NoVa Mimi

Marama, I think you will love it! I truly don't understand the complaints, we found everything to be absolutely perfect :)

Our cabin was 506 and it was just fine for the two of us. Plenty of storage and sufficient space for two. Our Stewardess, Kristina, was delightful. Any request we had was promptly addressed. We had fresh fruit and chocolate covered strawberries every afternoon.

We dined at either the Collonade or the Patio. Both were great and there was only one meal we were less than thrilled with. It was an authentic Japanese dinner we had in the Collonade. I am sure the food was very good, just not quite what we are accustomed to.

Service in all areas was excellent! Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised at how everyone knew our names so quickly. Very nice and so special. I was told that the crew learned the names by studying our pictures that taken at embarkation. They are tested on the second day and if they get less than 50% correct, they must retake the test.

I have read posts complaining about Seabourn and how much they have changed. I cannot speak for what they used to be like, but I can say that without a doubt, this was the nicest ship with the best crew we have ever had the pleasure of sailing on and with. The entire ship was very clean, no signs of wear and such and when it goes into dry dock, all carpeting, linens, etc. would be replaced and is done so yearly. I just could not think of one complaint or anything at all we could fault the entire two weeks we were onboard.

The day following embarkation was the beach BBQ at Carambola beach. It was such a perfect day:) The food was fabulous. I have never seen lobsters that large!

More to come...

This was our first cruise on Seabourn and it was the best cruise, after 15+ cruises we have been on. We, my DH and I, traveled from Washington DC to St. Maarten on 3/9/2017. We had made reservations at The Atrium for the two night pre cruise. It served the purpose and our room was quite large, more like an apartment, with a full kitchen and within walking distance to a grocery store. We went to Philipsburg the following day and decided to go by local bus rather than a taxi. What a huge savings!! The fare from Maho was $2/person each way and I think a taxi would have been much more. We enjoyed the day very much as the only times we have been to St. Maarten was in the summer months and this time it wasn't humid or too hot, very lovely day. We took a bus back to The Atrium and later that night we watched quite a large fireworks display that lasted about 10-15 minutes. What a treat that was! The next morning we checked out and went to the port to wait as there was not any other alternative, that we were aware of, with our luggage in hand. The building that Seabourn uses is evidently new and is used by both Windstar and Seabourn. This sailing was the first for Seabourn through this particular facility. Not only was this our first time on Seabourn, it was our first time not being on a mega ship, what in the world took us so long to discover this perfect way of cruising? Truly, we must be daft! This difference between the embarkation on large ships versus small ships was astounding. I kept looking for an onslaught of fellow passengers forming a long line and I had no idea how everyone would fit into this small building. In one word, the difference in the mega ships and this embarkation, I would say civilized. We were so pleasantly surprised! The young men that were porters took our luggage after a short wait, while waiting, we were very comfortable, in air conditioning and with wifi. Around 12:00 a representative came to announce to those of us that were waiting, it was time to board the vessel! Customs checked us through using a paper manifest, we saw no computers being used, and we were escorted to a golf cart type of vehicle. Once it was full with about 10 passengers, we were driven to the beautiful Odyssey! Vacation had officially started and we were giddy! It was finally our turn, yay! We had both had a difficult year and a half since we were last able to get away, working very long hours and experiencing many of life's ups and downs. Additionally, this was our first cruise sans our 26 year old son, in fact, it was our first time alone on any vacation in over 26 years. No wonder we were so excited! We both found ourselves wondering, hmm, we are going to be boarding the ship and no one had taken our picture for our sea pass card and there were no annoying photographers wanting us to stop and smile for a photo op (once again, yay!). We boarded and were escorted to the the Grand Salon where we were greeted, had our photo taken and surrendered our passports and received our sea pass card. Whew, that went ever so smoothly and quickly! Excellent experience! Part 2 to follow and I hope this isn't too long and boring for you all.

NoVa Mimi - really glad you enjoyed your cruise. When you have 'come back down to earth' could you please let us know who the current staff are? Captain, Maitre de, Cruise Director etc? They may well change by the time we board in July but maybe not.

Many thanks

A full review will be forthcoming once we have assimilated into the real world again. We had a wonderful time each and every day of the 2 weeks we were onboard! This was our first cruise on Seabourn and now there is absolutely no going back 😀 We met some wonderful new friends that we hope to someday cruise again with. I will scan the Heralds and daily menus when time permits as well as write my review with pics. Any questions, please ask away and thank you to all that helped me so much prior to our cruise!

Chairsin, thank you so much of the offer! I was very fortunate after posting on the referral thread, a very kind person offered to help me. Thank you though :)

Oh my goodness, all of you are so kind! However I must share, each of you has contributed to a great sense of excitement regarding our first Seabourn cruise! I don't know if I can possibly wait...real coffee, pastries AND ice cream! It really sounds like the staff go all out to ensure one has a pleasant and memorable cruise. I do hope that someday I will have an opportunity to meet each of you, you have taken me by the hand and are leading me into an unbelievably exciting experience, thank you! :)

Thank you so much for the flight information as I was looking into that exact scenario (to SJU then to St.Martin. rwilmeth, do many use the butler services? I just cannot imagine what a pampering treat/experience this is all going to be! Bath drawn,wow! I have never been pampered, well when I was a child but that really doesn't count ;) Also, not having someone try to sell us something throughout each day :) All of this just tickles my fancy!!

I do have two questions, if I may. I am wondering about the cabin and the difference between Princess and Seabourn in that regards. Could you enlighten me?

Also, on the lines, the coffee served onboard is NOT coffee, but rather coffee syrup...disgusting swill. Is one able to get real brewed coffee on Seabourn? We do love our coffee!

Chairsin, no we don't go quite that casual (T-shirts, shorts) and elegant casual, per their description, will be great. We just do not like taking a lot of formal wear as we tend to over pack at any rate and well, I can become ridiculous with all that I take to wear...just in case I will need something. :)

Sunviking, thank you for the suggestion of looking at something through Charlotte. We had a layover there once and I too found it to be a rather nice little airport. Thank you fellow Virginian!

Thank you all for such warm welcomes! I was so pleasantly surprised to see such kind and thoughtful tips so quickly! Another very kind member has offered to assist me with a referral coupon. You all are so nice 🙂 Using the laundry service sounds like a wonderful idea! Chairsin,we are in Manassas and have been here almost 30 years. The area has just exploded with growth and the traffic problems that one would expect with great growth. I am a nurse and work at Fair Oaks Hospital campus and it takes me 1-1 1/2 hours to drive 12 miles...nuts! I had family in the Vienna area.

I have never used the ITA matrix, but I will be checking it out. Thank you all for your tips!

We are really looking forward to our first cruise on Seabourn and I know that we will enjoy every moment!

Thank you so much! email on the way.

We will be taking our first Seabourn cruise on the Odyssey in March 2017. I am beyond excited and I am trying to learn all I can in these preceding months. Most recently, we have been on Princess for our cruises, so this will be a big change and a very welcomed one as well! I am trying to find tips for Seabourn newbies as well as basic information. Are there laundry services or facilities onboard? We will be on for 14 days and I suspect we will need either service or facility. We depart from St. Martin and will be traveling from the Washington D.C. metro area. Does it make any sense getting a flight to San Juan then from there to St. Martin or should we just research flying to St. Martin with several connections? We will be in a forward V1 cabin on the 5th deck with the smaller balcony, are those balconies really small? We enjoy casual dining often after a long full day in port, are there casual dining venues available in the evenings? Does Seabourn have buffets and if so, are they better than many of the other lines catering the masses? I would be grateful for any information any of you may be willing to share.

Hello :) We will be taking our first Seabourn cruise in March 2017 and we couldn't be more excited! Would anyone be willing to provide a referral coupon? I would be very grateful.

Steelerfan, we are over by the hospital...indeed a small world! :) Thanks so much for the information as I hadn't even thought of the issue of return only getting there. As it will only be the 3 of us, I'll have to think this over as I just don't want to have to anticipate any issues as I feel it takes much of the enjoyment out of the relaxing day. Divi sounds like a nice alternative, thank you!

Carol, we will also be on the Emerald Princess! :) Aren't you excited? It's almost our turn! I agree about OB, much too crowded to be enjoyable.

We will be on St. Maarten/St. Martin on 11/10/15 and had originally planned to do a jet ski tour. However, due to a chipped disc in my back, I was told by the doctor no jet skis for now...bummer! Well now to formulate plan B. We have never been to the French side, after many trips to the island. Taking traffic and transportation into consideration, which option might be suggested for a relaxing day, a bar, shade and as little hassle as possible getting to and from, under the circumstances with my back? I would also like to allow time to stop by the chocolate shop in St. Maarten for our chocolate order :) Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. We are unfamiliar with the taxi system as we have always walked or taken a tour right from the pier.

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it!

We will be on the Emerald in just a few weeks, the first week in November for a B2B. We have done a number of cruises but they have all been in the summer months. Are there major differences? What are the typical age demographics during this time of year? We are in our early 50s (ouch! That hurts to think about at times) and our son is in his mid 20s.I know more ships will be in the ports. What about the weather difference? I am finding it very difficult to think about what to pack as it is getting chilly in the D.C. area. We will be leaving out of Lauderdale and again, I have no idea what the weather will be like there. It's hard to believe that we will be leaving so soon as it just doesn't feel like vacation time. Can anyone give me an idea as to what to expect?

Thank you all for your kind input :) we have cruised often and we always arrive at the airport early so as not to encounter any issues. I think a 10-10:30 while likely doable may be difficult given it will be the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I did find that fares were less expensive from 10-11:00 and then they began to creep upwards. I was able to find a flight departing at 12:49 pm and booked it. I have confidence that we will have sufficient time as we typically don't hang around on the ship that last morning. Thank you all again!

Little did I realize when I planned our B2B that we would be flying home on the Saturday before Thanksgiving...oh boy! We will be on Emerald Princess arriving back at Ft. Lauderdale. I am trying to book a flight to D.C. that gets in at a somewhat reasonable hour, rather than 11:00 pm. What have the more recent experiences been leaving FLL? Prices for tickets jump so much after 10:20 am flights until the evening flight. I am thinking that we could probably make a 10:20 flight, as the airport will just get busier as the day goes on. Any recent experiences and/or creative flight planning ideas? I understand that it would be a bit stressful, perhaps, but living in the D.C. area, our lives are full of stress ;)

Goodness, just to clarify...we did not have a "bad" cruise. We had a wonderful time on our B2B! Each ship and each cruise will vary with pros and cons and each of us will walk away from our cruises with different opinions, but we all still have the love of cruising in common, at the end of the day. :) Just because we didn't care for the cruise director's staff doesn't mean we didn't enjoy our cruise. We have already booked the 15 day to Hawaii on the Ruby Princess for 10/2015 :)

is the lack of entertainment happening in the different venues a princess cutback or a cruise director not doing his/her job?

 

I agree, I would rather have a cruise where I couldn't decide what to do than to have a cruise where there was only one thing to go and see (that wasn't that interesting to me).

We were on the CB in June and we thought that the cruise director's staff was terrible. The cruise director himself was fine, but his staff left much to be desired. They didn't engage with passengers and on the whole, seemed very aloof. When compared to the other crew members who always say hello, good morning, etc. they were a sorry lot. It seemed almost as if they were too sure of their job security, if that makes any sense. Perhaps they need a refresher course on hospitality.

We arranged to do this tour about 2 years ago. We went to the pickup location and discovered that very little time would be spent jet-skiing. The guide brought this up as I was talking about how much we wanted to jetski and really didn't want to snorkle as much. Forgive me but I cannot remember the exact time allotment for each activity, but we cancelled and thank goodness we were able to get a refund (not easily done, but it was done). My advice would be if you are interested in doing both activities, wonderful but if you are looking at jetskiing being your preferred activity, this may not be the excursion for you.

Duplicate post-sorry

If you have contact information for either of the other two stores, could you pass it on to me? I am interested in doing the same thing. We have used AH Riise for years, but we have always ordered and paid while there. Due to timing of our excursion to Virgin Gorda the day we are in port, we will not have any time to shop that day. After your problem with AH Riise,

I don't want to risk ordering from them. Thank you for the information!

Thank you Doris :) I appreciate any info that is available. I have seen some of the reviews for the CB, but as with any ship, there are good ones and not so good ones. One can see a review full of negatives and it puts just a shred of doubt sometimes. Thanks again!