frantic36

Cheeky devil, I enjoy Captain Hamish's company when we can chat and are just sad his good wife Gail isn't sailing with him. We had the Caesar Salad to share and the Roast Chicken. The Roast chicken was plump and juicy. It was cooked properly and seasoned correctly for my taste but I must admit it didn't wow me this time as it has in the past. The Caesar Salad was made table side and I enjoyed that. The sides of creamed spinach and glazed carrots were also delicious. Maybe I was just in a vegetarian frame of mind. 🙂

Some snippets from our sailing so far. We have dined twice in the MDR and enjoyed very good service both times. The first night was very busy but we were in no rush with dining. We in fact found the tempo was fine with a slight wait between courses which we prefer. Water and wine service was no problem either. We spoke to the Sommelier about organising a package and he gave us the Reserve list menu to check out. We ordered our wines on the next night. The second night in MDR was much quieter. We asked to stay in the same section and that wasn't a problem. The main meal was a madras chicken curry and since we had met the charming Indian head chef the night before we were confident it would be authentic and he didn't disappoint. It had a nice spicy bite and we enjoyed it. I am sorry to disappoint but we rarely do bread or dessert so I can't comment on those. They looked nice from what I saw was served to others. It was Portofino today and the tenders ran frequently. Wait time for the tenders was less than 10 minutes both times we used them. We took the tender in and then took a ferry to the Abbey at San Fruttuoso which was fascinating. We had lunch at a cafe perched on the hillside, and I do mean perched 😊. Once I get my iPhone and laptop synching again tomorrow I will post a photo. We had pasta with a creamy basil pesto sauce and clams. I had seen the cafe staff having it for lunch just prior to service and made the assumption if they were enjoying it we would as well, I wasn't wrong, it was delicious. Tonight is formal night and we are dining in Thomas Keller. We will still dress up as that is something we enjoy doing. It is the Captain's welcome night speech but we will skip it this time as there will be a few for us this cruise. Julie

Are you Sue? If so I do remember and we met a wonderful group of people on that cruise. We have only planned to visit the military museum there and Roman theatre which we will do in the morning. So we can easily meet for drinks and a catch up, especially since we are there until 11pm. Contact me on julie z marshall at icloud dot com Julie

Thanks Isklaar and Fletcher. We are onboard and it feels good to be here. We boarded at 2.15 as we stopped to explore Sacro Busco (Monster Park) and have lunch in a small town where we both enjoyed the Pappardelle with wild boar. I'm not sure I can post photos as the internet is glacial at the moment. Check-in and embarkation was very easy and quick, under 10 minutes.We met Nick the Hotel Manager and Hamish is Captain this cruise. It was nice to see them both again. Our room was clean and our luggage arrived quickly. Our stewardess brought us our welcome champagne about half an hour after we arrived in the room. There will be a sail away on deck soon. Still getting used to using Seabourn Source for information like menus but my husband took to it like a duck to water. Julie

Thanks texanaust for the reassurance re testing. Have a safe journey home with no luggage going missing and thank you for your wonderful trip report.

I would also recommend thin plastic over pants. Handy if doing a zodiac excursion to help with the cold especially if you get any splash on you. I used them a few times in Alaska and will use them again when we do Antarctica.

I have no idea about current scheduling but certainly when we did our kayaking in 2017 at "stupid o'clock as you call it" we were able to get breakfast prior to the excursion both from room service and either Seabourn Square or Colonnade, I can't remember which.

This is good news Saffron. Both with the numbers of passengers and hopefully no need for testing each segment. My TA warned me this testing may be required and though I accepted it as part of the current travel requirement I was not looking forward to 3-4 extra tests. I keep my fingers crossed for us both it is no longer required.

Thankfully no problems with our baggage when we arrived in Rome on Tuesday and efficient in baggage claim. Maybe because we flew Singapore Airlines from Perth-Singapore-Rome? @Lena11033 if you are arriving this Saturday just to let you know it is Salde (sale time) if you want to pick up something here 🙂.

As promised my review of places I dined when in Rome. Piccolo Aranci was a small but very busy place near our hotel. They had misplaced our booking the hotel had made, I expressed my disappointment politely. We were trying to decide what to do when the message was sent the owner had found us a table. As an apology we got served a Prosecco to start and limoncello to finish, and no they weren't on the the bill later. My classic trippa in tomato sauce was the best I have eaten, so tender. My husband had veal with shaved truffle and they were very generous with the truffle...it was white truffle. The side salad was lovely and fresh. I didn't post the trippa photo just in case someone can't stand offal.😊 Rinaldo Quirinale just 50metres form our hotel specialises in seafood. We had Scorpion fish served with two ways with a cream sauce and tomato. It was wonderful but expensive as charged by 100gm. We will go back tonight for our last night but will test their Vongole which is a reasonable price. Colline Emilliane was lovely but I wasn't wowed like I thought. My gnocchi was not as light as what was made in our cooking class. Maybe my expectation was too high? I had eaten too much pasta at other meals including our cooking class so skipped it this time. La Lanterne we went for lunch and had fried calamari and scampi to share to start and Saltimbocca Romano. The seafood was so sweet and fresh and our mains were good. The staff are young but very efficient and professional. Definitely would go again, maybe for dinner. Casa Bleve was in a lovely setting and definitely for a special meal. I had Vittello Tonnatto to start and it was great but a big portion so I couldn't finish. My husband and I both had the Umbrine with clams and fennel and it was amazing. Our best fish dish for a long while. Sorry about the upside down ones but I have tried various ways to correct with no luck. I think there is a trick with which way you take the photo with my iPhone. Any hints welcome.

I think the weather gods missed the memo about the temperatures cooling, though I suppose 38-39C is better than low 40s 😊. Thankfully our hotel air-conditioning works very well. The only minor niggle is there is no way to make coffee in the room and my husband just asked for some from room service at 6am and was told No as too early...sigh.😔 The last couple of days we have filled with a food walking tour in the Testaccio neighbourhood. A visit to Dorai Pamphilj which is a Palace with a massive private collection of famous artists both framed and frescoes on the ceiling. It was like visiting the Vatican museum but without the crowds. On a side note we went to a pharmacy our hotel had recommended and got our test done to board the ship. They emailed the result via a government website which was tricky to navigate so reception here sorted it out and printed out our negative certificates. We also completed our Seabourn health forms so we are good to board the ship tomorrow. Just a small tip if you do visit. You can hire audio but not with the ticket purchase. It is from a small podium in the first room after you go through the turnstile. I didn't realise till halfway through and used some information from the website via my phone. I think the audio would have been useful as there is so much to see.

So we arrived in Rome yesterday at 9am after travelling from home for ~31 hours. Thankfully we had booked a car service as we found they had an impromptu taxi strike for 48 hours. I'm so glad we didn't have to deal with that after travelling so long. Villa Spalletti is delightful and thank you @Sunviking for recommending it. We have the non-alcoholic mini bar included and we were given 1 bottle of wine complimentary. The owners have their own vineyard but unfortunately we won't have time to visit. Evening drinks are also included and we enjoyed our Prosecco in the garden. As we arrived early and our room wasn't ready they held our bags while we went to explore Trajan's Market. An amazing place built in the BC era and the engineering was astounding as it was built into the side of the hill and had to support the weight against earth movement. It was the equivalent of our modern day shopping mall for merchants. Today we did a cooking class at Mazzano a town 40 minutes outside of Rome. It was great but it was over 38C today so very hot. I needed an afternoon nap when we returned. It was good food but pasta heavy, which we made, so dinner was salad to start and fish for main.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. We made it to Singapore. The have redone the Business class KrisFlyer Lounge during Covid. It has a lot more light and you can actually see across to the tarmac to see the planes. It feels smaller in size though. I will take photos and post later. I had to edit. My husband found a whole other section on the other side from when you come in. This section is where all the food stations are. You can get noodle dishes a la minute as well as Western and other Asian food. It has a glimpse of the tarmac but not as expansive.

The European dinner schedule is usually more like 8.30-9pm or later. I'm usually awake between 5.30-6am and I don't eat dinner until around 7.30-8pm and I'm not European.

Well our journey has started. And I am waiting in the airport lounge in Perth waiting to board our flight to Rome via Singapore. We have a 13.5 hour transit in Singapore because of changed flight times. I have booked the transit hotel in Terminal 1 so we can rest and freshen up before boarding our Rome flight. We had a slight problem on arrival due to having to ticket our two flights separately due to our WA borders being closed for so long. I had spoken to Singapore yesterday and they assured me "no problem". It took over an hour to sort but I was very grateful the supervisor sorting it was so efficient and she was very grateful we had got there early to check in. Looking forward to Rome and boarding Sojourn.

And I am waiting in the airport lounge in Perth waiting to board our flight to Rome via Singapore. We have a 13.5 hour transit in Singapore because of changed flight times. I have booked the transit hotel in Terminal 1 so we can rest and freshen up before boarding our Rome flight. Looking forward to hearing from mysty and reading her first funny. No pressure though mysty 🙂. Julie

Thanks for all the postings and port information. It is making the anticipation for our upcoming cruise more acute. We enjoy Palamos and the people. I hope the fire was brought under control quickly without too much loss of property and no injuries. Unfortunately we in Australia as you know @texanaustare all too familiar with Summer fires. Great photos by the way.

The testing requirements and pre-boarding health questionnaire requirements are as below, copied and pasted from Seabourn's website. I just googled the question and it went to the source. And yes they are still required. Mandatory enhanced pre-embarkation health screenings, and completion of required documentation – including health questionnaires, Passage Contract, and COVID-19 Risk Acceptance – to be completed no later than 72 to 24 hours prior to sailing. Guest who do not complete the required documentation will not be permitted to board. All guests ages five and above will require a medically observed, negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) result taken within three days of cruise embarkation for all European cruises except for embarkations in Greece which requires a two day medically observed antigen test or a 3-day PCR COVID-19 test. https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/health-safety/europe-travel-requirements.html https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/health-safety/guest-protocols.html

I think Sete is wonderful and Halles Market with the fresh oysters shucked in front of you, served with a glass of wine is something I am looking forward to. I'm just hoping they are open when we arrive on Bastille Day.

🤣Don't tell everyone.

Thank you. We will test in Rome as we we get there on the 5th and don't board until the 10th. Julie

We hope to see you both, all being well and us not ending up in quarantine. 😊🤞. I will try and post if the WiFi spirits are playing nice. Julie

😂 Your mother didn't recognise great initiative and entrepreneurship.

Isklaar, I am so sorry to hear of health problems and hope that it is resolved soon in a positive way. You bring up a good point about milestone award as we have 7 days due and were waiting till after a cruise next year to claim a 14 day cruise but now am not sure if we will be able to redeem it.

Nancy from your comments over the years you do seem like a very nice person and I am sure that you will be warmly welcomed on your sailings. I truly hope you enjoy your cruises though they won't be the same as Crystal due to the size of the ships and what can be offered. As Keith1010 mentioned in a recent comment, I wonder how some loyal Crystal sailors would feel if this happened with Crystal? It sounds like quite a few on that board are just waiting for Crystal to restart and other cruises are just placeholders.