twochromic

I think Techno123 above is right on the money. We did Oceania Panama Canal in December, on the 675 passenger former R-ship. And now this week finished the transatlantic on Seabourn Quest with 450. First cruises on both lines. Here's my take, strictly personal opinion:

The food on Oceania was significantly better than Seabourn to me. The prep, presentation, imagination, and taste is the best we've had. Seabourn somehow manages to cook the taste out of a lot of their dishes, especially seafood. On the other hand, Oceania's buffet tended to be a chaotic mess at times compared to the relaxed atmosphere in Seabourn. And though I usually despair of finding a good steak on a cruise, the TK Grill's ribeye was a steak for the ages.

Service, however, is more hit and miss at Oceania. In the MDR there are sometimes folks who should be in a different line of work. Seabourn's staff are marvelous everywhere.

The cabins: Seaborn by a mile. Roomiest cabin we've seen (we're not "penthouse" types). Storage and bathroom facilities much better on Seabourn.

Entertainment: Oceania hands down. They had a real band, a quartet, and some great solo entertainers. Seabourn has a trio, a couple of lounge singers, and a guy who made dog-shaped balloons in his underwear.

Speakers: Tie. Both had great speakers, though the topics were different.

Finally, Seabourn was all-inclusive (except for excursions and the ridiculous internet fee), while Oceania applied ripoff rates for wines and drinks, and also for their excursions. This needs to be kept in mind when comparing rates.

We were happy with both. Each excells in their own thing.

On that list posted above I recognized about half from our just completed transatlantic. Seems to me the choice on ours was wider.

I assure you, there was pinot grigio available every day and in every bar. The gentleman will not suffer.

On my recent cruise somebody made the comment that "you can always tell who does not have a full length mirror available". They may be trying to insist on "business casual" but some folks really push it!

Just off Quest's transatlantic.

Each day and evening they feature a red and a white wine, I would guess in the $12-15 range in the stores in the US. Pinot grigios, chardonnays, blends, cabs, merlots, all made their appearance. If you prefer, they have 2-3 others available also. They generally were pretty good, except one Tempranillo I didn't like.

I only ordered off the premium list twice, in the Grill, because I had onboard cash to use up. There I had a nice Brunello, a likely 25-28 in the US, for which the tab was $99. And a nice Pouilly Fume which ran $89. Their list went from about $40 on up to the $500 range. Overpriced, yes, but basically free for me, as I have enough ship's shirts.

Ship's choices were by and large quite good. And the benefit is you can have as much or as little as you wish.

On Quest right now, (sitting in my room looking at the moonlit ocean and reading tomorrow's Herald bullatin!) the classic main dining room time is 7 to 9pm. It does vary a bit based on what else is going on, port schedules, etc. Those times are similar for the Patio and for Collonade. The Grill is usually open 6 to 9pm.

If that doesn't suit, there is 24 hour room service, and also snacks at the Square.

We are also on this cruise, and I've nothing to add to Paul's. Enjoying it all.

The scenery is amazing.

1st day:sea

2ns day:sea

rinse and repeat!

It's great to be on a T/A!

We've been mostly Crystal these past few years, then a few months back went on O. Now looking forward to SB for the TA on March 31.

I'm not sure how others disliked the food on Oceania Sirena, because we thought overall it was the best of any cruise, including Crystal. I can think of only one MDR dinner that wasn't up to snuff.

I do agree though, the drinks and wine are outrageously priced on Oceania, and that must be considered when comparing prices.

New to Seabourn here. On Crystal, their web site will list all the details of a specific cruise: naming the crew, listing the speakers, special events and entertainers, etc.

Is there a similar place for those details on Seabourn prior to embarkation?

Well, nobody else from Fair Princess in 1993, so here is the story. Bear with!

We boarded in Papeete, bound for Hawaii. On the way down, the A/C had failed, and the crew threatened to abandon the ship in Tahiti. So a repair crew flew in from Italy, fixed things, went home, and the crew was now happy.

2 days out, though, it failed again. We made several 10 mile circles while they decided what to do out in the middle of the Pacific. The decision was to press on. Since the portholes were painted shut, it got very hot onboard, and folks dragged mattresses to every alcove and stairwell available to sleep. In the cabins, they forced open the portholes, and every piece of cardboard available was stuck out to catch a breeze, and doors were propped open. Crew were very unhappy, but served their passengers extremely well.

The repair crew returned from Italy, and were picked up "on the fly" at Christmas Island. Captain Romano (later Chief Captain for the line) announced that "they will stay onboard the remaining trip".

One night about 2am they got the A/C going again. But they had to close all those open portholes. We were all sleeping "au naturale" on top of the covers, of course. So at 2am, the door opened. Through one partly open eye, I saw 2 officers come in, hold up a large sheet as they looked the other direction, then 2 crewmen ran in, dogged the porthole closed, and they all quickly exited. We spent the entire rest of the night laughing till our sides had split!

Twenty years later we are still laughing about this trip. On subsequent Princess cruises we have run into many crew who either were there, or had heard about the "famous Tahiti cruise".

Compensation? Naaah. They offered a discount on the next trip Hawaii to Alaska, but I don't think there were a lot of takers. We did get our Circolo di Capitano upgraded though.

Was anyone else here on the infamous Fair Princess 1993 trip Tahiti to Hawaii? The one where the air conditioning went out.

There are still Princess staff who comment to me about that cruise.