lilpfef

Hello Silver Explorer fans, we just returned from the 10 day Longyearbyen to Tromso expedition on Explorer. The seas were calm and the skies unusually sunny, which helped to maximize viewing of several polar bears including one devouring a bearded seal.

We were in 316, the same stateroom that we had, and loved, in Antarctica. Yes, all public rooms and staterooms have been refurbished with lighter colors. All tubs have been removed. Showers with rainwater and regular shower heads have good pressure but do result in more water in the floor. The staff tidies up 2 times per day so always fresh - large and soft - towels.

There was a strange, loud noise on nights 2 and 3, that kept us awake, but the noise disappeared. The ship seems to be in good shape, all renos completed. Audio visual in the lecture room remains somewhat problematic.

Service is outstanding. Food was very good, but not consistently great.

Explorer is going to end its polar expeditions soon, possibly in 2018 and will be repositioned on the,west coast of the US. We will miss her, she's a great expedition ship!

We booked a June 2016 Chicago to Montreal cruise on St Laurent through Great Lakes Cruises. When we learned of the Haimark Line bankruptcy, we contacted Great Lakes Cruises and informed them that we wanted to cancel and that we expected to receive a full refund of our deposit. Great Lakes forwarded our cancellation email to Haimark who in turn said that the monies were in escrow and a refund was not possible at that time. They did suggest, to our surprise, for us to contact our credit card company and ask that they "charge back" the deposit amount so that we could receive a credit. Within a week, a full credit showed up on our credit card account. We assume that the credit is final.

Hope this helps on "the process" that we used.

It's more than unfortunate that Haimark found themselves in this situation. St. Laurent appears to be a very nice ship which would have offered an excellent way to explore the Great Lakes or Cuba.

Travel Weekly posted an article in mid December indicating that a Colorado judge allowed Haimark to transfer funds from a bank account to an escrow account to satisfy the needs of the Maritime Association. Their president continues to be optimistic that they can get through Chapter 11 in a few more weeks, but that is what they have been saying since October.

It seems like a messy situation with multiple parties involved and Haimark Line hanging out there on a string. It appears that Haimark is working this day to day and maintaining their cruise schedule and only cancelling cruises within days to 2 weeks of departure. This is understandable otherwise the chances of a full recovery would be non-existent.

With hesitancy, we recently cancelled our June '16 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway cruise, but have not been guaranteed the return of our deposit.

I hope those of you getting ready for February departures will receive good news soon.

Haimark told me that they could not refund my deposit while they are in Chapter 11. pumpette, did you actually receive a credit from them recently or did they promise one post bankruptcy? Thanks for your response in advance.

As you can read in a few of the previous posts, Haimark Line Ltd filed Chapter 11 recently because of outstanding claims from 3 debtors including the owner of the ship. However, it was anticipated that the bankruptcy filing was going to be resolved quickly so as not to impact scheduled cruises. There may be other reasons for the stoppage in Nassau, but this could be one of them.

Hopefully this is good news for those of us with bookings on St Laurent.

http://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/haimark-hopes-to-cancel-bankruptcy-filing-by-weeks-end.html

According to several travel intermediaries (e.g. *************), smoking is prohibited on all Haimark ships. However, it's been our experience that most (but not all) cruise lines allows some very limited smoking in a small, confined area on an upper, open deck. So Haimark might in fact be more lenient for trips to / from Cuba to allow passengers to enjoy local cigars. I know of no cruise lines that allow smoking in staterooms, dining rooms or other public areas. Your best bet is to call Haimark directly and ask for the policy for St Laurent and the specific itinerary.

Thanks

Maybe it is chartered by Vantage

I only see Toronto to Chicago in July & Aug on Haimark webpage

will have to get their brochure maybe

 

lyn

Hi all,

You can find the Saint Laurent cruise dates on greatlakescruising.com or call them at 888-891-0203. We are booked on the June 2 - 11 trip from Chicago to Montreal. It doesn't appear to be a charter cruise, but they may book a group as a "charter" later on. We live in Chicago and saw Saint Laurent enter the harbor earlier this week and remain at the end of Navy Pier for a portion of the day. I've heard only good things about the ship itself (despite the small staterooms).

By the way, someone started a CC thread specifically for the June 2nd Chicago to Montreal trip, so you may want to share specific info on that trip on that board.

Looking forward to seeing the Great Lakes in all their glory and to meeting those of you who plan to be on-

board as well!

Deborah

Thx for the quick reply! As is typically the case for a cruise, there's usually no "better" side. BTW, noticed that you have cruised with Oceania; as did we on Nautica (Hong Kong to Beijing) last year. Wonderful cruise, great ship. However, we just cancelled the 35 day Dubai to Capetown on Nautica and have booked on Silversea for an Antarctic expedition in Feb! Sounds like we both can't stay home for long! Happy trails to you.

Deborah

We're home! All in all we enjoyed our cruise on Haimark's Saint Laurent and would recommend it. There are about 10 posts about it on our blog during the first 10 days of August 2015 and photos. If anyone has any specific questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them while the experience is fresh in my mind.

 

Debbie

 

http://epicendurancecruising.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Debbie, for sharing your experience aboard Saint Laurent. We're considering the cruise from Chicago to Montreal. I'm going to miss having a private balcony, but c'est la vie! Could you tell me what side of the ship might afford the best overall views / experience going from Chicago to Montreal? (I realize that you traveled the opposite direction). We're thinking deck 3 might suit us best.

Welcome home!

and thanks!

Deborah