Robisan

Clearly now sharing the same IT department. Get the same message using four different browsers: Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us" on this server.

Wasn't aware of this when I posted above and perhaps a fair counterpoint if there is a previously scheduled overnight later in Pursuit's pre-Antarctica itinerary where they intended to do this. If so, this would indeed be out of SB's control. Imagine if every port/country said hulls must be clean, just don't do it here.

Last fall we booked 46 days LA to Sydney on Quest this November. Due to significant health issues (thankfully OK now) we very reluctantly cancelled in June prior to penalty. We very much hoped to rebook if/when we were well enough to go. However, the fare has now increased fully 30% and combined with the troubling changes of late - particularly liquor degradation and apparent (cash flow related?) shortages and venue rationing of usual supplies - we cannot justify rebooking this cruise or any cruise with SB until it firmly resolves just what product they are going to be.

I hate to be the chronic complainer here, but Antarctica season preparation had to be known from the time they designed Pursuit's schedule - many, many months ago and certainly well before cancellation penalties effected for this cruise. To suddenly announce change of dates for every port stop, plus the elimination of a critical, unique stop, just nine days prior to embarcation is a breach of good faith at best and a deliberate misleading of buyers at worst. IMO a full refund if desired or a sizable OBC or FCC should be requested as compensation. To be clear, if these changes were due to an unforeseen issues I'd be much more understanding. But as described in the communication from SB, it's hard to see this as something other than deliberate bad faith.

I assume they gave you the option of a full refund if you're not happy with these significant changes.

A few places on the Internets suggest nleahy @ seabourn. com. Another old and maybe future option is natalya.leahy @ hagroup. com.

"Complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available on board at all times" At least the dishonesty is comprehensive. I emailed the office of the president with two very specific, simple questions and received the same canned, generic response within a few hours. I replied asking again for answers to my specific questions and have as of now, several days later, received no reply.

I'm not sure we really are. Without getting into definitions of what is mid tier, there are reasonable, drinkable vintage wines in the $20-30ish retail range (so wholesale at SB volume ~$12-20?) that are a step up from mass market grocery store level and worlds apart from $5 Beringer level. This really should be the minimum for the complementary list if they're going to tout "fine wines" as included. Wine connoisseurs may well looks at these as rubbish, but for a decent portion of passengers they'll meet the requirement.

I respectfully disagree with this. From your perspective and tastes what you suggest works for you, but for many of us for various reasons what works for you makes no sense. DW and I usually want just a single glass of wine at dinner. She generally prefers whites, while I generally prefer reds. We aren't wine aficionados, but like to have what we consider decent, every day drinkable wines at home - typically wines that retail between US$15 and $40+ at Costco (the lower and upper ends usually higher priced bottles on sale). With SB fares now mostly starting at over US$600pp per diem, I don't think it's an unreasonable ultra luxury to expect a glass of wine at dinner akin to what we'd have at home. Purchasing a $200 bottle (or any full bottle) fits none of our preferences. Generous OBC is just a refund of your own money, which effectively means you really are paying for those wines. In any event, we'd prefer to use our OBC refund on excursions and come home to reasonable complementary wines at dinner. If the SB "Ultra Luxury" "All Inclusive" fares require additional upsell payment on board for basic drinkable wines and (coming soon?) true premium spirits, what are we even doing here?

All I want for Christmas is video of Natalya serving and drinking Beringer While Zin at a hosted table. I want to see the look on her face when she swallows.

No burgundy/pinot at all. No cabernet, only a Shiraz blend. That's unacceptable. Overall seems like a very truncated list. Hope this isn't another bad direction trend.

As I've mentioned before, I'd gladly trade fewer port stops for longer stays in each port, especially on longer itineraries. On the few occasions where lines do have overnights they play that fact up in their marketing, yet include overnights so few times. Maybe someone with more industry knowledge can explain it, because I struggle to see the downside of this for all-inclusive lines*. Longer port stops means lower fuel usage/costs per itinerary and lower F&B costs because many guests will opt to dine locally. Additional port fees just get passed on. A mix of port overnights (or two nights!) and sea days in between would be perfect itineraries IMHO, yet there's virtually nothing like this available. Or maybe I'm an aberration and there isn't really a market for this type of offering. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ * I understand that for non-all-inclusive brands getting guests back on board spending money on upsell F&B every night is important, however don't see how that applies to all-inclusives.

I find both of these things are true. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about cruise tourism is the very short time in any location. There's a world of difference between seeing someplace for a few hours vs experiencing it for a few days (or more). If you drop in someplace for 6-8 hours and then sail away in a 6-star cocoon, have you really experienced the place? Additionally, 17:30 all aboard -- which means you must aim to be back between 16:30 & 17:00 to be safe -- is constraining and annoying, especially at ports where it does not take a full overnight to reach the next port. So, I get calling it superficial. On the other hand, there's no doubt cruises have enabled going to places I otherwise would never see, however truncated the time and experience there may be, and to see many places in one trip without multiple baggage handling and transit arrangements. You have to go into it with a realistic expectation, take the good with the not so good. Unless you have virtually unlimited time and resources, there's no perfect travel experience that doesn't require some trade-offs and inconveniences.

I hope this isn't another indicator of creeping HALification of SB. I fear a slow phase out of true top shelf offerings only to have them eventually return at additional charge and possibly (The Horror!!) an upsell drink package. Not sure how SB maintains its brand and pricing, which is up 20-30%, while slowly removing features expected by the brand and pricing.

Have they scheduled the dry docks yet to remove the top shelves?