BoilerBill

5 hours ago, babydrum said:

How was your Luxor tour?  I'm looking at booking the same tour now $1600 total for both of us.  I thought that pricey since there are private companies who will do the same tour with a 5* hotel for half the price.  With the current situation in Israel, I'm not willing to take the chance but I'd like to know if you thought the tour was worth it and if the bus ride to and from Luxor was comfortable.  Thanks.  Also, I'm looking at Petra for $430 pp with SB versus about $145 to $240 pp with private tour operators.  Once again, safety is a concern so I'm likely to go with SB but it irks me that there is such a disparity in prices even though I understand the nature of the markup

It was excellent.  The bus ride (full size 60 pax bus with about 35 people on it was very comfortable.  We had an escort from Seabourn and an armed guard in our bus and with us at all times.  This is worth its weight in gold in a place like Egypt, in our opinion.  Our 5* hotel/resort was right on the Nile, and the tour included lunch upon arrival in Luxor, all admissions to Karnak and Luxor Temples, as well as Valley of the Kings, and an outstanding dinner with drinks included along with an entertaining show along the banks of the Nile at our resort.  Breakfast the next day was also included.  In our opinion, it was WELL worth cost and hit all the marks.  I would be reluctant to tour with an independent guide in Egypt unless I knew a LOT about them.

Same thing with Petra.  Included a lovely lunch at the best hotel in Petra after visiting the archaeological site.  The countries involved here have significant unrest, and regularly experience issues.  IMHO, these are not the ideal places to travel with someone independent, but everyone has to make their own choice on this.  For us, the Seabourn trips were good value and we would choose the same thing if we were ever to do it again.  

16 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I went back to the post that started this thread and then most other posts.

 

Then I thought of all of the cruises we took across all cruise lines back in the day when none of them included excursions.

 

It is not a new revelation that cruise line tours are more expensive than you can usually do on your own.  Does anyone actually think this is a new revelation?  

 

On a related note if you book a tour directly through the one giving a tour or book it through one of those tour companies that resell tours such as tours by locals is it a revelation that you pay more by booking it through them versus directly with the tour guide? 

 

Is it a revelation that most items cost a lot more than they did a few years ago before Covid?  Flights? Hotels? Food? Gasoline?  Is this a revelation? We stayed at an exceptional hotel in Paris in 2017.  The cost for the room is now three times as much as it was.  In other places such as Miami it is 30 to 40% higher.  

 

Personally I've looked at the pricing of the Crystal tours that are not overlands and they are overall what I would expect. Some seem in the same price as before and others up a little bit. I am talking about tours that range between $50.00 and $400.00.

 

As to the overlands which started this discussion.  They have always been expensive. Expensive when we did the overland Safaris in 2014 and 2015 and expensive today.  Can you do it cheaper on your own? Yes. Is that a revelation?  No.

 

When we did Safari we realize that Crystal has to make money on the tour, and the tour operator they book with has to make money. So it is a no brainer that if you just book the tour on your own you cut out the tour operator and the cruise line.  

 

And keep in mind that Crystal has a rep on the tour. When we did the Safari there were say 10 of us and a Crystal rep. The Crystal rep had to fly, stay at the lodge in their own room, eat the food, go on the rides, etc,. etc., etc. So we were paying one tenth of their cost or with two of us 20%. So is it a revelation that this would also add to the cost.

 

Is  it a revelation that if you book a pre or post cruise hotel you pay more than if you book it on your own.

 

And is it a revelation that there are other costs that you won't incur if you book a tour on your own? This includes the land based employees who plan the tours, inspect the sites to make sure they meet Crystal safety standards, negotiate contracts, have on board teams of six or so employees on the ships, hold insurance for the tours, sometimes eat costs , etc. etc. Is this really a revelation?

 

As to A&K, those tours that they organize likely will be pricey. We've done some over the years and while they were pricey they were quite unique. They are high end tours for sure.

 

Anyway, no one is forced to book a tour with Crystal.  These days it is very easy to book a tour privately if you care to do so.  

 

Overlands have always been pricey and that includes Luxor, Safaris, and other overland trips. 

 

Keith

 

 

It is indeed good to go back to the OP, which is what I redid in replying.  That is why I provided the detailed information that this Crystal overnight tour to Luxor appears to be almost triple the cost of a factually comparable overnight to Luxor purchased from Seabourn and taken 4 months ago.  Seabourn had a cruise rep on the tour who stayed overnight with us, and Seabourn provided armed security (an absolute must in this location, imho) that accompanied us at all times. 

Of course it is no revelation that everything is more expensive now than pre-Covid.  The comparison I gave is apples-to-apples.  Of course it is no revelation that booking independently is cheaper than booking through the cruise line.  But the direct comparison I provided was between two cruise line overnight excursions at essentially the same point in time and with nearly identical same attributes.

Although I have never cruised on Crystal, I fully appreciate it's long time reputation as a wonderful luxury cruise line.  I am not intending to denigrate it in any way.  I merely thought that giving facts to respond directly to the OP would be helpful in quantifying what the OP felt was an outrageous price.  Factually, and inarguably, it IS an outrageous price when compared to the same product from another luxury cruise company.

I have only been reading this Crystal CC board about the enhanced Crystal to determine whether we may like to try Crystal in the future.  And we most likely will.  But goodness gracious, it is regrettable that a simple factual comparison in response to an OP feeling evokes this kind of defensive reaction to one single thing that is not particularly praiseworthy.  

3 hours ago, Worldtraveler22 said:

Quick question.  Did the ship handle your visa for Egypt or did you have to buy it in advance of your cruise?  Inquiring minds want to know?  Did you also go to Oman and Dubai?  If so, what did you do for visas there?

First, I am US citizen, so answers could depend your specific nationality.  For US citizens, in-transit ship passengers do not require a visa for Egypt for visits up to 48 hours.  Similarly, there were no visa requirements for Oman or Dubai (where we embarked the cruise).  We disembarked the cruise in Istanbul, and a visa was required from Turkey (which was easily obtained in minutes on-line). 

Just now, BoilerBill said:

Just for comparison, my wife and I booked an overnight Luxor excursion on our Seabourn cruise in April of this year (2023).  We stayed overnight at the Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa.  The excursion included bus transport to/from Luxor, hotel, an excellent private dinner and entertainment/show, guided entrance to Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple (both day and evening), Valley of the Kings with admission to two tombs, and photo stops at a number of other sites.  It was an excellent excursion, and cost $799 per person. You could book the dawn balloon ride separately via the guide for less than $100 per person.  We did not book the balloon, as we feared that it would be too tiring for us in the midst of two rather busy and strenuous days.  If we were a bit younger, we probably would have done so.

 

All in all, if Crystal is charging something like $2500 pp for this excursion --- it IS truly outrageous, although it is a wonderful experience. 

I should add for clarity, that we did book this excursion through Seabourn.  So it is a valid price  comparison for the Crytal excursion/

On 8/11/2023 at 6:33 PM, d5480 said:

Crystal finally at 60 days  released the prices for excursions for the October 9 cruise from Athens to Dubai. The overnight stops in Suez City and Safagra  are for tours of Cairo and Luxor.  Both  are long round trips by bus, especially Luxor which is more than 4 hours each way. The day trips are expensive ($350-$400 pp) but not really unexpected for a cruise line. The overnight trips are outrageous ($2500-$3250 pp) with no justification for bus trips. I think Crystal is taking advantage of the passengers by delaying information and cost. I was told by the Crystal employee that serviced my reservation that this information was coming June 1, July 1, soon, and it was delayed because Abercrombie and Kent had forgotten.  After cancellation would cost 3/4 of the fare I was told information would be at 60 days. I will not be on another Crystal Cruise.

Just for comparison, my wife and I booked an overnight Luxor excursion on our Seabourn cruise in April of this year (2023).  We stayed overnight at the Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa.  The excursion included bus transport to/from Luxor, hotel, an excellent private dinner and entertainment/show, guided entrance to Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple (both day and evening), Valley of the Kings with admission to two tombs, and photo stops at a number of other sites.  It was an excellent excursion, and cost $799 per person. You could book the dawn balloon ride separately via the guide for less than $100 per person.  We did not book the balloon, as we feared that it would be too tiring for us in the midst of two rather busy and strenuous days.  If we were a bit younger, we probably would have done so.

All in all, if Crystal is charging something like $2500 pp for this excursion --- it IS truly outrageous, although it is a wonderful experience. 

On 10/25/2022 at 1:23 PM, SLSD said:

If you have difficulty finding contact info--let me know and I will ask Mr. SLSD to message her through Linked in for an email address.  I have been looking around on the internet and it appears she leads groups in both Turkey and Scandanavia now.  If for some reason she no longer leads small groups (like two or four) you could ask her for a recommendation.  I would be tempted to hire her to lead us on a tour all over Turkey following  (or preceding) a cruise.  I remember her taking us (outside of another port) to a black sand beach.  We had lunch under a tent--some kind of Turkish pancakes that were yummy.  We also went to the mud baths that day and rode in glass bottom boats (the boats and location were used in filming The African Queen movie.  I had only seen that movie on TV as a young child but had a strange feeling of deja vu when seated in the boat.  I asked our guide about it and sure enough--this was the place and these were the boats).  She is very knowledgable about history, mythology, folklore, religious--everything you would want to know.  

Hello SLSD,

I was reading your posts about this guide with interest, as my wife and I are on April 2023 Encore from Dubai to Istanbul --- arriving there on April 30, 2023.  I have tried to locate contact info for her (Sebnem Altin), but have not been successful.  If Mr. SLSD would be so kind to share a way I can contact her other than through LinkedIn which seems to require me to join in order to send her a message, we would be extremely grateful!

My wife and I are on Encore in April on more or less the reverse itinerary as this current voyage.  We have been uncuccessfully searching for visa requirements (if any) for US citizens taking excursions in Oman, Jordan (Petra), Egypt (Overnight), UAE.  Did you need to get visas in adavance for these destinations, or is Seabourn making any necessary arrangements onboard for those who are taking Seabourn excursions?

Would be so appreciative of any experience on this, and on any excursions that you found particularly well worth taking.

Hope you are having a wonderful cruise!

Calling Seabourn for getting the price charged to accurately reflect your status will be the most certain vehicle for getting it done correctly, I should think.

Quite right!  I should have identified that we are US citizens.  Unfortunately, in this case we booked from onboard a prior cruise and so haven't used a TA. Thanks!

Had the same thing happen to me on excursions we booked last Saturday.  I called Seabourn and they cancelled my excursion reservations and then re-booked them immediately with the correct discount (we are Platinum).

Would never have caught this billing error without reading this thread!  Thanks!!!!!!!!! 

My wife and I are booked on the April 2023 Encore sailing from Dubai to Istanbul.   

It is clear that we will need a visa for Turkey as we are staying two extra days after disembarking.  Looks like an eVisa is the way to go for that.

But in spite of much research, it is still not clear to me whether we need to obtain visas in advance for UAE, Oman, Egypt (we are on the overnight excursion to Luxor Valley of the Kings), and Jordan (on the one day excursion to Petra).  Any expertise from others who may either be on this cruise or have sailed a similar itinerary would be SO welcome!

Thanks! 

My wife and I stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz prior to our last Seabourn cruise from Lisbon.  It was WONDERFUL!  Totally walkable to most points in the city.  Absolutely superior service, food, rooms, amenities.  Just what you would expect of a Four Seasons anywhere else in the world.  We would stay there again in a heartbeat.  Kind of like a Seabourn ship, except it's on land.

We are on board Ovation right now in an Owners Suite.  There is no CD player.

My wife and I took one Regent cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Buenos Aires a few years ago, about 32 days if I recall.  We found that having the excursions included in the fare was very undesirable to us.  Because they are "included", it seemed that everyone on board felt compelled to take one in every port.  That resulted in many and full buses to so-so excursions led by mediocre (at best) guides, and in many cases the decent excursions were already full so we could not join them.  And many excursions had no Regent rep along with the group.   

This has never happened to us on Seabourn, where people are more discerning about choosing to go on an excursion, they rarely have more than 20-25 people on them, the guides are quite good (since there are needs for fewer of them, I surmise Seabourn gets higher quality), and just about every excursion has at least one Seabourn rep with the group who is in communication with the ship directly if there are any issues.

To us, we would rather pay visibly for specific higher quality excursions that are of real interest to us - the Seabourn difference --- rather than mill about in a huge crowd of people taking lower quality excursions who are there primarily because they feel that they have already paid for them. 

Have been unable to access my Seabourn account for our upcoming transatlantic voyage now all morning.  Oh well..... the Seabourn website is virtually useless when it is up and running, so we aren't really missing much.

Was just called by my TA regarding the Nov 2, 2019 transatlantic on Odyssey. This Lisbon transatlantic departure will go to St. Maarten, NOT Miami, and will arrive on Nov. 16th. We are offered the following options from Seabourn:

1. Keep the booking of our same suite at the prior fare (note that this transatlantic crossing is 1 day longer than the original itinerary), and receive a $400 per person OBC.
   
2. Cancel the booking for a full refund.
   
3. Change the booking to any other cruise and receive: a) A 10% reduction in the posted fare for the newly selected cruise, and b) A $400 per person OBC for the newly selected cruise
   

We know we will not be keeping our booking on this revised transatlantic itinerary, but we haven't decided whether to do #2 or #3. So it's back to the cruise calendar for us ................

It is 1224 miles (by air) from Miami to St Maarten. Assuming Odyssey arrives on schedule in Miami at 7 AM on Nov 15, and that she then departs Miami by 5 pm on Nov 15, it is physically impossible for Odyssey to then arrive in St Maarten on Nov 16. That is, unless Odyssey can cruise more than 1224 miles in less than 30 hours --- which requires an average cruising speed of more than 40 mph. Uh.... no.

Whatever TA or Seabourn rep is telling anyone that this is going to occur is either totally misinformed or is just making it up. The only way that Odyssey arrives in St. Maarten on Nov 16 is if the route from Lisbon has been changed to bypass Miami and go direct to St. Maarten..

My wife and I are booked on the transatlantic Lisbon to Miami, which we did while on the Ovation in May of this year. When we noticed that this cruise was showing sold out, we contacted our TA to see what was happening since this was very surprising to have this cruise sold out at this time. She contacted Seabourn and was told that the ship was simply booked out. No mention of itinerary change or any other issue such as a large private booking. Having just seen this thread, I personally called Seabourn about it. They are clueless.

You are welcome. I fear I sounded a bit like the Seabourn marketing department, but they earned everything I said. If anyone wants details in any particular area of interest, I'd be happy to share further.

My wife and I just disembarked Ovation after 35 days, Venice to Amsterdam. And although we aren't prolific message board posters, we thought that this experience deserved a writeup since it is a brand new ship with what appears to be significant interest.

OVERALL --- This cruise could not have been better! We don't have nearly the number of days sailed on Seabourn as many others (about 130 days on Seabourn (Pride, Quest, Sojourn, and now Ovation), 42 on Regent, 21 on HAL, 7 on Celebrity, 7 on Carnival). But we have enough experience to know that Ovation is an absolutely gorgeous ship, was prepared beautifully, served by an outstanding crew in every department, and provided us an experience that far surpassed our expectation and which we shall never forget. BRAVO, BRAVO, to Ovation and her Crew!!!!!

Physical Ship --- Since this was her maiden voyage, we were slightly apprehensive that there would be many "punchlist" items that would be annoyances. Were there some "punchlist" items - yes. Were they nearly invisible to passengers - yes. The decoration and appointment of public areas is elegantly understated, and beautifully rendered. Especially the Keller restaurant and Grill are done in a lovely art deco themed motif that evokes the best of a nearly bygone era of sophistication. The restaurant is slightly larger, but at the same time much quieter (enabling pleasant conversation at dinner) than we recall from the Quest. Seabourn Square is enlarged and provides ample public space even on rainy sea days. The coffee bar is much enlarged and extremely well appointed. The Colonnade is larger and reconfigured to provide more room between tables that makes it very comfortable, and added windows make it very bright and a feeling of airiness. The outside deck areas of Seabourn Square (deck 7), the Club (deck 5), the Observation Bar (deck 11) and the Colonnade are significantly larger than the Odyssey class ships. And the outside area of Deck 8 is now connected by staircase to the Colonnade from inside, is large and comfortable, and provides a fresh salad bar for lunch at which you can also order the lunch specials of standard order items (e.g. hamburger, hot dog, etc) from the Colonnade, a smoothie bar for breakfast and was always uncrowded and quiet. And Ovation is BY FAR the quietest, smoothest sailing vessel we have ever been on. Our suite was deck 6 mid-ships, and with the exception of 8 hours one day in 40 knot winds we hard a difficult time knowing that we were moving at all, let alone at sea.

Food - The best we have ever experienced. Period. Bar none. Not even close...... the best variety, quality, taste, presentation, timeliness of service ever. In all venues. Keller restaurant has the same menu each night, with a daily addition of a daily special starter and main. So while there is not much day to day variety there, the menu does include a couple of seafood, a couple of steaks, veal, pork, chicken, and vegetarian. We didn't find the food quality there to be any better or worse than in the main restaurant. (so it is not The French Laundry at sea) But it was excellent everywhere.

Service - As with physical readiness for the inaugural cruise, we were slightly concerned that this 20% increase in Seabourn capacity would diminish the service levels. It did not diminish it whatsoever. In fact, the service levels were the highest we have ever experienced. This may be due to the fact that the "A" team of officers in all department was clearly present. We were also concerned that the service would diminish after the Seabourn corporate executives (ALL senior corporate brass were onboard from Venice) left the ship after Malta. Again, we perceived absolutely no change from of the highest level of service throughout the entire 35 days we were aboard. We were consistently called by our name from staff from the first time we ever set eyes on them (or they on us). How do they do that with more than 500 passengers on board???

Inaugural festivities - We had heard the horror stories of the event for Encore. Seabourne obviously did, too -- and the festivities were well done, memorable, and appropriate to make every guest come away with a very special memory. Elaine Paige sang beautifully, the speeches were short and targeted to appreciating the guests, Tim Rice was engaging and very approachable , Adam Tihany and Dr, Andrew Weill were available and interesting, and all members of the Seabourn executive team spent time mingling with and appreciating guests while getting feedback. It felt like a real family event over 11 days pulled of with class and style.

Lastly, I can't close without appreciating and honoring Handre. He is a most gentle man and a gentlemen, and this was the second time we have had the pleasure to benefit from his talents as CD. His contribution to making this inaugural cruise so smooth and enjoyable was evident. His thumbprint was on many special moments.

We wouldn't hesitate for a single second to book again on Ovation. And yes, we miss being on her already!

It is time to discontinue the negative comments on Seabourn wi-fi ---- at least regarding Ovation. We just disembarked Ovation on June 9. After 35 days aboard, I can unequivocally state that the wi-fi was SUPERB every single day. A wonderful change from prior experience. My connection at all times was immediate and without lagging... even when everyone was on board and at the typically most busy access times.

Just disembarked after sailing on Ovation Venice-Amsterdam. There is a very nice laundry on Deck five. Five Miele washers and 5 Niele dryers along with the normal Seabourn complimetnary soap Three ironing boards/irons. Spacious and bright. We have enough club points that we receive free laundry service, but it's rewarding to know that Seabourn heard and acted on the customer concerns in this area.

All of your essential documentation is completed on-line. And you should print out your ePass that is generated online after you have filled out all the necessary information on line. The ePass is really all that is required for you to check in at the ship. The mailing you receive includes a rather handy laptop case (fits an ipad for example) that contains; 1. Sturdy Seabourn luggage tags usable on your luggage during airline travel, s) A personalized cruise documentation booklet (that identifies such things as your club member #, cruise check-in time, pier location, cruise itinerary, pre-cruise information (such as any transfers you have purchased from airport/hotel/ship), onboard credits you have been awarded (if any), etc), and 3) The paper luggage tags that are pre-printed for you to affix to your luggage prior to checking in pier-side so that your luggage is delivered directly to your suite on-board. If you don't have these paper luggage tags, the crew doing check in process at the pier will create them for you.

I have printed my final documents and there are not luggage tags. Are they mailed or simply applied at embarkation ?

Thanks

They are mailed along with your final itinerary info approximately one month prior to embarkation.

please don't!!!!

+1 to that!