Covepointcruiser

If you are finding you are missing something or need to replenish, the Papeete Mall is across from the Tahiti Hilton.    Not your usual mall but it does have several shops and their Walmart alternative.    There is no tourist mark up there.

The price was very good for this portion of the repositioning.   Surprised more folks did not take advantage but guess passengers wanted a real expedition with ports/landings/zodiac cruises almost every day.   We will need a vacation from our Arctic Venture cruise.   We were on the go all days but 3 days (15 day expedition).   The 0700 boarding times for Zodiacs was a killer and two Zodiac adventures on some days was exhausting.   The Arctic scenery, people and animals are wonderful and well worth the effort.   The South Pacific is definitely a different scene.

16 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Had dinner at Polo last night.  
 

I had the Rack of Lamb and Iain had the New England Lobster 🦞 and Crab Cake for a starter. 
 

 

 

 

 

I think as reluctant but ordered Chocolate Mouse on Almond Bun.  
 

one of the nicest presentations I’ve had at sea.  As good as our local French Bakery.  
 

It is delicious.  The cheese is apricot jelly. 
 

 

 

 

Wow, that dessert is very clever and sounds like the taste was also excellent!

The problem with carrying drinks around on a ship is that they invariably spill some of the drink as they walk causing slippery pathways or stained carpets.    Especially common after a few drinks or in less than calm seas.  

Sounds like some poster prefer self service so mass market lines will suit them.   On the Venture all “room service” orders have been quickly fulfilled.   There is self service coffee, tea and snacks in the bow lounge.   The start for self service is 06:15.

2 hours ago, adoctor said:

The Retreat is all about "Enhancing on board Revenues" the latest Mantra from Seattle. Best avoided IMHO.

Here's the next idea. Seabourn Golden Club Class

1 Convert Two decks into GC class suites. Have a special gold card to gain entry to the floors. Furnish luxuriously.

2 The Retreat for GC class passengers only.

3 Screen off part of the MDR for exclusive use. Solis for GC class only.

4 A special wine list called VSOP for GC class only.

5 Encourage Tipping to all customer facing staff.. Anything less than $50 would be considered derisory. 

6 Many other "enhancements" that completely undermine Seabourn's brand positioning and concept.

The good folk at the Queens Grill on Cunard have plenty of experience in these matters so a little cross Carnival fertilization would do the trick.

I will now remove my tongue from my cheek. 

You are not describing anything remotely similar to Cunard’s Queens Grill.   Experience in other lines “ship within a ship” would more directly relate to your list.

That is why it is so great that you can pay for the extras you want and ignore the ones you don’t need.    The same goes for more expensive wines and liquor.    If I want better I will pay for it, don’t want the fare to increase for better wines or liquor.

Passengers have always been allowed to pay extra for better location suites and for larger suites.   Seabourn has just made it possible for passengers to pay for more outdoor space.    Any passenger can book the retreat, from the highest category suite to the lowest “so called” suite.   

Coffee and pastries still available on the Venture for early risers in late September.

For the average, normal passenger on Oceana the food is much, much better on Oceania.    You also get a smaller ship and are able to dock at more remote islands.   Comparison between Celebrity balcony and Oceania balcony is not apples to apples.

The brochure starting prices are bogus.   I have never seen that high a price for Oceania.   Even sailing from NYC there is no way a balcony cabins goes for $37K.    Perhaps for the one Jim has but that is a top suite.   You receive very little extra in a top suite on Oceania.

The clocks in our cabins are changed automatically during the night.   They can’t be adjusted in our cabins.   Since we have clear sky, I am hoping for Northern Lights tonight.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.   Attached our boys and we sure are missing them.

Did you make it thru your port visit to Papeete?   I can think of many worse ports for an overnight stay but I am surprised Tahiti was okay with them cleaning the hull in their waters.    Hull cleaning is not always required but when a diver checked the hull it must have been deemed necessary.   Sorry this environmental precaution has caused you to miss the lovely Pitcairn Island. 

I don’t believe I would take an Expedition ship on a repositioning cruise and expect an expedition.    Sounds like you are visiting islands with large populations and with roads/buses.   That’s certainly not like our current Greenland and Arctic Canada.    We actually did dock in one town and there was a shuttle bus.   Once the ship leaves St. John it becomes a regular ship repositioning until it enters the Amazon River.   The expedition staff have been excellent on the Venture and are experts in their fields.    Many will leave in St. John and join this or other ships when they get back to polar expeditions.

Is the current rate $35 plus service charge or $42 plus service charge??    So there is still no charge for corkage if you have a beverage package?

We were also on this flight.   I don’t remember anything disgusting in the boxed snack we were given.    Our flight did not leave until after lunch so we were not worried about food.   The drink cart came around twice and the white wine was nice.   Today’s excursion was the first rainy, sleety and very wet zodiac ride and hike through the town..   The folks at Pond Inlet put on a very nice show and seemed proud of their culture.   OP, love your cats!

I believe you have to cancel at least 24 hrs before much like an excursion.    We have always booked for the voyage and have never had a full rainy day on a crossing or in tropical environs.   A passing rain shower was not much of a problem as you have a covered area for seating with a sofa, TV, and refrigerator.

We are currently on the Seabourn Venture on an expedition voyage to Greenland and Arctic Canada.   Have you ever thought of trying a smaller expedition ship such as Silver Seas or Seabourn?   The food is great, typical Seabourn, everything included except for kayaking and submarine.   We have 228 passengers on board so staff ratio is better than 1-1.    Zodiac landings are the norm but all passengers have coped, but no wet landing yet.   They will even assist those with severe mobility problems in the first or last Zodiac so they don’t feel rushed.   Looking forward to your QM2 review in October.    We took Oceania for years until we had taken all their itineraries.    We especially loved the Buenos Aires to Manaus Amazon cruise.

Probably a waste of time to email Natalia.   If whoever reads the email is smart they will know the number of passengers who recently sailed against the number of complaint emails.    We don’t want the fares to increase and readily use our onboard credit to purchase the wine we like.   We don’t want to pay higher fares for your higher end alcohol.

On 9/13/2024 at 7:42 PM, Vineyard View said:

I have responded to the ‘scripted’ email I received in response. I have no problem pushing back on smoke and mirrors positioning. I channeled the current list on some ships, and felt that these changes were in the wrong direction. I suggested that Natalia, from what I have heard and read, would probably want to be made aware of the increased levels of dissatisfaction. 
who knows, might be a huge waste of time and energy. 

You can get whatever you want with advance notice if they have it onboard.  No problem not eating lamb, beef etc.   They don’t care just let them know what you would like to eat.

If you are eating kosher you do need to give them several weeks notice.

There is a lively discussion on the Seabourn Facebook page of Seabourn vs Queens Grill.

It depends on the stateroom/suite you have booked.   There are four restaurants and you will be assigned one based on your cabin category.   Cunard is dressy at night and of course the ships are larger than any Seabourn.

1 hour ago, blackfly said:

Booked 7 day cruise for next Summer on Silhouette, Reykjavík to Reykjavík.  The cruise before ours docks in Reykjavík at 5:00am to allow passengers enough time to get to the airport for morning departures.  We will be flying in from Boston that morning.  Anyone dare to venture a guess how early Celebrity will allow arriving passengers to board.  Most flights from the US arrive very early in the morning.  Ours is 6:05am.  If we have to wait until 11:00am or so we will need to find a way to pass the time.

Iceland Air has a great airport lounge for Saga Class passengers They have places for napping and lots of food and beverages.   Great place to spend several hours.

Works fine on Apple phones and IPADS.

9 hours ago, david63 said:

Two possibilities - The contract with Godiva expired and Godiva did not want to renew it or it had become too expensive

Or Godiva is bad chocolate and if it once was it has gone downhill.   It’s no loss that it is not on Cunard.

Are the Oceania wines included or is there a subset that is included?   We haven’t taken Oceania in years but recall having to pay for good wines.