kej1

I have had someone carry up my carry on for me. Only had to carry my purse.…. They are very accommodating but again if you aren’t comfortable with stairs it’s probably best to choose a regular penthouse suite. They are also very nice!

There is a spiral staircase leading to the Penthouse Spa Suites on Quest, Odessey, and Sojourn. If you have a hard time with stairs I would not recommend. We stay in these suites most of the time and I have never seen the chairlift in use. On one cruise we were on a gentleman injured himself and the chair lift didn’t work. Fortunately they were able to change cabins. The views are great and the suites very nice but you do have to be comfortable with stairs. As I recall there were about 10? I never counted but it’s not a few and not a lot.

Khareef, the paperwork is to be completed on board. At least that’s what I was told for our trip from Papeete to Guam. ( two legs, the second starting in Guadalcanal ( Honaria). I hope that helps. If you want to call to verify ask the concierge to speak to a supervisor in the documents group. The regular person in documents said must be done in advance but when questioned asked a supervisor to get the answer I had as well as sfovoyage.

If you’d like to be by the sea the Hotel Arts is lovely particularly if you book a seaview room. If you want to be in the middle of the city I like the Mandarin Oriental which is a great location. Of course Hotel Arts is only a short taxi ride away.

I spoke to Seabourn today. First call was a bust. I called back and got a very good “ concierge” who did some checking with the document group and got back to me with the same feedback sfvoyage provided. For all US citizens we will fill out some forms and Seabourn will take care of the Visas for Papua New Guinea. Thank you again to sfvoyage for your information! Now it’s double confirmed!

Sfovoyage, thank you for the information. I have not received this in my several attempts to clarify with Seabourn. Can you let me know how you found this out? Who you spoke with? I want to make sure the same holds true for our cruise which ends as yours begins. I assume it would but after all the various answers I’d like to confirm, thanks so much!

Dusky, Thank you for your reply. I started with the US State Dept site. Looked at the various country websites and then called Seabourn to see if they would issue on board and that’s where the run around started! I only did this as on our west Africa trip 2019/2020 Seabourn took care of some of the visas on the ship for a fee which is always easier. Subsequently my TA has received multiple answers too. Most recently told no visas were needed which is contrary to what she’d been told previously. So perhaps being handled as it was for highplainsdrifter on Silversea. I have looked at the PNG visa website and what I will do is call them Monday to clarify on New Guinea at least as we are making multiple stops and we don’t want to be left on the ship! if I learn something definitive I’ll post in case others want to know.

Thank you to all for your input and good to know visa wasn’t required for Silversea in PNG. But, I continue to get different answers on the visa questions - depends on who I’m talking to at Seabourn - nobody seems to know. So it concerns me. They sent me to an outside visa service and they said needed for PNG and Niue. They also said visas on arrival were required for several of our stops. I went back to Seabourn to confirm they would handle the visas on arrival as they had done on our west Africa trip and they said no, then another person said they weren’t sure, another said maybe. My TA has been given mixed answers as well. I have a local visa service in San Francisco my company uses when we are traveling and it requires visas. I’ve been using them for years for business so I have a call into them and will likely just bite the bullet and get the visas I may need. I just can’t believe I can’t get a straight answer from Seabourn. I know they state it’s up to the passenger but I’d hope they would be able to at least say yes or no. And given they handled the visas in many cases in the past…… On the travel insurance I will double check but from what I read and what they told my TA I believe it’s covered but thank you for bringing it to my attention. Allianz is who ours is with fir this trip.

Thank you to Fitstylist55 for getting this information for us. I did finally after a number of attempts receive additional information from Seabourn. For snorkeling they will have equipment for passengers to use on the ship should one decide not to bring our own. For divers as Fitstylist said people will need to bring our own gear although they will provide masks, fins, weight belts and tanks. For diving the information stated divers must bring all dive certification cards, and must have completed at least two open-water dives within the last 12 months prior to the start of the voyage. One must also complete the PADI Diver Medical Questionaire and a Physicians Evaluation form. If the diver is required to see a physician it must be done 6 months prior to the start of the voyage. Diving will be limited to 100 feet and no more than 60 min. Evidently this is as of lately posted ( or going to be posted) when you click on excursions for the voyage you’ve signed up for with a bit more detail. I hope this helps clarify a bit more and again thank you to Fitstylist55 for talking to the expedition team! so for my husband and me we will be snorkeling as it’s been too long since we last did open water dives and our cruise is in April! Hope this helps others!

On the classic ships - O series - there are steps to access the spa suites. They are above the spa and there is no elevator. There is a chair that could potentially take one up the stairs but in a number of cruises in those rooms I’ve never seen it in use. Not sure if it works! On ovation and encore there is an elevator. We haven’t been on an expedition ship yet so not sure the situation but in looking at the deck plans it seems they are on floors with elevators.

I saw you cruise in today from my home! Lovely to see and lucky you as it’s beautiful and sunny today whereas yesterday was raining and gloomy! Have a great time!

Thank you. Good to know.

We are on a 30 day expedition cruise which includes a number of stops in Papua New Guinea. USA citizens need a Visa. In the past ( pre Covid) on a trip to West Africa where many countries required Visas most were handled on board by Seabourn for a fee. Does anyone know if this will be the case? I haven’t been able to get an answer from Seabourn or our TA. We can get one ourselves but it’s so much easier to get on board. Thank you in advance if you know the answer although I realize this itinerary is new to Seabourn.

Please share any information you find out about activities and excursions on this cruise. We are on this cruise as well for 30 days from Papeete to Guam. We are divers but lately have been primarily snorkeling. Have our Advanced dive certs but they are quite old so not sure if they will be acceptable.

Thank you for the advice. Do you know if they will provide wet suits?

That I love! Such a cutie!

Wouldn’t even consider bringing cask wine on board or even drink anywhere! 🤣 happy holidays!🍾🍷

We often bring a case of wine on the ship. We have never been charged corkage and always offer the sommelier a bit.

The good news is it is a relatively short flight from Athens to Istanbul! I think about 1 1/2 hours. It’s worth a visit but too bad the cruise changed. I’ve been a number of times by land and it’s one of my favorite cities to visit!

We rented one pair when we were on quest dec2017-Jan 2018. It was done through the company they recommended. As I mentioned I used them twice when the walks were longer and mostly uphill but husband did not use at all. In retrospect I had nit used before and likely didn’t need them but they were helpful. if you have them and they fold up and fit in your luggage nit bad to bring. Or rent one pair as we did. Just depends on if you want something to lean on while wandering around on shore or to help walking.

I suggest bringing them or if you don’t want to pack when we went (2017/2018) they could be rented and left in your room for a modest amount if money, I used them once or twice for longer hikes. My husband did not use them at all. The expedition staff did clear walking pathways so they were not necessary but I did use them on occasion when the path was a bit steep or longer.

Thank you Commodore Dave!

When we did this trip a number of years ago the ship docked at the inner city dock which was very convenient. Private guides were not allowed in the locked gate area but would meet you right outside the gate.

Does Pursuit open the MDR for lunch? On sea days and port days? is there an option to order table side in the Colunnade or on the patio? Looking forward to our cruise in April.

When we were on the quest ( dec 2017/jan 2018) the Antarctica/South Georgia islands trip started in Santiago and ended in Buenos Aires. I do recall eating on the patio not only during warmer parts of the trip but also sometimes in Antarctica as we had in general good weather and the overhead heaters worked well especially when one had on warm clothing. I don’t recall eating dinner there at night as I don’t think they had started with the E&O concept yet ( I could be wrong), and we aren’t big Colunnade people so don’t recall if people ate outside there in the evening. I imagine on nice nights yes, but I’m sure it was weather dependent. On that trip the MDR was open for lunch every day, not sure about breakfast as we don’t eat much and often use room service for that meal, but I assume it was open for breakfast as well. i can say that when we were in Alaska summer of 2019 we ate at E&O a number of times so despite some cold weather it was open and full as I recall. So I think you might have better feedback from those who have taken the new ships to Antarctica! Have a great trip!