A Seabourn newbie sails Ovation, Norway and the North Cape, June 11 2023

[jondfk]

I’ve never actually sailed from Copenhagen before (but know the city fairly well).  It looks like 3 very separate terminal buildings, the biggest challenge looks to be getting to the pier, though nothing is likely to be worse access wise than our home port of San Francisco.

 

[nancygp]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

I’ve never actually sailed from Copenhagen before (but know the city fairly well).  It looks like 3 very separate terminal buildings, the biggest challenge looks to be getting to the pier, though nothing is likely to be worse access wise than our home port of San Francisco.

 

We did this last year and it was seamless.  It was very easy to identify the ship. When we go to the terminal, and this was when you needed to show vax cards and test results, we were on board within 10 minutes…easy peasy.

 

Nancy

[skybluewaters]

3 hours ago, jondfk said:

...though nothing is likely to be worse access wise than our home port of San Francisco.

 

I can still recall the slow crawl in a taxi up Embarcadero to the pier in SF.  It reminded me of the opening scene in Office Space, where the elderly man in a walker is moving faster than the cars stuck in traffic.

[jondfk]

Well, it’s all done but the drive to the airport in the morning.  Bags are packed, not closed yet for last minute items, flight checkin complete.

 

To those already en route and those who will be following us by a bit, safe travels and easy connections.  See everyone aboard on Sunday.

 

[SLSD]

47 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Well, it’s all done but the drive to the airport in the morning.  Bags are packed, not closed yet for last minute items, flight checkin complete.

 

To those already en route and those who will be following us by a bit, safe travels and easy connections.  See everyone aboard on Sunday.

 

I hope all goes well for you--and for the rest of us!  We leave home early afternoon.  We'll all hope for easy connections!  We are so looking forward to this!

[PSahoy]

Safe travels to you both. You’re ahead of me as I leave Friday arriving CPH Saturday. If I don’t see you in Tivoli then on deck Sunday for sail away!

[Techno123]

Just in case anyone is interested, we booked our North Cape trip with a company called northcapesightseeing@gmail.com

 

They emailed me the details this morning but they are also running a Tromsø tour - we are planning to walk to the Cathedral and cable car  but this seems to go further afield 😁

 

We will be running our Tromsø Tour for Seabourn Ovation guests on  at 10:00 a.m.Price :Nok 1799.- per person.

The tour will be ran in a mini bus with an English speaking guide.

 

Our itinerary got some shape now and we will be visiting both places in town and further away from the centre. All together approx. 5h of a scenic drive with plenty of stops at viewpoints in nature.

 

We drive towards deep fjords, steep mountains and sandy beaches. We have a coffee/tea and a little snack stop during the first part of the tour. Our second coffee/chocolate cake stop is at the husky cafe where we also have a chance to meet lovely huskies (including small puppies) and get to know what the dogs do when there is no snow:)

 

At the end of the tour we visit the Cathedral and/or the harbour in the centre of town.

 

So in short: a cosy tour in a small group, an English speaking guide, many photo opportunities, scenic views and a variety of places to see and experience. 

[galeforce9]

10 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Just in case anyone is interested, we booked our North Cape trip with a company called northcapesightseeing@gmail.com

 

They emailed me the details this morning but they are also running a Tromsø tour - we are planning to walk to the Cathedral and cable car  but this seems to go further afield 😁

 

We will be running our Tromsø Tour for Seabourn Ovation guests on  at 10:00 a.m.Price :Nok 1799.- per person.

The tour will be ran in a mini bus with an English speaking guide.

 

Our itinerary got some shape now and we will be visiting both places in town and further away from the centre. All together approx. 5h of a scenic drive with plenty of stops at viewpoints in nature.

 

We drive towards deep fjords, steep mountains and sandy beaches. We have a coffee/tea and a little snack stop during the first part of the tour. Our second coffee/chocolate cake stop is at the husky cafe where we also have a chance to meet lovely huskies (including small puppies) and get to know what the dogs do when there is no snow:)

 

At the end of the tour we visit the Cathedral and/or the harbour in the centre of town.

 

So in short: a cosy tour in a small group, an English speaking guide, many photo opportunities, scenic views and a variety of places to see and experience. 

Have they got a website too?

[Techno123]

48 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

Have they got a website too?

This is the link for the North Cape tour https://www.blue-puffin.com/en/#north_cape_sightseeing_tour_english_wrapper  the Tromsø one is top right 😁

Edited June 8, 2023 by Techno123

[jondfk]

Okay, steps 1, 2 & 3 complete, we’ve arrived in Copenhagen!

 

Remember when you heard this was going to be the summer of travel, no kidding, maximum crowds everywhere, but, staffing seemed up to the challenge.  TSA line was short but slow, they opened a second one releasing the pressure.  Planes full, likewise lounges etc, but everything worked as we had laid it out.

 

Weather is absolutely spectacular today and looks to continue for the first days of our cruise.

 

The last phone call I took before leaving home was from our SB cruise consultant (I know, I know, don’t book direct use your favorite TA), she phoned to confirm we were set to go, verified our flights for last minute changes, reviewed our liquor and other beverage requests, and confirmed our boarding time “but you can be a bit early” said she.  Again impressed with her professionalism and record keeping.

 

Tomorrow a bit of sightseeing and rearranging the luggage away from “airline” mode to “cruise ship” mode which mainly means putting first evening stuff and liquids into my carryon.

 

[SLSD]

We made it to Copenhagen this afternoon.  Looking forward to Sunday and boarding Ovation.   

[PSahoy]

Thanks for the updated news from CPH. At EWR awaiting flight getting in Saturday morning. Going to a promising concert tomorrow night. I booked the Tromsø excursion Techno123 suggested above. Enjoy yourselves.

[Techno123]

1 hour ago, PSahoy said:

Thanks for the updated news from CPH. At EWR awaiting flight getting in Saturday morning. Going to a promising concert tomorrow night. I booked the Tromsø excursion Techno123 suggested above. Enjoy yourselves.

We are doing a North Cape tour with them - please let me know what you think of the Tromsø one 😁

[PSahoy]

Will do. Couldn’t resist the huskies …

[jondfk]

Okay, all ready to board tomorrow.  We’ve been assigned 1pm which is no great disaster, following  others experience on this board we planned to disregard this slightly aiming instead towards noonish.

 

Today however Seabourn have sent me 4, no kidding, 4 reminders that I must not under arrive early and that I will surely be turned away should I be so bold as to try.  A question then, is this (and by “this”) I mean 4 such reminders normal normal for SB? Are we “special” as first timers?  Maybe they want to get all of their repeaters aboard first?  Or perhaps they are warning off of general port congestion as MSC Euripa with her 6000pax is also turning over tomorrow?

 

Sure, we can hang around the hotel for an extra hour, but…..  Really just wondering how seriously to take the repeated reminders.  Would really rather not be forced to stand around outside the terminal for an hour.

 

[cruiseej]

24 minutes ago, jondfk said:

A question then, is this (and by “this”) I mean 4 such reminders normal normal for SB?

 

Post-Covid, yes, it's normal. Don't worry about it at all. And if you show up a little early for your embarkation, you will likely be allowed to board early, but if there are other passengers who checked in before you, they will get to board first. 

[galeforce9]

45 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Okay, all ready to board tomorrow.  We’ve been assigned 1pm which is no great disaster, following  others experience on this board we planned to disregard this slightly aiming instead towards noonish.

 

Today however Seabourn have sent me 4, no kidding, 4 reminders that I must not under arrive early and that I will surely be turned away should I be so bold as to try.  A question then, is this (and by “this”) I mean 4 such reminders normal normal for SB? Are we “special” as first timers?  Maybe they want to get all of their repeaters aboard first?  Or perhaps they are warning off of general port congestion as MSC Euripa with her 6000pax is also turning over tomorrow?

 

Sure, we can hang around the hotel for an extra hour, but…..  Really just wondering how seriously to take the repeated reminders.  Would really rather not be forced to stand around outside the terminal for an hour.

 

1pm is actually quite early? 

[robertmartha]

Jondfk

 

We sailed two weeks ago (Alaska) and also received multiple emails right up to embarkation about our assigned boarding time. As it turns out we waited on shore for the rest of our party and ending up boarding at our assigned time (1pm). We had dropped our luggage off earlier (even our carry on's) so we walked up thru security - showed our boarding passes and passports - greeted by the CD Robert at the gangway - right up to the lounge - room cards in hand all within twenty minutes if that. It was so pleasant and the best way to start a sailing !

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, jondfk said:

Okay, all ready to board tomorrow.  We’ve been assigned 1pm which is no great disaster, following  others experience on this board we planned to disregard this slightly aiming instead towards noonish.

 

Today however Seabourn have sent me 4, no kidding, 4 reminders that I must not under arrive early and that I will surely be turned away should I be so bold as to try.  A question then, is this (and by “this”) I mean 4 such reminders normal normal for SB? Are we “special” as first timers?  Maybe they want to get all of their repeaters aboard first?  Or perhaps they are warning off of general port congestion as MSC Euripa with her 6000pax is also turning over tomorrow?

 

Sure, we can hang around the hotel for an extra hour, but…..  Really just wondering how seriously to take the repeated reminders.  Would really rather not be forced to stand around outside the terminal for an hour.

 

We got the same notification, but only one.  And our boarding time is 2pm.  We have sailed a number of times on Seabourn before.  

[nancygp]

3 hours ago, jondfk said:

Sure, we can hang around the hotel for an extra hour, but…..  Really just wondering how seriously to take the repeated reminders.  Would really rather not be forced to stand around outside the terminal for an hour.

When we embarked the ovation last august, there was a large MSC ship and another large ship close by.  The terminal we used was strictly for the ovation…no need to be waiting outside.  This was also true for disembarkation.

 

Nancy

[Mr Luxury]

The only email that I get is

"what time can you get here" 😁

[JSC77]

We will be on Ovation embarking July 30 in Reykjavik, continuing on to Copenhagen and a repeat of your itinerary in Norway. Looking forward to your posts from your cruise! Particularly your impressions of the ship, the weather, and comments regarding shore excursions. Enjoy!

[jondfk]

Hmmm.  Travelled by taxi from near Copenhagen airport, it took a bit to wrangle a cab, quite busy midday Sunday, additionally the route avoids the direct center of the city, but only just so slow going in, faster coming back out to the quay.  The other large and behemoth ships were no factor at the quay road we turned right, they were both tied up along the pier to the left.  Ovation looked like nothing more than a tender boat for MSC!

 

Several busses had arrived ahead of us, another just after.  Luggage drop off was the usual a bit chaotic the porter quite personable.  The SB luggage tags were entirely unnecessary they immediately replaced them with a large tag with deck number and room in large magic marker.

 

We hit the terminal door about 12:10, nobody could have cared less about our arrival time, in fact our boarding passes were never required.  A slip of paper was issued with a bar code (presumably the same bar code as our boarding pass?) the paper was scanned at the top of the gangway.

 

I would estimate there were about 300 people in the terminal when we arrived, boarding started about 12:20.  The Colonnade was quite full with a queue back to the entrance when we arrived, we passed by and secured a couple of high stools near the exit aft.  As I have written prior DW doesn’t  do buffets, when we must, I provide collection service which was basically impossible today, instead we ordered off the daily menu, the wait for which was a bit long, but not unreasonable under the circumstances, the food itself was okay.  Our server had his hands full, but a great attitude. Overall Colonnade was a success though surely not at its best.

 

Suites we announced as ready as around 12:30, we departed lunch about 1:00.  Luggage arrived by 2:30, just unpacking now.  Our suite attendant hasn’t made an appearance yet which does strike me as surprising.  None of our minibar requests have been met, no root beer, no club soda, both liquors changed to lesser versions of our request, is Amaretto really a substitute for Baileys, somebody obviously thinks so.  We will see whether any or all of that can be corrected whenever we meet our attendant.

 

So, first impressions, mixed.  Embarkation was okay, we know best service comes late in the process, when we sail near home we aim for the pier at 3PM, Seabourn was neither better nor worse than others.  Again, we know that first meal is reliably the worst (or at least the most chaotic) of any sailing but Seabourn managed this better than most, the smart decision though would have been to chill out until 1:00 or so and let the wave crest.  Experienced SB sailors might well have headed for the Patio or the Square the former was nearly entirely empty as we passed through to our cabin, something we will check out on our August sailing on Odyssey.

 

More tomorrow.

 

 

 

[nancygp]

You certainly got on early and had an early lunch 

 

bon voyage,

 

Nancy

[Mr Luxury]

I definitely would not have made my way to the Colonnade for the feeding frenzy.

I would have gone to Seabourn Square for a coffee and to see familiar faces.

I would then go to see the Hotel Director if he had not already met me at the pier which is often the case.

I don't do lunch and do not like buffets or a packed Colonnade.

Day two for you will be much better when you have your suite supplies sorted.

Enjoy the trip.