Buccaneer_1

Sorry about this as the answers are probably in one or other of the previous 200+ posts.

We've never river cruised and are looking at out first in Europe. We have over 250 sea days mostly on Seabourn and to a lesser extent Silversea and are used to the fully all inclusive deal which includes tipping and drinks. I understand the drinks situation re free wine at dinner only but as a line aimed at American travellers (so their website says) can I assume that I'll have to get involved in tipping which is not an Australian sport to anywhere near the extent it is over there. What kind of add-on could I expect if I booked Vantage

Secondly, I don't mind paying at the bar but is there a carry on policy where I can bring wine I've bought locally on board to drink at dinner or in my suite ?? What about spirits for the occasional pre-dinner G&T while we get ready for dinner ?

Exactly right Emperor Norton. I recently had a credit of $4.15 returned to my CC after having spent the shareholder credit and the remainder of the refund from a cancelled tour on wine mostly. The folks in the Square can tell you exactly what you have left in both categories if you ask.

It is two day service. 50% surcharge for one day service. We never request one day service and 10% of the time it might accidentally be returned early.

Laundry by the bag qualifies for Regular Service which is 2 days. Same day is at a 50% premium. Monday am to Tuesday pm whilst short of 48 hours but still two days has been the case on every other cruise we've done since we acquired Gold and then Platinum status several years ago. Monday am to Wednesday pm is longer than 48 hours and for mine is 3 days. The point of my post was not to be long-winded about laundry charges but to warn against complacency on the last time you put in your washing.

Maybe it was just my last Sojourn cruise - HK to Singapore but laundry in on say Monday morning was back on Wednesday afternoon. On all previous cruises where we've been eligible for the free $50 bag (about 8 so far) that laundry was back and hung in the closet by Tuesday afternoon.

Bear in mind when you put the last load in for washing ahead of packing.

Not allowed to advertise ??

Hardly seems right given the little info you gave was extremely useful to another 2 travellers and when there are no end of travel agents referred to obliquely and local guides named specifically.

A bit of overzealous jobsworthing I suspect.

Or maybe the wrong button clicked

To answer the last poster's question in case the thread disappears again. I booked directly with the hotel using the link in the OP's first post - now disappeared. They reverted to me that day but 12 hours later and after a couple of emails back and forth they assured me of the booking, the price and the arrival time to ensure we made the start of the tour. You pay on the day and they'll cancel if it rains.

Took 2 days but that's down to me mostly. If you've not heard back Id try again as they were helpful and quick to respond. Good Luck.

This was just starting to get interesting and now its disappeared. Who took it off and why?

The issue here is availability. You obviously like the Seabourn experience of smaller ship, all inclusive, upmarket in almost all respects. If you're going to Alaska then as far as I know the only comparable cruise line is Silverseas.

All other comparisons are pretty much irrelevant in that context..

Having said that we've done 3 Silverseas and about to do our 18th Seabourn so that probably states our preferences. All 3 Silverseas were where the itinerary (Alaska) wasn't available on Seabourn or the timing (Egypt to Dubia and Valparaiso to Buenos Aires) suited us better. We enjoyed all three thoroughly.

The service is a bit better on Seabourn, the attention paid is a little more formal on Silverseas, having a butler can be overwhelming but also very effective for a number of things. Overall we prefer the MDR on Seabourn but prefer the Italian themed restaurant on Silverseas to Restaurant 2.

All personal choices and you pays your money and you takes your chances for the rest.

It comes down to timing and itinerary and the size of the ship and how they charge for what you're getting.

What you don't want is a 3,500 people carrier.

Offtopic - in for a penny then

The Press reader app is able to be loaded to personal ipads, or at last it was on the Montreal to Boston Quest cruise last September. Bit complicated but the folks at the Square can sort you out reasonably quickly. From memory we were able to download at least 5 UK newspapers being the major ones as well as 3 Australian. Quite a lot of US but I don't recall which.

Interesting demographic when you look at the total number of posts on Cruise Critic by those who've talked about Hotel Managers on a topic that started out discussing an interesting cruise. I can't remember any of the HMs on my 16 Seabourn cruises which is either a good thing as they all performed well and unobtrusively or else I'm more easily satisfied.;)

Thanks but I know what Seabourn are offering. What I'm after is any information on whether there are reasonable alternatives to going on all the Seabourn trips and what experience other posters have had, if any, in these ports.

Whoops

thought I'd posted this on the Roll call where there's been no traction yet but seems I was in the wrong forum when I pressed GO so here goes again.

As far as I can see the March 1st cruise Hong Kong to Singapore via the Phillipines & Borneo is a new itinerary for Seabourn. Anyone been this way before or does anyone have any idea what options other than the Seabourn organized tours there might be in places like 100 islands, Boracay, Coron and Puerto Princesa. The first 3 in that list are tender ports so what's on the wharf ?, can we get to the beaches ourselves ?,what else is there to do other than the tour agendas that the ship will operate, any tour operators or even websites anyone has experience with.

It's not that I don't want to go with the ship as they can often be very good tours but if it's just being taken to a beach as in Boracay then I can find my way myself - probably.

I've been to Manila and other parts of the Phillipines and the Borneo ports are relatively straightforward with a couple of onshore tour operators offering similar and different options (any experience of any of these also of interest) but the Phillipine islands we're stopping at - not a clue other than the diving and snorkelling are good.

Any thoughts gratefully absorbed.

Seabourn are doing a new itinerary in March that takes a different route from Hong Kong to Singapore via the Phillipines and Borneo.

Anyone done a cruise that takes in that route ? and does anyone have any idea what options other than on-board organized tours there might be in places like 100 islands, Boracay, Coron and Puerto Princesa.

The first 3 in that list are tender ports so what's on the wharf ?, can we get to the beaches ourselves ?,what else is there to do other than the tour agendas that the ship will operate, any local tour operators I can contact that have served you well or even websites anyone has experience with.

It's not that I don't want to go with the ship as they can often be very good tours but if it's just being driven to a beach then I'd rather do that myself.

I've been to Manila and other parts of the Phillipines and the Borneo ports are relatively straightforward but the Phillipine islands we're stopping at - not a clue other than the diving and snorkelling are good.

Any thoughts gratefully absorbed.

From the tone of some of the more curmudgeonly on this thread I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear, not, that we got a V6 upgrade away from the pool and deck areas and are very happy again that loyalty appears to have paid off. Having another great time on board. Viva the GTY OB booking

Wripro

After 15 cruises and Platinum membership whilst I don't expect an upgrade what I do expect is that if there are any going, and there usually are, I expect to get one of them. That's what a loyalty programme is supposed to be about not the discount on the wines or free internet and laundry.

About to embark - 2 weeks away -on our 16th Seabourn cruise of which at least 8 to 10 have been booked as Verandah Guarantees. We've never ended up with a V1 despite that being the guaranteed level and always an higher grade suite including 2 very high level suites on shorter cruises. Couple of times under the pool area decking but that's another thread and it's never bothered us.

I've just had, from my TA, an email offering me upgrades to V5/6, Penthouse or Wintergarden suites at increasingly higher additional costs. I've never had that offer in any of the 15 previous cruises.

I'd be interested to know CCers' views on what it all means. For my part I'll decline the offer on the basis (but not guarantee I know) that our past experiences will be repeated.

With the Australian website showing availability in all suites my own thought is that they have oversold the Guarantees and are hoping to entice some holders of that booking category to commit or are they full in V1 bookings and looking to claw back on the higher grades before having to assign them anyway.

Interested in any thoughts, interpretations or speculations.

I still think you should name and shame the group involved. That should either stop or accelerate the stereotyping this is devolving into. Godwin's Law can't be too far from being applicable if it continues without refocussing on the bad behaviour itself.

Very definitely had the full works poolside on our Odyssey Bali to Singapore Sea Day in March 2013. Mostly the crew who suffered but word to the wise if you're not keen on full participation would be to stand back just a little.

Not much of a picture but it will give you a flavour if it appears in the post.

The Post Office sold TravelSIM works everywhere I've been in Europe, Asia, North America and mostly in Africa for the past 5 years. It's not difficult to use. You dial the number you want. Wait a bit and it phones you back and makes the connection. Very rare that you can't get through.

It has its own 372 country code and number (Estonia apparently - who knew) so you can be called back and you can check rates on their website and load the phone according to what you might spend.

I travel with my iPhone connected to Vodafone if I need it and use the TravelSIm with a cheap Samsung I picked up somewhere in Asia to check into home or with colleagues when I need to. For data I use my iPad or iPhone on board or wait until I can get free or cheap WiFi ashore. Simples !

15 Seabourn, 3 Silverseas and one Regent (when the Paul Gauguin was theirs) pretty much tells the story for us. All 3 Silverseas (and the Gauguin) were very enjoyable but chosen solely on the basis of the itinerary and when we were able to get away - Seabourn doesn't do Alaska for instance and who else tools around Polynesia for 2 weeks calling at places you'd never heard of before you went.

The first responder above got it right. Better, albeit by just a little in a number of categories, in just about every way. Food, service, attention to detail, friendliness so if the itineraries are the same then you have to look at what the actual deal is on the price and with so many Seabourn suites on verandah upgrade for the larger ships that might make the difference. If its a 7 day Med cruise doesn't really matter which you're with as it's over so soon and you're ashore every day but if it's a 14 day with sea days then you'll notice the difference with Seabourn. If it's a small ship before they disappear forever then you'll get into ports that the others can't. Horses for courses really.

Having said that we'll do Silverseas again but it will be itinerary driven when we do.

If it's the same incident the Captain survived probably thanks more to the fact there were at least two other doctors on board with considerable experience. Ship turned back to Amoy to off load the Captain rather than proceed to Shanghai. Passengers not well informed at all about what was happening and why (helped to know one of the two doctors), we all missed the day and overnight in Shanghai but that's the luck of the draw I suppose. Glad it wasn't me.

Don't think he's still with Seabourn. Best question, I'm given to understand, is to ask what activities he was (allegedly) involved in when he was incapacitated.

Probably a bit late in posting this but here goes.

It's all about the weather in New Zealand's South Island. We were on the same cruise as yojimbo and in 18 days all I can recall is about an hour's drizzling rain when we were in Wellington. The rest of the days were near perfect.

On the weather note we were in Franz Josef a few years ago on a road trip and did the chopper flight to the Fox Glacier at around 0830. Not a cloud in the sky, powder snow to your waste and you could see forever. Saw Mt Cook as clearly as you can imagine. By 1130 they'd closed down operations because of heavy snow and overcast you could hardly see the next street through. It's a real luck thing sometimes.

Back to the cuise. We got to the top of Milford Sound and the extended lunch and many wines on deck as we steamed south to Stewart Island via 2 more fjords was one of those days you want to repeat.

Stewart Island was bright and sunny. We were too late booking the onboard pelagic tour described above - and that was 2 weeks prior to the cruise so bear that in mind. We did book independently with Rakiura tours and 4 of us did theirs in a small boat.

Bet the Seabourners didn't see the great white sharks circle and go under their boat. Never thought there were that many albatrosses in the world and we spotted the three penguin types by being able to go close inshore on a couple of the islands. Recommend them thoroughly and have done so on another travel website.

Did the Seabourn train trip in Dunedin which was great as it pulls up next to the dock. If you do this on your own you have to get the 14kms into town on your own although there was probably a Seabourn shuttle.

In Timaru the town bus company does a NZ$25 2 hour tour of the town and for us Australians takes in the Phar Lap memorial. Didn't think there was a lot to see but the driver, who will advise about the tour on the shuttle into town, made it seem so with his chat and insights. As above a bit windy but not raining. Some nice coffee shops at the bottom of the main street near the shuttle stop.

Akaroa, another near perfect day. Very colourful and very, very touristy but a nice walk around town. Didn't tour just hung out for a while before a late lunch on board.

Wellington was full of the audience for the Wellington 7s and I'm sure great photos were taken. No tours but the cable car is a must and easy to get to. The better halves thought the shopping was pretty good and MasterCard are probably grateful we went judging by the list of numbers they've sent me.

Picton was one of the highlights. We booked the Marlborough Icons tour directly through Marlboroughtravel.co.nz. who Seabourn use. Driver took the 4 of us to 3 wineries, a chocolate factory and to lunch in Havelock (at our cost) but great fish and chips. Framingham the best of the wineries but Cloudy Bay is a must in the area and with their being closed to large tours that day they treated us well. Highlight was the 3 hour cruise on the Marlborough Sound with the extended stop to eat fresh green mussels, pulled from the sea and cooked before us. If you ever though green mussels were a bit big and a bit tough and you weren't sure you liked them you HAVE to do this tour to appreciate what a food of the gods they can be. Who'd have thought I could have eaten 24 of them in a sitting and with the sauvignon blanc from Framingham to accompany - heaven (and a very calm sea).

Tauranga is all about the Rotorua hot springs further inland and hobbit tours but if you've done the former and have no interest in the latter the walk around Mt Mwanganui from the dock (7 kms as we had 2 enormous Princess ships hogging the closer to land docks) is well worth doing. Once again weather dependent. The ship actually docks in Mwanganui and not Tauranga so presumably there was a shuttle. Having driven through both towns before I'd stick with the former. Nice beach if you're inclined and close to the docks but the other side of the narrow peninsula.

That's about it in a nutshell except to say that after 14 Seabourns, 10 small and now 4 large this was probably the best crew we've had on board. Food, as always was great if you overlook the very occasional imperfection. I think you notice things like that the longer you're pampered which is why I think 15 to 18 days is about my limit for a cruise. Free wine list with an abundance of Aus and NZ wines was much better than most.

It's all about the weather. Good luck with that when you do your tour.

Am I President. God no, but if you're looking to join you can probably Google a local branch. Irony isn't analogous to silvery or coppery you know.

I must make sure my Get a Life Club gets a link to this wonderful discourse.

I guess I've become kind of redundant on my Melbourne post but that's what happens. Kstornado I agree with most of the above on the reef and Sydney.

Certainly Kuranda, Daintree if you have time and a glass bottom boat. You don't have to go way out on the reef and a day trip (half day maybe) to Green Island will cover most of the bases. Check out http://www.visitcairns.com.au. Check the timetables on the skyrail and the train to/from Kuranda and go the option that suits you best but do go both ways as they're quite different.

Manly ferry and the beach (v good aquarium at Manly if that's of interest) is a better option than Bondi which I think is over-rated being from the Gold Coast as I am [if you don't live on the Gold Coast you're just camping as my friend Des says]. See both if you have time but I'd always opt for 3 days on the Gold Coast and its hinterland rather than Sydney. Not sure how the Blue Mts look after the fires but a great day if you walk a little or a lot. I'd also add the Rocks area in Sydney - sort of just under the bridge - to what others have suggested.

Melbourne I presume is only for the stopover time with Seabourn ? Exploring Melbourne's laneways, shopping, the Galleries, there's a reasonable safe (no surf in the Bay) beach not far from the cruise terminal, river cruise. If you have time Phillip Island or the Yarra wineries are good. I'm sure there's Melbourne residents who can respond in more detail.

Enjoy Australia. For the most part we speak the same language and have a lot of ideals in common. New Zealanders too, although most of them are in Australia now.

Definitely stockholder.