markandjie

Another GREAT thread, thanks for taking us along. Already looking forward to the epic 40 day 'live from'!

1. Yes, sort of. After hours it can get a bit less reliable.

2. Yes, generally works well.

3. No

4. Yes

5. Yes

6. You can do it but it's a pain. Don't recall the cost the time we did it. Had to input a CC I believe.

Revisiting this. Currently in French Polynesia first on Rangiroa and now Bora Bora. Hotel in Rangiroa was technically a four star and we paid about $1000 a night for room plus F&B. Service and food were acceptable...barely. Not close to SB levels.

Now at St Regis and getting Seabourn level food and service...for about $4k a night. Larger accommodations, but similar quality to SB.

Personally I still think SB fares are priced well. They've gone up, yes, but so have land options. 

1 hour ago, ellasabe said:

 

Do you have any idea if Lucqui is always on Venture?

Sadly no. He went on leave right as we boarded last summer, then he was on Pursuit while we were on Venture in Antarctica over Thanksgiving. It's luck of the draw. 

Love the play by play. You had me at the edge of my seat that the excursion might not go. So envious you have Lucqui! I feel like the EL makes a huge difference when it comes to those tight timelines and close weather windows. 

On 5/28/2024 at 5:58 PM, BOB999 said:

For anyone deeply concerned about this move, the AA executive behind this is now pursuing opportunities outside of American.  If I were a betting man I'd say some of this gets rescinded as early as tomorrow.

 

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2024/Vasu-Raja-to-leave-American-Airlines-in-June-CORP-EXEC-05/default.aspx

You are very wise.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/american-airlines-backtracks-earn-miles-loyalty-points-third-party/

I've found these video reviews to be generally tasteful and well done in the past. Haven't viewed them recently though: https://www.youtube.com/@InnocentsAbroad

3 hours ago, markham said:

Maybe Seabourn doesn’t really know who their customers are and/or they don”t have a professional marketing group.

I think the state of the website answered the latter part of that statement years ago. 

They usually provide (relatively low quality) aluminum water bottles with a narrow mouth screw top cap. If you have a water bottle you prefer I'd suggest you bring it. 

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I hope they sunset the submarine program at some point. The subs are largely gimmicky IMO (and I say that having been on them once and had a great time), and operating them is a big burden on the expedition team which takes away from other expedition activities, especially kayaking. Generally speaking they also seem to cancel as often as they're used, which I think puts a bad taste in guests' mouth. Not sure what not having subs would do to competitive positioning, but the reality is that it's a suboptimal program, no pun intended.

I know I'm both late to the thread and an interloper on this board but felt so much vindication reading thru the comments here. We cruised on Muse in Alaska last summer, our first on SS, and felt on several occasions like we must be taking crazy pills.

In Atlantide we ordered the tuna steak rare/med rare and it came out gray. Sent it back for another. Same thing (see pic below for try #2). Eventually talked to a manager and he said that they pre-cook the tuna steak and if you want it rare you must give them 24 hours notice. What??? Why on earth would you even serve tuna steak if that's how you're going to prepare it???

Our allergens meeting with the head chef was bizarro, as he basically talked trash about his staff in front of us. (And it turned out his staff was right and he was wrong!)

Our sushi lunch at Kaiseki was fine except the unagi was smoked eel with, and I kid you not, actual bbq sauce on top.

Our one attempt at the famed pizza was inedible mush in the center. 

I know all lines and ships are not perfect all the time, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why SS got rave reviews. 

Btw, @UKCruiseJeff, loved reading your analysis of the industry and the underlying trends. Would love to read more of it!

6 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

My motto - If you're not happy, you're not happy. 

There's a moderately obnoxious local sports radio personality in Austin who's daily tag line is to quote the immortal words of his mother, "happiness is a choice!" 

That is disappointing to hear and sounds like Ventures has their work cut out for them to make this an authentic expedition experience. Even in Iceland when we were in well traveled locations the Expedition team would often put together an informal hike or something which was a lot of fun. Too bad they're not doing the same there.

Love how you're making lemonade from lemons! Some of our best tour guides in South America came from us asking our taxi driver from the airport if they knew a good local guide. Often we were connected with a cousin or friend. We had a great tour in Cusco, Peru, that was a fraction of the cost of what our hotel recommended and hit all the same sites. Same in Quito, Ecuador. Just need a sense of adventure and a little bit of luck!

18 hours ago, alexandria said:

A good comprehensive travel insurance policy provides the same protection.

Your experience with travel insurance sounds very different than mine. I was shocked at the fine print they were able to invoke to avoid making us whole over the summer. And this with Allianz, who is well regarded AFAIK. We would have been much better off with Flight Ease. 

When we did two weeks in Alaska in 2018 we did several fishing excursions. Boats were small and I don't recall a head but can't be sure. It was a great time and both my wife and son caught halibut that we shipped home. We were signed up for salmon fishing as well but the salmon runs were poor that year so those were cancelled. 

2 minutes ago, Salf777 said:

Ok so while we are on this subject are like Tommy Bahama button down shirts acceptable? They are very nice but sometimes nice designs and not a “traditional “ button down. Also like the Robert Graham shirts with nice designs that are meant to be worn not tucked in but are very nice

Honestly depends on the maitre d a bit. I would say generally if they enforce the rules it is the letter of the rule vs the spirit of it. Meaning that a more casual Tommy Bahama that's not tucked in but IS a collared shirt is almost definitely going to be accepted every time. 

4 minutes ago, Salf777 said:

Our stateroom attendant told us he had to charge us to leave extra water (my wife has a condition where she needs to drink a lot). Went to the retreat lounge as was told it could be left. Saw the stateroom attendant and he said he hadn’t heard from the retreat yet. Took 2 days to get water in the room.

Heh. On our Antarctica cruise we kept finishing off the two bottles of sparkling water they would refill daily. So by about the third day they kept SIX bottles of sparkling water in the suite for us. Our son is a big Dr. Pepper fan and they weren't sure how much they had on board so they immediately brought him one can per day of the cruise so he wouldn't run out. The boys asked for chips one afternoon and from that day forward a bowl of chips and a bowl of chocolate chip cookies appeared in their suite just after lunch.

You can also request to have your favorite wine or champagne (or liquor) stocked in the mini-fridge each day.

We had a fun time on Celebrity in the Retreat, and my wife still wears the pajamas we received with our names embroidered on them. That was a nice touch. But Seabourn service is a different level (or at least it should be...post-COVID can be a bit uneven, unfortunately).

Thanks for taking us along and sharing so many photos and videos!

2 hours ago, Salf777 said:

Lastly any advice you can give to a first timer appreciated. I know a lot of this can be found on the web but I find talking to experienced cruisers gets me better real advice so thank you

I think most of your questions have been answered so will respond more generally. We sailed Celebrity in the Retreat just once on a one week Carribean itinerary, so using that as my frame of reference here are some high level thoughts:

 - In terms of the service you'll receive, every cabin on Seabourn is treated as well or better than the Retreat cabins on Celebrity. And honestly, I feel like we've received better service when we've sailed the least expensive cabins (we were just on a V1 on Venture in Iceland/Greenland with fantastic room stewards) vs the nicest room on the ship (we were also just on Venture in the Wintergarden Suite in Antarctica with very capable but unexceptional stewards).

 - You should temper your expectations on the breadth and variety of food that will be available on the ship. While I think Seabourn easily outdoes the Celebrity Retreat dining venue, I was impressed with the broader breakfast buffet on Celebrity and the selection in the Collonnade on Seabourn ships pales in comparison.

 - Same holds true for entertainment. Celebrity significantly outshone Seabourn.

 - Seabourn feels more personalized to me, with more of an opportunity to get to know staff and fellow guests and build relationships that endure across multiple cruises.

- Ovation is a great ship, but Seabourn really shines the smaller you get. Encourage you to try each size class when you have the chance.

- One of the biggest strengths IMO of all Seabourn ships is the viewing areas, particularly forward looking viewing at the front of the ship. Many cruise ships have poor opportunities to actually see where you're going, which I think is a great shame. To me cruising is a way to experience the world moreso than just a floating hotel that parks you at a different cruise terminal each day.

6 hours ago, Piredmus said:

Am I missing something? 

One thing we learned is that the expedition ships sail with far fewer technical staff (engine room, etc) because the ship is so modern and automated. I think that has a big impact on the ratios.

Having said that, on both of our expedition cruises it felt to me that the staff was stretched thin, and we've been told there may not be enough crew cabins due to issues with ship design. 

On 4/6/2024 at 10:17 AM, highplanesdrifters said:

We are doing the 40 day Guam- Santiago in the fall.

I cannot wait for this 'live from...'

Doing a long S Pacific cruise is absolutely on our bucket list.

2 hours ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

We are curious about the sport platform on Marina deck.  There are many tender ports on our itinerary.  Are water sports offered?

 

We did a 2 week Greece/Turkey itinerary last summer and the Marina deck was open one day, I believe, in Patmos. They had a zodiac pulling folks on a tube, stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and a hobie cat. My son and I sailed the hobie cat which was interesting as the staff kept everyone in a relatively small area behind the ship. A bit tough to sail when the ship itself blocks the wind for a good portion of the area...and where it didn't...let's just say it was quite breezy. 

Would love any info y'all can provide on the diving excursions, including how many people allowed, what dive sites, cost, etc. Very interested in doing this itinerary one day...

4 hours ago, calm down dear said:

The pre-dinner drinks could be had in 3 different bars but it always seemed a bit of a zoo 630 to 730 and I would say staffing levels seem to be lower

We learned on our time aboard Venture that apparently they did not design the ship with sufficient crew cabins so they are constantly on the verge of being understaffed, even with a full crew complement. Sounds like this will be a perpetual nit on otherwise excellent ships. 

6 hours ago, CLOU said:

I am an experienced enough traveler to know that the airlines are my main point of contact and I always research what later flight options are available in case I am delayed. Plus, I always go out a day early.  However, since FlightEase is supposed to get involved if there are issues getting to the ship on time, I thought I should know how to contact a representative.

Agree completely. Especially when it's 1am, United just cancelled your flight, and the line for the service counter at O'Hare looks like this: