wingit

1 hour ago, tg75219 said:

Just finished a 16-night cruise on the Grandeur, and while I ate at Compass Rose ~10 times, I do not recall background music, which I guess is a good thing based on the comments.  That said, the music in the pool area was the most god-awful depressing mix of slow-tempo 1970s elevator music I've ever heard.  It was truly awful and it was on a loop, so you got to hear the same 30-40 songs every day.  I'm very tolerant of different types of music and typically don't even notice background music, but this music was so bad that I actually started to avoid going up to the pool area during the day, opting to sit on my balcony instead. 

I too was on the recent Grandeur 16 night cruise.  I found the music in the Compass Rose particularly annoying at breakfast.  It was a bit jarring to sit down to breakfast in the beautiful dining room at 8:00am and hear pop music. It was just so…unnecessary.  

42 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

I guess we’d be considered old coots but we’re not dead yet!

More updated music would be fun especially at the pool areas!

Maybe even some live music would be appreciated!

I always enjoy the live music by the pool.  

True.  Beautiful serene library. 

Appreciate your comments NYC.  The one place we found that was quiet and peaceful was the relaxation area behind the Spa.  Of course it’s limited space and service there, but nonetheless a nice place to read and relax. 
 

I don’t know if overall most people like the music playing everywhere or if they’re neutral about it.  The customer surveys will reveal what the majority prefer I guess.  

It’s a beautiful ship.  Loved the food wherever we went.  Service top notch.  Our Concierge suite was comfortably luxurious.  

If only there was not music piped in most all the public spaces… the pool deck, all the restaurants.  All hours of the day.  It wasn’t that the music was not to my taste (some of it was) - but it was non-stop and on a repeat loop. It did not enhance our experience.

I will of course fill out the customer survey and indicate my overall satisfaction with our cruise ~ along with this one sour note.  

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses.  I’ll email Regent and also be prepared to give the room attendant a list if the items are not in the room.  

Thank you, Flossie009.  

Thank you, Zqueeze1.  We are in a concierge suite.  I’ve looked for a form online to make our requests and haven’t found one…

Is there a way to specify what one wants stocked in the mini bar/refrigerator?  I haven’t come across a form to fill out in the guest registration.  Is this something you let your room stewardess know once you’re onboard?  We’re new to Regent.  Thanks for any info.  

2 hours ago, Khareef said:

Just came back from the Venture and there was almost daily an "unhosted" bridge meeting at the expedition lounge on deck 4. No idea how popular it was.

Thank you.  Good to hear.

Thanks very much for the speedy responses to my 2 questions!  

We will be embarking the Venture in a week or so.  I’m curious about a couple of things.  Are binoculars provided or should we bring our own?  Also, our cruise has, I think, about 12 sea days;  can I expect that there will be a duplicate bridge director on board?  
Thanks for any information.  

39 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Yes, I'm embarrassed that I left out the most important word.  I've become increasingly uncomfortable about the description of passengers based on whether they have dressed with a flare--or are refined--or sophisticated.  I don't know about the rest of you--but those kinds of descriptions don't fit with my value system.  

So true.

I have a question that is somewhat related.  Are crew members still required to wear masks?  I don’t see that information on the Seabourn website.  Our two criteria for cruising are no pre-embarkation tests and no mandated masks for crew (or passengers for that matter).  Since Australian embarkations still require a test the cruise we wish to go on is not an option at this point. But we are hopeful that the testing requirement will go away soon. Thanks in advance for any help.

I have not been blocked from logging on or posting to CC anytime on this cruise.

We are on the Odyssey.We embarked in Miami and will disembark in a couple of days.  The negatives we have are not necessarily specific to Seabourn. Our desire to cruise is dampened by the necessity to get 2 Covid tests to get on board originally and a third to fly back home to the US.  The mandatory masking of crew and staff is a big negative for us.  The crew have always been a big part of our enjoyment.  Seabourn is shrouding their best asset; their personalities are diminished They are just as as vaxed and tested as everyone else on board.

All in all we’ve had a very good cruise.  I think the issues with understaffing and supply chains will work out eventually ( I hope!). The Odyssey needs a little spiffing up.  It’s not quite the Seabourn we have experienced over the years, but it is good.  
Until excessive testing and crew masking go away we will be spending our vacation dollars elsewhere.  Just our perspective on cruising these days…

10 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

Were you previously notified that they would not, and this is back-tracking since the announcement came after you were on board?  Or was the new policy to start on a later segment?

No we were not notified that they wouldn’t do the test.  I got on board in Miami with the expectation that they would provide the test and that is still the case today.  I wouldn’t have considered asking about it if it were not for the statements made on this board.

5 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

I'm wondering if anyone — particularly folks on the Odyssey now — have been able to find out from officers in the know why Seabourn isn't offering testing prior to disembarkation.

 

Seabourn has been doing end-of-cruise testing on the Odyssey for nearly a year now, so it's obviously not something they can't handle. Even if they decided to charge customers rather than doing it for free, most people would be happy to pay rather than to have the stress of trying to figure out a way to get tested on their own. So if Seabourn has the staff and technology to do it, and if they could do it at no cost to the company by charging passengers who need such a test, why aren't they offering it? It just seems strange to pull the plug on this service customers need in order to get home from a cruise. 

I asked at Seabourn Square this morning.  We can get a Covid test on board before disembarking in Vancouver if it is required to travel back to our home — in my case the US. 

19 hours ago, rols said:

In that case we have taken our last ever cruise. 

Same here.  The very idea of paying thousands of dollars to wear a mask and be anti social, and being subjected to repeated testing, is contrary to our idea of a vacation or holiday.   

8 minutes ago, clo said:

But that's probably a lay person saying what they think/feel/believe. I want data and I want the CDC, WHO etc to provide that.

You’re certainly free to get your information from wherever you like and act accordingly.  

3 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Let me be clear.  We do not think waiting five years or one year to return to cruising without masks is 'fine'.  We think it's time to emphasize vaccines and de-emphasize masking.   We do not agree with those who say we can meet in small groups for the 4th of July if all have been vaccinated.  We do not believe we should rely upon government or the CDC to tell us what we can or cannot do.  It's time for the CDC to tell the cruise lines that if everyone is vaccinated on the ship, then none of the other rules apply.  It's time to return to normal.  Not in five years, not in one year, not in six months.  Now.

Well said.

No cruises for us until the mask mandate is dropped.  We will not spend thousands of dollars to sit around in a mask. Nor will we be on a cruise where any other anti-social behavior is mandated.  

full refund received today, for 28 day cruise (originally fr SIN to SDY) . Cruise was to start 22 mar

Cooper, is it just me , or is the Rotterdam sittng aft low, and if so, why. thanks

In their travel agent booking portal it all shows wait-listed. Yesterday there were 70+ cabins available on the 3/22 sailing. If you try to book via their normal website it also gives an error... I gave them a call and they verified that all three sailings until 4/13 showed wait-listed. My gut check is 95% sure that we're going to get a cancellation notice. I'm just hoping it's sooner than later as we're still booked to fly out on Tuesday    thanks so much for the quick reply. I think you are correct, it looks like they are getting ready for 30 shutdown. (like all other cruise lines), we are booked perth to sfo, not looking good. we were also planning on leaving tues.