BasandSyb

Seabourn in our history of 20 years has been egalitarian, which we love and is why we had a philosophical issue when the Retreat was introduced. We still don’t understand or agree with it, but that’s us. Thank you to those who received the survey and responded in support of our unique experiences at sea.

1/3 of the dining menu items are up charges (all venues including after paying entry to a specialty); a reluctance to provide water other than packaged at a price; drink prices which if your maths isn’t good tick over $15 with the added service fees and you pay in full. Having to continually sign for drinks with waitstaff seeking tips. Constant spruiking on board to sell you something. It’s all nickel and diming that detracts from the experience. How much is the administration costing them? Tell me the cost, I’ll pay it just leave me alone onboard to have a holiday.

The only things HAL hasn’t charged us for yet are the coat hangars and hair dryer.

Australian and didn’t receive it. The mere suggestion frightens the heck out of us. We are currently experiencing our first HAL and climbing the walls. No lectures, all activities (except quick trivia) are for the purpose of promotions and upselling - art, spa, casino, shop, photos. Basil went to look around the spa and returned angry as the spa personnel were more persistent and aggressive in pushing sales than the best Egyptian tourist hawkers. Every menu has up charges even in the specialty dining venues - $130US extra doesn't seem to provide much difference from the dining room. If you’d like a small lobster add another $30. Drink orders take forever and involve paperwork, service charges, cadging for tips and signatures. Don’t understand the point when we have a drink package and prepaid gratuities. It’s a chaotic and unpleasant environment which we will not be repeating which has cost us roughly the same as what we would pay for a Seabourn cruise. Not our cup of tea.

A transfer by private car or taxi to the Alvear Palace is just under $70 Australian - you do the maths. As you exit the baggage pickup there are people who organise the cars and take a credit card payment (cash is more $$). The car was more than adequate for our large amount of luggage. Certainly better than waiting on other people. We had an extra night in BA on return due to 6pm flights. The taxi charge back to EZE was the same as the inward journey.

I take a 7 (EU37) normally with a C fitting and the Bog boots were spot on with a pair of thin inner socks and thicker merino outers. I think we were on with Kiwi Afloat and agree with distances mentioned on our Feb Ant/Sth G trip. For some unknown reason I arrived with a sore foot and putting it down with pressure was excruciating for the first 10+ days. The boots I found supportive, warm and with the sticks provided I made every landing and walk with tolerable discomfort. On expedition ships boots are included. On ocean ships they are rented.

We have also been bombarded by these emails of recent (and for the previous 6 months - sold out then too apparently) and agree with the comments re: website, information, marketing “gurus” (!) etc. We wonder these cruises may be targeted to offset the new competition in the Mediterranean pond from the increasing number of smaller ships, Ritz Carlton etc. For those of us with very fond memories of the little ships, perhaps Seabourn is starting to see the expedition ships as a bridge back? Agree they aren’t necessarily suited in layout, but 200-300 interests us more than larger. We can do without shows/ entertainment, and would rather a small group of musicians versatile in doing some sessions solo/duo/band. The production pieces on larger ships become stale very quickly in our opinion. Could it be déjà vu all over again?

Sounds like a good result given the difference in turnaround times and training - TK implementation and decor vs Solis commencement. The difference is valuing in-house expertise rather than spending multi-millions on “celebrity” contracts. Nothing wrong with the decor I’m glad they weren’t wasteful in doing a total refit. If I were a shareholder this would seem prudent. Thanks for your honest feedback. Fingers crossed the concept will do well.

Sometimes finding one you like is very difficult as we like full bodied reds. They will go the extra mile and find loose bottles from an old list and have them ready at your dining venue. The problem is making sure it doesn’t run out as once it’s unearthed others find it. 😩

Have been advised our charter flight to BA is 10:23 arriving 13:53. Our flight out is 17:50. We are going back into our Recoleta hotel until the following evening based on the principle of whatever can go wrong, will.😩

Always educational - I had not a clue what you were talking about with roller board/rollaboards. Thought it must have been some type of little scooter that you mentioned to illustrate what you could board with (but couldn’t fathom why you would bother to have taken scooters). Have just done a google 😂. We just refer to them as carry-ons - wheeled or not. Add another one to the urban dictionary.

Those details were on our Seabourn itinerary emailed to us with confirmation and with subsequent payments. Perhaps it's gone to your TA? We end on Venture on 20 June fly that day, included accommodation overnight EDI and the "cruise" package ends on 21 June with an airport transfer.

Generally each port authority will have its own website and list of commercial and other vessels for the coming months/year as they are booked in and paid for. They can be subject to change in some ports with larger ships being juggled around.

Perhaps because fewer staff on board to divert to service? It does cut across staff rest periods.

Friends have just been advised their Silver Moon Doha-Mumbai on 26 Jan has been cancelled. We were looking at some Seabourn specials a few days ago and wondering how likely they would be given the ports. Sounds like a lot more itinerary changes to come.

Thanks for what you posted Shark b8. Always entertaining, we shared your disappointment. We also know well the feeling of 30-40hrs travelling but nothing better than being greeted by a dog with the zoomies.

Tuchik 👍 we’ll be the ones in black, yellow jackets with Australian accents. Looking forward to it.

We are on the same with you. Will see you “out and about”.

It is very confusing. They were banned by a number of airline companies. The various aviation authorities have confirmed they are ok as the amount of lithium in the checked luggage would be small, but some freight companies continue their bans. We have RTW tickets with Lufthansa for February which state a ban although Lufthansa apparently lifted its ban in November 2022 but didn’t widely announce it. My feelings in considering their use on our trip was the complete unknown of freight companies swapping airline freight carriers at the last moment and someone in a uniform deciding they want my luggage opened and checked. Shark b8s story convinced me further.

As an addendum - the luggage forwarding system in Japan between hotels works brilliantly and costs about $70 AUD to move 2 x largest size suitcases.

They would seem helpful. We considered tags but have read that multiple cargo/freight airlines have banned them - also Lufthansa with which we have multiple flights, so haven’t bothered further for fear of having to cross check shifting rules for the next 6 months.

Sounds excruciatingly painful, very frustrating and not to mention expensive if you need to replace more than a few days of clothes. The experiences mentioned have certainly put us off using it. We don't mind wrangling luggage for short movements at this point in our lives. However, we are travelling 4.5 months this year and the misalignment of multiple airline allowances, weight and Seabourn charter flights was doing our heads in. To avoid the problem, we were considering some point to point luggage movement in Europe through a company which guaranteed a two day turnaround but were a bit wobbly with timing and worried that although pre-arranged a hotel concierge might not accept it in our absence. Thankfully Seabourn has re-visited its wording of allowances, corrected what we have been told and clarified baggage limits we can work with - and I made sure to get it in writing. Now we just worry about the airline Gods and what may/may not arrive or be damaged following various airport hopping. Thanks to Shark b8 for the topic and the sharing of experiences. Labonnevie - that Regent world cruise post was interesting... was it just me or did a lot of the food look not very tempting, and some plates almost like mush? Have travelled Regent, but will stick with Seabourn.

Depends if you feel the cold and when your sail date is 😇 January weather on the below link: https://www.accuweather.com/en/ar/ushuaia/6462/january-weather/6462

Yes, The George first with overflow to The Kimpton. We are on the same trip - advice received from Seabourn when we started pushing for info to finalise our travel. Where you land will depend on bookings volume. We found it easier to just lock in elsewhere for another few days.

Thank you for taking the time to do this. We are joining Pursuit in February for what will be the beginning of 4 months away and your packing comments will be very useful. 😵‍💫 Sorry to see Shark B8 is still off line - that must be so disappointing for them both. Hopefully they have managed some activities and are on the improve. If you haven't been to BA before, be wary when on the street and leave all your valuables in the safe (including personal jewellery - earings etc.). Look forward to hearing more of your travels.