2ws

currently on Nieuw Statendam. I have single premium, got wife multiple devices. I have been able to share the single sign in via my PC, windows via mobile hotspot. Same for a Pixel phone I have. It is also easy to switch devices via logon.com on the PC and the app on the phone. My wife's multiple devices purchase still makes her log in and log out of her various devices. So my advice, go with a single device choice and log on and off, or get an inexpensive Pixel from swappa, log on with that, and its your router. I know for a fact this hotspot option on pixels has been available since my 3 XL, so anything after that should work. Download speeds on my phone tethered to my pc are ping 123, 11 mbs down. Also an adult child is crew, and they all use whatsapp as the preferred communication tool.

Also currently on back to backs on Odyssey. Our first and second SB cruises. Lots of new faces so the 200 turn over looks right. We like the blue jackets. Others vocally preferred black. Currently in the small ports, a dozen eggs are USD 20. A gallon of Milk is USD 15. If you are tipping the 3rd party guides, go big. Its expensive up here. Be aware, when they are sailing in the fog at night, the fog horn sounds about every 2 minutes and it is loud. It penetrates even silicon ear plugs with a white noise machine on medium high. If you haven't yet, check out happywhale.com. I now have 4 whales I have helped identify on this trip alone. The grandchildren have picked a name, so we will name one.

Blue

This Alaska cruise on Odyssey departing May 11 feels sold out. We are first time Seabourn. We are instructed to pick up our Alaska Jackets at 8 Am tomorrow morning. Color unknown. And oh by the way, the "how to dress" thread is locked. I can tell you that tonight in the MDR, I saw 4 guys with T shirts on. One in Levi's blue jeans but with a jacket. I took pictures since I know there is a lot of angst about dressing for Seabourn still. So embarkation day in the MDR, T shirts were not kicked out. Data point. Also tons of guys in a Tommy Bahama shirt, not tucked in, with a variety of pants. The only "formal night" is tomorrow night. This cruise appears to be heavy repeat Seabourn customers.

Having been the victim of official police in Spain (Rioja) 2014 holding our passports hostage for cash, we never bring them ashore anywhere except Japan, which is safe. We bring a copy and the passport cards. Also, a couple of trips to South Africa in the past 5 years and we do not recall needing to have our passports. Those trips were land based to Kruger etc. I have been using Clothing Arts gear, that has double/triple zipper pockets for passports. Check it out

we are on the May 11 sailing in Alaska. We just ordered our jackets. The picture shown was the Aqua blue not the black noted upthread. Does not matter, just made our packing easier.

Seabourn Alaska next month as a test. Great to hear about "elegant" Jeans and expedition changes. Typically we are sailing Silver Sea and are just off an Oceania TA reposition (Tip- Avoid Riviera 10111 in choppy seas, worse than our 4 Drake passages when the stabilizers deploy). I would say to those writing upthread, the current SS elegant night, sounds just like the current SB formal night. So don't be shocked at no ties and occasional jackets on SS. I can put a jacket in my carry on, but I would prefer to avoid that. Also we have never seen nice jeans kicked out of the MDR on a SS elegant night. YMMV.

As said above, my O "formal nights" was in quotes. There are no formal nights, at least on this ship (Riviera) since 3-22-23. There are elegant club casual nights. This phrase takes longer to type. Sorry if you misunderstood and I was not clear. And there were no real mandatory formal nights on my last 3 SS sailings in the past 12 months. February 22 Antarctica, (the plague ship), May 22 IST to BCN, no tuxes and no ties to be seen, and September Galapagos, nope no formal, an occasional jacket because many were coming from a business meeting in Quito. They may say "formal nights" on an SS sailing, but a jacket with no tie has been the top tier/formal for most men on my last 3 SS sailings post pandemic and nobody gets turned away with slacks and a decent shirt. Oceania is more relaxed by a slight bit, but I find very little difference in male attire requirements between the 2 lines. Same for RSSC. Doing a SB in May and will get to judge. YMMV.

well since this has been resurrected, our 2 cents. We have done 3 SS since Feb 2022. Never had to dress up for a SS "formal night", including Istanbul to Barcelona last May 2022. We have not seen a Tux on SS since before the pandemic. Currently on the O Riviera. No jackets required on the formal nights. I have seen 2 guys in ties, but that is their choice. I do have a jacket but thats because our travel buddy was bringing one. We only pack all carry on, and I can get a jacket in, not wearing it on the plane. Black travel pants on the bottom. Slip on Sketchers. It is not fancy at all any more.

Currently on this cruise. Many people did not realize it was a back to back and booked to Trieste. If it is that packed be sure to familiarize yourself with the Ts and Cs. There are a lot of O elites on board. Overall food is as expected and service is very good.

4mm on AA, current *A Gold. IMO flying to a cruise departing international should get you in the departure city the day before you embark. Air Pricing considerations in these times should include whether you use points, miles, or the cruise line flights. If you have an elite status with a carrier it is always worth getting the air diversion and flying with the Alliance you have status with if you go with the cruise line air. This will give you some extra padding. This has worked for us often. Once the airline takes over the ticket, the cruise line cannot help you with flying issues. You cannot predict these things. Sounds like you are comfortable with your connections and are getting in early. Good luck out there. Oh, also the farther out you book your air, the more likely the schedule will change. If the schedule changes you have the opportunity with most carriers to change your flights at no charge. You might check to see if that happened with your inbound. If so, free change.

With the "post pandemic" business class pricing the way it is, we have started flying lie flat for over night flights and premium economy for day time long hauls. Doing a TA repositioning with friends starting next Tuesday. Flying home BA from London in premium economy during the day, saved about 6000 usd. Did not do O air but have in the past. As was mentioned upthread, once you are at the airport, only the airlines can help you if flights start going sideways because at that point the air carrier has assumed control of the ticket.

A family member is an entertainer. She just emailed about it. Was very sad. Her contract ends this week. On a slightly happier note, If you get a chance to hear Rachel in the Rock and Roll room, at the Q and A on Friday, you could ask her if she still plays paintball and roller hockey, and see her reaction. Nothing bad at all, it would likely crack her up and surprise her a little because she was very good at both back in the day and would know immediately who tipped you off. We were on this cruise in Feb and the captain is a class act.

This just in from Son in Law, disembarked Rotterdam Sunday. He also cruised this ship a few months ago. Just FYI he is a 40 year old computer engineer, thus the Wifi interest. Covid Testing As of now you have to provide a negative test result taken within 2 days of embarkation (so the Friday before). It can be rapid of course (same as US entry requirements I think). They will also check your vaccination status. I brought my original vax card. They will try to get you to do the "VeriFly" thing, but I wouldn't worry about it. It is a very frustrating app. In my embarkation experience in Amsterdam, no one ever asked to see it, so it was a complete waste of time. For your return to the US, if still required, they will test you for free on the Saturday before you disembark. I got my result about 3 hours after the test delivered to my room. Very quick and convenient/ Embarkation I know you guys pack light anyway but, keep in mind you will have to lug your bags around Amsterdam on your arrival day if you have stuff planned before you board (I think you have fancy lunch!) You can carry your own bags during check-in and directly onto the ship--you don't have to check them. Technically you are not allowed to bring any alcohol on board other than wine, and they charge you an exorbitant fee for that. In Ft. Lauderdale they X-rayed all bags and made you remove wine bottles and check them at a table (we were able to sneak past though). However, in my Amsterdam embarkation experience, no one ever checked my bags. They never even went though an X-ray. So, you might be fine. Internet/Communication You need the Holland Navigator app to purchase the Wifi on board. Ship Wifi is around $10/day for one device. I just purchase immediately on the first day for best value. You can purchase the plan for one device and switch devices at any time. It uses the MAC address to identify your device, so if you have a dynamic MAC (most phones do this now) you will have to "switch devices" a lot. Open the app, click Connect to Wifi, and it'll say you're connected on another device but you can choose to "disconnect other device." You can also pay more for a multi-device plan, but I've just done the one-device and switching thing myself. They have really locked down the ship Wifi... I was not able to use a VPN (even over HTTP ports) or remote desktop so it was not really possible to work from the ship. I was also unable to share the ship Wifi as a hotspot. Google Fi was a godsend while in ports... and they just increased their data throttling limit to 50GB per user! WhatsApp is the most reliable way to communicate using the ship Wifi... G Chat will work but images don't come through sometimes. Attire It's very casual most of the time. Even the dining room and restaurants don't really care as long as you look presentable. 🙂 There will be 2-3 "dressy" nights. You do not have to dress up but, it's kinda fun. Temperature control in the room works pretty well, but they keep it cold in the public areas. Like, in the 60s. We also had temperature extremes in the ports... anywhere from 50-80 degree days. Bring layers! Day to Day There's not a whole lot to do in the mornings on sea days. Can be good gym time. They have treadmills and ellipticals. You can also walk outside... long track with obstructed views on deck 3, short track with great views on deck 12. Should be nice for those fjord cruising days! Lincoln Center chamber ensemble is really good. They usually perform in the afternoon or early evenings. I would go to as many of their shows as you can! Main stage shows are usually at 7:30 and 9:30 and are mostly cheesy. The dance ensemble is great, and if the "Pianist with the Hair" is on, you should go see him. All the music venues and main stage are deck 2 forward. Food Room service is mostly free or very modestly priced, and you are not expected to tip. We made heavy use of breakfast service for coffee in the mornings to enjoy on the balcony. Grand Dutch Cafe has the best fries on the ship. Apple bacon pancake and veggie quiche are great. We would eat here a lot for lunch. Deck 3 midship. Dining Room also does lunch. Dining room is deck 2/3 aft. Lido is deck 9 aft. The Dive In burger place is actually pretty good, if you need a burger. Favorite premium restaurants are Pinnacle (steakhouse-- lobster bisque, bacon clothesline, chocolate souffle) and Numi Sushi. Rudi's seafood has very over-the-top presentations, food is good but not great. Others are Tamarind (Asian) and Canaletto (family style Italian) but we didn't try those together. You can make reservations thru the app. Drinks Rolling Stone Rock Room has the best negronis on the ship. Half Moon Bar (deck 2 midship) has the fanciest cocktails and is usually very chill. The Rotterdam VII is made with a smoker! Departure Day/Amsterdam Airport Just a heads-up: security lines at AMS were ridiculous. They are very short-staffed I think. I waited about 75 minutes in line for my departing flight... very thankful I got there early. It looked like there was a special expedited line if you're business class, but I am not certain. I know you have kind of an early departure, so I'd recommend you get there as early as you can. You can usually get off the ship around 7:00 or 7:30 if you carry your own bags (which I bet you will!). Public transit is very good but it might be worth it to take a taxi or other prearranged transport to AMS for peace of mind. Uber also works in Amsterdam, although we did not actually use it.

Surgeon for 40 years, working with ICU patients through at least 3 respiratory epidemics. The issue is the mask user, not the mask. Just got off an Oceania, heading to a HAL in 2 weeks. Cruised AMA in December and SS in Feb. Have not gotten infected either at work or traveling. Have a child under contract on a ship. We have been to the crew quarters. Its amazing crews are not infected in mass numbers constantly. The halls are narrow, the facilities are shared, they eat and drink in cramped quarters breathing and talking less than 3 feet away from each other. Our Oceania ship managed to contain the passenger infections to about 10 cabins. We had a great cruise, but remember, when you sit down to have drinks or dinner with new friends on board outside your bubble, that is a major risk. Air exchange is crucial to avoid infection. Eat outside often, and have new friends on the veranda or outside if possible.