highplanesdrifters

Torsken, Senjia Norway Our last stop before departure in Tromso. Overcast and drizzly. No desire to get on a bus. So we got a leg stretch in around the tiny town. There was a small shop with some handmade goods and a small cafe. Easy dry trip to floating dock. They even had a tiny grocery store. Well HELLO Tromso! Guests staying there have a sunkist day ahead of them. We are off to Stockholm.

@galeforce9 @BasandSyb @kej1 Hey Bubble fans... Are we or are we not the luckiest people in the world? The big question is what's your fave in the under $80 category? Met some Aussies on board who loved some Champagne coming out of Tasmania. Don't know how I'm going to find that in the U.S. 😃

Hi @Redking Expedition Cruise picking is tricky these days. Same with Ocean, you really never know what you're going to get. As always, a lot depends on budget and where you want to go. I think Seabourn will still do a great job in Polar regions and they do have fantastic new ships. My question going forward is what will their product be like outside of those areas. I get the hybrid model. Is it worth the expedition price is my question? Silversea They have been in the game longer. Cloud and Wind are old really OLD. The air conditioning barely works on Wind in some suites. Even though our toilet turned into a fountain and flooded our room on Cloud in March, the Antarctica Cape to Cape was our best trip ever. We had the rare combo of great staff and itinerary. IMHO they have an edge on food as they have great ethnic choices every night in The Restaurant. Silversea does have a new ship, Endeavor. I hear it is great with some quirks. Prices are insane though! I would sail on Silversea again given the right ship, price and itinerary. We are trying Ponant in February and have high hopes. They have more than the usual Polar and repositioning itineraries. Regular CC writer @jpalbny has some excellent reviews on their boards. He really knows so much more than I do. In short, I wouldn't rule out Seabourn...just buyer beware on non polar itineraries. As for expedition staff, they are fungible. Except for those locked into EL contracts we often see the same great folks on Silversea and Seabourn. Please keep us posted on your thoughts and decision!

Not sure I understand the question. Here is what Iearned in case it helps: These are the bonus discounts available. After all your wine purchases and tier discounts, your 25% is then applied. For example: in our purchase Cristal and Dom came to $680. This put us in the second tier which gave us $120 off our Bolly. After that our 25% discount was applied. Applying the discount after is great for getting you up the tier. Hopefully some bean counter isn't reading this.🤣

Excellent question!😃 One for the Bolly, three for Dom, and one for Cristal. I was recently gifted a bottle of Cristal and it didn't feel worth the price. Part of the reason for the tasting. That and great fun with new friends. But in the match up it was my pick. Mostly because at the end of a lot going down the gullet it still sparkled and it's flavors held up. Fwiw, total cost for all three was about $520. Crazy right? Our status gets us 25% off and their tiered reward program is incredible. My favorite is still Pol Roger Winston Churchill. Sadly they had none.

Thanks for taking us along on your awesome trip! You prepped me for this one and also for our upcoming 40 day Guam to Santiago in September. Interesting that they are only showing excursions in Papeete. I've screenshoted all the others that say things are included. Thanks again for the heads up.

The yappers....oh please give me a mute button!!! And can it please work for people who park next to me on a lounge or seabourn square and pull out their phone to face time with screaming grandkids. I also got to hear all about Patricia's bathroom remodel and how well the new green tiles worked. Lovie calls them string talkers. As for the question askers, I agree. Interesting development this trip. Folks were told to see speakers at the podium with questions. I can't recall Luiqui taking questions unless they were shouted out. On our recent Silversea Antarctica Cape to Cape in March we met a group of like minded individuals who tried to stick together. Quiet for the most part enjoying nature...except for occasional witty remarks. Happy to switch spots to be fair. We were so lucky.

A sunny sail out of Trollfjord. The lovely Portia. Our OBCs hard at work. We made our own Champagne tasting. Midnight Sun...well actually 3 a.m.

Ooops, just realized I hadn't posted anything about the famous Trollfjord. Our third trip here and it's always special. A 14 mile zodiac ride was offered from Svolvaer. Some friends said they loved it. It is truly special being on the water looking at the ship in this tiny slit. Off in the distance you can see Hurtigruten entering Trollfjord. A game of chicken? We win. Is it a Troll face? 20240607_172518.mp4

Venture and Staff Enough with the negative, on to the positive. I love Venture! She is so sleek and elegant, rides like a dream. Quiet as a church mouse. Barely know she's moving half the time. Staff on this Voyage were exemplary. It might have been some of the best service we have ever had. In the Constellation Lounge our drinks almost beat us to our table. Thank you Portia! Cabin crew, perfect. Hold on to your hats...Seabourns Square reception staf were amazingly excellent, especially given some complicated situations. Food. Everyone has been grumbling about Seabourns tired Menus. I'd agree the The Restaurant menu was a tad pedestrian. We only ate there twice. The food was very good both times. Butter poached Lobster was a dream. They occasionally open for lunch, but limited recycled menu. Colonnade - Lunch still a buffet scrum. Just a bad design. Food was OK, sometimes good. Dinner was much better with a few excellent ethnic meals. Sushi - is it great sushi, no. Was it tasty and did it hit the spot, you betcha. FYI, Edamame is not on the menu but is available. Cocktails also excellent up there. Sommiler bent over backwards to help us spend our OBCs.🤣 The only big miss was the Bow Pantry on 6. Rarely stocked with anything more than cookies. Entertainment - The usual duo and solo singer weren't bad. One never expects Entertainment on an expedition. There was a mind reader folks seemed to enjoy. We thoroughly enjoyed the Nordic Brothers.

@Nops I am so pleased you chimed in and enjoyed the cruise. Different opinions and perspectives make a market. I'll do my best to respond. " I read the notes in the cruise itinerary and it was followed very closely. " Yes the itinerary was followed. As mentioned, my disappointment comes from what was and wasn't done on the itinerary. Again, I booked when the only info available was just the itinerary. I assumed it would be a true expedition, not a hybrid with bus tours. I know better now. "For instance the expedition from Solvaer to Trollfjord was not a surprise" Perhaps I was mistaken. I thought the 14 mile zodiac ride from Svolvaer to Trollfjord was a last minute addition. We did something similar on Quest in 2016 when Seabourn was just starting its expedition activities. Except back then Luiqui had the zodiacs loaded with Champagne. Luiqui hasn't aged a day. As a kudos to Luiqui the decision to drop the zodiacs at Isle of Noss was incredible. Especially given how late in the day it was. Isle of Noss is almost impossible to get close to. A very rare treat! "particularly as they were critical of a "difficult" hike in Scotland." I was critical that a difficult hike was the only one offered on that day. As I mentioned in my previous post a good expedition should offer hikes for all ranges and they should be complimentary. I was pleased that the folks who could do the difficult hikes had some great opportunities. "So I am interested to know what High Plains Drifter would define as a Expedition Cruise" I would define an Expedition Cruise as one that has a focus on outdoor activities and nature. Depending on location, say PNG or South Pacific, native cultures. It should have activities for all levels of reasonable fitness. Did some of this occur on this cruise, yes. On the whole I found it lacking. There were more bus rides than you could shake a stick at. Check out the link I posted to a similar itinerary on Silversea. That was a proper expedition. "I will make an observation without any hard evidence. Most of the people on board had considerable OBC, chargeable tours maybe a way of Seabourn clawing this back without penalising the cruiser." I wondered the same. "I do not recognise the issue with zodiac shuttles, at no point did I have to wait for an excessive time for any shuttle, even in the remotest spot (the south of Vaeroy) for instance." Sometimes its the luck of the draw. We happened to get caught numerous times. Hence the complaint. Several times I overheard staff grousing about not getting lunch, a break or where are all the zodiacs. Thus probably added to my frustration. Shame on Seabourn for not staffing up enough. When we boarded an expedition was introduced a friend traveling with us said "where's the rest of the staff?". I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the patience of the Expedition Team. The can be true saints. The yappers also make me crazy. The seats in the Club belong in a Grammer School.

P.S. I should add that I don't know that the hybrid model is a bad thing. Not all want Expedition 24/7. If this is the path, be honest about it and what to expect.

@BasandSyb Important note before you read the following..... We had a fabulous time! If you're not happy you're not happy. The following are my opinions. Those that feel differently please feel free to chime in. All are welcome. Rules if civility shall apply. As I have posted along the way we were rather disappointed in the expedition offerings. This WAS a hybrid expedition/ocean cruise. Although there were included options, we were offended by the eye waterwatering prices for non included. There were more bus tours than you could shake a stick at. The first leg tours were dropped a few months before with no alert. The second Norway leg tours...I'm not sure when they were dropped. So unless you are checking weekly you potentially missed out on some tours. Luiqui is a great EL and did the best with the hand he was dealt. However the Expedition Staff was light in terms of both quantity and quality. Don't get me wrong there were some stellar enthusiastic staff onboard. Matt, Paul, River, Brent, Brandon, just to name a few. I just wasn't feeling a depth of knowledge in general and found many to be just zodiac drivers who would often make stuff up when asked questions and get it horribly wrong. On days when zodiac shuttles were available the frequency was sometimes dismal. Communication between tours coming, going, and needing more zodiacs was poor. This left many standing in the rain waiting for a ride. Drop more zodiacs and have enough staff to drive them. Hikes. A good portion of the hikes were Strenuous to Very Strenuous. Many carried price tags. I'm used to a few options, easy, moderate and difficult...all included. There were some spectacular highlights, Isle of Noss Trollfjord, just to name a few. On a proper expedition these are the norm as opposed to being told they are a special treat. Ya ya, weather conditions need to be just right so one could argue that they were special treats. That makes them special treats from Mother Nature, not Seabourn. When we booked all we had was the basic itinerary. No possible excursions options or details. There was also no warning that not all excursions except for kayak and sub would be included. And, silly me I figured we would have a proper expedition. We have 2 Seabourn expeditions coming up. One is past refundable date so we will stick with it. The second, I'm not sure yet. The rest are booked with Ponant and Silversea. Review of Seabourn Venture and staff coming up. Both excellent.

@BasandSyb Comments coming. For context here is a link to Silversea expedition we did a few years back. A true expedition. The first part took a different path, but as we go further north you can easily see the differences.

Just looked at your itinerary. Your second leg should be fabulous. We did this on Ventures first season. We had a lot of fog in Svalbard so shore excursions were somewhat limited. I guess not being able to see the Polar Bears before they eat you is a problem. Ha ha. I can't wait to go back to Scorsby and hopefully do King Oscar. Spending time in the Polar Ice cap was magical. I would love it if you would consider an occasional comment on how things are going. I'm curious to know if Venture slips back into real expedition mode or if this hybrid model sticks. What are the tours like in Nordkapp? Did they charge to go to the top? Other than kayak and submarine are they finding things to charge you for? Of course I don't think they can offer bus tours in Ittoqqortoormiit. But, If they charge you to see the dog feeding, REVOLT! MTC on expedition vs ocean

🤣🤣🤣

Svolvaer, Lofoton. Norway Svolvaer is the largest town in Lofoton, and becoming quite the Hotspot. Lots of weekend condos and restaurants. What a change from the last time we were here. Easy zodiac ride and landing right in town. I'm not sure I'd like a condo with a Cod drying tower. It was off to the Viking museum for us. It is the site of one of largest Viking Long houses ever discovered. A repeat visit I had been looking forward to. Last time we were rushed through the museum part and I missed all the artifacts. We'll jokes on me, they moved most of the artifacts to Oslo. Ugh. The Long House replica. It's really more of a Viking Experience now, less of a museum. If time allows it's worth a walk around to look at some excavations. Even then the Scandis were careful about safety. Drive by this time, wooden church, worth a visit if you're in the area. Metropolitan Svolvaer Condo in your future?

Sounds like the perfect start to me!

Reine, Lofoton Reine might be the most scenic spot in Norway and competition for world status. Our afternoon stop was a drive to the end of E10 to the town of A with a visit to a fishing village museum.This was a bus ride A bus ride you want to take. Between the 2 stops today we clicked off 7 miles. Too many people keep falling off this mountain on the hike to the top. Himalayan sherpas we're hired to erect stairs to the top. The stairs on the other side. Geologists attributes the differences in the rock formations of Lofoten to the age of the rock. At the far end of Lofoten, as in Lofotodden National Park, the peaks are wilder and sharper because they consist of harder rock types that originate from the earth’s primeval times. Hard rock such as granite grinds down more slowly, thus the dramatic appearance. Further into Lofoten, towards Leknes, there are younger and less hard rock. The consequence is a softer appearance of the surrounding mountains. A short zodiac and easy pier landing. Scenery at the fishing museum. Worth the short hike. The fishing museum was the spiffed up remains of the old fishing village. Quaint. A Cod liver oil tasting anyone? Warning, it doesn't taste bad at first, in fact interesting. Unfortunately it doesn't go away an gets worse. A quick trip to the small market for a palate cleanser. Problem solved.

Vaeroy, Lofoton Always happy to be in Lofoton. One of my favorite places. A decent stop. A monster hike was offered and folks enjoyed it. Otherwise not much. We did the cultural tour last time we were here. It was lap around town with a local high school girl, enjoyable. She explained that the kids rake in serious cash cutting the tongues out of Cod. Yep, tongues. She made enough to buy a car and has enough to spend a few summers in Europe. Not mush to the "fishing museum". This time we did the lap on our own. Grocery store was the highlight. Scenery for days. I don't think there is a Pub 2. It's all about the Cod. Racks and racks. Each part has a different market. For example the heads primarily go to Nigeria for Fish head soup. Who said there's no wildlife on this trip?

Sorry for the late reply. It appears that most of the present Expedition Staff including Luiqui will be on board for at least the next few voyages. There are some excellent staff and we have enjoyed getting to know them. Fresh and enthusiastic. Matt, River, and Paul are favorites. Brent is still the Rockstar and Brandon has moved up to AEL. I still feel the team is light in depth and quanity. The aforementioned bad driver should not be allowed to drive a zodiac, bumper cars with the rocks. 😄

After a thrilling morning we were ready for some Chill Time. Liuqui decided to give us some and announced a Pop Up Polar plunge. Technically we were in the Arctic circle. Perhaps a Norwegian Plunge. All good fun. Threw on the swimmies and dove in. Sorry no pics, except of the goodies that awaited us. Captian then toured another arm of the fjord while waiting for the kayaks to finish. Not a far sail to our morning stop, and our kind Captian took us to the other side of the Svartisen glacier to hang out during dinner. What a day of Nordic eye candy.

Zodiac thrill ride in Melfjord. 20240605_104906.mp4

Melfjordbotn, Norway We spent a spectacular day exploring Melfjord, home to Norways second largest glacier. A small fjord, only 21 miles long. The scenery was a solid 9 and weather a 6-10, depending on which minute you chose to judge. We went from cold wet and windy to balmy and sunny on a micro minute time scale. Venture is a beauty. She just fits in with nature. OK, she fits in as much as a large ship can.😄 The wind picked up. out of nowhere and we were all given a nice zodiac shower. Looking for a bit of shelter we explored a quiet cove where the zodiacs were hiding. Seals popped their heads up here and there. A wild and wet ride took us to see the glacier hanging from the top like a hankerchief. Waterfalls galore. Weather gets cold. Weather gets warm

Champagne & Caviar party on a stunning day. Yes please!