Legend & Spirt Together in Rome

[rmbell]

Checking the details of our upcoming trip, I noticed that both the Sprit and the Legend will be departing from Civitavecchia (Rome) on June 20 at 6:00 p.m. The Legend is heading around the Med, ending in Barcelona; the Spirit is headed for Greece. Could make for some comic confusions, were a passenger to board the "wrong" Seabourn ship. FYI

[Chairsin]

RMbell

We faced the same scenario last Sept. in Rome -- at first we thought we were seeing double -- the Roman driver of the car we hired wanted to take us to the Legend instead of the Spirit.He just had "Seabourn" on his itinerary and we kept trying to find a way in our fractured Italian to say "No, the other Seabourn ship". Since it was pouring rain we were not about to let him drop us by the legend and have to schlep our luggage all the way to the other pier where the Spirit was berthed.

[rmbell]

Chairsin, your reference to "luggage" made me think of something else: with two Seabourn ships tied up (presumably nearby), I think I better be extra cautious to see our bags get on the right ship. Any ideas, apart from staying put and actually "eyeballing" going on to the right vessell? If we sailed west and the Spirt sailed east, getting the problem worked out after the fact could be a real hassle.

[Chairsin]

rmbell,

While I can't know for sure if the logistics of berthing we observed last fall are typical or not I will say that the sisters were about 500 yards or so apart at different piers.Just make sure your drivers pulls up to the correct pier and practice the phrase " No, the other pier,please," in Italian in case of an "emergency." Our situation may have been extreme because of the driving rain and our Roman driver's lack of familiarity with the port. If you have been there before you know that the town is an hour or more out of Rome.The whole way there, in the midst of this bad weather and dangerous driving conditions, he was simulatanously talking on two cell phones and cursing, with the proverbial Itlaian hand gestures, the other drivers whom he had almost run into.By the time we got to the ship I was so grateful to be alive and out of Rome -- a city I love but there was a citywide blackout the night before and we were tired, unwashed and unshaved-- that it was like a mirage (in stereo) and I was ready to kiss the crew member who led us on board( three hours early -- we were not alone -- seems half of the new passengers left Rome early because of the blackout -- and don't you know Seabourn handled it with grace and ease). Frankly, I hate to admit I was so wet and frazzled that at that point I did not really focus on my luggage but left it to my husband and a crew member. Seabourn had a large panel van by the gangway and they loaded the luggage of arriving passengers in it until they were ready to officially take the luggage on board at the appointed hour. Miraculously our luggage did show up at our suite that afternoon. So... long way of saying if ours made it through those unique circumstances I'm sure you will be just fine. They are real pros on Seabourn!!!

[rmbell]

Thanks for the reassurances. Having the ships at some distance from each other would certainly prevent their being a pile of baggage that could be misrouted. I had mistakenly assumed that the ships had been tied up nose-to-tail or adjacent to each other, which might have some appeal to the crews themselves from the standpoint of making reprovisioning the two sister ships more efficient. But you're right: if we can imagine a potential problem, they can too -- and take steps to avoid it. But as a guy who once missed his bag on a Renaissance cruise in Indonesia, you can't imagine how hard it is to find a pair of size 12 shoes in Jakarta.

[Chairsin]

Yes, isn't that one of the best thingas about Seabourn -- it is not just that they plan for what is scheduled but they are so seamless and flexible in the way they adapt to changing circumstances. They would make a great case study in customer service.Sigh -- wish I could cruise more often -- have a great trip !!!