suewheldon

4 hours ago, kd2330 said:

I will be on your cruise and my plan is to walk to the beach.  A 20 minute walk seems perfect. Stretch your legs and then relax on the beach getting our vitamin D. Good to know we can rent chairs and an umbrella.

 

This is my first Seabourn cruise.  Will they pack you a lunch to go? 

Thinking you might not be able to bring food on to the island. I guess the ship will know. 

13 hours ago, markham said:

There are many compromises on the Encore/Ovation ships vs the Ody class. Without question: these ships have 150 more passengers in what is basically the same size ship but with an extra deck squeezed in. And no, the ship is not taller. 
 

The cons include the pool area incl the pool as mentioned above, the smaller Club, the tighter claustrophobic 5 Deck walking area, the Retreat which hogs even more deck space, and too small by at least 75-100 MDR and Grand Salon. The only things better are the Sushi restaurant (only there) and the larger Tk Grill and Square.

 

You have to love Seabourn to buy this product, warts and all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Note that Odyssey is 32,000 tonnes and Ovation is 40,300 tonnes per Seabourn website. 

9 hours ago, fudge said:

Day 6

Today we arrived in Antigua, the ship docked right in the town, close to the pier there is a duty free shopping paradise. Many prestigious shops selling brand named goods.

Mr Fudge has hidden the credit cards in his underwear draw for safety however, they are calling to Mrs Fudge, “we are in here” any more of that and they are going overboard.

The official currency is the Caribbean dollar however US dollars and credit cards are widely accepted. The official language is English.

Places of interest are St John’s Cathedral, an Anglican church visible from the ship.

The island boasts 2 championship golf courses and 3 beaches, also The Jolly Beach Spa and Resort and Coco Bay Resort.

Mr Fudge is a keen golfer but not this time, his handicap is obvious!!!

Ok, you know the story now, a nudge in the back from Mrs Fudge and off goes Mr Fudge for the coffees. It’s always a good start to the day when I see the cheery smile of the coffee guy, The coffee is always piping hot, the pastries are tasty.

We are trying to do our bit for the environment, we now re use the takeaway/to go cartons which holds the coffee, the first two mornings the suite attendant took them away so we hide them now.

Early start today, the weather at present is awful, raining hard. Just finished breakfast, good service lovely food.

So, I know all you avid followers are wondering how the baggo went? Mr Fudge was the overall winner, he won a tote bag, Mrs Fudge came second and won an umbrella, yes there was more than two of us this time.

Peaky Blinders, losers, second again! Four times on the run, what do we have to do to win this team trivia? Come on guys pray for us, this is more than a game it’s all about winning.

Last evening at 18.15 there was a cocktail reception for Seabourn members, Mrs Fudge needs at least 1hr 15 minutes to get ready, thank heavens I was born a man! 

Please excuse me for going off topic. My heart goes out to those people in Turkey who have been devastated by the earthquake. The day we left Cyprus we were in the airport when a number of children and their teachers were waiting for their flight to Turkey, smiling young faces all ready for their trip. Today we learned that 34 out of the 39 children have lost their lives, may they rest in peace.

Last evening was not good at all, it started off well with Captains welcome then went downhill from there! One lady has had more than 750 days on Seabourn that is serious money!

In the main dining room, it was a vegetarian evening which would give a miss. We ate in the Colonnade; the choices were very limited indeed. We started with a green pasta which was pretty tasteless and only just warm, followed by steak and fries.

Not a difficult dish to cook, it took over 40 minutes to arrive, even then Mrs Fudges steak was rare, she asked for it well done, to be fair she was offered another steak, we politely declined and left.

We went to the theater, there was a British lady comedian/magician Mandy Muden, she was OK but nothing special, she asked a someone to help her with a trick, a guy stepped up flip flops, shorts and a T shirt, she actually said “have you just come from the beach”?

I know dress codes have been done to death, but that takes the biscuit! We left before the end, let’s hope today was just a blip and we have a better day tomorrow?

We continue to meet some lovely people from all over the world, possibly the friendliest cruise we have been on for a long time.

 

Will there be any baggo prizes left for those of us boarding on the 18th??🤣

2 hours ago, Belinda-Jane said:

My goodness thank you for writing such an informative blog.  It has become a highlight of each evening!  We board Ovation on 18th - our first time with Seabourn - and your news adds to the anticipation  of the holiday. X

We also board on the 18th. Third on Seabourn. First on Ovation.  Can’t wait. 

We board Feb 18. Would be interested to know what you think of the islands as there are a few which will be new to us. We were booked on this itinerary on Odyssey in March 2020 but was cancelled so giving it another go. Incidentally Fudge, we have friends who live in Letymbou and have visited Cyprus a few times (from Toronto). 

Our first stop on Ovation departing Feb 18 will be Bequia. We would really like to spend time on a beach. For those of you who have visited here, is Princess Margaret beach easy to get to from the dock or would you take  the ship excursion over to Mustique?  We don’t want to spend a lot on excursions over the two weeks. Any ideas for the remainder of the itinerary would be welcome. 

Santorini is a pretty island. We stayed there a few years ago for three nights as part of an island hopping trip. Because you get off at the ferry dock this cuts out the need for cable car.  Not busy at all and loved it.  We were there for a day last June with Azamara. Did not have a good time. Line for cable car was ridiculous so we took the local boat straight to Oia. Then by bus to Fira. This was very badly organized. Both towns were absolute zoos. Unable to take photos with the crowds. This meant a return by cable car to the ship. Queue to get down was two and a half hours in searing heat. We decided to walk down the donkey path. I fell on the slippy cobblestones and ended up at the ship medical centre and spent two days in a wheelchair and missed the following two ports. Three other people on our ship did the same. Can’t comment on a day trip by plane. Our ferry back from Santorini to Piraeus was 8 hours. If I was going to do this I personally would arrive

three days pre cruise. Just my thoughts and comments. 

Ha ha. Actually I do like to spend some time in the gym. Honestly!

Anyone have info on classes in the gym?

Just found out March 4 is the Gold Cup racing event at the Garrison in Bridgetown. Not sure how this will affect traffic. 

We will be leaving Ovation in Barbados on March 4. What time do you have to leave by?

We did the Onward B2B in June. Athens / Ravenna/ Venice. No covid testing for second week. 

Boarded in Piraeus June 4. Wasn’t given specific boarding time. Our paperwork just said checkin  from 2.00 pm. No one boarded the ship until after 2.00 pm. With checking covid paperwork in one tent then registration in another it took about 45 mins from arrival to actual boarding. 

On 7/15/2022 at 4:11 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Someone on a Port forum blithely said you have to do a land tour to visit Argostoli Greece – until I showed him my Azamara itinerary that calls there on October 15.  Azamara regularly has uniquely-intensive itineraries, but thanks to the deletion of Venice this particular cruise got better and better!

We visited Argostoli, on the island of Kefalonia, last month. Lovely place and you dock in town. We got a taxi to a lovely beach where we spent a few hours. A very inexpensive day. 

On 7/16/2022 at 3:48 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Everyone on Onward please order a glass of tonic every chance you get. You don’t have to drink it, just use up the bloody supply!

Love it!  That Royal whatever is awful. “We want Fevertree”. 

What dates are you docked. My son is in Dubai and is going to games in Doha. I can ask re tickets. Couldn’t find the roll call. 

We stayed in Piraeus the day before boarding Onward. So many pharmacies there. We paid €7 for antigen. 

Sibenik you are docked. About a 7 min walk to town. 

Onward June 4 was 389 and June 11 was 411. They were great cruises. 

2 hours ago, kent4489 said:

Thanks Host. Yes, we’re going early and hope for the best. I would love to get to the ship early, board and start vacation! 🚤🩴🌴

FYI for the last two weeks boarding didn’t start until at least 2.00 pm. 

Onward currently docked in old town. Love this town. 

On 6/6/2022 at 2:13 AM, mdpa said:

My understanding is our June 11th cruise is almost completely full. It seems like cruise lines are ramping back to normal quickly.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6963

I asked at reception yesterday and was told next week will be 411 passengers (June 11). 

You can use in the spa/hairdresser. 

11 hours ago, DS said:

Thanks Sue... who are the senior offices ( Capt, CD, Hotel Director)?

Captain Sanguinetti (sp?) CD is Eric de Guay and HD is Tony Markey. Don’t have the official info to hand but I think that’s right. Medical staff are also good (from personal experience. I slipped walking down the donkey track yesterday in Santorini. ). 

June 4 Onward. No issues with service. Great crew. 389 passengers.