cruising kirby

Still not getting any information updates. When I checked my passenger forms they have added Terms and Conditions that are readable. Also pdf form to give Medical Director of the ship when you arrive.

 

The terms and conditions still state ONE BAG 42LB. limit.:eek: Absurd.

 

I just came back from one week to Ambergris Caye, Belize. Traveled alone and my bag weighed 61 pounds.

 

I cannot believe they expect my husband and I to do a 23 day cruise plus pre and post days with 42 pounds. Am I sounding spoiled? :o

 

Anyone with better information please post here.

 

Thanks guys.

See my comments at post #50. I am not concerned now about the baggage "allowance". Scenic has told me it is just a guide and won't be strictly enforced (they are not going to leave an "extra" suitcase on the dock as the owner boards a 5* cruiseship!). My intention is to take my usual - 2 larger suitcases and 1 smaller suitcase (total), for my husband and I. That falls into their "reasonable" luggage allowance, as currently practiced on Scenic river ships.

I rang Scenic in Australia, and spoke with the people looking after bookings for the Eclipse. I was advised that the luggage allowance in the brochure is a guide and intended to inform guests expectations about what is reasonable to carry/store in cabins etc. On their river cruises, 3 suitcases for 2 people are routinely accepted without question. Any more than that tends to cause storage problems in the cabin, given their small size compared to ocean ships. So for the Eclipse, the rep advised up to 3 cases, plus hand luggage, per cabin would be reasonable, on longer cruises where guests might wish to take two cases per person, it would be ok , but possibly would cause some storage problems in the smaller cabins.

So....................the 1 case per person will not be strictly enforced but guests should exercise common sense about the amount of luggage they bring on board!

Also, the rep mentioned that there will be another public update about the Eclipse in July. Everything is still on track for the advertised voyages.

Antarctica!!!! Simply the best cruise we have ever done in over 350 days at sea. The remoteness, the vastness, the uniqueness, the Seabourn Antartica team, the whales, the penguins etc etc etc. The Drake passage gave us its fury in both directions and still it remains the most amazing cruise experience of my life.

Hello all,

We have just booked the Transatlantic. We too are Seabourn regulars and hope the experience lives up to the hype. We are in Suite 516 so hello to the poster in 515. Thanks for all of the info so far.

It loos like Deck 5 will be the place to be! We are in 512 on the transatlantic. Will be very interesting to compare the ship with our Seabourn experiences. Did you book your "freechoice" excursion in Gibraltar? We have selected the tour with St Michaels Cave and the apes. I hope we see some more detail on the cruise from Scenic soon........................

I haven't participated in an organised wine tasting like you describe (there is one for the paid options), but there is absolutely no reason at all that you can't find a seat at a bar or table and ask to be served your own private wine tasting! I am sure the staff will be very happy to assist you to find a wine/s for your respective palates.

In most ports there is now a separate line for Diamond and Diamond Elite members.

 

 

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Yes, that is what I thought it was. The Seabourn staff selectively picked out some guests and invited them to come forward earlier than the rest of us. Some people seemed to be aware they could board first and had already identified themselves to staff. It didn't bother me at all!

On our last two Seabourn cruises in March 2017 and Sept 2017 in the Caribbean and the Med, there was preferential boarding for some passengers at about 11.45am, and the rest of us commenced boarding around midday. There were a few lines but they cleared quite quickly.

Did you pay for a V4 guarantee or did you select a specific cabin? If it was a guarantee, you probably can't do much about it. If it was a specific cabin, your travel agent might have marked your booking as available for a free upgrade to a higher category. In both scenarios, Seabourn are quite within their rights to "upgrade" you. Contact your travel agent and see if anything can be done.

However I doubt you will find any noise transfer from the stairwell or lifts, Seabourn cabins seem to be very well insulated.

Yes, my point was that it was a nice read with great photos!

And that it was! Thanks for sharing.

I think the blog is an exercise in self promotion (according to the link, the writer is a commercial photographer and professional blogger) and it sounds like she was on Seabourn on one of their "travel for free" or heavily discounted arrangements offered to the very few in return for favourable comment. Fairly standard current day marketing techniques for both parties I guess.

All that aside, it was a nice read and the photos were lovely.

Which itinerary did you book?

And, I am looking forward to your review.

I am booked on the Barcelona to Miami transatlantic, departing 22 Sept 18. Lots (and lots!) of sea days but I am very happy with that as we live busy lives and the rest will be welcomed. Will write a comprehensive review on our return, and if internet is good, I will report along the way as well.

Viking Cruises has made a very successful transition from river cruising to ocean cruising, based on the reviews of the new ocean ships. Viking is not in the same market as Seabourn, the ships are larger and there are other significant differences, but it seems as though they sell very well to a band of loyal passengers.

It remains to be seen if Scenic can do the same in the luxury market. Always one to give new things a try, I am booked on the Eclipse in September this year, and I will report back on cc. Hopefully the engines will be well tested and we won't require rescuing halfway through the transatlantic! Watch this space............................ (I might come running back to Seabourn!)

You can check pricing on the Seabourn website. Go your specific cruise departure and click, view itinerary, then on the next screen, click suite fares. You can see the upgrade promotion prices there. Also, when Seabourn release new "deals" they usually have a banner on their home page that links to cruises where prices have been adjusted.

Just a word of Warning! IF you are on a Ponant cruise, and they have a Video of the cruise for sale, MAKE SURE you view it first before paying their exorbitant charges!

 

Last night I saw the video my son purchased while on board.......I am sure he paid something like 70 Euros for it! IT IS DISGUSTING! They should ashamed of charging for it at all! As an amateur photographer, I would certainly be too ashamed to let anyone see something so bad! There was so much out of focus filming, blurry filming, filming in places that were too dark to see anything, background music was dreadful, hardly anything shown of the ship, or life on the ship at all. It started with the sail out from Sydney, which was sort of reasonable, but too dark and frankly, boring. It then showed some of the Captains Welcome ..... there was NO Captains Farewell or Introduction to the Crew, which was all out on the crew deck, in perfect weather, and probably THE most important part of the on board happenings. There was NO filming of the final night, which was also on the Pool deck with singing and dancing.......

 

I just wish there was some way I could upload this video to show you what I am talking about. IF these were "Professional Photographers" on that ship....they should be made to walk the plank immediately!

Oh dear!!!!

I called Scenic and spoke with a rep who is specific to the Scenic Eclipse. She said that they would not be offering any pre-reservations system prior to boarding, all venues on board would be "open dining". Once on board the staff would "facilitate" the dining process, with the smaller restaurants likely to be managed by having two dinner times each evening. There will be priority given to the top category suites, (Owners, Grand Panorama and Panorama), and at the price they are paying, I am not surprised. As to how they will cope with potentially 200+ guests wanting to try all of the very small venues on a shorter duration cruise, it was not clear and the rep couldn't answer that with much conviction unfortunately. She said the staff will be commited to making sure everyone gets the opportunity to try what they want.

Maths is not my best subject, but I think it is going to be a bit of a squeeze and compromise is going to be the key. It might not be realistic to expect a preferred dining time/day at the smaller venues? With a 10 person venue and 2 seatings per night, on a 10 night cruise, most guests should get the chance to dine at some stage, and I guess not everyone is into all the specific dining offerings. Longer cruises should be easier to manage.

I don't know what it all means for impromptu dining with new friends, perhaps that will be best delivered in the larger venues.

I just hope that the 5 star luxury branding of Scenic flows through to a dignified and effective dining system once on board! I hope that it is managed fairly, giving everyone the best chance of experiencing all that is on offer.

I believe that the head office for Scenic is in Australia so perhaps that is why they have been a little more informed (but not much more!). I will give them a call and see if that provides any further detail.

Anyone going on the Jan 6, 2019 Ultimate Antartica?

 

Also does anyone know how the Dining Reservations will work? They have 10 venues, with some like the Captain's Table, being quite intimate. I assume there must be some system in place for those reservations?

I sent an email to Scenic in Australia and they said that on the Eclipse there will be priority dining based on cabin category, and while final arrangements hadn't been made, there was likely to be be two seatings per night in most restaurants.

I can't find any information about how the dining will work on Scenic Eclipse, but when I looked at Scenic River Cruises they seem to restrict at least one restaurant on board those ships to passengers in higher category cabins. I hope that isn't the case for the Eclipse, and nothing in the brochures etc indicates that will happen. Perhaps they will have 2 seatings each night in the smaller venues? Perhaps they will restrict each passenger to one booking only in the smaller venues?

Simple: abide by the evening dress code. On the Antarctica cruise, which we recently also did, during the day you wear (within reason) what keeps you comfortable and warm when out on decks. I often wore sweat pants since I might be in my suite and suddenly want to run to the front of the ship to take in a wildlife sighting.

I agree! On our Seabourn Antarctica cruise the dress "standard" was very relaxed during the day, as most people decided it was more important to be warm and comfortable rather than showing off their latest designer ware. Jeans, track pants/sweat pants, skiware were commonly seen. At night, after 6pm, the vast majority of people dressed as per the Seabourn guidelines, and it was no different to any other cruise.

Thanks for the additional photos. The normal cabins look ok, but as you say, quite small. My husband loves those bridge visits!

In Australia, Viking has in it's terms and conditions that re-booking to a promotional fare is regarded as a "cancellation" and the $500pp deposit is lost. I think it is an extremely restrictive practice and one that will not prove popular at all in our market where guests routinely are able to re-book (with other cruiselines), to secure lower fares. I suspect passengers are not aware of this "fine print" when they book with Viking.

Thanks to all who have provided great commentary and photos from this cruise. I will be on next year and your feedback has been very helpful with my plans. It isn't always convenient to interrupt your holiday to report on cc, so your collective efforts have been most appreciated.

My son was in a normal room......so I am waiting for him to send me some pics. We did enjoy our cruise, but I really think we would be sticking more with Seabourn. This week though, we are off to a Presentation by Windstar! LOL....good to have lots of options!

Always good to have options! Between us I think we will cover most of them! I am trying Scenic Eclipse and Viking Ocean this year. Viking is bigger than we normally like, but the ships are beautiful and the adults only style appeals to me.so it is worth a try.

Your cabin does look nice (apart from the narrow balcony and tiny toilet!). A walk in robe would have been a good addition but I think we are spoiled on Seabourn with their cabin layout. Did you get any photos of the "normal" suites? Based on your experience with Ponant, would you consider them again?

We stayed at Shamwari for 3 nights last year as part of a land trip. Cost was £2100 for two people. You can easily book it yourself and you can be picked up from and taken back to Port Elizabeth at extra cost by Shamwari drivers. We stayed in Bayethe Tented Lodge. We have friends who have also stayed in Long Lee Manor there. Both excellent. The game drives are something we will never, ever forget. Majestic and awe inspiring.

 

 

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Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.