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A friend onboard sent photos of the ribbon cutting and then dined in Solis after and she said it was wonderful. She is European and enjoyed the ambience in TK but felt the menu was heavy whereas she was able to chose a lighter more Mediterranean meal in Solis.

I am sure I received something saying 23kg checked and 7kg carry-on so usual Economy Class restrictions. I have been looking for that document but I will also check with my TA if she has anything. Maybe I just read it on CC and it is stuck in my head. @texanaust I'm sorry to hear about your charter flight and hope the Pursuit pampering starts quickly for you. We have that flight at the end of this month.

🤣Like I said...colourful. So sad Barry Humphries is no longer around to entertain us.🥲

😅As an Australian I resemble that remark. Dame Edna was very stylish. A bit of colour can be a very good fashion statement.

I'm glad you are enjoying various aspects of your cruise despite the disappointment with regards excursions. Being West Australian I have been to Broome and Darwin a few times and did a 7 day Kimberley for the first time last year on True North a 36 pax boat with a helicopter. It was amazing and the Pursuit cruise will go to some places we didn't. We will also did True North on a Neap tide which is a moderate tide so not much movement whereas our Pursuit cruise has a much higher tide which might give more dramatic effect at places like Horizontal Falls and Montgomery Reef. For those interested in experiencing Horizontal Falls you should be aware of this upcoming ban in 2026 for boats. https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/state-swings-axe-on-iconic-kimberley-horizontal-falls-experience-20240315-p5fcsu.html In case it is behind a paywall the relevant part is this: "The West Australian government will ban boats from traversing the iconic Horizontal Falls on the Kimberley coast. The ban will come into effect for all tour operators from 2026, except for Seaplane Adventures which will be allowed to continue the tour until 2028 when its licence expires."

I'm doing the 25 day Sydney/Honaria to Broome in 4 weeks so I will try again to do live posting. I could only keep up my live blog on the Quest Grand Voyage for about half the voyage but it was 79 days 🙃. I'm sure the Kimberley will involve some third party as well if Seabourn decide to include some flights but that wouldn't surprise me. I have already pre booked a flight from Darwin to go to Kakadu National Park as we have an overnight in Darwin. As it is peak season in that region I wanted to book early as one flight was already booked out.

I flew Business on United last year from Australia to Miami return and never got the pajamas. It was interesting to read that you had to know to ask for them as they aren't given out as standard even on long haul overnight flights.

I'm not a fan of small rooms and my husband is even fussier about that so I always check prior to booking. We are staying in the Conrad Hilton and room is 48sqm. We are doing a Regent post cruise tour and staying at another Hilton and I am just hoping the room isn't tiny as I don't have control of that. I did note the "Squidgee" pronunciation in the video and when I was in our local fish shop yesterday I was served by a Japanese lady who confirmed it. A funny coincidence I thought as I haven't been served by her before.😄

@bazzaw Thanks for the video as I watched it all and enjoyed it. Our hotel is within walking distance of Tsukiji market and will be going there our second day with a guide so this helps with what is available. I'm addicted now and will watch some of the other videos 😁.

I am looking forward to Kobe beef though.😋

I rarely eat pizza or calzone so thankfully I won't be looking for them when I visit Japan.😂

Thanks for this and all of your blog as it is interesting reading and having tried to do one know it is not as easy as it looks to keep up. For the cocktail party we only know three couples so it will be small.

@kej1 Thanks for the extra detail. The indoor table sounds like a good option if too hot outside. As I mentioned we have some friends onboard so might organise some organise a cocktail party pre-dinner. I know this is possible with enough notice on the classic ships so hope this is okay on Pursuit though I'm concerned it is trickier if there is less crew because of the expedition team. I won't want to cause trouble. Thank you also re jacuzzi temperature as it was one reason we took this suite and not the Wintergarden. From YouTubes we have watched it looks like the patio cover would obstruct the view of most of the verandah from people above on Deck 9. Do you think so? I'm just trying to manage my expectations 🙂.

Thank you for the updates. @kej1 my husband and I are thinking sometimes to have lunch in our suite as the room service menu looks good and the Signature Suite outside dining looks reasonable. Would you agree or think it is too small? We like to chat with people and onboard there will be friends we have sailed with before but like to have some quiet breaks to ourselves so hope this is an option. On sea days is the MDR not open for lunch? Oops, I just reread your post out to my husband and saw you did mention that MDR is open on sea days.

I appreciate this. I am excited to go to Japan but for some reason I am also nervous. I had lunch with a friend on Wednesday and she has just returned and she found the Metro daunting but has no trouble using it in London, Singapore or Paris. On a happy note she had a Suica card she had got a few years ago and she gave it to my husband as it is one of the old ones that are valid for 10 years from last use. He doesn't have an iPhone.

Thanks for this information. I will look to try and incorporate this into our trip in 2026. I just checked and this is also a good place to see Autumn foliage early so I will put this down as an option as a day trip for our two days post cruise in Tokyo in late October. It sounds reasonable to do using the bullet train.

Thank you for your information so far we have a Japan cruise in October and I have been researching so this helps. With regards to your Suica card I was going to download it onto my iPhone but have some concerns as some reviews mention having some problems using it and also mention you need to have a Mastercard not Visa to top it up online, I have Visa. Could you let me know if it is easy to top up either at stations or 7Eleven stores or could you do it online? Also thanks for the information re Cherry Blossoms as I also have a mid April, 2026 cruise booked and am hoping we will still get to see blossoms. Like all things in nature I know nothing is guaranteed but ever hopeful 🙂.

Okay so you think Seabourn should be USA centric only? I don’t agree that this is a way to move the brand forward. Hopefully you are wrong and they do care what other demographics think and send out surveys world wide. You and I will just have to disagree on methodology.

Enjoy the Kimberley region as I think the landscape is stunning. We did it last year for a week on a small ship that had a helicopter and will be doing it again this June on Seabourn Pursuit with no helicopter so interesting to see the variance. We did some good hiking last year there, especially seeing the Aboriginal rock art.

I'm still wanting to know if they included people from other countries or only the USA. I know CC is a small sample size so maybe those who use other websites can tell me. I am hoping it is people from other countries otherwise the survey was flawed to start with in my opinion. And all the cross referencing you mention does not work if that is the case.

Thank you for your blog @RachelG as it was interesting and the accompanying photos excellent. We were in Valencia for the first time last year and really enjoyed it and are looking forward to returning next year.

They need these loyal customers to sail on the ship. Of course a survey like this with such out there suggestions will be discussed. I am sure it is discussed on the other site which I don't belong to as well. Maybe you're right as I said I find it interesting that so far on CC only Americans received the survey and that is a poor way to conduct a survey. I am quite certain Europeans, people from the United Kingdom, Australians etc have different viewpoints on what they consider acceptable. Some of the things mentioned like not including gratuities, having different classes with wine only included at meals would be unacceptable to me. The whole vibe of having pre and post dinner drinks at the Club & Obs Bar charged would change the atmosphere. Sometimes I only have a ginger ale but I don't want to have to pay for it. My question is why include red herrings like that if they aren't considering it?

Well that is a silly assumption to go forward with at HQ. Of course people want to discuss such radical suggestions as this goes away from what we have chosen to sail Seabourn for. I am trying a Regent cruise later this year but only because I want to have another option as Seabourn have introduced too many 7 day sailings in the Med. My husband and I would still prefer Seabourn though as we don't want included excursions. We haven't received this survey and we're in Australia. I find it interesting that it seems to be only those from the USA. That also isn't a good survey if they only choose a subset of their passengers from one demographic.

I haven't sailed on Regent yet but this just reminds me that doesn't matter, luxury at some point in your cruising life when boarding you will encounter glitches. Which is why for us I now find a nice local restaurant for lunch and go later. Because of loyalty on Seabourn they usually book my transfer to board earlier but I try to push it later. I am looking forward to trying Regent but even though excited to see the new ship will aim to avoid the early boarding. Is there ports you can drop of luggage but go for lunch before boarding? I have done this in Venice and Piraeus previously. We are boarding in Tokyo but curious for others as well.

Agree with all of this plus I like to keep up to date with world events as sometimes they impact the cruise I'm on. For example last year a few days before we arrived in Casablanca there was the terrible earthquake near Marrakesh. Since there was an overnight tour planned there the ship did give some information but I was able to flesh out more of the story by checking the internet.