johng75370

I appreciate the respectfiul disagreement, and actually agree with you. We learned in a similar way (second cruise speaking with another guest, and have contributed on that and the 8 that have followed on SB), and have always since focused our extra gratuity efforts there. Never have seen any mention or promo on any all-inclusive line, yet they all have it. We’ve sailed a couple of times on Explora and contributed to their “Host Lifestyle Fund” (ugh!) each time, and likewise Crystal. But in the context of this thread where explicit promo letters are being delivered to cabins (yikes!), not seeing that on my next cruise and simply seeing that sign was a relief. Did not see it on our transatlantic in April, so was wondering if this was something new.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and thanks for the excellent reporting on your voyage.

Just finished this historical fiction, set in Georgian era England. Met the author and her husband on a transatlantic crossing right as she was getting offers for her first book, and I have been an avid fan since because of her depth of research on the society, language, and ethics during that time (and her ease of communicating it). This is her third book, and can’t wait for her fourth.

Seabourn Square acts as the library, with books lining the walls and available to borrow. There are also puzzles, games, newspapers, and computer stations at Seabourn Square.

No it cannot. It’s somewhere in the fine print. We found out only after our TA claimed that it was, but then we found out onboard that our TA was wrong. Ever since then have found the referral OBC to not be of much use as the Amex benefit is better.

Clearly things were different from when you sailed and when we did in December and May. The two perfume lines in particular we really liked were the Fueguia 1833 (we got the “Dunas de un Cuerpo” which is also available online) and the Floraiku complete range that they had. Other perfumes were also standard but did not take note of them, so in fairness perhaps things have changed. (And Explora makes frequent changes).

In fairness to the onboard shopping (apart from the watch stores), it’s very nicely “curated” and has many goods that are both good value and quite expensive. There are not a lot of items below 100 euros but there are some that we used OBC for. One was a Portofino Gin from Italy for 56 euros in May, and the other was an Amaro of some form for 40 euros in December. If you’re needing to use up a few hundred euros the inventory greatly expands (perfumes, sunglasses, etc). I also suspect that they have a hidden section of low-cost items like toothpaste, razors, aspirin, and so forth but not sure.

Don't forget about the Mamils:

1. I wouldn't see a problem in general being on Quest for 34 days, but the specific itinerary you are looking at is effectively 3 weeks in Alaska, with some ports visited twice and the last two weeks being sold as 7 day sailings (meaning some events on board will repeat, as @whogo is currently reporting from Odyssey). To me that would get boring unlike a 34 day voyage that stops in different places. 2. Quest has 4 dinner venues; MDR, The Colonnade, Earth & Ocean (outdoor by the pool), and Solis. Sushi in the Club also acts as a light dinner option. 3. I think Quest has a reinforced hull that allows it to do more expedition-type voyages (e.g. Antarctica), but otherwise is designed as a cruise ship like the other non-expedition ships (Sojourn, Encore, Ovation). It has zodiacs for some excursions, but also has options for more sheltered/less strenuous excursions. Was recently on Odyssey in Alaska and enjoyed the catamaran excursion to the glaciers. 4. Seabourn tends to be quite social, and they make an effort with solo travelers. Have only sailed solo once, but did get invites for hosted tables at dinner, and found activities like trivia to be a good way to socialize in addition to general social events onboard like the Captains Welcome. 5. Have not seen comp'd laundry for long voyages, but I believe they do for World Cruises. Hope that helps; best wishes in giving Seabourn a try!

I think @DTtravelers nailed it, especially with the suggestion you or your agent reaching out to Seabourn. Another scenario is if the cruise you’re looking at is a segment to other cruises (e.g. a 12 day we just booked is also part of a 31 day and 20 day cruise). In that case Seabourn may be moving cabin inventory around based on that (for example, the cabin category we were interested in is sold out on our 12 day, but is offered on the 31 day cruise that starts before our sailing, and is also part of the 20 day that begins at the same time as our sailing and ends later). In that situation SB may have a cabin available on your sailing, but it’s not showing because it is part of a different “inventory bucket”. On our last SB cruise it was sold out off-and-on in the month leading up to departure, so things do change. Hope this makes sense, and best wishes in it coming back.

I think you mean pre-Carnival, which in other words is pre-2001. A lot has changed since 2001.

They automatically use the non-refundable credit first, and when you are onboard the Seabourn Source app shows you what your non-refundable credit and refundable credit balances are.

No, but it is very easy to have it changed to OBC once onboard. They refund what you paid ahead of time to your onboard account as refundable credit, then the refund is done after the cruise ends. We did this last week and saw the credit on our credit card the day after the cruise ended.

FWIW, saw a modest promotion of the Crew Welfare Fund on a discreet sign in SB Square currently on Odyssey. Whomever donates is entered into a raffle for a token gift from the voyage. Seems like a fair way to get the message out that it exists without anyone feeling pressure to donate.

Turn it into a library, something the ship is missing.

Yes, happily.

We’ve stayed before on the Odyssey-class ships in a cabin next to the elevators, and had zero issue with noise or any downside. If anything, easy access to the elevator was a big positive (and not having a neighbor on one side). Our next cruise in July we’re booked in one of those cabins.

Thanks for the great reporting @Pirouette! If it's not too much bother, can you post who the cruise director and assistant CD are?

Here's a link to the Alaska jacket (and where you order it for your Alaska cruise): Seabourn (newheadings.com) Here's the outfitting for all Seabourn destinations that provide gear: Seabourn (newheadings.com)

As @kelleherdl said it’s a beautiful space but if the ship is underway the water sloshes around a lot; the main issue is it cascades over onto the surrounding loungers. They’ve tried building glass retaining walls to contain the water, but last month still seemed to be a work in progress (our first voyage it was empty of water the whole time). Seems like something they would have a different design or a fix for on Explora 2.

I appreciate your point; the shipyard agreed to deliver a complete product and they may not be able to, I just hope EJ don’t do what they did with Explora 1 which is accepting a product that met their specs, then realizing they made some mistakes impacting passengers over several months.

That’s exactly my point; they (MSC Group) did not get Explora 1 correct as evidenced by the non-functional Helios pool. EJ has tried to make changes to it while sailing, but it’s been taking a while to get it right (maybe it is finally fixed). Across my two voyages it was not; and as a cruise line that encourages families not having an adult-only area is an issue. EJ may be holding up Explora 2 rather than ship it with that or other design flaws; they hopefully have learned from what they did not get right on Explora 1. None of that has to do with the builder; if it was builder-caused delay then the successful sea trials would not have happened on schedule.

It’s a shared responsibility, as the cruise line is responsible for the design and features; the builder builds to their specifications. Putting out a press release that Explora 2 successfully passed sea trials suggests that the builder did their job. For example, the new trend (with Explora and Silversea) to put pools/large hot tubs off the sides of the ship is a significant engineering challenge - changes all the dynamics compared to the pools/water being in the center or centerline of the ship. Can be built properly by the builder but give headaches to the operator who made those design choices. Explora 1 (to my knowledge) may not yet have a functioning Helios pool (the adults area pool) because of a design flaw. Could be Explora 2 is held up for a comparable issue not being resolved (or same one).

Really? Jan, I think you missed Paul's point and chose a careful place to "snip" his comments. Explora 1 and Silver Nova were both new classes of ships and were both delayed; SS slipped a month and let people know roughly 8 months ahead. Explora 1 was delayed twice, with the last delay only weeks before people were planning to sail on it. Explora Journeys' first cruise ship Explora 1 delayed days before launch | Cruise News | CruiseMapper Explora 2 and Silver Ray (that Paul referred to) are more comparable; second ship of a new class for each line. Explora 2 is delayed by a month or so and announced 2 months before sailing. Silver Ray was delivered two days ahead of schedule. Silversea Takes Delivery of Silver Ray | Silversea Big difference.

We will be on Odyssey in a few weeks; fingers crossed there will be some caviar and Champagne left for us after your voyage 😀 Is the temperature warm enough to eat outside, especially Earth & Ocean at night? Hoping you continue to have a great sailing!