ChicagoAlli

On a prior cruise where Barbados was a port stop, not disembarkation, I did not take a shuttle to leave the port. Things may operate differently for a disembarkation day and given the layout of where specifically the ship had docked, a walkway was not clearly evident. As I reflect on my original post, I wish I had stuck around and maybe forced Seabourn's hand a bit. If I just sat there someone would have had to acknowledge that at some point I'd think... Some wonderful passengers I had met on the ship had not disembarked yet and I know they would have helped me out in a heartbeat. Of course, in the moment when things have gone so wrong, I was just so angry and frustrated and felt the need to get out of there. Regarding the transfer tour itself--having spent a fair amount of time in Barbados prior, I knew the tour wouldn't be that great and I strictly booked it to kill some time and for the ease and security of getting to the airport. Ha ha! In the end, I come back to the expectations I had for Seabourn. They hold themselves out as an ultra- luxury five star experience. Not a company that would just leave a passenger to fend for themself in a foreign port. I don't expect perfection-that is impossible. I do expect than when things go wrong, I would not be treated the way I was. Having the mindset of anticipating or assuming all the things that could go wrong seems incongruent with the product being offered. The sign of true luxury is that when the inevitable mishap occurs, it's all about the response.

I disembarked the Ovation yesterday in Barbados after a mostly wonderful week in the Caribbean. This was my third Seabourn cruise so not exactly a newbie. I was traveling solo, met some wonderful people both passengers and crew. Then disembarkation happened. I had booked a Seabourn-excursion island tour with airport drop off. I got off the ship prior to the departure time of the tour, albeit a few minutes later than I would have due to a poorly worded disembarkation letter (why would you bold the disembarkation time and then on the back side of the letter say that that time doesn't apply?) I was then forced on a shuttle for a 200 meter trip to the immigration building. I waited an inordinate amount of time for the shuttle to fill up as there were port vehicles blocking pedestrian access to the shuttle. Let's just say the drivers of these vehicles were definitely on island time. When I got to the immigration building I could not find my suitcase. I was walking around for quite a while and had a local Bajan port worker helping me. Finally one of the destination services people asked for my cabin number and then very curtly told me that my suitcase had been put aside and that I was too late to go on the tour as I still had to clear immigration and that was a very slow process. I had wasted at least 10 minutes on the pointless shuttle and at least 5 minutes looking for my suitcase to be denied the tour by a 5 minute difference. Several of the Bajan port workers plead my case to no avail and even one of them ran after a bus that might have been my tour. They were barked at by the destination person that I would not be going on the tour and there was nothing I could do. I had a tense back and forth exchange that included me suggesting I take a taxi, at my own expense, to the first stop on the tour. That suggestion was laughed at (I thought it was a pretty ingenious way of solving a problem). They wouldn't tell me where the bus was going and the tour description was vague on the specific order of the places to be visited. I also pointed out that just one day prior my culinary walking tour in Martinique was delayed 25 minutes in very hot and humid weather waiting on two people. The destination services person walked away. And that was that. Seabourn was done with me. I did not have a lot of cash; didn't think I needed it at this point. My flight wasn't until late afternoon and it was still before 9am on a Sunday when a lot of places are closed. Luckily all the Bajan port workers were amazing, sympathetic and very much wanting me to not have a bad perception of Barbados (I didn't). One man even gave me a hug and promised to help me figure out a plan. I used the rest of my cash to taxi to the Hilton at a negotiated fare that was likely less than it should have been, and was graciously comped usage of the property for several hours. I did agree to not use a beach/pool chair and bought two drinks and lunch via credit card and just camped out in a shady section of the pool bar. Hilton also helped me arrange transport to the airport that I could pay using a credit card. The kicker is that when I got to the airport, I ran into a few fellow Seabourn passengers who were on the same tour and knew I was on that tour saw me at the immigration building and even tried to alert someone that I was being left behind. Now I'm home and am at a loss at the treatment I had at the port. The nasty, almost punitive attitude of the staff at the immigration building. What if I was older, less travel savvy or had mobility issues? I can't help but think a lot of the passengers I met on the cruise would not have managed their way out of the situation the same way I was able to. What gnaws at me was that, for a while, I was legitimately scared and panicked. That is my last memory from an otherwise enjoyable trip. I open it up to other Seabourn travelers. Thoughts? Is it "rules are rules you are technically late even though it was just a few minutes in a country where nothing happens on time and it doesn't matter why, so you get/deserve nothing?" Has anyone else experienced such a draconian response? Is it worth trying to reach out to Seabourn for a refund for the tour? Or even an apology and discussion of my situation and how a similar situation could be avoided/mitigated in the future?

Second that. You can also sign up for their emails which tout all kinds of special offers. I do feel like Antarctica less likely to have solo specials.

As long as you are not on the last segment of a world cruise (Sojourn 2023) you'll be fine with invites and hosted get togethers. World cruise a whole different situation--by the last 12 days everyone seemed burned out, crew included. Thank God I met some super fun people on my own.

It appeared none of the Oceania tours in Puerto Plata included the cable car. I looked into a private guide but there are only maybe 2 guides with strong positive reviews and both were already booked up. Would have loved to have done the cable car and surprised none of the Oceania tours included it.

I had no idea we wouldn't be docking in the old town until I woke up and was staring at a large container ship. No idea if this is where Oceania always docks but if so, that is quite disappointing as part of the fun of being in San Juan is the ability to wander into the old town right from your ship. I believe the shuttles were pretty frequent but I did hear from others that the experience was disappointing.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Puerto-Rico/The-Old-The-New-and-the-Now-The-Updated-San-Juan-City-Tour/d36-164005P3 Cannot recommed highly enough. Angel and Annie were fantastic.

I was also on this cruise (with my elderly parents) so I thought I'd add my opinion on some of the ports of call/excursions. I also was on the ship about a year ago with some overlapping ports so some comments reflect excursions from last year. St Kitts: Did the catamaran followed by the train. Catamaran was nice. The train... The locals love their train and it seemed like a unique thing to do. The train goes through the perpetually rainy part of the island and lasts close to 2 hours. 45 minutes would have sufficed. The scenery is just ok. The open air top floor is nice until the rain starts coming in sideways and there is not enough room in the lower enclosed part to fit everyone. They do serve drinks (both alcoholic and non) for a fee. Would not repeat. St Vincent: Kayaking and snorkel. St Vincent is beautiful but you must get out of the port/town. I was looking forward to kayaking through the bat cave but was forced to wait until last because I was in a solo kayak, despite arriving to the cave 3rd out of 12 kayaks. Of course people who had no business being on a kayak overturned in the cave right before my turn and the guides said no one else could go through. Very disappointed. Snorkeling was ok. Would like to do again perhaps not through the ship to ensure I could go through the bat cave. Dominica: Waterfalls and river tubing. Falls were pretty, kind of long drive to the tubing though. Tubing was high comedy. It was sort of like bumper cars and people would occasionally get stuck on rocks or in bushes. Guides were great. I enjoyed it a lot but its not for everyone! Would repeat. Dominica is beautiful but you must get out of port/town area. St. Barts: this trip did not do an excursion, just tendered ashore with dad and walked to Shell beach, had some drinks/lunch and did a little shopping. Gustavia is cute and its nice to just walk around. Tender sucks. Claustrophobic, hot and bumpy. Sea Dream had much nicer tender boats than Oceania. Last year I did the ATV island tour. Loved it and wanted to repeat with dad but the company had an age limit of 70 so be aware. Also remember to have your drivers license for any ATV or buggy tours on any of the islands. San Juan: We docked at the Pan American pier, not the old town pier. Basically an industrial port. Very disappointing. 20 minute shuttle to the old town-nothing walkable from ship. I don't know if this is where Oceania always docks but there were 4 mega ships in port in the old town so perhaps the smaller Riviera got bumped...I booked a private San Juan tour with my parents so cannot speak to the ship tours. Puerto Plata DR: By far the nicest port area. The DR was smart here. They built a brand new port area specifically and exclusively for cruise ship passengers. Yes, the shops are all standard souveniers and such, but it is just nice to sit, have a local beer at one of the many watering holes and people watch all the folks off the Wonder of the Seas. Or talk to the parrots and cockatiels that are interspersed throughout. All without any hassle, or really seeing anything authentically DR LOL. There is a beach area and pool club also. Dad and I did a tour of the town: Rum distillery (surprisingly good), umbrella street, pink street, jewelry maker, amber museum and fort. It exceeded my low expectations (generally not a fan of the "tour the town" tours in the Caribbean) but did run over by close to an hour. Last year I rode buggies to a local beach and it was a blast. Would definitely do that again. Random ship comments: pool chair hogging annoying, especially in the shade. Ship pretty dead at night. I'm a fan of wine so I did the three wine seminars (extra cost) as well as all three wine dinners in La Reserve (extra$ obviously). The French themed dinner and the Dom Perignon dinner were great. The Odyssey menu one was a bit uneven on the food. The seminars are nice but wish they weren't in Jacques. I'm happy to answer any questions. Not sure if/when I'm back on Oceania again but overall it was a pleasant experience.

Be aware that not all cabins got a new bathroom. I was in a Penthouse Suite from 1/4-1/14 and it had the old bathroom layout. I was aware of this before the trip and tried to move but nothing came available. The bedroom decor is a huge improvement. Wifi still terrible, even after upgrading to the supposed better package. I was still struggling to stream anything.

I'm happy to find this thread/blog! I impusively booked the last segment of this world cruise: Dakar, Senegal to Barcelona. Hopefully all the world cruisers aren't completely zonked by the time I get on board! I am curious as to how many people will actually embark in Dakar...

Beautiful shot from the balcony! Regarding the airport transfer--in one of my many conversations with Seabourn I was told that the transfer would only be good for arrivals on Saturday. Since I cannot leave before Friday, hopefully there is a transfer person at OSL at noon on Saturday (and hopefully my bag shows up--I realize I am cutting it a bit close considering European issues this summer but I have faith that my connecting airport of Zurich will work well). The efficient train is an option to get to downtown Oslo also. Re: Heathrow transfer picture...I assume you transferred in T2 (United/Star Alliance), which I believe has had fewer issues than BA T5. I switched my connection from Heathrow to Zurich because United cancelled my original outbound flight and rebooked me on a tight connection in Heathrow. No bueno. If you haven't done so before, be sure to check out Vigeland Park. Some real interesting public sculptures!

My docs also show a 5:45am departure from Oslo. Yikes!

It's frustrating that Seabourn is not consistent with their information. First I was told I was on the 11am Titan flight. Then I got an email confirmation with the 7am Wideroe flight. Called again and was told about the two flights, which makes more sense because these 2x2 regional jets only hold like 100 people. So unless the sailing is less than half full, there would need to be more than one plane.

I spoke to a Seabourn rep the other day and he said there are 2 charter flights. The earlier 7am flight is likely for people who signed up for the Longyearbyen excursion and the 11am flight will transport people directly to the ship. Both the Wideroe and Titan planes are 2x2 seating.

Thanks for the advice, however have gone through all the final documents. All I can figure is that since I didn't book my air through Seabourn, I'm not getting anything about the internal air flights. The itinerary has blanks for arrive and depart columns for Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th. No info on the 7th on when the transfer to the airport would occur or when the flight leaves for Longyearbyen. No specifics on the charter airline or anything. (My page 9 is boilerplate "Health and Safety" stuff). I guess I'm expected to find this all out when I arrive in Oslo (and hope there is someone at the airport for me!)