robertmartha

TY markandjie we still have not booked for next year - one does northern ports - the other southern ports. I am leaning toward sailing out of Iceland doing the northern ports and ending in Dover and spending a few days post cruise in London.

jondfk Hoping you see this before dinner tonight - when you arrive at the restaurant - ask to sit in Cristos' section (if available) - you can seriously tell the maitre'd about your experience last night as well - and state he comes highly recommended from prior cruisers. Sounds like the one disappointing night we encountered - we were a party of six - seated next to a wait station - I asked if we could be moved to an open 6 top a few tables down - was told we could and the wait staff moved us. Never saw a waiter after that. Had to flag down the Manager who was completely mortified - who took our order but then it was a hodge hodge of wait staff serving us...the table they moved us to obviously did not have a waiter assigned to it.

Jondfk - TY so much ! Appreciate the recommendation - can't wait to follow along if/as you are able to post. We were very early in the season and saw very little wildlife .... from recent posters and following along on instagram looks to be very active now. We were very fortunate with the weather as well - drizzled on embarkation day and just one morning when we did the rain forest hike 😉..other than that we had fabulous weather. If you can - definitely try to do the zodiacs and kayaks - the expedition teams were amazing.

Johdfk - will be following along. We sailed on the second sailing (southbound) this season and the memories of that fabulous cruise are keeping me going thru this summer till we board Ovation in November 😉 If you are open to/for a Restaurant waiter recommendation - ask to sit in Cristos' section - he and his team were fabulous. We sat in his section the second night and asked for him/his section every night after. Will be interested in your perspective and observations. Bob from NY

Texanaust - let us know how ICELAND is....planning on doing the Dover to Iceland sailing next year. How were the seas sailing to Iceland? Thanks Bob

TY skyblue ! Yes our first visit - but hopefully not our last 😉 Actually now leaning toward sailing out of Reykavik and doing the 3 northern ports and then a port in Scotland ending in Dover and then spending a few days in London. This would be the first week of September so hopefully a bit less crowded (then July and August) and hopefully the dreaded midges I have read about will be less annoying?!?!

Looking at '24 sailings to and from Iceland on Sojurn. Sailings either do 3 northern ports or 3 southern ports. This would be our first time visiting Iceland. Thoughts - recommendations - preferences.... for those who have sailed around Iceland? thanks all !

Tapi - great to hear - we are cruising the med the first week of November! Our friends who are cruising with us are ALSO going to the med in August on Celebrity. When they asked if we wanted to join them - my wife and I looked at each other and said no way would we do the med in August (and on Celebrity LOL!). Once you cruise Seabourn - no going back for us at least!

we are actually stopping there in our early Nov cruise - so hoping for a quiet uncrowded experience ! Bob

Looking at booking (for next year Dover to Reykjavik (2 stops in Scotland) so interested in everyone's experiences over the next few weeks if you are able to post. Next years sailing will be on Sojourn (we have sailed on Odyssey so ship wise I know what to expect) Bob

Safe travels home SLSD. Thank you again for taking us along on your sailing. Bob

TY SLSD! Hopefully Christian will still be on board in early November. Was on a call last night with the other couples we are traveling with planning our days and making arrangements - pre planning is always so much fun ! Really enjoying your posts and photos' - a sailing like yours is definitely on our wish list enjoy the rest of your cruise !

TY SLSD!

SLSD...thinking ahead for our sailing on Ovation in a few months...hoping Christian may still be on board! Really makes a difference in the Restaurant (at least for us) when you have a fantastic and engaging waiter.

Also on the Odyssey two weeks ago (Juneau to Vancouver sailing) and the included internet worked fine. Was able to check into work every day - no issues 🤮

Thank you SLSD for taking us along. We board Ovation in 147 days (but who is counting 😆) Will be following your posts and observations about the ship and staff (we are doing a completely different sailing). ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY Bob

Jondfk We sailed two weeks ago (Alaska) and also received multiple emails right up to embarkation about our assigned boarding time. As it turns out we waited on shore for the rest of our party and ending up boarding at our assigned time (1pm). We had dropped our luggage off earlier (even our carry on's) so we walked up thru security - showed our boarding passes and passports - greeted by the CD Robert at the gangway - right up to the lounge - room cards in hand all within twenty minutes if that. It was so pleasant and the best way to start a sailing !

JPH - completely understand. I was checking constantly for our other two cabins - our adult daughters and their SO's on their first Seabourn cruise - so of course I had told them about the tab and they of course thought how fabulous it would be ! But as I said all was made good within an hour of embarkation. And the fridge stayed very well stocked for all of them for the week ! For the wife and I - all we drank was the Pellegrino...never even opened anything else that had been stocked. Unless someone spends a lot of time in the cabin - anything we needed was available in the colonnade, the pool deck, bars, restaurants, etc. I definitely indulged more then I would at home ... but it is vacation ! I did get a bit nervous when I didn't recall finishing one night in the club with an espresso martini though! 😨 !

JPH814 A lot of folks have posted that the tab on the registration page has been "down" / blank / 404 Error (I believe) for quite some time. We had 3 cabins on a sailing two weeks ago - our cabin when I registered all the other tabs - it worked and was filled in from our previous sailing. The other two cabins were never able to complete that tab. Just told our room stewardess' on embarkation when they stopped by to introduce themselves. We were 3 cabins in a row and were "toasting" the start of the cruise when they stopped by - so made it easy all around ! Bob

Jotravels we were a party of six two weeks ago- when I went to book all that was available was 6pm....way to early for us. Once on board stopped by and spoke to the woman at the podium - said we were completely open to any night - just later seating - put us in at 8:30 on Tuesday (we sailed Friday) As long as you are flexible - should not be an issue.

Jondfk Will be eagerly following along for your thoughts and impressions. Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences. We only have (2) Seabourn sailings under our belts so we are fairly "new" to Seabourn ourselves - but our 3rd booked on the Ovation in November. Safe travels. Bob

ABSOLUTELY agree with SLSD Juneau was a great port - we got into our hotel at midnight but got up the next morning - walked to a local coffee/breakfast spot - had a great relaxing breakfast and then walked to the ship with our luggage and dropped it off. When we walked around "downtown" Juneau ...have to agree - just tourist shops and jewelry stores (granted I am not a shopper so I may not the best person to comment on stores 😉) but even in Wrangell (really just a port town with a main street), Prince Rupert (actually very depressed downtown area once you walk up the hill from the port)...Alaska for us was all about getting out there on the water or on hikes...all outdoors. If we are lucky enough to ever do the same sailing again (and I would do it in a heartbeat) I would really plan it out more thoroughly to take advantage of ALL the hiking opportunities available in each port. The ship excursions offered only two in Wrangel. We could have done quite a few more on our own. In Prince Rupert a few of us took a cab to Butze Rapid Trail - it was fabulous. Some of us trail ran, some of us walked (actually I think the ship offered this but we did it at a fraction of the cost).

John I can only speak to the boarding process (just returned from the second sailing of the season) - EASY Ship was docked at the port - dropped off luggage outside the check in area (we dropped off at 11:30 for a 1:15 embarkation) walked around Juneau for and hour / half - met up with the rest of our party at 1:10 - walked thru check in kiosk - showed passports and boarding pass - on the ship to the lounge - check in received your key card - off to the cabin - luggage already in the room! Off to lunch at the colonnade! We were back out and took the Mt Roberts tram (after lunch) and then hiked up the mountain at the top. great afternoon and great way to start the sailing

Ithikan We just completed Juneau to Vancouver. Embarking in Juneau - front and center along with quite a few other ships - other ships had to tender in. Only other ports Wrangell and Prince Rupert no shuttle required, Alert Bay (tender). Keep in mind the southbound sailing is advertised as an expedition sailing - not about the large commercial ports but rather small ports where the "town" is at the dock basically. Bob

Thank you galeforce Hopefully the storm you experienced was a one off and we experience what you experienced last October - fingers crossed 🤞