the main shopping street and the Nyhavn/harbour area.

In both cases, the rates were very high, but that's the nature of CPH it seems. In the end, we were glad we stayed at both for the different style and atmosphere and would stay at either again. Hope this helps.

I'm in Sydney Australia and had the same problem as you Stamfordian. It was late at night here, I think probably about the same time that you were trying it. I got that 404 Error page on and off for about and hour or so.

Hi Yorkshire-Pudding. We used SPB for 3 days of private touring in July this year. We are Australian and our Visa card is billed in AUD. We don't have the option to choose USD or any other currency. SPB charged our card in Roubles which was then converted to AUD on our Visa card statement.

SPB do explain this on their documentation. As you have noted, you can pay the quoted USD price in cash, but like you, we didn't want to carry that much cash. We worked out roughly what the Rouble amount would be and we were pretty close. There are foreign conversion fees charged by Visa/our bank etc but those are not under SPB's control and we are used to them whenever we travel overseas.

By the way - the SPB tour was great. The whole process from initial enquiry to booking to actual touring was excellent.