Another Shakedown Cruise
Jun 28, 2018, 9:27 am
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Thanks for the correction. I suppose they have changed their policy. Either that or my dad is all confused. Knowing my dad, both are equally as likely.
Not correct - no fee for specialty restaurants on Oceania (which are excellent). Maybe there was formerly a fee? But I sailed with them just a couple of months ago, no fee. You are limited in how many RESERVATIONS you can make for them - after you use up your quota it's first-come first-serve and good luck with that! Azamara, on the other hand, does have a fee.
Jun 28, 2018, 10:41 am
#32
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
Great trip report... trying to get my wife to go on a cruise again but she's just not as into them as I am....
We've done Seabourn, Regent (which I think is the upscale version of Oceania) and Seadream... absolutely loved the food on Seabourn and adored the service on Seadream... Regent was the worst of the lot, though it was the biggest ship as welll...
FDW
We've done Seabourn, Regent (which I think is the upscale version of Oceania) and Seadream... absolutely loved the food on Seabourn and adored the service on Seadream... Regent was the worst of the lot, though it was the biggest ship as welll...
FDW
Jun 28, 2018, 7:51 pm
#33
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Peoria, IL
Programs: AA,UA,DL,BA,HH,*W,BW
Posts: 175
Nice report and great pics!
This ship is so different from the 2 original Seabourn ships, the Pride and Spirit. I visited one of those ships in the early 90s. They only had 200 pax. Your cabin size on this ship isn't very large. Meaning in order to get a decent size cabin, you must spend significantly more than base cabin rate. Only to receive a few extras that I don't use. I have sailed Crystal Symphony which is nice, but again overpriced for what it is. I generally get almost to good to be true rates on cruises. I owned a cruise only agency and was a travel agent for 29 years. I generally do not find the deluxe lines to be much nicer than the premium lines for the corresponding increase cost. After 50 cruises, one becomes very jaded.
This ship is so different from the 2 original Seabourn ships, the Pride and Spirit. I visited one of those ships in the early 90s. They only had 200 pax. Your cabin size on this ship isn't very large. Meaning in order to get a decent size cabin, you must spend significantly more than base cabin rate. Only to receive a few extras that I don't use. I have sailed Crystal Symphony which is nice, but again overpriced for what it is. I generally get almost to good to be true rates on cruises. I owned a cruise only agency and was a travel agent for 29 years. I generally do not find the deluxe lines to be much nicer than the premium lines for the corresponding increase cost. After 50 cruises, one becomes very jaded.
Jun 29, 2018, 2:30 pm
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Thanks for the compliment FDW. We enjoyed the food on Seabourn, but thought that Silversea was a little better in that department. I loved the food on Regent, but maybe that was because it was the shakedown cruise and they really brought their "A game".
I hope you can get your wife to go back. There are lots of different types of cruises, so maybe she wants a more active cruise with fewer sea days? Or maybe she'd love a crossing that has lots of daily activities but is also super relaxing if you just want to lounge around.
Thanks for reading and for the kind compliments. The ships indeed have gotten larger. As long as they don't get too large, I'm ok. One nice thing about the ships that are 600-800 passengers is that they have to add restaurants and that does provide more dining choices. Furthermore, the newer ships have better eating options near the pool. I think that might also be as a result of being newer and not just larger.
After 50 cruises I might become jaded too! I'll give it the old college try and see how many I can get.
I hope you can get your wife to go back. There are lots of different types of cruises, so maybe she wants a more active cruise with fewer sea days? Or maybe she'd love a crossing that has lots of daily activities but is also super relaxing if you just want to lounge around.
Great trip report... trying to get my wife to go on a cruise again but she's just not as into them as I am....
We've done Seabourn, Regent (which I think is the upscale version of Oceania) and Seadream... absolutely loved the food on Seabourn and adored the service on Seadream... Regent was the worst of the lot, though it was the biggest ship as welll...
FDW
We've done Seabourn, Regent (which I think is the upscale version of Oceania) and Seadream... absolutely loved the food on Seabourn and adored the service on Seadream... Regent was the worst of the lot, though it was the biggest ship as welll...
FDW
Thanks for reading and for the kind compliments. The ships indeed have gotten larger. As long as they don't get too large, I'm ok. One nice thing about the ships that are 600-800 passengers is that they have to add restaurants and that does provide more dining choices. Furthermore, the newer ships have better eating options near the pool. I think that might also be as a result of being newer and not just larger.
After 50 cruises I might become jaded too! I'll give it the old college try and see how many I can get.
Nice report and great pics!
This ship is so different from the 2 original Seabourn ships, the Pride and Spirit. I visited one of those ships in the early 90s. They only had 200 pax. Your cabin size on this ship isn't very large. Meaning in order to get a decent size cabin, you must spend significantly more than base cabin rate. Only to receive a few extras that I don't use. I have sailed Crystal Symphony which is nice, but again overpriced for what it is. I generally get almost to good to be true rates on cruises. I owned a cruise only agency and was a travel agent for 29 years. I generally do not find the deluxe lines to be much nicer than the premium lines for the corresponding increase cost. After 50 cruises, one becomes very jaded.
This ship is so different from the 2 original Seabourn ships, the Pride and Spirit. I visited one of those ships in the early 90s. They only had 200 pax. Your cabin size on this ship isn't very large. Meaning in order to get a decent size cabin, you must spend significantly more than base cabin rate. Only to receive a few extras that I don't use. I have sailed Crystal Symphony which is nice, but again overpriced for what it is. I generally get almost to good to be true rates on cruises. I owned a cruise only agency and was a travel agent for 29 years. I generally do not find the deluxe lines to be much nicer than the premium lines for the corresponding increase cost. After 50 cruises, one becomes very jaded.
Jun 29, 2018, 4:09 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Food Part Three
There are two other food experiences that are worth mentioning. The first is the "afternoon tea" and the second is the food served in "The Retreat".
Tea Time
I really love afternoon tea. When I've sailed with my wife, we would often return from the morning excursion, go to either the pool or the buffet (with outdoor seating) and have lunch. After a little dip in the pool and perhaps a little nap or reading time, I will proceed to "tea time". Sometimes, I'm very underdressed. I may not bother to go back to the room to change out of my bathing suit, so I will just wrap up in a towel and head to the lounge. I have no shame in dressing so poorly for a "fancy" event. Luckily, there are usually not that many people there and I can sit away from people.
On the Ovation, the tea is in the same lounge as where they had the pretty fish sculptures on the wall. Frankly, it was a little disappointing because they had the food out in a buffet and they didn't come to your table to take your order. That was a big thumbs down. I'm used to them coming with a tiered tray or a cart. The lounge is quite nice in appearance.
Perhaps I ordered tea, but I might have gone wild and ordered a cappuccino. I think I forgot to take pics of the food. I was probably upset about not being properly served. Not that I'm a real tea aficionado. I learned from the Today's show coverage of the recent Royal Wedding that when you drink tea, you're supposed to also hold up the saucer. Shows what I know
I did manage to get a picture of the milk and cookies!
The Retreat
The other food experience was in The Retreat. The exclusive and semi-private area costs an additional $250 (port days) or $350 (sea days). There are 15 cabanas that include TVs, ipads, sofas for your relaxing privilege. They have lunch served there, but after 2pm you have to get your food delivered from room service. We ordered some caviar and enjoyed some champagne. This was at no additional fee for the food or drink in The Retreat. Because it was the Shakedown Cruise, we did not have to pay to use The Retreat.
You cannot see the water from here. That seems to be a bad design flaw. My understanding was that they made this area into The Retreat because they ended up with this large area and couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Are these wines special? I have no idea.
Fancy cocktails
A "mixologist". Isn't that just a fancy stuck up way of saying "bartender"?
These don't seem that special
A very nice attendant to serve the champagne
I was trying for an artsy champagne picture. I think it was a big failure.
Why yes, I'll have some caviar please.
In the cabana. Fear the Turtle!
Fancy water
Would I recommend The Retreat? I don't' think so. It seems a little nuts to spend all that money to sit in an area on a cruise ship where you can't see the water. Caviar is always available anyway. I'm very social, so the idea of just sitting in a cabana on a cruise is very foreign to me, especially at those prices. But, if you really desire peace and quiet and you're a big snob, then you should give it a try. I'll stick by the main pool.
Thanks for finishing up the food portion. Next up is Kotor and perhaps I'll squeeze in Venice.
Tea Time
I really love afternoon tea. When I've sailed with my wife, we would often return from the morning excursion, go to either the pool or the buffet (with outdoor seating) and have lunch. After a little dip in the pool and perhaps a little nap or reading time, I will proceed to "tea time". Sometimes, I'm very underdressed. I may not bother to go back to the room to change out of my bathing suit, so I will just wrap up in a towel and head to the lounge. I have no shame in dressing so poorly for a "fancy" event. Luckily, there are usually not that many people there and I can sit away from people.
On the Ovation, the tea is in the same lounge as where they had the pretty fish sculptures on the wall. Frankly, it was a little disappointing because they had the food out in a buffet and they didn't come to your table to take your order. That was a big thumbs down. I'm used to them coming with a tiered tray or a cart. The lounge is quite nice in appearance.
Perhaps I ordered tea, but I might have gone wild and ordered a cappuccino. I think I forgot to take pics of the food. I was probably upset about not being properly served. Not that I'm a real tea aficionado. I learned from the Today's show coverage of the recent Royal Wedding that when you drink tea, you're supposed to also hold up the saucer. Shows what I know
I did manage to get a picture of the milk and cookies!The Retreat
The other food experience was in The Retreat. The exclusive and semi-private area costs an additional $250 (port days) or $350 (sea days). There are 15 cabanas that include TVs, ipads, sofas for your relaxing privilege. They have lunch served there, but after 2pm you have to get your food delivered from room service. We ordered some caviar and enjoyed some champagne. This was at no additional fee for the food or drink in The Retreat. Because it was the Shakedown Cruise, we did not have to pay to use The Retreat.
You cannot see the water from here. That seems to be a bad design flaw. My understanding was that they made this area into The Retreat because they ended up with this large area and couldn't figure out what to do with it.
Are these wines special? I have no idea.
Fancy cocktails
A "mixologist". Isn't that just a fancy stuck up way of saying "bartender"?
These don't seem that special
A very nice attendant to serve the champagne
I was trying for an artsy champagne picture. I think it was a big failure.
Why yes, I'll have some caviar please.
In the cabana. Fear the Turtle!
Fancy water
Would I recommend The Retreat? I don't' think so. It seems a little nuts to spend all that money to sit in an area on a cruise ship where you can't see the water. Caviar is always available anyway. I'm very social, so the idea of just sitting in a cabana on a cruise is very foreign to me, especially at those prices. But, if you really desire peace and quiet and you're a big snob, then you should give it a try. I'll stick by the main pool.
Thanks for finishing up the food portion. Next up is Kotor and perhaps I'll squeeze in Venice.
Jul 31, 2018, 7:39 pm
#36
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
Loving you report.. I agree that the Retreat doesn't seem worth it but perhaps if you're on the boat during a school vacation week.... but hopefully Seabourn doesn't get overrun... I only saw a handful of kids on the boat during our trip... can't wait to see more!
FDW
FDW
Jul 31, 2018, 10:59 pm
#37
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,833
Thanks, haven't been on Seabourn for years (before they were bought out) and one of the nicest parts was that they didn't "nickel and dime" with extra charges in general ------ guess those days are gone 
There are two other food experiences that are worth mentioning. The first is the "afternoon tea" and the second is the food served in "The Retreat".
The exclusive and semi-private area costs an additional $250 (port days) or $350 (sea days).
Would I recommend The Retreat? I don't' think so. It seems a little nuts to spend all that money to sit in an area on a cruise ship where you can't see the water. Caviar is always available anyway. I'm very social, so the idea of just sitting in a cabana on a cruise is very foreign to me, especially at those prices. But, if you really desire peace and quiet and you're a big snob, then you should give it a try. I'll stick by the main pool.
The exclusive and semi-private area costs an additional $250 (port days) or $350 (sea days).
Would I recommend The Retreat? I don't' think so. It seems a little nuts to spend all that money to sit in an area on a cruise ship where you can't see the water. Caviar is always available anyway. I'm very social, so the idea of just sitting in a cabana on a cruise is very foreign to me, especially at those prices. But, if you really desire peace and quiet and you're a big snob, then you should give it a try. I'll stick by the main pool.
Aug 1, 2018, 12:24 pm
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
I'm working on the next installment and hopefully will get it posted today or tomorrow.
They do charge for the Retreat, but I wouldn't call it a "nickel and dime" cruise line. Not in the least, especially when compared to other cruise lines.
They do charge for the Retreat, but I wouldn't call it a "nickel and dime" cruise line. Not in the least, especially when compared to other cruise lines.
Aug 1, 2018, 3:02 pm
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Our Lady of the Rocks
I was not upset to be at sea for a few days without getting off the ship. But, today was the day we would get off in Kotor, Montenegro. Just as a piece of background, Montenegro used to be part of Yugoslavia, but is now an independent nation. This has all happened in the last dozen years or so.
Kenny and I made sure that we were on the same tender. I’m guessing that most cruise ships use a tender to get from Kotor, especially the large ones. The water was pretty calm for both the ride to land and back to the ship. Sometimes, the tenders can be rocking and rolling and then you really want to be one of the last ones on. Better to wait on the larger cruise ship instead of the small tender that bobs up and down. The problem is that it can be difficult to time. If you go to early, you're bobbing up and down on the tender while waiting for everyone else. If you wait to long, you have go on the next tender. But, this is only a problem if it is bad conditions.
So we tendered in and we had a short walk to our next boat. We boarded a tourist boat that would take us to Our Lady of the Rock and Perast. Our boat driver did a good job of driving the boat and simultaneously checking his phone. I hope the Captain of our cruise ship isn’t driving while distracted!
Our boat packed maybe 50 people on both sides and also in the middle. Sorta like the Jungle Cruise boat. I sat on the starboard side and was able to chat with the couple that I sat behind on my flight to Genoa. He had a gimbal for his phone and we talked a bit about his drone. He certainly liked his toys!
The history of Our Lady of the Rocks is interesting. Apparently, two brothers found an icon of the Madonna and child on a rock in the middle of the water. Over the years, people added rock after rock until an island was created. Eventually, the church was built.
Following are some pictures from our day with (hopefully) appropriate captions.
Before the pictures of the trip, let's review my room service breakfast
Lots to drink. They almost needed a larger table for all the stuff we ordered.
Look how pretty the lox is. It almost looks like a flower
Yum. Bagel. Eggs. Bacon. Did I say Yum?
Pierside
I like the contrast of the water and the mountains (hills).
This is the lifeboat that acts as the tender when it is not rescuing people. There are not that many lifeboats per cruise ship. They hold many more people than you would think. Look mom! I'm walking the Red Carpet! Actually, they always have nice areas to wait for the tender. They set up coolers with cold water and there will always be shade.
Thanks for the friendly welcome!!
The wall...No watchers here.
and a moat too!
Nice anchor
Here is our ship from afar
He was checking his phone. I hope it was important!
More view from our boat ride
Here is Princess cruise ship. It is much larger than the Ovation. Don't you think the aft looks like it was chopped off?
And here is Our Lady of the Rocks!
Above the door to the church
The ceiling
The altar. Apparently, the original painting that washed up is the centerpiece of the altar.
Here is Moses. I love when churches show stuff from the Old Testament.
I'm guessing this is King David.
A model of the island
Pots and clocks
Lots of guns. It looks like the Alamo!
Lots of stuff
More modern artwork
I always try to take a picture of a tour book so I can remember where I was. This works most of the time LOL
This was created by a woman who was waiting and waiting for 25 years for her husband to return from the sea. She wove her hair into the piece and you can see where it started out "gold" and went to "grey" as she got older.
Here are a few more exterior pictures of the Church
I really like the color of the dome
I must confess to not paying that much attention in the museum. I'm not sure if it wasn't interesting or if it was just that I wasn't interested. If I had to guess, I would say a combination of both!
Here is the museum we visited. I recalled that it was the museum when I looked at the picture and the building had a sign that said "MVSEVM" Aren't I clever?
From another angle
I
Nice lion! Reminds me of Trafalgar.
I really like this picture of the lion, water and mountain. I know I keep saying mountain and it is probably a large hill. There is Kenny in the black to the right of the lion. I think he was far less interested in this museum that I was.
Trying to be artsy
My beautiful home away from home. The Retreat is on the top deck, forward.
After our tour, we made it back to Kotor. There was a luncheon scheduled for our tour group. The site of the luncheon was what must have been a Russian Mobster Disco. There were metal detectors to go through and it just looked tacky as hell. I should have taken pictures. The service was extremely slow and it was going to be a multi-course lunch. After waiting a long time for the first course, Kenny and I split. We estimated that our entire free time for Kotor would be taken by the lunch and we wouldn’t get an opportunity to walk around Kotor at all. Below are two pictures of the food that we did eat.
We had a nice amount of time to walk around and take some pictures. It’s a very nice and picturesque town. I was able to get my daughter's their snowglobes and Kenny was able to get something for his family.
I loved this shot. I took two pictures of the bike leaning against the wall. This one was better as the other one had some a second door in the picture and it wasn't as pleasing to the eye. In fact, I have a copy of this on my office wall now.
Working hard
Surprise! I'm in Europe and there is yet another church!
You can see directly through this place!
Great sign!
A nice panoramic shot. The whole city isn't this crowded. This was just about right when you got inside the City wall.
Very pretty building with the terrace (?) and flower pots
To finalize the pictures, I believe we ate dinner again at The Grille. I really enjoy Dover Sole, especially when the filet it tableside.
I don't do this at home.
delicious
A nice way to end the day! I could even start the day with this
All in all, a really nice day. We got to get off the ship a bit and see some stuff. We didn't see anything mindblowing, but that's ok. Not every day has to be the spent visiting the most interesting place in the world. Sometimes, I'm satisfied to see something mildly interesting,
If I were to design the day, I would do the boat ride to the Lady of the Rocks and then back to Kotor. Everyone could eat on their own and then take the tenders back to the ship. I feel bad for anyone that stayed at the luncheon and then didn't get to walk around a bit.
Next up is Venice and then the return flight from Venice to the USA. I forgot how awesome Venice was. I really liked it before, but I was not prepared for how fabulous it is. Even for my third time there!
Kenny and I made sure that we were on the same tender. I’m guessing that most cruise ships use a tender to get from Kotor, especially the large ones. The water was pretty calm for both the ride to land and back to the ship. Sometimes, the tenders can be rocking and rolling and then you really want to be one of the last ones on. Better to wait on the larger cruise ship instead of the small tender that bobs up and down. The problem is that it can be difficult to time. If you go to early, you're bobbing up and down on the tender while waiting for everyone else. If you wait to long, you have go on the next tender. But, this is only a problem if it is bad conditions.
So we tendered in and we had a short walk to our next boat. We boarded a tourist boat that would take us to Our Lady of the Rock and Perast. Our boat driver did a good job of driving the boat and simultaneously checking his phone. I hope the Captain of our cruise ship isn’t driving while distracted!
Our boat packed maybe 50 people on both sides and also in the middle. Sorta like the Jungle Cruise boat. I sat on the starboard side and was able to chat with the couple that I sat behind on my flight to Genoa. He had a gimbal for his phone and we talked a bit about his drone. He certainly liked his toys!
The history of Our Lady of the Rocks is interesting. Apparently, two brothers found an icon of the Madonna and child on a rock in the middle of the water. Over the years, people added rock after rock until an island was created. Eventually, the church was built.
Following are some pictures from our day with (hopefully) appropriate captions.
Before the pictures of the trip, let's review my room service breakfast
Lots to drink. They almost needed a larger table for all the stuff we ordered.
Look how pretty the lox is. It almost looks like a flower
Yum. Bagel. Eggs. Bacon. Did I say Yum?
Pierside
I like the contrast of the water and the mountains (hills).
This is the lifeboat that acts as the tender when it is not rescuing people. There are not that many lifeboats per cruise ship. They hold many more people than you would think. Look mom! I'm walking the Red Carpet! Actually, they always have nice areas to wait for the tender. They set up coolers with cold water and there will always be shade.
Thanks for the friendly welcome!!
The wall...No watchers here.
and a moat too!
Nice anchor
Here is our ship from afar
He was checking his phone. I hope it was important!
More view from our boat ride
Here is Princess cruise ship. It is much larger than the Ovation. Don't you think the aft looks like it was chopped off?
And here is Our Lady of the Rocks!
Above the door to the church
The ceiling
The altar. Apparently, the original painting that washed up is the centerpiece of the altar.
Here is Moses. I love when churches show stuff from the Old Testament.
I'm guessing this is King David.
A model of the island
Pots and clocks
Lots of guns. It looks like the Alamo!
Lots of stuff
More modern artwork
I always try to take a picture of a tour book so I can remember where I was. This works most of the time LOL
This was created by a woman who was waiting and waiting for 25 years for her husband to return from the sea. She wove her hair into the piece and you can see where it started out "gold" and went to "grey" as she got older.
Here are a few more exterior pictures of the Church
I really like the color of the dome
I must confess to not paying that much attention in the museum. I'm not sure if it wasn't interesting or if it was just that I wasn't interested. If I had to guess, I would say a combination of both!
Here is the museum we visited. I recalled that it was the museum when I looked at the picture and the building had a sign that said "MVSEVM" Aren't I clever?
From another angle
I
Nice lion! Reminds me of Trafalgar.
I really like this picture of the lion, water and mountain. I know I keep saying mountain and it is probably a large hill. There is Kenny in the black to the right of the lion. I think he was far less interested in this museum that I was.
Trying to be artsy
My beautiful home away from home. The Retreat is on the top deck, forward.
After our tour, we made it back to Kotor. There was a luncheon scheduled for our tour group. The site of the luncheon was what must have been a Russian Mobster Disco. There were metal detectors to go through and it just looked tacky as hell. I should have taken pictures. The service was extremely slow and it was going to be a multi-course lunch. After waiting a long time for the first course, Kenny and I split. We estimated that our entire free time for Kotor would be taken by the lunch and we wouldn’t get an opportunity to walk around Kotor at all. Below are two pictures of the food that we did eat.
We had a nice amount of time to walk around and take some pictures. It’s a very nice and picturesque town. I was able to get my daughter's their snowglobes and Kenny was able to get something for his family.
I loved this shot. I took two pictures of the bike leaning against the wall. This one was better as the other one had some a second door in the picture and it wasn't as pleasing to the eye. In fact, I have a copy of this on my office wall now.
Working hard
Surprise! I'm in Europe and there is yet another church!
You can see directly through this place!
Great sign!
A nice panoramic shot. The whole city isn't this crowded. This was just about right when you got inside the City wall.
Very pretty building with the terrace (?) and flower pots
To finalize the pictures, I believe we ate dinner again at The Grille. I really enjoy Dover Sole, especially when the filet it tableside.
I don't do this at home.
delicious
A nice way to end the day! I could even start the day with this
All in all, a really nice day. We got to get off the ship a bit and see some stuff. We didn't see anything mindblowing, but that's ok. Not every day has to be the spent visiting the most interesting place in the world. Sometimes, I'm satisfied to see something mildly interesting,
If I were to design the day, I would do the boat ride to the Lady of the Rocks and then back to Kotor. Everyone could eat on their own and then take the tenders back to the ship. I feel bad for anyone that stayed at the luncheon and then didn't get to walk around a bit.
Next up is Venice and then the return flight from Venice to the USA. I forgot how awesome Venice was. I really liked it before, but I was not prepared for how fabulous it is. Even for my third time there!
Aug 1, 2018, 3:08 pm
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
We've done several cruises during the summer on both Silversea and Seabourn (while our kids were at camp) and one cruise with Silversea (with kids) the week just before Christmas. I'm not a scrooge and well-behaved kids don't bother me. I think for the most part, the price of these cruises and the lack of kids activities help keep the kids away. Last summer there were some nice families from Australia and their children were no problem at all.
I would say that poorly behaved children might drive me to the Retreat, but the reality is, I'm too cheap to spend the money on it. And, I'm very happy to socialize with everyone at the main pool. The Retreat would be far to quiet for me.
I would say that poorly behaved children might drive me to the Retreat, but the reality is, I'm too cheap to spend the money on it. And, I'm very happy to socialize with everyone at the main pool. The Retreat would be far to quiet for me.
Loving you report.. I agree that the Retreat doesn't seem worth it but perhaps if you're on the boat during a school vacation week.... but hopefully, Seabourn doesn't get overrun... I only saw a handful of kids on the boat during our trip... can't wait to see more!
FDW
FDW
Aug 2, 2018, 3:38 pm
#41
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Venice
Let’s just get this part out of the way. I really love Venice. The idea of the city and the water is fabulous. I’ve been twice before. The first time was on our Silversea cruise from Barcelona to Venice. We did a tiny bit of Venice, Murano, and Burano. After that one day, my wife and I actually took the train to Milan and flew home from there. After our cruise, we flew back with our kids to Italy for a two week trip from Rome to Venice. It wasn’t quite the most efficient, but we did have to welcome our kids home from camp. No really, we did!
Anyway, back to business. The sail in is awesome. I've been on several cruises, but not a ton, and Venice is one of the two best that I've done. The other was our Silversea cruise that sailed under the Tower Bridge. Most everyone was excited about the sail in. There were lots of people on the deck taking pictures and videos.
Starting to enter Venice
You can see some people lined up to take pictures. You can also see the lonely hot tub on the deck below.
One of the tugboats
We're getting closer!
Now the tugboat is much closer.
Just amazing! The elevated view is awesome.
Just look at the crowds!
All sorts of things to see
Under the watchful eye of the tugboat
I can't imagine how awesome it would be to be on that yacht
As soon as we were able, Kenny and I departed the ship. We had a little difficulty with the signage to get to one of the water bus stops. We had to cross over a bridge and we passed the regular buses and then made our way to P. le Roma for the water bus ride towards St. Mark’s Square. After purchasing our tickets, we eventually got on the boat and grabbed two seats outside. I was very excited to take some pictures.
The bus line was clearly marked
Constitution Bridge
One of the many bridges
Wait here to board the boat
Nobody has to mow the lawn
I took so many pictures
I love this art! It reminds me a little bit of the new pedestrian bridge near Danang, Vietnam
The famous Rialto Bridge
The excellent Peggy Guggenheim Museum. She is buried there with her dogs.
I kept taking pictures and kept saying "Oh My God" or "This is awesome". It's just so great.
And the last of the pictures. Venice is great in the evening. Just fabulous. Can you tell I like it here?
Look at the hands in the evening
The Rialto bridge at night
Some glass to buy
We ended up eating at our second or third choice. One person on the cruise lived in Venice and gave us a recommendation. Once we got there, we found, of course, a crowd of people and no availability. We ended up eating someplace we just stumbled upon. It wasn't great or anything, but it did hit the spot. I know I had some gelato before boarding the water bus back. I don't have any pictures of the dinner, so you'll just have to trust me that I must have been too hungry to take pictures.
Well, that's a wrap on visiting Venice.
If you have never been to Venice, you need to put it on your list. We didn't have time to do anything but walk around a bit. Some other passengers were staying on for a day, but I needed to get back home.
The next post will cover my UA flight home wrap things up. What a great trip!
Anyway, back to business. The sail in is awesome. I've been on several cruises, but not a ton, and Venice is one of the two best that I've done. The other was our Silversea cruise that sailed under the Tower Bridge. Most everyone was excited about the sail in. There were lots of people on the deck taking pictures and videos.
Starting to enter Venice
You can see some people lined up to take pictures. You can also see the lonely hot tub on the deck below.
One of the tugboats
We're getting closer!
Now the tugboat is much closer.
Just amazing! The elevated view is awesome.
Just look at the crowds!
All sorts of things to see
Under the watchful eye of the tugboat
I can't imagine how awesome it would be to be on that yacht
As soon as we were able, Kenny and I departed the ship. We had a little difficulty with the signage to get to one of the water bus stops. We had to cross over a bridge and we passed the regular buses and then made our way to P. le Roma for the water bus ride towards St. Mark’s Square. After purchasing our tickets, we eventually got on the boat and grabbed two seats outside. I was very excited to take some pictures.
The bus line was clearly marked
Constitution Bridge
One of the many bridges
Wait here to board the boat
Nobody has to mow the lawn
I took so many pictures
I love this art! It reminds me a little bit of the new pedestrian bridge near Danang, Vietnam
The famous Rialto Bridge
The excellent Peggy Guggenheim Museum. She is buried there with her dogs.
I kept taking pictures and kept saying "Oh My God" or "This is awesome". It's just so great.
And the last of the pictures. Venice is great in the evening. Just fabulous. Can you tell I like it here?
Look at the hands in the evening
The Rialto bridge at night
Some glass to buy
We ended up eating at our second or third choice. One person on the cruise lived in Venice and gave us a recommendation. Once we got there, we found, of course, a crowd of people and no availability. We ended up eating someplace we just stumbled upon. It wasn't great or anything, but it did hit the spot. I know I had some gelato before boarding the water bus back. I don't have any pictures of the dinner, so you'll just have to trust me that I must have been too hungry to take pictures.
Well, that's a wrap on visiting Venice.
If you have never been to Venice, you need to put it on your list. We didn't have time to do anything but walk around a bit. Some other passengers were staying on for a day, but I needed to get back home.
The next post will cover my UA flight home wrap things up. What a great trip!
Aug 8, 2018, 12:14 pm
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
Flight home
Well, all good things must eventually come to an end. I had a great time with Kenny and it was now time to fly home.
Originally, I was booked on some business class flights from Venice to Dulles, connecting in Germany. I think that is what the plan was, but time has passed and I wouldn’t 100% swear to it. However, about one week before my trip, I was able to find availability to fly non-stop from Venice to Newark on United. Getting Amtrak from EWR to Baltimore is pretty easy. It enabled me to leave my car at the BWI long-term lot (I use the private FastPark) and my wife didn’t have to drop me off early in the morning at the beginning of my trip. I contacted United (the plane tickets were booked using United points via Chase UR) and I paid the change fee and things were resolved. The fee wasn’t that bad, as I also received a little bit of a rebate on the taxes and I think the number of points was lower as I was flying UA and not LH.
Just because I was leaving my luxury cruise, it didn’t mean that I had to eat like a bad meal. We woke up and went to eat some breakfast. Of course, we had to get one last meal outside.
I can almost guarantee that I ate more than this!
After eating, we grabbed our luggage and disembarked the ship. It was very easy to catch a taxi and away we went to the Venice airport. The taxi was a fixed rate, so there was no worries about getting ripped off. Kenny had to check luggage, but I was able to go directly through security. I had planned on grabbing some Euros out of an ATM to give my inlaws, but I putzed around too long and then ended up racing through security to get to the gate. As I was in line, I called Kenny to let him know that I’d meet him on the plane. I believe Kenny had to do a little shopping to get something for his son. The plane mostly succeeded in hiding and I could barely get this picture.
Playing hard to get!
Our flight path for today
Some flight information
The flight was uneventful. I watched some tv, slept, and probably even read a little bit. The food was decent and I even got to have an ice cream sundae Yum. I'm not even sure what I had and there looks like there were several meals. For the life of me, I’m not sure what food is in the pictures and exactly how many meals I had and in what order I ate the food. Maybe I forgot to take more pictures? Who knows? Who cares? It was food on a United flight, not a meal at a Michelin starred restaurant
OJ and some nuts
What meal was this for? What in the world is in front of me?
Pretty good
Hey Clara --- I found the beef!
A nice way to finish off a meal on a plane. Really though, it is a nice way to end any meal!!!
Prior to landing I thanked Kenny and said goodbye. There was a slight chance that I could make an earlier train home and that would save me from sitting around in Newark. The plane landed and I grabbed my carry on from above and bolted for customs. I might even have made time for a bathroom break.
In order to get to the Amtrak station at EWR, you have to take a monorail from the airport to the train station. Even though the signage was pretty good, I did ask some people for directions. No sense running in the wrong direction! It’s not so much a train station as it is a stop with a building. I might even be better classified as a big room. This does not compare to the train stations that I am used to (Penn Station in NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore Penn or even Union Station in Washington).
I was able to get on the train and when seated I called my wife to tell her the good news of my early arrival. My wife told me that she had just spoken to her mother and that my mother-in-law said that I need to be careful about being on the wrong train. The person checking my ticket would know that I was on the wrong train and they might make me pay the difference of the fare (if any). I called Amtrak and they told me that the price for the train I was on was about $9 more. They said that I might have been given the choice of either paying more or that I would have to get off at the next stop and then reboard for my actual train. That seemed like a pain and $9 wasn’t so bad and I was able to put it on a credit card and they emailed me my new ticket.
Once I got to the BWI train station, I took the Amtrak shuttle bus to the airport terminal. That was pretty simple, perhaps just a 5-10 minute ride. Once at BWI’s terminal, I took the shuttle bus for my parking lot and was shortly reunited with my car and then my family.
What a great trip! Thanks for reading along.
Originally, I was booked on some business class flights from Venice to Dulles, connecting in Germany. I think that is what the plan was, but time has passed and I wouldn’t 100% swear to it. However, about one week before my trip, I was able to find availability to fly non-stop from Venice to Newark on United. Getting Amtrak from EWR to Baltimore is pretty easy. It enabled me to leave my car at the BWI long-term lot (I use the private FastPark) and my wife didn’t have to drop me off early in the morning at the beginning of my trip. I contacted United (the plane tickets were booked using United points via Chase UR) and I paid the change fee and things were resolved. The fee wasn’t that bad, as I also received a little bit of a rebate on the taxes and I think the number of points was lower as I was flying UA and not LH.
Just because I was leaving my luxury cruise, it didn’t mean that I had to eat like a bad meal. We woke up and went to eat some breakfast. Of course, we had to get one last meal outside.
I can almost guarantee that I ate more than this!
After eating, we grabbed our luggage and disembarked the ship. It was very easy to catch a taxi and away we went to the Venice airport. The taxi was a fixed rate, so there was no worries about getting ripped off. Kenny had to check luggage, but I was able to go directly through security. I had planned on grabbing some Euros out of an ATM to give my inlaws, but I putzed around too long and then ended up racing through security to get to the gate. As I was in line, I called Kenny to let him know that I’d meet him on the plane. I believe Kenny had to do a little shopping to get something for his son. The plane mostly succeeded in hiding and I could barely get this picture.
Playing hard to get!
Our flight path for today
Some flight information
The flight was uneventful. I watched some tv, slept, and probably even read a little bit. The food was decent and I even got to have an ice cream sundae
Yum. I'm not even sure what I had and there looks like there were several meals. For the life of me, I’m not sure what food is in the pictures and exactly how many meals I had and in what order I ate the food. Maybe I forgot to take more pictures? Who knows? Who cares? It was food on a United flight, not a meal at a Michelin starred restaurant OJ and some nuts
What meal was this for? What in the world is in front of me?
Pretty good
Hey Clara --- I found the beef!
A nice way to finish off a meal on a plane. Really though, it is a nice way to end any meal!!!
Prior to landing I thanked Kenny and said goodbye. There was a slight chance that I could make an earlier train home and that would save me from sitting around in Newark. The plane landed and I grabbed my carry on from above and bolted for customs. I might even have made time for a bathroom break.
In order to get to the Amtrak station at EWR, you have to take a monorail from the airport to the train station. Even though the signage was pretty good, I did ask some people for directions. No sense running in the wrong direction! It’s not so much a train station as it is a stop with a building. I might even be better classified as a big room. This does not compare to the train stations that I am used to (Penn Station in NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore Penn or even Union Station in Washington).
I was able to get on the train and when seated I called my wife to tell her the good news of my early arrival. My wife told me that she had just spoken to her mother and that my mother-in-law said that I need to be careful about being on the wrong train. The person checking my ticket would know that I was on the wrong train and they might make me pay the difference of the fare (if any). I called Amtrak and they told me that the price for the train I was on was about $9 more. They said that I might have been given the choice of either paying more or that I would have to get off at the next stop and then reboard for my actual train. That seemed like a pain and $9 wasn’t so bad and I was able to put it on a credit card and they emailed me my new ticket.
Once I got to the BWI train station, I took the Amtrak shuttle bus to the airport terminal. That was pretty simple, perhaps just a 5-10 minute ride. Once at BWI’s terminal, I took the shuttle bus for my parking lot and was shortly reunited with my car and then my family.
What a great trip! Thanks for reading along.