Svalbard advice?

[DTtravelers]

Hi sfvoyage.  They have already posted the Video Journal of this trip on the Seabourn Voyage tracker website, so you can see more what the trip was like:

 

https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/962156123/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&signature=f4c358d5b855817542de76aa644f5465be88824894ce8576eb937265dadb61be

 

Thanks BasandSyb for taking us along on your journey!

[koalabear6314]

The video is stunning …and the polar bears..wow.

[BasandSyb]

We did Edinburgh to Longyearbyen 26 days. My comments are limited to Svalbard.
 

We had quite a few landings both bog boots and dry. Mostly small walking areas of beaches to view glaciers or walrus. No great distance involved. There were two, I think, walks of higher gradient to viewing points. In the last few days we had waves of fog come in which cancelled or changed the plans for landing or walking distance given the lookouts with guns for polar bears had to be able to see to be effective. Generally, were blessed with good seas and weather. Such brilliant blue skies. The midnight sun was wonderful but unfortunately sitting in the observation bar bedtime would come and go many times.

 

On arriving in Longyearbyen it was windy, cold with a bit of drizzle. We had two airport groups for the return flight to Edinburgh - 1:15 flight which departed 2:45 and a 4:30 which I understand got away on time.

 

Buses took us in groups from around 8:30 in 15 minute intervals on a tour up the hill to see a disused coalmine and the entrance to the International seed bank. It was raining and the dirt road meant the bus windows were soon covered in fine black sludge.
 

We then visited the local museum which is very good for an hour and a half which was about 15 to 20 minutes too long and then on to the airport for the beginning of what became a bit of a shambolic time. those on the later flight had an included lunch and a visit to see huskies.
 

We had long slow queues while two people  checked us in and then we queued long and slow for security. We were the bulk of the people, but there were other travellers from different vessels catching commercial flights.  While Seabourn had its own check station there were two people doing the work.It took us 2:40 minutes of standing to clear, the boarding had already been called so we walked through the waiting area straight to the plane. It was quite difficult for people who had issues standing and with mobility. It was a ground crew process issue only. Just volume and very very slow. The aircraft arrived on time and sat for a couple of hours waiting for us to board. It was a 3+3 configuration with an odd spare seat - maybe 4 or 5 in total. It was very crowded for a long flight.

This was quite different to our experience in Antarctica in February where we were provided boarding passes well ahead of time and our luggage was checked in bulk and we went straight to security on airport arrival. On that charter flight most rows had a spare seat.

People on the late flight advised they also had a very slow check-in process, so the day hadn’t improved.

 

Not a good end to a luxury cruise. The hotel in Edinburgh also leaves a lot to be desired and we are very glad we did not book extra nights at around £800.

photo is Tuesday 23:46. 

 

Edited June 20 by BasandSyb

[where-to-next]

Thanks BasandSyb for the comprehensive summary. Very much looking forward to our cruise.  

 

Hopefully they will fine tune the Longyearbyen departure by the time we do it.

 

Assume the Edinburgh hotel is the George? As a matter of interest, the hotel stay is still part of the cruise, do they include meals and drinks or am I being overly optimistic?

 

One final question, the video shows a variety of beanies. Do Seabourn supply beanies, as they did in Antarctica? 

 

Safe travels home. 

[BasandSyb]

Yes, the same for Antarctica. Fill in your form with size requirements and you will receive the yellow outer, black inner and 2 x wet bags, 

 

Yes, the George Hotel - only breakfast is included.

 

enjoy your cruise

 

👍

Edited June 21 by BasandSyb

[Catlover54]

15 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

We did Edinburgh to Longyearbyen 26 days. My comments are limited to Svalbard.
 

We had quite a few landings both bog boots and dry. Mostly small walking areas of beaches to view glaciers or walrus. No great distance involved. There were two, I think, walks of higher gradient to viewing points. In the last few days we had waves of fog come in which cancelled or changed the plans for landing or walking distance given the lookouts with guns for polar bears had to be able to see to be effective. Generally, were blessed with good seas and weather. Such brilliant blue skies. The midnight sun was wonderful but unfortunately sitting in the observation bar bedtime would come and go many times.

 

On arriving in Longyearbyen it was windy, cold with a bit of drizzle. We had two airport groups for the return flight to Edinburgh - 1:15 flight which departed 2:45 and a 4:30 which I understand got away on time.

 

Buses took us in groups from around 8:30 in 15 minute intervals on a tour up the hill to see a disused coalmine and the entrance to the International seed bank. It was raining and the dirt road meant the bus windows were soon covered in fine black sludge.
 

We then visited the local museum which is very good for an hour and a half which was about 15 to 20 minutes too long and then on to the airport for the beginning of what became a bit of a shambolic time. those on the later flight had an included lunch and a visit to see huskies.
 

We had long slow queues while two people  checked us in and then we queued long and slow for security. We were the bulk of the people, but there were other travellers from different vessels catching commercial flights.  While Seabourn had its own check station there were two people doing the work.It took us 2:40 minutes of standing to clear, the boarding had already been called so we walked through the waiting area straight to the plane. It was quite difficult for people who had issues standing and with mobility. It was a ground crew process issue only. Just volume and very very slow. The aircraft arrived on time and sat for a couple of hours waiting for us to board. It was a 3+3 configuration with an odd spare seat - maybe 4 or 5 in total. It was very crowded for a long flight.

This was quite different to our experience in Antarctica in February where we were provided boarding passes well ahead of time and our luggage was checked in bulk and we went straight to security on airport arrival. On that charter flight most rows had a spare seat.

People on the late flight advised they also had a very slow check-in process, so the day hadn’t improved.

 

Not a good end to a luxury cruise. The hotel in Edinburgh also leaves a lot to be desired and we are very glad we did not book extra nights at around £800.

photo is Tuesday 23:46. 

 

 

Were the return flights at roughly 1 and 2 in the morning, or in the afternoon (I assume the latter, but I ask because for unclear reasons polar related flights like Antarctica often have unusual and inconvenient  timings)?

 

2 hours and 40 minutes of standing to check in for *Greenland* security is insane and not possible for many people who aren't sick enough to travel with personal wheelchairs, but who are also not 100% healthy and frisky.  

SB of course cannot do anything about slow Greenland ground staff, but likely paying a higher cost could have taken care of the issue with the crowded coach style flight (the question, of course, is whether or not pax would be willing to pay more). 

 

 

 

 

[TakingFlight]

7 hours ago, BasandSyb said:, 

 

Yes, the George Hotel - only breakfast is included.

 

Which we probably won’t get to enjoy on July 11 since our Svalbard flight departs at 6:35 am. 😱

[reposado]

On 6/20/2024 at 10:01 AM, DTtravelers said:

Hi sfvoyage.  They have already posted the Video Journal of this trip on the Seabourn Voyage tracker website, so you can see more what the trip was like:

 

https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/962156123/rendition/1080p/file.mp4?loc=external&signature=f4c358d5b855817542de76aa644f5465be88824894ce8576eb937265dadb61be

 

Thanks BasandSyb for taking us along on your journey!

Wow. Anyone know if they'll let you download the videos on a thumb drive or something while on board?

[sfvoyage]

9 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

Yes, the George Hotel - only breakfast is included.

👍

How was the breakfast? I assume it is a big buffet spread similar to most five-star European hotels?

 

You also mentioned in another thread that you didn't care for this hotel. Why not?

[BasandSyb]

48 minutes ago, reposado said:

Wow. Anyone know if they'll let you download the videos on a thumb drive or something while on board?

Depends when the video goes live. On the first leg it wasn’t ready when the photos were. On the second it had gone live so should be possible in that case.

[DTtravelers]

Back in the olden days (2019), they gave us our Antarctica video on a thumb drive in a fancy case.  I doubt they still do this, but you can either view or download any of the voyages on Seabourn Voyage Tracker website and copy it to your own USB drive if you want.

 

They usually try to complete this before the trip is over, then show it to everyone in the theater the night before you disembark.

 

[sfvoyage]

On the Pursuit a few weeks ago, they provided a link of the video for us.  No USB stick as before.

 

Also, on the last day, we could go to the Studio to grab all the ship photographer's photos, either via airdrop (for Apple phones) or copy to your own USB stick from one of the computers in the Studio.  Both options took the same time:  about 11 minutes in my case.

[sfvoyage]

18 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

The aircraft arrived on time and sat for a couple of hours waiting for us to board. It was a 3+3 configuration with an odd spare seat - maybe 4 or 5 in total. It was very crowded for a long flight.

For my EDI-LYR chartered flight next month, Seabourn has switched from Edelweiss Chartered Air to a french company, Amelia, and apparently an A319 with 3-3 configuration will be used (same as Edelweiss).

 

Were you on Amelia A319?  Do you recall if all the rows were 3-3, or the first 2 (or 4) rows were 2-2?

[BOB999]

2 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

For my EDI-LYR chartered flight next month, Seabourn has switched from Edelweiss Chartered Air to a french company, Amelia, and apparently an A319 with 3-3 configuration will be used (same as Edelweiss).

 

Were you on Amelia A319?  Do you recall if all the rows were 3-3, or the first 2 (or 4) rows were 2-2?

The Amelia A319 has 144 seats which would indicate all 3-3. From the people I heard from the second flight was that most middles were empty.

 

The Edelweiss flight had 147 people out of 174.  The first four rows had blocked middles and other scattered blocked middles.

 

I think someone previously asked about luggage limits, no one was checking.  I saw a few heavy bag tags and if people wanted to check multiple bags it wasn't a problem.

 

Lastly there was no Seabourn rep at the airport, just the guides from the tour.   Several people around me had questions about their forwarded luggage and they got blank stares.

[sfvoyage]

4 minutes ago, BOB999 said:

The Amelia A319 has 144 seats which would indicate all 3-3. From the people I heard from the second flight was that most middles were empty.

 

The Edelweiss flight had 147 people out of 174.  The first four rows had blocked middles and other scattered blocked middles.

Was one flight Amelia and the other Edelweiss in your case?

[BOB999]

3 minutes ago, sfvoyage said:

Was one flight Amelia and the other Edelweiss in your case?

Yes.   The early flight yesterday was Edelweiss, later Amelia.

[BasandSyb]

Some responses to a range of questions.

1. As confirmed by BOB999 above our earlier of the 2 flights scheduled for 13:15 ( but dep 14:45) was an  Edelweiss A320 3+3 throughout. Cannot comment on the 16:40 except that people I spoke with said they had similar airport check in times, but it departed around the scheduled time. The airlines apparently allocated the seats. No diamonds we know got one of the very few spares between them. Assume it was random - unlike Antarctica.

Baggage limits weren’t an issue. Have mentioned previously we received conflicting advice from Seabourn 3 times before escalating and provided in writing 46kg pp. checked.

 

2. The George Hotel - Bas had breakfast in the restaurant. Doesn’t know what floor, but somewhere above our room which was on ground. We don’t know if this was allowed, but he went there and was admitted. I don’t do breakfast.,The Seabourn breakfast was in a set aside room as there were other tour groups including Taulk. In fact the hotel had tour groups in and out each day. The Seabourn breakfast was bain marie dishes as you would expect, fruit, cereals, breads, pastries. Bas said the restaurant was the same + he thought you may be able to order eggs as you like but didn’t pay much attention as he had fruit and toast. Our room was the Harry Potter under the stairs. Could not open a suitcase except to place it on the bed. Bathroom tiny, nowhere to put anything. A double bed - not even a queen. A bit knocked about around the edges. It’s a tour group hotel and it shows. 
 

3. photos/videos - as mentioned the video is available on Seabourn voyage tracker website for downloading. There is a two hour opportunity to obtain photos on the ship taken by the professionals during the trip and also specific ones of the polar plunge if you indulged. I did air drop and sd card. They had a QR code linking to Google drive. They have 6 “computers” Mac and Microsoft you can download yourself or they will do it for you. I’m a Luddite and managed it. Don’t slay me for my terminology above.

 

4. Catlover we were in Svalbard, Norway. Not Greenland.

 

5. Where to next - sorry, missed out the HH beanies x2 are included  It’s been a busy few days.

 

6. it looks like they took the next cruise group straight to the polar bear mother and cubs as they know they are in a particular area. Have seen more photos on line this afternoon.

 

Happy cruising all.
 

 

[sfvoyage]

59 minutes ago, BasandSyb said:

No diamonds we know got one of the very few spares between them. Assume it was random - unlike Antarctica.

 

2. The George Hotel - Bas had breakfast in the restaurant. Doesn’t know what floor, but somewhere above our room which was on ground. We don’t know if this was allowed, but he went there and was admitted. I don’t do breakfast.,The Seabourn breakfast was in a set aside room as there were other tour groups including Taulk. In fact the hotel had tour groups in and out each day. The Seabourn breakfast was bain marie dishes as you would expect, fruit, cereals, breads, pastries. Bas said the restaurant was the same + he thought you may be able to order eggs as you like but didn’t pay much attention as he had fruit and toast. Our room was the Harry Potter under the stairs. Could not open a suitcase except to place it on the bed. Bathroom tiny, nowhere to put anything. A double bed - not even a queen. A bit knocked about around the edges. It’s a tour group hotel and it shows.

 

Too bad about your awful hotel room.  Their recent online reviews are generally good.  In any case, a good hotel should provide consistently good guest experience.

 

Regarding chartered flight seat assignment, on our recent QF chartered flights HIR-SYD, business class seats (first 3 rows) were allocated to Diamond Elites or guests who booked the top 3 suite categories (excluding those who had upgraded under promotional upsell pricing).  However, the catering was the same (a light refreshment only) and the seats were similar to domestic US first class and not much better than economy seats.

[trips_ahoy]

We are on the July 10th trip. I understand that we will be boarding the ship by zodiac. How was that process?

[JodiandFrank]

I’m following this as we are seriously considering this for 2025….. Was there much time in Edinburgh for sightseeing or should we plan on staying a few extra days?

[Catlover54]

9 minutes ago, JodiandFrank said:

I’m following this as we are seriously considering this for 2025….. Was there much time in Edinburgh for sightseeing or should we plan on staying a few extra days?

 

Edinburgh is wonderful and I think requires more than just one day, if you want to see more than just the castle, and/or the environs, especially if you are interested in history of the region and also  want to have nice unrushed meals locally.  To get an idea, you can see lists of "things to do" in and around Edinburgh on various commercial websites that sell tours, (and also allow extra hours  for just wandering around without a tour). 

 

 

 

[JodiandFrank]

Thank you for your response, Catlover54.

I am aware of this.  My comments did not accurately state what I wanted to know.   We have a one night stay prior to the cruise and one night stay after the cruise.  All of this is a part of the Seabourn cruise.  What time does the flight leave to take us to the ship after the first stay?  What time do we return to the hotel after the cruise?

[sfvoyage]

1 hour ago, JodiandFrank said:

We have a one night stay prior to the cruise and one night stay after the cruise.  All of this is a part of the Seabourn cruise.  What time does the flight leave to take us to the ship after the first stay?  What time do we return to the hotel after the cruise?

Prior to the cruise, there are 2 chartered flights EDI-LYR, leaving at 6:35am (arr 11:20) and at 12:25pm (arr 16:55).

 

For the return LYR-EDI, accordingly the departure will be an hour or so after the arrival of each of the 2 inbound flights.

 

More flight discussions upthread, around #28-42.

Edited Saturday at 06:23 PM by sfvoyage

[JodiandFrank]

Dear SFVoyage, 

   Thank you for that information.  It helps.

I would HATE to be assigned to the 6:30AM flight!!!  Did you get any kind of choice?!?!?!

[Covepointcruiser]

Sounds like a true expedition cruise at the end.   There are only 2600 people living in the area so you certainly overloaded the small airport.   It was only enlarged for jets for the World Seed Bank.