Papeete to Guam on Seabourn Pursuit and pre stay at Brando Resort

[kej1]

@BioInfoLibso far things of improved a lot on the second half of this trip.  Once we got to the Soloman Islands, after Honaria we have had snorkeling every day.  We just arrived in Bougainville and the ship is clearing immigration.  The plan has changed or I should say evolved and I think most people in the ship are quite happy.  We are not actually disembarking in Buka but on one island this morning for a village cultural visit and shopping for local crafts and later this afternoon we will visit another island for snorkeling and swimming.

 

my husband and I are a bit disappointed only in that we had planned to visit an American some friends from home introduced us to today in Buka.  He spends half time here and half in the US.  He’s an author and is doing economic development on the island.  We had been communicating for several months and I had confirmed just two days ago that we were in fact stopping in Buka but the plans changed so I found out last night we would not be able to meet after all.

So sad for us but I’m sure it will be a nice day and better for most guests.  And of course we are happy to be able to snorkel again! I think your trip will be fine!

 

[BillK400]

2 minutes ago, kej1 said:

@BioInfoLibso far things of improved a lot on the second half of this trip.  Once we got to the Soloman Islands, after Honaria we have had snorkeling every day.  We just arrived in Bougainville and the ship is clearing immigration.  The plan has changed or I should say evolved and I think most people in the ship are quite happy.  We are not actually disembarking in Buka but on one island this morning for a village cultural visit and shopping for local crafts and later this afternoon we will visit another island for snorkeling and swimming.

 

my husband and I are a bit disappointed only in that we had planned to visit an American some friends from home introduced us to today in Buka.  He spends half time here and half in the US.  He’s an author and is doing economic development on the island.  We had been communicating for several months and I had confirmed just two days ago that we were in fact stopping in Buka but the plans changed so I found out last night we would not be able to meet after all.

So sad for us but I’m sure it will be a nice day and better for most guests.  And of course we are happy to be able to snorkel again! I think your trip will be fine!

 

Glad to hear the "expedition" side of the cruise is improving!

[texanaust]

Just a quick review of the food so far...Dinner in the Restaurant very good to excellent.  Breakfast and lunch in the Colonnade poor.  Breakfast in the Restaurant-good service with poor ingredients.  The bacon is very low quality, no berries (sort of expected that) and the omelettes are terrible.

 

Regarding the food, we had nice conversation with the corporate executive chef during the cocktail party a couple of nights ago (there is no executive chef currently onboard).  We mentioned a few things we thought could be improved upon such as the curry at lunch that tasted nothing like curry, breakfast items, etc

 

Interestingly his response was that 'Seabourn does not prioritize food on its Expedition cruises.'  That is an exact quote from the SB corporate executive chef!   We were interrupted by the Captain's introductions just after he said that, so unfortunately no chance to follow up. 

 

I do plan to run that comment by the F&B manager (whom we know well) and get his thoughts!

 

 

[sfvoyage]

3 hours ago, texanaust said:

we had nice conversation with the corporate executive chef ..

Interestingly his response was that 'Seabourn does not prioritize food on its Expedition cruises.'  That is an exact quote from the SB corporate executive chef!

 

Who is this corporate executive chef?

[kej1]

Don’t know who is the corporate executive chef.  Agree and disagree on the food.  
Colunnade is pretty poor so agree on that point.  Lunch outside hot and humid, limited menu, good service but poor food.  ( of course we don’t care for buffets  and these don’t look good).  Service good but we only sit outside as I just don’t like eating in the cafeteria.   
And given the weather and crowds on some days would make sense to open the MDR but only on sea days and I think maybe staffing the issue.  
 

MDR IMHO - fair to very good.   Dinners at Colunnade fair but sometimes nice to sit outside at night since weather nice and tends to be cooler if the ship moving.   Breakfast we have only had in our room and we don’t eat a big meal so it’s been fine.  Croissants actually really good.  But we dint expect much for breakfast.

i will say the service at meals has been great for us.  Just getting tired of the food and after the first two week segment its repetitive.   So I’m not surprised they don’t focus on the food as it is apparent although we have had some good things.  Just not  consistent.

I think at these price points food should be very good.  

 

Regarding the cruise.  Today we were in Rabaul.  There were three excursion offerings:

 

1.  WW2 excursion - third party complimentary 

2. Hike - paid not complimentary

3. Mask event in the afternoon - complimentary

 

As we did not  know in advance about the tours ( except thanks to this website did have a heads up), several months ago we had booked a private tour of the WW2 sites and we were glad we did.  I also dint like to commit to something and nit do so didn’t cancel.  We left early, set at our own pace, had a really good guide and saw a few extra things.  The roads are in terrible shape after the end of the rainy season so everything takes longer to get around.   But the people are extremely friendly ( may help that our guide Rose seemed to know everyone on the island) and very welcoming,   The town of Rabaul itself was damaged completely with the eruption 30 years ago.  So many of the people and businesses are now in Kopoko  which is a good hour from Rabaul partly due to the road situation.  So if you are planning to visit many if the sites are a good hour away so keep this in mind,  
 

One fun thing still in Rabaul is the “ New Guinea Club” where expats in the olden days gathered to have drinks.  It’s still there in the town of Rabaul with lots of old photos of days passed, but just a museum now.  The actual town of Rabaul is pretty deserted.  Yes there is a market ( closed today as Sunday) and a few things but our guide said here is where the cinema used to be, etc,   I could only imagine that this was the bustling town that is now pretty run down.  There is an hotel, the club, and the Yamamoto bunker and of course near the port but it’s in sad shape.  Everyone moved away including Rose with the big eruption and not many moved back.  Rose did despite the fact she was 9 months pregnant with her youngest son when the eruption happened and had to live in a shelter for two years.

 

Most of the ship did the free tour so there were numerous buses lined up to take 200+ people around the island. The hike only had about 8 people the remaining 200+ did the bus excursion.  
 

I must admit we did not attend the mask dance ceremony.  We saw lots of masks with our guide and she gave us all the information about what the real ceremony means.  I’m sure it was a great event but we were tired a decided to just relax on the ship once we got home from our tour.

 

Tomorrow’s   planned stop at Kavieng has been substituted and we have found the expedition team not really focused on the WW2 pieces of this part of the world.  Instead we will visit Garove Island which is a volcanic caldera.  There will be a cultural visit show and a walk around the village. Many of the guests we’ve met ( primarily USA, Britain, and Australian) are interested in WW2 in this region so there is a bit of a disconnect as this is not really the focus of the lectures or excursions.   But nonetheless it has been interesting and just good to know if WW2 and history in general is of interest this is not the focal point.  Nonetheless we are still enjoying the cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

[kej1]

Apologize for the horrible spelling mistakes.  Between my fingers and the rogue spell check on my iPad I’m embarrassed, but hope you get something out of this!

[highplanesdrifters]

1 hour ago, kej1 said:

Apologize for the horrible spelling mistakes.  Between my fingers and the rogue spell check on my iPad I’m embarrassed, but hope you get something out of this!

 

I for one am grateful for the report, minor spelling issues and all.

 

I frequently suffer from fat finger spellcheck errors along with a plethora of grammatical errors.  It's tough trying to get real time thoughts down quickly with the pressure of getting to dinner or a tour on time along with knowing that the internet is currently working and you need to hit send. IMHO, no apology necessary. Of course I send shivers up Fletchers spine with most of my posts. 😂

[Robisan]

11 hours ago, texanaust said:

Interestingly his response was that 'Seabourn does not prioritize food on its Expedition cruises.'

Reading this otherwise enjoyable travelog it seems Seabourn doesn't prioritize what I would consider expeditions on some of their Expedition cruises either. Really begs the question what are they even doing here? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Happy that our correspondents are enjoying the experience despite some significant under delivery of promise.

[LocoLoco1]

If I may: Perhaps always arranging permits and such beforehand with locals to hire THEM to shepherd guests around while on Snorkling/SCUBA, hiking expeditions etc etc. would have been a better way to get closer to the advertised experience  vs a ‘Hit n Run’ tour of the isles?? I dunno….

[BillK400]

6 hours ago, kej1 said:

Don’t know who is the corporate executive chef.  Agree and disagree on the food.  
Colunnade is pretty poor so agree on that point.  Lunch outside hot and humid, limited menu, good service but poor food.  ( of course we don’t care for buffets  and these don’t look good).  Service good but we only sit outside as I just don’t like eating in the cafeteria.   
And given the weather and crowds on some days would make sense to open the MDR but only on sea days and I think maybe staffing the issue.  
 

MDR IMHO - fair to very good.   Dinners at Colunnade fair but sometimes nice to sit outside at night since weather nice and tends to be cooler if the ship moving.   Breakfast we have only had in our room and we don’t eat a big meal so it’s been fine.  Croissants actually really good.  But we dint expect much for breakfast.

i will say the service at meals has been great for us.  Just getting tired of the food and after the first two week segment its repetitive.   So I’m not surprised they don’t focus on the food as it is apparent although we have had some good things.  Just not  consistent.

I think at these price points food should be very good.  

 

Regarding the cruise.  Today we were in Rabaul.  There were three excursion offerings:

 

1.  WW2 excursion - third party complimentary 

2. Hike - paid not complimentary

3. Mask event in the afternoon - complimentary

 

As we did not  know in advance about the tours ( except thanks to this website did have a heads up), several months ago we had booked a private tour of the WW2 sites and we were glad we did.  I also dint like to commit to something and nit do so didn’t cancel.  We left early, set at our own pace, had a really good guide and saw a few extra things.  The roads are in terrible shape after the end of the rainy season so everything takes longer to get around.   But the people are extremely friendly ( may help that our guide Rose seemed to know everyone on the island) and very welcoming,   The town of Rabaul itself was damaged completely with the eruption 30 years ago.  So many of the people and businesses are now in Kopoko  which is a good hour from Rabaul partly due to the road situation.  So if you are planning to visit many if the sites are a good hour away so keep this in mind,  
 

One fun thing still in Rabaul is the “ New Guinea Club” where expats in the olden days gathered to have drinks.  It’s still there in the town of Rabaul with lots of old photos of days passed, but just a museum now.  The actual town of Rabaul is pretty deserted.  Yes there is a market ( closed today as Sunday) and a few things but our guide said here is where the cinema used to be, etc,   I could only imagine that this was the bustling town that is now pretty run down.  There is an hotel, the club, and the Yamamoto bunker and of course near the port but it’s in sad shape.  Everyone moved away including Rose with the big eruption and not many moved back.  Rose did despite the fact she was 9 months pregnant with her youngest son when the eruption happened and had to live in a shelter for two years.

 

Most of the ship did the free tour so there were numerous buses lined up to take 200+ people around the island. The hike only had about 8 people the remaining 200+ did the bus excursion.  
 

I must admit we did not attend the mask dance ceremony.  We saw lots of masks with our guide and she gave us all the information about what the real ceremony means.  I’m sure it was a great event but we were tired a decided to just relax on the ship once we got home from our tour.

 

Tomorrow’s   planned stop at Kavieng has been substituted and we have found the expedition team not really focused on the WW2 pieces of this part of the world.  Instead we will visit Garove Island which is a volcanic caldera.  There will be a cultural visit show and a walk around the village. Many of the guests we’ve met ( primarily USA, Britain, and Australian) are interested in WW2 in this region so there is a bit of a disconnect as this is not really the focus of the lectures or excursions.   But nonetheless it has been interesting and just good to know if WW2 and history in general is of interest this is not the focal point.  Nonetheless we are still enjoying the cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting that you mention that the WW2 sites and lectures are not a focus of the cruise. The 'name" of your cruise is "15 Day History and Cultures of the PACIFIC THEATRE". The only time I ever note the term "Pacific Theater" and the South Pacific used together is when relating to WW2 so not sure why there isn't more of a focus on WW2 site and lectures. Seems Seabourn needs to significantly improve their expedition activities as we are paying a premium for the EXPEDITION part of the cruise.

 

 

[kej1]

We have had no lectures on WW2.  We were at one point less than 20k from where PT 109 ( JFK’s) boat was sliced in half by Amagiri in 1943 and it was not even mentioned.  My husband is a WW2 buff and said we could see the opening of Blackett Straight and again it wasn’t mentioned at all.  
 

I don’t think anyone on the expedition staff has the knowledge or expertise on the WW2 history.  We had expected lectures on this to be featured prominently as did many other passengers we’ve met.

[kej1]

BTW, the expedition team has given some excellent lectures on fish, photography, the local cultures and history of the local cultures, plants, etc. so are some worthwhile interesting lectures.  Just nothing on WW2 which we also relate to the Pacific Theatre.

[MightyQuinn]

On 5/2/2024 at 12:06 AM, Fletcher said:

I've snorkelled around the World Discoverer - every expedition ship owes its existence to that ship.  It was the first of the breed. 

 

World Discoverer was our very first cruise ship.  In 1989 we sailed the Amazon from Manaus to Iquitos on World Discoverer.  We were young and not well traveled and had no clue about cruising.  We quickly got into the groove of the expedition experience and loved every moment.  In 1997 we sailed World Discoverer again, this time to Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica.  By then we had also discovered traditional cruising, but nothing could compare to the excitement of sailing to remote regions on World Discoverer.

Given our experience, we were hesitant to sail on luxury expedition ships, fearing they would pale in comparison.  But last summer we sailed Venture in Greenland and lucked out with a half-full ship (112 pax) and outstanding weather.  Accommodation, food and ship amenities on Venture easily bested the World Discoverer but something was lacking.  With more of a focus on the luxury aspects, the expedition piece was somewhat of a sidebar.  Sure we had zodiac rides and expedition lectures, but not like on World Discoverer. Nevertheless, we enjoyed Venture and at this stage of our travels, we prefer a luxe expedition style.  But we're happy to have experienced the raw authenticity of World Discoverer and appreciate it even more as time passes.  RIP.

[kej1]

Since I last posted we have had two days of “ expedition” cruising.   Yesterday we went to Garove Island which is in a volcanic caldera.  The village had only been visited once by a cruise ship and it was pre Covid.  The excursions were:

- Paid kayak, submarine

- diving

- afternoon village visit up some steep stairs to a lovely area with a school and lots of excited villagers.

- no snorkeling or beach. 

 

It rained quite a bit in the morning so we had been warned it could be quite slippery walking to the ceremony but the sun came out just in time and it was lovely.

 

Today we did two landings on two different islands in Rambutyo ( PNG).   The first was a village visit and in the afternoon there was snorkeling, beach, submarine and kayaks.  The snorkeling was very clear water with lots of beautiful coral and fish, The waves were up so given it was a beach entrance it was a bit of a challenge for some to get in and out but was beautiful.  Only issue is everyone is staggered on the zodiacs but as it was a small beach and fairly small but beautiful reef it was crowded.  We had the first color call so got on the first zodiac but over time it was crowded with people.  I think one way to improve this is to have multiple limited time snorkel sessions for the groups.  I’m not sure how other expedition ships handle this but if you are in a limited snorkel space on a relatively small beach it might make sense to do like Antartica where you have a time slot where a limited number of people are there at the same time.   I’m not sure but with 200+ people snorkeling at the same limited place it can be a bit crowded.   Anyway, we had a great time as we’re in the first zodiac so we’re there early!  
 

The food becoming a bit repetitive ( we are ending week 3) and is only IMHO fair to very good but  then I realize food is subjective.  We have still experienced excellent service from the dining and housekeeping staff.  I do think the food is better on the larger ships and was not surprised to hear @texanaustcomments about food not being a priority on the expedition ships.  I think it should be!  
 

One great piece of news for those interested in WW2 we will have a lecture tomorrow afternoon from one of the young expedition team members who lives in Micronesia ( an American).  It will be one of a series of three - wasn’t us but I think there has been feedback on the lack of this so fingers crossed it will be good!  Tomorrow we depart PNG at 14:00 followed by two sea days to reach Micronesia so it’s hopefully good lectures on a subject the passengers desire.  
 

BTW, I do stand to be corrected on one comment I made earlier about JFK’s PT 109 ship.  On the island we visited owned by a private individual he evidently made reference to it briefly while talking about how and when he bought the island.  But it was in passing.  It was only a few  minutes but we didn’t hear it.  I’m glad it was referenced as that was an important aspect historically to the location.

[Fletcher]

16 minutes ago, kej1 said:

Since I last posted we have had two days of “ expedition” cruising.   Yesterday we went to Garove Island which is in a volcanic caldera.  The village had only been visited once by a cruise ship and it was pre Covid.   

We were on that ship, Caledonian Sky.  A wonderful visit, with extraordinary butterflies and a sort of Raiders of the Lost Ark stone staircase up to the village.  One of our cameras took a dip in the sea.  

[kej1]

Today has been a quiet day.  We are anchored at Ponam Island, our last stop in Papua New Guinea.  The plan was to have morning snorkeling from the zodiac platform, followed by a village visit and a 14:00pm departure for Micronesia.

 

We awoke early for the snorkeling to heavy rain.  Not just the occasional squall we’ve experienced - it was coming down hard and the seas were churning.  Zodiacs were already out scouting for a snorkeling location but I told my husband it didn’t look pretty.  Sure enough at about 7:15 am we were told the snorkeling was canceled due to the weather.  The village visit still took place a few hours later  despite the weather and churn of the sea, but we gave this a miss along with quite a few other passengers.  
 

Finally the MDR was open again for lunch so we had a quite good chicken tikka masala - not as spicy as we’d like but very tasty and I’m sure the right spice profile for a ship of 200+.  It was nice not to be jam packed on the patio or in the Colunnade.  ( or waiting for an empty table).  

 

It’s now 16:40pm and we still haven’t left for our next destination.  Evidently there are Papua New Guinea officials on board.  Since this has turned into what I’d call a “guinea pig” cruise for Seabourn and its expedition team in this area, and we were told last night that since they hadn’t been here before and they introduced a local ground operator,  I would hope this is a discussion on what worked and what didn’t.  A number of people on this cruise are staying for the next leg that repeats some of what we’ve done as well as going to other spots in PNG.  We’ve enjoyed the cruise but the expedition and excursion  piece has been pretty disorganized and with no communication until the night before even in std ports.  Guests we have spoken with pretty unanimously have expressed this is an area that needs to be improved even if some things need to change as they do on all cruises at the last minute.  It’s like there was no planning going into this. Maybe that’s not the case but it comes across that way.    As I think I’ve mentioned I’ve gone onto other expedition cruise sites and looked at the excursions they publish and sure enough those mostly match what we’ve ended up doing in similar ports.
 

We had our first proper lecture this afternoon on WW2 by a young man from  the expedition team.  He noted he wasn’t a historian and I don’t think this was originally planned but I think ( and more importantly my husband who is extremely well read on the subject thought) he did a very good job.  He gave us a quick history of Japanese history to 3 months into 1942.  We will have part two tomorrow ( we think but schedule still not finalized but it’s a sea day).  Only wish we’d had this earlier in the cruise when we were visiting Guadalcanal and Rabaul.  Better late than never!  I’d say they are learning as they go along!

[kej1]

Update:  we still haven’t left Ponam island Anchorage.  Turns out PNG officials left some time ago.  There were officials from Micronesia that were supposed to board today but haven’t made it.  So now we are motoring further away from the island in hopes the officials arrive tomorrow captain said at noon, at which point we will proceed to our two stops in Micronesia.  Given they had planned it would take more than 2 days to get there we all hope we make it before ending the cruise in Guam. Evidently we can’t go to Oroluk Lagoon or Chuck without the officials……now we are waiting to hear the plans from the expedition team in an hour or so but likely that will just be for tomorrow which will be a sea day.

[highplanesdrifters]

6 hours ago, kej1 said:

We’ve enjoyed the cruise but the expedition and excursion  piece has been pretty disorganized and with no communication until the night before even in std ports.  Guests we have spoken with pretty unanimously have expressed this is an area that needs to be improved even if some things need to change as they do on all cruises at the last minute.  It’s like there was no planning going into this. Maybe that’s not the case but it comes across that way.  

 

I'd push for some form of compensation. Group efforts always help along with a good TA.

[BillK400]

We will be joining the ship next week and are wondering if Seabourn provides water bottles? If not we have silicon water bottles that pack very compact and will bring them. We try to limit our use of single-use/disposable water bottles as much as possible.

 

Thanks!

[markandjie]

They usually provide (relatively low quality) aluminum water bottles with a narrow mouth screw top cap. If you have a water bottle you prefer I'd suggest you bring it. 

[frantic36]

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

They usually provide (relatively low quality) aluminum water bottles with a narrow mouth screw top cap. If you have a water bottle you prefer I'd suggest you bring it. 

 

Thanks for the reminder to pack our good insulated bottle with us. What you describe is what I have seen on the videos and when walking in hot climates I prefer my drinking water kept cool.

 

For what it's worth reading SS and Regent none of their included water bottles are insulated either.

[kej1]

We are on our way to Micronesia.  There was a bit of a delay but luckily only 24 or so hours.  There were officials that were supposed to join the cruise a few days ago in Rabaul, but due to missed flights etc we could not leave  yesterday so the ship stayed near Ponam island literally moving around in circles.  
 

About 15:00 today the officials showed up.  I happened to be in Seabourn Square and saw them walk in.  Only a few days late!  But the good news is it only delayed us 24 hours and the Captain is moving the ship at 16-17 knits so the ETA in Oroluk Lagoon, Micronesia may be only a about a half day late.  Let’s see.  So today was a sea day with lots of passengers speculating as to whether or not we’d make it to Micronesia given we can’t land there without these officials.  But we are now on our way and I think if we get there before noon we will all be happy as we will only miss a half a day!  
 

Nothing much to report on the ship.  Service continues to be very good in housekeeping, dining, and guest services.  Food - well tonight we had a bit soggy veal piccata in the MDR but service great and bought a good bottle of Burgundy off the reserve list so it took care of the  food!  We did have lecture number two on WW2 which took us to Guadalcanal by an ambitious young man on the expedition team who I have to say continues to do a good job even though it wasn’t what he was hired to do!  Tomorrow is another sea day and given we will only have 5 days left I will start getting organized to leave the ship.  Time goes by quickly.  Hard to believe we are nearing the end of our 30 day cruise and 5 weeks of being gone.  Micronesia, a forced night in Guam, a few days visiting friends in Honolulu and then home to San Francisco.  It’s  going by too fast now!  Keep running into people I’ve met but didn’t spend enough time with on the journey.  Isn’t this just the way it is now that we are reaching the end….

[kej1]

Despite the delay we will arrive in Orluck Lagoon, Micronesia tomorrow before lunch.  The lagoon island we will visit has only 6 inhabitants. Hmmm.  They evidently will not take dollars from the ship but food?  How can they preserve it?  There is another island close by that will provide crafts for sale!  Should be interesting.  

 

The fantastic news is the next day we go to Chuuk ( aka Truk).  Normally we don’t hear about anything a day in advance but the expedition team is excited about Chuuk so we did find out tonight we will be able to use the submarine and scuba.  Both options will have  wreck dives and there will be snorkeling above a shallow sunken aircraft.  So passengers are very excited about this highlight.  My husband has signed up to do the sub again and I will likely snorkel the aircraft.  Once in the sub was perfect for me…..

I know I’ve been bad about posting photos.  Since my husband does most of the photos I will post some after we wrap up - only four more days…..has gone by too fast and that’s a grid thing in my mind.  

[Nillah]

On 5/5/2024 at 11:17 PM, kej1 said:

BTW, the expedition team has given some excellent lectures on fish, photography, the local cultures and history of the local cultures, plants, etc. so are some worthwhile interesting lectures.  Just nothing on WW2 which we also relate to the Pacific Theatre.

I’m contemplating a Seabourn expedition cruise so your postings have been of great interest and are highly appreciated.

Do you know what the backgrounds of the expedition are?

I did a Scenic Eclipse Antarctica expedition cruise and that had marine biologists, glaciologist and geologist in the expedition team.

Have their been any marine/oceanography themes lectures?

 

Also do you have any information on how the scuba diving is going for the people that signed up for that? How frequently is it available?

Edited May 11 by Nillah

[kej1]

19 minutes ago, Nillah said:

I’m contemplating a Seabourn expedition cruise so your postings have been of great interest and are highly appreciated.

Do you know what the backgrounds of the expedition are?

I did a Scenic Eclipse Antarctica expedition cruise and that had marine biologists, glaciologist and geologist in the expedition team.

Have their been any marine/oceanography themes lectures?

 

Also do you have any information on how the scuba diving is going for the people that signed up for that? How frequently is it available?

@Nillah the lectures have been good.  We have marine biologists, geologists, anthropologists on the ship.  We are lacking a WW2 historian which is needed in this part of the world but one young guy studied up and dud a three part lecture and did a good job.  It wasn’t planned but with the large number of people on the ship who had expected it they put it together. 
 

In regard to the scuba diving program, they can only take a small number of people as they only have so many tanks.  I think it’s been 6 or maybe 8 so you need to sign up early before the cruise.  The people we’ve talked to have made some individual arrangements and done some one tank dives with Seabourn.  Not at every stop but they seem to be happy with what they’ve experienced.  You do need to bring your own gear other than tanks and weights.