Retreat on Seabourn Encore

The Retreat on Seabourn Encore has been mentioned, mainly critically,in other threads but it is deserving of a thread of its own. We have not yet sailed on Seabourn but are doing so in May when it starts a series of port intensive Med cruises. I can see for some passengers it might be attractive on sea days although at a charge of $350 a cabana probably very few takers. What I cannot understand is the point of it on port days when most guests will be visiting the port and taking trips or ship excursions.

Personally, the space does not appeal to me, even if it was at no charge. The overall space seems too enclosed. I don't get the cabanas...why would I want to sit in a little enclosed space, with no view of the sea and watch tv or read a book? Certainly not the reason why I cruise. Why they didn't open up the whole the space to provide sea views is beyond me.

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What I can't understand is why it deserves a thread of its own.

Because it's a new and specific innovation by .Seabourn on a brand new ship and deserves special comments rather than random comments on at least three different threads.

You are kind to call the retreat a innovation. I consider it a disincentive to cruise on this ship.

If I want to read my book in peace, or watch TV from a comfortable private space I'll stay in my room AND get a sea view at no extra cost.

But just to make sure we aren't missing some vital and uniquely appealing aspect of this "innovation" I hereby volunteer to take one for the team and give the Retreat a try during my forthcoming Sydney-Singapore trip in March. It's only fair.

What do you get in The Retreat that isn't already available and included on the rest of the ship?

What do you get in The Retreat that isn't already available and included on the rest of the ship?

Loneliness

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Rumour has it - decent Champagne ;) - stil prefer to buy a bottle and sit 'up top' to watch the world go by.

The 'Retreat' a waste of space.

Encore quite pretentious.

Happy sailing,

Kind regards,

Tony

It certainly sounds a very odd concept. I would be genuinely interested to know more about the thinking/reasoning behind it - if anyone ever finds out.

I recently saw this oddity called innovation on a video. My reaction was who would want to be couped up there and pay money for it.

You would have to be anti social or hiding from the world for some reason.

In regard to preteniousness on Encore I am sure it cannot endure. Just reading the thread I have no inkling of Seabournians being pretentious. In my mind it is the cruisers that make the atmosphere and vibe not the vessel.

And even if you dod want to coop up somewhere private what's wrong with your suite?

wripro,

But, but... if you are in your suite you cannot gaze upon and be gazed upon by other big deal Retreat goers, who like you, have spent lots of dosh to be there. So it's about facetime, ok? Yeah, up there you can talk over each other, ignore each other, or maybe pretend to be alone and act put out by the goings-on at the other cabanas. It's exclusive but it's not really - nor does it make any sense - and so there must be something to it. Which makes it tempting.

Idea: could a noontime chat show such as "Housewives of New Jersey" take over and set up a permanent

set for "Retreat on the High Seas"? Depending on who is hosting and guesting, they might even attract a studio audience from Seabourn's hoi polloi, assuming they will be granted some access to the Retreat's perimeter. That would ensure more usage for the deck space than the Retreat is getting now.

For as long as it lasts.

Happy and healthy sailing!

We checked it out a couple of times on our recent Sydney-Bali trip. It was deserted and nobody we spoke to had any intention of using it. The overwhelming reaction was "what's the point". Slugging us $350 for the privilege (the key concept here) just adds insult to injury.

The demographic changed completely on the Bali-Singapore leg and true to type they loved the Retreat and all the cachet they believed it conferred. I pitied the staff who had to deal with such rude (and lewd) behaviour.

We checked it out a couple of times on our recent Sydney-Bali trip. It was deserted and nobody we spoke to had any intention of using it. The overwhelming reaction was "what's the point". Slugging us $350 for the privilege (the key concept here) just adds insult to injury.

 

The demographic changed completely on the Bali-Singapore leg and true to type they loved the Retreat and all the cachet they believed it conferred. I pitied the staff who had to deal with such rude (and lewd) behaviour.

Maybe that's the point. Seabourn want to encourage the Oiks who like to use the Retreat.

But then again, if they are using the retreat they aren't on deck annoying everyone else!

Watching a programme called Billions at the moment which is a bit like the Wolf of Wall Street - too much money, too soon? There were a few on the Med cruise I was on last year who turned the Caviar in the pool event into an 18 - 30 party - everyone was having fun but there were some who were very drunk, very raucous and rather self-entitled. Fortunately, it didn't transfer to the rest of the cruise but I would have very happily had them directed to the Retreat if there had been one. :(

The thing we have loved about Seabourn up to this point is the understated class and elegance and the fact it doesn't matter which suite you are in or how much you earn, everyone is treated with the same respect by the crew and indeed the other passengers.

The demographic changed completely on the Bali-Singapore leg and true to type they loved the Retreat and all the cachet they believed it conferred. I pitied the staff who had to deal with such rude (and lewd) behaviour.

I'm curious as to the number of people to which you make reference. Can you say?

Hard to say but it was more than a handful. We had a wedding group and as with all such parties there were people there who were totally out of their depth. There was a lot of heavy drinking and rowdy behaviour in and around the pool. Another large (charter?) of very aloof, standoffish Belgian and Germans for whom the language barrier seemed to be a problem and several people who just didn't know how to conduct themselves or treat the long suffering and superhumanly patient staff. It did create a rather uncomfortable atmosphere over the whole ship. If this is the dumbed-down direction Seabourn is heading it's a great shame but they're a business first and foremost so I guess they have to follow the money.

There was speculation that the Bali-Singapore leg was very undersold so Seabourn had offered some bargains to fill all those empty suites. It wasn't a great itinerary anyway to be honest and apart from Bali we won't be going back to Indonesia again.

Completely agree with everything you say Rusty.

This was our first experience of a B2B and the second group changed the feel of the ship.

It showed us how fantastic the crew are and how hard it is for them to settle in with one group and then have to adapt to the next group. It must be impossible for them on 7 day cruises.

We have friends on Dubai - Singapore, I hope for their sake most of the demanding passengers left in Singapore!

I find it incredible that people on this forum feel qualified and able to dictate to others how they should spend their time on board.

If someone wants to use the Retreat let them. They aren't harming you in any way or spoiling your vacation. Let the crew worry about dealing with guests, I've seen plenty of examples of unreasonable behaviour and unreasonable demands from people who this forum would embrace and who don't use the Retreat.

As we are regularly reminded on here Seabourn monitor revenue like a hawk so if somewhere is under performing or losing money it won't survive. If it remains then one must assume it's wiping its nose. If you don't like it then don't use it and vote with your feet. 34 days on Encore including some hefty sea legs and we didn't avail ourselves of the facilities but I know a couple of people who did and think nothing less of them for doing so.

Henry :)

I find it incredible that people on this forum feel qualified and able to dictate to others how they should spend their time on board.

 

If someone wants to use the Retreat let them. They aren't harming you in any way or spoiling your vacation. Let the crew worry about dealing with guests, I've seen plenty of examples of unreasonable behaviour and unreasonable demands from people who this forum would embrace and who don't use the Retreat.

 

As we are regularly reminded on here Seabourn monitor revenue like a hawk so if somewhere is under performing or losing money it won't survive. If it remains then one must assume it's wiping its nose. If you don't like it then don't use it and vote with your feet. 34 days on Encore including some hefty sea legs and we didn't avail ourselves of the facilities but I know a couple of people who did and think nothing less of them for doing so.

 

Henry :)

I would like to vote with my feet, but the Retreat blocks the only area on the Encore where I can use my feet for walking.

Hard to say but it was more than a handful. We had a wedding group and as with all such parties there were people there who were totally out of their depth. There was a lot of heavy drinking and rowdy behaviour in and around the pool. Another large (charter?) of very aloof, standoffish Belgian and Germans for whom the language barrier seemed to be a problem and several people who just didn't know how to conduct themselves or treat the long suffering and superhumanly patient staff. It did create a rather uncomfortable atmosphere over the whole ship. If this is the dumbed-down direction Seabourn is heading it's a great shame but they're a business first and foremost so I guess they have to follow the money.

 

 

There was speculation that the Bali-Singapore leg was very undersold so Seabourn had offered some bargains to fill all those empty suites. It wasn't a great itinerary anyway to be honest and apart from Bali we won't be going back to Indonesia again.

I was following this cruise and the preceeding Syd - Bali on the "Reserve" section of the Seabourn Australia website from about mid January, hoping to grab a last minute low price. There were over 60 suites available on both sections up until the end of February, when those two cruises just "disappeared" from the Seabourn site, they were still shown on some overseas travel agent sites, but not at a reduced rate.

After reading your post I'm glad I missed out😀

I would like to vote with my feet, but the Retreat blocks the only area on the Encore where I can use my feet for walking.

Deck 10 overlooking the pool, a big half loop on deck 5 and of course lovely treadmills in the vastly improved gym.

H.

Henry,

I am sorry you feel that way. Apparently there are others who feel differently.

And it's not, as you have decided, how others choose to spend their money. Why try to dimension what others may be thinking when they express themselves on this forum? That said, I recognize that you have a vested interest in Encore.

To me, it's about the sacrifice of deck space for walking and the loss of what there could be up there- a large area for deck sports as there are on the other Seabourn ships- on a ship with 150 more passengers than the Odyssey class ships but with less outdoor deck space for recreation. And also the direction that Seabourn-Holland America management appears to be taking by commissioning this "Retreat" (retreat from what?) and restricting access to most of deck 12. Whatever happened to Seabourn's relaxed and egalitarian roots where everyone had run of the ship?

And about the "big half loop on deck 5" this is narrower, lower and shorter than what is found on the Odyssey class ships. Encore's deck 10 overlooking the pool offers what? 12 or so deckchairs in total, no shelter from sun and wind. No area for walking. Sorry, but this is window dressing. Glad about the treadmills though for the extra 150 passengers.

All of this is our business as we are loyal, long-standing, fare-paying customers. I hope that's ok.

Happy and healthy sailing!