Covepointcruiser

I remember Seabourn before COVID and the main Restaurant was never open on Port Days so this must have changed before 2016.   We are trying Regent at the urging of our TA.

Don’t like having to make reservations for specialty restaurants 120 days before departure.    We really don’t know where we would want to eat on what days.   Does Regent have special menus on some nights and how decent are their included wines.   I expect we will happily return to Seabourn after trying Regent in March.

We spent 7 days in that suite.   You lose the tub and the shower does spill water into the bathroom.    The size of the suite is great but beware of the balcony though it’s very large.   If you don’t open the sliding glass door fully, the ramp will trip you.   It is up straight in the air until you open the door fully so be extra careful.

Not a common practice on the QM2!

We have flown Lufthansa and Brussels airlines in the past year with AirTags in everything including our hand carried items.   The small watch type batteries in them are really not a concern.   We flew in November without incident.

On both Seabourn and Regent there are wines and liquors thy are premium.   On Seabourn most folks are happy with entry level wines, however you can purchase bottles in packages to get good wines.    We paid for 5 and received an additional bottle at no charge.    Regent Los has better wines for purchase.

We always use AirTags with Luggage Forwarding, never had a problem with receiving our bags.   We Lao kept track of our bags with our AirTags.   The tags even warn you if you need to replace a battery.

Friends of ours did not get the RSV vaccine although they were eligible for it.   They just spent two miserable weeks in bed with RSV.   There is not prescription you can get to make it better but they were given inhalers because of severe lung congestion.   They said it was much worse than COVID or even the Flu.   RSV is now a major cause of respiratory disease on the east coast.

Sailed Ovation on the November transatlantic.    Everything was excellent, never felt crowded.    Service was great just like our April cruise.

The Penthouse cabin on Oceania is not a suite but simply a cabin that is a little larger than a regular verandah.   You do get a shared butler if you want to call a shared butler a dedicated butler.

We are trying Regent the end of March sailing from Miami to Barcelona.    We are getting a Penthouse Suite and this allows you to make restaurant reservations 90 in advance of the crossing.    I don’t like having to decide where we want to eat that much in advance it’s one way of ensuring you eat in the specialty restaurants you like.    We were allowed to reserve tours 5 or 6 months in advance and a few were already sold out.    This is one thing I prefer on Seabourn already is you don’t need to reserve in advance.    Since this is a repositioning trip it is priced reasonably.

It could be worse, in the Cunard Grills everyone from the U.S. gets a package including drinks/wine up to $12.    Of course their prices for drinks are lower than Celebrity but if you get a wine for $12.50, you are charged $12.50, not  just the 50cent overage.

I don’t know if this is only Cunard under the Carnival umbrella.   It doesn’t apply to Seabourn although there are extra charge wines and drinks for which you pay the total charge.   How about Princess and Holland American?

I would typically add 20% for Spa Services so I was surprised to see they only added 18%.    I did not tip over that amount.   Spa services are over and above the usual Seabourn services and few people opt to use the additional services.   Is there a cruise line that does not add gratuities to Spa Services?

The Grill restaurants are open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

I am happy vow renewal is not required in our church.   The vow you make at your wedding does not expire.    We do celebrate anniversaries.    Is this particular to a certain religious belief that you need to renew your vows, or has someone in the marriage broken them??

I don’t remember a Patio for dining on the Venture.    My memory may be failing.    There is a pool on the stern but never saw anyone eating there but this was in Greenland.   Since you are not on a true Arctic/Antarctic expedition it will be interesting to see the changes on a warm weather trip.   

Mr Luxury/Isr45
 

I will immediately contact the CEO and senior staff  stating that many only sail the Encore and Ovation because of the Retreat.   The last thing these ships need is more cabins/suites, what in the world are they thinking!     Every cabana is in use today with happy passengers.   Certainly hope your TA has very little influence and we will also contact our TA who may have more a little more influence.

Wish we enjoyed the hotter weather destinations, your photo’s are wonderful.

We are in St. Kitts today, 86 degrees, so too hot for us.   Our next cruises on Seabourn are to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic and then to the Antarctic.   I always thought we would get more tolerant to heat as we got older but it has not happened.

We always take those small bottles of MIO exercise blend.   We just add it to water and it doesn’t have the sugar we don’t need.   Do they make vitamin water without sugar?  We were surprised to again have fresh orange juice.   The must have found oranges in Terre de Haut.

We love the Retreat but it may not be for everyone.    We like a quiet serene place to spend the days at sea and in port.   We can barely hear the loud music played by the pool so if you enjoy that music and scene, skip the retreat

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And so it happens again, disasters in Maui have caused vacations to be disrupted.   The coast of the Kauai is beautiful and can only be seen from the sea although there is a hiking trail through the cliffs where you may see some of it if you don’t break your neck.   Hope Ohiojohn enjoys his new cruise.   What cruise line is allowed to dock in Venice?    Cruise ships are now docking in another town and you must take a water taxi to get to Venice.

These are the menus from the Ovation retreat.   Should be similar to Encore.

We are 10 days into a repositioning cruise on Seabourn Ovation transatlantic.    We have run out of fresh berries, bananas and fresh orange juice.   We provisioned in Lisbon and had seven days continuous at sea.    Fortunately no shortage of premium wines and liquors.   I don’t understand Celebrity’s supply problems in Asia with major ports almost every day.   Our first port in the Caribbean is Terre de Haut, Guadeloupe.   It’s a small island without cars, only golf carts and scooters so I doubt we will get supplies here.

Wishing you a happy belated birthday and a great cruise.

Bet there was a maintenance issue with numerous cabins such as no air conditioning, plumbing not working or flooded cabins.   The OP now has gotten a sweet deal.

So sorry the OP’s vacation was disrupted by the war in the Middle East.    If you were still provided a cruise of the requisite nights/days you were not owed a OBC or FCC.   Would have been nice of Celebrity but not required.

No, you can’t reserve a specific cabana.    We go up early, they open at 9:00 AM and select the one we like.  We all seem to have different favorites.