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11 hours ago, jdk-atlga said:

On the Encore in September - we did the SB excursion to Ephesus in the morning and came back to ship for the afternoon. Depending on the weather and number of other ships there, I suggest doing any tours earlier than later.

 

Yes, the "Exclusive" SB concert at Ephesus was the cruise highlight.

Your photos look amazing! We’re very much looking forward to the evening excursion. Which daytime excursion did you choose?

I have a question not related to elegant jeans but to the dress code at least… though I have chuckled at this thread a lot and enjoyed the levity (in places) of the post. 
 

This is my husband and I first seabourn cruise, we’re wondering how necessary a jacket is on formal night? My husband is more of a shirt and nice sweater kind of guy in the evenings, or even a shirt and tie.  We don’t particularly want to travel with a jacket for one night, if we don’t have too? Perhaps this is another hotly debated topic a long with elegant jeans 🙂 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a day time Ephesus tour? Seabourn offer a few at varying prices, but we’re stuck on which one to go for.

13 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

Shopping with the Chef isn't done on every cruise as it would depend on which ports have good fresh markets open on the days the ship arrives. 

 

When you board the ship you can check at Seabourn Square with guest services if they will offer it on your cruise and put your name down for it. Maybe let us know which ports and someone might know if it is possible.

 

I have never sailed in November in the Med but maybe excursions are low in number due to it being being late in the season. Usually if excursions are sold out they are still listed just with sold out on them. They may add more excursions closer to the time.Hopefully if you list your ports you might get some suggestions to easily DIY.

 

 

Thank you!
We’re visiting the following ports

- Spetses

- Agios Nikolaos, Crete

- Kusadasi

- Skiathos

-Bozcaada

Hello, my husband and I are booked in our first seabourn cruise this November Athens to Istanbul, we’re incredibly excited. But please excuse our newbie questions. I’ve been reading the boards quite extensively.
 

I have read about and seen mentioned on YouTube, ‘shopping with the chef’ is this something that is offered as a shore excursion, or do we need to wait until we are onboard to see if it is offered? Perhaps it isn’t offered on every sailing?

Currently, the shore excursions selection for our cruise is very light with some ports only offering ‘a stroll around xxxx’. Is this because we are close in, and excursions have sold out? Or maybe because we are going so late in the year? I know shopping with the chef is something my husband would really enjoy. 

This will be our first Seabourn cruise, We’re booked for the Encore in November! The only reservations available for TK online are the night we’re in Kusadasi.
Will we have more options if we call, or wait until we get onboard? We really don’t want to miss TK or the evening in Ephesus. 

It is brewed, I’ve seen them refilling the pots and the filters they use are HUGE 🙂

I’ve always enjoyed their brewed coffee. I don’t particularly like Starbucks, but I like HALs brewed coffee. 
my husband is a coffee snob and he much prefers the coffee extra charge coffee at the Dutch cafe/Explorations cafe. 

We did a great cocktail tasting on the KO last year. It was $15pp. My husband has done whiskey tasting on the pinnacle class ships, they can range in price from $20-$50pp. There is usually wine and beer tastings too. 
I haven’t seen a bar crawl on HAL in many years. 

Glad to hear breakfast is back at the NY deli! 

I haven’t seen the NY deli offering breakfast post pandemic on either the KO or the NS. 
I hope they bring it back one day, it was a great option. 

Once you select add a security photo, then you’ll be able to see each guest listed, click the pencil in the bottom right corner and it’ll give you the option to take a photo or choose a photo. Pick choose a photo and it should take you to your camera roll, and you’ll be able to select the picture you already took. 
I’m 7 days out from sailing and the option to add a security photo only came up sometime in the last week. 

This is fantastic news, Thank you everyone!

There was a thread a while ago that why were testing ‘just pay the difference’ for drinks over the $$ allowance for the signature beverage package on the Westerdam. 
Has anyone had any experience of this being rolled out on other ships yet? I think it’s be a great addition.

We’re leaving on the Rotterdam next week.

Dining room lunch should be available, it was on my last cruise on the Eurodam. A great option on the koningsdam is the Dutch cafe, my husband and I love the food there. 
Both New York Pizza and the Dive In should be open on embarkation day too. 

We got the same email for our Caribbean sailing. I already have the app from previous sailings and completed it anyway, though with restrictions lifted I’m not sure it’ll be needed. 
my experience using it on other sailings pre covid requirements being lifted, it was MUCH quicker to get through check in with VeriFLY vs without. 

Emperors nectar in the tamarind is my favourite. The wasabi one is good too! You can get drinks at the tamarind bar without having to dine.

My favourite used to be the fashionista, but they took it off the menu. If you find a bar tender that’s been around a while they’ll know how to make it. But there’s good substitutions in both billboard and bb kings
None alcoholic I love the Mint Melon Nojito, delicious!

We’ve never waited more than 2-3 minutes for a table for open seating. But we are later diners around 7-8pm.     
Once you’re onboard you can make reservations at the dining room, they should be able to carry that reservation at least 2-3 nights I believe. 

If you happen to be sailing on one of the Pinnacle class ships, the Grand Dutch Cafe have a good selection of Dutch/European beers that we have not seen on other ships/elsewhere onboard. That is providing they have them in stock, we had no issues on our Europe cruise this summer, but Mexico last November they didn’t have  any available. 

We did a 7 day Mexico many years ago. Myself and my husband, my mum and my sister, who was 3 at the time (there’s a very wide age gap) We were all in a balcony stateroom, it was a little cosy but not awful. Being able to go outside on the balcony helped.     
My sister had a whale of a time and still talks about it now. There were not many kids onboard and she got so much attention from everyone. She’s pretty self sufficient with an incredible imagination so she kept her self occupied around the shallow edge of the pool, she is not much of a screamer or a shouter so I think this helped. She loved the shows and wanted to go to the Northern Lights to dance every night!     
The servers in the MDR were fantastic and always had a plate of water melon ready for her. 
She never attended club HAL, so I can’t comment on that. 

The trip will be what they make of it, and it’ll depend a lot of what the kids are like. My sister was quiet and enjoys playing on her own, so the older more relaxed crowd suited her well. 
 

I hope they have a great time whoever they sail with 

Anyone know if this is already on the Rotterdam, as she just did the historic transatlantic?     
We’re sailing her in December and would love to pick up a 6 pack for my brothers. Not sure we’ll make it on a DAM ship next year. 

Thank you everyone, it’s sounds like Athens to Istanbul is the way to go!
We’re making plans to add days on either end, so we’ll get to spend a couple of days in Athens and a couple days in Istanbul.  
We’re really excited to take our first Seabourn cruise! 

That’s a very good point. 
I’m not sure how to edit my original post (if it’s posisble)

the two itineraries are;

Athens

Spetsai, 

Agios Nikolaos, Crete

Kusadsi

Mykonos

Skopelos

Bozcaada

Istanbul
 

or 

Istanbul

Myrina

Cesme

Bodrum

Symi

Thira

Ermoupolis

Athens

I wound also double check that you haven’t just paid for the first excursion, check your card statement and the cost breakdown for the cruise make sure they match. 
Otherwise, enjoy your free excursions. You did what you could! 

My husband and I are looking to take our first Seabourn sailing next summer. We’ve narrowed it down to Athens to Istanbul, or the reverse as we’d like to visit both Athens and Istanbul.
We’re not really familiar with any of the ports in between. 
Do you have a preference? Is there a port we cannot miss?

If you booked the B2B on one booking number, you would’ve been entitled to $200 per person shore ex credit. If it is 2 booking numbers this would have given you $100 per person, per booking number.
So if the excursions are in different segments, you will have used booking #1 credit for shore A and booking #2 credit for shore ex B. 
I hope this makes sense and hasn’t added to the confusion. 
 

either way you are entitled to $200 credit per person, so if you’re showing booked on both excursions, you’re booked 🙂