On Friday October 21st, 2016 we embarked on a 14 night cruise aboard the Seabourn Quest from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. Photo Gallery.
We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise at the Loft Hotel, Montreal (www.lofthotel.ca). A converted warehouse, the hotel was a bit funky but the staff were very friendly, it was in a vibrant neighbourhood with numerous restaurants nearby and within walking distance of the main tourist/shopping districts. Unfortunately the weather was dreadfully wet so we did a bit of shopping & got takeout pizza for dinner. In the morning I got soaked going to an ATM. Nevermind, we were there to cruise! After an eventful taxi ride to the Port, we boarded the Quest. To our pleasant surprise we were welcomed by Jan, the Cruise Director, with whom we had sailed before, and the Captain was none other than Captain Dag Dvergastein, who we sailed with in June 2014 to Norway & Svalbard. All looking good so far! After registration and a spot of lunch our suite #721 was ready, time to quickly unpack and enjoy the sailaway. While Gwyn unpacked I went up to Deck 8 to capture a couple of snaps. Coming back down to our suite, Patrick & Douglas, with whom we had sailed twice before, were exiting the corridor. What a wonderful surprise - we had no idea that they were going to be on this cruise. After surprising Gwyn in our suite we made arrangements to get together - it was already promising to be a memorable cruise and we hadn't left the dock yet! Later on in the cruise we would enjoy the company of Paul & Angela, and Graham & Anne, two couples with whom we had sailed before; and, David and Donna, new friends from St. Lucia, all whom we hope to spend more time together in future.
Cruising through the night, we arrived at our the first port of call, an overnight stay in Quebec City. Once again the weather was not very good - bitterly cold & damp, luckily the snow that was forecast did not transpire - in fact the weather would prove to throw a damper over the entire cruise. Truth be told late October is probably not the best time to be cruising the Maritimes/US east coast. We had intended to hire a car on the first day & drive along the St. Lawrence, but because of the weather we cancelled it & walked around the city for an hour or two. The next day the weather wasn't as wet so we took a longer walk around the city wall. Quebec is a nice city but we were really looking forward to getting out into the countryside. Never mind, the Quest was warm & inviting!
Monday 24th was a sea day - time for Trivia! We had arranged with Patrick & Douglas, along with Douglas's dad, George & his girlfriend Winnie, to form the backbone of a team. We were joined by Graham & Anne, from Auckland with whom we had sailed on the Norway cruise in 2014. Although 'just for fun', trivia is not to be trifled with, and with 5 sea days ahead it was important to get off to a good start. Our team was "Still Thinking".
Tuesday 25th, we arrived at our second port, Cap-aux-Meules, Iles de la Madeleine. Once again the weather was a bit wet but it didn't prevent us from taking the ships tender to shore. Seabourn had arranged a shuttle bus to the centre of the town from where we hiked through a nearby nature reserve, then along the coast back to the port, bumping into fellow passengers along the way. A quick stop at Tim Horton's for coffee & a muffin on the way back completed the experience.
Wednesday 26th, we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Our plan was to hire a car & drive the Cabot Trail, or at least part of it. A friends brother lives in Sydney so on arrival we gave him a call, to ask advice on where/what we should do. He suggested that he pick us up & take us to the car rental agency. We met him at the pier whereupon he told us that he wasn't working that day & to save us time, he would show us around. Well, we had a great day with Michael. He drove us across Cape Breton Island and up the Cabot Trail as far as Ingonish, then back down to Baddeck, on the shore of Bras d'Or Lake. After a quick lunch at Tim Horton's we visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. It was a real eye opener. Famous for inventing the telephone, there were exhibits featuring his research into aeronautics and a replica of his hydrofoil (HD-4) which managed a speed of 70 mph on the Bras d'Or Lake in 1919. He considered Cape Breton his home so much so that an American request that the museum be sited in the US was rejected in favour of Baddeck. We returned to the Quest much the wiser and immensely grateful to Michael. Tonight we dined at the Captains' table.
Thursday was another sea day, and another round of Trivia! On Friday we were due to visit Bar Harbor, Maine, and the highlight of the cruise for me, Acadia National Park. Sadly, the weather did me in, it was too rough to get into Bar Harbor and rather than cruise a rough sea for an extra day waiting to get into Salem (our next scheduled port of call), the Captain made for Boston (an unscheduled stop) where those that wanted could take a courtesy bus to Salem. Thus we had a second sea day, and another round of Trivia. By this point we had our noses in front so things were getting exciting!
Saturday 29th saw us docked in Boston. Having been to Boston on numerous occasions, we decided to take advantage of the shuttle to Salem. Turns out that it was the day of the Devil's Chase, a 6.66 mile race involving more than a 1000 devils - horns, pitchforks & a cape or tail mandatory! - including, it turned out, our neighbours from the ship, who chose the cruise specifically to take part in the race - and they won a prize to boot! Salem certainly makes the most of its dark past. Even though the 1692/93 Witch Trials, during which 19 people were hung 'as witches' (all convictions were subsequently annulled), account for barely a year in Salem's 400 year history, they clearly continue to be a major attraction to the city, drawing crowds to the Witch Graveyard, The Witch Museum & the site of the Trials themselves. They also provided the inspiration for Arthur Miller's 1953 play, The Crucible, and several episodes of the 1960's sitcom Bewitched were filmed there. Witches aside, Salem has other notable attractions including being the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne and site of the House of the Seven Gables, which inspired his novel; and, The Peabody Essex Museum, housing Asian & early US maritime & whaling exhibits. However, on this day it was witches & devils to the fore!
Sunday 30th had us in New York - except we didn't dock in Manhattan as we expected, but in Brooklyn. This was the source of much frustration, as some passengers had booked matinee performances on Broadway believing they would have plenty of time given a Noon docking. Although Seabourn provided shuttle buses to Manhattan they weren't prepared for the mass of passengers keen to make the first shuttle. From thereon it just got worse. Once again, Mother Nature showed her ugly side with rain causing flooding in the Brooklyn Tunnel - one-side of which was already closed for road works - resulting in a 2-hour delay for the return shuttle, and confusion surrounding the drop-off/pick-up point led to even more chaos on the return - one shuttle dropped passengers in the wrong spot, which is where they waited in the rain for the return! Personally, I was happy as the drop-off point was just down the street from B&H Photo and outside K-Mart where we picked up some Halloween costumes! On Monday the shuttles ran smoothly, but we played it safe by taking a walk from the ship around the Red Hook district - an area that appears to be experiencing some rejuvenation.
Monday 31st, Halloween party. After dinner we dressed in our costumes and mixed with fellow revelers in The Club. Our K-mart costumes proved a hit and we won the prize for 'best couple'.
Tuesday 1st, another sea day and Trivia! With our noses in front we couldn't afford to let it slip!
Wednesday 2nd we docked in Charleston, our final port of call. Thankfully, the city appeared to have recovered from Hurricane Matthew which swept through Charleston on October 8th. Douglas had researched walks and points of interest and very kindly gave us a copy of his notes. Following his suggestions, we visited the Calhoun Mansion and walked around the historic districts. Charleston played a major role in the slave trade, the American Revolution and the American Civil War, so there was plenty of history to go around. It was interesting to see that the doors on houses next to the Old Jail were still painted blue to keep evil spirits away. Overall though I have to say I was a little disappointed with Charleston. perhaps my expectations were too high as it is often compared with Savannah, and while having perhaps more & grander mansions, I much prefer the 'squares' of Savannah.
Thursday 3rd, a sea day and final Trivia! With a slim lead going into the final round we managed to hold on and claim the coveted title & winners prize of a Seabourn beach tote, which came in very useful as carry-on for the flight home.
Friday 4th, disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale and off to pick-up a rental car for our drive to Naples then on to Orlando to 'detox'!
So, another Seabourn cruise under our belt, and more wonderful memories of time spent with old and new friends. It would be remiss of me not to mention fitness instructor, Georgi, who put us through our paces in yoga, kinesis, and stretch, and whose Total Body Workouts nearly did me in! A good instructor, and a genuinely nice guy.
It is hard to say anything bad about Seabourn without sounding spoiled, however, on this cruise, some things just weren't up to their usual standards. Overall, I had the feeling that it was a little understaffed compared to previous cruises. True, there were a lot of new staff on-board (somebody said 25%) and they weren't quite as attentive or 'polished' as they no doubt would be further into their contracts. But there also appeared to be a lack of oversight in the restaurants. Glasses (both wine & water) sat empty for far longer than they should have, and requests that on previous cruises would have been met with 'certainly Mr. .....', were declined as not available. Also, Seabourn is bringing into service its newest ship, the Encore, and it appears that a lot of the more senior staff were transitioning to that vessel. All understandable perhaps but not leaving me wanting to rush on another Seabourn cruise - although we did put down a future cruise deposit, just in case! In May 2017 we are going with Silverseas on one of it's expedition ships from Broome to Darwin so we will see how that compares.