johng75370

This is a horrible situation for you to have been put in, and you are right to feel let down by Seabourn. I’ve never experienced that kind of treatment with Seabourn, and think you are right in asking for a refund for the airport transfer/tour and an apology. I’m assuming it was a contract person acting as “Destination Dis-Services”. Seabourn can work with them to make sure it does not happen to someone else. I would email the office of the ptesident (Natalya Leahy); for this level of issue I would think that is the right place to reach out to. Officeofthepresident@seabourn.com

Will be interested to hear how it turns out for you; was on Seabourn Odyssey in October and Explora in December and would overall give the advantage to Seabourn at that time. Back on SB Ovation in April, and then on Explora in May, so will have a chance to reconsider after those sailings. Good to have choices and a range because we all have different tastes and standards!

Hi @Suite Susie, I would provide the booking number to your travel agent and have them sort it out; it might be that they can just create a new booking for you while the current one waits to expire (when we placed a booking on hold it was set to expire after 7 days). We booked another one directly with Explora and then had our travel agent transfer it to their control, and it was easy to do. Hope that helps! We share your frustration with the website!

We’re loyal Seabourn guests, and for a small ship environment Seabourn punches above its weight in terms of evening entertainment and shows. Production shows, guest performers, live band for dancing, piano or guitar lounge players. Having said that, it’s not going to be on the scale of Celebrity or Princess. While disappointing in some ways, we found the evening entertainment on Explora to be okay and likely to get better quick (it was an acknowledged issue that was being worked on) - we had fun with karaoke and have booked a future Explora voyage because in all other respects it was a great cruise. We’re sticking with Seabourn for longer voyages, but will be happy to return to Explora.

I can’t speak to expedition vs traditional, but we’ve sailed on both Seabourn and Celebrity in The Retreat and there is a huge difference. Seabourn’s service is more personal and genuine, much easier to meet and socialize with other passengers, and the smaller ship size makes it feel much more like “your ship” for the time you’re there. Pretty much every voyage with Seabourn we run into crew and passengers we’ve sailed with before; not on Celebrity. Food (very subjective) we find better on Seabourn (and particularly have been very disappointed by Luminae on Celebrity), but more options and venues on Celebrity. Celebrity offers the big ship advantages in terms of entertainment options and walking decks, and has more diversity in passenger mix. Because Seabourn’s entry veranda cabin is generously sized we’re usually fine with that, whereas Celebrity we typically go for the Retreat - making Seabourn a less expensive option. Both are owned by massive companies, but also both retain their own staff and brand identity (Seabourn’s been part of Carnival for over 20 years, while keeping it’s own uniqueness). Both are great options, but we’ve found significant differences (and advantages) to Seabourn.

Yes; after you board you can get a printout of the included wines from Seabourn Square (or perhaps from your cabin attendant), and all the included wines are available at all the venues (or for your cabin). Typically with TK Grill they "lead" with the revenue wine list, but they should also highlight that you can order any of the included wines. We've never had a problem, although some people we've read on here have felt the waiters have "pushed" the revenue wines. And FWIW the revenue wines can sometimes be a good deal, especially if you're from an area where wines tend to be priced higher. Attached is the revenue wine list from Odyssey in October, where we marked the prices from what we could buy locally versus the onboard price; in some cases the price was very similar or less. Have a great voyage and hope you find Seabourn to be an exceptional experience. Seabourn Odyssey Wine List Oct 2023.pdf

Our cruise in mid-December had about 400 passengers, ~200 of which apparently were travel agents or influencers. Seems for their financial health (this has been going on for months) Explora will have to end up with a more normal ratio of full-paying passengers to "discounted/comp'd" passengers.

That’s not what we found. Seabourn told us that the Amex provided OBC (or our TA provided OBC) could not be combined with referral credit. Only Seabourn provided OBC can be combined with the referral credit. It certainly reduces the value of the program (and came as a surprise - we found out only when the credits did not appear onboard). Our TA missed it. Here’s the link to the terms and conditions, where it states you cannot combine the referral credit with third-party OBC: https://www.seabourn.com/en/us/terms#referafriend

We’re looking at booking a PS suite on Ovation, and the only remaining one is an accessible cabin (#1191). Anyone familiar with it, or have any feedback? We’re mainly interested in whether the roll-in shower is awkward or presents any issues (we are okay in not having the tub). Thanks in advance for any help.

On port days it was all day, and in general they seemed pretty relaxed about timing (maybe because it was a less than half full ship).

Yes to all, plus there is a salt room and heated chaises. Nicely designed space. Here’s a few pictures of the thermal area from after we boarded and were exploring the ship.

Here's a link to the program; looks like they dropped the wine for SB; SS still has the DP, and Crystal gets excursion credits: https://www.americanexpress.com/icc/cards/benefits/travel/cruise-privileges-and-discounts.html We used it couple years ago, but didn't last year; we were getting SB referral credit and the Amex benefit was not combinable with it. Couple years ago we got a bottle of Ridge zinfandel + $300 OBC.

As Paul said, there was no mention in the short daily program, but we did come across this "port day" special when we were visiting one of the larger cabins. We didn't see this in our OT cabin, so it may have been a targeted promo or just overlooked in our cabin, but perhaps it was also available at the spa. On some lines we've sailed they can put a discounted package together if you are having a few treatments, and from this promo it sounds like Explora might. I did not have any of the spa services, but the free "thermal suite" area is great. Like some things with Explora you have to dig or ask around compared to other lines.

The Amex “Cruise Privileges Program” gives both OBC ($300 for Plat card, $500 for Centurion), plus a gift unique to each line. For Silversea it’s a bottles on Dom Perignon, and for Seabourn it’s a bottle of revenue wine. We’ve gotten wines that seem to be in low end of revenue wines (~$60), but it’s still a nice perk. I think it’s changed over time but I believe that is the current offer.

FWIW, the Amex Plat “Cruise Privileges” program for Seabourn has typically gotten us OBC + a bottle of revenue wine (not champagne), but it’s not combinable with some promotions including referral bonus. It’s a great program but has some catches and varies by cruise line.

Hi Redrob, I was very impressed with how Explora has a dedicated host for various groups (singles, non-English speakers, LGBTQ+, etc), and makes a great effort in that respect. They have single events on the schedule, and similar to the lines you are used to it is seems easy to mix with other people apart from what the line organizes. Can’t speak directly to the experience as a single traveler, but from our December cruise I observed they make a good effort. Hi B&B, what we found in a basic OT1 was they were happy to stock to your request; would be surprised if they would not stock with a Moët bottle as your wine choice (although it is not on the list, but we requested “off-list” and had no problem).

Yes, total and complete. I was on the same voyage as @travelwide, and one of our fellow passengers claimed to have gotten the absolute last one (or so they were told); maybe it was Day 4 after all, way too early regardless! Was not the first and I would expect not the last cruise where there was a provisioning issue of some form - it’s an issue many established lines struggle with and Explora is still learning on a few fronts like this.

I believe it took until Day 5 for our "journey" to run out of lamb chops...but they were the best lamb chops I've ever had!

No, did not have insurance from Seabourn (or elsewhere) for this trip. I usually travel with test kits, so did not need to purchase them from Seabourn, but was surprised that they provided me with a thermometer free of charge. Was happy with how Seabourn handled it.

In October I came down with Covid onboard Seabourn; I let guest services know and from there the process was straightforward. I was quarantined in cabin for 5 days (really 4 because we docked the last day), had the medical staff check up each day, and there was a stool outside my cabin door for trays to be left or picked up. Seabourn was kind enough to provide future cruise credit for the days in quarantine, and overall I felt they handled it very well.

Not sure how EJ runs it, but usually it is run by a crew committee for something the entire crew can benefit from that wouldn't normally be provided by the cruise line. On one voyage we were told it was going into expanding the crew fitness room with higher-end equipment, on another it was to fund special crew parties. It seems pretty standard practice for all-inclusive lines and the crew seem to genuinely appreciate it. Unlike how gratuities are divided up based on role (and some get small amounts), or how only customer-facing crew get something extra from the passengers (when was the last time you saw someone handing an envelope at the end of the cruise to engine room crew), this is something that all crew can benefit from equally (laundry staff benefit the same as the butler staff).

On other all-inclusive lines we've sailed on (Seabourn, Crystal) there is a "crew welfare fund" if you'd like to add to the included gratuities. We found out on our December cruise that EJ has a similar option called the Host Lifestyle Fund. In case that's what you're used to doing on other lines the same applies for EJ, and was appreciated by some of the hosts who thanked us for it.

My experience is that your travel agent should be able to confirm all the OBC you are due before your sailing, but Seabourn may not be able to. I would try to get it in writing from your TA unless you booked directly with Seabourn. For example, we usually get the AMEX Platinum OBC and it tends not to show up until you are onboard (or sometimes second day), likewise for travel agency provided credits. Some are not combinable, which is why your TA should sort this out (for example, we recently found that AMEX OBC and Seabourn referral OBC cannot be used together). FWIW, Seabourn referral credits seem to get posted and are visible ahead of the cruise, like other Seabourn provided OBC. Others probably know more, but it seems like the non-Seabourn OBC gets processed right before the sailing and by the staff working at Seabourn Square (on the last cruise we had an OBC issue, and the person at the Square said that they were the person who processed all the AMEX credits).

Or large buildings, like in Boston in the 1970’s: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/nov/12/weatherwatch-skyscraper-gusts-glass-panes-boston

@vistaman, I’ve appreciated your comments for several years. For what it is worth Explora does seem to be listening and taking action on feedback from guests like yourself. On our recent Explora cruise we did have a liter bottle of Hennessy VSOP in our cabin, no problem in getting Pellegrino in any of the restaurants or our cabin, and were able to get reservations at restaurants without being limited to just one. While the wine prices remain high they were offering some good deals while onboard, including a Dom Perignon “P2” and others at half price, making them into good deals. We also brought some wines with us, and had no issue in them being presented properly by the restaurant. Despite earlier issues they are taking action.