Having cruised through Bolsover for many years with my husband who sadly died a year ago, a very good friend of mine who had also been widowed agreed we would now cruise together.
We were sent a promotion from Bolsover for a 25 night cruise and stay holiday to Japan and Alaska sailing on Seabourn Quest.
It was the first time either of us had cruised on Seabourn, having previously cruised mainly on P&O and latterly Cunard.
We were eagerly anticipating sailing on a boutique ‘6+’ small luxury ship, especially as it was offering free wifi, premium beverages and gratuities that were neither sought or expected.
It also represented really good value as it was a re-positioning cruise.
We flew Etihad to Tokyo via Abu Dhabi and arrived mid afternoon, Our transfer from Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo was seamless, I was sent a whatsapp text on arrival requesting a photograph our luggage on the trolley whereupon our taxi driver identified us within five minutes and we were on our way in a comfortable SUV 6 seater.
Our 4+ hotel was right in the middle of the city, it was extremely comfortable and included an extensive breakfast buffet of both European and Japanese food.
Two days later our transport to Yokohama arrived at the hotel right on time and took us to the port for boarding the Quest.
Boarding was easy, not least as there were only 419 of us boarding a ship with a maximum capacity of 450.
Our first impressions of the ship and our Penthouse suite were positive.
Compact, with lovely deck areas which would have been wonderful if we had been going on a sunny, warm cruise rather than sailing up to Alaska, crossing the Pacific and the Barents Sea.
Our suite was very nice having a properly separated bedroom with glass doors, a good sized dining table with 4 chairs and a sofa that would have seated 4 at a pinch.
A separate dressing room was accessed by two doors and a very well equipped bathroom had two sinks, a separate shower and a jacuzzi bath.
There were two doors to access the toilet and washbasin, one from the living area and one from the bedroom, very civilized for two friends.
So far all positive, our ‘suite host’ and attendant were very helpful and competent and throughout the cruise virtually all the staff we personally dealt with were lovely.
On leaving Yokohama we had a sea day with nice warm weather before we arrived at Miyako.
We had booked two tours before we embarked; the tour at Miyako was interesting, but sadly the weather was not great, raining heavily most of the day.
Our second stop was at Hakodote.
on Hokkaido, the most northern island of Japan.
We had also booked a tour, not really knowing what to expect.
To our astonishment we found the cherry blossom in full bloom; we had thought we were too late to see it and indeed it was pretty much over in Tokyo.
Here in Hakodote it was at its peak and was absolutely stunning.
Then it was on to our last stop at Kushiro; we would have booked a tour to see the famous Japanese red topped cranes but it was fully booked and in any case was $400 per person! The destinations manager was very helpful and suggested that we might be able to organize a taxi on the quayside and this we did.
We went to the crane reserve which we would have visited on the tour, saw many cranes up close, including one couple mating, and it cost us a total of £95 for the two of us! All in all we had a wonderful time in Japan, it was everything and more we could have hoped for.
Then it was on to sailing the Pacific, including crossing the International Date Line on the 4th of May, meaning we had two 4ths of May, which was a strange experience, we also lost an hour every day for 6 days.
Fortunately the sea was exceptionally calm, we had a lot of rain and it was cold, but we weren’t there for sunbathing.
Our next stop was Dutch Harbour on the Aleutian Islands, which was tiny and had very little to offer except lots of bald eagles which seemed to be perched on every lamp post or structure and more rain.
Then it was on to Kodiak Island, once again in the rain, forgive me if this sounds like a stuck record! Again we hadn’t booked a tour, but although Kodiak itself was small with not much to see, we found a fisherman who took us out on a small fishing boat to see the local wildlife.
It was his very first time at taking guests, we were his guinea pigs and subsequently we had an absolutely brilliant time.
He took us to see a great many sea-lions lying head to toe on a breakwater and we were able to get very close to them.
Then high up in a tree we saw a bald eagle nest with a chick in it.
Next we saw sea otters who approached us, as apparently they are very curious creatures.
Following on from that were a flock of puffins as well as oyster catchers and cormorants.
We got very wet and cold, but what an experience.
Then the highlight of the cruise – Glacier Bay and the sun came out! There were magnificent scenes of mountains and glaciers, we saw orcas, more sea otters and I even spotted a bear walking along the shore line, although he was a long way off.
Champagne and caviar was served on deck and rangers had come on board to help guide us to see as much wildlife as possible.
We then arrived at Sitka, where we tendered.
The ship whale watching tour was completely booked out and sadly we just missed getting on one from Sitka.
Instead we took a local tour to see the Sitka spruce in a nearby forest where there was an abundance of totem poles, on to a bald eagle rehabilitation centre for injured birds and then a bear sanctuary where we saw brown and black bears close up, but it was more of a commercial enterprise and for me, was somewhat sad to see them in captivity (not that I would want to get close to a bear in the wild!) Our last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan where I went on a boat trip to catch Dungeness crabs followed by a ‘crab feast’ in a lakeside restaurant, great fun and the sun came out.
This was booked on the ship and cost $220 which wasn’t bad considering the cost of most of their tours.
Our lost stop before arriving at Vancouver was Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
Once again it was raining and it really wasn’t much of a town, we walked there in the rain as the ship had messed up booking a large enough shuttle bus, had a coffee and walked back.
The next morning we disembarked and enjoyed two days in the city, yet again in the rain.
The sun came out the morning we left for the airport and the flight home.
As to the ship: the most important question always is – would we sail on her again and the answer is probably no,unless it was a really good offer with a very attractive itinerary.
For us there were too many negatives which outweighed the positives.
Food was bland and frequently cold, I had only one meal that I would have said was really excellent; service could be slow even though the waiters were rushed off their feet and trying really hard, they were too often let down by the staff behind them.
One day we arrived at the Colonnade for lunch a full 15 minutes before it closed.
We ordered the special of the day, fish and chips and after waiting 20 minutes we asked our waiter to chase it up as the restaurant was closing.
He came back to say that the kitchen had closed and it was too late.
Another day at breakfast when we had to go through immigration we were on a table for 4 and we all ordered a cooked breakfast.
Three arrived, my companion’s did not until everyone else had finished and we had been called for immigration.
Although the house champagne and farmed caviar was available any time of the day or night, the so-called premium wines were not premium, unless you count Oyster Bay premium.
As I can buy it for £8.60 when it’s on special I would beg to differ.
A bottle of Sancerre was $85 and that can be bought for £15 in the supermarket.
For me, because I’m a sucker for champagne and caviar and rarely have it at home, that was the best thing on the ship.
My husband and I had our Golden Wedding on Cunard’s Queen Victoria in a Princess suite, (a slightly larger balcony cabin than normal).
Unless you are in Queen’s Grill you have to pay for caviar and even eight years ago it cost $65 for a single portion, plus whatever the cost was for the champagne.
That’s another issue I would have with Seabourn.
They claim they are an ‘all suite’ ship.
Given that they have cabins without balconies and balcony cabins that are only a fraction larger than P&O’s balcony cabins, I wouldn’t call them suites! Our Penthouse suite was definitely a suite, but it was slightly smaller than the Penthouse suites on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
I have been lucky enough to cruise in Queen’s Grill on Cunard and I have to say I consider it far superior in terms of the standard of accommodation and quality of food.
However, I did appreciate sailing on a much smaller ship, we met lots of lovely people and will stay in touch with a few.
Re.
the entertainment, although there wasn’t a theatre as such, there was a large entertainment space called the Grand Salon which had a small stage.
There was a resident troupe of 6 dancers and singers two of whom had very nice voices and the other four were principally singer/dancers.
There were also solo performances including a pianist, a guitarist and a magician.
In addition there were guest lecturers who were very good.
I did have a couple of other criticisms that I think should be mentioned in the context that Quest is supposed to be ‘top top’.
I booked a wash and blow dry at the salon on a port day when I was offered a $50 discount, full price $102.
I forgot to take the voucher, but was told If I brought it in, it would be credited.
When I presented it the next morning it was refused on the grounds that it would mess up the Spa’s accounting system even though the voucher was supposedly usable for a further week.
The Spa Manager refused point blank to honour it and although the Guest Relation Manager gave me a $50 credit it didn’t seem to me to be the way to make your customers feel welcome orvalued.
The other issue was more serious.
The literature we received before sailing stated that we would have a pair of binoculars.
When we queried their omission we were told they were available on request and we were duly loaned a pair.
I returned them a couple of nights before disembarkation, handing them to a member of the Guest Relations team on my way to see a show in the Grand Salon.
Thankfully I made a note of her name, because on showing my key card as I went to leave the ship I was told that I had to report to Guest Relations.
On arriving I was basically accused of stealing the binoculars as they hadn’t noted that they had been returned.
I explained that I had returned them and to who, and was allowed off the ship, but that really did leave a nasty taste in my mouth!
Since returning home I have read quite a few other reviews of Quest, generally from seasoned Quest cruisers.
They mostly say that standards have slipped, that the standard of food and service is not what it was and that quite a lot of cost cutting has taken place.
It seems a shame as she is a lovely small ship with a great atmosphere.
We feel that our experience was rather a case of over promising and under-delivering.
Many of our fellow cruisers complained that the destinations were disappointing and the tours very expensive.
We have three future cruises booked on Cunard, sailing on QM2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, all in Queens Grill.
It will be interesting to see if their standards are not what they have been as Cunard is also owned by Carnival.