Vineyard View

I hope you had an opportunity to pick up some So African wines to supplement. We spent a few days in their wine country post safaris and they have some excellent wines. But that said, what a shame to have only cheap wines available for 37 days!

We likely do have similar wines collected, and I appreciate your recommendation on easy access to wine locations in ports. My parents Home of 50+ Years was in Hollywood Riviera, so I as well can appreciate your address with many fond memories. I miss that environment, but also very much love here. Except during wildfires. Enjoy your upcoming sailing. And yes, too short for bad wine!

We are looking at Spring 2024 itineraries in the Mediterranean. Does it seem like there may be more to come from Seabourn based on what is listed so far? I am just curious as I honestly thought there would be more varied offerings. Thank you

Having read this thread, I am honestly really surprised that Azamara offers such a crappy selection of different wines. I wouldn’t pay extra for any of it, with the exception of the occasional bubbles. We are mostly red wine drinkers. I will admit to being a bit of a snob with what wine we drink, but I can be flexible if the offering is decent. I don’t really see decent here. On another line, we purchase the wine package, and while it isn’t top of the line wine, it’s decent. We still supplement with wine we have brought on board for a few meals, and we aren’t charged a corkage fee. We are looking at an Italy intensive itinerary, and I would absolutely be scouting out where to buy wine prior to boarding after reading this thread. I guess better to be forewarned, but really, i would have expected better. I would gladly pay a corkage fee , as we almost always do that when we go out to dine locally, however, I am surprised that Azamara feels it necessary to even charge one.

In the past, a similar promotion with $25 deposit was offered, but the payment in full date remained far in advance. I looked at a British Isles cruise with this offer, and unless I am reading this wrong, payment in full was by 2/28/23. Also airfare was not free but I was looking at a 2024 date.

I always appreciate and respect your honesty and knowledgeable feedback and input. These are certainly things to consider. We have sailed Princes, and never will again for a variety of reasons. We sailed HAL years ago, and really have nothing bad to say. They handled a couple of very stressful situations in two ports we visited in Egypt very impressively, but they are not in my site lines right now for future cruises as their smaller ships are mostly sold, and those remaining do not have itineraries that draw me. I have no experience with P&O. . We will experience Seabourn for the first time this year, and yes, I have seen the threads on their new expedition ship that you are referring to. Seems like that part of our world can cause serious sailing issues regardless of line, but I surely cannot comment on the expertise you have with respect to ship functions, nor how they are handling the situation compared to others in that sailing region. After a lot of reading time on these boards, I find myself, as mentioned before, narrowed down to a handful of lines that I am perusing. I can surmise that each of those lines will offer their strengths and weaknesses. The impression I have formed is that they seem worth a try, and based on itinerary, will likely draw me towards that line. It could turn out that I may find after experience any of them, that it was a ‘one and done’ so to speak! I wish Viking would start expanding their Mediterranean itineraries to more varied ports than the same ones that they have had for years now, because I do truly appreciate and enjoy their product, and will sail them again without hesitation. In 2024 I hope that will occur, but I doubt we will see much change by then based on current listings, but with continued expansion of ships, that could change - or when I am ready to get away from the Med in ‘25 then there are several Viking itineraries that are catching my eye.

I am watching mostly four different lines - Viking, which is familiar and that we have thoroughly loved. Seabourn, we will experience due to itinerary in 2023. I would say that all four are having threads of service issues with new/less experienced crew - - and that it does in fact depend on the crew rotation and not just the ship. I guess only time will help rectify that or not. Actual fully compared daily Costs - seem to be up and down based on promotions, but these categories of sailing lines must watch one another closely, and therefore it depends on the current offerings as to which one truly pencils out best. In my opinion, they all seem to fall within the same ‘ranges’, but attract the same/similar market of customers. I have wondered about the ownership of the different lines, and how moving forward post start up that will affect these smaller ship entities. Is it better to know the financial concerns of a reported corporation, or not to know the finances of a privately held company that does not need to disclose that? I do not know. Maybe sometimes it really does boil down to itinerary to make the final decision. I do know we will not rule out Viking in the future.

Thank you. So to be clear, cancellation penalties stand regardless of whether you rebook another itinerary at the time of canceling? You will be charged these fees?

We haven’t sailed Azamara yet but are looking at a few options, including Italy Intensive spring 2024 on Pursuit.

I heard back from TA and as promised reporting back. Our cancel fees were higher due to the fact that we were booked B2B, we were charged cancellation fees for each segment at $75/pp so total of $300. I was incorrect with my memory telling me it was $175/pp. Oy. Anyways, she also confirmed that these cancellation fees are non negotiable/transferable even if you rebook another cruise with AZ. This last piece I am not sure is consistent?

Please disregard this post. My mistake

Promised I would get back on this. I checked with TA. Our cancellation fees were $150 each (not the $175 that I thought). We were B2B so we’re charged on both - which is the policy. My mistake. She did also confirm that these cancellation fees were not transferable/waived if we booked another cruise.

Really glad to see this post. We are looking at 2024. Azamara has a Italy intensive that is attractive. Viking has pretty much the same Mediterranean itineraries for multiple years and not sure that one is really calling me after already experiencing quite a number of the same ports with Viking that we absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed. . I have compared all the costs of included and not included between the two. Depends on what is important to you. We love Viking, but included excursions are not part of our decision. Promotions on Azamara often include beverage packages. Club Continent suites are similar size to PV on Viking with decent sized bathrooms and balconies, and pencil out well in comparison. We don’t need evening entertainment so White Nights isn’t a selling point for us. I guess I don’t know what the answer is because we still haven’t decided. Go with what you know, or go with an itinerary that is better suiting your current goals with a company with a good reputation? But isn’t it lovely to have the choices? I look forward to hearing more from others on this thread.

Our TA went back to them twice. Azamara drew an unmoving line in the sand. We were a party of 4 and each were charged. I am fairly certain it was that amount. I do know it was 121+ days out, but I will double check on that $$ when TA is back, as I deleted all the emails. Regardless, we weren’t able to transfer it. No wriggle room for applying our deposit to another cruise. It was during a special 40% off 2nd person promotion. We weren’t the only ones on this board who were charged, and yet some were able to transfer their deposits during the same timeframe, which was my reason for requesting TA to ask a second time. That was the basis for my questions on this thread.

We needed to cancel earlier this year. We asked if we could rebook for Spring 2023 and transfer our deposit. We were told that we could not and we were charged a cancelation penalty. We ended up booking another line for this next year, but an Az itinerary 2024 caught my eye. I have noticed in previous threads that there seems not to be a hard and fast rule on cancellation penalties when one wants to rebook. It would be great to know what drives these varying outcomes. We paid $175/pp.

Thank you! Are there any of these that lines that you wouldn’t sail on again? As I said, we have traveled Viking and love them…..will sail them again, for the right itinerary. They are expanding in various regions, which is great with their new ships and some look interesting without doubt. Their Mediterranean sailings need a pretty big refresh though, and that is what we are looking for 23/24. After that it’s likely time for revisiting other areas in our world.

Cunard - with a large ship and super formal attire. I know some people are very attracted to that experience, no judgement here, but for those who like smaller ships and less formal, imho a 5* line should offer at least on sea days, including Seabourn. Another smaller ship and less formal attire option who does offer on sea days is Viking. Hoping Seabourn is ramping up post Covid to offer as well. There appeared to be more postings on this thread of that happening.

Thank you. That makes sense then on what our TA shared - that zero penalty ends next month for a late May cruise. Friends traveling with us may need to exercise this, even though we hope that does not happen.

I believe this sounds different than we discussed with TA at booking. We’ve paid in full for our May cruise, but how many days before is Seabourn’s pay in full date before sailing? I looked in my account online and it doesn’t show as far as I can find.

Nothing wrong with that at all. It works for you. We are happy to sail with Viking again when it has the itinerary we are looking for at the time. I am looking at one for 2024 that is longer than our traveling friends could take with us in 2023. Maybe we are stepping out on a limb, so to speak, with trying another line. IDK. But they both have very good reputations, so I guess we will find out.

We enjoy nice wine. We also, when on vacation enjoy a cocktail before dinner. We buy the SSBP because of the convenience, and easy variety of wines offered on the package that we can choose from at each meal, rather than the red or white being offered that day. Yes, you can purchase those non-included wines by the glass as well. Geography plays into wine buying in port if you choose to do that, as we have at times, particularly in Europe. We’ve even brought a favored bottle with us from home for a special occasion while on board. Viking makes it easy, it just depends on what works best for you and your personal preferences.

We are big fans of Viking. When I was researching Mediterranean 2023 itineraries earlier this year, I first looked at Viking. I have to agree with the comments that it would be nice if Viking added some new places, because they have been repeating many of the same ports/itineraries for a long while. I also agree with a couple comments on the included Viking excursions - we have almost only used them as transportation into a place, so that doesn’t enter into our price comparison. We buy Silver Spirits package when we sail Viking, so I add that cost. I would also agree that the per day cost on Viking has bumped up considerably. When adding up the costs we incur with Viking, they are competitive with , and sometimes even more costly, than the other lines I looked at in multiple regions (Mediterranean, Canada/NE, S. America) So I started looking at other lines - Oceania, Azamara (knowing I would need to bump up to a suite category for a decent bathroom), Seabourn, Regent, and Silver Seas. It was about itinerary, but also total cost. At the end, when adding up all the costs we incur on Viking, that for us Oceania, Azamara entry level suite, and Seabourn were all within a small margin of difference based on the specific time and specials being offered. We haven’t sailed on any of those three, but we ended up booking Seabourn based on itinerary, and a huge Labor Day sale they were having, bringing per day cost below others. We hope to sail Viking again - we have nothing but positive to say about our experiences, both rivers and Oceans - back to inaugural Star cruise in ‘15). But we will also continue to look at these lines. If the experience on Seabourn doesn’t need expectations, I will be first to say one and done. But I absolutely know that we wouldn’t ever be worried about Viking meeting our expectations, as long as the itinerary/total cost works.

It is undoubtedly disruptive with the whole new Venice cruising protocols, regardless of the smaller ship lines such a Viking, and of course recognizing the reasons for this. That said, new substitutions are good to understand better for planning. We are taking a RT (different line) that allows time in the city beforehand or after.. I think there are various types of itineraries that have a more impactful experience (such as a 2 1/2 day ‘Venice’ stay), vs a start or end, or RT in Venice. The specific itinerary OP is discussing is a turnaround with a lot of ‘Venice time’, vs the chance to start or end with time in Venice? I am learning quite a bit with these responses on how Chioggia impacts the Start, end, or RT pieces…..but the turn around with 2 1/2 days in Choggia is, to me, the puzzle on how that plays out?

We are new to SB as well. We also enjoy premium wines. So two questions. Are we able to jump up to a different wine package at a cost? And then, can we bring what wine we want on board - with or without corkage fees? Thanks much