Miss Merry

I really enjoyed that, thank you. Would you mind sharing your ports of call please, not easy to remember I know. Thank you. MM

Looks a great menu with plenty of tasty sounding choices. Disembarked Encore two weeks ago and found TK Grill repetitive and boring with no new dishes from previous cruises. Now this food sounds perfect to be eating outside in all that wasted space, great setting for great food. I think Seabourn are on to a winner.

If you go to Reception when you board they will print out the daily dress code for each day, that way you can plan ahead. MM

I’m sure when I did a speed test Starlink was the provider. The problem wasn’t intermittent but all the time for two weeks.

Yes, with and without VPN. Never had a problem until this time.

Just disembarked the Spirit. Internet was terrible with the new supplier. Couldn’t FaceTime or watch even short videos which were blocked. The old internet was much better. MM

In Silver Note on the Moon the stage is left as you walk in. It doesn’t work as there is too much crew traffic backwards and forwards across the stage and passenger traffic heading to the bar. They have moved the stage on the Dawn, it is now right with a table in between the entrance and stage. Much, much better as the entertainers are more integrated into the room. It does seem on the Dawn that Silver Note is being used a lot more other than dining, again a plus in a Jazz Club. MM

Always pre book your rental in Antigua.

I’ve been using Antigua taxis for years, never found a good one yet. I follow all the ‘don’t get ripped off’ rules but each time it’s disappointing. Only last week at the Cruise Pier I thought I’d found an official Taxi Association driver, but I was wrong. We agreed a price to Nelsons Dock Yard, US $35, and followed him. His ‘taxi’ turned out to be at another dock a long walk away. When we got in it was driven by his girlfriend, it was filthy and full of make-up, discarded coffee cups and fast food cartons. It looked more like they were living in it than using it for a business. There were two of us, when we arrived he insisted it was per person not total for the ride even though he’d confirmed otherwise at the ship. I’ve never found a way around it except to ask a bar, restaurant or hotel to order you one. Car hire is a good idea. Miss Merry

This Covid thing is all winding down now, I’ve read over on a Seabourn board that they’re not asking for any paperwork from vaccinated or unvaccinated passengers. Certainly on the ships it’s been relegated to a past event in keeping with general global thinking. Normality beckons. MM

Can’t help with the hotel but…… I’ve embarked twice now in Barbados in the last eight weeks. Both times it was the same. I chose a taxi, it dropped me off kerbside at the Cruise Port. The luggage was immediately taken off me at the first small Silversea desk run by the Barbados Port Authority. I then sat and waited until enough passengers arrived to be transferred to the Silversea designated bus. This took me to a large hanger about a minute away. Off the small bus without your luggage to be greeted by a person giving you a very short medical questionnaire, you know the ones, have you Covid now, have you been in contact with anyone recently who has. Your wrist temperature is then taken. You then move on to the Silversea Nurse who is sitting at a desk and looks at your Vaccine Certificate. You are then pointed in the direction of a bank of desks where you are officially ‘processed’. Passport taken off you, photo taken, ships card given to you. You heave a sigh of relief and get back on the small bus which takes you to the gangway and get on the ship using your key card. First time the process, from kerbside to Bar, took about 60 minutes starting at around 4.30pm, second time from kerbside to Bar, 50 minutes starting at 3.30pm. I then left the ship to pick a friend up kerbside, she was arriving late. This onshore process closes down at 6.00pm. My friend arrived at 6.20pm and we walked straight to the ship, no buses, long way though. Under the tent dockside the crew ‘phoned the Nurse, Reception and Security, they were all there within five minutes. She was processed from kerbside to Bar in fifteen minutes. I know it’s very detailed but it should help you decide. Personally I’d avoid a mass embarkation if you can and aim to arrive kerbside in a taxi at 1.30pm. I’m sure they don’t stick to the 2.00pm earliest embarkation anyway. Enjoy the Dawn, she’s rather splendid. Miss Merry

On the Dawn last week sailing from Barbados they asked for the actual certificate even though they had it on file.