offtoalaska

I took the plunge on New Year's Day 2020; the crew on the Seabourn Quest did a great job in organizing the event.  I don't recall the no. of participants but it was dozens on that sunny day off the coast of Base Aerea Antartica.  I love looking at my certificate on my desk.  Don't recall Jaegermeister but a group of us went to the whirlpools on the pool deck and enjoyed shots of Becherovka, a Czech herbal, liqueur (heavy on clove, cinnamon and star anise flavors.)  My DH did not participate but did cheer me on.  Go for it if you're healthy;  I was 72 at the time and plan to do it again at some point in the future.  The water temperature was 34 degrees F.  Air temp was around 40 degrees.

Sailed on the Ovation in June; stayed in cabin 548; liked the location - low and mid ship and close to the launderette; sailing on the Encore Sept 2024 and chose 547; declined a two category upgrade because of my good experience this past June.

Thanks so much.  We'll stick with the plan.

1 hour ago, rrobbins said:

We are currently on Serenity in an ocean view cabin. We have sailed on Serenity before in an ocean view cabin and one of those was the 2015 World Cruise.  I know people have said the closet is smaller and it is.  I think the bigger problem are the doors. They use to be sliders and you could move them one way or the other to expose the entire closet. The doors now are pocket doors. When they are both open, the door on the right is within a couple inches of being flush with the interior closet wall. The closet wall on the left is two feet from the door edge.  It makes it difficult to reach items on the far left side of the closet.

 

Drawer space is a little less.  The vanity used to have drawers on both sides.  Now they’re only drawers on one side. The refrigerator use to be above one side of the vanity and that is now next to the closet. 

Thank you for the info.  Would you sail in an ocean view again with these changes to storage?

Has anyone sailed on NC Serenity in a double ocean view cabin?  The drawer storage seems to have disappeared and I'm wondering if this will be problematic.  We typically sail on Seabourn where there is lots of storage.  Originally booked Aquamarine suite but traded down due to an unexpected assessment from last year's hurricane (FL.)  Not sure if we're going to feel comfortable and may cancel before final pay next week. I can see that hanging storage is more limited due to placement of safe.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  I believe there had been previous comments but can't find them.

25 minutes ago, AtA said:

We would almost always get in. What we'd do is go around 7:30 or 8 PM and ask if they had room or if the sushi bar was available. We were only turned away a couple of times.

Was that recently or on "Old" Crystal?

Thanks for the quick response; so I think for a 13 night cruise we have access to two dinners without an additional charge.  It's been quite a while since we've been on Crystal (2017) so we're looking forward to our Caribbean voyage in January.  Seabourn became our go to line but we're done flying into SXM or BGI to catch their ships.  Miami is so much easier; I believe the Serenity will be at Terminal J;  so easy- just drop off luggage, park the car and a very short walk to enter the terminal.  Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale in 2025 will be even better.

Does dining at the sushi bar count toward the limited access to Umi Uma?

Also it is important that Crystal revise the Jan 5 voyage description on their website which still references a stop in St. Barts; some may read this and not notice that Gustavia is no longer listed nor on the map for that itinerary.   Not a problem for me butI'll contact my TA.

We're on Serenity's Jan 5 voyage and wish St. Barts had remained on the itinerary even though we've been there several times.  Not a fan of St. Martin although it is somewhat nicer IMO than St. Maarten.  

Seabourn made a similar change recently on one of their Caribbean trips but I did receive direct  notification.  I ultimately cancelled in favor of the Crystal voyage.  Still a good itinerary -  Les Saintes,

Jost Van Dyke and San Juan in particular.

The launderette is open from 6 am to midnight seven days a week.

We sailed on the Quest Dec 2019 for a 24 day  Antarctic holiday voyage from Buenos Aires.  DH wore his tux several times and was not out of place.  We do like to dress for dinner but we fit in with the rest of the passengers.  Do keep in mind that Christmas and NYE occured during our trip.  A November trip on the Venture might see a different mix of dress.  

My DH and I booked this cruise earlier this week.  Good itinerary; the rollcall is very quiet.  Wondering if anyone else is joining us.  We've found an excursion that will pick up at our ship which is great given we are in Akranes and not Reyjkavik.  See the Ovation roll call June 25 - Jul 9 for details.

Thank you.  That's a great site.

What sight are you monitoring for sea conditions?  We're booked on the Ovation departing Copenhagen on Jun 25; our crossing to Iceland from Gothenburg Sweden departs 6 pm Jun 26 with two sea days arriving Djupivogur, Iceland at 8 am on the 29th.  A little anxious about the sea days although we did weather Drake Passage in Dec/Jan 2019.  Hopefully weather might be calmer in late June.

We sailed on the Splendour in February; we were in a G2 category suite (deluxe veranda) and there was a freestanding light up makeup mirror on the dressing table.  Enjoy your voyage.

My TA doesn't have any specifics;  I've checked and I can get travel insurance which would cover any default scenarios.  The Crystal agent was great to speak with and provided good info regarding how past guests were compensated during the transition from old Crystal to the new Crystal.  We've booked the Serenity sailing from Miami on Jan 5 2024 and are eager to get back on board.

Just contacted my TA to book a Serenity sailing in January; she indicated that "Regarding Crystal, we are not booking them due to their financial status and the industry reviews of their stability. (It's been a rough road for them since Covid). Our insurance company is not insuring them at this time. "  Hmm I was really eager to book the Jan 5 2024 sailing now hesitant.  Any comments are appreciated.

Thank you all for your thoughts;  we've decided to stick with our Grandeur cruise Feb 5 - 17.  Why?  Many of the staff and crew that we so enjoyed on our Spendor voyage are scheduled to be on the Grandeur .  The excursions we've booked seem attractive even though we've been to ABC and other stops before.   Celebrating the Super Bowl and Valentines Day on RSSC is sure to be great fun.  The savings when the excursions are included is nada over Oceania.  

Thanks again.

We're booked on the Grandeur next February in an F2 cabin for a 12 night Caribbean cruise.  Oceania has a similar itinerary on their new ship the Vista about the same time.  When I compare the costs all in RSSC vs Oceania (same cabin category, prestige bev pkg and gratuities) it appears I could save about 25%.  No interest in the excursions, so thinking perhaps I should cancel and re-book on Oceania's Vista.  Has anyone sailed on both and have any comments?  We typically sail with Seabourn; tried RSSC once; Crystal many times.  Food and service are most important; entertainment  less so.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  

We live on Lake Keowee, near Clemson.  Second home is in Ponce Inlet FL.  Booked on our first Regent cruise Jan 21 - Feb 1 on the Splendor.  Looking forward  to getting back to cruising after a nearly three year hiatus due to Covid.  Usually sail with Seabourn and Crystal (eager to see what Geoffrey Kent aka founder of Abercrombie and Kent vacations does with the Symphony and Serenity.)  Only cabin available was G1 which is fine but  wish we could have unlimited device and logins instead of the one device limit for our cabin category.  Anyone know the cost of adding another device?  How many PCs are in the Splendor's business center and is there a charge for using the internet there?  Thanks in advance for any replies.

I'm guessing that Seabourn's return to service will be phased in starting late third quarter this year.  The voyages that will be first to go may be in the Adriatic and Aegean.  Greece is opening up to  some cruise ships starting this summer;  RCL Odyssey is offering cruises from Haifa, Israel to Greece and Crete.  Israel has been particularly successful in its vaccine roll out and therefore its citizens are being welcomed to visit.  Maybe I'm being overly optimistic since we are booked on the Ovation in mid Sept.and also in Jan 2022.

Regarding feeling safe, both my DH and I are fully vaccinated.  We still wear masks when out and about which mostly involves grocery store curbside pick up.  We did have dinner at a patio restaurant last weekend but we were the only guests there (Greenville, SC.)  We would feel safe on a ship now if everyone including crew were vaccinated.  

Regarding masks on a cruise; I guess we would  board a ship with those restrictions.   We'll evaluate once final payments are due.  We typically keep to ourselves on board so the mingling restrictions are not a big deal.  

Regarding port visit restrictions I guess we'd be OK with Seabourn excursions.

Here's hoping for cruising this year.  Can't believe we haven't been on a ship since January 2020 when we left the Quest after the 24 day Antarctica Holiday cruise.

We have booked the 14 day Gems of the Venetian Empire  (Piraeus to Piraeus) itinerary departing Sept. 18, 2021.  We decided that April or May journeys are more likely to be cancelled than those departing in the fall.  We'll see.  This will give us time to get vaccinated.

Here's an except from my Seabourn DOCS CHECKLIST(package received on Monday 11/11/19) for my upcoming Antarctica cruise in December:

"All guests will be required to have a passport valid for at least six months beyond the completion of the voyage with at least two completely blank, unused visa pages in each passport."

Maybe Seabourn isn't serious about  this.

I initially contacted the State Department for advice.  They indicated that if I had a problem it would be with either the cruise line (Seabourn) or Delta not with Argentina or Chile.  When I called Seabourn the representative in Seattle indicated that it was possible I could be denied passage as they do stipulate six month validity from date of completion of the cruise.  Seabourn said it would be better to be safe and get my passport renewed so I did.  So again the issue is not with the countries being visited but the carriers (airlines, cruise lines.)  I may have spoken with an unduly conservative Seabourn rep but at least now I have a valid passport into 2029 albeit it did cost me.