SLSD

You will probably have a great cruise, but hopefully. you understand that SB can and may change the itinerary and your dream ports may not be included in a new itinerary. People get very frustrated by changes, but it happens more often than not.

We have experienced the TK Grill on both the larger and smaller ships. While we like the TK Grill Bar on Ovation and Encore and miss it on the smaller ships, I have to say that I really enjoyed the smaller version of the grill itself. Why, you ask? I think one reason is that the larger TK Grill was never more than 1/3 full. While many wanted to dine there, they just were not accepting reservations and the space always felt a bit empty and unwelcoming. The smaller TK Grill, while very compact, was always full and was much more vibrant and fun, in my opinion. Mr. SLSD does prefer the TK Grills on the larger ships and likes that they were only about 1/3 full. So there you go--we don't always like the same things.

I've never seen a notice while onboard that you could order caviar anytime/anywhere. We knew we could order and have it because of what we have read online in forums like this one. It seems to not be well advertised.

Interesting that there was no card sent to your suite. Perhaps it was an oversight. The FCD definitely works for both SB and its passengers. I started this thread because I received what I thought was a strange message on either the app or my account on the SB website saying I had to use the FCD by June or lose it. I think it may have been a combination of poorly written text along with poorly trained staff on the telephone. I was not alarmed as we had in our files the receipt which said what we understood we had signed up for. My update just provided the message we received by email as a response to our written and mailed letter.

BUT, you could use a FCD for an additional cruise. You would have several years to use it. We have used them before. Usually, there was a card placed on our suite door reminding us that it was an option.

I'm willing to bet they will be happy to give you an extension. That's what we have decided to do.

Beets are literally the ONLY food I do not eat. I am shuddering. Quite a burger though. I'm enjoying your commentary.

Yes, I was updating the thread. I had reached a clueless agent on the telephone who said it could not be refunded or extended--so we wrote a letter and received this reply.

SB has the credit card number wrong--so I didn't bother to change those numbers. This is a bit disconcerting as we have a receipt which has the correct credit card number. We still are disappointed that when we called in to SB to ask for the refund, we were not offered the refund, but instead told that we would lose the deposit if we did not book another cruise before June. It is true that our next cruise was purchased through a promotion --which is how I convinced Mr. SLSD who was dragging his heels on cruising again post pandemic that we should go ahead and go.

Just today, we have received an response from Seabourn about our request for a refund of our FCD purchased on our last SB cruise in 2019. You may recall, that i had previously received a message that if we did not use the FCD, we would lose it in June. Here is the response we received today: Thank you for contacting Seabourn Cruise Line regarding the Future Cruise Deposits (ID XXXXXXX) you and Mrs. D. purchased with Seabourn in 2019. We see that your travel advisor was unable to apply your Future Cruise Deposits to your booking #XXXX for the upcoming June 11th, 2023 Ovation; the reason for this is that the promotional rate under which you booked is exceptional and not combinable with FCDs. Before cancelling your FCDs we do want to offer you the option of extending the FCDs out for another year in the event that you might wish to apply them to another cruise (most of our cruises do not have the promotion pricing under which you have booked and therefore would be eligible for application). If you still wish to proceed with cancelling your FCDs, we process this request immediately once we hear back from you. The funds will be returned to the original credit card of purchase, a Mastercard ending in 3084, within 10 business days. We look forward to your continued correspondence on this matter. If you have additional questions or concerns, please include these in your message. Thank you so very much for choosing Seabourn! Best regards, Faith Guest Services Seabourn | Luxury Voyages and Expeditions o | 206.626.8692 w | www.seabourn.com Just to refresh your memory, I had called in to SB to ask for a response and the representative I reached said we could not get a refund, but would lose our $1,000 deposit. We knew this was not what we had signed up for. Just as an aside--I do all of our Seabourn cruise planning and contacts (usually through our own travel agent) --even so, Seabourn ALWAYS sends emails addressed to my husband instead of to me. This letter was no different. Since my husband has nothing to do with our planning, he has to forward everything to me. We have asked in the past for all communications to be sent to me--to no avail.

I hear you. To put what I typed earlier (which evaporated ) in a nutshell. We did a back to back Baltic (14 days) and St. Pete (7 days). The first 14 days were great--lovely passengers, lots of fun. The St. Pete leg (while wonderful for what we saw) was diminished by some really rude passengers. People like us who were doing the back to back, but we had not yet met, were coming up to us and asking if we noticed the difference when the new passengers came aboard. Of course we did. They were even rude to our well educated and gracious Russian tour guides. It was astounding. I found myself apologizing to our guides and tipping them extra generously to make up for the rudeness. But, let's not throw every 7 day cruiser into the same black pot. Some are taking the trip of a lifetime and are wonderful people--it's just a crap shoot as to who is onboard. Mr. SLSD and I try to be gracious and unobtrusive. Just as we strive to be in our daily lives.

Yes, we have had experience with them. I had typed out a longer response earlier, but somehow it evaporated. Probably just as well...

It is! And the atmosphere on the ship can be totally changed by passenger make up!

You knew who I was, but didn't identify yourself. It was a memorable cruise. But, I haven't read your critique of how SB performed there.

I read critical posts with interest and always want to hear exactly what people experience on their Seabourn cruise--whether positive or negative. I can guarantee that when we finally sail in June, I will report back my honest take on our experience. At the same tiime, things that are important to some cruisers, may not be important to me. We all can have somewhat different expectations. I think that is very clear from reading many of the threads here. We are going on our cruise expecting things not to be as they were pre-pandemic. We won't like it if service is lackluster and staff is untrained. But, we are hoping for best. As an aside, I have a friend who is/was a very frequent cruiser (mostly Silversea, but some SB and Crystal as well). She always looked forward to each cruise and booked quite a few of them each year. After several years, she told me that the experience just wasn't that special anymore. I do think it is possible to become a bit jaded. I'm not suggesting that this is an issue with any of you--but is something to consider. I agree that Saminina's posts often seem. quite negative. I regret that we did not meet even though we were on the same Kobe to Vancouver cruise way back in 2019. I would be curious to know what Saminina thought of that cruise since I would at least have some same cruise experience.

Mr. SLSD and I had really hoped to see you again on another SB cruise. I guess we are going to have to sail Silversea in the future to make that happen. We HAVE sailed Silversea in the past, but it has been many years. I wlil miss the SB cruise directors and the better entertainment and livelier passengers.

I hate it when people assume you don't know some obvious detail--just because you are doing something you don't have to do.

Thank you. I think perhaps some people do see it as out in left field. I read Mr. SLSD some of the comments about dress and he just laughs--not at all understanding men who cannot face wearing a jacket and tie for a couple of hours. I LIKE to see my husband in his jacket and bow tie--and we are not stuffy people. We live half of our time out at our rural Texas farm wearing blue jeans and t-shirts and boots for weeks on end. For us, it is fun to dress up just a bit for dinner. Who wants to dress the same way all of the time? Is there no occasion special enough to dress for?

Well, what can we say? Most men would not want to wear short skirts and low necks. Personally, I just don't see what the issue is with wearing a jacket (sports coat in the US) for a couple of hours. It's called appropriate dress. I'm no stickler and I'm close to saying that letting everyone wear jeans is ok--even though I would not wear them in the evening myself. Here's how I see it--we are all adults and conformed at least to a certain degree all of our adult lives to certain expectations. Dress is one of them. Perhaps Mr. SLSD and I are way out in left field, but he is a man who wore business suits with ties for his entire 40 year career and, now, even though retired, is happy to dress up a bit and wear a jacket and tie for dinners onboard a Seabourn ship. At the same time, we recognize that some of you chafe at this.

I think we would enjoy it. We are not shoppers or photo bucket list people!

I think it is cost cutting. To me, that much is obvious.

Our trip begins June 11th. I'll be watching the forecast ahead of time, but we have found that weather experts have not been very accurate lately with predictions. We will try to cover all of our bases.

Here's what I pulled up for the Nine Hats Pino Gris 2021Pinot GrisColumbia Valley Sourced from Headquarters Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, where a constant breeze moderates temperatures to capture fresh flavors and give the wine its vibrant mouthfeel. A light squeeze of the grapes on the press and a cool fermentation is used to enhance the Pinot Gris’ racy character. This medium-bodied Pinot Gris offers vibrant aromas and flavors of white peach, orange blossom, honeysuckle and ripe citrus that lead to a pleasantly crisp finish. $15.00 / Bottle PURCHASE

Oh dear though. I just looked up one of the wines from the Ovation included list and this is what I found: Empire Wine Cline Cellars 'Old Vine' Lodi Zinfandel 2020 In stock 30-day returns $8.95

I'm assuming we will pack some of the same things we packed for Alaska. Of course there could be a heat wave. Yes to the hat and gloves. We will not be out on Zodiacs, but we still might need them.