Harvey2442

Thanks for letting us know the latest Covid position on board. The number of passengers at 144 presumably covers those in isolation as having been in contact as well as those who have actual caught it. Last Friday the number of infections in England was between 3 and 4 % which includes those not fully vaccinated. Using the higher number and assuming there are 750 passengers on board would imply that 30 people could be infected leaving 114 as contacts. I don't know if they are being restricted to their cabins but these sort of numbers would certainly put me off cruising. The question is the definition of close contacts being over sensitive.

As the policy is currently written Cunard seem to be taking bookings for sailings commencing on and after 1st January 2022 where no vaccination is required. Thus if they change the policy to vaccinations being required they may losse some of those already booked and if they don't require vaccinations they will also loose bookings. It will be interesting to see how this plays out when the balance of the fare falls due

Personally I find the current Patio a relaxing way of having an evening meal which on several occasions produces cooked food at least as good as the MDR - what to me would be a major loss would be if under the new menu for the Patio you were required to book and perhaps be restricted to one visit a week. On the two larger ships it could give rise to having to prebook for the Grill, Sushi bar and the Colonnade on the Keller evenings leaving only the MDR which might be short of space as it can't seat all passengers at once. Great I am sure for Carnival's bottom line but not so good for the freedom to choose your dining venue as the mood takes you.

If the Spa manager hasn't dealt with the issue shouldn't it be referred to the Hotman to whom presumably concessionaires report - I would have hoped that after Henry had spoken to her she would have referred it up the line both for report and if needed for assistance in resolving the matter if they lacked the experience.

Thank you for your reply Henry - Looking at the plans the Retreat seems almost as large as the patio area which leads me onto a further question - am I correct that the open patio area on deck 9 is about the same length as on the Odyssey class although it is wider by the increased beam and that the number of tables for eating at the grill is also about the same. Certainly from the actual photos of the ship this is the impression given. If so I do wonder how crowded it will be when the ship carries her full compliment.

I hadn't realised that the lifeboats/tenders were double deckers until I saw the photos do these therefore restrict the walking space on deck 5.

Finally I think you said that for breakfast and lunch those eating in the Colonnade are able to use the out door area of the TK restaurant which in the evening will be used solely by those in the TK restaurant - have I understood that correctly

Henry first thank you for all the information you have given us already - turning to the retreat besides the cabanas there are other seats and loungers are they available to any one and if so are they also entitled to the special cocktails and food items or is the whole area only available to those who hire a cabana?

It is not clear to me that the refurbished R2 on Quest will be the location for the Ad Hoc offering currently appearing from time to time in the Colonnade. According to what has been published R2 will become a grill which will also occupy most of the additional specialist restaurant on the Encore class ships which will have included within a separate cocktail bar area. Its description and furnishing doesn’t seem to accord with what the offering or style of service is at the moment in the Colonnade and may be the Ad Hoc offering will continue there. The sooner this is clarified by Seabourn the better.

Joc123 You mentioned that whilst the wording in the Herald re reservation in the colonnade was changed from needed to recommended you were turned away on two occasions - do you know whether this was because there were no free tables or because there had insufficient staff there. I have never experienced that on past cruises.

There is already less exterior deck space on Encore per passanger than on the Odyssey class ships and this will be made more acute by using the the top deck as a Cabana area the more so if it is underutilised at $350 / per day/cabana or guest.

The new decor in the old R2 area looks a vast improvement but I wished they hadn't brought in the prior on line reservation system favoured by some competitors - how anyone makes there mind up weeks before they board where they want to eat on a particular night just baffles me. Will it be opened at lunch time - if not the Colonnade will be a bigger scrum than on the existing ships.

The CC announcement is not totally clear whether the present Keller Ad Hoc utilisation of the Colonnade will still contine once the chop house is opened.

Overall the information about the new ships so far makes me favour the Odyssey class ships.

Many thanks English Tim for the review of the cruise and for the excellent photos - one query - are you saying that reservations are now required for the Colonnade every night or only those when the Keller menu is being served - if the former maybe it suggests they are trying to avoid too many staff being allocated there unnecessarily.

You have to wonder how much in depth thought and planning Seabourn did before deciding to team up with Thomas Keller. Seabourn’s advanced publicity concentrated on the fine dining end of his operations and not on the cheap and cheerful serve yourself end.

From the various reports on this board at least on the Odyssey and Sojourn the smooth running of the MDR and the kitchen appears to have badly affected since the Keller trials commenced which seems to suggest that both those in the kitchen and the MDR have lacked adequate training and or maybe management are just expecting too much and had failed to appreciate the practicalities of implementation and suitability for shipboard operation.

For those of us who have future cruises booked we remain uncertain what the food offering will be in each dining location if and when it settles down on the Odyssey class ships. On the Encore class it looks as though the additional speciality restaurant will be Keller’s serve yourself with a rigid approach to how items should be cooked with a separate smallish Sushi section, the MDR which is unlikely to be able to seat all passengers at once possible with one or two Keller fine dining additions for each course and the Colonnade and the deck grill hopefully remaining much the same. Lets hope that Seabourn get on top of the issues quickly.

Seems odd they suddenly need more accommodation for staff if they are cutting back in other areas and will this be repeated on the otherships - maybe something to do with its long cruise round the Pacific and maybe a full trial of Kellerisation?

In the survey there is an artist impression of what such a sanctuary might look like - it may just be a generic impression but part of could be modelled on the Retreat on deck 12 of the Encore and the latest shots of the ship does have a similar canopy over it. This is where the putting green and table tennis are on the Odyssey class. If this idea ever gets of the ground it would represent a further tightening up of space on the Encore Class over the Odyssey class of ship as the pool deck seems very little larger for 150 more passengers. The whole concept of a ship within in a ship is alien to Seabourn and would represent in my view a significant backward step.

Is the reality that Thomas Keller coming on board Seabourn is at least in part a way of the new speciality restaurant lessening costs through restricting choice, introducing reservations and promoting still further self service with family style dishes whilst accepting that some of his fine dining dishes will doubtless enliven and refresh the choices in the MDR at dinner. This is on top of relegating the MDR for the most part to a dinner only service.

Are these changes also a reflection on the impact of the introduction of the Encore class ships where presumably the new dining option will be used apart from the Sushi bar for the Keller family dining concept which somehow has to be incorporated into the Odyssey class ships which don’t have a dedicated space unless one is to be conjured up following refits.

If my reading of the deck plans for the Encore class are correct and I appreciate that they are not drawn to scale the MDR and probably the Grand Salon will not have the space to accommodate all passengers at one time – in practice with the varied dining options it is unlikely ever to be required to seat all at once.

It all seems to add up to a down grading in luxury and freedom of choice we have been used to and why for us Seabourn stood apart from the other top end lines. Seabourn needs to explain as to what is really going on as at the moment we are booking ahead blind as to what the position will really be regarding the dining options, when locations are opened and whether and for what reservations will in future be required.

Looks a fairly standard R2 menu but have never heard of the upgrade wine offering certainly wasn't offered on the 7 day Istanbul Black Sea Cruise in the first half of September when we ate in R2 but a great idea.

jeni - I agree entirely that this is an operational cost issue by Seabourn but the per diem rate has recently increased significantly and what I expect from a 6 star luxury line is choice and not having to cram into an overcrowded Colonnade on sea days.

Whether the extract you published from a brochure means what it it implies is interesting - it seems to suggest that Keller's speciality restaurant debuts on the Quest followed by the Encore with perhaps Sojourn and Odyssey following that - if so maybe it's to do with their next refits or maybe the drafting is incorrect.

Who was the hotel manager on your cruise Nigella

Whilst I am all for Hotel managers having some discretion surely they should not consistently keeping denying a service i.e. opening the MDR for Breakfast and Lunch which is explicitly advertised in the Seabourn brochure. On sea days the colannade and deck grill are unpleasantly full at peak times and in any event the MDR experience for those meals when open is much more restful and civilised

We were on the Spirit's last crossing and the forward whirlpool was operating so far as we could tell through out the crossing and equally the ship looked to be well maintained with service and food well up to the best of Seabourn

Over the last 12 months or so there seem to have been more adverse comments made about the Sojourn than the other members of the fleet - that's not to say there have been good reports as well but compared to other fleet members Sojourn seems to stand out - can anyone explain why this should be?

Disappointing to read some of the negatives particularly as wines seemed to have improved of late. Seems you cruise was enjoyable but a bit lack lustre. With the much higher per diem rates quoted for 2015 Seabourn is going to have to up their game to justify the hike and cost cutting in some areas will only lead to more negatives appearing

Are Seabourn planning to share their A team between the Legend and the Spirit for their last cruises next year - they seem very silent about doing so this time.

The suggestion if accurate that responsiblilty for Seabourn might pass to Cunard from HAL doesn't give a lot of confidence that Carnival's management yet know what to do with Seabourn as apart from economies of scale through group buying power Seabourn with its current place in the cruise market doesn't fit naturally under HAL or Cunard - maybe they think that because of Cunard's grill class its a better fit than with HAL. In the last 4 years Seabourn has moved from a stand alone brand based in Florida to being under the wing of HAL in Seattle and now if true could end up with Cunard under I thing P&O Uk's management in the UK

A pity if there is no position for DAG post the last sailings of the small ships. Does anyone know who are the current captains of the Spirit and who will be in command for her last sailings with Seabourn

This doesn't surprise me - over the last 2/3 years the hours allowed for lunch and dinner in the MDR have been shortened and on occasions it has been closed for lunch. In addition the lunch menu in the MDR on days it is opened now seem to replicate the Collonade thus restricting choice. Whilst demographics may play a part in Seabourn's latest measures on 7 day cruises this looks like straightforward cost cutting as is the removal of the early bird coffee etc. Once the triplets are out the way we are likely to see more of this and choices we have come to expect on Seabourn will slowly be reduced until it becomes little more than a more upmarket brand of HAL.