Compare the Triplets to the Odyssey

My husband and I have only sailed on the Triplets with our last cruise on them in 2013.

We are looking at Seabourn again this time on the Odyssey and have some questions. We loved the coziness of the smaller ships, the camaraderie of the crew and passengers. Also we enjoyed the market lunches and the hosted dinner tables. Are they doing these on the Odyssey.

For those of you who have sailed on the small ships how does the Odyssey compare to them?

Thanks.

Nan

I’m understand your concerns as we shared them before our first O class cruise. When the taxi pulled up to the ship my husband and I looked at each other and said we had made a big mistake. However, once on board we realized how wrong that first impression was. We found that we really appreciated how the spaces were broken to mask the size and additional passengers. Seabourn Square was an instant favorite spot and while we never missed having balconies on the little ships did enjoy being to walk out the door of our suite and take in the views on the O ships. We also found the same level of wonderful hallmark Seabourn personalized service. They had to do away with the Galley Market lunches for some time until they worked out sanitation issues but the have now.been reinstated. I do find the MDR to be a bit colder (maybe due to the high ceiling?) and the Club layout is a bit awkward (especially the stage location). On the upside I very much like the intimate TK Grill and enjoy the Obs Bar.

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One thing I would add to Chairsin's spot-on personal take (it's mine too) is that the Ody class ships have much more space per passenger and easier/wider access into/out of all areas, more elevators etc., so never crowded. The ships' layout helps too since it is unbelievably similar to the little sisters layout. Just more generous. So much so that a current Seabourn captain, on his first day on his ship, said to me "they will never build ships like these again." I am afraid he is right. Former president Pam Conover was one smart lady!

Happy and healthy sailing!

To add to Chairsin and Markham's comments, I absolutely loved the triplets and some of the wonderful early days experiences on them will never be repeated, however things move on and for us the Odyssey is our favourite SB ship. It maintains an intimacy not found on Encore class and has a wonderful feel to it. For us Encore doesn't have that certain something.

We sailed twice on the little ones and much prefer Sojourn. The O class just seems to have more space and the Seabourn Square is fantastic. I was like you, but have no fears!

We sailed all the triplets, and also had misgivings about the Odyssey class. However, having sailed all three of them, like them even more except perhaps for the salon/theatre, which although obviously bigger in every way does have some poor sightlines due to pillars (on all of them). However, still not too keen on the idea of 600 passengers in a ship not much larger, so up to now have not sailed Encore or Ovation.

we were also big fans of the triplets, and took a while to try the O class. Now we do enjoy those ships, love Seabourn Square and having a "real" balcony etc. We did try Encore, but doubt if we will again. The two new ships have got much too big for us and no longer "feel" like Seabourn.

FWIW, and from someone who sailed on the Encore’s maiden and was disappointed in its delivery based on the awful Singapore launch, I have heard very good and credible things about the launch of the new sister ship, Ovation. It would seem the ship is better serviced, the launch ceremony was more customer-focused, and certain minor facility tweeks e.g. to the Club, TK Grill and open deck behind it made the experience better.

Good for Seabourn for recognizing and treating responsibly the tough love feedback they received last year.

Next step might as well be eliminating the embarrassingly dopey Retreat and restoring the open deck space it hogs favor all-passenger i.e. communal usage for deck sports or naturism or astronomy sessions or weddings or other special events are all viable and therefore good ideas for this “exclusive” and wasted space.

Happy and healthy sailing!

I think the next step for The Retreat should be to open it up for all passengers--first come, first serve. Honestly, I don't think it will be that popular as it has no ocean view.

Having heard all the wonderful reminiscent comments on “the triplets”, unlike others, we sailed on the Sojourn first, then did a WS Legend cruise and then back to the Odyssey. We enjoyed each and all were different. WS has done a great job in updating the look and feel of the Legend. I actually prefer the colour scheme on the Legend than that of the O ships. Service on WS is different, but different doesn’t mean bad. It’s actually quite personal but a bit more casual. You will not get caviar and champagne in the surf/pool on WS but I have always felt that event seemed tacky and rather silly on our previous Seabourn cruises (JMO). The passenger mix is always hit and miss on both lines (I’m still trying to erase from my my memory the rudeness of the large Spanish families from our last Odyssey cruise). I wouldn’t hesitate sailing on one of the WS triplets again, as long as the itinerary and price was right. Our next cruise is a test on SS, so we will see how that goes. It is great to have choices.

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Having sailed on both, the 'O' class ships are, in my mind, far superior.

1. You get a smoother ride when the seas are rough.

2. Better choice of bars and restaurants.

3. More pools and hot tubs.

4. Seabourn Sq.

5. A real veranda that you can sit out on.

6. A gym where I can use the treadmill without my head hitting the ceiling.

What is WS?

What is WS?

WS = Windstar; SB = Seabourn; SS = Silversea

Windstar bought the original triplets.

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Thank you Sunprince for the explanation of WS.

A cruise on one of the triplets was our introduction to Seabourn, we loved the service, we thought the ship was ok but a bit odd in places due to its diminutive size (sunbeds under the stairs, that very strange pool and R2 being the breakfast buffet venue .. with tablecloths, to name a few).

When we next tried Seabourn on the O class, we thought the ship was ideally sized and took all the elements from the triplets which worked, carried them over and improved them, because there was just that much more room. Seabourn's O class was when we mostly stopped cruising other lines.

This summer we're travelling on Encore and we'll see how we like that. I suspect that's about as big as we want to go and we'll be very happy to travel on the O class ships at any point in the future, I think they will end up being our favourites.