phil09

Flamin_June – hope you don’t mind if I add a bit to your most excellent thread. We are also on Odyssey boarding in Sydney on March 21st. My wife self-tested Covid positive a few days ago and has another two days in isolation. My test the same morning was negative and since zero symptoms have come forth but we try to stay apart in the cabin as much as possible and I avoid groups staying separated a few feet when around people. She has been treated with very well and anything she has needed has only been a few minutes away after a phone call to Guest Services or request to our Suite Hostess. Our hostess has – or had at one time – I think four cabins with an “isolator”. We told her yesterday she needed to be drawing hazardous duty pay! We don’t know the full count, but I have walked the length of Deck 6 where we are the last four afternoons with the number of “tray tables” outside cabins going as high as 10 but down to 8 today. Don't know how many on the other decks, but deck 6 does have the highest number of cabins compared to the other decks. Hopefully that is a sign of overall improvement on the ship. Mask wearing is actually better that I would have thought with so many past their “sick and tired of Covid” point. Overall we are in 100% agreement with FJ’s feedback on how the cruise in progressing. We are only on our second Seabourn cruise, but we have been very happy. There are a couple of little cost-cutting things we didn’t see last trip but those are pretty minor to us. From what we see every day, the Officers and crew are giving this cruise everything they have to make it wonderful. Will be interesting to see the passenger changes coming up in Papeete then a couple weeks later in Honolulu. Thanks again Flamin_June – we are enjoying your cruise reports.

Jon, I fully appreciate your thoughts and concerns. Will try to update our experience during the cruise in a separate thread so at least our relative newbie perspective might help along with what others may post. We know a couple on the current Odyssey cruise who are very experienced Seabourn passengers and we have already received a very positive report from them (it was before THE announcement). We hope for the best and go into this, as we do any vacation, with a positive attitude and expectation we are likely to experience a bump or two along the way.

Great thread FJ - we are also in Sydney ready to board Odyssey in a couple of days. We arrived a day or two before you so the internal clock synchronization is a bit further along. Looking forward to meeting you on the ship.

We board the Odyssey-Maru in a couple of days for the Pacific crossing finishing up in Vancouver. Will be interesting to see if there is any significant vibe change with the crew or the many regular Seabourn passengers on the ship. This is only our second Seabourn cruise - the last was a back-to-back Caribbean/canal crossing last Spring also on the Odyssey. We loved the ship, the crew and the relatively small passenger volume compared to larger ships we had cruised. Hate to see the Odyssey leaving the fleet but Carnival Corporation's financial situation does not look great. Would not be surprised to see more ships or the full Seabourn fleet sold at some point. We had a great experience last year and look forward to a wonderful cruise over the next couple of months. But you do have to wonder if the powers that be at Carnival and Holland America really have their heart into the luxury cruise market. As noted, we don't have the experience to compare our upcoming cruise to the "old days" of Seabourn, but hope what we enjoyed so much last year has not changed negatively.

We will be boarding Odyssey also in a couple of weeks. Have seen a couple reports which indicate Robert Brendan will be the CD. Shark b8 - apologies for the slight detour on the thread. Thoroughly enjoying your reporting and all the great photos. Looking forward to the "watching" the remainder of your world cruise.

Now that brings back memories! I wore out more than a few chinagraph pencils chasing aircraft carriers around the Pacific as a young watch stander. Like you, not so sure about the automated and fully electronic systems. But everything changes I suppose. Looking forward to the chance for a bridge tour on the Odyssey which we board in about five weeks.

toseaornottosea, What a great user name!! Just my opinion - if I were booked on one of the Antarctic trips in question because of the issue with Venture's stabilizers I would absolutely, positively go. I've never been to the Antarctic but I did spend some time in my younger years on ships of very similar size to Venture in some pretty rough seas. Yes, the ships were painted gray with a number on the bow, but they didn't have stabilizers and we survived a few exciting days and nights with no problems. The opportunity to see a part of the world most human beings will never see and enjoy the magnificence of Antarctica and it's wildlife would be worth a little rough seas. My guess is Seabourn will be careful to pick good crossing times and I suspect your overall cruise experience will not be affected.

Will be interesting to see what happens (if anything) to the 16 February '23 departure which is scheduled to include South Georgia.

Great to see you back on a ship. Enjoy your reports and hope you have a wonderful cruise. Looking forward to hearing the details.

We're recently back from a month on Odyssey on a combined Caribbean and Panama Canal crossing itinerary. Our first experience on Seabourn - so no history to compare before to now. In my opinion, the look would be fine in the MDR on a non-Formal Optional night. I remember seeing a few men in the MDR dressed similarly and never thought a thing about it - they all looked very nice. It seemed to me the open collar dress shirt with appropriate trousers and a sport coat seem to be the most common - but there was always a good number of suits and sport coats with ties. I did a mix of sport coat with and without a tie - but I am very comfortable with that and my wife likes it when I dress up a little. Never did notice anyone who was "poorly" dressed in the MDR - and for that matter in any other venue for dinner.