Isklaar

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

It's confusing, you have to click read more at the end of the boarding paragraph.

Thank you! I scrolled as I read the port reviews and expected to move through the review from there. I've never had a similar isssue when reading previous  reviews here. Now looking forward  to read the review in full, rhanks again. 

When I visit that link, using Safari, I only see the ports and boarding process reviewed. I can't find how to move from that page. 🤔

Anyway, I was interested to read it as my understanding was that catlover hated most every apect of their previous experience on SB so I'm surprised they took another SB cruise...

6 hours ago, markandjie said:

This is likely just another example of their lousy website. Things seem to disappear and return all the time. I would give it a day or two and it may magically come back. 

Spot on, it's showing for me currently on Seabourn's UK site. Of course, the site is so poor that it could disappear again!

3 hours ago, adoctor said:

This is good news for your trip. The sail into the downtown port of Saigon is IMHO one of the best cruising experiences in the world.

Be sure to set the early alarm to see Vietnam waking up, going to school ,working the fields and manufacturing everything you could imagine.

The ship will be led into the port by a wonderfully aggressive pilot boat which clears the path for the ship around the tight turns on the Saigon River scattering other craft in its wake. I recall a conversation with one of Seabourn's captains who told me that the sail in was hugely exhilarating for the Bridge team if a little stressful!

Don't miss it.    

Totally agree! We've done it on Ovation and Sojourn, unmissable even if it means an early wake up. 

I don't gamble but have sailed often with friends who do visit the casino. There may be cruises that are exceptions but in my experience the casino is a low key activity on Seabourn ships. The casinos are small and often close early-ish because there aren't enough players.

To answer your question, I'm not aware of any offers like you mentioned. If the casino is an important aspect of cruising for you, Seabourn could be a disappointment. 

18 minutes ago, SDuckers said:

I am trying to decide whether the topic of tipping, or the topic of jeans in the MDR, is the most likely to blow up on this board on any given day.

Back in the day, it was delicately balanced between the two! 

21 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

When we boarded the suite attendants introduced themselves and as part of the intro she stated categorically that we should not drink the tap water. She informed us that she would replenish water botttles in the cabin on a daily basis. I have no idea what they use in the restaraunts.

Either way i do not like the taste, but imho water shouldn't really of anything.

I haver never come across this scenario in all my years at sea.

Thank you for providing the context. Same as you, I've never had a suite attendant tell me that. 

I mostly concur with MrL, although depending upon where I am in the world I sometimes drink tap water 😉.   SB changed to a new drinking water filtration system in 2019. I did not like the taste or smell of that water. Not an issue, there is always good branded bottled water available. 

It isn't clear from the post above the context. Who advised the poster to not drink the water, why the advice was given?  Clearly if it was e.g. the ship's captain announcing to all onboard to not drink it, is a different situation to another guest expressing mere dislike of it. More information is needed.

26 minutes ago, skybluewaters said:

I've noticed that once you have completed the Preferences, it will automatically be repeated on future cruises.  So after you have completed them for your initial cruise, you only need to visit that page if you wish to make changes. 

I would very much like to know where we are going wrong! Hundreds of nights on SB but only set up as requested on at most 3 or 4 cruises. It's never been a problem of course as they soon sort it out, and actually it's become something of an in joke when we enter the suite to guess what unrequested delights are in the fridge. 🤪

1 hour ago, aliaschief said:

Thank you. We’ll give that a try again. Maybe preferences are offered after first cruise as there is no preferences available. Or maybe just too soon?

It should be possible regardless of whether it's your first SB. However if you're still unable to do it, you could ask your TA to do it on your behalf, but honestly unless your requirements are quite specialised don't worry about it.

Not sure if we are just unlucky but on embarkation our requested bar setup has only been correct a couple of times. It's not an issue, let your suite attendant know what you would like and they will get it set up usually the first night, or sometime the next day given how busy they are on embarkation day. 

Thank you @highplanesdrifters.

I'm sure I saw the photos you had posted during your Venture cruise but I actually didn't have either of these ships on my radar until recently. Pursuit has some extremely interesting itineraries around Australia and Papua New Guinea next year. Plus the lower number of passengers is a big draw. 

What is the situation with outdoor deck space and seating? It's really not clear from SB deck plans or the website. I see the small infinity pool and assume there is seating in that area, but don't see it anywhere else. I understand that these ships were built for expedition and active cruising, however I would like to sit outdoors in a quiet but public space (ie not just on my suite veranda) whenever the weather allows. What are the options? 

2 hours ago, midwife said:

I have been trying to find the laundry room on the deck plan. Can someone point me in the right direction please? 

skybluewaters is correct, it's on deck 5. When Encore and Ovation were built they did not have a laundry room. Hence doesn't show on deck plan. The laundry rooms were retro fitted.

49 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Well, it’s that day again, the one that mixes the happy with the sad.  Packing day.  We used to plan hours for packing, after all it takes days at home right?  Packing up to leave though goes so much faster, most of the clothes are ‘dirty’ really just worn since, let’s be honest, nobody’s been digging ditches here.  The only hard part is keeping all of the liquids out of our one catty on.  Otherwise, just stuff it all in wherever it fits.  We usually start at 4:00 and still have time for cocktails before dinner.

 

it’s like they say the second best day aside from starting a trip, is the day you get home.  We have a relatively straightforward travel day with a short flight, the only tough part will be arriving at peak rush hour traffic quite a rude reintroduction to reality as our drive home will be at least as long as the flight from Vancouver.

 

Overall, we’ve enjoyed our sailing, we had primarily rain and cold the first week, considerably better weather the second.  As always a handful of staff make all of the difference.  On the whole I rate Seabourn staff quite highly but it’s those few who actually seek you out and anticipate your wants that leave the strongest impression.  I’ll write a comprehensive summary from home in the days to come.

Thank you for taking us with you, it has been an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading your summary when you have settled back at home.

32 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Mr. SLSD is resisting booking a Silversea cruise, even though we have sailed with them and enjoyed it at the time.  Perhaps I will find a way to convince him.  It will probably depend on our 28 day cruise on Sojourn next summer.  In the meantime, we have three domestic trips planned, so no time to cruise.  

We have a situation such as this in our house too. When/if we are able to travel together again one of us is open to considering SS again (the new ships only), however one of us is not. In the meantime I may be in the market for a solo cruise in late Autumn this year. SB itineraries don't interest me. Will take a look at SS but would prefer a line with more attractive single fares!

34 minutes ago, markham said:

May I add my own 2 cents as an aside. For us it is the space and spacing of tables in the MDRs of Encore and Ovation, and as Mr L highlighted. I mean, really, and this is old news, these 2 DRs are the same size as those on the O ships but there are 150 more punters. The Colonnade and TKG won’t handle this number. Ok, maybe they would and everyone would accept the MDRs as fabulous if these were HAL ships. But they are not branded that way. Which begs the question of who/which cost cutter designed their deck plans anyway?

 

We have 2 weeks on Encore in Aug., 2024, BTBs and so with the chance of the dreaded industry/incentive groups taking over the rhythms of the ship to suit themselves. At our expense. But the itinerary is very good, and so was the net price. About the dining choices we have already planned to have most lunches on shore and for shipboard dinners we will scrounge and scrap to our best advantage. Obviously the MDR is out! But does not have to happen and does not on other ships. Too bad.

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

Indeed, for us too noisy and crowded because far too small.  The MDR was just one item in a list of my dislikes about Ovation. Not a luxury experience to be turned away on formal night (Christmas Eve) because it was full. 

31 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

I'm the chief food taster for new TK offerings.

Seriously after our visit to the MDR on the second day we wanted to give it a wide berth.

It's a dreadful room,tables too close together and a feeling of chaos where service should be slick and unobtrusive.

Colonnade not an option for us at dinner and E&O good hot food but not much choice.

TK has been our only option for good food,good service and a nice place to dine in.

Pursuit on Sunday then a Nova cruise beckons.

Mr L, just for sake of clarity, is it specifically MDR on Encore/Ovation that you find dreadful? I found it awful too on Ovation but on O class ships I like it much better. 

Very much looking forward to reading your thoughts about Pursuit, as an aside, I have in my head that you are also trying Explora. Or have I made that up? 

6 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Yes indeed but there are still a few old time crew that are here.

Unfortunately on this week of our cruise there are 240 Australians who are in a group paid for as an Incentive from one Company.

It's been a difficult week for regular guests and what the poor crew have had to put up with.

On one sail away there were forty people in the pool drinking from glass beer bottles which is a complete no in my book for safety at the very least.

The Hotel Director has been complained to by many regular guests who are understandably not happy. 

The CEO is also aware.

The group should have chartered a ship as it affects everything.

Seabourn should not take large group bookings especially at this time of year as they would have filled the ship anyway.it is complete madness.

One couple who I have spoken to have cancelled their next three booked cruises.

Silversea would seem to be the likely benefactor from this situation going forward.

Our first cruise was with Silversea. There was a group of people on a corporate freebie onboard, I believe 300 in total on Silver Spirit which at that time had a capacity of 540.  We cruised one more time with SS, there was a group again but much smaller and far better behaved. Still had a negative effect on our enjoyment. This was 12 years ago. We moved to Seabourn after that.

Do any of the luxury lines not take group bookings? I know SS still did just prior to Covid as two regular CC posters were on the same cruise posting about a badly behaved group.

11 minutes ago, fdnycruiser said:

Never mind plastic ducks, some people have service ducks. Google service ducks, and you’ll see a few on airplanes 

I wish I hadn't looked but I imgine being seated next to a,service duck would be preferable to the infamous support peacock.

13 hours ago, lincslady said:

Couldn't agree less - but surely no plastic ducks on Seabourn??

Sorry to confirm that there are plastic ducks. It's a thing currently. Hopefully a fleeting thing.

4 minutes ago, caviarforme said:

I was not aware - I may try them against my regular agent.

I have used them for business hotel accommodation. I haven't booked a cruise with them as I'm happy with my luxury cruise specialist TA.  

2 hours ago, caviarforme said:

I am UK based and as far as I know we don not have \Virtuoso.  I agree we do not know how the award was assessed but in principle are cruise agents the best to measure? Have they really experienced each brand? Are they influenced by commission rates etc etc etc

 

Maybe their should be annual Cruise Critic awards voted by real "cruisers" from an international forum?

We do have access to Virtuoso in the UK. 

43 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Well, a second attempt at breakfast in the dining room, today they set up 25 tables, about twice as many as that first morning, before breakfast ended most, but not all had been used.  Quite a change for the better.  Todays meal was perfect, everything came together perfectly with a high level of service start to finish.  I did note that the pastry trays did run down to a very few items for those arriving late, didn’t affect our experience though.

 

Likewise an excellent meal last evening, our best yet.  We’ve settled in with a particular server with all of the associated goodness.  Drinks arrive with little more than a confirmation of what we like, the tongs go to the bread basket in anticipation, so many small details that collectively make a  large difference.

 

The bar staff continues to impress mightily our favorites, Candi in Observation and Numnum at the Patio are full of life.  Both have worked hard to fill in gaps (mind you we haven’t ask for anything that isn’t in the menu) neither have said “supply chain” they’ve just said may I order it tomorrow, success on every occasion.

 

Hubbard glacier today with much clearer sky’s the scenery is already amazing.

 

Sounds as if they serve the bread. Is the bread basket no longer on the table? It's been almost 4 years since our last cruise so I'm trying to keep up with all onboard changes, large and small. I will feel like a total newbie if we are ever able to cruise again!

In my experience, booking in the UK, my TA offers a generous discount on the cruise fare but not OBC.  

29 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

The bean counters have deemed a the IT department a low priority for funding.

Exactly.