DTtravelers

Hi Ceegeefl: Since nobody seems to be chiming in, I can offer some comments. We spent 3 days in Canterbury (on a land tour) and loved it. 3-1/2 hours would be a real rush. A special experience is to be able to attend Evensong at the Canterbury Cathedral. But I doubt you would have time to do this. From Wikedpedia: There has been a choral tradition at Canterbury Cathedral for 1400 years. The cathedral choir consists of up to 25 boy choristers and 12 lay clerks and choral scholars. The boys are aged eight to thirteen. There are 4 universities, and a dynamic beer scene. They have even recovered yeasts from St Augustine's ruins over 1,000 years old, and are making beer with them. And you wouldn't have time to do the "roof tour" (long story how we got to do this, but this opportunity of a lifetime would never, ever happen in the US). The Battle of Britain center and monuments really make you consider what happened during WWII. A bit emotional, at least for me. You cannot go wrong with either choice. Have a great cruise!

Hi Terry: Just got off the phone with The Department of Redundancy Department... the minute Seabourn announced the Venture and Pursuit, Quest, with it's ice-strengthened hull, became somewhat redundant. I am surprised they didn't sell that one. Soon they will need to pay for the Pursuit when it is delivered, so maybe Seabourn (HAL(Carnival)) is just preparing for that. I guess Seabourn felt as if they needed to compete with Scenic Eclipse which could ram itself into the ice, while the Quest could not. But at least Seabourn did it properly and did not add helicopters [one of Scenic's choppers flew directly over the Quest while we were in the Weddell Sea. I made a comment to one of our officers later that day, and he said "You would not have wanted to be on the Bridge" after that occurred]. One can only imagine how relaxing your cruise would be with helicopters taking off and landing on the ship all the time. To Silversea's credit, they threw them off the Endeavor before they went to Antarctica this year. DT

That same thought (about Leibowitz and the Odyssey) crossed my mind. Timing is interesting. As far as seeking positive news... for what it's worth, we sailed Odyssey for two weeks last year in Alaska and had a great cruise. We are signed up to repeat the cruise again this year. We wouldn't waste our time and money if things weren't up to expectations. I'm sad to see her leaving. But at least they did it in a way that didn't disrupt our summer plans. I constantly remind myself of that old adage: "Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear." Happy sailing

For what it's worth... Re: the new Seabourn President. We initially sailed on HAL quite a bit and really enjoyed our cruises, so I have no negative thoughts on the HAL person being promoted. We chose their smaller ships (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Statendam) primarily for the itinerary. They each held about 1200, but are now all gone, replaced with ships that carry 2200 to 2600. In this, they moved away from us. Obviously ships of that smaller size were out of fashion... except for the 9 Viking Ocean ships, the 6 MSC Explora ships on order, the... you get it. So Carnival Corp now has a gap in their offerings, moving toward "bigger is better" along with RCCL and Norwegian, and away from us! We were along side the Crown Princess (~3,000) in Hawaii years ago and asked some of the passengers how they liked it. They said it was nice, but you had to wait in line for everything... So we moved in the direction of Seabourn, had a spectacular 43 day cruise to Antarctica on the Quest, loved it, and haven't looked back. We really liked the Quest and Odyssey, will try Encore this fall, and have been looking at Venture cruises. Seabourn covers a nice range from 250 to 550 passengers, and Carnival/HAL should realize what they have and do everything they can to maintain, market and promote it. So new Seabourn president, your challenge is to make it work for all of us! And I hope that you are based in Seattle.

Hi shark b8: Yup, first thing a guide taught us when we started traveling XX years ago: Be a willow, not an oak! They do have interesting ways of hiding things in the Source app. I'd find something and get all excited, but darned if I could find it again the next day! As far as cruise length, sometime soon it will suddenly hit you that you only have a couple months left!! Internet must be all better again. Keep posting! D

Since you are bouncing around... I'm with you on Bourbon. Mrs. DTtravelers and I are hoping to complete the "Big Three" next year: Bourbon on Antarctic glacier ice, Bourbon on Alaska glacier ice, and Bourbon on Arctic glacier ice. If we ever end up on the same ship together, I'd be up to the challenge of finding you a Scotch you might enjoy. The range of Scotch is huge compared to Bourbon. But if you would be unwilling to forgo ice, I would never be successful. Just 1 drop of water in Scotch completely changes everything, and ice ruins it altogether... (my opinion only, other opinions may vary) As far as beets, I would NEVER try to convert you. I used think that I liked all vegetables except rutabegas. Then we spent some time in Cornwall and I really enjoyed the pasties. We got a recipe and it included swedes. I didn't know what those were so I looked them up when we got back to the states, and discovered that swedes here are called... rutabegas! Smooth(er) sailing!! btw: celery, peanut butter and raisins: ants on a log. The grandkids love 'em.

Hi shark b8: Thanks as always for sharing your adventure. And wow, thanks for the tip! I never thought about adding beets to a burger. I'll have to try that. 🙂 Mrs. Sharkbait, lincslady and I make at least 3 of us... lincslady: celery does have fiber (you know, those long threads that always get stuck in your teeth). cruiseej: I agree about local food. We watched two boats unload fresh Dungeness crab for hours and hours last year in Prince Rupert, but none of them showed up on the ship (Odyssey). And talking about beers - try to get a porter or stout... On the other hand, in 2019, Quest sailed from Scotland before crossing the pond and picking us up in Miami. They had 15 single malt Scotches in The Club!

Hi TLCOhio: I happened to run across this yesterday. Very timely! And now we too are booked at Ava, so I wanted to thank you. I will make sure they add to your referral account! I believe we will be joining highplanesdrifters on their cruise.

Hi hoya68: My wife and I did this trip on the Quest in 2019 from Miami to Buenos Aires and loved it. We did not get to South Georgia so now we will just have to go back. Neither Quest nor Venture or any other expedition ship has control over the weather, so the number of landings will always vary. We were truly blessed and got to kayak 3 times and got 6 additional Zodiak trips and made 6 different landings. But that was back in the "olden" days - this year's trip was not quite as intensive, as Venture has taken over that role. Daily logs, photos and video journals are available for all the Quest Antarctica voyages going back 10 years, including this years ongoing trip. Venture trips are there too so you can compare. Warning: you can spend hours there. https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/experience/voyagetracker/index.html A big plus for the Quest itinerary (for me anyway) is that you do not have to fly to/from Ushuaia, and there are some really interesting places to see, especially Castro, Chile and Montevideo, Uruguay. Also, after you have been there, you will realize that Antarctica isn't really "check list" type of place. I would go back in a second.

Hi robertmartha: The top photo was Endicott Arm, the bottom was Misty Fjord. Here are a couple more. Don't drool! 🙂 Top: Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier Bottom: Misty Fjord

My wife and I did the 14 day Vancouver to Vancouver last August, and we are repeating it again this year. The Ventures team is very accessible. Part of their job is to promote the program and you can always find them around Seabourn Square and they are happy to have you join them for breakfast or lunch. The itinerary and the Ventures program are why we chose Seabourn. For kayaking trips, everyone is issued a dry suit for safety. We observed the kayaking activity of another cruise line and everyone was wearing whatever they brought with them: a real hodge-podge. The Seabourn approach as it is way more professional. There was a young couple from Switzerland sailing with us last year, and they took advantage of every Zodiak and kayak opportunity. Just smile and say hi and you will make new friends. Always works for me! :) btw: nobody cares what you wear - it's Alaska! But it is nice to dress up for Keller Grill.

Hi dcsam: Last August, the main pool on Odyssey was quite warm - I would guess about 90F or more. The pool on deck 5 by The Club was not as warm, but still nice. Both areas have 2 hot tubs. We liked the cooler pool and had the place mostly to ourselves. That far north, the days will already be short. But that might give you an opportunity to see the Northern Lights, skies permitting.

Hi Shark b8. Jewel!!! We got two days there back in 2015. If you are one to snorkel, don't miss the sting rays and black tipped reef sharks, followed by a trip to see the blue-lipped clams. If you are not one to snorkel, this is the place to learn. We had the requisite mud-bath, with local brew, of course, fantastic luau, and you would be completely remiss if you did not go to Bloody Mary's. Second day, another luau, more snorkeling, pearls, and they hauled the grand piano out to the pool deck at night and we were treated to a Carpenters themed concert in the moonlight. All magical.

We recently completed a 14 day Alaska cruise (Aug 12-26) on Odyssey, and am happy to report that everything was as good as ever. All departments were hitting on all 8 cylinders. I cannot think of a thing worth grumbling about (well, okay... no English Bacon). We have already signed up to repeat this same cruise next year with our family. But I am sad to hear that it is taking a while to get the Quest up to speed. We spent 43 wonderful days on her in late 2019.

Hurray! You would have enjoyed either one. Now you get to start planning all the fun stuff you want to see... :) Note that the Ketchikan picture also shows glass at the top. But all you can see through the glass is the boardwalk alongside the ship. So they are both the same configuration.

Hi Vineyard View We had suite 526 on the Quest to Antarctica in 2019, and 529 to Alaska on Odyssey last week. If you are one who gets a bit of motion sickness like me, that is the place to be: low and toward the middle. From Hubbard Glacier to Inian islands a couple weeks ago, we had 60 knot winds and a bit of rough water. I didn't think much of it but a lot of guests and some of the temporary entertainers were talking next day about how bad it was - they said they were close to the front. "Bad" was a day off the Chilean coast where the seas were high enough that the anchors banged against the hull every 20 or 30 seconds. Down and in the middle payed off big time that day. I agree with Flamin_June about anything higher than about 523, although I am jealous of those folks who never even notice the ship moving about. The partial glass rail has been a non-issue for us. We are seldom in the room as there is always something happening on the ship, or you are in port, or you are sleeping. We had dinner on our veranda a couple times last week when we were slowly cruising scenic glaciers, and it was grand -partial glass rail and all. Besides, we were the only ones who had this view when we tied up in Ketchikan:

Anan Bear Report… Wrangell. 74 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky. No, I am not making this up. Photo below. It was a great hike in. We saw 5 or 6 black bears ( they were moving around a lot so it was hard to keep accurate count). We got our turn in the bear blind just as Arrow (yes, the Forrest Service folks give them names) caught a salmon and devoured it. Got a great video of the whole thing. He caught two more within a half hour. They say that there should still be bears the first week in September. Time for caviar…. 🙂

Do you have Lucci?? We had him in Antarctica. Awesome experience. We also had Iggy from Lima to Santiago.

Unconfirmed source heard that Iggy might be on the Quest trip in Antarctica Jan 2023.

Dawes Glacier - Endicott Arm. Does it get any better than this?? Not according to the Captain. Kayak trip was A++ today! Enjoying a little Woodford Reserve on 10,000 year old glacier ice. 😁

Per the shark’s request… We’re currently in Juneau, meaning the trip is already half over 😳. It is sunny with a few clouds, so we are missing out on the 3 inches of rain that they had the other day. Inian islands by zodiac was great, even with mist and some rain. Saw a momma sea otter carrying her pup on her belly-cute!!! And some puffins and lots of sea lions…. Recommended even at 6:30 am. btw: the jackets are waterproof and lined so we kept warm even in a light rain. It has been warm enough that most of the time I just use my light weight rain jacket instead. BRING RAIN PANTS!!! (Just a useful hint). We made up our own whale-watch, bear watch excursion: At Icy Straights we enjoyed the breaching whale while eating lunch at the Colonade, then watched the brown bear at the shore later on. We asked about bears while on shore and the girl working the gift shop said “it rained this morning-so you won’t see them”. Then she told us about the time she and her sister had to curl up in a ball while the brown bear sniffed her. She was 12 at the time… The Hubbard Glacier only calved about 15 times while we were there. 😉 I got a few on video but the file is 200 mbytes. Our first cruise in 3 years - so far it has been great. 315 of us on the way up, 351 staff! Staff has been great. Ate at E&O half the time, even when it rained (we were covered and they had slow roasted lamb shank) Zero complaints. Comparable to our experience on the Quest 3 years ago. Great to be out again. D

We interrupt this train trip to bring you a special bear report from the Odyssey… To remain in good graces with shark b8 and avoid legal proceedings, and help our September cruisers, I offer the following: we met a nice couple from Glasgow + Liverpool who had never seen a bear in the wild. They came back from their Ketchikan tour yesterday drenched but in high spirits. They encountered 5 black bears on their excursion. Lots of smiles. Lovely day in Sitka today. The salmon run is beginning… lots of pinks, chum and a few steelhead. Locals said that by next week they would be so thick that you won’t be able to see the pebbles in the creek. Amazing sight. Every day. Best day ever!

Thanks shark b8 for taking us along with you! And for leaving the ship in good shape for us. 🙂 Today we enjoyed breaching humpback whale for lunch. The food and wine were good too. We were the last 2 to snag a Wild bears of Anon excursion, so we’ll post an update here next week for this who are following this cruise in September, if that is okay with you?

Hi jimandcyn: Did you perhaps mean to post this on the Celebrity Board or maybe start a Roll Call, rather than posting on the Seabourn Board?? Just trying to help in case you are new/lost...

1. Cruiseej: your third picture looks like a large, blue, ice-fish jumping out of the water!!! 2. Shark b8: Your glacier and ice pics are really amazing... What are you using to capture them? 3. Lastly... since you are now highly experienced at Hubbard Glacier: Catamaran, Kayak, or Zodiac?? Which would give us the best views of that amazing blue-colored ice? We will be hopping on next Friday afternoon after you get off. Hope you didn't use up all the good stuff! 🙂