Sell Seabourn to me...........

I have only cruised a few times before and through our cruise club came across Seabourn.

I love the idea of a smaller more intimate ship and visiting out of the way places. The brochure has me very excited but I would love to know from the people who sail with Seabourn. Why you choose Seabourn? What you love about it and makes it special for you. :)

A suggestion ~~read thru' our postings and decide if you would like to book a sailing and try Seabourn.

There are many Seabourn "things" that are special to me ~~that's why I've sailed with the line since 2001.

Martita B.

Thank you Martita.

I have been reading through the Seabourn posts. There are so many its easy to get lost in the cruise specifics.

I was looking for personal views and the reasons why like you many return to sail with them year after year.

Martita has given you excellent advice. If you read through the posts where people write about their actual cruise you will get a nice feel. I go with the 90/10 rule as you will never get agreement on all items. If 90% of the people are in agreement on a particular point I will assume that is correct until I experience it for myself.

I have come to believe that it is not a good idea to sell any cruise line to another person and particularly someone who I don't even know since we all have different tastes and likes and dislikes about cruising. And it is not my job to sell a cruise line.

OK. Briefly, why do I like Seabourn?

I like the intimacy of their 200 passenger ships where you are truly pampered by the staff and you have the opportunity to interact with almost all of the passengers at some point in time if that is what you prefer. In addition, I enjoy the country club atmosphere on these ships, their ability to get into areas such as downtown port areas that the larger ships are not capable of doing and to sail in certain waters that the larger ship can't do either, the divere itineraries, the presentation and quality of the food, the fact that you can ask for special items if you provide 24 hours notice, the size of their standard rooms, the wonderful service and of course the passengers and the crew. It is a very unique experience to sail on a 200 passenger ship and is not comparable to most other cruise lines.

For some they will love this size ship. Others won't.

Seabourn now havs a new 450 passenger Odyssey but I cannot speak to that having not yet sailed on her.

Take the time to read the posts and it will give you a good feel for Seabourn. Visit the Seabourn Web Site. Pick up a copy of the Ocean Cruise book published by Berlitz. It has a nice writeup on each cruise ship. And, get a copy of the Seabourn Brochure to read through. You can figure this out for yourself without a sell from anyone. Trust me. We did.

Keith

Thank you Keith.

I've just spent the past hour reading through the Seabourn posts. I have found them very informative.

I like the idea of a smaller ship, a more relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Asking people to sell it to me probably wasn't the best turn of phrase. I just wanted to get the feel of what a more intimate ship meant to those who have sailed on one.

The brochure arrived this morning along with the dvd. The dvd has been played and the brochure is already well thumbed. :o

We have a cruise booked to Fjords for next year but I can certainly see a Seabourn cruise being booked in the very near future.

Scorpio, I'll put it to you quite plainly. There are a few things in my life that are treasured experiences. Up there at the very top of the list is having had the rare privilege of sailing on Seabourn. I first saw an ad for Seabourn about 15 years ago. I couldn't believe how beautiful the cabins were. I never dreamed I'd actually be on one of their ships someday.

In April of 2006 I took my first voyage, on the Legend, to the Caribbean. I fell in love with the ship and her crew. Have you ever been someplace and felt instantly at ease, instantly at "home"? Seabourn makes sure that is way you feel on their ships.

On my last voyage (through the Panama Canal), I was trying to figure out exactly what makes Seabourn the unique experience that it is. I came to the conclusion that it is a perfect balance of three things; the ship itself, which is beautiful, graceful and elegant, the crew, which provide excellent service; and the passengers, who are always fun, interesting and friendly. Put those three things together, and you've got a magical experience every time you set sail.

I don't think it matters where you go, or on what ship you go. Everything you saw on that DVD is true. It's not just a marketing ploy. Seabourn seeks to be the best, and they succeed, in my opinion.

Every time I'm on Seabourn, I tell myself that, at any given time, only about six hundred people on the planet are sailing on a Seabourn ship (oh wait, *lol*, The Odyssey has joined the fleet; make that a thousand!)....and at the moment, I have the joy of being one of those fortunate few.

I hope you can try it someday!

Jane

Thank you for saying it all so perfectly Jane! You took the words right out of my mouth! I had exactly the same feeling when I first saw the Pride in Warnemünde and we were sailing on the Milennium. I peeped through the portholes of the restaurant and thought: If only ever.... And now years later, after having sailed with Seabourn quite some time(s), I still feel the same! Still have my Seabourn "smile"!

Marja

After our Norwegian Fjords cruise on Pride in June we were sold. We have booked Odyssey for Sept 2010.

Now we read that a recent Odyssey cruise had 37 children on board!

That does affect things. I never imagined 10% of the passengers being kids.

We don't want kids on a cruise. That is not the atmosphere that so attracted us to Seabourn. It would be ruined.

With 3 big sisters as well as the small sisters could not most of them be made adult only or am I being too contentious?

At the risk of being shot down in flames, I agree with you! We love our (grown-up) kids dearly, but are at that lovely stage in life where they have left home but have not yet provided us with grandchildren. We look forward to that time but don't want it yet - we are enjoying this child-free period and don't want other people's children inflicted on us on holiday! We actively avoid holidays in the school holidays too!

I'm with you too -- we love our son dearly but sometimes Mom and Dad need some alone time. So we specifically pick a ship where we know there won't be a bunch of children, making us feel guilty for not bringing ours!:eek:

too true... we love our children (now grown up) and they have cruised with us many times both as children and adults. But their needs were very well catered for on most of the other cruise lines... indeed you could take your pick.

But like others we would prefer to now have the choice to cruise without too many children. Are we being aweful or just enjoying our time of life with like minded people?

You are not being awful. On the contrary, I would venture to say the majority of SB passengers feel the same way. AS I just posted on the Odyssey thread I hope the execs at Blue Lagoon read these threads and understand how much they risk driving away their loyal clientele in order to sell a few passages to kids during the summer.

you are not being awful. On the contrary, i would venture to say the majority of sb passengers feel the same way. As i just posted on the odyssey thread i hope the execs at blue lagoon read these threads and understand how much they risk driving away their loyal clientele in order to sell a few passages to kids during the summer.

are you reading this seabourn execs? Please do something about it or you will lose lots of previously happy guests.

On our recent Baltic cruise their were about 6-8 young people in the high school/early college age(the older the harder it is for me to guess someone's age). I will not say that they behaved badly -- but they were always running around and almost bumping into people, gatheringing in the middle of the stairwell making it impossible for others to pass by,walking into the club at tea time and picking up huge plates of goodies with their fingers(as opposed to the tongs) eating a bite of two or three things and leaving eveything else uneaten, ordering the crew around without saying please or thank you, etc. In general I chalk much of this up to their parents/grandparents who boarded with them and then pretty much left them on their own except at meals as if it was not their repsonsibility to see that they were well mannered.I also think that they could have behaved far worse and that most of the time they were just extremely bored.This was the first time we have sailed in the summer so perhaps the thing to do if you don't want kids around is to go when they are likely in school.

After our Norwegian Fjords cruise on Pride in June we were sold. We have booked Odyssey for Sept 2010.

Now we read that a recent Odyssey cruise had 37 children on board!

That does affect things. I never imagined 10% of the passengers being kids.

We don't want kids on a cruise. That is not the atmosphere that so attracted us to Seabourn. It would be ruined.

With 3 big sisters as well as the small sisters could not most of them be made adult only or am I being too contentious?

I can see the summer sailings having some children. Just about all cruise lines will and the Odyssey will have more than the triplets. But this seems like a lot of children for Sepember 2010 when most students are back in school. Out of curiousity, how did you learn that 37 children would be on this cruise. And if this is September of 2010 not 2009 that is probably more than 10% given that I am sur that the sailing that is over a year from now in this economic situation could not be possibly sold out at this point in time. Seems strange to me.

Keith

I can see the summer sailings having some children. Just about all cruise lines will and the Odyssey will have more than the triplets. But this seems like a lot of children for Sepember 2010 when most students are back in school. Out of curiousity, how did you learn that 37 children would be on this cruise. And if this is September of 2010 not 2009 that is probably more than 10% given that I am sur that the sailing that is over a year from now in this economic situation could not be possibly sold out at this point in time. Seems strange to me.

 

Keith

You misread my post Keith. The 37 kids were on a recent Odyssey cruise.

You misread my post Keith. The 37 kids were on a recent Odyssey cruise.

Ah, boy did I misread the post. And I read it twice the first time. Maybe it's time for glasses. :D

To all, does the Odyssey have many cabins that allows a third person and what do they charge or was their some special promotion for children?

Keith

Keith:

As far as I know there are no "triples" available on any of the SB sisters...(big or small)!

If there are, then SB is just asking for "children"!! LOL!!!

Paul ;)

We cruised on Regent September 2005 and there were almost no children. We did book Seaborn for next year and expect the same. I am sure most children are back to school, colleges included!

Just want to agree with most of the comments re: children. Both mine are also grown and we have one grandson. My 22 year old daughter would hate being on Seabourn. My 28 year old son is only just beginning to get to an age where he might appreciate it and even then I have my doubts.

In my opinion, it is most selfish of parents to bring their children on Seabourn because it just is not suited to them. There are not sufficient activities, there isn't sufficient space, the food is not designed to their tastes and, even with 37, there are not enough other children.

Having children involves a degree of sacrifice. One of those sacrifices is to take them on vacation to places that are suitable for them. As I said in another thread, I used to take mine to Club Med and Beaches when they were younger. Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Disney also do an excellent job of catering to children. So, it isn't as if their parents do not have options.

Last I heard Seabourn is not for sale.

Just want to agree with most of the comments re: children. Both mine are also grown and we have one grandson. My 22 year old daughter would hate being on Seabourn. My 28 year old son is only just beginning to get to an age where he might appreciate it and even then I have my doubts.

 

In my opinion, it is most selfish of parents to bring their children on Seabourn because it just is not suited to them. There are not sufficient activities, there isn't sufficient space, the food is not designed to their tastes and, even with 37, there are not enough other children.

 

Having children involves a degree of sacrifice. One of those sacrifices is to take them on vacation to places that are suitable for them. As I said in another thread, I used to take mine to Club Med and Beaches when they were younger. Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Disney also do an excellent job of catering to children. So, it isn't as if their parents do not have options.

This topic has also been discussed on SeaDream. I think the real problem is that people who insist on taking their children to inappropriate venues simply do not care what the impact is on others. In short, they had poor potty training.

Oh Dear! The thought of children in any number on board has made us re-consider Odyssey which we were on the point of booking! The triplets are not geared towards children, and this has been a part of the attraction. I do hope this is not part of any marketing campaign by Seabourn.

Oh Dear! The thought of children in any number on board has made us re-consider Odyssey which we were on the point of booking! The triplets are not geared towards children, and this has been a part of the attraction. I do hope this is not part of any marketing campaign by Seabourn.

I don't think Odyssey is geared towards children. When you see the facilities the large Royal Caribbean ships (for example) have for children then there is no way that Seabourn can compete. Nor, I think, do they want to.

Oh Dear! The thought of children in any number on board has made us re-consider Odyssey which we were on the point of booking! The triplets are not geared towards children, and this has been a part of the attraction. I do hope this is not part of any marketing campaign by Seabourn.

Even in the summer, the triplets have had some children on them from time to time.

And the larger the ship the greater the probablility that there will be some additional children.

The best way to avoid children is to pick itineraries where it is less likely that children will be taken on these types of cruises and to travel in months other than the summer and holiday time.

The reality is that one will see more children on board cruises in the Mediterranean in the summer than some other areas of the world even Northern Europe.

Keith