HRPro

Thanks to all who suggested the Live Chat for assistance with my shareholder OBC.  I communicated with Live Chat first thing Monday morning and Reena helped me get it sorted out in about 25 minutes.  I did have to provide the dates and times of my two emails, but they were able to locate the request and apply my OBC immediately.  After trying regular customer service and my Vacation Planner without any response, I am going to be using Live Chat for my customer service needs in the future.  Headed to Rome for our Eastern Mediterranean tomorrow afternoon.  We sail on Saturday.  First time on Princess since 2019.  Can't wait!

Susan/HRPro

Thank you all.  I haven't tried Live Chat, but I did see where that was an option M-F, normal business hours, so I will try that tomorrow.  I also have a cruise that I need to get cancelled having double-booked myself on a cruise that overlaps when I am still in France.  I should know better than to be multitasking when I'm traveling abroad, so maybe they can help me with that too.  You all are the best--fingers crossed Live Chat will be able to process this asap.

Susan/HRPro

We are departing on Saturday for a one-week Eastern Mediterranean Cruise from Rome to Athens.  Our first formal night will obviously be on our sea day, which is Monday.  We are sailing on the Regal Princess, and I am trying to figure out what night will be the second formal night.  We have a short port day in Ephesus from 7:00-2:00 on Wednesday and a full port day in Istanbul on Thursday.  Anyone on this cruise itinerary that can help me identify the second formal night.

Any advice/help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

I sent in my shareholder OBC request with the latest report from my broker about 2 weeks ago, and still nothing has been credited to account in the Personalizer.  I emailed the request as I have done several times without incident.  I gave them a week and called Customer Service and the rep was not helpful--just suggested that I wait another 24 hours since it had only been 7 days (my past experience is 2-3 days max for OBC credit).  Then I tried calling my Princess Vacation Planner, who has been recently assigned to us since I guess our previous person left.  She has not called me back either.  Not impressed with customer service from Princess.  Any suggestions on what I do next since we sail this coming Saturday on Eastern Mediterranean Cruise-Rome to Athens.

Many thanks as always for any suggestions/advice.

Susan/HRPro

Gorgeous pictures—now I am sorry we didn’t climb at least to the church.  All the churches in the lower town were not open when we were there.

Yes, in fact there were two on Ovation.

22 hours ago, frantic36 said:

 

Just curious, did you climb to the building at the top of the hill in this picture? We did and the view was amazing. The next two days our leg muscles reminded us we aren't as young or as fit as we thought we were 😅. 

 

 

Really loved Monemvasia and would love to go back. When our State Premier lets us get out of our State again, sigh.

We did not climb to the top.  It was hot and we wanted to get back to the ship for marina day, which just operated from 11:00-2:00 and you did have to sign up beginning at 10:30 until 1:30 if you wanted to participate.  We walked to the medieval village and back although there is a local shuttle bus that runs on the half hour if you don’t want to walk.

A few pictures from our day in Monemvasia.

On 9/6/2021 at 5:31 PM, marazul said:

You are quite welcome.  

One more tip.  Make sure you are on deck as soon as the ship sails away.  You will get the full view of the city in about 5 minutes after sailing away.

I wish we were there too!

 

(I will be near your neighborhood this weekend)

We loved Monemvasia and followed your tip  to be on deck to get pictures at sail away.  We also had a Marina day in Monemvasia, so toured the medieval village in the morning and enjoyed water sports in the afternoon.  It was a fun way to spend our final day onboard.  Sad we had to leave this morning and will definitely plan a two week itinerary next time.

13 hours ago, CRUISER94044 said:

Thanks for the update. We are hanging in our hotel room in Athens waiting for our arrival time. I am excited!

Have a great cruise.  We had a fabulous time and were sad that we couldn’t stay on for two weeks as most people were doing.

We just sailed September 4-11 and you definitely need a PCR test not an antigen test to board the ship.  We were tested on Wednesday morning, which is the earliest testing day fir a Saturday departure.  They will test you again once you arrive at the port and you have to wait in the terminal for your results to come up before going to the ship.  We arrived early on a Seabourn transfer from the airport, and we were processed and on board prior to our assigned boarding time by about 2 hours. 

On 9/10/2021 at 2:15 AM, mcondition said:

I also find 7th floor the best in seabourn ships. 

We were just on Ovation in 748 and love the 7th deck location—so  convenient  to everything!

On 9/7/2021 at 7:27 AM, jill1349 said:

I agree - was on Ovation two weeks ago and hair dryer worked very well by the little make up area between the closet and the bathroom - and was a mirror there.    We were in a V3 on Deck 7.

 

 

Hopping back on to report operator error on the hair dryer and not equipment problems.  We were able to use the hair dryer at the dressing table—I found you just need to make sure the plug is all the way in the socket fir it to work properly.  My daughter who has long thick hair and I both used the Seabourn hairdryer all week with no further issues.  Apologies for my earlier comment.

On 9/4/2021 at 10:17 AM, marazul said:

You are very lucky. Spetses is not that interesting. Monemvassia is a jewel.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the place where  you disembark is Monemvassia. There is a causeway leading from the port to an island with a castle on top. Monemvassia is at the end of the causeway and out of sight of the port. It is a beautiful walled city. Enjoy! 

The town runs a little green bus across the causeway for a couple of euros. There is also a good beach just behind the bus stop at the port. 

Thanks for the tips on Monemvassia.  I actually went to the port talk today to get some tips.  We will explore the medieval walled city, and very glad to know about the beach too.

On 9/3/2021 at 10:57 PM, hoosier74 said:

Hey HRPro/aka Susan!  Have a great trip! Margaret

It’s been fabulous so far.  Weather perfect and food is delicious.  You were right about the bread sticks and the Dover sole—both fantastic!  Hoping to snare another reservation for the TK Grill.

We are on Ovation this week, and I recommend bringing your own hair dryer.  The ship’s hair dryer is fine as far as drying your hair but it has euro plugs which don’t fit into the euro electrical outlet.  In our cabin the hair dryer would only fit in one outlet snd it’s not one by a mirror so if you like yo see what you’re doing when styling your hair, bring your own hair dryer.  I had the same problem with the dryer in the spa, so I don’t think the problem is limited to our cabin.  It kept cutting off because the dryer plug didn’t fit tightly in the outlet.  Very annoying!

We are on our way for the September 4 sailing and were notified by email of the port change beginning this cruise.  I’m pleased because there seemed to be very little to see or do in Spetsis, so we were basically treating it as another sea day.  Montemvasia seems to have much more to see and do.

Can’t wait to be on board in September to experience some normalcy and great cruising again.  

Thanks for the updates—keep them coming.  Glad the heatwave has broken and hope conditions  continue to improve as we depart on Ovation on September 4th.  Given the increasing virus cases in the US,  I’m ready to be on a ship where everyone is vaccinated and things seem to be mostly normal.  Fingers crossed that things don’t worsen in Greece, which would prevent us from sailing,

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We made our own arrangements.  Arrived at ATH around 8:30pm and then walked across the street to the Sofitel for the night.  The following morning we just grabbed a taxi to the port which cost 55 Euros.  At the port nobody seemed to mind that we had arrived before our assigned time.  There were only a about a dozen folks checking in when we got to the port which was about 12:30.

 

Cruising on this ship with about 270 folks is akin to being on our own private yacht.       Tonight is our first formal night.  Yesterday at Akios Nicholas (Crete) it was very hot.  DW and I walked about 3/4  of a mile to a popular sandy beach where we spent the afternoon sipping cold beer and swimming in the delightful sea. 

Thanks, Hank—good to know.  Looking forward to being onboard in early September and hoping the heatwave will have broken in another month.

Susan

On 7/31/2021 at 10:29 AM, Hlitner said:

We just boarded (today) the Ovation and thought we would keep this blog active.  As expected it is very hot in Greece with 102F probably about the truth.  For forecast for the next week has it getting much hotter in Athens (perhaps 112F) but it should be a little less hot in the islands.  Flying into Greece was relatively hassle-free.  We arrived at the port somewhat earlier then our assigned boarding time (we had no where else to go) but were warmly welcomed, given our COVID tests and on the ship within a half hour.  We have been told there will be about 280 on this week which is apparently more then they had last week.   Everyone we have met from the crew is very warm and welcoming as have been the ongoing passengers we met from the last cruise.    Nothing has changed from what we heard here on CC.  Passengers onboard do not need to wear masks, but the crew must still mask (a couple of crew members told us they hope that will change in the future).   Lunch in the Colonnade felt very normal with the usual buffet spread and amazing service.  It was the same at the Patio with a small buffet and the usual made to order items.  

 

Hank

Hank, were you on a Seabourn transfer from the airport to the pier or did you arrange private transportation?  We arrive very early and are hoping we don’t have to wait at the airport until closer to our assigned boarding time.  Have a great cruise and update us when you are able.

Susan

22 hours ago, Neverlookback said:

It has definitely been hot!  Suggest getting out early at the various ports and going back to the ship early.  We have not seen a cloud in the sky for nearly 2 weeks.  No regrets on going to Greece and finally traveling again.  Would definitely consider other itineraries in the future when they become available due the heat.  Pulling into Spetses this morning.

Please tell us about your day in Spetses especially if you had a marina day.  It will be our first time there, and I’m still trying to figure out how we’ll spend our day.

10 hours ago, guern11 said:

Hi Susan/HRPro and Lisacope. We are on Ovation for two weeks from September 4 so hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to meet you both.

I was also keen to find out my allocated boarding time which I now have -  I went all the way through on-line check in to get this. 
We’ve done a number of Seabourn cruisers but never taken the travel inclusive option which we have this time so fingers crossed!

 

David (and Carolyn)
 

Look forward to sailing with you and can’t wait to be cruising again.

Susan/HRPro

2 hours ago, Lisacope said:

When did you get your boarding time? I am on the cruise following yours on the Ovation

Our boarding pass was just listed on the Seabourn app this week, which included our boarding group and time.  Since you are sailing a week later, I’d be on the lookout early next week.

We are sailing on Ovation departing September 4, and have been assigned to Group C with an embarkation time of 1:40. However, our flight into Athens arrives that morning at 7:50 and we have a Seabourn group transport since we booked our flights through Seabourn’s Flight Ease.  Even allowing for extra time at the airport due to COVID protocols, we are likely to have a long wait before our boarding time. How will Seabourn handle this—will we be asked to wait at the airport for a later shuttle to take us to the pier or will they transport us and then have to wait at the terminal?  Since assigned boarding times are a new procedure, I would be interested in anyone that has sailed or will be sailing soon sharing their experiences.  I hate to be sitting at the airport waiting on a later shuttle, but it would help just knowing what to expect.  This will be my first  time sailing with Seabourn, and like everyone we will be anxious to get on board.  We usually do not fly in the same day as the cruise, but due up COVID protocols it seemed easier to do that this time, but now we may have long waits either at the airport or terminal al before we can board.

Any information or advice would be much appreciated.

Susan/HRPro