I believe we received excellent information and support from you and the booking gal.
We thoroughly enjoyed this ship…the beauty and simplicity of the interior was a fit for us. The size and number of passengers also “a fit”. Passengers originated from a variety of countries and it was interesting to observe how common language contributed to them finding each other and sharing the experience.
The ship is amazing….the exploration component plus the fact that it is Hybrid made the cruise even more interesting. We had great weather and visited quaint settings. The change in the itinerary with the necessity of shortening the cruise was unfortunate…the support & options that we passengers received were appropriate but the preference would have been to have the cruise be the length that was marketed. The exploration team worked very hard in planning outings and the execution of same was always excellent. It was however, difficult to plan other activities (spa appointments etc.) around the shore opportunities because they were never able to confirm the next day’s activities until 8 PM the night before. The short duration of the cruise may have contributed to this pattern but it made it difficult for passengers to plan.
We appreciated the credit “perk” but since we need “nothing” were delighted to have the option of being able to donate to not only the crew but also the scientific foundation. If a cruise was to be part of our future we would definitely explore what the schedule/itinerary would be with this ship and its sister ship.
In closing, I would like to share a complement about the following wait staff: Jerome (maitre de) was consistently pleasant, personalized seating and efficient. The wait staff team of: Lucky, Jigs and Mark offered us consistent excellent dining service.
Jigs was extraordinary and we SO appreciated his very high and consistent service to us…he is a real asset to that crew. All in all, it was a successful vacation...
CB