pdx13

I do not by any means claim to be a Seabourn expert, nor do I have any particular knowledge beyond what I have gathered by reading, but I think the plan is to renovate the Restaurant 2 to become a TK venue at which time the Colonnade will revert to its prior configuration. And although I do not have experience with the TK on Seabourn, I would be surprised if there were not vegetarian options available in the TK venue. He features very nice vegetarian dishes at his brick and mortar establishments. My impression was that the Colonnade was used as a testing site for some of the dishes. I am certain others will correct me if I am off base. Yes, TK is a "star" chef, but I look at this as an exciting venture and opportunity to try some innovative cuisine from a chef who is obsessive about his ingredients.

I have been on the site several times recently looking for tickets in early May and noticed in the months preceding that there are very few dates showing tickets available. I find it hard to believe that it would be that busy this time of year. Perhaps they only sell a very limited number of tickets online. Would be interested in others' experiences.

We were delighted to save as much as we did by booking an OB Veranda for our upcoming cruise. It will be our first on Seabourn so even if we are allocated the "least desirable" suite we expect to be very satisfied.

not everyone will grouse about the opportunity too meet people from other cultures.

+1.

I'm more inclined to look at the quality of the review than the number of posts from the same poster. Lots of detail explaining why someone felt their experience was successful (or unsuccessful) gives me a chance to figure out if the things that matter to a poster -- no matter how many or few posts -- matter to me. If you have any doubt, just look at post #54, ShirleyUK's third CC post. That's a review you can believe!

 

There are some posters with staggering posting numbers who answer virtually every thread even if their posts often begin with, "I don't know, but I'm guessing..."

Agreed, everyone begins with a first post and it may be legitimate, objective, and informative. However, when I see multiple single or low double digit posts in a thread I read them with a grain of salt. It is unfortunate that people feel the need to manipulate what for many of us is a valuable resource.

Where are you going? I think there are only 2 V3's still available on our trip, so a V3 "guarantee" could lead to something better. Unless we take a lot of Seabourn shore excursions, a previous poster is correct that it would be difficult to use up the $1000 additional credit which is combinable with the $400 referral bonus. Decisions, decisions.

We are doing the 21 day Northern Europe out of Lisbon. With the referral, shareholder credit, and now this we will have a healthy OBC, but figure between internet, spa access, etc. we will eat it up without too much difficulty. When fares initially dropped we were very lucky to get the reduction ( as it was just a couple of days past the start of the penalty period). We never would have been able to spend that credit. For us, even a V1 is fine. Location does not matter to us as the veranda suites are all the same inside. I would much prefer the $, unless Seabourn wants to upgrade us to a PH:).

We have twice received the lowered price, both between 90 and 120 days before sail date, definitely before final payment is due. You have to keep an eye on the your particular sailing and alert your travel agent.

Thanks to having a great TA we received the first reduction which was significant. For this later one we were offered a credit or upgrade. Since we are booked in an OB we are considering taking the upgrade so we can get something better than a V1 which I assume is all that will be left when the dust settles.

This is at least the second significant drop in fares since the beginning of the 120 penalty period. I can understand Seabourn wanting to fill the ship, but it is a little disheartening for those who booked well in advance at a significantly higher fare. Is this common practice for Seabourn? Perhaps it is common throughout the industry and I was't aware of it as we have always been on itineraries with other lines that have filled quickly.

It can't be in May. The Western Europe cruise begins in Monte Carlo on April 23rd. It must be prior to that.

Senility is so wonderful... I was certain I read somewhere that Quest was going into drydock in May. Guess I need a cruise to reinvigorate my failing brain.

A climbing wall a teen centre and a Dunkin doughnut outlet.

Perfect!! Just what I was hoping for.

I understand Quest will be in drydock for a week? in May. Aside from the conversion of R2 to TK, anyone know what else is in the plans?

Just received an email from my TA. She was able to get the discounted fare in full from Seabourn, thereby saving us around $5K on this cruise! I am so fortunate to have a good TA, and now she has a lifetime client. Thanks to everyone on this board again for the advice. I never would have noticed the rate change had it not been for CC.

I started a roll call for the 23 Apr - 15 May but no one has posted. That's not unusual however. Will look forward to meeting you on board.

 

PDX, I certainly hope you can get your price adjusted. Hopefully your TA will be able to pull some strings. I thought anytime until final payment would work for changes - never heard of the "penalty period" starting before then. I checked the date we re-did ours & it was 12/28. I would be very upset if they had denied it 4 days later, especially in light of the holidays & people taking time away from the office in the travel business. Good luck - let us know what happens.

Once I get this straightened out and am sure we are going I will join the roll call. I guess worst case we could cancel, pay the penalty and rebook. We would still be ahead of the game.

I think you misunderstand. In my second(I think) post, I said that this had happened to us before so "I was on the lookout. I noticed" the price drop. I did not receive a notice from my TA. I notified HER immediately and she got us the new price, the same day, before Jan. 1st. She also does a great deal of business with Seabourn, but I honestly don't know what that would mean if I asked for the lower price today. As I said, I thought they automatically gave you the new price if it was before final payment, but, clearly, I am mistaken….or they have changed their policy regarding people who are already booked, perhaps because they are now close to selling out this cruise.

I apologize. I did misunderstand. I guess it is not the TA's responsibility to be checking prices. Shame on me for not checking frequently for price reductions.

If this is the result of our TA not having her eye on the ball it is a big deal. Perhaps Seabourn figures if we cancel they can keep our 15% and take another booking to replace ours, but it certainly seems like a poor business practice to not take care of booked passengers first. I don't want to get too spun up about this until our TA gets a definitive answer back from Seabourn but it is interesting that Bostonactor received notice prior to January 1 and the beginning of the penalty period. Not sure if this is my TA's fault or Seabourn, but I am a little distressed that she told me she first became aware of this on January 4. Hate the thought of having to cancel now or swallow a $5K price difference. Hope to hear soon.

Our TA sent us the statement for the new price Dec. 30, or at least that is the date on it. This does seem terribly unfair, for you, since final payment is not due until Jan. 31st. I had thought that they honor price drops until final payment date. My best guess is that they have been inundated with new booking requests since they dropped the price, and that is why they are not being co-operative. You would think they would take care of the customers who are already booked first. After all, if you cancelled, they would get no more for that suite from someone new than what you would be paying if they gave you a refund. I don't know…. maybe Jan. 1st was the cut-off date for refunds, in which case, we were just very lucky. Maybe they are closing the sale at 5:00 p.m. today. Who knows what's going on? I'm so sorry for the frustration this has caused you. Do let us know how it all turns out.

Thanks very much for the additional information. My TA does a significant amount of business with Seabourn so I am expecting that she will sort this out to our satisfaction. I will keep you posted.

Thanks for the tip, I just emailed my TA. I saw the cabin next to me is available for 1000 less pp! Of course she is out of the office today. We shall see too. Looks like the ship is pretty booked. We locked down in May, as it looked like it was filling up fast.

Again departing Monte Carlo April 23rd.

Did not see you on roll call. When I looked a couple days ago, no one was on that departure date. We leave in Lisbon.

I will be very interested in hearing how this turns out for you. It is a little frustrating that Seabourn would announce such a significant price reduction four days into the penalty period then not honor the reduction for those who booked early. This is the first time I have experienced this. For us the difference is $5k. An upgrade offer is little consolation unless Seabpurn wants to put us in a penthouse as we are fine with any veranda. Location is not an important consideration for us.

This is the second time it's happened for us, so I was on the lookout. I noticed it and notified out TA. She sent me the new updated booking from Seabourn the same day. I hope it works for you as well. Maybe a phone call to your TA is a good idea. Good luck.

So I heard from my TA this morning that since we entered the penalty period on Jan 1, Seabourn is offering upgrades but not voluntarily honoring the new fare. More to come. Even if we cancelled and rebooked then paid the penalty it would save us money given the substantial discount of the new fare. I can see not honoring a special discount offered in the last couple of weeks prior to the cruise, but less than two weeks after entering the penalty period seems a little harsh. We will see if our TA can work some magic.

Bostonactor, did you get the new fare after entering the penalty period?

Heard back from TA who said there had been a number of price reductions they became aware of this on Monday and pulled a bunch of files for clients; she is contacting Seabourn tomorrow.

We will be on the same cruise departing Lisbon April 30th and will spend 3 days in Lisbon pre-cruise. Then 3 days in Copenhagen post-cruise. This will be our 4th Seabourn cruise, 2nd on the Quest, and we are looking forward to it very much. Some cruises were better than others, but we, too, are not terribly fussy, have a good sense of humor, and feel very fortunate to be in a position to travel at this level of luxury. I also will try to post a review after the cruise, for what it's worth.

Those who are booked on the 14-day Gems of W. Europe should note that there has been a significant drop in price. Our travel agent got us the new price, but I don't imagine this will last very long.

CC pays off again!! I don't think I would have noticed this had you not mentioned it. Our cruise price has dropped substantially. I am surprised our TA didn't pick up on it, but I have an email in. Hope we aren't too late.

Enjoy the experience.

 

I think many of the moans and groans come from people at the extremes of the expectation scale. If anything does concern you make your feelings know to a senior staff member all of whom are accessible.

 

If you fancy doing something a bit out of the ordinary in Lisbon I can heartily recommend the Segway tours organised by Red Tour. Nothing to do with the company other than we've had 3 separate tours now (possibly 4). Great English speaking guide, small groups, an amazing place to Segway.

 

Henry :)

Henry,

Thanks very much for the Lisbon tour recommendation. It sounds like something we would thoroughly enjoy.

As to expectations, I like to think of us as not being "high-maintenance" people. We do appreciate fine service and food particularly, but understand that there is no perfect cruise. We subscribe to the philosophy that we are extremely fortunate to be able to experience a trip of this caliber and are committed to making it a positive one. Yes, we expect superior food and service to what we would get on a mainstream line as we are paying a good deal more, but have never been on a ship to which we wouldn't happily return. However, for better or worse, one does tend to get spoiled as one moves up the scale.

Extraordinary!! If I may ask, what camera are you using for your video? It is remarkably steady.

Just made final payment for our upcoming cruise (April 30) aboard Quest to Northern Europe. We are staying three days in Lisbon prior to the cruise and three days in Stockholm post. Hard to believe we booked more than a year ago and are now within a few months of departure. This will be our first Seabourn experience after having traveled on Crystal several times and mainstream lines prior. We chose this cruise based upon itinerary and dates, not wanting to face the masses of tourists in mid summer, understanding that the trade off would probably be iffy weather. This forum has been a wealth of information for us, including the referral coupons, shareholder credit, and allaying potential concerns. Thanks so much to everyone on this board. I will do my best to provide an object review upon completion of our cruise although my writing will not be on par with the many talented writers on this board.

We stayed at Hotel Do in 2014 and were very pleased. Very centrally located, excellent food, room overlooking the Placa. Very nice boutique hotel.

Hi, We are taking the Seabourn Cruise on the Sojourn Oct 6 - 17, 2016 Monte Carlo and ending in Barcelona. This is our first cruise ever. Wanted to see if there were other recommended hotels in either location and a reasonable limousine service to get us from the airport in Nice to the hotel and the ship and then back from ship to hotel to airport in Barcelona. I understand Seabourn can arrange as well, but wanted to compare other options as well. Thank you for any information. This site is a great way to gain knowledge and information.

Regards,

lookingtorelax12

We stayed three nights at the Hotel DO in Barcelona prior to a Crystal Cruise in 2014. It was a wonderful experience. Not too large, very nice amenities, great breakfast with menu service included as well as buffet. Our room overlooked the Placa Reial which was a wonderful place to watch the activity which goes on all night. We left the windows open all night and the noise did not bother us, but most reviewers report that the windows block out the noise when closed.