Steamboat Bill

Glad you enjoyed the review and photos - looks like we are booked again for next April :-).

 

Here is a photo of our desk in an outside room. I do believe it is similar in the inside rooms. There is only one European 2 prong outlet. We needed the power strip with multiple outlets. The hair dryer is in the bathroom and permanently plugged there, so that was not a concern.

 

 

As for books, I think you will be fine. Looks like there were lots, but Im guessing as I brought a kobo with ebooks. I know the printed newsheets went fast on some days.

Is there an outlet in the bathroom, or only the hard-wired hair dryer? Thanks.

Bill

Mary, Thanks very much for posting your review. We are looking forward to getting on board again in October for Aegean Experience 1. We have also booked the Black Sea cruise departing May 2019! Linda. :D

We're booked for the Grand Voyage that includes your cruise and Aegean Experience II, so perhaps we'll meet!

Bill

Biara or---

Can you tell me what time Mass is offered on Sunday at the Cathedral and the Jesuit Church? We'll have a port stop on Sunday, April 10, scheduled to arrive at 10:00 and we would like to go to Mass.

Bill

Fram is considerably smaller than any of the cruise ships of the "standard" lines: HAL, Princess, P&I, Celebrity, etc.--about half the length, in general. Fram is small enough to enter Stanley harbor and dock. The larger ships must remain outside the harbor and tender in, which raises the issue of sea conditions.

Borton Overseas is a reputable agency that specializes in Scandinavia and books Hurtigruten. The staff is quite familiar with the coastal voyage asa well as the other things you may/will want to book in Norway. I've had excellent service from them in planning a group tour.

Hurtigruten's US office has a reputation for being difficult to deal with, not that they're rude or unpleasant, jsut that the system doesn;t seem to work very well. Borton, on the other hand, is very easy and efficient and if there's any difficulty dealing with Hurtigruten US, they handle it.

Website at http://www.bortonoverseas.com/

Bill

It might be well to distinguish between expedition cruises that land passengers in Antarctica and larger cruise ships, like Veendam, that simply sail past for the view. I suspect that increasingly severe regulation of Antarctic visitation has had an effect on operators and might account for a reduction in the number of ships offering the expedition-tyoe trips. The only expedition sailing I'm familiar with is the Fram departing Buenos Aires on November 2 for the Falklands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula; this is marketed by Vantage Travel. It costs vastly more than the Veendam trip and is almost sold out. Only one suite and insides are shown as available; we're in an inside and a portgole would have cost the two of us $4000 additional...now it's not available.

I wonder if the Veendam on December 20 is suffering from people's desire not to be away for Christmas?