ROLL CALL-- Legend 3/11-3/18

Will any other of the wonderful Seabourn CC cruisers be on the same voyage?

I just reserved a cabin and hope to convince my significant other to proceed with the deposit this coming Monday. I'm enticing him with the descriptions of the massage moments and the beach BBQ (he's squeemish about caviar, so the cavair on the surf is not a plus for him)

He doesn't like cruising all that much. We've been on Holland America, which he didn't like at all, and on Windstar, which he did like for the most part. He liked the smaller ship size.

The 50% savings on this sailing make it very tempting to try Seabourn.

Are you using Seabourn air or on your own? Are you arriving on the 11th, or before? I'd like to arrive at least a day before to avoid missing the ship since from the west coast we're talking three legs to get to St. Thomas, and one of those being a red-eye.

Jackie

I've got a deposit down on this one, too! ;)

I'll probably go down the day before, as flights for me get in only by 3:45pm, and I don't want to "push it". Haven't made flight plans, or looked for a pre-cruise hotel yet....

jsiegel:

I'm not much on caviar (yet), too, but I think I'll "ease" my way in...(!). I have the Pride planned in Dec. '06 to get a head-start! :D If your husband liked the Windstar, he should LOVE the Legend! And there's lots more going on other than caviar on the "caviar-in-the-surf" day...full-fledged barbecue & water toys galore from the beach. And he just might ease his way into the caviar, as well!

Being on the Legend for my first Seabourn cruise this past April, I can only suggest you'll both love the service, the food, and the Seabourn experience!!

Hope to see you in March!

Paul

Ijsiegel: If your husband liked the Windstar

Whoops! Just re-read...I meant your "significant other"! :)

Believe me...there's nothing "not" to like about a Seabourn cruise!

;)

Paul

with apologies!

Whoops! Just re-read...I meant your "significant other"! :)

 

Believe me...there's nothing "not" to like about a Seabourn cruise!

 

;)

 

Paul

with apologies!

That's OK, he's gotten used to being called Mr. Siegel. His name is Neil Levine, BTW.

Last April did you do the same ports-of-call or a different itinerary? Did you leave from St. Thomas that time? If so, did you go a day before then and where did you stay. My TA found a great deal at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef for $185. Luckily she gave me an advanced copy of the itinerary and I noticed it was for September 10th, 2006, not March 10, 2007. Well, duh, who'd want to travel during hurricane season. We expect we'll be paying more for something in March.

Jackie

That's OK, he's gotten used to being called Mr. Siegel. His name is Neil Levine, BTW.

 

Last April did you do the same ports-of-call or a different itinerary? Did you leave from St. Thomas that time? If so, did you go a day before then and where did you stay. My TA found a great deal at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef for $185. Luckily she gave me an advanced copy of the itinerary and I noticed it was for September 10th, 2006, not March 10, 2007. Well, duh, who'd want to travel during hurricane season. We expect we'll be paying more for something in March.

 

Jackie

In April I did a different itinerary (SB alternates 2 out of St. T., it seems), and am looking forward to the "new" one! I was drawn to this particular itinerary because it "was" different, and I think, for me, it's a nicer choice of ports.

The price your TA got for the Marriott seems to be a very good one. I stayed at a smaller place not far from the Marriott for a little less than you've been quoted for the Marriott. It was comfortable and clean, but not a "destination" hotel, for sure. I may choose a hotel in town this time, just for convenience' sake, but haven't started researching (again).

You're gonna love the Legend, and Neil will, too! ;)

Paul

I'm going to start researching hotels because I'm obsessive about having all my plans solidified as early as possible. (I'm a Virgo) I'll share what I find. I'm soliciting feedback from friends who have been there.

How are the cappuchino's onboard? This morning Neil asked if they had cappuchinos. Of course they do, right? He enjoyed having a daily cappuchino on the Windstar ships. Deal makers and breakers are very strange with him.

Jackie

Hi Jackie:

I stayed at Bolongo Bay (not far from the Marriott) last April. I would stay there again, because it's very reasonable (but again, not much less than you've been quoted for the Marriott!), but might opt to stay in town. I'll have to do some research and thinking (staunch Libra here! ;) )....

About the cappucino...I'm just a "morning coffee" guy, and SB's was fine. I am quite sure that you can order any kind of coffee drink imaginable, day or night. Seabourn doesn't say "no" to any reasonable request! Neil can have his cappucino! (And, not to mention, bottomless glasses of champagne!)

:D

Paul

I am so glad to see there will be others from CC on the same sailing. We are very much looking forward to our vacation.

I too must have all aspects of vacation in order. We are making our own flight arrangements, primarily because I have so many frequent flier miles (we will obtain one free ticket booking on our own). We are flying into STT 3/8.

We are actually staying at Bellavista B&B (http://www.bellavista-bnb.com). I have heard only good things about them. Most of the other resorts and hotels received mixed reviews on various websites. Some people complained of the hotel employees providing poor customer service while others mentioned insect problems. Neither of these set well with me on my tropical paradise vacation. We enjoy the specialized service B&B's offer. Plus, for $225 and under a night it comes with a gourmet breakfast and your own conceirge. Our second choice was Marriott Frenchman's Reef as it received mostly positive comments. I have stayed at many, many Wyndhams and was disappointed to read all the negative feedback about the one in St Thomas. With all of the Wyndhams I have stayed at, any problems were minor and infrequent. It doesn't appear that same standard applies to the location in St Thomas.

If it looks like you will be in St Thomas the day before, I'd be happy to share some of the info I found about various restaurants.

Good luck and look forward to seeing you in March.

Brittani:

Looks like the 2 bigger rooms are booked at the Bellavista...you must have at least one of them! It looks like a very nice place. I'll have to start deciding pretty soon about dates, and lodging....

I'll look forward to hearing about your restaurant choices, as well, when we get closer....!

Always fun for CC'ers to meet on Seabourn!! We already have something in common!

Paul

How are the cappuchino's onboard? This morning Neil asked if they had cappuchinos. Of course they do, right? He enjoyed having a daily cappuchino on the Windstar ships. Deal makers and breakers are very strange with him.

jsiegel: They do have cappuchinos on board. I need the high-octane coffee in the morning (expecially on a crossing)! I do not profess to be a cappuchino connoisseur, but I find the cappuchinos to be good. I usually have a decaf cappuchino after dinner so I am not too wired in The Club after the show in the main lounge. ;)

crystal808: "The Other Paul" here! Have a blast on your 3/11 to 3/18 cruise on the Pride! However, please make certain the Pride is seaworthy when you all disembark as I and many other "Blue Water" sailors will be on for the following eastbound crossing to Lisboa sailing in potenitially "dirty weather" and we would like to make it all the way across. We would not like completing the crossing in the tenders or lifeboats! :eek: :D

Thanks "other Paul." Glad to be able to stop worrying about cappuchinos.;)

We are now thinking of arriving Friday the 9th, evening, because flights are better timed for us and a little cheaper. Also, that would give us a full day plus in St. Thomas.

Looking at reviews for hotels, The Green Iguana sounded good. I contacted them but they require three nights minimum stay if over a weekend during high season, unless they have last minute cancellations. (appears to be the same situation at the Bellavista unless you wait until right before)

I'm contacting the Mafolie Hotel to see if they have rooms available.

A co-worker has stayed at Hotel 1829. He liked it but it doesn't have air conditioning, and that's a condition we'd like to avoid if possible.

A Windstar friend stays at the Emerald Beach Hotel (a Best Western) hotel. Best rate I could find there was $250 a night. We're trying for something less expensive.

I did make the deposit today. Glad I didn't have to back out of the reservation.

Jackie

Hi Jackie,

First let me say that I have cruised on both Windstar and Seabourn and Seabourn is definitely more deluxe. You will not be disappointed. The service is superior and the cuisine is much, much better.

As far as your St. Thomas hotel options, I regret that I must wholeheartedly disagree with a fellow CC'er but I had a very different experience at Bolongo Bay. I advise you not to consider it. The hotel is very close to the highway (road noise) but far away from anything else (rent a car or pay a lot for taxis). The beach is not the idyllic white sand and blue water. Cloudy water and grey sand which is populated by millions of sand fleas (over two dozen bites after sitting on a chair on the room's seaside patio for 30 minutes). The room had a low-producing wall unit A/C which meant the bathroom never got cool. The housekeeper left the jalousie window in the bathroom open which invited in tens of mosquitos to feast on any exposed skin whilst "in disposed." The included breakfast was served by a waitress who was the antithesis of customer service. All in all, one of the absolute worst hotel stays I have ever experienced and one of two reasons why I prefer not to spend the night in St. Thomas (the local taxi drivers being the other). I stayed there in December 2004 so there is a possibility it has improved, but it looks the same on its web site as it did then.

One day I will give St. Thomas another chance, but never again at Bolongo Bay.

johnny

Sorry you had such an uncomfortable stay at Bolongo Bay; in April of this year I didn't experience any of your complaints. Suffice it to say, BBay isn't luxurious by any stretch (think 50's motel accommodations!), but my room was clean, comfortable and nice enough for my one-day pre-cruise stay.

I had an excellent cab experience from there to the pier. Several cabbies were sitting out front when I checked out, and they discussed at which port the Legend might be found. Turned out, with all the traffic that day at Havensight, the Legend docked at Crown Bay, but we didn't realize it until after we searched Havensight for the Legend. She then took me to Crown Bay (by this time, very early afternoon), where I dropped off my luggage at the Legend, and then dropped me off at a bar near the pier. She was going to charge me $12 for the "tour"(!), but I gladly gave her a $20 bill for her extra time and trouble.

I'm not sure that the cloudy water, grey sand, or sand fleas could be attributed to the hotel itself. I might stay closer to town (or in town) next time, for convenience' sake, but just wanted to let others know that my Bolongo Bay experience wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as yours....:)

Paul

We did Legend cruise out of St Thomas last April--it was excellent in all respects--the best staff on any ship sailing!! We stayed at Frenchmans Reef--with an AMX credit card we got a nice upgrade from a $185 room--beautiful harbor view room--room was excellent--food at the hotel way above average for the Caribbean. Seabourn provided a small bus to the dock for the passengers staying at Frenchmans Reef--it was provided for the people that had been booked on Seabourn's pre-cruise hotel package, but other passengers could arrange to be picked up. The info was included in the precruise package. You are going to love your cruise, and do the beach picnic even if your "other" doesn't like " fish eggs"! I don't bother with the caviar--they have to many other good thing available!

Apropos of almost nothing, I found the food at Frenchman's Reef suprisingly good, especially their soups and had about the most perfect fillet that I have ever had. We listened to the time-shre spiel and got quite a credit for our dining. But we had a few days there with a good deal over Easter weekend.

Jane in Philly still reading the BB at Kinko's!!

LaPaloma, That would be great if I could get a room at Frenchmans Reef for that price. My TA is probably already looking into it. Great tip about the transportation from the hotel to the ship. And don't worry, I plan on not missing a minute or a itsy-bitsy egg of the beach picnic.

Jane in Philly - thanks for the dining recommendation for the Frenchman's Reef. And, have you tried reading the BB at your local library? Might be more comfortable. (I'm a librarian so I like to promote libraries whenever I see an opportunity)

Jackie

I heard from the Mafolie hotel. They too require three nights stay during high season, but have a special program for less than that. They said that they currently have rooms available March 9th and 10th. Here is their description:

Rates run, Standard $119. Deluxe $139. Mini-suite $159. All have additional tax 8% plus 10% service charge plus $1.00 HTA fee.

We're still trying to figure out flights and arrival times. It's pretty messy from the west coast. Best schedule is Delta, but will they still be flying in March?

Jackie

I heard from the Mafolie hotel. They too require three nights stay during high season, but have a special program for less than that. They said that they currently have rooms available March 9th and 10th. Here is their description:

 

For guests who wish to stay less than the three-night minimum, we do offer what we call "run-of-the-house" rooms. A run-of-the-house room is one where the guest agrees to take whatever room we have available for that particular

night and pays the going rate for that room.

Rates run, Standard $119. Deluxe $139. Mini-suite $159. All have additional tax 8% plus 10% service charge plus $1.00 HTA fee.

Jackie:

Thanks for the info...I'm really gonna have to get serious about getting booked for air & hotel, and figure what dates I can go.... The Mafolie looks nice, and close to what I was looking for "in town"!

Paul

>"Jane in Philly - thanks for the dining recommendation for the Frenchman's Reef. And, have you tried reading the BB at your local library? Might be more comfortable. (I'm a librarian so I like to promote libraries whenever I see an opportunity)"

Thanks for the advice and yes, my local branch of the Philly library has two pcs which would be fine, but I seem to need faxing and copying capabilities lately. I only read email and my 'fix' of CC. Everything else can wait. Apparentlly the storm knocked out some major phone lines, and many are inconvenienced.

Some of my best friends are librarians and I love to read, so it's a great match!

Well...it's done(!).:D

Couldn't fly in "the day of" (without delay worries), so, after playing with the 9th & 10th departures, decided to treat myself to a couple of "real" vacation days prior to embarking! ;)

Decided my schedule, called the Majolie & booked...arriving 3/8; called my CC company and booked air, as well, using my accumulated points (non-refundable, non-transferrable, but 1st class...a first for me!)

The Majolie still had a few rooms in each category left, for those interested....

So...no backing out now!

Paul

Oh my, oh my, I've got to get a move on it. :eek: This coming weekend I'll sit S.O. down and see how much extra time he's willing to take from work and pull out some maps of St. Thomas to give him an idea of where everything is.

Paul, If we end up at the Mafolie (which sounded like a nice place) maybe we could catch a cab together to the pier on Sunday.

Stupid question, but flights from continental U.S. to St. Thomas, is that considered an international flight or not? In other words, returning to continental U.S. do you go through immigration and customs on the continent? It could make a difference in flight plans, more layover time needed if have to go through immigration in a major hub airport.

Jackie

Paul, If we end up at the Mafolie (which sounded like a nice place) maybe we could catch a cab together to the pier on Sunday.

That's a distinct possibility!

Stupid question, but flights from continental U.S. to St. Thomas, is that considered an international flight or not? In other words, returning to continental U.S. do you go through immigration and customs on the continent? It could make a difference in flight plans, more layover time needed if have to go through immigration in a major hub airport.

Considering we're bouncing around islands & territories on our cruise, somewhere along the way there should be some immigration forms; we'll probably have customs to deal with at the St Thomas airport, but it shouldn't interfere with your flight(s), other than a little extra time at the STT airport. If I'm mistaken, I'm sure someone will jump in!

Paul

You will clear customs and immigration on the ship and then again at the airport (don't ask me why:confused: )

Last November the Customs and Immigration agent who cleared us on the ship then cleared us again at the airport. He said he remembered us from that morning:o

You will clear customs and immigration on the ship and then again at the airport (don't ask me why:confused: )

 

Last November the Customs and Immigration agent who cleared us on the ship then cleared us again at the airport. He said he remembered us from that morning:o

That is fabulous to hear. Thanks. I don't mind going through immigration/customs twice on a small island in order to avoid it in Atlanta or Houston. It also means our luggage should be able to be checked through to our final destination, right? Going through immigration/customs in Houston last year was awful. I can't believe how the U.S. treats it's own citizens. The line was enormous and it took over 45 minutes to get through, then we had to go back through long lines for security to get back to our next terminal for our next leg of our trip. Those without U.S. passports breezed through immigration.

Time to check the flights again to see if the prices have dropped.

Jackie